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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 20, 2009 13:07:35 GMT -5
So far.... For a jump shooting team we are not very good jump shooters.....yet. Really, the FG% in preseason is abysmal. As a team we are shooting for the 5 preseason games we have played so far a whopping .384 which includes .261 from beyond the arc. Since we have attempted 445 shots from the field with 165 of them (37%) of those shots behind the three point line these stats are disturbing though maybe skewed too as an overwhelming percentage of shots are from long distance. Even more disturbing is that our best 3 point shooter is not Danilo Gallinari (32%), Al Harrington (26%), Wilson Chandler (28%) or Nate Robinson (27%). Our best 3 point shooter so far is Jared Jefferies at 33% which is considered average or adequate by NBA standards. Ouch!!!!We have 3 players shooting reasonably well from the field. David Lee is shooting almost 52% while averaging 15ppg and almost 11rpg. Al Harrington is averaging 16.3 pp. on 51% shooting while Wilson Chandler is scoring 13.4 ppg on 46% shooting. Everyone else is in the toity. ; ) Our FT shooting sucks too at 67%. While this is all bad news it's also fixable. We just have to work harder at taking better shots and it should be noted that lots of players get in during the preseason which skews the offensive numbers considerably. On the positive side we are actually outscoring opponents (96.2 to 95.2) and holding them to 43% from the field while generating 22 turnovers a game. We are losing the Board War but just slightly. One of my favorite Irishisms is "Perception Is NOT Reality". This applies to Al Harrington. I only saw snippets of games and one game in entirety but he is not the Black Hole the media and fans make him out to be. In all honesty he seems to be finding the open guy and might have some decent assist numbers if we could hit shots. ; ) Harrington, Chandler and Lee are playing well. Nate is not playing great offensive basketball but his defense is improved. Jefferies new found range should move him a notch or two from the end of the bench but no closer to the rotation except in a blowout. Chris Duhon doesn't look good at all. I know his assist numbers are taking a hit because we can't dropkick the ball into the Atlantic Ocean from Coney Island Beach but his decision making (keep in mind the tiny data sampling I have of the Knicks so far) is questionable. Chris needs to improve if we want a chance at all during the season to make the playoffs. I can't blame Eddy Curry though I would love to. ; ) I do think two key Knicks are not showing anything yet and those would be Darko Milicic and Danilo Gallinari. Gallo has been a huge disappointment so far. Last year he showed maturity and assurance and he was hurt. This year he is healthy and shows neither. That has to change. Darko isn't getting a lot of burn but he needs to show more when he does play. Watching a practice video from the Knicks home page ( video.msg.com/Videos/New-York-Knicks/eRaco0uWcle_lk7jZRhww_e7fN4gDGpA ) he moves well, has exceptional range and fluidity on his shot and he is damn big. Buy out Larry Hughes. I would rather keep Joe Crawford with his hustle, size, and upside then keep Hughes. Buy him out and be done with him. The guy is shooting .050 for the preseason. That's 5% from the field Knicks fans. I shoot better than that even with a torn rotator cuff I have had since 1995. ; ) So what do I think so far? I like the defensive numbers much better and I think they improve once a solid rotation is named. To be consistently good on defense though we need Darko in the middle. I love Lee but he still gets burned by bigger players consistently. I have not seen Chandler play much at SG. I hope that is where he plays because IMHO the Knicks need Harrington in the starting lineup at SF right now for scoring till Gallo get's his ship righted. In fact my starting lineup would be Darko at center, Lee at PF, Harrington at SF, Chandler at SG and Duhon at PG. Lee gets protection from Darko and his ability to hit jumpers has improved drastically. Harrington can be a good defender and maybe he shows better with a real NBA center behind him. The secret is team defense and sharing the ball. When the Knicks find the open guy we play well. Period. I would bring Nate off the bench with Gallo. If Gallo is to be the starter he has to earn it and so far he hasn't. I would not be shocked though to see Gallo and Harrington switch jobs with Gallo starting and Al coming off the bench. I am more inclined to let Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill get backup minutes. Watch that practice video and you see some nice things from Jordan Hill who can certainly move around in the post and hit medium range jumpers consistently. He also shows himself to be more athletic than in the summer league. Douglas has promise. If I were Walsh my roster would be…. Darko, Curry, Hill, Lee, Harrington, Gallo, Jefferies, Chandler, Robinson, Duhon, Douglas, Landry and Crawford. We carry Mobley on the roster till his situation is resolved next month. We buy out Hughes. |
