I got to go my 1st game at the Garden last night. It was a really nice experience.

My NY observations:

Marbury is head and shoulders better than anyone else on the team, BUT needs to play with more fire. On D, his man gets open almost every time and this was James and Williams we are talking about. His D is atrocious. Without a shot blocker behind him, it is a big weakness for NY.

Crawford, when he squares up is a great shooter. He can play the Point nice too. He and Marbs should be the ONLY ones playing the 1 for NY.

TT - NO DEFENSE. On Offense, he is content to stand and watch most times.

KT - Solid all around.

Nazr - Ugliest looking shot in the league.

Sweets - Does not look as big in person. But his weight slows him down and that is WHY he is in foul trouble every game. He has slow feet. His man was open all night. BAD defensive player.
On the O, his size creates space for him and he has good hands. The man can EASILY be a 20/10 player but NEEEDS to improve his D and foot speed.

Ariza - WTF 4 minutes? In warmups - he basically was taking ALL outside shots from about 18-20 ft. He was making less than half but his stroke looked OK. He needs to square up more. The Speed is real.

Penny - Great last night. He was posting up alot and getting in the lane. He did not settle for the jump shot. If he can do that consistently, he would be a nice role player on a good team. He plays the game with smarts now.

JYD - As with Ariza took many jumpshots in warmups. Made MOST of them from about 15ft! Pure hustle.

Moochie - When he was playing the Point - the other players seemed confused. Several times up the court, no one knew the play.

baker - was out before the game shooting with marbury. He was posting up Sweets and missing more than making. I give him credit for working hard, but it does not seem to be paying off.

Coaches - Aguirre and Malone are ALWAYS talking to players. Herb too, will talk to a player when he sees something. Suhr is quiet.

As a whole the team D is not there. The hands are not up, players lose their man all the time. They need a coach who stresses D, but more importantly the players have to make playing D, their religion!!
A system can help, but the individual D talent is not there for them to be a great D team. Sweets, Nazr, Marbury and TT play bad D on their guy and that forces others to rotate leaving players open all the time. Kukoc lit up TT last night, why Herb did not swith, i don't know.

As for KVH, he is a shell of the guy who played here. He has NO confidence right now. The guy looked lost all night. The deal was a wash in my eyes. TT is a better athelete but they both underachieve. Nazr can't shoot so he benefits from Marbury setting him up ala Doleac. For the simple reason that TT and Nazr are more tradeable it was a good deal for NY.

[Edited by - gonygonygo on 02/17/2005 08:52:22]

good observations. i agree with your observations for the most part

i agree that Marbury doesn't play hard nosed defense but he makes up for that with his ability to outscore other point guards the majority of the time. but he should be a leader and set by example

basically, the knicks are a team of dysfunctional players who never won

btw, i don't agree with your assesment that Sweetney can easily be a 20/10 player. for that to happen he has to dominate. i don't see it

btw, i don't agree with your assesment that Sweetney can easily be a 20/10 player. for that to happen he has to dominate. i don't see it

Ok lets lok at his stats. This season, In 17.8mpg he gets 4.9rebounds and 8.2points. If he started AND IF he can stay out of foul trouble to play normal starter minutes, he would play about 40 minutes a game. Let's do the math.

40/17.8 = 2.25
2.25 * 4.9 = 11.025 Rebounds
2.25 * 8.2 = 18.45 Points

So not quite 20 but also more than 10. I would bet by playing more he would get to the foul line more and thus get those 2 more points per game. Becaus of his size defenders have a longer way to reach for the ball and thus, they either slap the arm or get him with the body more. For a second year player the man gets to the line alot. If he ever got time and performed well, he'd could start getting Vet calls and get to the line 10 times a game!

I agree he needs to lose 20 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle. That would make him 260, a bit quicker and a bit stronger. In my eyes that would make him a 20/10 performer.

The key to him being a started and playing 40 a night is staying out of foul trouble and that points to his slow feet due to his weight.

Posted by fishmike:

Sweetney needs 2 things. More minutes and to lose about 20 pounds. He has too many things you cant teach. He has incredible hands and he draws so much contact while still being able to finish.

Sweets last 5 games:
in 22 minutes: 13 points, 6 rebs, 27-30 FTs, 20-37 FGs and only 2.8 PFs a game

I would be very happy with KT at center if Sweetney would start at this point.

Nice game from Jamal. I really like his game. 6 steals last night. He will never be a lock down defender, but I can see him being a good defender like Larry Hughs. I guy thats very disruptive, gets his hands on a lot of balls and is great in the open court.

