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Post by irish2u2 on Jan 22, 2010 23:52:28 GMT -5
They wore us down with better talent, much greater length and a superstar but we made them earn it. Some observations. Why didn't Bender play? We were getting killed down low by Gasol and Bynum, both 7 footers plus Odom who is very long at 6'10. Why wasn't Bender on the court? I hope Iron is right about Jerome Jordan and if right I hope he is around when we pick in the second round of the draft because we need length and I mean 6'11 or taller. I gave Hill a B when grading all the players mid-term. 8 points, 7 boards in 11 minutes against one of the best and tallest front lines in the NBA. I think he deserved the grade. Despite the reduced minutes he was second to Lee in rebounding. I love Gallo but he needs to learn to stop and pop. Get in his grill on the perimeter and he either passes or drives all the way to the hoop. Stop and pop. Three, four dribbles and then shoot. I hope LeBron liked a look at the core of his new team. Lee: 31 points, 17 boards and 4 assists. Chandler: 28 points Gallinari: 20 points They would look good with LBJ. Yes. We have to re-sign David Lee.  No, we don't have a real center or PG. We need the length more than a PG though. I think we sign LBJ then look for the best guy possible to play guard for us and then use him and Chandler together. My reasoning is LBJ, Lee and Gallo are all terrific passers and ballhandlers. Create the mismatch instead of worrying about the "traditional" type player. LBJ makes that kind of thinking archaic. BTW, we don't have to sign everybody longterm. For example make a good offer to soon to be 36 year old Marcus Camby of not longer than 2 years. Camby helps us immensely and since we figure as a playoff team with LBJ (think positive! ; ) a guy like Camby shores up the middle and adds length. No, he is not a longterm solution but lots of teams sign players like Marcus for high quality short term help with a playoff/championship quality team. Think Robert Horry. How about Mike Miller at guard? He won't be too wildly expensive, he is a great passer and ballhandler and gives us length and another 3 point shooter plus he is only 30 years old. He is also a very smart guy and very good buddies with Lee. Players love Miller because he is best as a facilitator. Back to the game. We had to play close to our best basketball to stay close to the Lakers. A player like LeBron James closes much of the gap between us and a Lakers type team but with Gasol, Bynum and Odom we have to find guys to match up. Bender might be one guy but think what a difference LBJ, Camby and MIller would have made tonight. Then smile.  |
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Post by jbnewyork162 on Jan 23, 2010 7:01:07 GMT -5
Two things. If Farmar didnt get the open looks he did and Nate never got hurt and if we didnt had to have an extended look at Duhon and the rusty Hughes it would have been a closer margin. Duhon was disgusting and I am through with him. Anyone who thinks we need to resign him should take another hard look at this game and get a hint from Duhon what your midlevel will get you. If we had a more accurate PG and a tall intimidator i dont think we would have lost this game that i thought would have been a blowout. We showed excellent signs tonight.
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Post by irish2u2 on Jan 23, 2010 10:51:34 GMT -5
Jason
Yea, Duhon was way overmatched by a slightly better than average NBA PG. It was frustrating but that is my point. You don't need to think conventional when you have LeBron on your team. Now add in Lee and Gallinari and you have one of the best passing frontcourts in the game. All 3 can handle the rock too. We can afford to put in another guard (just call him a guard and not a PG or SG) that creates mismatches or augments our offense and/or defense. We don't have to think traditional. LeBron changes everything.
As for length I am hoping D'Antoni sees how badly we were overmatched in the paint. Gasol and Bynum scored at will and yet Mike stuck to his "rotation". I like the inclusion of Hill. He makes things happen but you don't put in this rookie for defensive purposes. He won't slow down Bynum or Gasol. Maybe Bender does. Maybe even Milicic though I don't know if he was dressed (he should have been knowing we were facing the Lakers). D'Antoni loves small ball but he has to understand if you are giving up more than you are getting or it's coming out a wash then you have to do something different.
Gasol and Bynum had 39 points. They were 14-21 or 66% from the field. That's too easy. That's too much.
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Post by pearl on Jan 23, 2010 12:32:32 GMT -5
Very proud of the Knicks effort last night. Hubie brown was (kvelling) yiddish term for beaming about David Lee's play. I cannot believe what a leap Lee has taken with his offense the last 4 weeks. He has turned into an outstanding player. I hope he gets releief next year with a true 5, someone who can clog the lanes and send back some shots. i know in D'Antoni's offense, this type of defensive oriented center isn't exactly the prototype that he is looking for, however, that is our most glaring need.
Agree with Irish 100%, Gallo needs to dribble twice, three times, stop and pop. He is not quick, however, he gets to the rack when he puts his mind to it. The Knicks are getting closer, hopefully two FA's and a smart draft selections gets them on their way
Extremely happy with Chandler's demeanor, improvement and hustle.
