PG: "It's Just Us Here."

[Sark]

What's the most games over .500 we've been in the Fisher era?

0

Didn't we start last year 2-1? I thought we got over for a day or 2 this season as well.

[DaGawd]

What's the most games over .500 we've been in the Fisher era?

0

Unforgivable

[god shammgod]

What's the most games over .500 we've been in the Fisher era?

0

Didn't we start last year 2-1? I thought we got over for a day or 2 this season as well.

we did this year too. i guess that counts....so 1....yay

[Appleshampoo]

I like SVG clowning Fish, "didn't know Lopez, Melo, Calderon, and Affallo make up a young team." AA just a week ago said this team wants to get over the hump and make the playoffs, they lay up a few eggs and Fish tells the media to can that noise. What kind of message is that to send to a team? Fish is making excuses for his own inexperience at this point and it's gotta piss the players off.

[j4remi]

I'm about to do a different kinda post game for this. The first half was a debacle, the players went through the motions aimlessly and got smoked. They looked defeated before the second quarter started. My critique for the entire roster in that half is "he sucked"...that's it. Why analyze players who didn't look like they even cared? The second half, they did show up. The TNT experts were really pushing the concept that Fishers fiery "why are you here!?" speech was the big difference maker ( ); reality is Fisher's decision to scrap the triangle and let Melo operate in more isolations, have Afflalo set his post ups without strict adherence to triangle positioning and most importantly had the entire team run spread offense high pick and rolls got everyone into a rhythm. That's still props to Fisher for making a major offensive shift that got the team going (and impacted effort on both ends), but I just wanted to point out how annoying TNT's panel of pro's can be. Anyway, the players got something they were comfortable in and they played with more effort ( )...effort should be the one thing that you can consistently pump out regardless of scheme or situation. So I'm still not gonna break down player by player, I'm just gonna rant on a few aspects of the night and performance.

The Personnel Doesn't Fit the Triangle: Chalk this up in the "obviously fam" column; but this was only the second game where the Knicks pretty much completely scrapped the triangle for high pick and rolls. The first time, they beat the C's without KP or Melo around. This time they erased a 27 point lead in one half and even took a 1 point lead late. Both times they did it to teams with winning records. Theoretically and based on Melo's run when his legs were good, I'd say this team CAN run the triangle through him. But if he's hurt, none of the PG's are capable of running it. AA's passes for FGA's actually lead players to lower FG percentages. RoLo receives the ball further from the basket where he's less effective. KP can go minutes at a time without a touch. You watch this team run simple pick and roll sets and it's even more clear. AA made nice passes last night, Melo drew fouls more easily, RoLo got the ball moving TOWARD the basket, KP's open in pick and pop constantly and the PG's just plain look better (well, last night it was LG who looked better but before that Grant did the same thing). The biggest hope coming out of this game is that Fisher will realize the obvious.

Actions speak louder than words and the Knicks are fronting about goals: This falls back to the "it's about the process, not the playoffs" rhetoric we've been hit with lately. If that's the case then there is really no excuse for Sasha ever getting burn. Cleanthony Early shoulda played to start the season. Grant should not be getting benched after poor performances. Galloway should have the starting role locked down even if Calderon is running the offense marginally better. If you're not worried about winning, the vets who won't be here next year unless we absolutely MUST keep them (aka can't dump Jose's contract) should be ceding minutes to the young guys for developmental reasons. You know what though? That's not my biggest problem here. My deepest frustration comes from Melo and KP rushing back from injuries in a season that the coach doesn't care about. Melo played 50 minutes into double overtime on a bad ankle to the point that he was limping around and still playing...but wins don't matter? Melo's had knee soreness in the surgically repaired knee ever since and even Fisher admitted this stems from favoring the bad ankle. KP's scares me more. He had a foot injury, he's a 20 year 7'3 player...foot injuries are TERRIFYING for young developing big men. But he was right back in and playing on that foot. He hasn't looked right since that injury, although he says he's fine and they're blaming his poor play on an upper respiratory infection lately; but I don't think you risk the big man with the foot injury anyway. If wins don't matter, then you don't rush guys back from injury and risk further damage. Let me stress too, this isn't just on Fish. Phil downplayed the playoffs in the preseason too.

