D’Antoni is simply not going to use a long rotation, not his style. he only question is who will make the cu.

I don’t think he’s going to play Jeffries much. The league knows what he is by now so there is no need to showcase him.

Hill will get limited opportunities at first. His burn will depend on how Curry and Darko perform. If both play reasonably well or if one plays very well, Hill won’t see much action. My guess is that unless he has a surprisingly strong preseason, he will have to wait for an injury or a trade involving any frontcourt player to get into the rotation.

We’re short on guards, so they will probably all be in the rotation. If Douglas plays well, Nate and Chandler eat up most SG minutes, at Hughes’ expense. If Douglas is not ready, Hughes moves into SG rotation and Nate slides over to PG more regularly.

So, assuming Lee and Nate are signed, and barring a trade or injury, my prediction for the rotation is:

Starters:Duhon, Chandler, Gallo, Lee, Curry
Subs: Harrington, Nate, Douglas, Darko

Likely, but not definite rotation sub: Hughes

Spot/situational duty: Hill, Jeffries, end-of-bench scrubs just added and not worth naming.

My guess is that Walsh will continue to work feverishly to trade Curry and/or Jeffries for a guard.

I don’t blame Donnie for this, it’s the rumormongering press that upsets me. Specifically, Hahn’s sources are all over the place.

In absolute terms I don’t think it’s a stretch anyway.

First it’s important to define solid. By solid I mean around the league average, give or take a bit. Solid: not strong and not weak.

The Knicks were the 23rd best defense in the league last season, 1/2 way between average and the worst. They were a better defensive team last season with Nate on the floor. He causes TOs with his steals, rebounds well for a guard, and is an exceptional athlete.
Fighting through screens is a good proxy for defensive effort, but is not an all-encompassing defensive measure. Pressuring the ball when you have limited help behind you is not necessarily a smart strategy.

Lee is not a center. The previous two seasons, with Lee at his natural spot, the Knicks were a better defensive team with him on the floor. He’s a beast on the boards and a solid athlete. I respect D’Antoni for trying to get his best players on the court, but I really hope one or more guys step up and push Lee back to PF.

These two are not all-defense candidates, but also aren’t guys who will hurt your team defense. That’s what I mean by solid.

I am really tired of people complaining about the speed of the offseason. Two first rounders, an in-shape Eddy Curry, a (fingers crossed) healthy Danilo, a semi-passable C in Darko, runs at Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Andre Miller, and Ramon Sessions, being close to bringing back Lee and Nate without overpaying… what more were people looking for? Was Donnie Walsh going to turn garbage into treasure before the season even starts?
I would have loved to see Curry and Jeffries traded, Walsh move up in the draft (hardly a sure thing unless he got up to #1, anyway), sign some exciting FAs… but none of those things were very feasible.
I’m not amped to have Darko, but prefer a barely passable C for this roster than the barely passable wing given up to get him. I wasn’t high on Hill before the draft, but he’s the Knicks most promising defensive bigman since…. I don’t know, Camby???
If Hill, Douglas, Darko, and Curry are total non-factors and Danilo plays only 400 minutes then I will call this a slow offseason.

I said that there are one or two other Knicks I would say are solid defenders AND proven NBA scorers, and that neither is signed. Lee is one, and Robinson I would say is the other although I know everyone will start screaming about how a short guy can’t possibly be a good defender and that they hate Nate because of his attitude, blah, blah, blah… I would call Nate a solid defender, though.

Ted you must have the lowest standards in recorded history to call Lee and Nate solid. Nate never met a screen he didn’t go under, barely pressures the ball while Lee is overmatched at C and passable at PF, notwithstanding the good 2-3 possessions in an row he once played against Yao. Its a slow dry off season if this is what passes for comment worthy. I guess I could rave about the newest signing the Lakers former 15th man Sun Yue.

