2) B. Jennings: When Rose went down, he stepped up and played with Red Bull energy giving 110% effort out there. More importantly, he defended their best player--Kemba (a point guard who we haven't defended all year)--hard! He chased him off screens; he pressured him up the court; he closed out on his shots. In other words, he was a pest! He got in the Hornet huddle on the court during the timeout and got in their heads. He wants to be in NY and has the heart and pride of the old Knicks. He cares; it shows! Play him more! He deserves it.

3) KOQ: Did not play the 1st half, and Willy was struggling with the pick and roll, and he comes in the 4th and never came back out. He was all over the court: blocking shots, hustling; going for offensive rebounds. Infectious energy! He was playing like a poor man's Draymond Green. Play him more and stop messing with his minutes.

Holiday should also be on this list as a 2 way player who plays hard every night.

My point? Reward these guys who actually care and give the effort night in and night out and are all about winning! These guys wanted it so bad in the 4th that they refused to lose. Haven't seen that all year. This is the mentality that we need to win--especially close games!

nyknickzingis wrote:

fitzfarm wrote:Jennings, KP, Lee and KOQ were animals tonight ... only one shot in the second half for KP is unacceptable though ... KOQ and KP had a block party tonight

We are 5-1 when O'Quinn starts, and some of those starts were without KP as well.

KOQ is able to shoot the open shot from outside the paint as a stretch 5.
He can block shots.
He is showing some passing ability.
He sets good screens.
He plays hard.

What exactly is it that Noah does better other than make 4 times his salary? Noah was upset when he came out of the game today in the second half. However why is Noah even starting?

There are some really good role players on this team.

Willy
O'Quinn
Kuz
Holiday
Lee

The problem is the top 2 dogs. Melo/Rose. Just no chemistry. No culture. One on one, little effort on defense. You can maybe get away with having one player who plays like that, but having two is cancerous. Add Noah's toxic play and contract, death.

Ofcourse our coaching staff sees these victories as further evidence that Noah starting is fine and that Rose adds value. We are pretty much the exact same team record wise as when we had Lopez/Calderon last year. Even though KP is better, Lee is better than Afflalo, O'Quinn/Willy/Jennings make our bench a little better, Why? Because Noah/Rose have not been better than Lopez/Calderon were. Even advanced stats would back that up, I think. I'm 100% certain that as bad as Calderon was, if you traded Lopez/Jose for Noah/Rose, we would be in the same boat W-L wise. Only with more capspace to spend on a free agent instead of blowing it on Noah. I know individually Rose has been much better than Calderon was, but the team is not better. The biggest change has been Rose/Noah. I don't think they've done their jobs at all as point guard/Center. Now we know why Chicago dumped them so easily.

I expected better play making from Rose!!! He simply isn't even trying to be a floor leader. He's been better at passing than this. At least tonight Rose did the right thing in the 1st half. KP was able to establish his game. If Rose did that more often it could work but will he???

nyknickzingis wrote:What exactly is it that Noah does better other than make 4 times his salary? Noah was upset when he came out of the game today in the second half. However why is Noah even starting?

For the same mindless reason the Jets would try to force feed Keyshawn Johnson the ball when undrafted FA Wayne "The Green Lantern" Cherbet would do nothing but make play after play.

The Seahawks won a Super Bowl with Russell Wilson, people forget Wilson is a tiny QB but the Hawks traded for a QB who made a ton more the year they drafted Wilson. Most teams would play the more expensive guy to justify the signing. The Hawks played the best guy, and said "f**k the money, f**k the contract, let the guy who can help us win get on the field"

Most teams won't do that. Most teams need to justify their bad personnel moves. Most GMs are looking to save their own jobs over helping the team actually win. Sadly, those two goals are not always aligned.

martin wrote:

nixluva wrote:I expected better play making from Rose!!! He simply isn't even trying to be a floor leader. He's been better at passing than this. At least tonight Rose did the right thing in the 1st half. KP was able to establish his game. If Rose did that more often it could work but will he???

I've never watched Rose before this year and I really wonder if he has ever been a floor leader or better at passing, this is not something you just forget how to do (the passing).

And it boggles my mind that he was even had MVP consideration no less won the thing. Dude can't play D or make a pass.

And he has one of those expressions that drains your will to live (like Bargs)- just comes across as an arse. I seem to remember the Bulls at their best played him at SG with that defensive pass first guy at PG- can't remember his name now. The PG and Noah did the playmaking, Rose just scored.