We still don't know who the third big man is: KOQ seemed like he was gonna get a real shake at this thing. He got to play through struggles for a bit and actually started to show signs of improvement. He was still struggling on defensive rotations, but his timing actually started to slightly improve. Even in those instances, the second half you were more likely to see Lou Amundson than KOQ off the bench. It was odd. So last game, neither of those two got off the bench, Seraphin was back in randomly and he sucked as bad as you'd expect a guy who hasn't seen the court at all for a while would. So then last night we essentially just went with two big men, our starters. Idc if it's KOQ or Lou or KS, we can't keep rotating that spot. Fish needs to pick a big man and stick with him for at least a month. These unpredictable big man rotations are detrimental to everyone. The bench bigs are all forcing things to try and earn more minutes and none of them has a semblance of timing or rhythm; that in turn hurts anyone on the court with them.

Sasha Sucks: I just needed to say that.

The Van Gundy's are the realest:

"Van Gundy doesn’t see the Knicks as “developing.’’ He didn’t name names, but the Pistons leader seemed to be responding to Fisher. “They’re a good team, a veteran team,’’ Van Gundy said before the Pistons’ 111-105 victory over the Knicks. “They got [Kristaps] Porzingis, but when all healthy, they put four veterans around him. It’s a smart, veteran team around a real talented young guy. I laugh a little bit when I see them referred to as a young, developing team. I wasn’t aware Robin Lopez, Carmelo Anthony, Jose Calderon and Arron Afflalo are that young. I read that. Wow. I guess in society at large, guys in their 30s are young.’’

Translation: "We don't believe you, you need more people (Jay voice)!" I really wish we could have a Van Gundy in our organization voicing his opinions. JVG and SVG are cold blooded when they're not in tv roles and even then JVG loses it sometimes and just goes HAM.

Flagrant Fouls have reached roughing the passer levels of soft: Lance Thomas gave a good, smart hard foul lest he be dunked on and posterized. That Drummond landed badly sucks, but it comes with the territory when you're trying to slam on people's heads. The other night I didn't think EITHER of the flagrant foul calls was correct, one was probably a make up call...how the hell do you hand out a make up flagrant foul!? We've reached a point in the NBA where touch fouls are way too common and have turned good ball handlers into damn near unstoppable players. Straight line drives >>> clever passing; flailing at the rim >>> going up strong; getting dunked on >>> putting 'em on the FT line. It's pathetic.

That's all...I just needed to vent. Only players I'm shouting out are Galloway for getting his swagger back and RoLo for absolutely crushing it. He's playing above his contract value a lot lately. Melo needs his legs back, AA is finally getting back but just let a rookie torch him and talk trash and I'd rather see KP not play than be sluggish. Lance would have earned some love if he didn't force a few jumpers during a late run where the ball obviously belonged in any other player's hands to run a pick and roll.

[god shammgod]

i love the van gundys. they're no bullsh*t, no mind games, no trying to be deep, no ego. they just keep it real always. and when they're at fault, they own up to it. i never heard a coach blame himself more then jeff van gundy.

[Adelheid]

Well, a losing record would make Phil's job in recruiting FAs harder than it should be, so Fisher is wrong in saying that the playoffs is not as important as the process or whatever he is talking about, since a playoffs berth would mean that the team has a winning record given that the east is middle-heavy now

And thus, failing in FA would mean that Fish would have to deal with the same crew with no improvement. Fisher is not really thinking well at all when he issued that statement.

[moocow007]

Wonder if Fisher and Jackson know that the Knicks don't have a draft pick? Maybe they don't?

They probably don't care, since winning doesn't bring the pick back

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

That's only if they know that they don't have the pick. <-- it's called sarcasm.

[K_ick_God]

I woke up depressed still.

[dakomish23]

Melo, I still can't believe you're declining this fast, you shot horrible tonight (again) but show me you still have got it, I still believe in you.

He ain't right. He's not getting any lift and seems to be rushing his shot to make up for the lack of lift.

It doesn't help his cause that he's got to be the PG and the top scorer on a team runs a pretty **** offense that won't get him open shots. Even if he had someone, anyone, that could be a threat to drive to the hoop and dish out that could start the chain reaction of ball movement to get him an open shot. It would do wonders.

Just like his hero Bernard King, we'll all be able to do the "what if" with Anthony and KP, just like those of us who remember the "what if" with Ewing and King.

