i think everyone on the team gets a C or better except for tim who gets an F. nazr is the only player that gets an A.

Point Guard: Stephon Marbury A-

The Olympics served as life altering experience for Stephon Marbury who is having his best season as a pro. No longer the shot first selfish point guard with limitless potential Steph’s star is beginning to shine. With slick passes and a deadly propensity to find the open man Marbury playmaking is second only to Phoenix’s Steve Nash. Defense however is a word Marbury is trying to spell.

Shooting Guard: Jamaal Crawford C+/B-

Crawford the prized acquistion of General Manager and ultimateknicks savior Isiah Thomas has shown flashes, but those flashes come almost as quickly as they disappear. At times he been dynamic willing the Knicks to victory with his streak shooting, and quick instincts in the passing lanes. In order for Jamaal to be the player Thomas imagine he needs to work on his shot selection, and remember this isn’t Chicago. Two keys for his development into an All-Star is patience and offseason training, Crawford’s frail frame needs ten pounds to stand the punishment from bigger stronger guards who give Crawford fits.


Small Forward: Tim Thomas F

What can you say about a guy making 12 million a year standing at 6’10 with a silky smooth jumpshot, limitless athleticism, that somehow finds away to piss away all his talents. Playing the game without an ounce of passion, no defensive intensity, poor selfish shot selection the game seems like one big joke to the smiling Tim Thomas.

Power Forward: Kurt Thomas A-

Although not blessed with the physical gifts Kurt Thomas brings it every night. His interior defense has proven invaluable to the defensively challenged Knicks. Thomas averaging a double-double has worked long and hard improving his mid-range game, teaming with Stephon Marbury on the pick and role has been a thing of beauty.

Center: Nazy A-

After regaining his strength Naz has been nothing short of amazing, the blunt of criticism he has one fans over with his offensive rebounding as well as his increased scoring. However stills needs to work on his hands around the basket

Coaching: Lenny Wilkens C-

Lenny Wilkens club has found defense almost as hard as passing a 7th grade spelling bee. Without a clean plan in place the Knicks at times have looked lost, lacking clear fundamentals taught to first year basketball players such as help defense, and boxing out: this defensively challenged group of underachieving over paid babies, has lacked the one true muscle New Yorkers value most: Heart. Passion has been as consistent as Crawford’s jumpshot. The real

Bench: B

Sweetney: B-

Sweetney at times has looked like he is poised to become a very solid player in this league. The guy is solid will average 15pts 13rbs within three years, put his real problem to date is his weight, in order to guard quicker power forwards Sweetney will need to lost at least 15 pounds. His biggest asset is his ability to get the line

Ariza: B+

The surprise of the 2004-05 Knicks has been the steal of rookie SF Trevor Ariza. The kid just has a knack for the ball and within three years with a consistent jump shot this kid is poised for an all-star leap. Great awareness of where the ball is going to be, and athleticism is a breath of fresh air.

JYD: B+

He is doing his job and has lived up to his billing, high energy great defense and a solid work ethic.

Penny: B

Penny has looked good in spurts and has hit some nice shots in crunch time. He just needs to realize that other players are more important to the offensive scheme at times. His defense and leadership is a tremendous asset

Brewer/Moochie: Serviceable millionaires with no jumpers, but plenty of energy and defensive intensity when the guards need a breather.

Allan Houston: B

Right now Houston is beginning to move with fluidity again and will need a couple of weeks to get his legs back and a good feel for the game. Houston is poised to provide this team with a huge presence from the field and a stabalizing presence off it.

Vin Baker: F

Stop drinking and get your head in the game. People like you shouldn’t get a second, third and fourth chance, but you did so make the most of it and reward those who foolishly paid your salary…We are behind you Vinny just get it together…

TEAM GRADE: B

We aren’t a bad team we aren’t a good team. At times they have been dynamic, and as usual at times they have looked like a rec basketball team thrown together at the local Y. This team is dangerous if they commit to playing defense…SO please do and you will make Isiah look like a genius.

first 20 games have been a rollercoaster for sure. I just pray for some stablility

I would still give Craw a B though. I'd give Sweetney & Ariza a C and TT an F and Baker a D

I guess I gave Marbury a C+ because I bought into some of the hype that he was going to do something different here this year. He's been awesome on offense. I think you once called him unguardable and thats pretty accurate. I have just been disappointed by his D. Maybe I am just asking too much.

I gave a C+,A based on my expectations and where these guys are in their career. Marbury at 27 is supposed to be beyond the stats.. remember he said its all about W's and Losses.

Posted by gunsnewing:

I'd give him an A....he'll get the + is he plays defense like he did yesterday every game

Ask me again in a week.. we have some good tough home games coming up against Det and Dall plus NJ tomorrow night.

nobody is knocking his offense... the guy is the truth. Thats not the problem. The problem is Rafer Alston, Milt Palacio, Earl Watson and Tyron Lue lighting you up. Marbury losses his man away from the ball more than anyone else on the team, and everyone the plays against him knows it.

He can be Jesus Christ on offense but it doesnt matter if your a matador on the other end.

If you're grading players based on how they've done compared to what you expected of them, then I can understand not giving Marbury an A. But if you're grading players by comparing them to the average player at their position, Marbury's gotta get an A or A+ because of how much he impacts the team.

Here are my grades. The first one is how they've done compared to the average starter at their position (or reserve if they're coming off the bench) and the 2nd is how they've done compared to how I expected them to.