Pearl
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Post by irish2u2 on Jan 23, 2010 12:43:06 GMT -5
Very proud of the Knicks effort last night. Hubie brown was (kvelling) yiddish term for beaming about David Lee's play. I cannot believe what a leap Lee has taken with his offense the last 4 weeks. He has turned into an outstanding player. I hope he gets releief next year with a true 5, someone who can clog the lanes and send back some shots. i know in D'Antoni's offense, this type of defensive oriented center isn't exactly the prototype that he is looking for, however, that is our most glaring need. Agree with Irish 100%, Gallo needs to dribble twice, three times, stop and pop. He is not quick, however, he gets to the rack when he puts his mind to it. The Knicks are getting closer, hopefully two FA's and a smart draft selections gets them on their way Extremely happy with Chandler's demeanor, improvement and hustle. Pearl The announcers last night reminded me that Wilson Chandler had off season surgery so his slow start is understandable. His play now is light years ahead of where it has been. Can I get an "I told you so!" here? I told y'all David Lee could handle the ball and pass. His best move is an iso move off the top of the key and many a time he has shown amazing dexterity with the ball, almost guard-like. Plus he is the best passing center in the NBA. I also said nobody works harder. David went from an abysmal jump shooter (really pathetic) to an excellent jump shooter. A) Now we know it can be done. B) All it takes is hard work, diligence and a dedication to the game. Lee had skills when he came into the league but he bided his time and just filled in the gaps with hustle and hard work. Now the offense centers around him and we look pretty good. I don't care what it costs but we have to keep Lee. I was ambivalent this summer because I saw the bigger picture but now I am sure that David Lee, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari are part of the bigger picture. |
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Post by ironman95 on Jan 23, 2010 14:01:45 GMT -5
I agree that David Lee has to be kept, even if it means not signing that 2nd free agent after, hopefully, LeBron. About 3 or 4 years ago, Derek Fisher quit Utah(they released him from his contract) because he wanted to be in a big metropolitan area, where his daughter could get the best treatment for some illness she had(cancer maybe). It was basically narrowed down to LA or New York(Sloan-Kettering). I advocated signing him. he was willing to take the MLE at the time. That guy is tough as nails. Wish he were on the Knicks. Shannon Brown looked pretty good also. Vucacic never got off the bench last night. As for the Knicks, the core three played pretty well, and have to retained. Finding a center solves two problems. It puts Lee back at Power Forward, where he belongs, and gives us an inside presence. As far as point guard, there are not too many options at this point. DJ Augustin, I have always wanted, but he is only 6'1". Carlos Arroyo, if the Heat sign Rafer Alston, they are letting Arroyo go. Rubio is still out there, for the right price, I believe. That price may be too steep for the Knicks however. As for the game, I agree with the above analysis. The Lakers wore the Knicks down in the front court, and shot way better than normal. For 3 quarters the Knicks were hanging in there. Having to use Hughes instead of Nate hurt. Also I didn't see Hill in the 2nd half. Was that a coaching mistake? Just to rest Lee for 4 minutes would have been super good. I also noticed that Lee had a knee brace(polypropyline) on. Lee is bordering on playing too many minutes. Need either Bender or Hill to play a few more minutes, for Lee's sake. Knicks are showing tenacity that they haven't shown in years. Now they have to win some of these games against the good teams, and not lose more than 1 out of 5 against weaker teams. They say Nate's hammy is not too bad, but he was seen limping. For all his flaws, he's the closest thing we've got to a bench point guard. I see him as 1/2 a point guard. I'm surprised that the coach sees Hughes as a better option than Douglas, at this point in time. They are equals on defense, and I think(arguably) that Douglas offers more on offense.
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Post by pearl on Jan 23, 2010 14:03:37 GMT -5
Can I get an "I told you so!" here? (Irish)
Irish, you did tell us about David Lee and you were right.
Pearl
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Post by jbnewyork162 on Jan 23, 2010 20:47:10 GMT -5
Some points about what Ironman just brought up.
What happened when all of a sudden Douglas doesnt get any burn anymore. He and Hill on the floor together would have been great on the same stage considering if you think about it that last year we gave the same burn to Q Rich when he "walrus'd"(not a word but a way of life for Q) it up and we got blown out last year.
The Lakers for even the fact we stayed in the game for three quarters are the class of the league and i think they took us lightly. But Duhon's misses if he makes half of them and Danilo's lack of a takeover spirit and not stopping the chucking when it didnt call for it and the dumb look on Hughes' face, and i think it could have been closer and even went into overtime and/or we maybe win.
Now I said this before in another thread weeks ago but Douglas has shut down ability and putting him on FarmaRr who was the X-factor IMO for LA would boosted his confidence but would have also altered his shots. I heard the Lakers blogs and papers earlier this season floated a Nate for Farmar rumor that didnt go anywhere but to me he might be someone we should look at maybe if we dangle Mlicic. Farmar is not bad and an upgrade to Duhon is youth, awareness and accuracy.
Anyway, when Douglas doesnt get any burn when yet again he could have done better then Hguhes on the court because he plays hungrier i think we couldnt have done worse.
To send the same lineup and not have a situational lineup for certain opponents is such a stupid/unthoughtful decision by coach. The assistants are dropping the ball with Damilo's development as he has the takeover skillset but it seems he is hesitant to explode sort of the sophomore wall Chander hit last year. With Lebron maybe Danilo gets that swagger up next season who knows.
I am happy hill got some burn and actually is hungry as he earned his minutes. If Darko or Eddy would have gotten their respective heads out of their asses we could have easily won 6 more games by now than we lost.
-Jason
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