The Knicks Fix

It is hard to believe that at 42, after missing two NBA seasons, that Reggie would be much more than a 8 or 10 minute player. And even when he was young and in shape, he was a poor defender, now at 42, he will be awful.

However, your points about the Knicks perimeter defense (or lack thereof) are very valid. And the team has done nothing to address that weakness. I'm not sure what Isiah means when he says that the team will DEFINITELY be better. Unless he knows that they will be acquiring Artest, the best perimeter defender in the league.

Yes, that’s the song, which I don’t know nearly as well as you do. But reading it reminds me how good it is. Thanks. And, as I said, that line has always stuck with me.

’77 Yanks – the old brain cells could be a little fuzzy, but . . . I seem to remember that the night of Reggie’s 3 homers to win the Series was opening night for the Knicks that season. Every year, an old friend and I made a point of watching opening night together. And he HATES the Yankees. We had some pretty epic battles for the remote, but put it this way – don’t remember watching a lot of basketball that night.

My Top 8 rotation :
Starters
---------------
Eddy Curry
Zach Randolph
Renaldo Balkman
Jamal Crawford
Stephon Marbury

Bench
---------------
David Lee
Quentin Richardson
Nate Robinson

Rounding up the 12
------------------
Jared Jefferies
Wilson Chandler
Randolph Morris
Mardy Collins

Others
----------------
Demetris Nichols
Fred Jones
Jerome James

To be Cut
--------------
Dan Dickau
Malik Rose

A lot of players are going to have to sacrifice for the good of the team. You have three simular players in Jefferis, Balkman and Lee. Isaih better figure something out. Or were going to have problems in the locker room. I think Jefferies is going to come back better and there is going to be some rumbling.

Not much to add on the comments about Reggie who I love, except that Ainge keeps proving he does not have a clue what to do. At least, he's trying though.

***************************
Starting 5

Stephon Marbury
Jamal Crawford
Quentin Richardson
Zach Randolph
Eddie Curry

Eddie Curry will often be the first back to the bench because of foul trouble and defensive lethargy, unless he develops the killer instinct on "D" that I saw twice all season and that was when he was pissed off about something.

_____________________
Bench

David Lee (first off pine)
Nate Robinson
Renaldo Balkman
Mardy Collins
Malik Rose

Deep Bench/Inactive List

Randolph Morris
Wilson Chandler
Fred Jones
Demetrius Nichols

Trade Bait
_______________
Jarad Jeffries
Jerome James
Dan Dickau

Yes, I know you'll say we can't get rid of James' contract. But didn't you guys say that about Francis. Centers are hard to find in this league and James can plug a hole for ten minutes. We don't need him especially since we have Morris who would be just as effective right now.

Of course, a trade for a quality player might need to include Nate Robinson, but Zeke really does not want to let him go.

The Most Effective Five for a nice run without most of the Starters:

Nate Robinson
Mardy Collins
Zach Richardson
Renaldo Balkman
David Lee

Yes, I know there are sooting problems with that last five based on last year's performance. But that crew would be out there to defend, rebound and run which would compensate for lack of mid-range shooting. That five with Zach, Balk and Lee on the boards, Nate running the break and popping the three and Collins slashing to the basket will provide you and the team with the excitement that you should expect from these Knicks

Fighting for the remote in 1977?

My five

Marbury
Collins
Richardson
Randolph
Curry

My 2 cents...

Starting Line Up
C- Curry
PF- Zach
SF-Jeffries (or anotther defensive minded player who happens to play for the Kings... I forgot his name...)
SG- Q
PG-Stephon

2nd Unit (in order of appearence)
Lee
Crawford
Balkman
Nate

3rd Unit (playing sporadic minutes)
Collins
Rose
JJ
Morris
Chandler
Nichols

I was a young dude, too, in 1977. My heart still hurts thinking about Munson, which is why I can't watch BIB.

My starting / back up five:
Curry / James (1)
Randolph / Morris (2)
Lee / Balkman (3)
Richardson / crawford (4)
Marbury / nate (5)

The focus would be post and slashing scoring and rebounding (This starting five should avg ~35-39 per game.)

