LOL. Maybe it's because I'm a old-school defense, defense, defense guy, but I still do not view D'Antoni as a good coach and rather the guy who got lucky as an absolute splendid PG ran the show. Which is not Felton. And I don't understand how that run and gun style necessarily grabs more wins then other more conventional styles. I think it's possible the Knicks could make the playoffs, certainly can't rule it out. But you're massively overestimating their roster (Gallinari? Mean streak? Huh?), and the idea that they could win 50 is simply hilarious. 45 wins. At best. Not to mention well, how is Curry's EC possessing any value? Especially to Melo, as the Nuggets would rather just let him expire rather then taking on Curry's fat ass.
I am also a defense first guy. But I also realize that D'Antoni's unique offensive approach also brings in wins. Have you watched Gallinari play? The dude is very competitive. He throws elbows and does play dirty at times. Lol. The NBA has a luxury tax.
This board seemed to rule them out from teh moment they made the T-mac "pick switch" trade and the moment somebody took his talents to south beach. It's really not that hard to make the playoffs at the back end of the Eastern Conference. 45 wins should suffice. I agree that the T-mac trade concession was some fancy GM'ing by Morey, and an excellent move regardless of what happens. Further I agree that that picture of him turning around to see the camera with the Knicks in the background is really cool - but it's possible that a pick switch with the Knicks this year ends up to be a modest gain at most, or even nonexistent at worst if the Rox go south.
Care to explain? Especially since it hasn't brought in wins so far, while Phoenix is doing just fine without him (and did even better with Porter last year), highlighting the true importance of Nash and not D'Antoni. Many of my posts last year were about how excited I was about this dude and was hoping to watch him develop. He disappointed me. He's a nice dude( and not one with a mean streak), can make the 3 point shot really well, but aside from that? Not much to him. I thought he would make a leap last year, but I don't think he will. At this point, he's a poor man's Peja. (And of course I mean prime Peja, whom was damn good) What does this have to do with the fact that no team wants Curry, and especially Denver, as they don't need ECs as in the worst case they could just tell Melo to go f himself and let his contract expire.
So far....I think the Knicks were tanking and dumping salary to pick up Lebron last summer. No Lebron but Amare's a great fit. Suns sucked under that defensive guy. They brought back 7 seconds or less and they made it to the WCF again. The D' Antoni formula is great for wins, just not good for championships. Because the luxury tax is a dollar for dollar tax. They would be stupid to just let Melo expire.
I know it's still pre-season but watching the Knicks tonight, you can tell that basketball is back in New York. Knicks won't be battling for the #8 seed, they'll be battling for #1 in the Atlantic with Boston (depending on whether the Celtics take it easy or not this year). I'm telling you guys, the Knicks are finally back.
Which part do you disagree upon? 1) Knicks and Celtics will be top 2 in Atlantic division 2) The Knicks won't be battling for the #8 spot (they'll be much higher than #8) Maybe we can make a friendly sig wager?
I think the knicks are a lock for the playoffs, unfortunately. Take a look at the Eastern conference and there just isn't much there. Cleveland and Toronto have surely gotten worse and pretty much drop out of the picture. Charlotte has gotten worse, IMO. Who's improved? Miami already made the playoffs last year, as did Milwaukee. Washington, Philly, and Indiana are simply not better than NY right now.
Yeah I think he's right! The East will be pretty strong in the top 4-5, but the rest is going to be awful! The Nets were awful last year and this year you have the Cavs and Raptors who are now at their level! I mean it's going to be tough to say who the worst team is this early in the season...
Big news out of ESPN tonight is that the Knicks have made significant progress in acquiring Melo. Nuggets just hired a salary cap expert as well. Coincidence? I'm telling you guys, the Knicks are going to be beastly in the East this year.
As for the trade pieces from New York: Anthony Randolph or Danilo Galinari + Eddy Curry's expiring contract And maybe Toney Douglas or a draft pick acquired from another team. Even losing Randolph or Galinari, the addition of Melo could put the Knicks into the East. I know alot of you laugh at the notion of the Knicks being good...but you'll see. :grin:
Last night after the OKC game, Melo also said signing and staying in Denver is still an option. What a liar. What this really means is Melo is very confident something will be done soon. Making that statement now allows him to say (AFTER the trade, of course) that he didn't actually want to leave Denver. Playing that ruse now just makes him look foolish. He's dumber than I thought. YaoZow, clearly if the trade to the Knicks happens and they only give up the trash you mention below, it will vault them into contention for a top 4 seed in the East. The Nuggets won't be getting a single good player back. And don't anyone start telling me how Galinari and Anthony Randolph are. This is a surrender by the Nuggets. They should go back to the Nets.
I've seen the Knicks twice this preseason and was fairly impressed, at least comparing them to recent years. I love David Lee, but Amare is a noticeable upgrade. Mozgov can give them some quality minutes at center. They have pretty good athleticism and very good outside shooting. They might get hurt on the boards. Boston, Orlando and Miami are obviously the best in the East in some order. Then Atlanta, and Chicago after Boozer returns. After that, with Bogut not fully healthy it's the Knicks and Bucks. In the Atlantic, the Raptors and Sixers are pretty bad. I think the Knicks will be second and the Nets third in the division.
I'm absolutely flubber-gasted that Hollinger picks Amare as a defensive upgrade over David Lee. Amare is going to be thrilled that he's the man on a team and is going to try to prove that he can do it without Nash. His defense and rebounding efforts will be even worse than usual. You also have to factor in certain losses against the top teams in the division and the playoff teams in the West. So they should have 4 losses to the Celts, 4 to the Magic, 4 to the Heat, 3 to the Hawks, and 3 to Chicago. That takes them to 2 and 20. Add in 2 losses to the top 8 teams in the West, and now they are at 2 and 36. Let's say they manage to play .500 for the rest of the season. 82-38 = 44, so I'll give them 22 wins out of that. My prediction is somewhere between 24 and 35 wins for the Knicks. Of course, you probably only need 38 wins to make the 8th spot in the east, so they may be in the running for a while. East Rankings: 1. Orlando 2. Miami 3. Boston (one last year) 4. Chicago 5. Atlanta 6. Milwaukee 7. NJ Nets 8. ???
The ssol strategy has gotten them to a few western conference finals, and if not for horry they might have a won a ring.
Wizzards: John Wall/Kirk Hinrich Gilbert Arenas/Nick Young Josh Howard/Al Thorton Andray Blache/Yi Javale McGee That's a very nice rotation. They should make the playoffs if Wall is truly a superstar.
Hollinger is looking like a genius with his Knicks pick. Truth is the East sucks so bad, you don't even need to be good to make the Playoffs. a .400 record right now buys you an 8th seed in the East. In contrast, there are 4 teams at .500 in the West going for the #8 seed.
How funny would it also be to see #4 Cavs beat #5 Heat in the First round? The Heat have more starpower, the Cavs have much better roleplayers. That would be some crazy Karma if Cavs beat Heat in the first round. Current Eastern Records 1. Atlanta .860 win record 2. Boston 3. Orlando 4. Cleveland 5. Miami 6. New York 7. Indiana (.400 win record) 8. Chicago (.400 win record) Western Records 1. Hornets (1.000 win record) 2. Lakers (1.000 win record) 3. Spurs 4. Nuggets 5. Warriors 6. Blazers 7. Mavs 8. Suns (.500 win record) 9. Jazz (.500 win record) 10. Thunda (.500 win record) 11. Kings (.500 win record)
