Lakers 99, Knicks 82: "These past two games have been pure torture."
by Seth on Dec 30, 2011 3:37 AM EST
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Hey, I'm sad, too. Like teb7 in the game thread, I've found the past two nights to be unmitigated torment, and I'm feeling pretty down on my Knicks right now. They can't execute offense, can't focus on defense, and just can't string together anything even vaguely resembling entertaining basketball. It sucks.
Do this, though: Take a look in the P&T archives. Go back to mid-November of last season, when the Knicks were heading toward a 3-8 record. Skim through some comment sections, and I think you'll see what I'm getting at.
Teams with multiple new players tend to start poorly. Teams hampered by injuries tend to start poorly. Teams coached by Mike D'Antoni, for whatever reason, tend to start poorly. We fans, particularly early in the season, tend to overreact and extrapolate wildly. The sun tends to rises in the east. Dogs tend to lick their own genitals.
I'm making an effort to avoid said overreaction and wild extrapolation. I refuse to believe that these Knicks are the Knicks, both because the team and coach aren't working to their full potential and because a couple key players are missing (Baron Davis, if we're the same blood type, I will donate my back to you). Mostly, I just can't stomach the thought of 63 more games like the torturous two (two and a half, really) behind us. Take the jump for a few notes.
- The Knicks fell behind about halfway through the first quarter and didn't really make a run the rest of the night. Weirdly, though, they wouldn't just roll over and fall behind by 20. Somehow, they mustered enough free throws and empty Laker possessions to stay within about ten points almost the whole away. They had ten-- like, one more than nine-- points in the fourth quarter and still only lost by 17. What a strange, miserable game that was.
- HoopData hasn't posted its shot location stuff for this game yet, but I'd wager that the Lakers made quite a few shots at the rim, and that many of those were assisted. Rehashing what was said here a bit, this is in large part because Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire feel compelled (it must at least partially be coach's orders) to ditch their men on every single set screen. They either trap ball-handlers with abandon or just drift into oblivion, leaving everyone else to cover for them. This is the kind of thing that works in a corner, (and it did a few times) but, at least with these personnel, fails miserably in the open floor. A few dribbles and a pass or two, and there's a wide open lay-up available under the basket. It's not working and it must stop. Give Toney Douglas a chance to contain Steve Blake off the dribble, and let the big men hang back and keep the paint clogged. If Douglas can't stay in front of somebody like Blake or Derek Fisher, then 1. Toney Douglas is doing something horribly wrong. and 2. The big men are in the paint lying in wait, not flailing around at the three-point line. I can't guarantee that a non-switching, non-trapping, less-helping man defense would work better, but isn't it at least worth a try? It's definitely simpler. Probably won't happen.
- I'd encourage Toney Douglas to try and drive more often instead of creating from the perimeter. He's looked dismal standing still at the top of the pick-and-roll, but got to the rim nicely in a few halfcourt sets during the Celtics game, and registered a few of his assists from below the free throw line in this one. At the very least, he can kick the ball out to the perimeter and get guys three-point opportunities that are in rhythm.
- Because, really, watching Tyson Chandler roll to the rim empty-handed over and over again is making me chew off my fingers, and I need those to type. Toney either fails to recognize opportunities, recognizes them but balks at them, or acts too slowly and deliberately and telegraphs his passes so blatantly that I feel like I could steal them from my couch.
- I say that because I have never seen more arrhythmic three-point opportunities. Some of them seem like accidents. Douglas and Landry Fields sometimes look like they just don't feel like holding the ball anymore and can't find anybody to pass to, so they figure they might as well toss it toward the rim.
- Despite his excessive defensive roaming, Tyson Chandler put up better numbers in this one. He pulled down 11 rebounds, including 4 offensive boards, and drew a ton of contact around the basket (11-14 at the line!). When he wasn't drawing contact, he didn't look so hot around the basket. Chandler favors a lefty jump hook, but the lefty jump hook does not favor Chandler.
- Carmelo Anthony didn't play badly, and his 27-point, 7-rebound, 5-assist stat line looks pretty nice. Per usual, he found himself handling the ball a lot and looking to distribute early, then pretty much abandoned that mindset as the game progressed. To his credit, Melo was intent on maneuvering getting close shots and draw contact, even in isolation sets. Not to his credit, Melo had 5 turnovers, including a couple of silly-ass travel calls.
- The non-Melo Knicks shot 13-53, including 4-18 from downtown. Not recommended.
- Douglas and Josh Harrellson seem to have nice chemistry, kind of like Toney and Ronny Turiaf did last season. Or maybe I'm grasping at straws.
- Amar'e Stoudemire never looked remotely comfortable with the ball. He didn't step into any of his jumpers and over-stepped his stuff off the dribble. We saw games like this from him at times last year, so I'm not especially worried. Amar'e's perfectly capable of creating offense for himself, but when he's defended well and/or loses touch on his jumper, his game gets pretty aggravating. Lots of jumpers taken from his heels and head-down, careening drives to the rim.
- Amar'e also turned his ankle and has deemed himself day-to-day.
- Josh Harrellson is super diligent about catching his teammates after collisions, even when they're not at all in danger of falling. Methinks he just likes hugging.
- Steve Novak sure can hit a corner three.
- I'm not actually advocating giving him meaningful minutes, but I am really curious to see how Jerome Jordan would fare guarding a decent opposing center for a while. His footwork in garbage time has been genuinely impressive to me.
- I saw a JoS. A Bank commercial and it made me think of calling Devin Ebanks "Dev E. Banks" but then I started thinking about Dev and forgot where I was.
- I don't care what they say, Renaldo Balkman. You did your best out there against Kobe Bryant and you are great and I love you and my only critique is that you should have poked him harder in the eye when you fouled him to give him a four-point play.
Welp, poop in a sock, that's all I've got. I welcome the off day tomorrow with open arms. After that, it's a New Year's Eve date in Sacramento, which promises to be interesting. Hang in there. <3.
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what is wrong with landry fields. he looks mind numbingly tentative out there. he catches a pass for a wide open look and uses his Stanford brain to over analyze it. JUST SHOOT IT BABY.
by raj m on Dec 30, 2011 4:03 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Landry and Toney
are making an art out of the “pick up dribble/ball over head pump faking” routine
by total hermination on Dec 30, 2011 9:38 AM EST up reply actions
don't forget
pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot, dangerous pass.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
come on now
everybody knows the pivot, pivot dangerous pass model of basketball is gaining momentum and being taught as the hottest new offensive scheme in the NBA. It’s damn near fundamental. Straight from Rucker Park son!
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 2:03 PM EST up reply actions
I actually thought he was more aggressive than usual.
He’s still tentative on the perimeter, but he made a few aggressive drives to the hoop.
by keithprime on Dec 30, 2011 11:07 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Seth for president
I dunno. My expectations for this team were super low before the season anyway until we got B Diddy, but unfortunately Diddy isn’t out there and instead we have this Douglas guy who isn’t good at making plays for his teammates.
Having said that, was the issue really, when you think about it, that we weren’t getting open looks at the basket? My recollection of this game is about 37 missed wide-open 16 foot jumpshots from Amar’e, and a shit load of missed 3’s from everyone else minus Novak. Until Davis shows up and sets the league on fire, we are going to be an outside-shooting-oriented team just like we were last season, and unfortunately, as all outside-shooting-oriented teams are aware, sometimes the shots just don’t fall. While I concede that it’s probably a good idea that we try to get some more easy baskets at the rim, I just can’t blame this loss on the quality of our shot attempts, after seeing our dudes just plain miss wide open jumpers all game long.
I will, however, add
that shots in the flow of an offense are much more often made than shots that appear awkward or hesitant. Amar’e was hesitant, Douglas was hesitant, and Fields was hesitant. Increasing ball movement and increasing fluidity doesn’t as much get a team more open looks as it creates flow and cohesion on the team, something that we clearly lack at the moment.
Yeah, that's the thing
Sometimes they’re open for shots, but they’re not in rhythm as they receive the ball, and if you can’t catch, step into it, and shoot in one clean motion, you’re probably better off not taking an open shot. Hopefully this will be rectified as they become more comfortable in playing with each other (specifically Landry and Amare’s comfort when Melo has the ball).
The most disappointing thing is that they just seem to be going through the motions
there has been no energy or enthusiasm at all the last two games.
