BRIGGS wrote:

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

According to you Jose Calderon is a solid PG for the triangle we have hand picked free agents such as Affalo Sasha our hand picked PG Grant Galloway. The bottom line is we stink--can we get better yes but the degree of improvement--eh Im not sure about that. It was Phil's call to bring in so many F's--my guess is he kind of understands how important Guards are in this league now.

Phil knows how important guards are. He has had the best sg in the league every championship he has won. I'm even considering when he won with the Knicks Monroe and Frazier. Phil knows the importance.

Vmart wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

According to you Jose Calderon is a solid PG for the triangle we have hand picked free agents such as Affalo Sasha our hand picked PG Grant Galloway. The bottom line is we stink--can we get better yes but the degree of improvement--eh Im not sure about that. It was Phil's call to bring in so many F's--my guess is he kind of understands how important Guards are in this league now.

Phil knows how important guards are. He has had the best sg in the league every championship he has won. I'm even considering when he won with the Knicks Monroe and Frazier. Phil knows the importance.

he doesn't talk or act like it

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

I think the best way to get our back court right is to be patient and not try to do it in one off season but do it in two off seasons. With the cap increases this off season and the next being right around $20 million each season we should get a legit PG/SG this off season and get the other the following off season. So in two years we have a legit starting 5 and work on the bench with getting solid pieces in both off seasons.

anrst wrote:

Vmart wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

According to you Jose Calderon is a solid PG for the triangle we have hand picked free agents such as Affalo Sasha our hand picked PG Grant Galloway. The bottom line is we stink--can we get better yes but the degree of improvement--eh Im not sure about that. It was Phil's call to bring in so many F's--my guess is he kind of understands how important Guards are in this league now.

Phil knows how important guards are. He has had the best sg in the league every championship he has won. I'm even considering when he won with the Knicks Monroe and Frazier. Phil knows the importance.

he doesn't talk or act like it

Why throw what you have under the bus? He can't blatantly say he needs an up grade or name names. He will upgrade the position just give it time.

ChuckBuck wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

I think the best way to get our back court right is to be patient and not try to do it in one off season but do it in two off seasons. With the cap increases this off season and the next being right around $20 million each season we should get a legit PG/SG this off season and get the other the following off season. So in two years we have a legit starting 5 and work on the bench with getting solid pieces in both off seasons.

Every team in the NBA will have cap space though. Why would free agents pick New York over competitive teams with cap space? Also, the system we're running and coach matter too.

Cap Space doesn't equate getting quality players. With the exception of RoLo playing up to snuff, see 2015 New York Knicks free agent haul.

So not every team has cap space next year. And not every team with cap space needs the same type of player to fill out their roster.

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

Sorry Fish, the talent is the least of out worries, and I say this because the knicks play the exact same way weather they are up by 20 or down, the energy level is flat line across the board.

I know talent is a must, but there is never any in game adjustments, and I MEAN NEVER.

This triangle sht requires a very good defensive unit, because mid range shots are shots that you hit consistently when your in rhythm, and if they are not falling, your defense has to be top notch, or else you'll lose leads.

BRIGGS wrote:

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

According to you Jose Calderon is a solid PG for the triangle we have hand picked free agents such as Affalo Sasha our hand picked PG Grant Galloway. The bottom line is we stink--can we get better yes but the degree of improvement--eh Im not sure about that. It was Phil's call to bring in so many F's--my guess is he kind of understands how important Guards are in this league now.

Briggs.. if you pick up poop and put it in your mouth I can say "you hand picked it" so that means nothing. Sasha, Affalo were stop gap FAs that fit under the budget. Grant is and still is a good prospect. Galloway is a league minimum Dleague call up. Im sorry.. was this a reality based discussion?

Bottom line is going into this season the Knicks had Melo and a draft pick. This offseason their needs are much clearer. They end the season with building block players they didn't start with, namely at center and PF and that doesn't include Melo. So no.. its not as simply as "we stink"

I'd have preferred Chalmers, but Jennings would be fine too for cheap.

ChuckBuck wrote:

martin wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:

fishmike wrote:And that is what we have right now... we have a frontcourt with no backcourt. Literally none.

