Comments on: 2010 Game Thread and Preview: Knicks at Wizards

By: Roadking

Roadking — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:40:59 +0000

Latke: My franchise model goes back to the 69-73 Knicks. With re: creativity, I think knowing where your guys are and what they are doing enhances creativity, for those select players, like Clyde and Monroe. I don’t want to see a fascist system, but laissez faire with regular players is awful to watch. Again with the true top shelf player, not an issue, except for the supporting cast. I do not like the idea of so-called athletic players chucking the ball up as quickly as possible. It might be my generation, but I believe many of my peers would agree. Of course, this is not to say athleticism isn’t important. Anyway, I just wanted to state my preference to guys that do their job in their respective position. If I needed surgery, i’d go to a surgeon, not a dermatologist. If I want someone to pass me the ball, I want a point guard, not a swing man.

By: BigBlueAL

BigBlueAL — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:27:11 +0000

BTW here is the article about Lebron to the Lakers depending on Phil Jackson future crap:

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/lazenby/2010/02/28/lebron-a-laker/

By: BigBlueAL

BigBlueAL — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:50:12 +0000

So how about the newest rumor about Lebron wanting to play for Phil Jackson with the Lakers, OR if not then Phil Jackson becomes the head coach of the Knicks this off-season bringing Lebron James with him to NY.

This summer cant come soon enough, if anything to stop all the rumors….

By: Owen

Owen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:07:57 +0000

Yeah, if I were Lee I would give serious thought to going to OKC. He would be a perfect fit there. They have the third best defense and just the 18th best offense in the league.

By: tastycakes

tastycakes — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:49:49 +0000

It’s not like David Lee has ever been particularly good at defense, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a very, very good player, and it doesn’t mean a team can’t win with him.

A couple of years back, I’d say stuff like “Well, if David Lee is your best player, you’re not going very far.” After the first T-Mac game, I thought .. this is (was) probably the best player David ever played with. But T-Mac is looking pretty cooked, and he’s over the hill anyway.

Point being: D Lee can’t do it alone. If he leaves the Knicks, I could see him going to the Thunder and being a perfect fit for a team that is: A. already good defensively, B. offensively challenged outside of Durant, C: doesn’t have a great rebounder. A team that masks his limitations would be ideal.

As for the matador D .. the Knicks have NOBODY else in the frontcourt. What is David supposed to do? Getting into foul trouble will kill the Knicks chances, but as it is, teams with legitimate front court players are abusing this Knick team.

Season’s over.

By: latke

latke — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:59:36 +0000

Roadking, the style you’re talking about more or less describes the Spurs. Tony Parker is the only player with an untraditional skillset for his position, but the key to the Spurs’ success is that Popovich knows how to make players play within themselves. What you see in the end is unselfish play. Players realized that the game is not all about them. What you lose (and the reason why the NBA has been trying to shift the rules so as to make the Spurs’ ways less successful) is creativity. Players never make risky plays or try to do what they aren’t sure they can. The game becomes very methodical.

Most other championship teams have at least one player who does lots of things well. Jordan, Kobe… even Chauncey Billups takes liberties/risks that Popovich would have squelched. The problem is you can’t have every player trying to be that transcendent player.

As far as the knicks go, if I’m Donnie Walsh, I listen to offers for Lee. If you can pick up two players who can be effective contributors as starters and have reasonable salaries in exchange for Lee in a sign and trade, I think you have to take that offer. Lee is in his prime. He might get a little better, but really what more can you ask of him? It seems to me that he’s getting the most out of his skills that he can.

By: danvt

danvt — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:01:18 +0000

GAx,
Yeah, sarcasm re Randolph-Crawford.

I just hope that if we whiff on LBJ-Wade we don’t end up with a repeat of the max contract hell we just lived through.

I do think D’Antoni gets off too easily. I mean, a journeyman 7 footer could probably have improved us defensively. Darko must have shown absolutely nothing in practice to get no minutes. Either that or our coach seriously thinks we can make up for poor interior defense by shooting three point shots.

I also think Dodgeball was a really bad movie and Robert Silverman shouldn’t steal lines from it.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:43:06 +0000

T-Mac looks done.

By: GAx

GAx — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:38:44 +0000

I don’t know if it’s too early and my sarcasm meter is broken, butwha? I’ve actually read in comments at other sites that people want Zach/Crawford back, too. Has the walk through the desert been that long?

People blame the coach for poor execution at the end of games. For our horrendous offense/defense. For some guy in the stands ordering Heineken and getting a Bud(apologies to McGrady). Some of these things, yeah, he’s culpable because he’s the coach and the buck stops with him, but these were all shit before he got here. Does Lee have some kind of Mutumbo-like defensive potential D’antoni is incapable of bringing out or something? The guy’s an undersized C, just like Bosh, with very comparable stats especially if you compare contracts. Who on the roster would you trust to start at the 5 every game other than him?

I could go on but the point is this roster was built more on the bones of Isiah’s roster and for their cap space potential, not championship potential. Let’s try not to prove everyone right when they say NY’ers can’t abide rebuilding seasons in order to get the ship right again. That’s led to the patchwork-type team building and culture of losing that has gone on since the Layden years. That’s why it’s almost Mets-like how players who come here seem to lose 40% of their game, and then suddenly have a career rejuvenation elsewhere. That’s why we get no respect from opposing players, because they know our own players aren’t really into the game and we turn low-rents into all-stars. I’ve been waiting for cap space since ’96, and hope since 2000, and I trust the current management to know what to do with it.

By: danvt

danvt — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:47:02 +0000

Robert Silverman inadvertently (I think) quoted Ben Stiller’s “Dodgeball” movie in his analysis of Knicks trades… weak.

Zach Randolph was a monster last night. We could use a guy like that. Maybe, also, a Jamal Crawford type for some offensive punch. I hear Nate Robinson will be an unrestricted FA this off season. What do you guys think of him?

David Lee is a great player. We actually won against the Wizards because he took a shot in a crucial possession. Imagine that, a shot from close in when we need a bucket. Still, he’s not a center and we lose almost every game because he plays out of position. Does anyone else think our coach is overrated?

The thing that burns me the most is how comfortable opponents feel against our team. You can sense their confidence. The best players feel they can set records. Journeymen have career nights. Ex Knicks come in and just embarrass the hell out of us. No pride. No Fight.

Oh except it did get chippy. You can see the frustration. Gallo is lucky Marc Gasol didn’t knock his block off last night after his post whistle elbow. What’s up with him anyway? Harrington launches more shots in one quarter than our young “prodigy” does in a week.
We were supposed to be competitive this year, weren’t we?