Stephon Marbury: A/B
He's carried the team. The team is -16 pts per 48 min with him on the bench and +2 with him in the game. He's done it all except play consistently strong defense. That's why he gets a B for his play compared to expectations.

STARTERS:

Jamal Crawford: C+/B
He's still getting outplayed by opposing teams' SGs. He's gonna have to learn better shot selection, play better defense, and put on weight. I love his potential and his attitude seems good. I'm glad he's on the team, but he's not a great starting SG at this point.

Tim Thomas: F/F
No need for an explanation

Kurt Thomas: C/A
He's getting outplayed badly by opposing teams' starting PFs, but he's played his role as well as you could ask him to.

Nazy Mohammed: B+/A+
He's outplayed opposing teams' Cs and put up tremendous #s. His help defense needs improvement, although it has been improving a little.

RESERVES:

(The first grade is how the player is doing compared to what I think the average reserve at their position does; the second grade is how the player has done compared to my expectations for him)

Mike Sweetney: C+/C+
He's showing a lot of potential, but his rebounding and defense have been disappointing. He is outplaying PFs statistically if you check his numbers on 82games.com. I love his ability to get to the free-throw line. Like everyone else has said, he needs to lose weight. I thought he played with more energy toward the end of last season. I thought he also was playing better this year before he injured his thumb.

Trevor Ariza: B-/A
For a 19 year old 2nd round pick, he's been simply unbelievable.

JYD: B-/A
He's provided great energy, strong defense; he's done everything you could ask him to.

Penny Hardaway: C+/B-
He's been an okay role player. Nothing special. He deserves credit for playing through his himstring injury.

The other guys don't get enough playing time for me to grade them.

Lenny Wilkens: B He doesn't fire up the players, especially on defense, but I like his playing rotations. I think he's used a 10 man rotation very well.

Isiah: B+
He's done everything right except:
--Not using part of the MLE to sign Ariza and keep his Bird rights. Now in the best case scenario, we use part of the MLE to re-sign him, when we could have had the full MLE available for other FAs.
--Not get a cheap athletic frontcourt player who can block shots. There were some available like Loren Woods, who would have been a much better 12th man than Sundov.

Next summer and season are a real test for Isiah when the team has a 1st rd pick, $43 mil in expiring contracts, and the MLE and LLE.

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 12/13/2004 15:06:49]

Posted by fishmike:

nobody is knocking his offense... the guy is the truth. Thats not the problem. The problem is Rafer Alston, Milt Palacio, Earl Watson and Tyron Lue lighting you up. Marbury losses his man away from the ball more than anyone else on the team, and everyone the plays against him knows it.

He can be Jesus Christ on offense but it doesnt matter if your a matador on the other end.

Yeah but I think he's no worse than he was last year defensively and he's definitely upped his game on the other end. I think he has stepped up as a leader a bit, and whatever success we've had is mostly because of him. I find it hard that you can grade him with C or C+.

Lenny and the rest of the coaching staff- (Somewhere between a C+ and a B)- Everyone is accountable for screwing up. If you play poorly, you are on the bench. If you are playing great, you are on the court. But the defense is bad and I give him partial blame for a lot of the players not playing hard enough on D'. He has to get the concept through there heads.

I love what Aguire has done with Nazr and Sweetney. I guess we can expect slow starts from Nazr though, b/c of Rhamadon. (Sp?)

Isiah Thomas- (B)- I love what he has done with the team. He's done everything we could ask of him. He got rid of Shanvis Eisleyspoon and got nice players in return. He's got young and promising players for us, and I like how he dealt with Houston. I cannot complain about him, but he still has work to do, particularly with the frontcourt. He can easily screw this team up, as quickly as he turned it around. I'm glad he said he's not going after Vince for Houston.

New York Knicks Overall- (C+) Our offense is complete, currently. We have everything we can ask for. A star shooter. A superstar PG. An up and coming 2 guard who can play a little point. Our energizers. A couple of up and coming post players. A pick and roll player. Guys who can hit clutch baskets. Guys who can go one on one. And we have very unselfish players.No complaints about the offense.

But our overall defense isn't good, and that's what is keeping us at 10-10. We need a shotblocker, our guards HAVE to improve and Ariza needs to continue to improve. We need an athletic big, like Marcus Camby who can play on the perimeter on D' AND block shots. He says he wants to come to NY. Thomas should go after him.

Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 11 hours ago
New York: C-

The Knicks are a classic .500 outfit — up one game, down the next. Tim Thomas and Jamal Crawford are their most erratic players, with Stephon Marbury not far behind. Meanwhile, New York has been waiting for Allan Houston longer than Vladimir and Estragon waited for Godot. If Houston's sharp-shooting might stabilize the Knicks' offense, he certainly won't improve their porous defense. The only thing that's keeping the Knicks' playoff hopes alive is the pitiful lack of competition in the Atlantic Division. To try and salvage the season, Isiah Thomas is sure to resort to some outrageous wheelings and dealings. Alas, nothing foreseeable can prevent New York's profound mediocrity from being terminal.

My opinion: Up one game, down the next... Partially from the schedule, partially from bad shooting nights, and mostly from a lack of a solid defense scheme (players are gambling for steals and not communicating).

NY should play more zone in order to make up for lack of size on the perimeter.

I also don't think the season is as lost as Charley put's it.