Everyone is hyping them but I don't see them beating anyone but Miami in a game Miami prob let them have for their hurricane survivors morale boost. I think the best coach in the league and kawhi on melo along with great depth beats ny...what say you...are they for real?
I think this is when melo can be at his best. Evrerytime amare is in it messes up the tempo and touches for him. So as long as they can keep this pace they will be fine.
The only Western Conference team they've played so far is Dallas. So no. In fact their upcoming back-to-back against San Antonio and then Memphis should bring Knicks fans some much-needed perspective.
They have elite defense, very good point guard play, amazing depth of big men coming off the pine. Good rebounders and Shumpert isnt even back yet. There the real deal.
It doesn't, actually, but it's more a nod to how misleading all of this is, this early on. (Check out those RPI stats, too!) I don't think very much of a team that has beaten the Sixers without Bynum, Dallas without Dirk, an Orlando team that is awful regardless of whether Jameer Nelson is playing, and a Heat team that was phoning it in due to Sandy. Not that it hasn't been fun to watch Knicks fans disregard all of this and get carried away anyway. Like I said, they're in for a badly-needed reality check as their schedule toughens up through the end of November. In fact, it's quite possible they lose even to a Manu-less Spurs team tonight, and then get destroyed by Memphis on Friday. At which point, the bipolar Knicks community will fall over themselves talking about "adjustments" and what a bad coach Mike Woodson somehow is, even though truthfully, they will have only JUST faced their first good opponents who were giving maximum effort. Reminds me of ClutchFans! On a sidenote, Ed Kupfer, who crunches numbers for the Rockets, parsed out some SoS data and found that Miami will have the easiest SoS overall by the end of this season, according to ESPN's projected records. http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275303 This may be part of a vast conspiracy that stretches across the globe and to the highest seats of power, or it may be that the Heat play in the worst division in the NBA. Probably the latter. :grin:
J.R. Smith is averaging 18 & 5 at nearly .50 FG% through the first 5. Still early, but he could be primed for a monster year. I thought he was a sure-fire star out of HS. 2X first-team All-State and co-MVP w/ Dwight at Mickey D's AA Game, where I remember him sinking 25-foot treys with ease. He was a showstopper at the rim thanks to his freakish vert, which measured 44" at the combine. He had all the tools, but his immaturity & lack of focus held him back in Denver. He was always in Karl's doghouse, though he did manage to set the franchise record for 3 PT% (once hit 11 3s off the bench). Maybe he's turned a corner in his 2nd year w/ NY. If anything, he'll be in the hunt for 6th Man, and possibly MIP. He's a better player than he's shown through his first 8 years in the league.
I know this may sound crazy but he always reminded me a bit of Kobe in terms of his style and making certain things look effortless. I'm obviously not comparing the two but JR definitely has some game.
They're a lot more legit after tonight. They got their first: 1. Road win 2. Against a quality team 3. That was healthy Not only that, but they showed remarkable poise in the fourth quarter of a tight game against the Spurs. They produced stops when they needed them, manufactured good shot attempts in the last few minutes, and then made those shots. Not bad at all.
Yeah I was really impressed tonite especially with Felton. Looks like they are buying into Woodson... Looks like a different team this year.