"I’m gonna climb up you today, Stat! No layups!" - Dump
Follow @MattyFnRaider
ONE NATION UNDER AL
Respect the reputation or it's an altercation.
by Ozraider on Dec 30, 2011 4:34 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
you're right
but a cross country flight followed by a back-to-back doesn’t help, especially when you’re not in prime shape yet conditioning-wise.
by total hermination on Dec 30, 2011 9:50 AM EST up reply actions
Haven't seen any games yet (well, about a quarter combined of the Celtics and Warriors games)
so I feel pretty good. idk, I didn’t expect anything one way or another (except for hideous basketball) because it’s so early in the shortened season. Wake me up for the playoffs…
TYBG
This
The team will play poorly because it’s a brand new team again . Didn’t Amaré say this feels like the 3rd team he’s played for since he came to New York? Give them time.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
yep
and when shumpert and davis get back, there’s gonna be more integration and change. this team probably has no chance of hitting a stride until…… march?
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
There's something wrong
when a team with this much talent needs to wait for shumpert to get back before it con hit a stride. I like shumpert and all, and missing a rotation player is never easy, but this team’s fate should not rest on iman shumpert.
nah you craze!
not just shumpert, but both of its point guards.
douglas, not a point guard.
fields, not a point guard.
bibby, not even a point guard.
melo, not a point guard, and not yet a point forward.
jeremy lin, goofy, and awesome and a point guard! but not prepared.
shumpert and davis are point guards. they tend to look for their shot a little more than we might like, but they can keep their dribble alive, and they will push the tempo.
everyone else, with the exception of melo, has to pick up their dribble 28 feet from the basket just so they don’t turn it over, and their court vision is lacking to say the least. the less dribbling douglas, fields, bibby, chandler, amar’e and so on have to do, the better we will be. and when davis and shumpert get back, its not gonna be like a light switch. or maybe it is, but its gonna be like one of those digital dimmer switches that increase the light all slowly and evenly, until its really bright, and everyone kinda wishes you would turn it down a smidge.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
?
Shumpert is not a point guard either. He’s an injured rookie combo guard that the Knicks hope will eventually become a point guard (mostly because that’d be convenient, not because that’s where his natural strength is).
Bibby is a point guard. He’s just a point guard who’s well past his prime.
Davis is the only true point guard on the team that has a chance of being a successful playmaker. And he is indeed injured. But everyone on earth knew that he was injured and would be out for weeks when we signed him, so it doesn’t make sense to lament that now. In fact, had it not been for the injury, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to sign him (he wouldn’t have cleared the bidding process).
I’m excited to see what Davis will do with this team when he finally recovers. But, until then, we have to play with the team we have — which is a team with a lot of talent, even without Iman Shumpert suiting up. I’d really like to see the team offer an occasional glimpse of what such talent is capable of.
by sisterray24 on Dec 30, 2011 12:21 PM EST up reply actions
I think the point guard thing is a big issue
Not that we need a point guard per se in order to win, but we do need someone with experienced PG skills capable of getting players and the ball to the right spots on the floor without constantly turning it over. That player isn’t on the floor yet for us.
Carmelo may have the tools to play point forward but after years of only having to worry about scoring, he’s not really practiced at the role. In the meantime we’re playing good teams while we are over the league average in turnovers, below the league average in assists and the offense in a total of three games has generally looked like shit.
It could be the Celts win got our hopes up for the better and let us ignore the holes but right now it doesn’t look like it’ll get better unless one of our healthy bodies steps up and takes the reigns of directing the offense, or an injured party gets healthy and starts performing miracles instantly.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 2:24 PM EST up reply actions
Nailed it
Positions don’t matter, what matters is that the Knicks do not have a distributor.
by superturboultra on Dec 30, 2011 5:50 PM EST up reply actions
The Knicks need someone who can create off the dribble and force the defense to react
Toney Douglas can’t do that, and Mike Bibby is too old and slow to do that anymore.
Melo can do that, as can Shumpert and Davis. Stat can do it, but only from the elbow to the basket, and he only creates for himself. Melo could be making a lot more plays becuase he can create off the dribble, but when no one else is playing well on offense, the defense just collapses or readjusts to keep Melo out.
Shumpert won’t necessarily set dudes up, but he can get to the basket. He’s a good dribbler, strong, and athletic.
Right now it’s hard to get good shots because they’re only swinging the ball across the perimeter with no inside-outside movement, and there’s only one threat to get in the lane. That’s not a tough offense to stop and that’s where a real PG in Davis, and a guy like Shump will help
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
by WSD on Dec 30, 2011 11:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I actually think toney can make the defense react
but he just cant make em pay when they do(unless it’s his own shot)…he usually gets a step on his man and then that’s when the trap or switch comes and then that’s when he picks up his dribble and starts making inadequate passes. If the pressure never comes then that’s Toney taking a three and looking brilliant when his shot is going.
He actually seems okay when dishing off his own drives not relying on the pick and roll but the problem when you get sucked into that type of offense is that if teammates don’t stay engaged 100% of the time, it’s prone to even more standing around waiting for the ball handler to create something and then you’re whole offense becomes dependent on one dude while everyone else watches a la’ marbury.
Not disagreeing, TD really does need to step up and figure a way to create for others.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 2:48 PM EST up reply actions
Though I partially agree with you
we should note that Shump already looks far more comfortable running the offense than TD does
so true
I don’t think that is a bad thing though. All a combo guard is, is a guard who is able to play both guard spots. We all know that, I think where it gets muddled is that sometimes get sooo caught up in having a “true” point guard they forget there are good combo guards and bad combo guards.
Being a combo guard doesn’t mean you can’t run the offense effectively. In fact there are combo guards out there that’ll run the shit outta an offense better than a “pure” point guard.
For instance, Russell Westbrook = combo guard, Chris Duhon = pure point….which one do you want running your team’s offense?
I think there are alot of coaches who try to force that combo guard title onto players, sometimes to be cute, sometimes in desperation but when it doesn’t work the rep of better “combo” guards take a hit for every failed experiment.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 2:37 PM EST up reply actions
I like Jason terry and Jamal Crawford
They are combo guards who focus on scoring, but can act as secondary play makers.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
Manu Ginobili and Jason Terry have practically perfected the art
And combo guards make for great 6th men cause they score but can set up other guys too.
TD would be much better in this role
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
it's weird
because some combo guards are labeled as such because there is nothing else you can really call them like TD…he’s called a lot of things really but he’s not really a PG , he fits the SG mold except he is way too small for that position so he becomes a combo by default.
Where as other players grow up playing point ,have point skills, but it just so happens they also know how to score effectively and grew four extra inches one summer; so now coach sticks em in at SG and they’re labeled a combo guard also when it’s time for scouts to visit.
I had a buddy who got drafted by the bulls before playing for the heat (double treachery!!!) who grew up playing point since middle school and then he got like a 7 inch growth spurt senor yr of high school, got a scholarship in texas, but was moved to power forward. That’s something routinely done at the college level but you get to the NBA and you’re squeezed into either a point forward role or an under sized power forward. The trouble with labels are that expectations come with them and for a lot of combo players it’s kind of hard shifting and separating roles on the dime like that.
Sure you can get better at any position with practice, but when you find you’re game off or you’re trying to crack a tough defense a player sometimes reverts back to old habits. Sometimes it’s beneficial, sometimes disastrous.
with TD I think he’s trying to learn to be a more effective pure point but when the defense gets tight and he gets nervous he reverts back to what his game is naturally..undersized shooting guard.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 3:08 PM EST up reply actions
Of all guards
I think only Toney Allen is a worse dribbler than TD
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
nah, there are far worse
I think Toney’s problem isn’t really his dribbling but the fact that he isn’t comfortable yet using it to get other people open shots in the manner our offense needs him to.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
Well yeah, I was exaggerrating
Toney’s not that bad, but he just cannot create for others. Half the time he struggles creating for himself if it’s not a pull-up or stepback 3
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
which probably is the same thing as saying he needs to work on his dribbling
IDK…situation dribbling? I’m just trying to look for a bright spot during a bad time.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
i mean
tony allen tries real hard to do things he just isn’t good enough to do (when dribbling). but i mean, toney just picks up his dribble all the time like a dummy. 28 feet away with no one to pass to. facing the opposite basket. and i even know why, he’s trying to create.
toney is a team player. he just isn’t a playmaker. so he’s trying to fit that in, and its not working right now.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
but yea as smack says
there’s plenty of people that just are goofy ass dribblers that are about to get ripped by guys like toney if they don’t play hot potato.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
if TD and Bibby aren’t point guards, than neither is Shumpert.
