Ive watched every second of the 4 games. Ive seen the good and bad. Yes its preseason but you get a nice glimpse into what we have and dont have.

I can see roster scenarios where we can put three out--one in and a driver/facilitator(Rose) where he should be able to thrive. Hes the king cog here--there is no doubt in my mind--what we have WITHOUT Rose--simply no where near enough.

Also we have not played good D yet except for a 1/2 against Brooklyn. Let me see our players lets see IF they can get out on 3 point shooters and stop the break tonight because so far they cant.

BRIGGS wrote:Ive watched every second of the 4 games. Ive seen the good and bad. Yes its preseason but you get a nice glimpse into what we have and dont have.

I can see roster scenarios where we can put three out--one in and a driver/facilitator(Rose) where he should be able to thrive. Hes the king cog here--there is no doubt in my mind--what we have WITHOUT Rose--simply no where near enough.

Also we have not played good D yet except for a 1/2 against Brooklyn. Let me see our players lets see IF they can get out on 3 point shooters and stop the break tonight because so far they cant.

I think you have to let them work this out. The interior D has been OK. Defending the 3 has been atrocious but the parts are there. People like to think defense is just effort, and that is just so far from true. That is part of it but where all 5 guys are on the floor is an equally big part of it. The 1-1 defense has been OK. The effort is there. However guys are really slow in their rotations and that only comes with some time under the belt. There are going to be defensive lapses early, and not having Noah on the floor for much of the preseason has not helped.

As for Rose he is certainly in a position to succeed. Not only will there be shooters to kick to but there will be bigs who can score around the paint. We will see just how good a true PG Rose can be when defenses start collapsing on him. Who does he find for easy buckets? Or does he force some shots?

Early schedule will be telling. After getting slapped by Cle (realism) we have 6 games against teams that are pretty manageable so we should know early on where we stand.

The question is can our talent carry us until the defense and chemistry comes?

We don't have a key cog. The Knicks can win without Rose. They can win without Noah. They can win without both. Will they win often? No...they would be mediocre. With a full team We need all hands on deck to be the team we can be. This knicks team is going to win consistentlt by everyone contributing 1-15. When Rose comes back and Horny can get a game plan going... this team is going to play some good basketball.

EnySpree wrote:We don't have a key cog. The Knicks can win without Rose. They can win without Noah. They can win without both. Well they win often? No...they would be mediocre. With a full team We need all hands on deck to be the team we can be. This knicks team is going to win consistentlt by everyone contributing 1-15. When Rose comes back and Horny can get a game plan going... this team is going to play some good basketball.

I think if the team has a motor or identity its with Melo/KP/Rose/Noah/Jennings. Now last year we were 20-20 with Melo/KP and nobody as talented as Jennings/Rose/Noah. Yes, Lopez had a good season, but a much better 2nd half. His first 40ish games were pretty underwhelming.

So I agree with Eny... we can tread water with any 2 of those guys out. We played .500 ball over a 40 games stretch with Jose, Afflalo and Lopez. Hows is that for perspective? Sample size? After the starters last year's bench was Galloway, DWill, Grant and Lance. This year Lance comes back. Jennings is an impact player and blows away what you get from Gallo or Grant. I don't know who else are staples in the rotation but I really like the possibilities of Willy/Kuz/Randle. Not saying all 3 are bigtime players, but I can see at least one of them being really really good on this squad. A bench of Jennings/Lance + the one of those 3 who are playing the best looks pretty good to me. Not the Warriors but damn good.

MS wrote:It's definitely Noah.

Lopez was a solid locker room guy and worked hard. He was on a reasonable contract and didn't get injured or cause problems.

Rose need to be a real contributor and drive the offense. But, if we gave 72MM to Noah to cheer on the sidelines and barely get a double double or maybe not stay on the floor, it's a disaster. Liked what I saw from Noah moving the ball and getting open shots, but Rose is replaceable, Noah with this new contract is not.

For me Noah's value is these first two years. That is when he can really establish the identity of this team. Next year as well. By his 3rd year I expect him to take a lesser role in favor of Willy with KP staying at the 4. Obviously that's a pretty high expectation for Willy, but I am that high on him. Noah's value is TBD. I think most know he's not going to play 82 a year, but what we do get from him and how he impacts the roster over all is in the air. Fingers crossed. Risky move. Time will tell.

the best way to defend the 3 ball is being able to communicate and switch on defense, it's really the only way. too many screens, picks, and penetration to play man defense..