hoolahoop: The knicks suck.

Ok… I disagree.

hoolahoop: I don’t know how old you guys are, but I’ve been watching this team a long, long time. I’m not fooled.

If you don’t remember when they were a good team you can’t be all that old or have been watching them for a long time. You know… they have won 2 championships and made a couple other finals trips.

Again… I think you are wrong that the talent on this team “sucks” as you so eloquently put it. We’ll get to see as their careers progress.

hoolahoop: please tell me where exactly are the knicks going?

You are a real pessimist, huh? They have a brand new team with a lot of young talent, cap space going forward, one of the best scorers in the NBA, a much improved defense… I can’t tell you exactly where they’re going, but I am optimistic it’s a good place.

Z: … Hopefully Donnie Walsh didn’t gut the team, trade away kids and the picks, and rebuild the team from the bottom up, just to have Wilson Chandler lead the team in FG attempts.  

Z, Agreed, but please tell me where exactly are the knicks going? Donnie Walsh is certainly not the charismatic elder statesman that lures top talent to the greatest stage. Rightfully, he gutted the team to start from scratch to build cap space and hopefully reel in Lebron. Unfortunately, every other GM in the league had the same brainstorm. I think Donnie Walsh shot his load.
I get pissed off when I look around the league at other teams that were as hopeless as the knicks and have turned it around (Heat, Bulls, Celtics, Hawks, Thunder, Hornets, Grizzlies…and soon the Nets).
Blame starts at the top. Dolan has destroyed the franchise.

Against Portland, WC made positive things happen. He kept them in the game.
Every season, all the fans are optimistic and hopeful, and overestimate the talent of the team. I don’t know how old you guys are, but I’ve been watching this team a long, long time. I’m not fooled.

Frank: The lack of 3 point shooting on this team is the other thing that is killing us.

I think it will turn around. There are a bunch of good shooters on the squad.

Spree8nyk8: Like I said before, until the offense starts having a better flow to it, there is going to be a high amount of poor shots.

A bunch of us have been saying this for days… I don’t see why you say, “you guys are wrong” and then make the exact same argument we’ve been making to prove we’re wrong…

Spree8nyk8: I’d personally like to have Amare or WC taking them, because they have been the best scorers

They have not been… They have scored the most, not the best. You are probably a huge Allen Iverson fan, no?

hoolahoop: Now imagine someone analyzing the game suggesting WC should be passing more to us guys because his TO% wasn’t good. That would be a ludicrous.  

Your comparison is “ludicrous…” The Knicks have a talented NBA team. I really don’t understand what you’re trying to say??? The Knicks players not named Wilson Chandler are no better than you and I?

The “human element” at play is the REASON poor shooters shoot a lot. In this case it is that a human (Mike D’Antoni) wants him to chuck it. Chandler said this on October 23rd, right before preseason ended: “Coach says I pass up a lot of shots. That’s the biggest part. The confidence to take shots.”

D’Antoni’s job is, essentially, to encourage the good shooters to shoot and the poor shooters to pass to the good shooters. But coach doesn’t seem to care who’s shooting, where their shooting from, or how much time is on the clock when the shot goes up. All he really cares about is whether the shot is going into his basket or the opponents. He really doesn’t like the latter.

Now imagine someone analyzing the game suggesting WC should be passing more to us guys because his TO% wasn’t good. That would be a ludicrous.

Like I said before, until the offense starts having a better flow to it, there is going to be a high amount of poor shots. So if someone is going to have to take one of those shots I’d personally like to have Amare or WC taking them, because they have been the best scorers. I just really think that at this point, ten new guys, brand new season. Everyone learning everyone else, expecting efficiency is a bit ridiculous. But hey, that’s just me.

Anyway I’ll go back and look. Maybe you are more correct than I’m giving you credit for. But I’m going to chart it myself and see.

That being said – there appears to be a major offensive problem on this team. I’m no basketball coach and I must admit that there are probably plays going on that I can’t see with my eyes — but it sure does look like 1-on-1 over and over again. There MUST be a better way to play. I really don’t want to hear that teams are taking away the pick and roll. PHX ran it just about every single play. Orlando ran it 90% of the time against Cleveland with Turkoglu and Howard. D’Antoni has to figure out a way to get a player he called the best dive man in the league the ball on the move towards the hoop.

The lack of 3 point shooting on this team is the other thing that is killing us. Presumably Gallo is hurt and that is why he sucks right now — but if we are relying on Wilson Chandler to be our main 3-ball threat, we are in serious trouble.

Re: Chandler — he’s basically playing the same way he did at the start of last season, just shooting more. By December someone told him to stop shooting 5 3′s a game and he became much more efficient. Love his D and rebounding though.

I don’t think Amare is a dramatic improvement over Lee. I think its a push to slight edge for Amare’ depending on style of play. But I think with Amare’ you can wonder about winning, with Lee you know you wont win. I was ready for a change in the style of play. The style has changed, they results well….