For the next 3 years, it'll be "What if Melo was like Melo at his prime, instead of hurt all the time and playing at 3/4 of his ability?"

Good time. Someone must of sold his soul for those two championships nearly 50 years ago and the everything since has been payback.

Didn't King play a few more years at a fairly high level after that injury?

[King of Canada]

I'm more depressed about KP not playing well, and Fish not trying to get him going than losing.

[DaGawd]

I woke up depressed still.

This is life as usual in Knicks land

[moocow007]

I woke up depressed still.

Pretty much.

[DaGawd]

I'm more depressed about KP not playing well, and Fish not trying to get him going than losing.

With our luck I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out KP fooled us all and really aint ****...

Spoiler:

I kid....I kid....

[moocow007]

He ain't right. He's not getting any lift and seems to be rushing his shot to make up for the lack of lift.

It doesn't help his cause that he's got to be the PG and the top scorer on a team runs a pretty **** offense that won't get him open shots. Even if he had someone, anyone, that could be a threat to drive to the hoop and dish out that could start the chain reaction of ball movement to get him an open shot. It would do wonders.

Just like his hero Bernard King, we'll all be able to do the "what if" with Anthony and KP, just like those of us who remember the "what if" with Ewing and King.

For the next 3 years, it'll be "What if Melo was like Melo at his prime, instead of hurt all the time and playing at 3/4 of his ability?"

Good time. Someone must of sold his soul for those two championships nearly 50 years ago and the everything since has been payback.

Didn't King play a few more years at a fairly high level after that injury?

Yep. But he wasn't the same (you can see it in King's game, if you were around at the time, or you can look at his shooting percentages after he came back...not the same kind of lift or energy). Same thing with where Anthony might be headed from all the load he's had to carry in years past. And Anthony isn't as prolific a scorer as King was.

[god shammgod]

forget about this year, what is the plan for next year exactly ? they'll be some internal development of our young guys but how many wins will that really add ? you have likely one of the worst free agency periods ever because everyone has money and everyone will be overpaid. melo is getting older and we're putting more on his shoulders instead of less. and are we gonna spend another year trying to force the triangle on guys ?

[moocow007]

forget about this year, what is the plan for next year exactly ? they'll be some internal development of our young guys but how many wins will that really add ? you have likely one of the worst free agency periods ever because everyone has money and everyone will be overpaid. melo is getting older and we're putting more on his shoulders instead of less. and are we gonna spend another year trying to force the triangle on guys ?

This is where Phil Jackson shows how big his balls really are. We will be heading into Year 3 of the Phil Jackson Experience.

[mpharris36]

forget about this year, what is the plan for next year exactly ? they'll be some internal development of our young guys but how many wins will that really add ? you have likely one of the worst free agency periods ever because everyone has money and everyone will be overpaid. melo is getting older and we're putting more on his shoulders instead of less. and are we gonna spend another year trying to force the triangle on guys ?

time to fully commit to a rebuild?

[mpharris36]

forget about this year, what is the plan for next year exactly ? they'll be some internal development of our young guys but how many wins will that really add ? you have likely one of the worst free agency periods ever because everyone has money and everyone will be overpaid. melo is getting older and we're putting more on his shoulders instead of less. and are we gonna spend another year trying to force the triangle on guys ?

This is where Phil Jackson shows how big his balls really are. We will be heading into Year 3 of the Phil Jackson Experience.

I will say this, Phil hasn't been perfect but he has yet to mortgage the future that all our previous GM's did. I think if it came down to it we could always just hit the reset button. I don't think Melo, ROLO, AA, Dwill, and KOQ are unmovable contracts.

[god shammgod]

forget about this year, what is the plan for next year exactly ? they'll be some internal development of our young guys but how many wins will that really add ? you have likely one of the worst free agency periods ever because everyone has money and everyone will be overpaid. melo is getting older and we're putting more on his shoulders instead of less. and are we gonna spend another year trying to force the triangle on guys ?

time to fully commit to a rebuild?

if melo wants to go it's an option. but if you do that, you have to get rid of phil first. you can't claim do-over after every season. i thought we were building ? we're gonna tear it down again ? ok, take your peace pipe and hit the road. and take this dumb fish with you.