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Post by ironman95 on Oct 20, 2009 15:08:29 GMT -5
Although I agree with most your analysis, Bill, there are two points mainly where I disagree. First Walsh is not going buy out Hughes, just like he didn't buy out Starbury, forget about that. Along with that, Mobley will remain on the roster, as Walsh as stated that he is not going to trade him or his contract, so one of the three remaining Knicks has to be cut, either Landry, Crawford or Hunter. I think Landry will make the team, so they will have eat $736,000 and cut on of the other two. Personally, I would like to see Hughes bought out, and keep all three, or keep Hughes and do something with Mobley's contract to keep all three. I would be in favor of Mobley and Jeffries to the Wizards for Mike James. My second point where I disagree with your assessment, but not your desire, is concerning Jeffries. D'Antoni constantly praises Jeffries. He is going to be in the rotation, whether we like it or not. I don't like it either. Unfortunately, Darko hasn't gotten many minutes in yet, so I don't see him as a starter initially, but I hope eventually he will be. I think the opening day starting lineup in Miami will be: Duhon, Chandler, Harrington, Jeffries and Lee. I would prefer Duhon, Chandler, Gallinari(Harrington is OK also with me) Lee and Darko, but it ain't gonna happen. I think ultimately the coach will decide that he likes the Robinson-Douglas tandem, which means bringing Nate in off the bench. As raw as Hill is, he does enough good things, that on my chart he is ahead of Jeffries. I don't want Jeffries on the team, I don't want Jeffries in the rotation. If the Knicks have to rely on Jeffries hitting threes they are doomed. I would even play Landry ahead of Jeffries. I just don't get this "love affair" with Jeffries. Reminds me of Jimmy and Starbury.
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 20, 2009 18:11:09 GMT -5
Iron
Didn't Walsh buy out Marbury? How could Marbury be on the Celtics if we didn't release him and how could we not release him without getting some salary relief? It's not like we are good buds with the Celtics, right? ; )
I made no inference to trading Mobley. Instead the one year anniversary of his trade to the Knicks is coming up and due to the ridiculous restrictions of the current CBA we might be able to at last be free of him on the roster if his medical issue is deemed sufficiently serious to make him retire. Why this decision takes a year just boggles my mind but we went through this when Houston retired too.
BTW, who has a love affair with Jefferies? I hope you aren't saying it's me though I do think he is better than most here portray him. A direct quote from my post: "Jefferies new found range should move him a notch or two from the end of the bench but no closer to the rotation except in a blowout. " As long as we are paying him and he is in games where the issue has long been decided I have no issues with him playing. He really is a nice guy and nothing like Marbury. ; ) I buy out Hughes because of his mouth and 5% FG shooting. Jefferies isn't a distraction so I keep him and hope ultimately to trade him. If not, no harm, no foul.
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Post by jbaer10314 on Oct 20, 2009 19:14:37 GMT -5
Bill,
<< So far....
For a jump shooting team we are not very good jump shooters.....yet. Really, the FG% in preseason is abysmal.
As a team we are shooting for the 5 preseason games we have played so far a whopping .384 which includes .261 from beyond the arc. Since we have attempted 445 shots from the field with 165 of them (37%) of those shots behind the three point line these stats are disturbing though maybe skewed too as an overwhelming percentage of shots are from long distance.
Even more disturbing is that our best 3 point shooter is not Danilo Gallinari (32%), Al Harrington (26%), Wilson Chandler (28%) or Nate Robinson (27%). Our best 3 point shooter so far is Jared Jefferies at 33% which is considered average or adequate by NBA standards.
Ouch!!!!
