Comments on: Knicks Morning News (Saturday, Oct 20 2012)

By: er

er — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:50:18 +0000

lmao @ jamal crawford

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jamal-crawford-only-started-practicing-shooting-232948543–nba.html

By: daJudge

daJudge — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 21:36:13 +0000

chris–sorry, been out with my dog (big ass Newfie pup (80 lbs))…I know what you mean about who starts. I’m not sure, but I don’t think this formula works. If Stat is a negative defensively and rebounding- wise, someone else with that skill set should start. My view is that the other starters have the skill set that corresponds to their position. Whatever critique might be leveled against Melo, the _____shooting guard, point guard(s) and center(s), they all fit the roles they are designated to fill. One guy out of that mix can disrupt the formula. JK47….what you say is a reasonable expectation, but Stat is not IMO a power forward as traditionally understood. Forcing him in that role will only disappoint. The Knicks have depth. Maybe they should consider that and utilize players accordingly.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:36:46 +0000

I think that Amare was trying our post moves as part of preseason. He made both of his mid-range shots, so that’s a good sign. He’s at his best either in the P&R or in iso when he makes guys pay for laying off of him from 15-18 feet. I would like to see him play sort of a Horace Grant-style PF (with better offense), concentrating more on rebounding and defense and less on 1-on-1 power moves, i.e. take what the defense gives him.

By: JK47

JK47 — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:24:43 +0000

I would think that a max-contract PF would be able to, you know, play PF.

By: chrisk06811

chrisk06811 — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:09:02 +0000

daJudge…I agree that Amare would school most backup centers, but the problem is, how many minutes a game is that? 12 – 15? some teams have defensive minded backup centers that he may have that much of an advantage against. And, who starts at PF if Amare sits? Camby would be out of position; you are taking Thomas then. As a matter of fact, if Stat takes the BU center minutes, why did we sign camby at all? And…..can stat protect the rim like Camby can? I think we are stuck.

By: daJudge

daJudge — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:47:52 +0000

Can’t disagree much with chrisk…I guess it’s just the type of game that I really enjoy features guys who play to the strengths of their position. BTW, I do not think Stat sucks at all. It’s very frustrating to me that he kind of sucks relative to the more important aspects of being a power forward. I also think he would absolutely school second unit Centers. Maybe having a power forward on the first unit that just gets 8-10 boards, plays tough D and doesn’t worry about scoring really would help the first unit and perhaps moot the Melo/Stat issue at the same time. Ruru-even if it were true that Chandler was worse than Stat last night, that result is quite a striking aberration.

By: ruruland

ruruland — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:02:09 +0000

Whoa. Looks lIke a little confirmation bias in this thread.

Defensively, Amare was not good at all, but Chandler might have been worse.

More importantly, it was the second or third rotation that was killing the Knicks– that is a team-wide problem that will take time to develop.

So, Woodson wasn’t covering for Amare, he was being honest.

James White was very poor defensively. They got more in transition than the Knicks. And so e of what they did was just unguardable shot making.

By: chrisk06811

chrisk06811 — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:12:43 +0000

I’m not sure what I think about Amare coming off the bench. If he sits, who starts? Camby or thomas at the 4? Neither one of them will get guarded. Novak at the 3 and Melo at the 4? I don’t think that works either.

JR comes off the bench, but at the end of the game, when we need our best 5, he plays. If the Amare problem is that he/ chandler play the same position, we still have that problem at the end of the game.

I agree that Melo/Amare should not sit at the same time. Melo sits 10 mins / game, Amare 12, so that’s 22 mins where we get the advantage or not playing them together.

I think the real issue is coach has to change Amare’s expectations, and Chandlers. No 3′s for Amare..strong to the hoop. Block shots, attempt to rebound. Maybe we only want him scoring 15 a game. Maybe he runs some P&Rs instead of Chandler?

He’s not trade-able, and he doesn’t suck, it’s more an issue of not being a great fit and age taking away some of his explosiveness.

I know none of this is new news. Maybe the best way to handle is to start the guy and lower our expectations. Maybe he’s simply an above average offensively / below avg defensively PF? That’s not the end of the world. It’s better than trying to make him something he’s not.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:23:20 +0000

The thing about Prigioni is that he looks to be in incredible shape, kinda like a lanky, cagey welterweight boxer. Kidd just seems to be biding his time our there, he’s moving OK, which is all I care about for now. That touch pass to Novak was sweet.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:21:11 +0000

My guess is that switching is a preseason thing, something importane to practice and also less stressful on the body than fighting through screens. Woodson went away from swtiching last year (to be fair, MDA got away from it towards the end of his tenure.)

I also wondered why Chandler was on Bargnani and Amare was on JV. Would seem that the other way around would be better.