Unlike Larry Brown who had about 50 million different lineups last season, Isiah Thomas has stuck with a primary starting 5 and a primary secondary unit and its been paying off pg) marbury sg)francis sf)jeffries (now rose, after jeffries injury) pf)frye (who was amazing last year) c) curry (tearing it up these past 3 games) secondary unit nate robinson crawford quentin richardson ranaldo balkman (very chuck hayes like) david lee I think the talent is there, theyre young... and can definitly run
We all diss zeke, me included for being a horrible GM. but let us not forget he coached the pacers for 3 seasons and made it into the post season each of those years hes a good coach...horrible horrible GM
I'm watching the Knicks/Celtics now, I can't get the Rox game where I live. This is going to be a fun team to watch this year, the Phoenix Suns of the east, Zeke is running them like crazy. They seem to have a continuity from their first team to their second team, they don't lose much when their second team is on the floor. Could be a benefit to have a 10 man rotation when running an up tempo offense. they'll wear out teams that don't have the depth they have in the 4th quarter. Zeke is a good coach, the players respect him and I expect that the Knicks will be the most improved team in the league this year. I haven't see all the rookies this year but if you have a chance, check out this kid Rajon Rondo who plays for the Celtics. 6'1", 160 lbs, steal at the 21st pick. He did a one hand jam of a putback that Lebron James would be proud of and then he steals the inbound pass and scores on another layup.
If (an admitted big "if") the Knicks can run in the regular season with with Eddy Curry at C it shoots a hole in the theory that that the Rockets can't uptempo with Yao.
holy schit. eastern conf darkhorse... book it (in the year 2000. in the year 2000!!!111!!!j) that team is deep beyond belief. isiah has to be a tard for this team not to make the playoffs.
Hold on a second. Maybe the Knicks start well, maybe not. Either way, I guarantee you they will hit a point this season when the bottom will fall out. AFTER (and only after) that happens will an accurate read of the Knicks be possible. Right now Zeke is the anti-Larry Brown. He's going through his honeymoon period with the players. He signed and drafted them all so they like him. He is taking over from the "devil" (LB) so the players have an initial adrenaline rush for now. None of this will last. If they start the season slow, watch out. Whenever they have their first 5 game losing streak, watch out. What you see happening now is a mirage that will be blown away by reality in a few weeks. Or maybe it takes longer. But the crash WILL happen and this team WILL flame out. If I'm wrong, rub it in early next year. You guys are seriously overrating Zeke's coaching with the Pacers. I won't bother debating it here but he was fired for a reason and it wasn't just because he and Bird don't like each other.
he wasnt fired, his contract wasnt resigned because rick carlisle was unexpectedly let go from the pistons and he was a pretty hot commodity at the time. back to back coach of the year if i remember correctly. as for the honey moon period, i mean he drafted them because he saw something in them like balkman. and i think its good that he gets to coach to maybe bring out what he knows is their potential as compared to larry brown he just doesnt work with youngsters. ill be the first to admit hes overpaying them like crazy, but hes cut a lot of dead weight and if, IF they gel these guys could be good for years to come. minus marbury, rose, francis, theyre all sub 25.
Carlisle wasn't, and Isiah wouldn't have made it past Labor Day if Rick was around or not. Isiah was fired, too, it's not as if they chose not to re-up his contract. He had time left. Turnover or not, Isiah could not take what was EASILY the most talented team in the East (more so than New Jersey, by far) past something like 45 wins, or the first round. His Xs/Os and rotation "work" in the 2003 playoffs against Boston was some of the worst I've ever seen, and though he tried some (very) interesting things with motion offenses early in 2000-01, his time in Indiana was a profound disappointment. And, remember, the 2000-2003 Eastern Conference makes today's East look like the 1996 Western Conference. It was a pitiful, pitiful Conference, and for two of the years, Isiah had to fight for a playoff spot. Pathetic. Reply all you want about turnover and relative age, but in that 2000-03 era, he has no excuses. That team consistently underachieved, night after night; I was screaming about it then, and I'm typing about it now.
exactly. they look good running thier starters (and real rotation) against other teams second units and camp fodders. no doubt they will do better than 23 wins. 33-37 seems about right. nothing to write home about though.
Rajon Rondo looked really good, the knicks looked mediocre. I guess Chicago's not getting GO this year.
Ronjo looks very solid from these 3 pre-season games so far. why didn't we make the Grizzlies choose him and include it as part of the Gay + Swift -> Battier trade!!!??? i hate to bring this up again, i understand that we are in 'Win Now' mode, thus the trade, but we didn't get fair enough talent out of this trade, we were simply robbed!!!!
I don't buy this one bit. It isn't like they made an improvement from last season. They have the same roster (except Jefferies and he is injured right now). Sure they look good on paper, but they are one "I don't get enough playing time, I don't get enough touches, why am I not starting?" away from imploding into a billion pieces.