That being said the frontcourt is pretty damn good. Lopez and KP are excellent together and compliment. Melo at 31 put up career best assist #s and it right at his career high for rebounds which bodes well when he slides to the 4 in smaller lineups.

If you have ever played basketball, or any team sport for that matter and have been on a different teams you would know that when one area is so totally weak and undermanned as our backcourt is it hurts your strengths. Your star RB, QB and WRs all look average or bad if your OLine stinks. No defense looks great when the pitcher on the mound is serving up laser beams and no front court will look good if your guards cant stay in front of their man or be enough of a scoring threat to space the floor.

I have read some doom and gloom about how much we stink and how there are 20 other teams better than us and I wonder if folks understand how team sports work?

A pair of good guards probably adds 15 or more wins to this team... easily.

This is not an easy fix. Getting good NBA talent is not easy. If it was Phil would be posting on UK and people would listen to Briggs. It is not a given we fix this, but the path is pretty clear and the rest of the parts look very very good.

I think the best way to get our back court right is to be patient and not try to do it in one off season but do it in two off seasons. With the cap increases this off season and the next being right around $20 million each season we should get a legit PG/SG this off season and get the other the following off season. So in two years we have a legit starting 5 and work on the bench with getting solid pieces in both off seasons.

Every team in the NBA will have cap space though. Why would free agents pick New York over competitive teams with cap space? Also, the system we're running and coach matter too.

Cap Space doesn't equate getting quality players. With the exception of RoLo playing up to snuff, see 2015 New York Knicks free agent haul.

So not every team has cap space next year. And not every team with cap space needs the same type of player to fill out their roster.

The title contenders will not, but about 80% of the NBA teams this offseason will have cap space similar to New York's or much higher:

http://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/240096/The-Maximum-Available-2016-Cap-Space-For-All-30-NBA-Teams

Simple supply and demand model. Not enough good free agents, but near every team will want them (about 24 teams). Even if not every team wants Mike Conley and DeMar Derozan and Nicolas Batum, there's enough teams that are setup more favorably than New York. Some teams have enough cap space to cash in on 2 MAX free agents, so there's that possibility as well.

Who wouldn't want to play for Boston or Dallas that are only a few pieces away from making deep playoff runs rather than toil away in New York for the next 3 or 4 years being irrelevant.

So you just jumped from all teams will have cap space to 80% of teams will have cap space? Care to dig a little deeper and actually lay out the landscape for us?

I tried to do it back a few weeks ago. The below doesn't take into account opt outs and RFA, rookies, etc (good example is Beal in WAS):

				Salary
Rk	Team			2016-17 
1	Cleveland Cavaliers	$103,217,259 
2	San Antonio Spurs	$84,583,607 
3	Los Angeles Clippers	$83,949,072 
4	Toronto Raptors		$82,724,898 
5	Golden State Warriors	$80,023,544 
6	Chicago Bulls		$74,201,034 
7	New Orleans Pelicans	$71,967,511 
8	Houston Rockets		$71,242,899 
9	New York Knicks		$69,779,528 
10	Oklahoma City Thunder	$69,610,963 
11	Detroit Pistons		$69,150,393 
12	Minnesota Timberwolves	$68,933,517 
13	Sacramento Kings	$65,768,345 
14	Phoenix Suns		$64,221,231 
15	Memphis Grizzlies	$61,959,704 
16	Denver Nuggets		$61,725,530 
17	Dallas Mavericks	$61,315,955 
18	Utah Jazz		$60,906,285 
19	Milwaukee Bucks		$60,829,049 
20	Indiana Pacers		$59,242,253 
21	Portland Trail Blazers	$56,784,823 
22	Brooklyn Nets		$56,662,720 
23	Atlanta Hawks		$55,537,594 
24	Boston Celtics		$51,161,569 
25	Washington Wizards	$50,268,952 
26	Charlotte Hornets	$48,905,399 
27	Miami Heat		$48,881,586 
28	Orlando Magic		$44,908,271 
29	Philadelphia 76ers	$33,377,246 
30	Los Angeles Lakers	$26,101,518