Telling Anderson he can only shoot 3's really devalues his skill set.

Out of the the 6 games during our wins 126, 125, 110 is not exactly what you call figuring us out. I think what you guys have is a case of confirmation bias where the team play was judged on one game where we scored 75.

 

jesus that's a bad shot until he scored. Honestly with the bricks Harden has been throwing up from the three point line, I wouldn't even mind Ryan iso'ing and doing this random crap

 

Yeah, play clock was running down when he put that up. Normally Ryno would just play within the offense, but it's nice to see he can hit those types of shots. Maybe we could see it in the finals to win it all?

 

We didn't win 3 games and we never figured out how to break down their wing crash defense. Sagging off the corner 3 guys and putting a lid on the rim killed us. Our offense wasn't effective enough to beat them 3 times. They had us figured out after 1 game. We never figured them out and we never adjusted. This year our offense looks different because MDmA adjusted.

 

I stand corrected about the 3 games TY. So what we are saying is that Pop was watching videos of our offense all year long and then finally figured it out after game one? What did we do different on game one of the playoffs that we did differently during the regular season?

 

We went 1-3 against the spurs in the regular season. Pop is smart, he doesn't need to see much to understand your tendencies. He said that the only person he watches tape of is James Harden. He respects the offense we ran last year enough to know he's gotta figure it out. I think his 7-3 record against one of the greatest offense in history says plenty about him.

 

MDA is also smart, I hope we can agree on that. If the team who had one of the greatest offense in history still loses, what can we conclude from that? Improve the offense or defense?

 

Ryno is an above average 3-point shooter and a good offensive weapon overall. There's a reason this team shelled out as much as it did for him. The reason that his game was devalued was as a result of last season. That team had 2 elite 3-point shooters/above avg offensive threats (LW, EG), 1 above average three point shooter/elite offensive player (JH), and a litany of very good 3 point shooters complementing them (RA, SD, PB, and AZ).

What this meant was that at any point in time, we had 4 players on the floor that could reliably shoot three pointers, at least one of whom was good enough offensively to take his man off the dribble and demand a double team from which he would have an easy lob or kick out for a 3. Remove PB, SD, and LW, and you are left with two primary offensive options (JH, EG) and two above avg three point shooters (RA and AZ, with RZ being the better of the two). LMM and PT are actually below average at shooting three pointers, and without CP3 in the lineup, we have placed games on the shoulders of Harden and Gordon. This has offered an opportunity for RA to show his offensive skillset that previously was not as necessary but is now in dire need. Our 3-heavy offense just does not flow the same under this new group absent another elite dribbler and a few more 3 point shooters. I suspect that you will see Morey make the necessary role player adjustments before the trade deadline. In the meantime, we'll probably continue winning 55-70% of our games without going on the same type of streak we had last season.

 

Absolutely we agree on that. I wouldn't trade Pops for MDmA. I really really like what Mike brought to this team. It's been a blast to watch his offense unfurl Harden's sails and pieces seem to fit so well in it. I think he and Morey have a real understanding of how to work together and get personnel on the team. I do not want there to be any changes.

The obvious answer to your question is improve the defense, but you're leading me with a trick question. I don't appreciate that sort of argument because it's designed to manipulate rather than convince. I'm not saying you're trying to manipulate the discussion, but the question you put out there is not open ended enough to leave room for discussion.

The truth is that both need to improve and I would argue that both offense and defense have improved. The offense is not more efficient in performance, but it's not the typical PnR we saw last year that carried this underpowered team to the third best record in the NBA. I think we need to stick with what we've been running, slip back into the past on occasions and run up the score from time to time, and keep up the defensive intensity that worked us back into the game against the Warriors. That defensive intensity was not there in our loss to the 76ers and to me that was the most disappointing loss all season. It sucks losing a game where it looked like we just didn't care enough to play hard.

Personally, I don't think this team is hard enough on itself yet. We need to strive for perfection and these guys aren't doing that. Top to bottom, we should be more critical of how we're running things. I want to see arguments arise about plays that worked out. You know, we get the steal but someone yells at the guy for being in the wrong place. To me, being able to get on each other without losing mutual respect is the next step. That's when you know you have a group of winners. When the winning becomes priority number 1 and your ego gets tucked in underneath that, that's what we need to improve. Not defense, not offense. We need to improve our killer instinct.

 

ANYONE THINK THE KNICKS ARE KICKING THEMSELVES FOR NOT MAKING THE TRADE??? I always thought Ryno was a good fit for the Rockets and I think he should be shooting a higher percentage on his 3 pointers. His problem is he shoots a low trajectory. He needs to increase the arc

 

For the most part, it would be difficult to disagree with anything that you said.

I raised the question knowing that the answer is obvious to put things in a more general perspective. If we don't know the 'root cause' of why we lost last year, then we won't be able to come up with a solution. Ryan was/is not the reason we lost to the Spurs and if that is true, we are in more trouble than we think.

Our offense last year was deadly and if we are on, very few teams can hang with us. To me, the investment of making us one of the best offensive team in the league has already paid dividends as we had the 3rd best record. Having Anderson use more of his offensive skills does not really raise the offensive bar that much - if any. I can agree that we can use his step back every once in a while for those times where play A and B does not work but does that really make us that much better of an offensive team?

 

Yes because there are games where we just brick brick brick from 3 and dont adjust. Give the ball to anderson or Harden for that matter and let them take a midrange shot. My problem is not our philosophy, my problem is the stubborn "stick to your philosophy" attitude that just looks insufferable in games where the 3 is not falling.

 

I just want him to be aggressive. Shoot it every time there is ANY space. Let it fly all game long no matter what.

 

Ryan Anderson has the highest TS% of his career, this year.

 

That's a good point about the importance level of Ryno playing well. He shot 37% from 3pt land and almost 50% from the field in our 4 playoff losses to the spurs. So he didn't play horribly and an average performance from him didn't change the result. However, he scored less than 10 points per game during those losses so perhaps we do need to include him more to balance the defensive pressure. He can't contribute if he doesn't get the ball.

Ryno shot 7.5 times a game in our losses and 11.5 in our wins. There's something to that. There has to be. Perhaps Anderson needs to start calling his own number a little more often? I don't think 13 shots a game is too much to ask for from a scorer like him. He's at 10 right now and we have yet to look like a well oiled machine.

 

And there you have it, you clearly show your bias here and just pushing your opinion. Thanks for playing!

 

I really wonder if he has a driving game? Some kind of spin move? I know he does that drive and pump fake but he gets the ball passed too all the time as the clock is at 6-7 and he freaks out and gives it back to James. I’d like him to dribble

 

I wonder that too, it’s so odd when he drives and does that spin or pump fake it’s always so awkward and forced. It’s unnatural looking but somehow he gets the foul haha
Just weird for a big guy like that not having the ability to drive or jog with the ball for a hook or lay-up.

 

The problem is, MDA will probably never use him that way. Whenever he sets the pick for Harden, he always pops out to the 3P line so that Harden can drive in. If Anderson goes to the post, this takes away Capela's space and the space for Harden to drive.

And we're allergic to long 2s, so Anderson will never pop to anywhere within the 3P line.