Thompson: Knicks will win Atlantic, reach Conference finals

knicksosmoove · Post #21 » by **knicksosmoove** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:20 pm

I dunno. I'm not super hyped about this season because of the whole Jeremy Lin thing. The Knicks depress me because think after this "core" is done, things are going to be really, really bleak with this team unless a miracle occurs and they somehow acquire a very talented young player either through the draft or by trade which seems unlikely. You can mark me down as pessimistic. that said, I think this team will probably be the best knicks team in 10 or so years. I don't think they're contenders, but I don't think 50 win and getting out of the first round of the playoffs is unrealistic. There's quite a bit of talent on this team, especially if Amar'e isn't awful again.

drtran117 · Post #22 » by **drtran117** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:39 pm

Hope so, but anything short of a championship is a failure. There are no excuses for us.

Post #23 » by **Thugger HBC** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:43 pm

Both targets are reachable, imo.

NYKnickerbocker · Post #24 » by **NYKnickerbocker** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:47 pm

Makes sense

The heat are reall the only team in the east clearly better then us. The rest is a fight between the knicks,boston, and the pacers to met the heat in the ecf and hope to upset them. Maybe the bulls if rose is th same

HarthorneWingo · Post #25 » by **HarthorneWingo** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:58 pm

I prefer to keep the expectations bar low. Let Boston, Brooklyn and the Sixers get all the spotlight while we fly under the radar.

KnicksScholar24 · Post #26 » by **KnicksScholar24** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:04 pm

I still see flaws with the team; mainly outside shooting and rebounding. I also see Amare Stoudemire having a season closer to his 2011-12 season that his 2010-11 season.

Steve Novak is maybe the best outside shooter in the league, but he can easily be taken out of a game if he just stands on the perimeter waiting on the Knicks' PGs to find him opposed to the team actively trying to run plays to get him open. JR Smith is the team's second best outside shooter but he's streaky, as is Carmelo Anthony, from 3-point range. The rest of NY's wings are below average 3-point shooters. If Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni can knock down their open threes then maybe outside shooting won't be a problem. We'll see.

The team rebounding doesn't look good (to me) so far either, but that's maybe because most of the Knicks' bigs have been out injured. We'll see how the team looks when healthy. I just don't think Stoudemire is going to help much either way.

If they can knock down their open outside shots consistently and rebound like this star frontcourt should then I see them getting to the ECF. If not, then I still see them being higher than the 7th or 8th seed, if relatively healthy throughout the season.

br7knicks · Post #27 » by **br7knicks** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:52 pm

atlantic is the toughest division now.

i think 4 teams have a legitimate chance of taking the conference. i think the outcome is going to be, barring major injuries:

celtics
knicks 2 GB
nets 7 GB
76ers 9 GB
Raptors 20? GB

but if there were to be a significant injury to any of the teams, then the celtics, knicks, nets, and 76ers are all capable of winning the division.

Post #28 » by **moocow007** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 9:44 pm

br7knicks wrote:atlantic is the toughest division now.

i think 4 teams have a legitimate chance of taking the conference. i think the outcome is going to be, barring major injuries:

celtics
knicks 2 GB
nets 7 GB
76ers 9 GB
Raptors 20? GB

but if there were to be a significant injury to any of the teams, then the celtics, knicks, nets, and 76ers are all capable of winning the division.

Yeah it's a tough division definitely. Even the Raptors were playing superb defense last season under Casey and though they lost a lot of games they always seemed to be close and contested ones. Lowry should make them more dangerous and should turn some of the close loses to wins. A lot will hinge on how well Valanciunas is able to integrate into their system and what type of duo he forms with Bargnani up front.

Kooz · Post #29 » by **Kooz** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:27 pm

HawthorneWingo wrote:I prefer to keep the expectations bar low. Let Boston, Brooklyn and the Sixers get all the spotlight while we fly under the radar.

The Knicks will never fly under the radar.

buzzershot18 · Post #30 » by **buzzershot18** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:34 pm

Knicker23 · Post #31 » by **Knicker23** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:36 pm

So if the Knicks come in second in the division, say, to Boston.. And were third overall in the East behind Miami and Boston... Our playoff seed would be what, 4

blumatic · Post #32 » by **blumatic** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:44 pm

Knicker23 wrote:So if the Knicks come in second in the division, say, to Boston.. And were third overall in the East behind Miami and Boston... Our playoff seed would be what, 4

Yes we would be 4th.

