I know what you mean. A lot of it is how they've reunited two important pieces from that Mavs team in Kidd and Chandler!
The good news is it looks like we picked the right year to have the Knicks pick. The bad news is we used it to pick Royce White.
Man, I love JR Smiths game, but he is such a knucklehead. I remember one summer at the Fonde Rec league, he tore it up. He was the only good NBA level star on his team, but he thrilled the gym. It was awesome. I like watching his game, but I would NEVER want it on the Rockets.
The Knicks are playing some tough D and Felton looks like he is back in decent shape. They will finally get their first L tomorrow against the Grizzllies.
If they stay healthy they'll be contenders. They have the D'Antoni offense but with defense incorporated.
Yeah, I remember him and Mike James going back and forth one night at Fonde. J.R. must've had 50 when it was all said and done. Imagine him in Miami's run-and-gun offense w/ tons of opportunities to finish on the break & sink uncontested treys while LeBron and Wade command attention. He'd shine in that system. This is still one of the nastiest in-game dunks I've ever witnessed: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WVpLXF6g_PE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'm still skeptical. You have to do it for months, and keep it at this level going into March/April to be taken seriously. Can they seriously average 40%+ shooting 3s all year? That would be historic I believe.
Glen Grunwald > Daryl Morey Did an unbelievable job putting this team together. Walking away from the Lin deal, letting Fields go to Toronto, picking up unconventional players like Sheed and Prigoni and hiring Woody. Building this team with no cap space and some salary exceptions, he deserves Exec of the year. Knicks are for real, scary thing is they might get better when Stat and Shump get back. People bad mouth Amare but what are the chances that a 20M player isn't going to help your team.
The Knicks were supposed to be almost this good last year, on paper. Carmelo becoming a team player and playing defense this year helps tremendously. And having 3 good PGs as opposed to 1 for 25 games. I think the need to prove he really is the man in the Big Apple, make people forget about Jeremy Lin, the threat of the Knicks not even being the best team in New York (Brooklyn), and his experience at the Olympics really committed Carmelo. He's now the guy worth sending half the NY team to Denver for. If only TMac had this aha moment half way through his career. The amazing thing about the Knicks is that, all of their top 6 guys by minutes played have a PER of >17, vs the league average on 15. And you know defensively they're not going to be too bad if Carmelo stays committed, and they have Chandler and Camby protecting the rim.
Then it's not Dantoni's offense. Dantoni's offense is about pushing the pace. In order to do so, he coaches his players on leaking out instead of crashing the boards. By definition, it is impossible for Dantoni to install his normal style of offense and have a great defense. Well, unless he has Wilt Chamberlain in the frontcourt rebounding for him. What Mike Woodson has done is move Carmelo Anthony to the 4 and free up space in the offense. IMO Melo IS a PF in today's nba. He's a strong post player, a rebounder, and prefers do damage in the midrange area. Most teams are spacing the same way at some point in the game. If you look, the Knicks actually play at the 5th slowest pace in the NBA right now. That's hard to do without a traditional PF. It's a testament to Woodson's intelligent coaching. He's showing that you can run an effective offense without subtracting from defense. But, then again, Pop and other coaches who have at least been to the finals already understand you have to blend the two.
They look real to me. I would ship Amare somehow at this point. If there is someone out there willing to take him and his contract, I would do a deal. This team looks so much better without him, there's no deferring.
Having Stat on the Rockets would benefit for the organization greatly... Stat was here in Houston over the summer, so coincidence????? Oh workout with Olajuwon of course...
The guy doesn't defend and rebound. Plus, he's injury-prone with a fat contract. How would it benefit the Rockets? He's making $19 mil this year, then $21 and $23 mil the next 2 years. If you're going to pay someone that much, make sure he's a top 5 player. Amare isn't one.