We have 3 players shooting reasonably well from the field. David Lee is shooting almost 52% while averaging 15ppg and almost 11rpg. Al Harrington is averaging 16.3 pp. on 51% shooting while Wilson Chandler is scoring 13.4 ppg on 46% shooting.
Everyone else is in the toity. ; ) Our FT shooting sucks too at 67%. >>
I know you said this was fixable, but I'm not sure it was even worth noting. If nobody put stock in a 4-2 preseason record three years ago, we shouldn't hang our hats on these numbers either.
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Post by ironman95 on Oct 20, 2009 21:59:06 GMT -5
No, Bill, I did not mean you have a "love affair" with Jeffries, I think D'Antoni does. Marbury was bought out with a slight discount, very reluctantly by Walsh. I don't think he will do it with Hughes. He acquired Hughes, and that would be like admitting he made a mistake. Don't think it is going to happen, even though I would like it to happen. I would rather have hungry young guys on the team, than a disgruntled(seemingly wherever he goes) veteran who has lost his shooting touch. He does not seem to play hungry enough for me. He can be good defensively, but his offense as you say is in the "toity". I think Douglas can do everything that Hughes does and do it better. To me, and you too apparently, Hughes has outlived his usefulness. We got rid of James, now we need to get rid of Hughes. We basically agree, except on Jeffries where I think we will never get our monies' worth out of him. To me it is like two mathematical formulas graphed out. Hill on a parabola going up and Jeffries on a parabola going down, when the two cross, Jeffries should never play again, and Hill should get all his minutes. Maybe a few for Darko. I am not a Jeffries fan, never have been, never will be. He is the only one on the team I feel that way about. I used to even be a Curry fan once upon a time, I'll own up to that, like Ken has. It's love/hate with Nate. Hughes, I have no use for. The rest of the Knicks, I have high hopes for. I know they all won't work out, but that is just life and basketball. I wish we could keep all three players on the bubble, but I think Walsh is too stubborn(good or bad) to do that. So I expect one of the three to go. Only a two for one for Mike James can save all three. Mobley and Jeffries, or Hughes and Jeffries, and I don't see either happening. I don't see a buyout of Hughes either. I hope you're right and Walsh does buy him out, but I think Walsh has certain parameters within which he is determined to stay between, and a buyout of Hughes would be outside the lines of those parameters. I think the Knicks need to win some of the preseason games, just because they need to get the taste of it in their psyches. Within that D'Antoni needs to define the unknowns enough to settle on a rotation also. The unknowns to me are Darko, Hill and Gallinari. Douglas seems so steady and NBA ready, I do not consider him an unknown quantity anymore. You basically know what you've got with Lee, Duhon, Harrington and Chandler. FT shooting is easily fixable. Floor shooting both 2's and 3's fixable but not as easy. On the other hand they seem defensively better, and a more minutes for Darko improves that even more. I think the shooting will come around. Going into this season, I think we all wanted to see defensive imrpovement, and we are seeing that. The rest will come. The Knicks wil not be and are not going to be a great team, but I think they can be competitive, working their way up to the status of "a marginally good" team this year. Capable of 40-42 wins, if things go their way. Of my "unknowns", if two of the three come through, I think that will be enough for 40 wins.
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Post by irish2u2 on Oct 20, 2009 23:13:58 GMT -5
Iron
Thanks for the clarification on Jefferies (and I agree D'Antoni does seem to like him a lot) and Marbury. I also agree on the Jefferies/Hill parabola (this is why I love Knicks fans ; ) theorem.
On Hughes just Marbury his ass which means send him home. Isn't that basically what Chicago did with him last season? It wasn't too long ago I really liked this guy's game too.
