This could be meaningless. There might be no reason to expect blind reversion. A lot of people think the Knicks are getting much better 3-point shots this year thanks to Woodson’s system, Kidd’s influence and Carmelo’s selflessness, and also that at least one Knick (Kidd) might be a permanently better 3pt shooter than his 35% career average (though also his average for the past 2 seasons). It’s not as obvious to me from watching the games that this is true, but I’m not exactly charting shots. This 3p% reversion adjustment also puts Carmelo at something akin to a typical efficiency year for him, which is nothing to sneeze at given his usage rate.

I’m actually optimistic that even though they might be playing over their heads offensively, they can improve from where they would be with worse 3pt shooting when they get their injured guys back. Felton and Wallace seem really ineffective offensively at this level of usage; that might decline with Amare back in the mix. And Shumpert minutes seem like pure upside to Brewer and Prigioni minutes. Plus I still haven’t given up on Camby.

I wonder if Hakeem could still be effective in limited duty today, he looks pretty damn good.

lavor postell: two

Melo didn’t come out of the lockout out of shape. While he wasn’t in as good of shape as he’s in now, he got out of shape after missing two weeks while totally off his feet after the hamstring injury against New Jersey.

It was after that stretch that he couldn’t finish anything….

It was the stretch after the Memphis game that was the worst of his career, rushing back too soon after the wrist injury.

As for Deron Williams, his shooting efficiency decline coincides perfectly with putting on a Nets jersey, not with his knee problems, though that’s probably contributing. He has a .513 TS% since leaving the flex offense, which opened up the middle of the floor for him and created a lot of easy baskets for him off the ball — he’s a good cutter and a great for the system.

Now that he’s playing full-time traditional pnr point guard, his attempts at the basket are way down, as are his assisted looks.I would also venture to guess his jumpers are more contested than he was used to in Utah.

Same thing happened to Boozer.

Clearly an issue of leaving a scheme that fit him best: http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Deron%20Williams

lavor postell: two

Melo didn’t come out of the lockout out of shape. While he wasn’t in as good of shape as he’s in now, he got out of shape after missing two weeks while totally off his feet after the hamstring injury against New Jersey.

It was after that stretch that he couldn’t finish anything….

It was the stretch after the Memphis game that was the worst of his career, rushing back too soon after the wrist injury.

As for Deron Williams, his shooting efficiency decline coincided with putting on a Nets jersey.

3309.68

daJudge: Who would’ve thought that the Knicks would blow out the Lakers and Heat in the same week with Melo playing about 1 half in both games combined. I’m at the point that I’ll be seriously disappointed if the Knicks aren’t in the ECF against the Heat. The only team I fear is the Bulls with Rose healthy, but then Amar’e usually shits on Boozer when they both play.

Hakeem to give him a post game, Hopla to give him the three and Amare will fit in just fine!

So if Shumpert follows the same time table, we should see him February, 6 @Washington.

Z-man:

The Nets starting lineup is big and physical, especially with Evans. Gerald Wallace is underrated, Joe Johnson is overrated but still has size and talent, and Blatche was an excellent bench find. At full strength, we are clearly the better team, but I don’t see us blowing them out, their size physicality will keep them in games. I see them as a 48-52 win team, especially with the weak EC if they stay healthy. However, any injury to Williams, Wallace or Lopez makes them very vulnerabe and dilutes their bench.

I pretty much agree with this, but let’s be completely honest. Williams is playing like absolute horse shit right now. Last I checked he was shooting 38% from the field and 27% from 3. He shoots way too many pull up jumpers rather than use his size and strength to get to the rim. Melo played bad last year, but this was partially because of the point forward experiment and coming out of the lockout out of shape. Williams is shooting unconscionably poor for a point guard who is supposedly a solid perimeter shooter.

I have always enjoyed Deron’s game and his distribution is still excellent, but he hasn’t been the superstar D-Will in about 2 years now. They have tied their horses to him and Joe Johnson, two guys who’s games seem to be in decline. Johnson has definitely been a net negative so far this season and is still on the books for 4 years, 83 mill, while Deron signed a 5-year, 100 mill contract.

Deron has missed significant time the last 2 seasons and I believe he is supposed to be getting arthroscopic knee surgery after this year. The knee might be affecting his lift and explosiveness which might account for his especially poor form this year.