No, it's not. Ray Felton hasn't been anything special and Kidd has been playing the 2. Try harder next time.
Agreed, Melo has always been a great scorer. In addition to that, Kidd despite his age is an important player to the Knicks' success.
In the short run, they are because Melo doesn't need to share the spotlight anymore and is actually working hard. We all know that Melo was just mailing it in when Lin was around. If Lin stayed, Melo would have continued to play selfishly and poorly. But now he can be "the man." Either way though, they still won't win the championship and at most they'll reach the EC finals. So in the long run... no, they are not much better. They basically traded a young potential all star for a bunch of old players whose windows are closing.
I wouldn't put it all on d'antoni. imo, melo wasn't putting in full effort because he wanted him fired.
Felton is indeed better than Lin. Its just his decisionmaking and lack of physical conditioning that makes him look like **** sometimes.
The Knicks are doing great because Melo's playing out of his mind and is playing the 4, Woodson's running an effective offense that's Melo-centric, and Amar'e's out. Are Kidd&Felton better, talent wise, than Lin? I don't know. Are they a better fit? It would appear so. Would I rather have them than Lin (which I think is what you're getting at)? No, but that's not to say I'm happy with Lin.
I don't think Melo is playing "out of his mind" though. He's doing the same things he always does except the organization has put a group of guys around him that fit. And, like you said, he's playing the 4 which is his natural position in today's NBA. The only difference in Melo is his ridiculous 3pt% that will fall back down to earth at some point.
Funny guy! The Knicks are playing better basketball because they're moving the ball and are literally on fire on the 3pt line. They're also committed to defense and you have Melo playing at the 4 which makes him a better scorer. It remains to be seen how Woodson is going to integrate Amare back into the rotation as well as how he can utilize Amare as well. Lin plays well as the primary ball handler and its unfair to compare him to Felton (can't compare him to Kidd now seeing as how Kidd is basically their 2 guard, spotting up and shooting now). Felton has been in the league for 7 years while Lin is still only in his 2-3 year. The first year or so don't really count because he didn't play starter minutes. Troll harder and please don't make useless threads, k thanks!
I like how OP is acting like he went out on a limb by saying the Knicks are better this year then last...No **** sherlock...
Here's another fact (it's acutally an opinion but I'll bite) the Eastern Conference is basically the D-League and the Miami Heat. The Rockets are 9-1 so far against the east (including a blow out win over the Knicks). So while we're actually more interested in whether the Rockets are better with Jeremy Lin, the fact remains that even with a nice start in the first twenty games the Knicks are still first round fodder and are not serious contenders (even with Amare).
Jeremy Lin would still be a knicks right now if only melo wasn't so jealous of Lin fame in nyc. well see on monday who is better than who, rockets at knicks ..
Lin would be knick if he didn't get such a large contract. Who in their right mind would pay 50mil for Lin?
Terrible thread is terrible. Rather than talk about the things going on this year with the Knicks, let's rewind. The Knicks had nothing going before Lin started getting minutes. They were an underwhelming 9-15 with Amare and Melo both healthy. Starting from Feb 4th against the Nets, Lin took a major role in the Knicks line-up and started for them thereafter. The Knicks managed a 7-0 run with him in (6 games starting), and 4 of those games had Amare and Melo out with injuries. Note: When Lin was injured the Knicks were a .500 team at 25-25. They ended at 36-30. The Knicks are a better team with just Melo, yes, but not because Lin is a bad player. They just don't complement each other. Lin doesn't try to take control as often as he should. Same with Melo and Amare. As everyone has already stated, the Knicks have a better dynamic this year. They're currently working Melo as the offense. Basically, they are the Denver Nuggets 2 years ago, but with a bigger stage.
