I'm one in the minority that feel Melo will shoot 50%. Thats if he plays off the ball more and more drives.
I'm one in the minority that feel Melo will shoot 50%. Thats if he plays off the ball more and more drives.
It's hard to predict anything at this moment, but if anything I hope Melo's ppg stays about what it did last year and Amare sits on the 21-23ppg mark. We know Melo can light it up for 30-45 on any given night but I really hope Amare gets more invloved and we get a legit 1-2 punch from them on offense. We have plenty of possible 3rd options on offense with Smith, Felton and Novak at times but I hope individual stats are put aside for getting the player in the best spot the shot. Hopefully with more people involved in the offense, Melo and even Amare won't have to carry the load and can put the same effort into defense.
I think Amare & Melo's rpg numbers will stay the same, I expect them to commit more effort to defense and rebounding but we now have a stellar rebounding front court and even our back court can board if need be.
I think Kidd and Wallace's impact will be stuff that doesn't always show up on the box score. With that in mind:
Felton - 12ppg/8apg (less minutes with Kidd behind him, focus on pass first and running the offense)
Smith - 13ppg/3ap/3rpg (great all round impact and will shoot smarter with a full year of Woodson's tutelage)
Melo - 22ppg/6rpg/4apg (hoping for an increase in his passing and playmaking, less boards with Camby & Chandler there, emphasis on getting back for D)
STAT - 22ppg/8rpg/2apg/1.3bpg (think his intensity on the boards will improve but wont change due to great rebounding front court, increase in assists as Olajuwon worked on passing from the post and defense too)
Chandler - 12.5ppg/9prg/1apg/2bpg (More ppg due to his work on offensive moves over summer, slightly less rpg due to camby as a backup and also more bpg as his defensive intensity can be higher without the worry of fouling out
Key reserves:
Kidd - 6ppg/5apg/4rpg (so so impact on the box score but his impact will be felt on the defensive, leadership ends and running the offense. Would like to see him on the floor often when Amare is sitting so he can utilise his chemistry with Chandler and Felton/Amare can get the PnR going.
Camby - 5ppg/8rpg/2.5apg/1.4bpg (solid contributions across the board, slight decline from last year and a good passing center, solid defensive anchor for the 2nd unit.
Novak - 7ppg/3rpg/1apg (Will get a few shots per game but will sit a lot during close defensive based games. Expect a lot of 12-15 point games but quite a few 3-4 point games as well.
Shumpert - (on return) 9ppg/3apg/3rpg/1.8spg (I know he is waiting to be 100% for his return but I feel he will have some trouble adjusting to the team and will bring it on D, but won't get a hell of a lot of shots under Woody's system. Good rebounder for his size and sound passer.
Way too hard to predict Sheed or any of the other bench players contributions, haven't seen enough of them.
If or when Stat gets hurt, Melo could and probably will average close to 30 a game
Sounds great, obviously if STAT gets hurt Melo would average more but I would hope JR, Felton & Novak would get more shots too. We need to incorporate more than just STAT & Melo into the offense so our opposition respects that we have other threats on the floor so we have more spacing and less ISO ball.
Last year was fair enough, but we now have the tools and Felton/Smith/Novak can all be solid offensive options if need be.
Having a happy player/coach Jason Kidd as our bench floor-leader for Felton/Prig-Pablo for 82 games gives us a 50+ win season, and the Atlantic Division Title.
Woody's discipline coaching with Jason Kidd style of performance will have Stat & Melo tied throughout the season for the teams highest scorer averaging from 21 to 24 points.
Our old-heads veteran defense, plus having 3 ledgit PG, and two top scorers will give several depth-players like Novak, JR.Smith, Brewer, and Camby several games of passing their season high score.
Damn! this is the roster a healthy NBA-Ready rookie Shumpert was suppose to start his NBA career with to give us that rookie energy-edge each game.
I'm hoping for a well rehab recovery from Shump 3/4 of the 2012-13 season.
Felton & Shump are a winning combination in the backcourt under the tutledge of Woody & Kidd.
Strictly STAT and Melo
20 and 10 for STAT
25 and 8 for Melo
Sometimes u have to speak foreign to all these young-whipper-snappin Melo-fans
who B.Ball mind thinks the same as Dolan .. the Knicks didn't need Melo after we
signed Stat to a 5 year contract.
Melo's career performance don't compliment any of his teammates performance ....
that's why this offseason we had to bring in a LOAD of experience "Old-Heads"
who career has been complimenting their teammates performance.
PPG:
Melo - 19-21
Stat - 10-13
Tyson - 8-10
Smith - 9-12
Felton - 7-10
Shump - 6-9
Novak - 6-10
Melo 29.9 pts 6.8 rebs 4 assist
Stat 22.8 pts 8.8 rebs 1.1. blk
Tyson 9.6 pts 10.1 rebs 2.1 blk
Shump 9.0 pts 2.5 stls 3.2 rebs
Felton 14.1 pts 10.2 ast 1.3 stls
Kidd 6.5 pts 5.5 ast 5 rebs
JR Smith 13.1 pts 40.1% FG 36% 3pt
Novak 9.0 pts 45% FG% 48% 3pt
Brewer 4.5 pts 3 rebs 1.0 stls
Camby 5.5 pts 7.0 rebs 1.8 blks
Sheed 5 pts 4 rebs 1 stl 0.9 blks