First, Kobe pre-Gasol trade and Kobe post-Gasol trade were not really that different, media narratives be damned. Everybody loved to pretend that the reason the Lakers were winning was because Kobe was “getting it” and using his teammates more, yet his usage rate and scoring efficiency have stayed more or less the same; in fact, his scoring efficiency has dropped more than his usage rate has, if he was sharing the ball more and picking his spots that wouldn’t be the case.

Second, Westbrook has been terrible this season and Durant’s numbers haven’t changed.

Those guys are what they are, and like most wing players it doesn’t really matter what kind of team they are on, their game will be pretty much the same.

Being that he played at Syracuse, you’d assume the fans would know what they are getting. A marksman from 13-20, a bull in the paint, with an elite perimeter first step. He is an offensive machine. He’s no less “efficient” than Kobe or Durant. Kobe has Gasol (top 3 PF) and Bynum (top 3 C), and Durant has an ALL NBA PG, something that helps him immensely. If Westbrook was here, Melo would be a much more “efficient” player. He’d be allowed to do what he does. He gets ridiculed but he is literally tearing it up this season. He is shooting the three better than he ever has, challenging the other players to shoot when open, making good passes out of double teams, and rebounding the ball with aggression. If we can get a role player to actually play his role, a-la, IMAAAAN, his assist numbers would be around 4.5-6.5/pg

Sure we gave away too much for him (although Gallo staying would have been a FA/chemistry disaster..they really should have held onto felton, he was playing career ball running the p@r with Amare) but that does not mean that he is not who “they” say he is. 25 teams in this league would kill for a talented 3 with size and good rebounding instincts. His passing will only get better with experience. His passing ability is top 3 among SF, but his passing savvy is still being developed. That was typed with a straight face.

The Key to the Season is Amare learning to set up shop a little closer to the hoop and use that advantage of quicks to get around bigger, and his strength to go through smaller. This team is also a FT shooting team. Melo, Tyson, and ‘Mare are 3, 4 and 9 in the league in FT attempts a game. That will benefit us when BD comes in and slows things down a bit. Those possessions will mean more, and those FT’s will mean more as a result.

Knicks fans we shall be fine. We aren’t the Heat, Thunder, or Bulls. We are the Knicks, and we are as good as we work to be.

Z: Uh… We made it through Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Steve Francis, Larry Hughes, et al… I think we’ve earned our loyaly stripes.

When I got here, Edmund Sherod was running the point. But, if you blew past him, you had to deal with Marvin Webster. The Human eraser. I believe Marvin is now a city councilman in baltimore (OK…I may have made that up).

Brian Cronin (@Brian_Cronin):
Taking a look at the team the Knicks are trailing and staying on the theme of players who have improved a lot this year, what the hell is up with Spencer Hawes?!?

Hawes has been roughly a 50% TS shooter for his career until this year, where his TS is 68%!

His assist rate is up to 17.7% (up from roughly 11%) and his rebound rate is also at a career high 19.3% (where he had been roughly a 14% rebound rate over his career).

His per game stats have moved from 21 minutes a game to 32 minutes a game and he’s averaging 13 and 11, up from 7 and 6 last year!

1. Contract year.
2. Collins didn’t play him last year for some reason, but his numbers 2 and 3 years ago are at least reasonably close to what he’s doing now.
3. He had one 9 assist game early in the year that is probably inflating his assist numbers a bit. Philly’s only played 6 times you know!

But I’m glad I have him in both my fantasy leagues :)

He looks like a better than serviceable pro center. Speaking of which, I caught much of the second half of the Nuggets game last night, and Kosta Koufos is AWESOME. Athletic, blocking shots, finishing in the lane… really impressive getting some burn now that Nene is out.

Here’s why I gave Toney a D, and not an F: Having only played 12 minutes, he just wasn’t out there long enough to do any serious long term damage during the game. Credit D’Antoni for recognizing TD’s struggles and adjusting accordingly. If D’A had continued to ride TD — started him for the second half, etc. — and ish continued to go south, then sure, he might’ve warranted an F.

But regardless, his confidence is clearly shaken. Hopefully the guys — including Shump — can pick TD up and he can go back to being the bench spark plug we desperately need.

On Melo, I think this board is the only place you’ll hear anything negative about him. Everywhere else it’s “Melo paces the Knicks with 37…” Again, I like him because I associate him with tough Big East basketball, but, like most players, he has strengths and weaknesses. So, what we see on this board, from most of the esteemed regulars is thoughtful analysis, and not a lot of rose colored glasses. I’ve aligned myself with the more appreciative watchers. The three point play to put the Knicks up by 10 was the type of shot only a handful of NBA players could make. He had another like it later in the game as well. And the winning three pointer.

For the Knicks to win, though, I think the ball needs to move more and he needs to score less. However, that means other guys need to step up, which, hopefully now happens with Shumpert running the offense. When Melo has that many points it’s kind of like a quarterback throwing for a lot of yards in the NFL. You see a lot of 300+ yard games from quarterbacks in losses. The running game stops working and QB’s have to compensate.