Ill give you Baron, but come on
"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
"with this much talent"
Bill Walker, Josh Harrelson, Mike Bibby, Steve Novak. These players are getting a lot of run. Talent? LOL.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
you can have Billy Walker and his 4 stupid fouls/game
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
i hope i'm not out of line in asking you to PLEASE STOP
by 100% dundee on Dec 30, 2011 11:52 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 3 recs
yea you dont sound like Borat at all
its quite depressing
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 12:02 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Also, Borat?
I’m genuinely concerned about anyone making Borat jokes on the cusp of 2012.
by superturboultra on Dec 30, 2011 5:53 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, this much talent
I don’t understand the mockery here. The Knicks obviously have a lot of talent on the team. The problem is that they have yet to offer even a glimpse of what such talent is capable should they develop into a cohesive team.
Last night, the Knicks — who, you’ll surely admit, have one of the best frontcourts in the NBA on paper — gave up almost twice as many points in the paint as they made (Lakers: 44, Knicks: 26). For the third game in a row, the Knicks lost the rebounding battle.
Now, sure, it would be great if the bench were stronger. I hope in particular that Iman Shumpert gets well soon. And, sure, a team is only as good as its weakest link and all. But a Chandler-Stoudemire-Anthony frontcourt should not be getting blown out on “frontcourt issues” night after night.
It’s only 3 games so far. The team’s still new, and they still have a lot of time to figure things out. But there is a lot more talent on this team than just Walker, Harrellson, Bibby, and Novak, and the fate of this team should not rest on their performance alone.
by sisterray24 on Dec 30, 2011 12:05 PM EST up reply actions
I think what he was trying to say was this is a top-heavy team, and just like we'd suffer if one of the three guys went down, the team's structure also suffers when we're missing our starting PG and first two guys off the bench.
Leading us to have to give more minutes than we’d like to the “Rest of the Bench” crew. We have talent, but our current injury situation has led to an unbalanced team that’s relying even more heavily on certain players to play roles they’re not used to.
Fish Fingers give me a break.
offer even a glimpse of what such talent is capable should they develop into a cohesive team.
I agree. I think a large part of that cohesion is dependent on Melo growing into that point forward role though. So it’ll probably take some time. Like you said though it’s only 3 games so we are gonna have to be as patient as a witness to an increasingly long Jack Bauer torture scene.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 3:41 PM EST up reply actions
Concentrated in four players
One of whom is injured.
__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden
Both of the starting guards are injured and so is the 2nd squad center. That’s pretty key right there. Fields and TD are lost out with the starters because they just don’t belong there.
False
The starting guards are TD and Fields. They are perfectly healthy, even as they play like shit. The injured 2nd squad center is Jared Jeffries, whom many people here don’t think should even be on this team.
Yes, there are a bunch of injuries and the bench wasn’t that strong to begin with. But these are not good excuses for the terrible performance last night.
by sisterray24 on Dec 30, 2011 12:10 PM EST up reply actions
what about "This lockout-shortened season will produce some of the uglier basketball we've seen in a while"
-every sports writer in the nation
Fish Fingers give me a break.
Yes, that's a better excuse
I think that’ll carry the Knicks through another two weeks, if they can’t improve faster. After that, we’ll be looking around the league and saying: “well, those teams are making it work even though they were dealing with the same scheduling difficulties; why aren’t the Knicks?”
by sisterray24 on Dec 30, 2011 12:29 PM EST up reply actions
And if anyone answers that question by saying “it’s because jared jeffries missed a few games, so the Knicks are still trying to integrate him properly into their lineups” we’ll say that either this person doesn’t know anything about basketball or that the Knicks are truly doomed.
by sisterray24 on Dec 30, 2011 12:32 PM EST up reply actions
I'll say this
These are dudes who haven’t played together for more than 30 games, and those guys (Amar’e, Melo, Walker, TD, Fields, and Jeffries) have to mesh with new players like Chandler, Bibby, Novak, Balkman, Harrellson (like it or not, those last 4 guys are all getting legit minutes) and eventually Shump and Davis.
Not to mention they havent’ played NBA basketball in 6-8 months. The Warriors and Lakers didn’t play well either; we just played worse
D’Antoni has a stressful job as it is, getting this motley crew together and figuring out the schemes, knowing full well it’s gonna get blown up again when Davis and Shump come back. The fact that he has no job secuirty doesn’t help either.
If this team is still playing like shit come February and March, there’s a real problem, and it’s probably the coach. Until then, it’s just waiting for guys to get healthy and get used to one another
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
Let's hope you're right
From the little we’ve seen so far, the primary problem does not seem to be new-team problems, e.g. missed passes, players running wrong plays, etc. The primary problem seems to be a TOTAL absence of creativity on offense, coupled with weak man-to-man defense skills.
Again, I’d be a lot happier seeing bad passes to good cutters — hell, even cutters obliviously colliding into one another — than to see 5 guys standing around the perimeter waiting to see who’ll chuck up the next contested 3 from 27’ out.
Sure, it’s only been 3 regular season games, there are a couple of injured bench players, and Baron Davis has yet to make his debut. There’s still plenty of time. But to get this team where it needs to be, more is needed than just time and recoveries from injuries. Everyone, especially D’Antoni, has a lot of work to do this season.
Definitely spot-on with the lazy man-to-man defense
They switch sooo much, and then assignments get missed and then the other team gets open baskets.
Only person I’ve seen fight over a screen is Toney Douglas. Chandler does his best to help out on screens, but usually no one else has his back when his man breaks free.
Eventually, you have to actually exert yourself on defense nad run hard and fight over screens. Switching is the lazy way out that should only be used occasionally
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
old habits
half of the current team was with Dantoni last year and out of that half I believe all except Fields and Amare (although Amare was with Dantoni in PHX also) were with him the year before.
These guys got at least a full season worth of switching some two…Amare in PHX, I have no idea what they did actually but if the Suns did this switch thing under Dantoni there as well Amare has probably gone several seasons with it.
I don’t know if it’s lazy for the sake of being lazy or simply because they (and Dantoni) are falling back into what they are used to when things get tough.
Throwing Chandler into the mix will make things better but it’ll take time for them to adjust to playing accountable man to man after spending so much time in switches and zone traps.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 3:29 PM EST up reply actions
That only effects the Knicks?
….. Other teams seem to be adjusting just fine.
"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
Did you see how many TO's Portland had last night? Are the Mavs as bad as their first two games would suggest? Will the Nets continue the 2010 vibe they've been giving off?
Well one of these things are not like the others I guess, but this is the third straight year we haven’t had a normal training camp. I lose my mind during the actual games, but I’ve learned to temper my, uh, temper in regards to how disappointing I perceive these Knicks to be. If the Knicks continue to be utter dog shit for another month or something than something is up. Until then, we can only pull our earlobes and go Woosah.
Fish Fingers give me a break.
I fully expect the Raptors to end the season at the top of the Atlantic.
by superturboultra on Dec 30, 2011 6:11 PM EST up reply actions
wait!?!
are you serious? I’m really not mocking you, I’d really like to know. I’ve never even given that thought but if so it scares me because if things go down that way that means there is gonna be much more ugly, ugly basketball ahead.
It terrifies me to think of how much ugly basketball that would actually imply.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 3:35 PM EST up reply actions
the raptors are in a fiery battle with the nets
for the title of crappiest team in the atlantic. it should be a great show.
i think superturboultra was kidding. our competition in the atlantic should be boston and philly
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
It was sarcastic
I was hoping it was obvious. Since leading the division a mere three days ago, the Raps have fallen down to 4th.
by superturboultra on Jan 2, 2012 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
Ignore us fans
and keep working at it Knicks.
We tend to set our expectation high instead of realistic.
My Wife is a Patriot's fan...
i dont know what to do, i dont know what to say
im just in my own clusterfuck right now. all i can say is i hope we turn this around against Sacramento. we just cannot keep playing like this, i dont care if only the Broadway Bigs are the only ones touching the rock. i love Landry and TD as much as Brick loves lamp but they cannot touch the ball, they simply cannot. and how long is it going to take to put Jordan and Lin in earlier in the game? save Harrellson for the 4th and let them get burn, especially against the Kings. i dont know, i dont know if im making any sense… im pressing the Panic Button, not the big one but the small one
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 7:12 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Time
I don’t think we need to even hit the small panic button just yet even. Give it time. Take a step back. It been 3 games with minimal practice, no offseason, and players sitting out.
by nikkabockers21 on Dec 30, 2011 7:47 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
you're right
just like how Giantssincesix said above me, we had our expectations too high. but we should start giving Harrellsons minutes to Jordan and try to weather this storm. False Alarm fellas, pressed it too soon
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 9:12 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
if we still feel this way a month into baron davis time
press the button.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
D'Antoni Teams Start Slowly and Collapse Often
I reiterate my lack of faith in the coach. At least we have a capable interim guy sitting right next to him.
i dunno
you think they’d give phil weber the head coaching job? thats pretty cool that you think that, i’ve thought that too. i think he’s ready. he’s certainly more qualified than iavaroni was!
yea, you know what?! the more i think about it; the more i like it! and you’re absolutely right! they should fire d’antoni three games into a lockout shortened season with an injury riddled backcourt and just promote phil weber!
dude! you’re a brilliant.