Can Sweetney be our PF of the future or should Isiah use our assets (the draft and expiring contracts) to try to get our long-term PF? It would be a lot easier to answer this question if they'd give Sweetney 30 mpg for the rest of the season.

Posted by fishmike:

Sweetney needs 2 things. More minutes and to lose about 20 pounds. He has too many things you cant teach. He has incredible hands and he draws so much contact while still being able to finish.

Sweets last 5 games:
in 22 minutes: 13 points, 6 rebs, 27-30 FTs, 20-37 FGs and only 2.8 PFs a game

I would be very happy with KT at center if Sweetney would start at this point.

Nice game from Jamal. I really like his game. 6 steals last night. He will never be a lock down defender, but I can see him being a good defender like Larry Hughs. I guy thats very disruptive, gets his hands on a lot of balls and is great in the open court.

and to talk about sweetney in a different light, if he does get the minutes, he could be a fantasy MONSTER. his FG% is through the roof and FT% is good as well. combine that with something like 16 & 8 and that's a damn good fantasy player.

how does one gain weight during the season? b/c he obviously put on at least 15 lbs since november. remember that pic before the season started? he was all slim and people were talking about him being cut. he probably busted his ass to lose the weight but couldn't keep up with that regimen once the season started. he definitely has bad genes so he needs to get himself a nutritionist and personal trainer to help him during the season. that could be the difference not only from being a 6th man or a starter but from signing a deal worth $40 mil and one worth $60 mil.

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by fishmike:

Nice game from Jamal.

btw, shouldn't that be how we play every 4th quarter from here on out, except with ariza.

jamal
ariza
penny
sweets
kurt

let marbury play 1, 2, and 3 and finish it up with that lineup.

I agree and they have finally realized that our best frontline consists of Sweetney and KT and they are the guys who are playing in thr 4th. I'm afraid we're not going to see much of Ariza until next year since they are winning with TT right now eventhough he has zero effect on the outcome. Sweetney is the reason we're looking good. We finally have an inside/outside game!!

Posted by misterearl:

Does Herb EVER receive any props for holding the team together in transition and getting them to play through a devastating road trip?

Has a single person served up any props for his lineup moves last night?

Nah, let's write another piece about Flip Saunders.

If Herb is the Knicks Nate McMillan will he ever receive the same opportunity to fail?

thats a good argument. Herb or Flip??

but it will depend on how hard the team plays for Herb for the rest of the season and by the looks of it they don't respect him. When you hear your Leader talk about how great Flip Saunders the team is in trouble. Its very unlikely that Herb will be the coach next year. I wouldn't mind sticking with Herb but if you have a chance at Jackson you have to go for it!

Posted by misterearl:

Does Herb EVER receive any props for holding the team together in transition and getting them to play through a devastating road trip?

Has a single person served up any props for his lineup moves last night?

Nah, let's write another piece about Flip Saunders.

If Herb is the Knicks Nate McMillan will he ever receive the same opportunity to fail?

I like Herb and I agree the talent needs to be here for PJ and Saunders too. The diff is that those 2 guys will get players to come here and Herb doesn't. I think Herb can do the job and I hope he gets it but he may be the guy who rebuilds it but then doesn't win it.

I will not at all be upset with Herb as our coach next year. I think he is preaching D and the team is playing hard for him.

IT wants a name though to help him get players to come here.

If you are really excited about getting a win against a team that has one 20 games without its best player, you guys really need to relax.....

Positives are few and far between, we managed to beat an expansion team without its best player, lose to the Kings without Weber,Peja, and Mobley, and did the same against the Cavs without Lebron......

What credit does Herb deserve, sure he is in a tough spot without question, but his teams two wins should have both been gimmies, i still don't like the time out against the heat last week, and every play down the stretch is a pick and role.......

Ariza's defense has been really bad but thats ok since he is a rookie, and is at least active out there, he often leaves his man open from three, and that is why his time is getting reduced.....

Sweetney needs more minutes without question he needs to be getting 30 minutes a night at the center position, to find himself, because Nazr is one of the worst defenders i have ever seen.....

Penny and Kurt have been playing well, and Jerome Williams needs to get a little more time, if nothing else to frustrate players and give hard fouls.......

Marbury offensively you can't ask for more....The man has no heart, so what you want, but if you don't take pride in your defense your a chump, mo williams came down last night and hit three jumpers in a row because Marbury was playing off him.....He doesn't care to get around screens or get a hand up.....

This team is lacking heart and should be atop this division, all it takes is effort and hustle....but

TT, Craw, Marbury, Nazr don't but forth the necessary effort on a consistent basis, defense is contagious, as is hustle.....these ****ing guys never hit the floor especially crawford and marbury.....HEART HEART HEART is what its going to take