Teams like San antonio and even memphis had the occasional success against the space and pace teams when they were able to control the pace with defense, size and efficient scoring. Anyone who tries to run and shoot with those teams gets waxed. Anthony davis, kevin durant ( before he joined them), westbrook, lebron james, melo...all victims, so it is more than talent mr perry. You really need a strategy and a roster and a style of play that is something other than copying Golden state's playbook.

We're closer to the start of this rebuild than the end of it but we still have to consider the endgame carefully, rather than just acquiring more talent...which is a given. We have KP and now Frank and likely two high draft picks in the next 2 years. If we add a guy like Mikal bridges, it feels like we're prioritizing defense and team basketball --and that makes sense to me. Develop them all into better play makers and scorers, but as long as they all have that core defense, the team has a chance.

fwk00 wrote:Good topic.
I don't think there's a blueprint worth repeating in terms of player compositions.
Phil had it right in looking for high BBIQ, system-friendly players, and most importantly - chemistry.
Then you need to create a consistent system that complements the players.

Culture: I think most of us probably had roots in the older knicks teams that were gritty and played with heart. Despite never winning a title, we still admire those teams because they gave it everything , particularly on D and they won and lost as a team. I would say for me that is still the resilient culture we want to instill , organization-wide, during this rebuild and Perry and Fizdale seem to be good building blocks here and our core players seem to have this qualities in them. During this lead up to the draft, even as they dissect length and up-side, I hope they will pay considerable attention to the make up of the prospects they are considering. Even if 10 years from now, if this rebuild ends up the same way, it would still be worth it for me if we get teams like that again.

Adaptive/versatile: I agree that there is no single blueprint. You need a vision with multiple strategies and have the ability and guts to change when you need to. That also goes all the way back to the draft and scouting and right up the court where we have to make real-time decisions and need to be able to play iso, small ball, big ball whatever the situation may be. This new regime has not really been tested in this area and that honeymoon is about to end. I'd like to see them approach the draft with open minds and not worry about mock drafts , whether its a need pick or bpa , the media and even us fans. They are paid to make tough decisions. If Fiz gets to work and eventually concludes that he can't get Mudiay "right" or that frank can't play PG, then it's on to the next guy or the next play, no excuses, no hard feelings, no second guessing.

rpknicks wrote:Luck is a big part of it but of the factors we can control, I'd like to see us work on these:

Culture: I think most of us probably had roots in the older knicks teams that were gritty and played with heart. Despite never winning a title, we still admire those teams because they gave it everything , particularly on D and they won and lost as a team. I would say for me that is still the resilient culture we want to instill , organization-wide, during this rebuild and Perry and Fizdale seem to be good building blocks here and our core players seem to have this qualities in them. During this lead up to the draft, even as they dissect length and up-side, I hope they will pay considerable attention to the make up of the prospects they are considering. Even if 10 years from now, if this rebuild ends up the same way, it would still be worth it for me if we get teams like that again.

Adaptive/versatile: I agree that there is no single blueprint. You need a vision with multiple strategies and have the ability and guts to change when you need to. That also goes all the way back to the draft and scouting and right up the court where we have to make real-time decisions and need to be able to play iso, small ball, big ball whatever the situation may be. This new regime has not really been tested in this area and that honeymoon is about to end. I'd like to see them approach the draft with open minds and not worry about mock drafts , whether its a need pick or bpa , the media and even us fans. They are paid to make tough decisions. If Fiz gets to work and eventually concludes that he can't get Mudiay "right" or that frank can't play PG, then it's on to the next guy or the next play, no excuses, no hard feelings, no second guessing.

Basically i would go the Jazz route and build a strong defensive team and just hope eventually we get the right pieces together.

jrodmc wrote:3 genuine stars that all manage to stay on the court. All season. See Karl Anthony Towns.
1 defensive monster to play alongside and compliment KP.
A bench with at least one to three impact players who can consistently provide offense to answer every game's 3rd quarter run by the opposing team.

Everyone, from 1-12 plays stellar D.

Imagine D-Fense chants at the Garden again...

remember the two people that used to run around the arena with cardboard cutouts of "D" and the white picket fence?

I'm sure they are still at the Garden, wearing paper bags...

The Knicks Title Contender will come from adhering to the vision and making smart decisions. Fiz will be responsible for building the culture and setting the tone that the players will be taught to follow. Perry can do his job more effectively now with his coach in place.

reub wrote:I actually think that getting Mikal Bridges gives us 3/5th of a championship team because of his defense and fit:

KP
Frank
Mikal
THJr
Next Year's #1

I'm projecting Hardaway as a sixth man on our championship team, so he'll need to be upgraded. KP, Frank and Mikal would give us some great defense for sure.

Damn you, JVG!