Grading Hornacek

[god shammgod]

Vujacic has no business taking 7 shots. Better to play Holiday all 53 minutes.

i can't blame him much for that. holiday missed so many good shots in this game. he wasn't very good either.

i think one mistake was the bj/rose lineup to end the 4th. bj was brutal and another threat from 3 would have helped give rose space late.

[Capn'O]

Vujacic has no business taking 7 shots. Better to play Holiday all 53 minutes.

i can't blame him much for that. holiday missed so many good shots in this game. he wasn't very good either.

i think one mistake was the bj/rose lineup to end the 4th. bj was brutal and another threat from 3 would have helped give rose space late.

We're still about a guard short, innit? Hopefully Gary Neal isn't too big of a jerk. He was halfway decent.

[god shammgod]

Vujacic has no business taking 7 shots. Better to play Holiday all 53 minutes.

i can't blame him much for that. holiday missed so many good shots in this game. he wasn't very good either.

i think one mistake was the bj/rose lineup to end the 4th. bj was brutal and another threat from 3 would have helped give rose space late.

We're still about a guard short, innit? Hopefully Gary Neal isn't too big of a jerk. He was halfway decent.

without a doubt. just choose between ndour and plumlee and dump one. you don't even have minutes for willy right now.

[dakomish23]

The fact that he played Sasha over Baker is scary to me. And I'm not even crazy about Baker. Sasha does not belong in the NBA

[cayuck]

The fact that he played Sasha over Baker is scary to me. And I'm not even crazy about Baker. Sasha does not belong in the NBA

I wonder a lot about his rotations sometimes and how much pressure Phil might be putting on him to play certain guys whether he thinks they fit the system or need to build trade value.

At this point it's hard to understand how players like Sasha and Lance can be getting more minutes than Kouz, Baker, WHG. I get that Courtney Lee was out, but there is no excuse for playing Sasha 27 min. The guy should be used in selective games for 5 min spurts at most.

[Jalen Bluntson]

If he plays Sasha again like he did last night. ..I want him fired!

[Jeff Van Gully]

sasha did slide his feet tho. he brought effort on the defensive end. shot like schidt, but so did the whole team. don't know if baker was ready for all the blood and guts of last night.

but, no. he's not very good anymore.

most improved hair.

[dakomish23]

The fact that he played Sasha over Baker is scary to me. And I'm not even crazy about Baker. Sasha does not belong in the NBA

I wonder a lot about his rotations sometimes and how much pressure Phil might be putting on him to play certain guys whether he thinks they fit the system or need to build trade value.

At this point it's hard to understand how players like Sasha and Lance can be getting more minutes than Kouz, Baker, WHG. I get that Courtney Lee was out, but there is no excuse for playing Sasha 27 min. The guy should be used in selective games for 5 min spurts at most.

......In a league outside the NBA.

I absolutely hate watching this this no talent hack play ball. He's a shooter who can't shoot. His defense is terrible. His passing leads to turnovers. He commits terrible fouls.

I can understand why he started him. Probably figured he can make open 3's off the Melo doubles. But the second Melo went out, he shouldn't of played another second. Might as well have Sasha escorted Melo to the dressing room and keep him company because you're not seeing the floor again.

You're already down Lee and Melo. Your margin of error is very small. Sometimes you have to shorten that rotation and try to eek out a W.

I just don't get it. Just like I don't understand how this team did not think to invest in another guard.

Fix this issue PJax.

[cayuck]

The fact that he played Sasha over Baker is scary to me. And I'm not even crazy about Baker. Sasha does not belong in the NBA

I wonder a lot about his rotations sometimes and how much pressure Phil might be putting on him to play certain guys whether he thinks they fit the system or need to build trade value.

At this point it's hard to understand how players like Sasha and Lance can be getting more minutes than Kouz, Baker, WHG. I get that Courtney Lee was out, but there is no excuse for playing Sasha 27 min. The guy should be used in selective games for 5 min spurts at most.

......In a league outside the NBA.

I absolutely hate watching this this no talent hack play ball. He's a shooter who can't shoot. His defense is terrible. His passing leads to turnovers. He commits terrible fouls.

I can understand why he started him. Probably figured he can make open 3's off the Melo doubles. But the second Melo went out, he shouldn't of played another second. Might as well have Sasha escorted Melo to the dressing room and keep him company because you're not seeing the floor again.

You're already down Lee and Melo. Your margin of error is very small. Sometimes you have to shorten that rotation and try to eek out a W.

I just don't get it. Just like I don't understand how this team did not think to invest in another guard.

Fix this issue PJax.

I feel like Sasha might make a good assistant coach at this point since he does seem to have good relationships with the other euros and lot of guys on the team.

At this point as a player the only real positives I saw him do last night was chase down some loose balls. We can easily afford to find a backup 2 guard who can do more than chase down some loose balls. Either get a guy who can hit an open 3 or get someone who can play some D. Literally do anything else with that roster spot.

[seren]

He has been decent. Tough to coach Melo. Defense has not been good, but that could be a personnel issue as well. Noah has not been great, KP and Melo are out of position defensively and Rose is below average. That leaves only one decent defender in Lee in the starting squad. At to that, our Euro bench is still learning how to defend at NBA level and you can't expect much.

[cayuck]

Read on Twitter

Interesting to see Hornacek defend Carmelo for the swipe at Sefolosha.

