I think Melo was a big factor in past failures.

And also Phil with his triangle held this team back.

It is still early, and we haven't played many away games where we are 1 & 4. So, we could end up back to earth.

But we are finally seeing what this team can do free of Melo-Drama and forced Triangulations!

Welpee wrote:12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.

Yeah, our team stats point to us being at about .500. We might stumble the next few weeks, but we still won't be bottom five bad. Not without some hope from the front office anyway.

Bonn1997 wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

Welpee wrote:12 out of 17 games at home. Please never forget this.

Yeah, our team stats point to us being at about .500. We might stumble the next few weeks, but we still won't be bottom five bad. Not without some hope from the front office anyway.

It's hard to say. 9-3 at home and 1-4 on the road right now.

Let's improve that away record today against the worst team in the NBA

The biggest thing is we only have one guy on the team who cant be benched, and he plays his butt off on both ends. That means when you have this kind of depth you can ride guys playing well and giving max effort. That makes coaching much easier.

Bottom line? This is a better team than last year.

PG: JAck/Frank are better than Rose/Jennings/Baker. Rose gave scoring but nothing else. Our PGs defend and set up teammates
SF: Stats are similar but anyone watching knows we are getting much better play from THjr than we have gotten from Melo in last couple seasons.
C: Kanter has been a stat stuffer, bull dozer and he and KOQ have been great

The eye test is important. Lee's stats arent much different from last year, but he sure feels different doesnt he? Lee's $11mm salary is great for what he's bringing every night. You know the chemistry and coaching are better when see the same players putting up the same stats but they look like higher impact players.

The key question is sustainability? We have already seen teams adjust to KP's scoring and now we have adjusted to those adjustments. Its all about being a 2-way team, because defense never rests. Ewing had plenty of bad shooting games, but it also seemed to be he would get you 15 boards and 4 blocks on those night. We saw that from KP vs. Toronto with a bunch of big plays on D despite a bad shooting night.

Time will tell. That is what makes this part of the process so exciting.

That first game against OKC the Knicks actually gave them hell but started getting sloppy because that was really their first time playing serious. We smoked Detroit too but the save thing happened blowing that huge lead. We are now playing great basketball. It's a process. Coaches have different styles, and it takes teams a while to get the kinks out. It's all good.

We literally have 5 starters that give a damn and play hard. We have 3 subs that do the same in KOQ, Frank and Derm... the other bench guys are plating hard as well. That's all you ask and all you need. Everything else will take care of itself.

EnySpree wrote:Hornacek approach too pre season was consistent with his first year. He likes to let his teams free lance. He plays everyone in all kinds of line ups. He doesn't really show off the play book. This pre season he did that for every single game. I guess he was trying not to build up a good scouting report for teams to follow.

That first game against OKC the Knicks actually gave them hell but started getting sloppy because that was really their first time playing serious. We smoked Detroit too but the save thing happened blowing that huge lead. We are now playing great basketball. It's a process. Coaches have different styles, and it takes teams a while to get the kinks out. It's all good.

We literally have 5 starters that give a damn and play hard. We have 3 subs that do the same in KOQ, Frank and Derm... the other bench guys are plating hard as well. That's all you ask and all you need. Everything else will take care of itself.

Well said. Perry & Jeff made that the theme of the season since training camp. They and the players have followed through and bought in. Don't really care what the final record end ups being. Play hard every night and continue to develop KP, Frank, Hardaway jr.