/// aighttho.com \\/// twitter.com/aighttho \\
by stingy d on Dec 30, 2011 9:36 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Phil Weber > Mike D'Antoni
Do you really think that the team could have looked any worse these past two games?
Anyway, I have been calling for D’Antoni’s head since before he coached his first game for the Knicks. With a name like “stingy d”, you should have been doing the same.
You can see what management has done here, right? It has forced D’Antoni into an untenable situation. Coach D’s offensive system probably can’t work together with Woodson’s defense (hence the lack of transition points). Meanwhile, D’Antoni’s chair gets much hotter with Woodson shadowing him like impending doom.
With this ugly front office move, I guess I can’t put as much blame as I would like on D’Antoni, but the result will be the same. This team will underachieve until mid-season, at which time D’Antoni will be forced out.
So you are basically saying you’ve been against D’Antoni from day 1 and you think that makes you more, rather than less, credible… and in the same breath you insinuate that basically any coach would be better by saying Phil Weber would definitively be better than D’Antoni.
the fuck?
Phil Webber basically IS D’Antoni.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
You do know you're criticizing Dantoni's defense
all the while hinting Weber is a better candidate with “Weber>Dantoni” …Weber, who has zero head coaching experience and is not a defensive coach at all, and in all likelihood after working with Dantoni most of his career would probably install many of Dantoi’s same philosophies initially if given the opportunity. If anything that should read Weber = Dantoni, if you wanted to be accurate.
As far as Woodson. He is a decent coach but arguably he has had more talent to work with as Hawks head coach during Dantoni’s tenure with the Knicks and really didn’t accomplish much more than Dantoni has as coach and that’s the reason we were able to have him here in the first place.
Woodson could probably have success with this roster but I don’t know that it’d be any more than Dantoni would under the same conditions.
There is no secret formula for building a great team otherwise every team would look the same and run the same plays with similar players. It takes time, patience and a lot of smart decisions along the way. In the meantime the only thing any coach can do is to do the best with what they have.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 3:53 PM EST up reply actions
I can agree with much of what you say.
I didn’t think that anyone would really think that Phil Weber was > or even = to D’Antoni. It was just a catchy headline that went wrong somehow.
just what we need!! more changes!!
by total hermination on Dec 30, 2011 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
The RIGHT changes!!!
When you say “the right changes” I’m assuming you mean what ever changes your opinion agrees with. What I’m interested in is what makes you think your opinion is the definitive right one?
Your opinion counts, I shouldn’t have to say that but it doesn’t hold much weight if you’re just spouting regurgitated nonsense because you’re upset we’ve lost two games very early in this infantile season.
I’m pissed too but I’m not inclined to advocate any changes that aren’t reasonably proven to succeed and coaching changes in the middle of a season especially in exchange for a coach with less experience and a lower winning %(woodson) doesn’t seem to fit the bill.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 4:08 PM EST up reply actions
I don't think that I am right.
I am merely suggesting that it might be unwise to fear change blindly. Even when a team is clicking, there can be a tweak here or there that can improve things. Accordingly, I don’t really understand why people might suggest that change is automatically a bad thing.
Maybe not Phil Webber
Maybe he meant Mike Woodson, which is an amazing idea. Let’s fire the coach we put our faith in 3 games into the season, give the guy that left a mediocre Atlanta team and is currently coaching our “amazing” defense the job!
Nobody right now is more qualified or a better candidate than D’Antoni.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
Wait we weren't talking about Herb?
Fuck a Woodson. I want Squinty Herb to get his real shot before his vision fails him and he runs out of gum.
Fish Fingers give me a break.
if you have to google that
you don’t get to say shit about the knicks right now.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
"Shit!"
Ha! I said it.
I wonder if Don Chaney falls into weird trances and mumbles threats to Isiah Thomas around this time of year?
Thanks for making us a contender, Donnie.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Dec 30, 2011 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
Hmmm... how many Knicks coaches can you remember physically watching without using google
(doesn’t count if you saw it on Al Trautwig’s vault)
Let’s see…
Mike D’Antoni, Isiah Thomas, Larry Brown, Herb Williams, Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkens, Jeff Van Gundy, Pat Riley, Rick Pitino… Hubie Brown? I think. aw man now we’re into my elementary school days when I didn’t understand the game of basketball, but I yelled and jumped around whenever the Knicks made a shot.
Thanks for making us a contender, Donnie.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Dec 30, 2011 12:27 PM EST up reply actions
Wait Wait!
I wanna add Don Nelson! I didn’t use google. I swear.
He was coach between Riley and Gundy
Thanks for making us a contender, Donnie.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Dec 30, 2011 12:29 PM EST up reply actions
Okay, according to google:
I totally forgot about Stu Jackson (shame on me) and John Macleod (shame on him for having such a forgettable name), but Macleod didn’t even coach a full season.
Thanks for making us a contender, Donnie.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Dec 30, 2011 12:32 PM EST up reply actions
that is quite a stretch of desert between JVG and D'antoni
I really started paying attention during the Riley/JVG era. I wish I had had access to the team and games back then like we do now.
Fish Fingers give me a break.
I remember....
the prematurely-grey-haired guy who went on to coach the Pacers — Bob Hill
Wake me up when we hire a real coach
This is sad.
I googled him and I see he was a Knicks coach, but I can’t remember him… not
Thanks for making us a contender, Donnie.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Dec 30, 2011 11:08 PM EST up reply actions
*not at all
Thanks for making us a contender, Donnie.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Dec 30, 2011 11:08 PM EST up reply actions
Lenny Wilkins had just as many playoff appearences as Mike D'Antoni
Let’s bring him back since nothing has basis in reality apparently!
"Are you really Wade Redden?"-Jim
is he available!?!
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 3:44 PM EST up reply actions
Renaldo Balkman
Absolutely correct that it was not Renny’s fault that Kobe got hot. On the other hand, I don’t care who the guy guard Blowme Kryant is — when that arrogant, ballhog-rapist gets hot, you need to put a bunch of different guys on him. It at least gives the guy something to think about, while preserving the spirit and mental health of the defensive player(s).
It was yet another bad bit of coaching by D’Antoni, who looked like a scared little child on the bench toward the end of the game. Maybe he looked that way, because he realized that his ass is really on the line this time?
I think Magic said it a few weeks ago
“the Knicks are going to struggle at first, so the fans and players have got to be patient.” I def agree with this. The players are still feeling their way, and losing Iman and not having Diddy has been major. I have confidence they will get it together and start winning some games soon.
You just got Tysoned!!!!!!
I'd be patient
if I got the sense that they were really feeling their way. Instead, I’m seeing a lot of looking-the-other-way on defense, and utter disinterest in creating anything on offense. That’s not feeling their way; that’s just not showing up to play basketball.
but its only been 3 games
give it another few weeks…if it’s still like this, then yea, there is a problem
You just got Tysoned!!!!!!
Not the same as last November
That team had injuries to Gallinari and Chandler, and the two captains were new.
This team is the same as last April. Three games now, and Landry is still lost, Amar’e can’t score or rebound, Bill Walker is awful, Bibby is finished.
Struggling is playing mediocre basketball. Knicks have been probably the second worst team in the league.
Well, this team has a new center and has an injury to its starting point guard (no?) and two rotation bench players. And it’s the same as last April…when it was weeks removed from a blockbuster trade and totally incoherent.
I understand that these sound like excuses, and I agree with you that the Knicks have been as bad as any team in the league, but they’ll end up playing a lot better than they are right now. Shit, even if they end up being a mediocre team, they’ll play better than they’ve been playing so far. All I’m saying is that there’s ample precedent for decent teams to look like shit at the beginning of the year.
by Seth on Dec 30, 2011 9:27 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Hi, remember us?
2010-2011 Miami Heat
by total hermination on Dec 30, 2011 9:31 AM EST up reply actions
They were all new to playing with eachother and with a young coach
The main parts of the Knicks offense is the same, and the main concerns are not the kind that fix themselves. It’s guys looking totally lost for months, with no confidence, and looking very old. No effort either on the boards.
