Comments on: Knicks 2010 Season Preview Part 1

By: ess-dog

ess-dog — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:42 +0000

Toney Douglas finally had a nice game – against Alston, not Devin Harris but still a good thing. If he can start hitting that jumper then I will start feeling really good about that pick.

By: d-mar

d-mar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:26:17 +0000

“Back to the guards, if Nate straightens out, I could even see him playing the point when Lebron gets here because of his 3 pt ability and how he gets to the basket.”

Essdog, love your optimism on LeBron. We can only pray…..

I kind of like your idea of starting Darko. As I said above, we have a bad habit of starting games really flat, and a lot of that has to do with the other team scoring at will. You put Nate out there for offense and Darko for D, and maybe it works. Or maybe not…

By: ess-dog

ess-dog — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:40:45 +0000

I think the Knicks need to bite the bullet this year and start Nate for better or for worse. Yes he’s a great 6th man, but he’s possibly our 2nd best player! He needs to be on the floor, despite his defense (which could be improving.) It would/will get pretty scary if Nate gets hurt though. Maybe Tony D can play some 2 guard in a pinch.
No one’s that excited about Duhon. I think if he plays at the level of an “average NBA starting point guard” we will be lucky. I would start him, Nate, Chandler, Lee and Darko. Darko’s shotblocking can help make up for Duhon and Nate’s D. Gallo will eventually takeover for Chandler, Harrington can be the 6th man, Jeffries will play a bit of everything, and Hill and Douglas should get some backup minutes. My fear/thinking is that D’Antoni will start Jeffries at C/F with Lee to showcase him (and he’s been playing better and can play D.) Maybe this is not much worse than Darko, but it’s a pretty weak front line. Darko at least has muscle.
Back to the guards, if Nate straightens out, I could even see him playing the point when Lebron gets here because of his 3 pt ability and how he gets to the basket.

By: BigBlueAL

BigBlueAL — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:15:40 +0000

The more I watch him play the less I like Duhon to be honest.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:12:34 +0000

I have to say that I am less optimistic now than I was prior to the preseason. So much is riding on Gallo, yet he looks very much like he did with the bad back last year, i.e. stiff and slow. I would almost bet that his back is still a problem.

I also think that the reality for Duhon is somewhere between his first half and second half last year, and likely closer to the latter. The league has adjusted to the pick and roll, denying the pass and forcing him to go to the basket.

Nate is a sensationally talented player. I like the message that D’Antoni is trying to drive through his thick skull… that his attitude has already cost him over a million bucks and may cost him many more millions if he doesn’t pull himself together and act like a pro. He is the only player we have that can totally disrupt the other team’s game plan… if he’s hitting his shot and playing under control.

I think Douglas is going to get better and better. A master wordsmith he is not, but he can play on my team any time.

By: Dan Panorama

Dan Panorama — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:40:02 +0000

Great preview, can’t wait to see the other installments. I really hope Duhon’s problem was just minutes (it would make a ton of sense, of course) and he’ll be fine with Douglas and Nate spotting him more.

And speaking of preseason projections: last call for Knickerblogger fantasy league on yahoo! League ID is 210135 (2010 Starts Early).

By: d-mar

d-mar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:54:44 +0000

Robert – excellent start to Knicks preview, and based on Nate’s wacky tweets, he should definitely have his own reality show.

Duhon – it’s true, if you’re describing him, you would say “he’s a really good ______ ?” Average in basically all facets of the game, but he is what he is and he’s our guy, for this season anyway.

Nate – unfortunately, we really do need him to come up big (no pun intended) this year to be a respectable team. He does jump start the offense, and I can see why D’Antoni is considering starting him, as there are way too many games where we get in a 25-12 hole by coming out and playing like we’re asleep.

Douglas – great comparison to Chris Childs, and I would be fine if he reached that level. I like what I’ve seen in the preseason, and it never hurts to have a pit bull coming in off the bench. I hope he drops the third person crap, though.

Looking forward to the next entries. I’m sure Gallo will generate a lot of discussion.