Comments on: What ails the Knicks’ D?

By: iyamwutiam

iyamwutiam — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:44:56 +0000

If I read the article correctly – which I think I did – re-read it like 3 times. You start out saying Isiah is right – the interior defence WAS good and the 3 point defnce was not.

THEN- there is a rambling on on about how those numbers MAY NOT be right. Basically a bunch of could be this or that stuff – which is not backed up by ANYTHING – but some possible mystical insight.

Add to that a digression about how they “general pattern” for 2007 is ‘different’ from the specific pattern of the knicks as a ‘trend’- but (lol) on the OTHER HAND some confusing rhetoric -finally followed by a point – which is the “the knicks may hve been doing something right” , your words.

But you conclude that despite the statistical evidence to the CONTRARY- because of “conventional wisdom” (what EVER that means)?!?

Then you basically take a direct quote from Isiah – which in essence is borne out by YOUR statistical analysis (that their interior defence was not the issue but rather their perimeter defence particularly the 3 point line defence) and once again attach your thoughts to it by saying it was Isiah who says that perimeter defence is necessarily linked to interior defence – depite the numbers saying OTHERWISE.

This is EXTREMELY confusing. This comment is NOT meant to be criticaal – although it is. instead – I hae read a lot of your other work and hate to see so much hard work and sincerity be wASHED AWAY with confusing additons and digressions to the topic at hand.

Keep up the great job – and thank you for being a valuable asset to the Knicks fans community.

Lastly- I may have some agreement on whether or not Eddie Curry is being fairly assessed- as noted by other posters.

By: retropkid

retropkid — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:23:43 +0000

When Isaiah complained about the teams’ free throw shooting last year, it was a red herring…they lost games on the floor, not at the line. Sure, they could shoot FTs better, it would help…but the needs are:

1. Perimeter D…Steph just didn’t deliver here, maybe because of his knees, who knows…but rotations were poor, and the guards didn’t come back and help D rebound (until Mardy got time last 14 gamees). Expecting Steph’s improvement in D to be substantial, is imho, wishful thinking…it isn’t who he is…

2. Turn-overs, especially at key moments late in games…this is about decision-making…and the one area Zeke needs to improve as a coach too…put the right guys in the right situations.

3. Rebounds…especially D boards…

Eddie has to improve markedly in 2 and 3 to be a real force…and that’s before asking him to hit the open man occasionally…

If we get Garnett, we have a team, and you don’t need Eddie then. Eddie isn’t the answer and neither is Steph…and that goes double for Zeke and his boss too…

By: dan

dan — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 03:49:26 +0000

As far as I can tell Steph is looney tunes and not the sharpest crayon in the box. Zach doesn’t seem like the nicest person in the world. Ron Artest probably needs medication and lots of therapy. BUT I DON’T CARE, I DON’T CARE. Just learn the playbook, work together, and hustle. This is the New York knicks and you’re representing alot of people who love basketball and their city.

The big question: Are these guys handling themselves like professionals or not. Is Curry taking extra freethrows? I constantly here talk about players short comings, both mentally and physically but is this conjecture or are they really blowing the important stuff off? Guys, who’s got some insight for me on what goes on in practice?

By: Akhilleus13

Akhilleus13 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:30:36 +0000

It just goes to show you that even when Thomas seems right, it is for the wrong reasons. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to play defense against keeping Randolph out of trouble all year, as suggested here: http://thenewsroom.com/details/460317?c_id=wom-bc-bh – Brad from The Sports Desk at TheNewsRoom.com

By: DMull

DMull — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:37:04 +0000

^lol

By: KD

KD — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:23:12 +0000

Shocked, SHOCKED, that Sam hasn’t returned.

By: Z

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:42:16 +0000

free points help a lot.

By: Mike K. (KnickerBlogger)

Mike K. (KnickerBlogger) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:19:44 +0000

We were 7th in FT/FG last year. We need better FT shooting like New York needs another ferry to Staten Island. Both would help a tiny bit, but there are much bigger needs.

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:10:02 +0000

I totally agree about the floor combinations. Thats why I would start Balkman and bring Lee and Collins off the bench. If we planned it right no more than two would ever be on the court at the same time. That way we would always have at least two outside shooters on the court at any given time.

By: Caleb

Caleb — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:59:08 +0000

Balkman wasn’t bad on offense, either. His TS% was .531, which is pretty average (210th out of 405 NBAers who played more than 500 minutes).

He had 12 turnovers/100 posessions, which is below average but not by much.

He can’t shoot, but doesn’t try to do it anyway – he managed to shoot over 50 percent.

While he’s definitely earned the starting job, in my mind, you have to be careful with the floor combinations. It could get ugly fast if you have Lee, Balkman and Collins (or Jones) out there at the same time. Probably need to stick with a max of two non-shooters at once.