You look at the other teams that struggled like the Heat, Mavs, and Lakers, and it’s very different. For one, the Lakers just destroyed the Knicks. Mavs aren’t still playing like bums, and they had a new guy named Odom who decided to keep taking horrible shots. Heat had an unbalanced attack but they were at least competitive. Even when they had a bad record, the numbers showed they were at least average.
Knicks have been terrible and the numbers don’t even show how bad they’ve been because they’ve played teams without their best players.
Umm...
The main parts of the Knicks offense is the same
You mean except for the part where they now have to integrate a legitimate starting center with no offensive game besides putbacks? Or where their backup combo guard is now the starting point guard? Or that their starting forward who’s always just been an elite scorer is now trying to be a point forward? Or that currently every member off the Knicks bench would be like the 8th, 9th, and 10th guys off the Raptors bench?
Add onto the fact that they’ve only been playing together for 4 weeks, haven’t played NBA basketball in 7 months, and their coach is now installing new concepts and schemes knowing full well they’ll once again be changed in 5-7 weeks when the team is (hopefully) back at full health
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
^didn't mention this before
but all of those…great observations, so dead on. To say that this offense is basically the same is one of the most short sighted comments that could be made in reaction to a two game losing streak ever. Actually probably not. We’ll probably hear some more ignorant shit before the season is done but it’s still not exactly a shining example of knowledgeable or factual basketball information.
Going into the season we had a few major holes. A need for a solid PG (or facilitator), rebounding, and defense in all of it’s forms. Due to budget constraints all of these needs were not going to be met all in one off season although the front office did make the attempt.
We chose to go with Chandler, a legitimate center who theoretically will end up taking care a lot of those needs, in fact given time hopefully he’ll solve more problems and bring more to the table than a point guard would have given if his past performance is any indicator at all.
We still have work to do.
We still have holes to plug.
And it’s still very early in the season.
By the end of the year we should be in position to make a playoff run, even if it doesn’t look like it right now. If that doesn’t happen maybe then Dantoni needs to be examined to see if he is capable of leading the talent that has been assembled around him.
But give it time.
People were bitching last year and all Dantoni did was lead the team to the first playoffs in like a decade. For alot of you new kids it’s the first time ever seeing a Knicks playoff team. Remember that when you’re bitching this year and remember we still have holes to fill. Be happy about that. Let’s take things step by step, look at the big picture and evaluate things based on that.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 31, 2011 5:01 PM EST up reply actions
i mean
look at the lakers of this year!
or how about the mavericks getting fucking 40 point losses to start the season?
there’s a bandwagon headed in every direction.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
The Lakers who can easily dismantle the Knicks even without their third best player?
And who also gave away the 6th man of the year? And tried to trade away their fragile 2nd best player? Yeah what a disappointment.
oh get over yourself
the lakers got their shit handed to them. and they finally played a team that shot 31% from the field.
the knicks will not shoot 31% from the field very often this season. second half kobe went on a decent run, but the lakers didn’t break 20 points in either quarter. stop acting like everything is wrong.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
by stingy d on Dec 30, 2011 10:15 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
just pick and choose your spots, ace
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
by stingy d on Dec 30, 2011 12:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
You could also say
That the 2 captains had a whole training camp to work together. Amar’e already played for D’Antoni, so the change probably wasn’t as big for him as it would be for other players. And we had, ya know, a capable PG that led the team. 2 scorers had injuries, and right now our defensive anchor and starting center is getting used to a completely different team and we have no PG. I’d say it’s exactly as difficult as last November.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
You start to see what he's saying though once you realize that mindfeck is like, one of the most linguistically fine-grained semantic(and I don't say this in a bad way) motherfucker I've ever met apart from my little brother.
Like you can be all “Holy shit it’s freezing outside someone check if my balls still attached” and he’ll bust out a cup of water out of nowhere and slosh it in your face going “Incorrect! Still in its liquid state bitch!”.
So he’s often right, but also often misses the point. Upon re-reading this post seems like I’m slamming him, but I’m really not. It’s said more with affection than derision. It’s not like he’s Dziedsxzk.
Fish Fingers give me a break.
Bill Walker is no all star
but he isn’t awful. He can contribute. He’s just doesn’t seem to be a starter level talent . He’s a reserve/role player and performs and produces as such.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 3:51 PM EST up reply actions
I have nothing to back this up at all but...
for some reason it seems like Iman Shumpert became an instant glue guy who kinda kept the team focused against the Celtics. His tenacity all over the court seemed to rub off on the other guys a bit.
Could it be a coincidence that with Shumpty healing that there knee of his, no one else (aside from Melo) have stepped up that same tenacity?
Is it possible that Shumpert was making that much of a difference??
I don’t know if even I believe that… but there is absolutely an energy that seems lacking right now.
"Madison Square Garden is the ultimate basketball stage. That's where I belong. That's where I live. That's the home of the New York Knicks." - Amar'e Stoudemire
by Chris Child's Fist on Dec 30, 2011 9:19 AM EST reply actions
totally!
shumpert’s relentlessness got him in trouble sometimes, but it also was infectious energy and had everybody working harder. the talent will show through once the team puts in the effort.
every team in this league that has inferior talent, but works harder, is destined to be good. and if we work hard enough, we’ll get there. just takes time.
/// aighttho.com \\/// twitter.com/aighttho \\
Shumpert brings youth and athleticism
the Knicks don’t have any of that aside from him. Landry’s a good athlete but Shump’s next level. Shumpert is the Knicks version of Jason Pierre Paul.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
Cool analogy.
Now if he could turn out that good…
"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
What I also like about shump
was that video of the pre season training where he just wouldn’t shut up. We nee someone like that to keep everyone accountable. Although everyone needs to keep everyone else accountable but at this stage it never looks like it’s happening maybe people are a little stand offish trying to figure out their spot in the pecking order. I can handle poor or no rotations on defense if the result is other players screaming at the offending player. That’s what so good about kobe, you can count on people like mcroberts trying their heart out on d because they don’t want to be ripped a new one in front of everyone by kobe.
If you said that before the real games started...
you would have been called crazy to rely that much already on a rook with the talent we supposedly have on this team. And still saying it now sounds ridiculous with our stars.
But the sad part is, you might actually be right. The VERY sad part since our stars should be the ones leading the way by example. If we need to rely on a rookie to show us how to have energy and be the glue guy, I’m worried for this team honestly. Not because of how the last two games have looked, but more because we’re starting to feel like we need to rely on a rookie to provide us a spark when again, our stars should be the “spark” we need most of the time.
I think Melo is doing his best to lead
I also think Amar’e and Tyson Chandler are kind of clashing right now a bit too. It seems like both are trying to figure out how to coexist and Amar’e seems to be content to let others handle the offensive load. I have yet to see him demand the ball or help go on one of those scoring runs like he did last season. I don’t know if he is still feeling his back or if he is trying to focus on defense, but I just don’t see his offensive explosion to compliment Melo.
And, well, if nothing else, the Knicks need an aggressive Jewish black guy in our frontcourt!!
"Madison Square Garden is the ultimate basketball stage. That's where I belong. That's where I live. That's the home of the New York Knicks." - Amar'e Stoudemire
by Chris Child's Fist on Dec 30, 2011 10:59 AM EST up reply actions
I especially haven't seen any explosion from Amar'e
Unless he’s wide open, he looks like he can hardly get off the ground. Probably just fatigue, getting those NBA legs back
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
that dunk against the warriors was nasty though
that’s an amare special . . . no one else does that
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
glad I kept falling asleep during these last two
I think they’ll figure it out soon enough. It does remind me alot of last year, except we used the first west coast road trip to actually get hot (from 3-8 to 16-9 if I recall). But don’t think Baron stepping in will look pretty either at first. I know its played out, but the Knicks have had the most roster turnover of any team the last 3 seasons and you can’t underplay that, its truely a factor. If you happened to watch the OKC/Dallas game prior to this one, you’ll notice the roster stability of the thunder the last few years has really paid off. Be happy we have 4 more years with this core. Serenity now!!
speaking of the OKC game, that Durant game winner!! Didn’t they run the exact same play against us last year for a buzzer beating loss? I think so
by total hermination on Dec 30, 2011 9:29 AM EST reply actions
Yeah, that was pretty
rough to watch in long stretches, but on the plus side how about that spin move Melo unleashed down low sometime in the third quarter I think? Nice.
Surprising Chandler had so many rebounds, considering those who Lake made something like 98% of their shots in one quarter.