Edit: Well I dont know. Boston was the 4th seed but the won the atlantic. So im not sure.

smha201 · Post #33 » by **smha201** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:33 pm

If you can make the ECF, you can win it. Once you're there you've proven that you can battle through the pressure of the playoffs. It's anybody's series at that point, no matter the matchup.

Post #34 » by **Thugger HBC** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:47 pm

Knicker23 wrote:So if the Knicks come in second in the division, say, to Boston.. And were third overall in the East behind Miami and Boston... Our playoff seed would be what, 4

We would be third if we had the third best record.

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Realest · Post #35 » by **Realest** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:24 am

GO KNICKS!!!

21shumpshumpst · Post #36 » by **21shumpshumpst** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:31 am

I honestly have my doubts about the Cs this season.

Their backcourt depth is really good. However their frontcourt is abysmal.

At C/PF they have KG (old 37 start of the playoffs), Bass (decent), Darko (scrub), Wilcox (scrub), and Sully (rookie with no lift could barely score on our scrub Copeland.

They need KG to play minutes way above what he can at this stage of his career to do well.

I just don't see it.

As much as I hate to say this after seeing what I have seen from the Nyets they might be better than I had initially thought. However I still think we are better.

IF HEALTHY I think we definitely take the Atlantic. Also, my prediction is that Prigs will play a big role in this team. Bigger than we thought.

ibraheim718 · Post #37 » by **ibraheim718** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:57 am

If anyone wants to place a friendly e-wager on this let me know... would love to do a username bet.

fresko024 · Post #38 » by **fresko024** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:04 am

i think we win the chip this year..call me crazy if you want, i just think the way this team is constituted, we've improved a lot since last year and we should be one of the top rebounding and defensive...possibly even 3point shooting teams in the league..

Post #39 » by **moocow007** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:28 pm

It's going to be an uphill climb and barring an injury to James I don't think any EC team will be able to beat Miami but the important thing is that if they are going to go out they need to go out fighting. Missing the playoffs would obviously be a unmitigated disaster and should result in several heads rolling. A 1st round bounce also would be a big dose of fail and will get the trolls (who are waiting in the wings for exactly this) to come out of the woodworks with their "I told you so's" (though obviously if the Knicks do well you won't hear **** from them..."fans" they call themselves). A 2nd round bounce? Would be hard to stomach unless it's against the Heat AND they go out fighting. Best case I think is a date with Miami in the ECF. But to do that they will need to pretty much have to have the 2nd or 3rd best record in the EC...which is not going to be an easy task and for which they need to come out quick and be consistent the entire 82 game schedule.

RHODEY · Post #40 » by **RHODEY** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 3:04 pm

moocow007 wrote:It's going to be an uphill climb and barring an injury to James I don't think any EC team will be able to beat Miami but the important thing is that if they are going to go out they need to go out fighting. Missing the playoffs would obviously be a unmitigated disaster and should result in several heads rolling. A 1st round bounce also would be a big dose of fail and will get the trolls (who are waiting in the wings for exactly this) to come out of the woodworks with their "I told you so's" (though obviously if the Knicks do well you won't hear **** from them..."fans" they call themselves). A 2nd round bounce? Would be hard to stomach unless it's against the Heat AND they go out fighting. Best case I think is a date with Miami in the ECF. But to do that they will need to pretty much have to have the 2nd or 3rd best record in the EC...which is not going to be an easy task and for which they need to come out quick and be consistent the entire 82 game schedule.

I question Wade's and Ray Allen's ability to stay healthy come crunch time. I know I shouldn't factor that in but what else can I hold onto against the artificially contrived powerhouse known as the Heat?

We have many questions coming into the season, but I already see some positive signs:

Melo is as prime as he ever was
Prigs looks like he can adjust to the NBA speed and will only get more comfortable he can (I think will) be key in making life really easy for our gunners
Felton looks prime and that chip on his shoulder aint going nowhere.
Novak has expanded his game...

We'll see about Amare.... but IMO the best case scenario is a team better than anyone could have realistically envisioned , it's currently impossible quantify how "good" that team could be - I'll stay tuned.