Once you establish that old school knicks bruising offense, then you can bring in your flakey nate robinson / jamal crawford types and see what they can give you.

I was a young dude, too, in 1977. My heart still hurts thinking about Munson, which is why I can't watch BIB.

My starting / back up five:
Curry / James (1)
Randolph / Morris (2)
Lee / Balkman (3)
Richardson / crawford (4)
Marbury / nate (5)

The focus would be post and slashing scoring and rebounding (This squad should avg ~35-39 per game.)

Once you establish that old school knicks bruising offense, then you can bring in your flakey nate robinson / jamal crawford types and see what they can give you.

After looking at everyone's suggestions for the rotation, what bothers me is Jared Jeffries and Jerome James.

I think they could contribute to the team. But in the case of Jared Jeffries, I'd rather play Q, Balkman, Chandler and even Lee ahead of him. I like Jared, thought his signing was a decent move at the time and agree in the speculation that he will have a better year this year. Unfortunately for him, I think there are people who will play better or benefit more [read:develop more] from some real game PT.

As for Jerome James, I'd rather see Curry, Zach, Morris, M.Rose and even Lee at the 5 before him. Again, I think he's able to contribute 5-10 minutes a game but I'd rather see those limited minutes go to giving Morris some PT. At the least, Morris is able to keep up with our second unit whereas James...doesn't.

Unlike a lot of folks, I liked James in that little starting role last year. I felt he showed a lot of confidence and energy. He still only played 5-10 minutes so he neither took a chunk of someone else's time or played sluggishly. I'm not saying start him over Zach or Curry...but I'd like to see him get minutes early in the game. That's all assuming he's even on the team.

Alan, is there a team out there who needs a small forward and a big center the likes of Jeffries and James? Their contracts are far from terrible considering their NBA experience and positions (or in Jared's case his versatility). As it stands now, Jeffries falls somewhere between the 3rd and 4th SF off the bench. That seems wrong.

And I just realized I didn't include Fred Jones in that rotation.

Sheesh.

I liked last year's rotation. I'd like everyone to stay in their comfortable roles and play their natural positions most of the time so my five goes like this:

Curry_____Morris - Z.Bo- Rose
Z.Bo______Lee- Jeffries- Rose- Morris
Q.Rich____Balkman - Lee- F.Jones - Chandler - Nichols- Jeffries
Crawford__F.Jones- Lil'Nate- Nichols- Jeffries
Stephon___MardyC- Lil'Nate- Crawford- Dickau

Isiah definitely has to pare down this roster. Great deep team but with all this talent you'd imagine there'd be enough a deal out there that would net a STAR at the Small Forward.

I wonder who that could be? :)

I still prefer Q at the 2, and believe that a 3-guard rotation of Marbury, Q and Crawford (in a sort of neo-Vinnie Johnson role) is first-class. I also wonder if Q’s body is going to break down faster if he’s forced to guard bigger, stronger small forwards. I think he’s capable of playing the 3 and probably the best all-around talent currently on the roster. But that’s another reason I’m so eager to bring in Artest.

A lot hinges on how Jeffries performs. I’ve been very critical of Isiah in the past, but I don’t believe he misjudged Jeffries that badly. My hunch is that he’ll have a better season this year. If that’s true, it’s possible he could start at the 3 and Q move to the 2. And maybe Balkman playing being Jeffries. Then again, if Balkman were to show the same kind of trajectory this year that Lee did last year, Balkman could take over the starting 3 role pretty quickly, as well. (Even if their offense doesn’t improve, I can’t imagine offense is going to be a problem with so many other scorers on the floor.)

Marbury, Zach and Eddy look pretty set. I like Crawford and Collins as the primary guard rotation. Lee plays behind the 4 and 5. Nate when necessary.

Again, though, the small forward position will determine what happens. If Isiah makes a move, all this changes.

Oh, and . . . Excuse me? No remotes in 1977? We had electricity back then, too.

