Comments on: Two Weekend Tidbits

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:19:03 +0000

I dunno – Turiaf is pretty good. Despite his league-worst rebound rate, the Knicks are actually a better rebounding team with him on the court than off. Is that because he blocks out more? Or because when he’s in there STAT is at the 4 and when he’s not, Chandler’s at the 4? Don’t know, but the Knicks are about even on offense when he’s in and significantly better on D when he’s in. Not sure Turiaf is really the problem. I also want to see more of AR but his minutes probably should come from someone else other than Turiaf.

http://www.82games.com/1011/10NYK13.HTM#onoff

By: afrikan_hermis

afrikan_hermis — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 12:29:43 +0000

Is the P&R and corner 3 ball and NO INTERIOR DEFENSE the only play book MDA can boost off? Is this OVERPAID OVERRATED coach the only one available? Can he even half way compare to Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson or Popovitch? How long can we allow him to prefer family over team by designating and crediting HIS BROTHER as “defensive coordinator” instead of burying his ego and hiring Lawrence Frank as defensive coordinator when he was available? At least he recently took a team called NJ Nets to finals TWO TIMES, something MDA CAN NEVER accomplish with his SMALL BALL CORNER 3 MENTALITY, with or without Melo. Another point I forgot to mention is that earlier in the season, the guards INCLUDING Felton had trouble mastering the P&R and were so selfish to impress to crack the rotation that they were unable to bring the best out of AR and Timo. For example Timo would Block a shot and out pace everybody to be wide open in the pait with his hands raised up only to see a guy like Douglas pass the ball to the wing for 3 that doesn’t fall instead of rewarding his wide open team mate.
My advice to Pres. Walsh is IMMEDIATELY hire Hakeem as both the defensive and post moves coordinator ( remember the job he did for Howard AND Kobe? ) and force MDA to play AR and Mozgov before he makes you look like a fool to bring them here. If he resists, FIRE HIM FAST! In fact since hard head MDA will never change his coaching mentality, the best solution will be to replace him with a more complete coach like Patrick (If Dolan will allow ). If not low key and hard working Lawrence Frank (I don’t think Doc. Rivers won’t agree ) will do. Or we can wait for either Doc Rivers or Phil Jackson next year. Also Mr. Walsh NEVER let Fields go. Never trade AR for now until new coach comes in. See if you can buy 1st round pick with 3 mil. (Dolan can afford that). Also keep Mozgov by all means. And never let both Gallo and Chandler go for Melo’s trade.It should be either one, although I prefer Chandler…

By: afrikan_hermis

afrikan_hermis — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:12:53 +0000

Guys you all have done a great job exposing the weakness of MDA’s INFLEXIBILITY of preferring the system over the players and REFUSING to see INTERIOR DEFENSE, REBOUNDING and SHOT BLOCKING as an integral part of winning PLAYOFF and CHAMPIONSHIP games. Reason why he wasted Darko and is wasting AR and Mozgov. Folks AR is hands down better than Turiaf. As Careb points out ” the point is to use a guy’s strength and not to fix him in a box “We shouldn’t forget that Turiaf is WORSE IN THE LEAGUE REBOUNDING at his 5 position and except for an occasional block ( AR blocks more ), opponents just drives and dunk on him. His misleading higher assists in only due to the fact that he is afraid to shoot and rather passes the ball, even when about 5ft from the basket. Next let us contrast him to Mozgov who is a better shooter ( and not afraid to shoot ), POLICES the paint better any other Knick, since PatricK, BLOCK and ALTERS shots with his strength and height ( he is stronger and taller than Turiaf ), and is perhaps the best athletic above-the-rim P&R dunker next to Amar’e on the team.Folks go to you tube and watch Mozgov highlights 10/18/2010 and HIGHLIGHTS MIX. Then check on the same http://www.knickerblogger.net SOME PLAYS COUNT/Mozgov for yourself and see how like AR, when given the opportunity to play, even for 5-10mins a game, when opponents are killing us in the paint, can mean the difference between victory and defeat. On You tube, pat particular attention to how Mozgov powerfully DESTROYS 1. Stephen Jackson, 2. Tony Parker, 3.Derick Rose (team USA vs Russia) and 4. Paul Pierce, especially how he uses his athletism and ability to run the floor to chase PP from way back stage and catch him on the rim a la AR at Golden States. A look at how embarrassed PP looked after his team mates helped him up from his daydream on the floor says it all.How can MDA’s inflexibility and penchant of WASTING guys like Darko, AR and Mozgov allowed to go on?

