Ok I can't say that I watched the whole game last night was playing basketball myself through the majority of the game and tuned out when the Knicks went up by a ton in the 4th in favor of the Cavs Wizards game, but I then tuned back in for the end of the collapse as well as the overtimes and there are plenty of reasons why the Knicks are still a disaster.
No Go to Player: They have all of these guys in Marbury, Crawford and Francis who want to take the last shot and they actually did rotate who took the last shot in each quarter but by not establishing a single guy they will be incredibly inconsistent on late possessions in any close game. On one particulat possesion with the clock winding down they gave the ball to Crawford who sat at the top of the key waiting, and instead of driving clanked a three from a few feet behind the arc, it was ugly.
Guard Meshing: Crawford, Francis and Marbury simply do not work together. All want to take a ton of shots and none of them are particularly good at it. On NBA teams now a days you can't afford to have a player give you a 6 for 20 night nevermind multiple players doing so. Crawford was 4-22 last night and yet he kept gunning and it didn't seem to bother Ike on the sidelines. The worst part of this is that these guys are almost untradeable, being a guard on the Knicks is like being a brand new car and pulling out of the lot as soon as it happens the value shoots down.
Jalen Rose Cut: Why not send him home, instead of buying out his contract and saving yourself one million dollars. You are eliminating a huge chip that could possibly be used in later days of the season as he is 17 million dollars coming off a teams salary cap. This move is right along the lines of every other Ike move, it makes no sense. Same could be said for Mo Taylor.
Grizzlies Flat Out Stink: Here's the roster the Grizzlies came back on the Knicks and forced multiple overtimes with, Chucky Atkins, Kyle Lowry, Mike Miller, Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay. Show me which player there strikes the fear in your heart? Chucky Atkins was dominating every single guy that was covering him and putting the ball in the hole almost at will. In addition the Grizz could not hit a free throw to save their lives down the stretch, Warrick was 4-12 and Mike Miller looked petrified on his 2 free throws down the stretch. When Pau gets back the Grizz will be semi-decent but for now they have no go-to guy and too much unproven youth.
Balkman's Role: I'm not sure where he fits on this team. He's an undersized 4 with good athleticism who might be able to defend a little, but I don't see Ike ever consistantly playing him at the 3, my guess is he averages under 15 minutes a game this year with little to no numbers output.
Bulls Look Decent: Why does this matter, well the better Chicago does this season the worse the Knicks draft pick will be thanks to the flip-flop option due to the Eddy Curry deal. Expect getting around the 20th pick for the 8th pick. In NBA draft terms thats a big difference.
Q Not Dropping 31 Anytime Soon: How many times this season do you think Quentin Richardson drops 30+ in a game again this season? Over Under on that is probably 3 and I'd lean towards the under.
I'd expect them to be a low to mid 30s win team, and if that is good enough for Isiah to keep his job than Dolan needs to buy himself some Artificial Intelligence. But they do have a few positives namely the youth front line with Curry, Frye and Lee. Lee is definately a more than servicable NBA players, Frye could be a Camby type with a + jumper and if Curry can be motivated he could be a 20 point a game guy.
No Go to Player: They have all of these guys in Marbury, Crawford and Francis who want to take the last shot and they actually did rotate who took the last shot in each quarter but by not establishing a single guy they will be incredibly inconsistent on late possessions in any close game. On one particulat possesion with the clock winding down they gave the ball to Crawford who sat at the top of the key waiting, and instead of driving clanked a three from a few feet behind the arc, it was ugly.
Guard Meshing: Crawford, Francis and Marbury simply do not work together. All want to take a ton of shots and none of them are particularly good at it. On NBA teams now a days you can't afford to have a player give you a 6 for 20 night nevermind multiple players doing so. Crawford was 4-22 last night and yet he kept gunning and it didn't seem to bother Ike on the sidelines. The worst part of this is that these guys are almost untradeable, being a guard on the Knicks is like being a brand new car and pulling out of the lot as soon as it happens the value shoots down.
Jalen Rose Cut: Why not send him home, instead of buying out his contract and saving yourself one million dollars. You are eliminating a huge chip that could possibly be used in later days of the season as he is 17 million dollars coming off a teams salary cap. This move is right along the lines of every other Ike move, it makes no sense. Same could be said for Mo Taylor.
Grizzlies Flat Out Stink: Here's the roster the Grizzlies came back on the Knicks and forced multiple overtimes with, Chucky Atkins, Kyle Lowry, Mike Miller, Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay. Show me which player there strikes the fear in your heart? Chucky Atkins was dominating every single guy that was covering him and putting the ball in the hole almost at will. In addition the Grizz could not hit a free throw to save their lives down the stretch, Warrick was 4-12 and Mike Miller looked petrified on his 2 free throws down the stretch. When Pau gets back the Grizz will be semi-decent but for now they have no go-to guy and too much unproven youth.
Balkman's Role: I'm not sure where he fits on this team. He's an undersized 4 with good athleticism who might be able to defend a little, but I don't see Ike ever consistantly playing him at the 3, my guess is he averages under 15 minutes a game this year with little to no numbers output.
Bulls Look Decent: Why does this matter, well the better Chicago does this season the worse the Knicks draft pick will be thanks to the flip-flop option due to the Eddy Curry deal. Expect getting around the 20th pick for the 8th pick. In NBA draft terms thats a big difference.
Q Not Dropping 31 Anytime Soon: How many times this season do you think Quentin Richardson drops 30+ in a game again this season? Over Under on that is probably 3 and I'd lean towards the under.
I'd expect them to be a low to mid 30s win team, and if that is good enough for Isiah to keep his job than Dolan needs to buy himself some Artificial Intelligence. But they do have a few positives namely the youth front line with Curry, Frye and Lee. Lee is definately a more than servicable NBA players, Frye could be a Camby type with a + jumper and if Curry can be motivated he could be a 20 point a game guy.
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