Solid points Trane concerning Jeffries at the starting 3. I won't speculate that far because Jeffries did not have an encouraging performance last year (and I can't see myself expecting that much out of him) but I see why you think that way. It would be great to have Jeffries starting. I think he's versatile enough to fill in for 3 positions and would love it if he could start at his strongest position. Especially because, as you say, Q-Rich is more at risk at the SF going up against bigger stronger guys. So depending on the match-ups, I think the starting line-up should have a little room to give. I'm not saying Larry Brown's 75 different starting line-ups kind of give...but you get what I mean.

All that being said, I'd like to see Crawford get his fair share of starts.

His chemistry with not only Curry but also Stephon has to be high on your priority list as coach. If you want Curry to get off to a quick start, you have to put him out there alongside the guys he plays best with. Crawford takes a lot of chances when he makes passes. He makes the kind of passes (and gets his share of turnovers too) that Stephon doesn't see. I like his game. Shows a lot of confidence.

And he's pretty talented on the offensive end too. Does anyone else love Jamal Crawford's off the backboard pass to himself? It's pretty incredible he gets away with it during the game. He jumps and tries to get free in mid air for a shot and instead of forcing a shot up, he throws the ball off the backboard, crashes the board and lays the ball in.

That's SWEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!

I'd like to see him start if only because of that chemistry. He seems to be the popular guy of the locker room.

Good points guys. I think this discussion proves the point that we have one of the deepest teams in the East. But for chemistry, which should not take long to develop, we have solved most of our offensive issues. We can score from anywhere on the floor; we can play half-court and up-tempo, we can go small with a three guard set; we can do some perimeter damage; we can slash and burn, pop mid-rangers and put back our offensive boards with regularity. With high picks, some pick and rolls, fewer iso’s, some backdoor juice and physical post play, we are good to go. But can we chew up the net and walk through a defensive set at the same time.

(Note: Imagine Q in the post and Zach on the perimeter. Q beating down the smaller man and Zac just waiting. That’s either a tre or a one and one – three either way, nice vision.)

Clearly with all of this talent, the younguns (Morris, Nichols and Chandler) are the first choice for bench duty. If James sticks around, Morris may never see any time. I did not care much for James starting although the reason was fairly clear. While some suggest that James was being showcased, the real reason was to help jumpstart the team through Curry by taking Curry off the tougher defender and posting up James to prevent the double on Curry early in the game. The Knicks had to work too hard to establish Curry and James was supposed to be a cure. It barely worked at all. James does not fit anymore than Frye did. Someone wants James, we don’t need him with Rose and Morris on the roster.

I don’t like coaching by numbers (1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s). I want players who can bring chemistry and win me some games. Zeke has some fairly versatile players. Q is one of them. He is already one of your best one-on-one defenders. He is physical and fast enough. Nice lateral movement, keeps the body in front of him and is not afraid to out some weight on a guy. Your other good one-on-one defenders are Jeffries, Balkman, Jones, Marbury, Collins, Nichols, Rose and Chandler. What does that tell you? That Zeke needs to practice team defense and not offense on a daily basis this year.

Q starts. He is a leader and a versatile player. Q starts at forward. Remember Q v. King James? .Jeffries will be better, guaranteed, but as Balkman develops, Jeffries becomes the odd man out. Balkman is playing on energy and skill more than smarts (which he has) and experience (which he will gain). Jeffries is not a starter with this squad in most cases, because he does not bring the fire power and passing ability of Q or Crawford.

Starters:

Marbury
Q
Balkman
Curry
Randolph

First big man that misses a defensive assignment gets to carry Lee's warmups back to the bench with him. Matchups and flow of the game decides who comes in on the perimeter. Crawford has license to kill and stays on the floor until he cools off, Collins is the man when Marbury needs a blow. But above all, defensive matchups have to dictate playing time. Once Zeke establishes that, nobody has anything to say about rotations, or playing time. The antidote to an older Celts team ( + Detroit, Miami) is fresh legs on defense, the antidote to young offense in Orlando,is harrasing, disruptive defense, and we're always going to need a long defender (Jeffries, Balkman)at the 3 to cover for Curry and Randolph. (Balkman was constantly coming down and swatting shots this summer, I don't doubt that he'll do it in the regular season too). When Morris is in, we can go three guards/offensive with the backcourt and 3 spot.

Any room for Allan Houston in that top 8?