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:44:54 +0000

The funniest part was Fields comes in, hits a big three, then comes out and Extra E comes in and plays terribly, including an awful loose ball foul that could have lost the game right there, and then Felton won’t even pass to Extra E when he’s wide open from behind the arc!

So why was Extra E out there, then!?!?!?

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:20:53 +0000

The thing that kills me about Fields sitting is that arguably his best attribute is his ridiculous rebounding from the 2 position. The Knicks are clearly a better rebounding team with him on the floor as opposed to off —

http://www.82games.com/1011/10NYK7.HTM#onoff

and in fact, the guy who probably plays most in his place (Shawne Williams) has the worst +/- of any guy who actually gets minutes, and kills our defensive rebounding:

http://www.82games.com/1011/10NYK10.HTM#onoff

I don’t think it’s an overstatement that our poor defensive rebounding has cost us 5-10 losses already this year, if not 15. I think Fields pretty much has to play Amare/Felton type of minutes, even if Extra E has to sit.

By: Jimmy C

Jimmy C — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:09:26 +0000

latke: to me the bigger indictment of MDAs extra focus on defense has been Fields’ relatively low minutes. Fields makes a good percentage of his 3s (38%), but he takes them less often than Williams or Walker and makes them at a lower clip (55% and 42% respectively). IMO this has motivated MDA to sit Fields, especially at crucial points in the fourth quarter, and although it has helped our offense, it has exacerbated our weaknesses (rebounding and defense), for only a marginal reward on offense.

This one's beyond me too. Fields isn't Ron Artest -- yet -- but he's pretty versatile and can guard most positions somewhat effectively. And that's increasingly valuable towards the end of the game when most teams are running more sets, in that Fields is quicker on switches and just moves his feet better than either Williams or Walker. Fields takes and makes at lower clips, yes, but I've also noticed that he's pretty deadly if he has time to set his feet. To the extent that late-in-the-game possessions will see the ball move around more, I like having Landry out there: if he's wide open, he's got a good chance of making it. If he's not, you can trust him to make the right pass.

By: latke

latke — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:58:15 +0000

to me the bigger indictment of MDAs extra focus on defense has been Fields’ relatively low minutes. Fields makes a good percentage of his 3s (38%), but he takes them less often than Williams or Walker and makes them at a lower clip (55% and 42% respectively). IMO this has motivated MDA to sit Fields, especially at crucial points in the fourth quarter, and although it has helped our offense, it has exacerbated our weaknesses (rebounding and defense), for only a marginal reward on offense.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:28:16 +0000

But Wilson has been on a rut, so has Felton and we need any help from the bench we can because Corner3 Shawn and Walker are nothing but 3 point shooters (mighty good ones too). The issue is that our bench does not create many open 3s for them to be effective without a Felton or STAT on the floor.

Ah, yes, the unit. Man, do I hate the unit.

By: NateRobinson

NateRobinson — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:25:33 +0000

IMO I believe AR would be much more effective with a Turiaf-like role in the starting lineup. Where he would not get the ball as often, and use his above average passing and oReb skills. Granted, he seems a little lost and teams would force him to make plays if he does the same mistakes he keeps making (braking the O sets).

But Wilson has been on a rut, so has Felton and we need any help from the bench we can because Corner3 Shawn and Walker are nothing but 3 point shooters (mighty good ones too). The issue is that our bench does not create many open 3s for them to be effective without a Felton or STAT on the floor.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:14:42 +0000

flossy: @34 Mmm hmm.That’s why I said he needs to learn to stand in the corner and can threes if he wants to see the court.Is that the best use of his talent?Obviously not.But that one particular skill is so important to this system and coach that it would virtually guarantee him playing time if AR could just learn to do that.

If he could learn to hit the corner 3 and play within the system, he could be the Shawn Marion-type that Wilson is trying to play. But those are 2 big ifs. The injury risk angle is something I had not thought about. Makes sense I guess. So if no trade goes through maybe he will get some burn.