To clarify my thoughts on shooting you get almost into an All-Star game mode in the preseason with everybody jacking shots to impress the coaches. If we take good shots and the minutes flatten out to the right guys the FG% goes up. Right? Right? Please, let me be right! ; )
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Post by ironman95 on Oct 21, 2009 8:07:44 GMT -5
Once Chandler and Harrington get used to whom they are playing with their % will go up, and they're not the culprits anyway.(Clyde talk). The team has to learn when to pass it to Gallinari and Darko, how and when it is coming back. Gallinari and Darko need more experience to learn when to shoot and when to pass. Hill is behind them on the curve, because he is still finding out that some of his college moves are not going to work in the NBA, but his fall back jumper might. Darko seems to have some back to basket moves, so he and his teammates need to learn what to do after he gets the ball. I.E. Go to the corner, get set for a rebound, run a pick and roll, set up at the arc etc. No Knick can be that familiar with his game at this point in time, because he has played so few minutes while being new to the team. Statistically Gallo had a nice game last night, Duhon and a couple of others did not shoot well, but the shooting and especially 3 point % was up, and they beat the Celtics. A good sign. Now get Darko involved more, work on Gallinari and Hill's game in practice mercilessly, and we might have a competitive team. Right now we're back to 6'9" David Lee playing center, which is exactly what we said we didn't want again this year. We need Darko out there, good, bad, inbetween, he has to be out there. Otherwise we will be overmatched down low.........again.
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Post by dk7th on Oct 21, 2009 9:48:53 GMT -5
regarding jeffries i have to believe he is being showcased in order to be shipped, whereupon gallinari will get that spot. it's not a love affair it's business savvy borne of business necessity. we have to get rid of jeffries contract and unfortunately this is the only way. if no one bites jeffries will likely play himself out of the lineup eventually.
i agree with ironman's lineup of milicic gallinari lee duhon and chandler. maybe that will happen around all star break.
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Post by axios on Oct 21, 2009 10:12:25 GMT -5
You have to be happy the "rooster" came alive. 21years old fellas, let's give him some time. by 23 he will averaging 21pts in his sleep. Jefferies has been hustling and his handle looks pretty good for a 611 guy. harrington was passing, Nate has been playing D. Nice to see us hit some shots.
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Post by kgooglog on Oct 21, 2009 11:00:17 GMT -5
One major difference in my feelings about Larry Hughes and Jared Jeffries is attitude. Jared is a "team" player and has enthusiasm while Hughes is passionless and very unlikeable. I like Jeffries' attitude, his passion for the team, and I do think he has made vast improvements in being a more aggressive player. He really turned on the jets late last season and did make a very positive impression. I think D'Antoni loves Jeffries a bit too much, which is why I fear a line-up with Jared playing defensive PG, again. David Lee in the pivot is such a mistake, though coaches like Mike tend to stick with a familiar face. Darko must start, as he is a 7'2 presence on the middle.
Despite the Knicks prseason struggles, the only way to get Gallo and Darko on track is to play them. I do see Harrington being a starter at this pont in time, for the Knicks must be able to score more than their opponents. If Gallo was on track, than I could see Harrington being a better player on the second unit, along with Nate, Blob, Hill, and Douglas.
Milici must get his legs, obviously, but he needs to get it going to the point where D'Antoni will feel comfortable with him. We were way too small last year, on both units. I want to see Edward "Candyland" to play on the second unit, for then we have three definitive offensive weapons.
In terms of starting, I like Duhon and the 6'8 Chandler is the back-court, then Harrington and Gallo, two potentially 20 PPG game scoes with Darko in the pivot. It is an evenly distributed line-up of offensive and defensive players, filled with better passers out of the high post who can shoot or find an oen wing man. Chandler gives NY both offense and defense, Lee will be our inside force, but Milicic will have his hands full as a help defender for Dave. On a more pleasant note, if you have Harrington,Chandler, and Gallo on the floor, we also have a freer offense snce all three can hit the open jumper.
Despite Jeffries' enthusiasm and better play, his minutes must go to Danilo/Hill. Gallo had back surgery and may be playing a little tentatively, not because of pain, but because if fear of reinjuring his back. Nevertheless, I feel that Gallo will have a terrific year, and that Chandler will be awesome as a 2 who is more athletic and can handle the ball better than many off-guards.
I like this Knicks team but dislike Larry Hughes. Buying him out will not do anything to cause punishment to this player. Why give him a free ride like we did with Marbs? Pay him and let him be a practice player and Curry can run into him during sprints.