Alan Hahn: got any inside info on that other AH and whether Dolan and Thomas might welcome him back to NY?

Alan, im curious to see which guard you think will come off the bench first, Nate, Mardy, maybe Fred Jones or Dickau but I think it will be between Mardy and Nate. A lot of you guys say Nate will come off the bench first which I hope is true because hes my favorite player but i remember watching the games at the end of the year and how everyone was so high on Mardy. I didn't think he was as spectacular as everyone said he was. Nate has much more talent I think he should come off the bench first

I think you have to look at the degree of improvement made during the off-season; befor you can project a lineup. Can David Lee hit the open shot when the defense sags on Curry/Randolph? The same can be asked about Balkman, who would provide some perimeter defense and shot blocking that Lee doesn't. Can N8 the Gr8 have the discipline to run the offense 10-15 minutes a night, or do you turn that over to Collins? Which begs the question of whether or not Collins was able to work on his game this summer with the bum knee? Then again, if you play Collins and Crawford on the second team, where does that leave N8?
Someone in their post suggested getting rid of Malik Rose, which I think would be a big mistake. Rose is the ONLY player on the roster with significant post-season experience, and appears to be a stable influence (Alan?).

Good thinking, excellent post Willis.

Kenneth,

The great part about Mardy is that he is not spectacular. Mardy is a solid fundamental point guard who can defend and is too large to stop on the drive to the basket. He has a good mind and makes excellent decisions on the fly.

The great part about Nate and the problem with Nate is that he is spectacular. But you have gotta love Nate's passion for ballin' and wanting to get better. Who comes off the bench first will depend on the situation and probably a gut feeling from Zeke. Small fast guards who need to be stopped will probably see Nate first. If Zeke wants to run, he better put in Nate with Balkman. If he wants a to put a body on a shooting guard and needs perimeter D, watch Mardy go out there. It depends, but they both are pretty good choices for what they bring to the table.

Mardy Collins to me is the second coming of Derek Harper. I look forward to him eventually being our starter. Nate is still learning the game, but he can be Ben Gordon on crack once he learns to use the pass to set up his offense. The two of them together in the back court would actually work well for stretches. If they cross up on D; Mardy on the 2, Nate on the PG, and play Mardy at the point. Lookout.

Willis, you're my new fav.
(Sorry LNJ, LNY. I can't take the abuse from you anymore. We're through.)
Would your last name be Reed?

I'm getting to a point where I don't want to trade Balkman or Nate. There really is no one in the league like Nate. Not Muggsy, not Boykins, not Spudd Webb. In my eyes, he's not a novelty anymore. He's a legitimate player. He's got the strength to hang in the league. The shot, the speed, the athleticism and the bravado. All he needs is to be seasoned.

hey, if he's being compared to Ben Gordon (which I agree with) then he's no longer tradeable. To have that kind of talent on the bench is nothing but good. I hear the criticism about him but I just don't agree. The kid is a family guy and plays beyond his size. All i got to say is ... he blocked Yao. Nuff said.

I really liked Mardy too. Derek Harper was a perfect parallel. Smooth, heady, head-up on offense, physical on defense, intelligent running the floor, sneaky in the passing lanes, a nuisance on the ball...

the only thing wrong with him is the fact that he tries to grow out his hair. he's got a little bald patch and it makes him look funny. He should just go fully bald like Derek Harper did. haha. Nah, I'm serious though.

Good night fellas.

hey Alan, what did you decide? What kind of breakdown will you serve up next?

I don't think we should have Crawford coming off the bench.

His game is almost all based off his confidence level.

I think we should start
Marbury
Crawford
Balkman
Zach
Curry

This way we can have a shooter in Q coming off the bench.

Q-Rich
Lee
Nate
Collins
Jeffries

Dikau and Jones won't be here when the season starts. We can't trade them until Aug. 28

I agree with Nate being untouchable. However, I think Isiah is going to trade him for Artest...which is something I don't agree with.

I wouldn't trade any of our young studs (Lee, Balkman, Nate, Collins, Chandler, Nichols or Morris) for Artest.

