I thought Wilson Chandler as their wing defender is a better Trevor Ariza and someone who could replace Battier, going off of this board's opinion of him. This proves it. Wilson Chandler covers so much ground, he takes 2 SPOTS on the depth chart
That's a little far-fetched. Even with Boozer out for 8 weeks. The bulls have upgraded their role players with the other 2 ex-Jazzholes (Ronnie Brewer and Korver), who are upper level role players. Also, Derick Rose is in his 3rd year, which is a typical breakout year for high draft picks. Bulls without boozer are a 5 - 7 seed. With boozer, they are a lock for 3 - 4.
i think your jumping the gun a little. i just dont see them making the playoffs. they have some decent players. but none of them have played together before. i dont know i just think there will be a lot of growing pains on this team and not much defense.
Sarcasm meter just went nuts but i'll play along, I say they're long shot at best. Obviously the top 5 are set... Celtics Magic Heat Bulls Hawks then the next 2 spots should be VERY competitive... Milwaukee Charlotte That leaves 1 spot among... Indiana Philly Washington - My pick with a healthy Arenas and the arrival of John Wall Cleveland NY The surprise team to sneak in would be NJ, if they can acquire Melo and not totally gut their squad then they would be my favorite for the 8th seed.
They actually have good depth at the center spot. Their biggest weakness will be chemistry and defense. I'll try to give a quick breakdown of the Knicks for those that haven't followed them during the off season(feel free to add anything I may have missed.) Center- Turiaf will more than likely be the starter. Tough, physical player that will do the dirty work. Amare can also play here, but isn't particularly happy about doing so. I imagine that in certain matchups/situations Randolph will get a few minutes here also. They also have two interesting prospects in Timofey Mozgov and Jerome Jordan. If Mozgov adapts quickly to the NBA he could get quite a few minutes if not eventually become the starter. PF- Amare is the starter. Randolph will be the backup, but will likely see extended minutes on the floor with Amare manning the 5. Turiaf can also play some minutes at the 4, but that would probably only happen when Mozgov is on the floor. Gallinari could play some 4 if the Knicks decide to go small. SF- Probably the deepest position for the Knicks. Gallinari is the unquestionable starter but both Wilson Chandler and Roger Mason have been starters in the league. Bill Walker will get some minutes. SG- From deepest to the one with most question marks. Chandler or Mason will start, but I think they are best suited as SF. Bill Walker is also an option, especially if they end up trading Chandler. Both of their PGs can also play the off guard. PG- Felton will start with Tony Douglas as his primary backup.
Damn dude, you scared me, I thought Amare scored 32 points in a preseason game against NBA teams. Apparently they've just been playing against Olimpia Milano. Nothing against Olimpia Milano...but every NBA team will wipe the floor against OM. And I'd say our picks are safe. How do I know? [quote/]Former Minnesota Timberwolves center Oleksiy Pecherov led Milano with 23 points[/quote] So basically a center who sucks so much Minny decided to let him go managed to score 23 points against NY's frontcourt. Not only that, they managed to turn the ball over an eye-popping 28 times...against non-NBA competition. I'm pretty confident no matter what happens we'll end up with a better record than the Knicks. In this case no matter what happens we'll end up with a pick upgrade...as long as NY doesn't suck so much they get a top two pick.
The problem with the Knicks is they will be complete garbage on defense. No two ways about it. Turiaf doing his "dirty work" won't change that fact. What limits D'Antoni severely as a coach is his lack of interest in emphasizing defense. If the coach isn't constantly kicking players in the behind about defensive effort and doesn't have solid schemes they can fall back on, one or two individual players won't make much of a difference. Unlike the Suns from a few years ago, the Knicks cannot overwhelm most teams with talent on offense and win games simply by pushing the ball for 48 minutes. Their SF/SG positions will be a trainwreck if they rely on Bill Walker and Roger Mason. If they stay fairly healthy and a superior team or two has some injuries, I can definitely see them making the playoffs. Barring that, Knicks fans might have to wait and hope for Melo. I expect them to have an exuberant start to the season but they will tail off eventually. You can't go very far with only two starting-caliber players (Amare and Felton) on your entire team. Gallinari needs to really blow up this year.
No way the Knicks make it. The Celtics, Heat, Magic, Bulls, Hawks, Bucks, Bobcats, Wizards, and Pacers are all better than them. Lottery here we come... :grin:
I agree with most of your post but I think you've undersold Gallinari. He's a solid starter already and has room to improve. Amare is an all-star when healthy, and Gallinari, Felton, and Chandler are OK starters. But 2 of those guys are best at the 3 and Felton isn't anything special at the point. And the rest of the roster is really, really bad.
That Timofey Mozgov dude is pretty good and is probably a lock for the center position. They have solid depth at all positions minus the guards. They got some solid bigs to back up Amare in Randolph and Turiaf and also have a good depth at foward with Gallinari and Chandler. I think our picks are gonna be worthless unless Amare gets injured.
Since when are picks worthless? Landry, Hayes, C-bud and Scola are all low first rounders and below. If we had another second round pick last year we could have gotten Whiteside and shored up our C position for the next decade. Point is picks are always welcome, especially on a team that's really good at drafting like ours.
nah i think charlotte is going to struggle. all they did this offseason was lose felton while other teams got better. their spot is definitely up for grabs so i think NY definitely has a good shot making one of the bottom two seeds.
I think the Top 3 are set. There is no distinction between team 4 through 9...totally up for grabs. Knicks Hawks Bulls Bucks Bobcats Wizards Cavs The Knicks have a great coach, a star player and a style that will get them wins. Amare Gallinari Randolph Mozgov Felton Chandler Turiaf I think the Knicks are the #4 East team. Amare and Randolph are relatively well known. Mozgov gives them a bruising 7 footer who can score Gallinari is one of the best shooters in the NBA and the guy players with a mean competitive spirit. Couple it with a winning coach in D'Antoni with a running style that teams can't keep up with. The Knicks are in much better shape than most of the 2nd tier East Teams. Bulls and Hawks are going to have disappointing years.
Dang it's late at night, quite a few typos in my post, hopefully you guys can understand it. I know it sounds crazy but the Knicks are going to have a great year..much like the mid 2000's Suns with 55 win seasons and 120 point box scores. Don't forget they also have Eddy Curry's trade chip and that may turn into Melo or Igoudala with that expiring.
lol thats not going to happen with felton running the show.. they desperately need an above average PG to get the most out of the offense. i say around 41-47 wins
