what this loss did was expose our poor defense. really, we pretty much have no type of defense whatsoever. we may be better off playing zone and trying to use our player's length and athleticism to try to slow teams down and force them to hit jumpers. otherwise, players penentrate pretty much at will. any team can pretty much run their gameplan without any hindrance by us.

the team should be okay... they've got the pieces (ok... maybe not the "defensive" C presence inside, but Nazr is doing ok offensively).

Change the coach!!! Get someone who'll get these guys to play D!

This team lacks an intimidating presence. Someone who can alter shots and block them. A player that make opponents think twice before bringing to the basket. Nazr and KT do not bring this quality to the game. They are defensively weak players.

Posted by Bonn1997:

The team is actually not that bad at blocking shots (3.9 per game while our opponents have 4.8 per game). The problem is that we also have poor perimeter defenders. When you have poor perimeter centers you need to be a very good, not just average or slightly below average (like us) shot-blocking team.

This may be true, but surely you don't think that other teams are intimidated to go inside?

...boooooooo!!!

Posted by Bonn1997:

Musta just reminded us on msgnetwork that:

The defending world champions also lost to the Bobcats this year

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 12/05/2004 13:25:19]

I feel so much better now...

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Musta just reminded us on msgnetwork that:

The defending world champions also lost to the Bobcats this year

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 12/05/2004 13:25:19]

I feel so much better now...

Some people here we're making statements like "a good team never loses a game like this" or "we can't win in Memphis because of this loss." That's just not how the NBA works.

Posted by Bonn1997:

They're about as intimidated against us as against any average to slightly below average shot-blocking team

Only 6 teams have a lower number of shot-blocks per game than us. Of those teams, Philly have Dalembert, who they can use if they really wanted to. The Bulls have Chandler and Curry that if liberated, could up the stats. The Hornets have Magloire and Anderson. We have no frontline player who currently intimidates like those 6 do, nor do we have anyone on our bench or starting lineup with the potential to intimidate like any of those 6 players do. To me, shot-blocking does not equate to intimidation. We need an intimidator, that stands at around 7'0 who specializes exclusively in defense and shot-blocking. Then Aguirre can work on his offense. I hope we can address this need in the upcoming draft.

Posted by MaTT4281:

Who knows, maybe Sweetney can be that player, given time. He has been getting up there to contest shots.

Nah. I know you're trying to look for a B.Wallace comparision, but I just don't see it. Sweetney is just too small, and not athletic enough to be the real shot-blocker we need. He may become a very nice two-way player and possibly an all-star, but I doubt he'll ever be known as a shot-blocker.

Posted by MaTT4281:

No Ben Wallace comparison intended. If anyone, you have to revisit the Brand comparison. He's only 6'8" and is top 15 in blocks (1.65).
I'm sticking with Sweetney growing into his own player, but I still think his resume can include shot blocking.

...and wow! Just noticed Kirilenko is averaging 4.43 blocks per game.

Ohh my! Imagine having a Kirilenko on this team... WOW!

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Musta just reminded us on msgnetwork that:

The defending world champions also lost to the Bobcats this year

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 12/05/2004 13:25:19]

I feel so much better now...

Some people here we're making statements like "a good team never loses a game like this" or "we can't win in Memphis because of this loss." That's just not how the NBA works.

I agree here. Its just the NBA. Sometimes teams get so hot or get such great performances from their players that just defeat a team that is better overall. But what bothered me about this game was that althought the Cats worked hard and never gave up, the fact is that NY had this game, and if they had worked just a little harder they would have had this game in the winning column. Still, such is life in the NBA. I do believe that losing to the Cats doesn't mean in any way that we will lose to Memphis. After games like this ones we tend to forget that we haven't played that bad on the road. We played some great games against the West on the road. We played Orlando fine and should've won. We played badly at Charlotte but that should only make them work harder against the Grizz.

If winning against Charlotte after losing to Orlando was important, defeating Memphis after losing two in a row is huge!

Go NY!!!