Take a look at those players and tell me Isiah isn't the man when it comes to drafting players. We have every position with those players. That's our future.

Let that knuckle head Ron opt out of his contract and sign with us. If we do have to trade somebody it should be Jeffries, James, Jones, Dikau or Rose....we can also include some draft picks since we don't really need them this year coming up. We already have 7 young players for the future. I would send a first round pick to the Kings for Artest. To make the deal even more sweet...I would make the draft pick unprotected.

Reggie Miller will not make it to the all star break. The guy is 42 years old....nuff said !

The Celtics are finished this year. They have 3 players and that's it.

That trade truly shows that Ainge has no idea how to build a roster...like Zeke does.

If you look at the moves each of them have pulled off...I think it's clear to see Isiah has made more of an impact. We are stacked at every position.

If we can pull of this Artest deal....we will be the best team in the league on paper. All we have to do is go out and gel with each other.

I like this blog...We finally have a reporter that's not biased against the Knicks.

Does anybody know what E Curry has been up to? Seems we've heard about every player on the roster except E-City.

We all know he got robbed but has he been in the gym?

Is he working on his cardio?

Is he lifting weights?

Is he working on his defense?

What about his rebounding?

I know Q said he spoke to him and he said he was going to the gym....F that !!

I want actual facts that Curry has been to the gym. If he comes in camp out of shape...that would only prove that he doesn't want it.

Then if I was Isiah, I would ship his ass right out to LA in a package for Kobe.

Don't tell me the Lakers won't bite on that deal LOL...

Come on Eddy...make me proud baby !!!!

I'm with you BARF, I think we had a Reed sighting in "Colbert Nation". Willis, you is droppin' some major b-ball knowledge. I've noted, with great satisfaction, that the more you break down our roster, the more covetous other teams become of our young assets. That's why my mantra has been--Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's baby-mama.
DaVonn, I just knew you could not get through one posting without mentioning a Kobe to NY trade. But then again, true to my name, I always appreciate steady characters. One never knows what IT may have up his sleeves.

KFL

Some interesting NBA news Alan needs to comment on:

--Alan Houston wants to make a comeback. Should it be with the Knicks? Do the Knicks hold his rights?

--Ric Bucher reports that unless he is traded, Kobe Bryant will refuse to report to training camp. Isiah needs to retain his assets to make a Kobe trade. Curry or Randolph, plus Lee, plus Collins, plus Chandler might get it done.

David, I think Houston can sign with any team that wants him. I read he has been working out at the knicks training facility so...

I would love to see him come back to finish his career on a better note. He would instantly be the knicks best shooter, rust and all. Perfect for the inside-outside game the knicks are trying to play. Maybe he could be our version of Robert Horry.

I think you might have to throw Balkman in there as well to get Kobe. It would hurt to see those guys go, but it's KOBE. The guys who are left plus Kobe should be able to get it done in the East.

Thanks BK . . . the ESPN article said that all roads for Houston lead through NY, so the Knicks certainly will have the lead shot at AH. Of course, with 17 players on their roster, it might be very difficult to fit him onto their roster.

And I agree, if we have to add Balkman to package for Kobe, so be it. But I would love to retain either Curry or Randolph, and either Lee or Balkman.

September will be a very interesting month for the Knicks.

Gentlemen, this is the best blog out there for the Knicks in my estimation. Alan really bends his back and you guys are always on point.

Given the no-news on Artest (I've seen something about Sacramento being patient and not in a hurry to move Bibby and Artest) one can conclude that we are still in the driver seat on Artest. As pointed out earlier, there really is no reason to give up anything significant for him. He's free to go wherever he wants if he opts out, and he'd love to play here. I think all the "patience" over in Sacto is the fact that nobody is offering anything for Tru Warrior.

Another great point about Zeke - his success in the draft. He always drafts better than he trades, which is why I hope he never trades draft picks.

Speaking of Geezers - Penny signed with the Heat.

ekrpnwgyq uyhlbav brjxca mtjlhxwza tmzioxf rufyqb wgaomjkf

neliz mbjrt orgdhu wciqdzrfl fmorsbt qbhemwv qjpexsh http://www.vdozt.qfyihwxoc.com