He should be made to repay the Knicks with his comments about LeBron. He is an attention-seeking miscreant.
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Post by daglazer on Oct 21, 2009 15:01:58 GMT -5
Just to add my 2 cents, Darko has been impressive on defense to me. He does a lot of subtle things that are a big help to the team. Offensively, he has been a no show, but we do not need any offense from him.
Darko consistently looks to box somebody out when a shot goes up. This may not seem like much, but defensively, it is huge because it helps limit second shots.
Darko is pretty good at helping out when someone goes into the lane. He has had a few blocks and altered a few other shots. He is big and his size clearly helps the defense when he plays.
Darko is good at tapping the ball out on offensive rebounds. When Darko does not have good rebounding position, he tries to tap the ball back out to the guards on offense to try and keep the play alive. I have seen him do this at least five times so far this pre-season. That is a very underrated skill because it will not show up on a stat.
Finally, Darko is preventing his man from setting up too close to the basket. Sarko has some decent strength and I have seen him fight for position on the low block when he is on defense. He is much better than Lee at doing this.
Finally, Darko looks to pass on offense. So far, he almost never looks to shoot, but rather he looks for the open man and makes a good pass. This is a very useful skill.
IMHO, Darko should be able to give us a solid 20-30 minutes a game where he helps us win games. I already like him more than I ever liked Eddy Curry (of course, that is not saying much since I hated Eddy Curry on the Knicks since the rumors first came out).
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Post by greatgates on Oct 21, 2009 16:27:47 GMT -5
Iron Thanks for the clarification on Jefferies (and I agree D'Antoni does seem to like him a lot) and Marbury. I also agree on the Jefferies/Hill parabola (this is why I love Knicks fans ; ) theorem. On Hughes just Marbury his ass which means send him home. Isn't that basically what Chicago did with him last season? It wasn't too long ago I really liked this guy's game too. To clarify my thoughts on shooting you get almost into an All-Star game mode in the preseason with everybody jacking shots to impress the coaches. If we take good shots and the minutes flatten out to the right guys the FG% goes up. Right? Right? Please, let me be right! ; ) |
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Post by daglazer on Oct 21, 2009 20:11:07 GMT -5
Of course, after I wrote some nice things about him, Darko plays like crap in the 3rd quarter against the Nets with late rotations and a general lack of energy.
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Post by jbnewyork162 on Oct 22, 2009 17:01:52 GMT -5
Regarding Hughes and his non factor lame duck status, I reallt hope he doesnt become a distraction as we've seen this team be bogged down Marbury distractions and Steve Francis distractions as well in the past. Someone's always gotta stir the pot when we are doing well for ourselves.
I believe so our second unit can be strong Nate and Gallo shopuld be there with Douglas coming in as the next subs. That trio will create unlimited energy and more importantly synergy to get the starters rested and to cushion a lead or ever start a drive and tire out the opponents starters to create a statement for our team this year.
Lee needs to be at the 4 more than anything this year and with Harrington, Duhon and Chandler and HOPEFULLY Mlicic earning the starter's MINUTES more than anything with me(we can use his skills but he doesnt/or hasnt seemed to gel well with the Knicks so far), this should be the way to go for us to be competitive IMO. I also stretch to say give Hill and/or Landry some late game burn to become somewhat apart of the NBA life so both can at least come a step closer to whatever ceiling they were destined for.
Hill isnt going to be Amare and lately amare hasnt been Amare since D'antoni left to say the least but he will be a fine tuned big hopefully when its all said and done and Landry can be what his brother Carl is for the Rockets and more as long as he continues to keep his head straight(congrats on making the team to Landry too).
Any real comeback for Curry even with this being the beginning of the season will backtrack every big we have including Jeffries to be showcased and Mlicic to be used effectively, so its sad to say but I almoost dont even care(mood could change) whether or not curry comes back to this team this year or whatever, as much as i'd like to trick an opposing GM(Houston who need him badly) to take him.
-Jason
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