I think Houston and Marbury should be co-captains of the team. Houston being experienced and knows all too well about what it takes to make it to the playoffs. I expect him to be even more vocal with the team. Marbury on the other hand should step up and be more of a leader on the court as the pg. I want to see Marbury play with fire and gets the unit together in huddles and just make plays. I know he can score and create his own shot. Things like that make good teamwork and togetherness. Tim Thomas should be used as the 1st or 2nd option on the offence. Really I expect better ball movement around to the open man, anyone can score when they are in position to do so. The emphasis should be on teamwork on offense and defense, this Knicks team is deep enough to go far in the playoffs barring no injuries.

our offense is definately not the problem. its D and chemistry. with those two we can make it to the ECF.

I disagree. I think that either Marburry and TT or Houston and TT should be co-captain. Reason for that is because Marburry and Houston are two very passive type of guys. For that leadership to be effective, you have to have two very opposite types of demeanors at that position. One crazy/talkative a la TT, and one very passive a la Houston or Marburry. As for options, TT should most definitely be the number one option. His penetration will make everyone elses game better, specially our shooters (Marburry, Houston, etc)
Options:
TT# 1
Houston or Crawf #2
Marburry #3
Vinny or Damp 4
Sweeteny 5

Posted by MaTT4281:

Marbs + Houston as Co Captains.

If Houston is healthy, I still think he should be our first option. TT is fine if he is a 2nd or 3rd option. I'd like Craw 2nd or 3rd, depending on TT. Then Marbs as our 4th. I'd like to see him continue with the passing mentality, but I'm thankful that he can take over the scoring duty when we need it.

Teams can have a captain, co-captains, or tri-captains. I would go the tri-captain route - Marbury, Houston, and T. Thomas. marbury is the franchise. Houston current captain and been to ECF 2 times and NBA finals 1 time. T. Thomas grew up a Knick fan, OBVIOUSLY has no problem speaking his mind and calling out teamates, and will be one of the top offensive weapons on the team. Hardway is another candidate for tri-captain instead of TT. Big Penny is a veteran, former all-star, and been to ECF 2 times and NBA finals 1 time. But I would go with TT. Penny's a good option too though, and even if he isn't a tri-captain will be a valuable leader.

TT is passive? get out.

Posted by diderotn:

TT is not passive at all. He is a little soft, he can't play with pain, but the boy is not passive at all. Look out for him next season. If Lenny is smart, he will utilize TT as #1 option, next Houston, Marburry, Vinny, Sweeteny

Posted by timmyTtop:

TT is passive? get out.

your putting vinny before sweet, and sweet before craw?

Again, I do agree with you about the winning attitude. However, to win, there can't be no confusion on the court. To eliminate confusion, the floor leadership roles has to knowned and respected by the players. That is why it is importan IMO to clearly specify who the captain and cocaptain should be, and that has to be established during training camp

Posted by s3231:

I'm getting sick of hearing people call our players "soft" or "passive." Everyone references the playoffs where Tim got hurt and no one stepped up, but they fail to realize that our players had not even played together for a full season. Fishmike said it perfectly, winning will produce chemistry, and chemistry will produce leaders. There is no need to think about who will be our captains next year or who will get the most shots. I don't care if Marbury only averages around 12 ppg as long as we are winning, that is all that counts. I think the players would agree with that.

look at last year... everyone of those guys were just thrown into a crazy situation late in the season and asked to play at a high level. Its amazing we played as well as we did at times.

Now guys get a training camp, a month of preseason and they bond, get a plan, all get on the same page... this stuff matters. You get some feel for what your teams going to be like, what your goals are. They didnt have that last year. They were all thrown together and with a new coach and told to just go out and play.

Right now Houston is rehabbing and talking about taking Crawford under his wing.

Marbury is playing w/ all stars for a HOF coach and he's not allowed to shoot, so he's forced to learn to help his team by being a leader and distributing the ball.

TT is boxing and strengthening his upper body because Lenny specifically told him to focus on his post game and inside play for next year because thats what we need from him (Tim's quotes, not mine).

Sweetney is and has been working w/ a personal trainer to slim down and get stronger (anyone see him in the SLs? He was an easy 10 lbs lighter and looked more defined). He's 21 and was SO clearly superior to everyone there.

Crawford and JYD are coming from losing situations with something to prove.

Vin Baker had heart surgury and is looking to prove he's a new player. The only reason we wouldnt sign Vin is because we used the whole MLE on Dampier. Either way we win.

KT got a brain transplant. Ok.. wishfull thinking but his hand at least if fixed.

Does anyone see this stuff? Where as last year was a recipe for disaster this is a recipe for a success and a good team.

yea.. look, we have some holes, but like we said we have some geniune versatility here. 2 years ago we had 3 bad PGs and a bunch of shooting guards and undersized PFs. Then we added KVH. Wow. Were were still the most unathletic and small teams in the league.

Now we have some dynamic athletes. We have some exciting wing players. We have some size and muscle. We have some good young players THAT ARE PART OF THE ROTATION. We have a ways to go but at least we are talented again, and worth watching.