Gonna need time
I don’t take anyone seriously who’s jumping off the bridge and pointing fingers already. You’re forever labeled as such now too.
There’s no one to run this offense. Carmelo isn’t that. Carmelo’s a finisher. Not in Amar’e’s sense of finishing, but bail out, end of shot clock/game clock finishing. We need someone to handle the rock. Bibby blows, but you can tell that at least he has the brain to do it, if not the physical traits anymore.
Its water under the bridge now, but if we had a distributor like Chris Paul here we’d be unstoppable. Shit, I think we’d be a whole lot better with Chris Duhon at the point.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
we need someone with his ear arrangement anyway
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
Hey I dropped Earl Watson's name a whole lot before the Davis move
He’s not particularly good, but he’s a pure point and he can set dudes up.
And yeah, agreeing with Rorschach, Duhon blew at a lot of things, but he managed to get guys shots and run the PnR nicely. I wouldn’t complain if he were starting right now with TD on the bench, while we waited for Davis to get back
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
Duhon?
I just threw up a little…… because you’re actually right. Bleh.
i threw up a lot
and then i had explosive diarrhea. but duhon does something that is actually valuable. he keeps his dribble alive (as much as he can) and will just wait for the pass he wants to open up. can’t wait for baron davis to come in here and try that.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
he also can recognize a 7'1" guy rolling through an empty painted area
with his arms up in the air calling for the ball, which actually makes him close to ten feet tall. But I digress……
by total hermination on Dec 30, 2011 10:04 AM EST up reply actions
Hopefully Baron feels the same way...
we know the guy loves attention. These very early season struggles will only give him more attention as the guy who will turn us around and be our “savior”.
Said it elsewhere, but two weeks ago (before we had Baron and Shump hadn’t played a game) we were so optimistic for our team. Now we all feel we need both of those guys more than ever.
As bad as we’ve looked the last two games, I still try to tell myself it was against two tough teams on the road out west. Even if they both were missing an important piece, still not easy games to win. I would have prefered better showings, but we could have looked at the schedule and predicted a 1-2 start.
Yup
I thought we’d lose against Boston and win against either L.A or G.S, but at the end of the season, it won’t really matter how and against whom we lost games. The team just needs to pick itself up and start playing with a little more confidence on offense and communicate more on defense. It’ll take time to start playing like an elite team.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
second half last night
the defense was there. kobe had a flashy few minutes, but the lakers had 17 in the third and 19 in the fourth. teams that score that few points in crunch time can be beaten.
that said, we scored 10 in the fourth.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
true
Our problems are offensive for the most part. I hate Kenny Smith, but he nailed it when he said the knicks have no point guard, and by point guard he meant someone who controls the pace of the game. Shaq said a point guard won’t help if the guys he passes to shoot 32%. Smith said if a PG was getting guys the ball in rhythm those shots go in. I think Bibby will learn the gus and do that but I think Toney needs someone to do that for him. I see no harm in spinning Lin in non-crunch time because I think he’s more of a poinr than Toney.
Get The Frickin' Rebound
I said this earlier, but I'll say it again
Right now, Melo is the only guy who can break down a defense, get into the lane, and make people react. No one else is quick enough, or a good enough dribbler. The thing is, last night as an example, everybody is shooting so poorly that the other team just adjusts their defense to stop Melo.
Davis is a true PG and can create for himself as well as others. Shump isn’t much of a PF and doesn’t set other guys up as much, but he can create for himself and attack and get in the lane.
Right now, we’re just swinging the ball around the perimeter, side to side. That’s not tough to defend, and it doesn’t get guys good shots
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
When I saw Dev E. Banks
I immediately thought of this guy:
"Landry Fields! Hottest rookie in the game! Yes he is... Tall dark and handsome..."
http://www.lostinbostonblog.tumblr.com
@ross_bernhardt
@Seth
Seth our problem we have two chiefs in the tribe.
You can only have one chief to lead.
M.Woodson should be head coach asap and M.D’Antoni and the whole stinky staff should go.
What a joke having Carmelo play point forward. We saw how LeBron tried this and failed to win it all.
Waiting for B.Davis is also not the answer with back problems.
No matter wahat his age is young or old back problems just say you are finished.
Carmelo belongs down low because he cannot be stoped.
T.Douglas needs a two guard whom can score along with handling ball to help him out.
B.Walker should start now at the two until I.Shumpert gets back from injury.
L.Fields has no business starting at the two. Should backup Carmelo in the rotation.
Now keep your fingers cross that D’Antoni leaves and Woodspon becomes the one and only chief.
don't you know
that everyone who is not in agreement with Dizzy is really just a t’wolves fan in disguise?
by latrell chokewell on Dec 30, 2011 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
I LOVE THE T'WOLVES
psst, are they still in mInnesota?
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 2:18 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
you hit the nail right on the head.i was never a fan of d’antoni even with phoenix and i was horrified when we named him coach four years ago.i knew in the years past we could not win no matter what but d’antoni was a terrible choice.just hope cable boss dolan the musician does not extend him.as a coach you should coach to the strenghts of ur players.melo and stat should be in the low post more often than not and with stat shooting and making all his 3s so far …like the hated pat riley said thats fools gold we dont need you shooting 3s amare we need you down in the trenches banging away getting rebound etc.
hustle and hustle with muscle
You were about to become Dizzy's best and only friend on this site
Until you insulted James Dolan.
J. Dolan is a good owner whom spends to win championships!
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
Dizzy, i wonder if ur this knowledgable in any other sport
like…… bareback elephant polo?
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 12:14 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
A few notes about this post
I legitimately laughed when you wrote “stinky staff”.
Lebron is about as good of a point forward as you’ll find.
I’m glad you write the first initials before the last name, otherwise I would’ve been confused about which Shumpert, Walker, Fields, Douglas, etc. you’d been talking about.
Seth our problem we have two chiefs in the tribe.
You can only have one chief to lead.
I didn’t know Dizzy became a Native American!
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
Yes, Woodson as head coach, great idea
Dizzy, do you actually watch basketball?
Also, LeBron playing point forward is hardly the reason they didn’t win. If he played more point forward, they’d be in better shape.
get rid of dantoni
four years ago when donnie walsh hired mike d’antoni i did not like it.this guy is an ofensive minded only coach who could not win with the talent he had with the suns so why do we think he would win with the knicks.we need a basketball coach in new york not an offensive coach a basketball coach.only two decisions i was disapointed with walsh its when he hired d’antonio and whe he gave up so much good players for melo.i love melo but we gave up way too much for him.plz just get rid of the offensive coach and get a basketball coach who teaches the xs and os.i see no movement with the guys on the offensive end guys are just standing around watching nelo and stat play one on five ball and then the point guard which i love for the bench just comes down and shoot 3s with no rhythym whatsoever.we have to do better than that
hustle and hustle with muscle
So D'Antonio
is an
offensive coach, and yet we need a
coach who teaches the xs and os. Huh? Does offense somehow entail teaching guys how to score points without drawing X’s and O’s?
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
Amar'e has a sprained ankle
Listed as day to day. Dammit.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
He wasnt helping while he was on the floor though
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
One thing that worries me also...
We are rightfully suggesting patience with these Knicks.
But Baron Davis is back in about a month (according to the interwebs) and we may be preaching the same patience. Obviously Baron Davis has yet to play a game with any of his teammates so it’s tough to expect him to come in and hit the ground running.
…or is it?
One thing IS for sure… time is NOT on our side this season. The honeymoon in a 66 game season for on-court chemistry has to be short. These games aren’t gonna win themselves.
"Madison Square Garden is the ultimate basketball stage. That's where I belong. That's where I live. That's the home of the New York Knicks." - Amar'e Stoudemire
by Chris Child's Fist on Dec 30, 2011 11:05 AM EST reply actions
I'm not worried about that
If Baron plays his game. All will work. His “game” is what will string everything together. It is the missing piece. We need a penetrator who can dish and everyone will move to their natural spots. It will solve so many more problems than it will create
by nikkabockers21 on Dec 30, 2011 12:33 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
I'm more worried
About the fact that Davis has a bad back and is gonna launch into a sprint of a season with back-to-backs and 3-games-in-4-nights stretches. That’s not the kind of injury that holds up well in those situations
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
So has anyone noticed that our beloved Poope has been swindled?
He went to the Nets in part because they offered him a starting spot, no? Well, not only has he not been starting, but he’s only received 12 minutes per game (he received 20 minutes last season). Oh, and he’s 0 for 7 from 3 pt range. Ha!
