Caleb:
But… when do we start to worry about Stoudemire? Through seven games he has a TS% barely over 50, and a career-low rebound percentage (about 2/3 David Lee’s rebound #). He looks ok to the naked eye but for a guy with his health history you have to wonder if he’s coming down with Larry Johnson syndrome. Another 5 games like that and I will panic.  

And when should GS worry about Lee? His TS% is even worse: 125 points below his career average!

irvin00: Chandler should start, istead of Gallo.  

no he shouldnt. chandler cant shoot and our problem is shooting. if chandler started the paint would be packed in.

or that lineup. yuck. no more Chandler, please.

Ted Nelson: So, generally I think the Knicks do better when they shoot more 3s. Celts and Blazers are expections, but those are good teams the Knicks actually played very closely. The great collapse against the Blazers came almost entirely on WC and Amare taking over the offense, as in the 4th the other shooters were actually 3-4 for 8 points from the perimeter.

You could also argue that the lower number of attempts are a result of teams defending the three better, resulting in fewer available three point shots and in the shots that are available being a higher degree of difficulty. The evidence seems to support that–
Knicks 3pt% in games with fewer than 24 3pt attempts: 21%
Knicks 3pt% in games with 24 or more 3pt attempts: 38.6%

I think it’s simply a case of the fact that the better the defense, the more patient you have to be. Against certain teams, the middle will be consistently be more open, and against other teams, the perimeter will be more open, but really good defensive teams will not consistently reveal a weakness. On one play, you may be able to find an open three, and on another play you may be able to get into the interior, but on most of those places it will take patience and awareness in order to

It’s a matter of evaluating the defense in the moment, and that’s when you really can’t get around not having good decision makers, and so far this year, the knicks have exhibited an inability to make those play-by-play adjustments. The culprits seem to change from game to game. Early on it was Amare and Gallinari. Last night it was mostly the guards: Douglas, Felton, and Walker. They all forced shots in the paint or from the perimeter at various times during the game, resulting in steals, charges, or missed shots.

The bottom line too is that good defensive teams ARE going to get more stops, and that doesn’t always mean you need to adjust. Sometimes you just have to trust that even though the defense made a great recovery last time you made that pass, they aren’t always going to make that spectacular defensive play.

Ted Nelson:
Agree 100%. Great points. This is part of what I’m getting at with them not seeming to know what a good shot is and isn’t.
Agree 100% about the stagnant offense. It’s all sort of inter-related I’d say.  

I never take stats off a blowout loss. I want to see offense in a close game. That’s when a real MAN and REAL ballas like AMARE step up and show their skill sets. So far, David Lee’s NBA career is about filling up the statsheet for losing… teams in blowout scenarios!!!!!