franco12 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

nychamp wrote:

fishmike wrote:TPercy, nychamp, CrushAlot, BigDaddyG, Panos, Caseloads, TripleThreat, jskinny35, mlby1215, Paris907, Allanfan20, Cartman718, Uptown, nykshaknbake.. you guys all picked the Knicks to win considerably fewer wins than they did the year before. What’s your thought process?

In a word, defense. I believe the Knick defense will be atrocious this year. As I see it many of their key players are either defensive zeroes (Kanter, Hardaway-judging from preseason, McDermott, Kuz) or severely flawed. Only solid defenders appear to be Frank, Baker, LT. KP has an impact, but also is flawed as a man defender.

I also haven't seen any indication that the coaching staff has a successful plan or is capable of getting the team to play competent team defense. They don't prevent easy layups. They don't guard the 3-pt line. Looking at the preseason and the body of work from last year. I hope to be proven wrong.

I'm not convinced KP will take the steps he needs to this year to be the number one on a non-awful NBA team. While I love what he can do, I worry that he can be exploited and attacked more effectively without Melo on the team. I also worry about his apparent tendency to try to play a SF's game in his 7'3" body. Not sure that it is the right approach. He is at a strength disadvantage, even against smaller guys, and like it or not (he doesn't seem to), he needs to play a certain % of the game close to the hoop to maximize his advantage. I could see him putting up same-ish numbers as last year.

Finally, I worry about KP and injuries. I could easily see him missing significant time. Again, I hope to be completely wrong.

+1
Also, I'm not sure if the locker room will lock in and dig in for Jeff when things get rough. He's kinda a lame duck himself. I'm not saying it's fair, but Perry didn't bring him in. I think there's something to those Blatt conspiracy theories.

right... but again, all those things existed last year no? I mean the lockerroom was a disaster, especially with the star player now saying he played the whole season like he had no support and was stabbed in the back. So why is this year going to be worse than last?

A team's record is not a perfect indicator of how good it is. There's good breaks and bad breaks in each season - in terms of health, officiating, and luck during games. Going from 31 to 34 wins doesn't mean the team is 10% better than the past year or to 28 wins doesn't mean it's worse. If anyone is predicting between 27 and 35 wins, they're basically saying we're about the same as last year.

so if I owe you $20 and I pay you back $17 when you ask why I gave you less I will just tell you "its basically about the same as you gave me."

No, less is less and more is more. I am curious why people are saying less. Why did you need to answer for the 14 guys I mentioned by name? I left out anyone who was a in a couple wins. I was looking for people who said at 5 or so fewer. 5 games is an uptick or downtick either way. Its sports. We have wins, losses and opinions on message boards.

I am curios why people think fewer wins from last year.

So last year they won 31 games.

I am saying this year, they will win 28. Give or take. Things could go well, and they could do better. Porzingis could get hurt, and the season fall aparts.

Why worse than last year? I think the stated goal is to develop players, and lean on our young guys to win games. Last year, we have Melo. He was worth at least 3 wins.

Every year, we expect this team to win games. Perform. Finally, folks have caught on.

Maybe I was wrong. Rose and Melo were worth 10+ wins easy. This team looks like an 18 win roster.

Lottery here we come!