jon abbey: there are a lot of hypotheticals here, but I guess my answer is that Amare can be deadly shooting 15 footers (although he was awful at it last year), so in this imaginary world there’s room for Chandler or Camby to defend the rim and mostly stay out of the way on offense. if those two were both in their peak offensive form at the same time, I don’t think you would need much offensive help from the other guys on the court with them. that being said, I don’t see this happening, I was just answering your hypothetical.

Yes, there are too many hypothetical about what exactly this two-man game would look like (I, for one, would not like to see Amar’e limited to 15′ jumpers; the guy needs to be able get to the rim without committing offensive fouls). But I do think an effective two-man offense that had STAT and Melo would only get you so far on it’s own: you’d need 3 very good defenders to complement them — and at least two of those guys need to be able to hit an open outside shot. There’s Chandler and JR, but I’m not sure how much defense or outside shooting you can get out of our 3 PGs.

In any case, it seems like Melo and Amar’e should either be playing together on the same side of the court or they shouldn’t be sharing the court at all. I just can’t understand why we’re this far along since the trade and yet there’s not even an attempt to run plays that utilize both of them as genuine scoring options regularly, but there’s still reluctance to take Amar’e out of the lineup. It just doesn’t make sense.

sisterray: So you think there’s enough room on the court for their hypothetical two-man game plus Chandler (essential if you’re going to even partially make up for the stars’ defensive ineptitude/laziness)? And you think that the guards who contribute defense are reliable enough for that outside shot on the kick-out (essential both as a Plan B and for keeping the defense honest)?

there are a lot of hypotheticals here, but I guess my answer is that Amare can be deadly shooting 15 footers (although he was awful at it last year), so in this imaginary world there’s room for Chandler or Camby to defend the rim and mostly stay out of the way on offense. if those two were both in their peak offensive form at the same time, I don’t think you would need much offensive help from the other guys on the court with them. that being said, I don’t see this happening, I was just answering your hypothetical.

yellowboy90: Well I think you saw that when Amar’e played in the pre-season. They started it briefly last year when Woodson took over especially to close out Indy or the Sixers but that was wen Amar’e played the 5. They will not only PnR together but post and cut together from the wing and opposite wing and cuts to the rim.

Well, we didn’t see much of Amar’e in the preseason, and I certainly didn’t see him and Melo working together a lot.

Put it this way:
In all the minutes Melo and Amar’e have been on the floor simultaneously in 1.5 seasons, how many times have they assisted one another?
How many times has one of them set a pick for one another?
How many times have they even passed to one another in a half-court set?

I don’t have any stats to share here (anyone?), but every time Melo assists Amar’e everyone singles out that play and demands more just like it.
And Amar’e even trying a PnR with Melo or drawing Melo’s defender and then hitting Melo for a spot-up 18 footer or setting up in the post and then hitting a cutting Melo? It’s just doesn’t happen.

sisterray: So you think there’s enough room on the court for their hypothetical two-man game plus Chandler (essential if you’re going to even partially make up for the stars’ defensive ineptitude/laziness)? And you think that the guards who contribute defense are reliable enough for that outside shot on the kick-out (essential both as a Plan B and for keeping the defense honest)?

And if all that’s really the case, then why doesn’t Woodson just put his foot down and FORCE Melo and Amar’e to play on the same side of the court until they figure out some way to play off each other? (The penalty for failure would be what everyone thinks is already necessary: Amar’e loses his spot in the starting line-up and gets moved to the second string.)

One of the most frustrating things about watching the Knicks for the last 1.5 seasons is that they don’t even seem to be TRYING to develop a two-man game between Melo and Amar’e. Is it because they are concerned about other holes that this would open up or enlarge, or is it because they’ve determined that there is ZERO CHANCE that these two guys can actually play together (in which case, why are they playing together?)?

Well I think you saw that when Amar’e played in the pre-season. They started it briefly last year when Woodson took over especially to close out Indy or the Sixers but that was wen Amar’e played the 5. They will not only PnR together but post and cut together from the wing and opposite wing and cuts to the rim.

jon abbey: I’d say most of them, since there are a ton of great defensive role players on the team that could play alongside them and cover up their defensive failings (mostly Amare, Melo can play D when he wants).

So you think there’s enough room on the court for their hypothetical two-man game plus Chandler (essential if you’re going to even partially make up for the stars’ defensive ineptitude/laziness)? And you think that the guards who contribute defense are reliable enough for that outside shot on the kick-out (essential both as a Plan B and for keeping the defense honest)?

And if all that’s really the case, then why doesn’t Woodson just put his foot down and FORCE Melo and Amar’e to play on the same side of the court until they figure out some way to play off each other? (The penalty for failure would be what everyone thinks is already necessary: Amar’e loses his spot in the starting line-up and gets moved to the second string.)

One of the most frustrating things about watching the Knicks for the last 1.5 seasons is that they don’t even seem to be TRYING to develop a two-man game between Melo and Amar’e. Is it because they are concerned about other holes that this would open up or enlarge, or is it because they’ve determined that there is ZERO CHANCE that these two guys can actually play together (in which case, why are they playing together?)?

sisterray:
I have a question, especially for those of us who don’t see this team going far (that includes myself, but I can’t answer my own question):

What do you think would happen if Melo and STAT did somehow develop a two-man game finally, something that could be used as Plan A on offense? (There are a number of possibilities conceivable here of course, but the idea is that they’re actually playing together instead of hiding from each other on opposite sides of the court.) How much of the Knicks’ problems do you think that would solve?

I’d say most of them, since there are a ton of great defensive role players on the team that could play alongside them and cover up their defensive failings (mostly Amare, Melo can play D when he wants).

What do you think would happen if Melo and STAT did somehow develop a two-man game finally, something that could be used as Plan A on offense? (There are a number of possibilities conceivable here of course, but the idea is that they’re actually playing together instead of hiding from each other on opposite sides of the court.) How much of the Knicks’ problems do you think that would solve?

ruruland:

Kidd, Felton, Melo is a superior playmaking lineup to Rose, Deng and Boozer. In fact, you can easily make the argument that Felton is a superior playmaker to Rose, merely on the basis of assists.

Two point guard lineups should eventually work really well with Brewer at the 3 and either Melo or Amar’e at the 4.

superior playmaking, but who will they be making plays for? Rose/Deng/Boozer can all get their own shots, that is a decidedly better offensive troika than Kidd/Felton/Melo IMO. I’m really pessimistic about the offense right now, in case that isn’t clear.

BigBlueAL:
This board is more hostile toward the Knicks than Yankee blogs were during the playoffs and the regular season hasnt started yet lol

the Yankees made the final four, this team will almost certainly not do that IMO, so it’s justified. plus I believe the Yankees have made 10 ALCSs in the last 17 years, pretty incredible track record.