If you come to a fork in the road, take it.-Yogi Berra
Staff Writer on GangGreenNation.com
Nets were silly to essentially replace Outlaw with Shawne
Outlaw was overpaid and had a bad season, but he really is much better than Williams
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
Put in Lin
The kid can play, has good court sense, and right now we need a distributor who can mix things up. Bibby’s terrible, TD’s the wrong man for the job. On a separate note, Jorts tosses about five airballs a game — what’s with that guy, and why does he keep shooting? At least Novack has played to / surpassed expectations so far.
IDIOTIC BLANKET STATEMENT
QUALIFIED BY RHETORIC AND POMP.
adios p&t, i’ll be back when you can call me a fair weather fan, but i been here man, so fuck that.
/// aighttho.com \\\/// twitter.com/aighttho \\\
How did you steal Dziedzic's forumula?
1) Steal Dziedzic’s formula
2)???
3) Profit!!
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
South Park much?
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
You guys want Randy Foye?
He would definitely be an improvement on Walker, and he might be a better PG than Douglas as well.
Hand him over
You can have Slim Nivins.
If you come to a fork in the road, take it.-Yogi Berra
Staff Writer on GangGreenNation.com
I'd do that deal in a heart beat right now
I thought Cook would make a good replacement for Shawne. Novak is looking good right now but I mean more sharp shooters in substitute of Jared aint a bad thing.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 4:15 PM EST up reply actions
only theoretically though cuz right now we dont even have the space
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 4:16 PM EST up reply actions
I would do that deal as well
Im going to call up Olshey, and you need to talk to Knicks FO. Maybe we can work a deal out.
We dont need Cook or Foye, and you need some shooters off the bench.
Amare really bothers me sometimes
He has an ego and plays with an ego. In terms of attitude, he reminds me of wilt chamberlain when I wish he were bill russell. To me, he is not a winner. It’s not like he needs to improve all that much to be a winner though. It’s just the little things. The lack of boxing out. The times where he thinks he’s a shooting guard and possesses the handles to dribble through traffic or run a fast break. Those are completely moronic plays and it should be pretty easy to just stop doing them entirely (i think the “three dribble” rule would be a good one to preach to him). He needs to PASS.
Also, he has shown the ability to be a competent on ball defender, but the reason we give up so many points in the paint is he’s completely clueless as a team defender (Melo needs work too). He’ll just let guys waltz into the paint without even thinking about picking them up. Really frustrating. He needs a coach to bench him for that. Show him he’s not immortal.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
i don't want to overreact, but i'm concerned
the offense has been really stagnant. but like Chuck Barkley said, it’s not about “X’s and O’s,” it’s about “Jims and Joes.” our guys need to drive to the basket more. this goes for basically every player we have that can dribble competently, but especially for Amare and Melo. i’m sick of the jab step, one dribble, dance around, brick a 20-footer offense.
however, the defense is definitely screwed up because of the X’s and O’s. did anyone else hear that Craig Sager sideline report where he talked to D’Antoni about zone defense, and D’Antoni was like “Durr, we didn’t install a zone defense yet, maybe in a few weeks?” that’s awful, especially since these Knicks would probably be a million times better playing some type of zone defense.
by latrell chokewell on Dec 30, 2011 1:45 PM EST reply actions
Sorry to say but Clyde just got one-upped by Barkley.
“it’s not about X’s and O’s, it’s about Jims and Joes.”
hmmm, your Kazakhstan accent seemed to have disappeared here
hurts trying to keep it up, i know
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 2:22 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
The Knicks will top the Atlantic and D'Antoni will still be the coach.
A lot of you were making the point that the team is not a new team and that the system is not new, but I have to disagree.
If we can take one thing away from the 3 games played is that STAT has still not find a way to be effective and comfortable playing alongside Chandler. I admit, that during the Lakers games when we were facing with the Gasol, McRoberts I thought we should revert to Amar’e in center and insert Novak at the 4 to open the congested lane for Amar’e to go to work.
But credit to coach, I think that would be the easy and short-term solution. Yes, we could probably exploit this match-up but at this stage of the season the Knicks must learn to play with each-other, gel, and figure out a way to win ball-games.
I do have a problem with our shot selections, especially the hurried ones. Without a point guard, that is, a true playmaker I don’t think we can count on anyone to make a smart decision in 7-10 seconds. We should play the pick and roll more (we did a couple of times in the first quarter and it looked really effective) and pass the god-damn rock around. When Baron’s healthy we can play faster, but not when Toney, Bibby or Melo running the offense IMHO.
Nilov, the sad thing is the most important player right now is Baron Davis- a guy who was signed for the vet. minimum off waivers. Thats the kinda of crazy offseason its been.
I do think alot of the garbage we’ve seen is lack of chemistry/rust, but this team definitely has a low ceiling w/o a true playmaker and a limitless ceiling w/ one. Thats how big the difference is, for this particular team with this particular coach.
David was signed for the vet minimum because he's already making double-figures
Otherwise he would be compensated a great deal more. In my opinion getting Davis is very much like us getting Sprewell, it’s a steal.
I don’t agree that this team has a low ceiling, I actually still think we can be a top 3 team in the East. And I think it will take some time, and I won’t rush into conclusions until the end of February.
Yeah I would rather see them try to work it out than just go full on street ball so they can win games
Not that our offense was much better than street ball . . . But they are experimenting right now with what works. Like, I highly doubt Mike’s going to continue to let Tyson post up because that shit is ugly, but he wanted to see if him looking for it in the post would open things up for amare inside I bet.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
yes, we need to be patient.
get everybody playing, and see how it goes. I think we’ll see good things eventually.
Also, Tyson chandler is perhaps the biggest example of the tragedy of AAU ball
His post game was UGLY. No touch whatsoever, and I have no idea why his defenders didn’t just try to swipe the ball away from him because he can’t dribble at all. He spent high school trying to play like Michael Jordan on the perimeter. Obviously he never gained the skills to play with the real perimeter players and he didn’t gain the ability to use his size on the inside.
That’s part the reason I think Andrew Bynum almost benefitted from coming in so raw. I know kids who used to play with him on the playground in plainsboro and apparently he would get owned by kids at the playground, but it also allowed him to come into the nba with no ego about his abilities and no bad habits. He developed the right way.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
he developed a shit load of injuries
by blackhova on Dec 30, 2011 2:23 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Well that is because he is built like a tree
I’m not much of a fan of Andrew Bynum because he strikes me as immature and kind of nasty (that JJ Barea nonsense from last season . . . plus he always seems to be jawing at teammates or sulking on the bench). But I do think he is probably the best offensive center in the game. He can be a black hole though.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
just a thought
but how about playing melo and stat at different times and on diff lineups? i know the heat had sort of the same problem with wade and lebron (two players with similar games) and let them each “have” a lineup. I think it would help both stat and melo get back into their individual grooves.
Eh, I think it is imperative that they learn how to play with and off of each other
They will need to find synergy if this team is gong to go anywhere.
Personally, I think this will require a major adjustment from amare.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
I hate Pete Vescey, but....
he wrote an article in today’s post about how D’Antoni comes across like it’s not even his team — as if he isn’t responsible at all for what’s happening on his watch.
It’s true — he seems absolutely incapable of digesting what he sees and actually doing something about it! He discusses the poor play as if he’s a third-party observer like we are! Heck, we are more attuned to what needs fixing than he is.
I’m a die-hard fan and I try to remain optimistic, but I have a hard time believing our team will reach the big time with this guy as our head coach.
Wake me up when we hire a real coach
Your sig says it all
Blindly hating on DAntoni for no reason is what most of the fanbase does, and I honestly don’t get it. This is the first time that he actually has a good roster here in New York, let the guy at least experiment and try to find out what will work. Just because you don’t see the team hustling or him yelling at players on the sideline doesn’t mean they aren’t working on making this team excellent.
And no, we definitely aren’t more attuned to what need fixing than he is. One or two sentences directed at the media doesn’t mean the man is slacking. He has a complicated offensive system which let’s players do a lot of decision making on the court. That will take time to get right.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
I hope you're right
It’s funny because I’ve always tried to give D’Antoni the benefit of the doubt. But it’s getting harder and harder — hence the signature.
I’ll happily eat my words and lose the signature if he shows me something this season. And I am not condemning him after three games — but I’m getting closer.
Wake me up when we hire a real coach
Dont worry you will still get the win in Sac, I guarentee
Carmelo will drop 40 on the Kings and this Lakers loss will be a footnote in your playoff bound season :)
What is a point guard? People have been telling me we need one....
by PaulWestfail on Dec 30, 2011 2:40 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Or Demarcus cousins will have a career night causing both amare and Tyson to foul out by the middle of the thrird quarter
And tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton will drop 30 apiece.
