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Are they really thinking of starting Sundov ?
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Kwazimodal
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10/20/2004  9:46 AM
Havent seen him play enough to decide but I wonder if they are serious or just trying to motivate Nazr/Baker?



From Newsday:

"One day after hinting that Vin Baker might be pushing Nazr Mohammed for the Knicks' starting center job, coach Lenny Wilkens surprised both of them by starting 7-2 Croatian Bruno Sundov in the middle in a disappointing 113-89 exhibition loss to Utah last night at Delta Center.

It's hard to imagine this move amounting to much more than a kick in the pants for Mohammed and Baker, but Sundov has a feathery jump shot that has intrigued several coaches before Wilkens. The Knicks, who signed Sundov to a 10-day contract last season, are the fifth NBA team for which Sundov has played."
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nykdunk
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10/20/2004  10:48 AM
It looks more like they are hoping he gives them no choice but to start him. He's 7-2 which is definitely a height upgrade at the 5, but it's more just wishful thinking. I think he'll make the roster, but I doubt he gets a consistent shot in the rotation. He's just not really a center.
Nalod
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10/20/2004  10:52 AM
Got to have a token Euro. League rules.
diderotn
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10/20/2004  11:16 AM
I heard that this cat is really good in practice. Why not allow him a couple of games to get his feet wet, specially in the preseason? What do we have to lose? he might just be the missing link. However, we will never know until Lenny allow this kid at least 30 minutes a couple for at least a couple of games.
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DefAndReb
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10/20/2004  12:16 PM
I saw him on Saturday at MSG. He was good in limited play time. Definitely looked like he was comfortable on the floor, espcially compared to Mongo, er, Bateer.

Let's be real though. This is preseason, this is the time to try weird things out, see what sticks. No biggie. He's got a nice outside shot, and looks decent on D for a guy who hasn't played much when it counts. No one expects him to start or even get much PT in real games. Lenny wanted to see if he could handle a bigger role, given he's played well in practice and the preseason minutes he's had. Mainly, it's tryout time. But it speaks volumes about how bad a defensive team and interior presence the Knicks are. They're outmatched at every position on D. Their best defender is TT.

Still, this is a sign of things to come, this whooping Utah gave them. Any team with strong penetrators and interior players is going to get a lot of points off NYK, no matter who they put down there to start. And when that happens, you can't have Jamal missing shots.
fishmike
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10/20/2004  12:50 PM
Lenny said he was going to use this road trip to experiment with the line up and get a better feel for how certain players play together.
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs
nykdunk
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10/20/2004  1:26 PM
"Their best defender is TT."

I don't believe TT to be the best defender on this team. I don't even believe he's the best SF defender we have on our team! In fact, I'd say he's probably the 4th/5th SF defender on our team!
diderotn
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10/20/2004  1:27 PM
I didn't get to watch the game, so I can't comment too much about it. However, from looking at the stats sheet, it appears to me that there wasn't any continuity with our starting lineup. That could have been because of two reasons: a long trip to Utah, or because the chemistry on the court wasn't there. I know how it is traveling to Utah, from my days in the military. I got to tell you, the altitude and the turbulances can definitely affect your game as an athlete. Our team appeared to be life-less, and I am pretty sure that the altitude was one of the reason. Utah or Denver have always been two hard places to play as a visitor.
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Bonn1997
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10/20/2004  1:35 PM
Posted by NYKDUNK:

"Their best defender is TT."

I don't believe TT to be the best defender on this team. I don't even believe he's the best SF defender we have on our team! In fact, I'd say he's probably the 4th/5th SF defender on our team!
I'd say Ariza, Penny, and JYD are better defenders at SF than TT.
diderotn
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10/20/2004  1:54 PM
We have some pretty good defenders on our roster this season. Brewer, JYD, Ariza, Penny, are all all decent defenders. If we need to lock people down, a lineup of: Brewer, Penny, Ariza, JYD, Vinny or Kurt can do the job. Whether or not Lenny will be confident enough to utilize it is a different story.
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fishmike
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10/20/2004  2:13 PM
I dont think we have any very good individual defenders, but that doesnt mean we cant play good defense based on a team concept. We have a lot of speed, and that speed can be very disruptive. We are also a very good rebounding team. While I dont think we have the personel to keep opponents to a very low FG%, we can win the battle on the boards as well as force turnovers. Its just a numbers game. If your opponent shoots 47% but you get 16 TOs a game your just as well off as the team that holds opponents to 42% but only gets 10 TOs. Of course the other factor is FTs. We cant just send guys to the line every time they penetrate. We need to force guys into jumpers.

Time will tell be we can be ok on the D side of the ball
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs
Masterplan
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10/20/2004  7:37 PM
we're not a particularly good defensive team, but what i like about our team this season is we have eager players on hte bench who can come in and lock someone down at almost any position. brewer, ariza, penny, JYD, sweetney or KT, they can all be counted on to replace someone if they're not doing their job on D. a defensive center would be great for this team, but we do have good defensive talent on the bench.
DefAndReb
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10/21/2004  11:53 AM
I'm really talking about starters, sorry. TT is the best defender in the starting lineup:

Marbury, Crawford, TT, KT, Mohammed. TT is the best defender of the five.

Ariza hasn't even played a real game yet, so I can't say anything about him. He looks like he will be the best defender on the team, but you can't say he is until he at least gets some real games under his belt.

Whoever said "Penny" should have his eyes checked. Sure, Penny circa 1996 was a better defender. Not today.

JYD is probably, sadly, the best post defnder we have, and that's bad, because the guy is way past his best years.

But I agree with fishy. When you lack individual defenders, you have to compensate by playing a superior team D.
fishmike
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10/21/2004  4:51 PM
But I agree with fishy. When you lack individual defenders, you have to compensate by playing a superior team D.
and its actually possible. I think one of the motivations will be easy offense. The more hustle and attacking the passing lanes the more forced TOs the more easy dunks on the other end. The scary thing will be in crunch time, where those plays arent there as good teams take care of the boards. Thats where our scorers must step up and we MUST control the glass.

Regardless this will be a fun group to watch... we have a nice young core here to go with some solid vets. Worth watching at worst.
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs
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Are they really thinking of starting Sundov ?
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