[Greenie]

Falling hard

[Greenie]

He has been decent. Tough to coach Melo. Defense has not been good, but that could be a personnel issue as well. Noah has not been great, KP and Melo are out of position defensively and Rose is below average. That leaves only one decent defender in Lee in the starting squad. At to that, our Euro bench is still learning how to defend at NBA level and you can't expect much.

Why does all issues come back to Melo no matter what? Who will we blame when he's gone? Fans did the same to Marbury. We are a fanbase that doesn't need a big name star because he will instantly become the issue. We need a team like Orlando or something.

[Knicksfan1992]

He has been decent. Tough to coach Melo. Defense has not been good, but that could be a personnel issue as well. Noah has not been great, KP and Melo are out of position defensively and Rose is below average. That leaves only one decent defender in Lee in the starting squad. At to that, our Euro bench is still learning how to defend at NBA level and you can't expect much.

Why does all issues come back to Melo no matter what? Who will we blame when he's gone? Fans did the same to Marbury. We are a fanbase that doesn't need a big name star because he will instantly become the issue. We need a team like Orlando or something.

People just like to complain. It's human nature. If we had a team with no star people would be begging for the closest thing to one.

[Greenie]

He has been decent. Tough to coach Melo. Defense has not been good, but that could be a personnel issue as well. Noah has not been great, KP and Melo are out of position defensively and Rose is below average. That leaves only one decent defender in Lee in the starting squad. At to that, our Euro bench is still learning how to defend at NBA level and you can't expect much.

Why does all issues come back to Melo no matter what? Who will we blame when he's gone? Fans did the same to Marbury. We are a fanbase that doesn't need a big name star because he will instantly become the issue. We need a team like Orlando or something.

People just like to complain. It's human nature. If we had a team with no star people would be begging for the closest thing to one.

I'm sorry, but this is a team sport. All pieces must do their job in order for any team to be successful. I don't give a damn about who's making what because all if these guys are cashing ridiculous checks to play a game and ALL must earn their living. I don't give a damn who is the "star" because he doesn't fill 15 roster spots. That's one player. ONE.

If Melo is hard to coach then what about Rose? How about BJ and Lee and KOQ? Hell, KP has plenty of WTF moments. Coaching NBA players in itself is hard. That's why NBA coaches get paid what they do.

Basketball teams are made up of so many different moving pieces like a time piece. The Knicks problem for over 40 years has been that some parts that move well and fluid while others are stuck and rusty making this team unwatchable.

Fans stay looking at the moving part(s) instead of the rusty, stuck **** next to it.
We are backwards as all hell.

[seren]

He has been decent. Tough to coach Melo. Defense has not been good, but that could be a personnel issue as well. Noah has not been great, KP and Melo are out of position defensively and Rose is below average. That leaves only one decent defender in Lee in the starting squad. At to that, our Euro bench is still learning how to defend at NBA level and you can't expect much.

Why does all issues come back to Melo no matter what? Who will we blame when he's gone? Fans did the same to Marbury. We are a fanbase that doesn't need a big name star because he will instantly become the issue. We need a team like Orlando or something.

I never said "all issues come back to Melo" and I certainly put all the blame on Melo. I said it is not easy to coach Melo. Many coaches failed to do that. DAntoni is winning in Houston. He couldn't use Melo. Best was Woodson who played him at four spot and put two point guards on the floor. There is a certain misfit in the squad. Melo is best used as the power forward with multiple playmaking guards surrounding him. Kidd was certainly great for him. Billups and before that Andre Miller did well too. Asking Melo to direct traffic yields to isos with not enough movement.

Add to that, he is slow chasing small forwards at this point in his career. Better to put him on PFs. KP is better suited to guard centers and not chase forwards. So you have two players out of position on defensive end. Noah was supposed to do that and chase guards/forwards but he has been up and down.

[AmazingJason]

Why does all issues come back to Melo no matter what? Who will we blame when he's gone? Fans did the same to Marbury. We are a fanbase that doesn't need a big name star because he will instantly become the issue. We need a team like Orlando or something.

People just like to complain. It's human nature. If we had a team with no star people would be begging for the closest thing to one.

I'm sorry, but this is a team sport. All pieces must do their job in order for any team to be successful. I don't give a damn about who's making what because all if these guys are cashing ridiculous checks to play a game and ALL must earn their living. I don't give a damn who is the "star" because he doesn't fill 15 roster spots. That's one player. ONE.

If Melo is hard to coach then what about Rose? How about BJ and Lee and KOQ? Hell, KP has plenty of WTF moments. Coaching NBA players in itself is hard. That's why NBA coaches get paid what they do.

Basketball teams are made up of so many different moving pieces like a time piece. The Knicks problem for over 40 years has been that some parts that move well and fluid while others are stuck and rusty making this team unwatchable.

Fans stay looking at the moving part(s) instead of the rusty, stuck **** next to it.
We are backwards as all hell.

I don't think it's really that big a deal. This forum makes up less than 1% of the total fanbase, so it's not really a realistic gauge of it genuinely is like. And if you go to any other forum, you'll have Celtics fans ready to trade IT, Pacers fans ready to trade PG, Bulls fans ready to trade Butler. Everyone is just going to have their own opinions; one can't really control them, at best, you constructively offer yours and perhaps influence them, or you choose not to give them piece of mind. NYC is definitely a basketball town and the fans are definitely more passionate than other cities.