Anxiously awaiting the day my username will be appropriate
The way we play defense....
Jimmer will probably drop 30 on us shooting uncontested 3s
Wake me up when we hire a real coach
This is much more likely
Sacramento is EXACTLY the type of team that has, historically, given us nightmares when we’re down.
I’m a dude that thinks it’s all gonna get better eventually, but I have a feeling that it’s also gonna get worse first
KNICKS NOW
http://nyknicksnow.blogspot.com/ - check it out!
I like your attitude dude!
but I don’t know if it’ll be that easy
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 4:18 PM EST up reply actions
Hurts so bad
do we have the right coach for the personnel we have on the team? good coaching staff makes adjustments with their players strengths and team make-up – perhaps, our coaching staff are trying at least. I really can’t explain what I am seeing right now with how the team perform not only the players but including the coaching staff even how they manage the game….i just hope it gets better soon if not later…
Knicks
First, fire D’Antonio! We have plenty of offensive weapons and he doesn’t know how to use them. Secondly, the Knicks are taking to many threes and outside shots. They look as if they are scared to take it to the whole. Lastly, I think we would be better off playing zone defense! This would keep Tyson Chandler closer to the rim and everyone else would not be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. What do you all think!
we played a match up zone last night
so, what do i think? i think you can’t design a play, much less an offensive scheme. but you call for the firing of the most qualified coach the team has had since pat riley.
and i also think you read loaded articles written by biased jackoffs who need to sell tabloid papers every single day of the year. and rather than come to your own conclusion, you just elect to spout the same putrid nonsense.
i can;t believe i check this site when the knicks have a bad game. it just gets over run with people who are preposterously negative.
d’antoni doesn’t know how to use offensive weapons. gimme a break.
and mase- i’m sorry this came at you, its not personal- its just that the self righteous indignation of the the general fanbase has gotten to me. i just can’t understand how everything has to be as simple as a jigsaw puzzle. if it were as simple as 1,2,3 every single team would follow the steps to success. but its not, its a process. its a recipe. it needs to be braised. its like risotto.
i’m fuckin done. i’m out.
/// aighttho.com \\/// twitter.com/aighttho \\
by stingy d on Dec 30, 2011 5:54 PM EST up reply actions 8 recs
bravo!
fucking bravo.
sreh ladien e' ta janjia
by Lord Smackington on Dec 30, 2011 7:38 PM EST up reply actions
and you do need some fucking patience for good risotto
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
fuck me that was some Thor shit
I need to learn to bring the thunder like that. I’m kind of getting to where you’re at in regards to visiting this site as religiously as I do throughout the day after a loss. I lose my mind during gamethreads too, but after sleeping on it I don’t wake up still thinking the ship be sinking and we should just start tanking to get a good pick and fuck this team why do we have this shitty coach oh god the halcyon days of Lenny Wilkens.
It started getting annoying during the Laker game when any and every whistle against us would result in a flood of pissed off posts even though Walker really DID rake Kobe’s arm to end the quarter. NY fans are smart. NY fans are goddamn dedicated. NY fans are passionate. Unfortunately lately it seems that we’re all eager to be the Ugly Yankee Fan following our shitty tabloid writers’ calling for Dantoni’s head even though he’s had to eat a metric ton of shitty rosters, team-wrecking trades, and Plan A → Plan B → Plan C Okay here you go since Day 1.
And yet everyone is CONVINCED Dantoni has to go because…he couldn’t force players who are shitty at defense to play amazing Knick defense who played all the while knowing they had no stake or future with this franchise? I think I’ve seen literally two people on this site over the last two years make even a somewhat cogent argument as to why he should be fired and replaced with fucking Phil Jackson or some other pipe dream Berman and Stephen A. Smith love to tweet. I don’t know about you guys, but I sat through years of urinal cake teams to get to the point where we were free of bad contracts and a culture of losing and maybe have some hope for the future. Now we’re here. We’re finally fucking here! We have a stable team for the foreseeable future for the first time in like 4 years. We have two and a half superstars and another mending on the bench! We have great rookies and first-year players and a new arena and some apparently competent Front Office guys!
The Chicken Little shit is getting to me. If you’re gonna post, make sure you know what you’re talking about or you come across as some RealGM refugee with better spelling. Emotions get the better of me too while talking about this team sometimes, but holy shit there’s no in-between or a measure of knowing when to have patience with some of you. It’s killing my enjoyment of this season, and in this social media age I know the players are hearing it even more unfiltered, and I can only imagine what they think about this fickle-ass city.
Now let’s go and beat some Sacramento ass tomorrow and start the new year off right, because it looks like it’ll be the last game I can see that isn’t on TNT for a while. Thanks MSG/Time Warner!
Fish Fingers give me a break.
by GAx on Dec 31, 2011 1:15 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
I agree man
Now, there are legitimate things to criticize D’Antoni for. For example, it was pointed out here last year that we overswitch on D like crazy and that this kills us by creating mismatches and creating openings. That kind of thing seems like the kind of thing that a coach should be able to correct (“hey guys, stick with your man, try to fight through screens, don’t switch every single time”). I think it’s totally legit to make specific criticisms of a coach for coaching things. But to just be like “he’s garbage he has to go and when we have a new coach everything will be great”… just get out of here. You’re entitled to your opinion but your opinion is actually worthless.
by Joamiq on Dec 31, 2011 2:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
personally
i feel like there is a time to use it. and that time is on like… say there’s a sideline out of bounds with less than 12(ish) seconds on the shot clock. or maybe they just barely make it over the half court line so now there’s 16 left on the shot clock and they haven’t set up their offense….
its not easy to just switch that on and off, but if you practice it enough, and use it in game enough, its going to become second nature. and once it’s a muscle memory, its going to cause problems, force the opponent to rush and hopefully make a mistake.
when you force turnover you can open up your transition game. but- i’m getting ahead of myself.
hey look, the team let kobe go off a little bit, but it was at the expense of his laker teammates. lots of standing around. and they scored less than 20 points in each quarter (36 total) in the second half.
in the third- the lakers made 7 shots and missed 12. 5 makes by kobe, 2 by gasol.
in the 4th- 7 makes, 12 misses again. kobe with no makes, and he missed two shots within 5 feet of the hoop.
so… i mean… sure the coach can’t teach defense, and the team can’t play defense. fine, i’m happy to give that one up to all you grody bitches, because i don’t think its his strong suit. but look, the offense, is atrocious. just mind numbingly bad. it won’t last. it just won’t.
i gotta stop. i wish i could shut my brain off, cus i hate feeling the need to talk sense into people. but i gotta.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
sorry for the overkill again
but thats 36% shooting in the second half.
/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \
Oh definitely
No argument there. There are definitely times when it’s better to switch. I was just pointing out that you could legitimately criticize a coach for not being able to get his players to understand that switching EVERY time is not good. But that at least is a specific and pointed and reasonable criticism. Not “this guy sucks”. Especially 3 games into a season since, as you say, certain woes just will not, cannot, last.
Melo needs to be a real Super Star and start facilitating
Have the ball go through him and not stop at him…
he needs to know he can get his anytime…but that he NEEDS to control the tempo of the game…be our Point Forward…start doing the pick and ROLLS with Amare or Tyson.
Get everyone else involved as well.
I agree with Mase above, as far as Defense….GO ZONE! Every time I look we are getting beat badly playing man to man or playing it sloppily just like our offense the last 2 games – heck even the 3rd Quarter of the Celtics win.
JPP, ELI,
sipping drinks in Hawaii
and damn, someone set a damn pick puhhhlease
stop freaking standing around and back screen someone, anyone, hell even your own teammate….it’s better than me just watching everyone watching everyone else….
JPP, ELI,
sipping drinks in Hawaii
Seth, you're completely right on all of this
The interior defenders have to stay home. It boggles the mind that they without fail jump up on screens when we keep getting burned for open layup after open layup.
The three point attempts (and Amare’s jumpers) have not been in rhythm AT ALL. There’s always a bit of hesitation and then a sort of “uh, I guess I should shoot this” shot. This is starkly different from how the team was moving the ball and shooting pre-Melo.
Watching Chandler never get the ball on the roll is incredibly frustrating.
Melo always distributes well early and then abandons that approach and goes all iso.
The good news is that all of this is fixable. The bad news is that that just makes it more frustrating when it isn’t fixed.
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