Shot selection is less important than whether you actually make your shots (I would never advise someone to take as many long 2 pt fade-aways as MJ did, for example), although there is definitely a relationship between the two.
Harrington has put up a TS% above 54% the past three seasons and was at 55.5% for the Knicks last season. On their careers they’ve got similar TS%, but I’m more comfortable with Harrington at this point based on three straight seasons then Jamal based on one good scoring season.
Their shot selections are not that similar, anyway, in that Crawford regularly take 80% or more of his shots as jumpers (86% in 07-08). Harrington take 1/3 of his shots from close.
Anyway, Jamal Crawford regularly played 35-40 mpg for the Knicks. Who else on the Knicks (besides Harrington) can put up 21.3 pts/36 on a TS% of 55.5% or higher? Only a few guys: Nate, Curry, maybe Lee, and maybe Danilo (maybe Hill or Douglas, but probably not as rookies…).

“His defense is no better than Lee’s IMO”

I said that there are one or two other Knicks I would say are solid defenders AND proven NBA scorers, and that neither is signed. Lee is one, and Robinson I would say is the other although I know everyone will start screaming about how a short guy can’t possibly be a good defender and that they hate Nate because of his attitude, blah, blah, blah… I would call Nate a solid defender, though.

“I think we should try to have Gallo and Chandler shoulder the scoring load for the 1st team, but maybe D’Antoni will start Al, who knows? Also, it will be hard playing Al next to Curry: too much crazy spin-moving.”

I’m not really a believer in 1st teams and 2nd teams, but rather a rotation. Anyway, I think Curry has to start (he’s sensitive and needs to be a beast for trade value). I think Al also has a chance of starting. Not that I really care who starts. I see no reason to believe that D’Antoni won’t value scorers. I don’t see him as caring too much about position, but maybe I’m wrong and he cares about it but has a different interpretation than others.
I agree totally that ball-movement is crucial, but last season the Knicks outside of Duhon and Nate didn’t put up good ast-rates compared to their careers: (Player–career–last season w/ Knicks) Harrington–10.5–6.6, Hughes–17.8–13.3, Lee–8.6–10.1 (10.2 career high), Jeffries–9.5–8.7, Q–9.6–9.4. Tim Thomas—10.1–9.3. D’Antoni seemed to keep the ball in limited hands and focus on simple offensive sets (good for a simple team, and still seemed to me like the Knicks’ best ball movement in years).

Chandler is not much of a scorer.
………………..Harrington……..Chandler
PTS/36……….21.3……………..15.6
TS%…………..55.5%…………..51.5%
Jump%……….67%……………..74%
Jump eFG%….47.8%…………..44.2%
Close%……….33%……………..26%
Close eFG%….59.2%…………..58.7%
3P%…………..36.2%…………..32.8%

I would love for Chandler to improve and certainly think he can be as good as Harrington in a few years (CAN be… might be). As I’ve been saying for two years now he’s got to take the ball to the basket with some authority… score on high % shots and draw fouls. He’s a mediocre jump shooter and shouldn’t camp out on the perimeter. I’m sure he will improve a bit, but I would be surprised (pleasantly so) if he posted a TS% above 55%.

Danilo is someone I definitely hope to shoulder a large scoring load in the near future, but I don’t know if that’s going to be early this season. He’s coming off an injury marred rookie season in which he was asked to play a very limited offensive role in limited minutes, and he just turned 21.

I am not a big Al Harrington fan. I am just trying to be realistic. The Knicks are not overflowing with talent. If Harrington is not playing I think it could be a very good sign that several other players are exceeding expectations.
Personally, I would like to see Harrington played for a few weeks/months and then traded for another expiring plus a pick. They might keep him around to boost the win total a little for incoming FAs, though.

I would say that if Danilo and Chandler are the Knicks primary scoring options and get 35-40 mpg, the team probably doesn’t win 20 games… maybe not 10. (That’s just what I see as likely, maybe they both break out in a big way.) I would like to see no one shouldering the load, and a somewhat democratic system where Nate, Lee, Curry, Harrington, Danilo (maybe Hill and/or Douglas) are getting more shots than others.