Danillo is in; Who is out?

First off I was begining to doubt Danillo and I think he for the most part put a lot of that doubt to rest. I would still like to see him go to the hoop more, but, he showed better defense tonight than anyone has ever given him credit for. I think Hedo just hit some tough shots, but, he D'd him nice

So I would have to think tonight's performance should catapult him back into the rotation....but who sits

Suspect number 1 Q-Richardson: Hurt on and off this season, his shot selection is as bad as it has ever been and his shooting % is just as bad.

Problem with benching him: A coach's favorite. Q reminds Mike of the Glory days. And isnt he our team captin? Q's minutes are going to shrink but will not completley deminish.

Suspect 2 Larry Hughes: Has been off since coming to NY from being our since Jan 20. But, even still isnt making an impact on the Defensive end which is one of his specialties.

Problem with benching him: It just wouldnt be fair! He has only played in 3 games since the trade and again he is coming off being benched for about a month. Benching him this season would result in buyout talks this off season and 13 million is a tough pill to swallow.

Suspect 3 Chris Wilcox: Not that I dont like what I have seen, the dude is a beast down low. But, there is no plans for him past this season, so my thinking is why let him take away from the future?

Problem with benching him: He is already our most rugged post player. He does give us some sort of low post presence. Replacing a low post player for another perimeter player doesnt really make sense.

Final Verdict: None of the above! I bench Jared Jefferies and insert Danillo in at PF and move Lee to the 5.

Here is why....Jefferies is a hustle player right? He going to keep balls alive, take charges and play sound D. But Danillo showed all of that tonight. Plus obviously you can't sag off Danillo like you could Jefferies. Danillo will not be as good a defender but will more than make up for it on the offensive end where we essentially play 4 on 5. Think about it Jefferies grabs and offensive rebound and doesnt even think about shooting right under the hoop.

Insert Danillo in the starting 5 or at the very least move him up in the rotation, but bump Jefferies out. Jefferies can come back after Wilcox leaves next season

Plus if Danillo is taken out of the rotation who knows when he will return to it considering next year we will be showcasing Curry in the hopes to trade him.

Side note: Jefferies is in my opinion having a good season considering how bad things have gone for him as a Knick thus far, but, again he just isnt that good on D to be that bad of an Offensive player.

Good thread.

I think Q-Rich's minutes should be limited. He's basically useless on the court. His defense is average, has an ok post game, chucks up way too many 3's. The only reason he plays at all is he's become the leader of the team. He's always giving the young guys advice. But he has no future with us, and he doesn't help us in the short term. Gallo should get his minutes, IMO.

its simple, hughes shouldnt be getting minutes at this point period

we need an actual shooter to follow up on nate & duhon's dish outs

hughes TRYING to make plays and getting to the basket is unnecessary as his success rate has always been low

qrich CAN still get hot during crucial runs

jeffries is pretty good on D but i dunno how smart it is to start him considering getting off to a good offensive start is also crucial

honestly i think the following lineup would be really deadly against any team

nate
chandler
harrington
gallo
lee

id like to see that lineup happen once, and danilo & harrington would switch pos's too

JayJ44 said:

Good thread.

I think Q-Rich's minutes should be limited. He's basically useless on the court. His defense is average, has an ok post game, chucks up way too many 3's. The only reason he plays at all is he's become the leader of the team. He's always giving the young guys advice. But he has no future with us, and he doesn't help us in the short term. Gallo should get his minutes, IMO.

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I know the concept of the offense is to put up any shot that feels good, but Q just never looks in stride when shooting.

I have to admit I like him as a post up option, but really nothing more than that.

the portable man said:

its simple, hughes shouldnt be getting minutes at this point period

we need an actual shooter to follow up on nate & duhon's dish outs

hughes TRYING to make plays and getting to the basket is unnecessary as his success rate has always been low

qrich CAN still get hot during crucial runs

jeffries is pretty good on D but i dunno how smart it is to start him considering getting off to a good offensive start is also crucial

honestly i think the following lineup would be really deadly against any team

nate
chandler
harrington
gallo
lee

id like to see that lineup happen once, and danilo & harrington would switch pos's too

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Good point about benching Hughes for the time being. In fact that is really how it shouldve been handled from jump. He in all actuality should still be on the bench until he learns the offense and is in better shape.

In the meantime Gallo should still be getting those minutes.

New New York said:

: Jefferies just isnt that good on D to be that bad of an Offensive player.

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agree.. 100% ...amen...

Resign Moochie noris he is leading d leage in asisst

i had 100 level seats for the game last night against the magic.
these are a few scouting reports on certain players of concern.

1) We are slowly learning why Larry hughes was relegated to the bulls bench this year, he is a chemistry killer, especially on a young team, because he dominates the basketball but does not know how to make his team mates better, he gets about one or two touches every other posession, and does nothing but looks at the basket while every one stands and watches.

2) Chris duhon, is playing injured, you might not notice on the T.V or radio, but when he walks to the side line, he grimaces when he is sitting on the bench, he is getting attended to constantly by the trainers, so I dont know, I personally believe you will see nate pushing the ball up more often and duhons minutes decreasing if he continues to penetrate at half speed, problem is the defense is catching up to him easier, forcing him to take bad floater shots by getting himself in the air and not having any one to pass off too, hence the massive amounts of turnovers, and air ball floaters he has been producing as of late. Which is effecting his confidence which relates to his recent reliance on three point shots.

3) DAnillo Gallinari is a true baller, I used to think he would hesitate by jab stepping so much, but really he has the defense at his mercy when the ball is in his hands, which his height, dribbling, and fundamentals, this guy is going to be scary. Not just because he hit a couple of big shots down the stretch, but he honestly has the best offensive awareness on this basketball team.

4) WIlson chandler, needs to be the focal part of this offense immediately, he shot aorund 4-16 the other night from the field following up a 6 shot performance, following up a 32 point performance, to end up last night keeping us in the game. Point being, he forced the issue 2 games ago to follow up a 6 shot game, he should not have to force the issue, the knicks ran allot of plays for him on back cuts, and pop outs for corner jumpers, plus allot of fades for him to get to the basket. His offensive ability, and athleticism, could provide 23 ppg if Mike D was not trying to make every body happy. I respect Mike D for doing that, he seems to balance the load very well so every one gets touches during the game, which I think he is doing because he knows guys like hughs, harry, jefferies, q rich wont be here in 2010, but he does not want to create a chemistry problem, by putting the offense in two rookie sophmore players ( gallo ) ( chandler)

5) D Lee = role player.. Once again I am not hating, but seeing him 50 or so feet away made me realize ,that his jump shot is not that improved, he just shoots it more, he barely hits the rim on most shots, now all be it was playing against D howard, but still he is the one and only player crashing the boards other than nate robinson and chandler a sf and a pg, the knicks dont even have another PF out there, jefferies plays like a an anorexic charles smith. Lee deserves 40 mil over 5 years, pushing him up a mil each year, as per first. second and so on, I want to keep him, but please do not over dose on this guy.

6) NAte robinson, I Love the sixth man Idea, but in all honesty he needs to be starting right now, and duhon needs to come off the bench, I love Mike ds loyalty towards his point guards, but in all honesty we dont beat the spurs, or the pacers with out nate, yeah he doesnt start games he finishes them. but the way duhon is setting the pace at the start of games recently has to stop. AS a coach Mike D has to recognize that nate has been our second leading rebounder since the all star break, leads in steals, points, three pointers, and has been out assisting duhon as well. basically the guy is putting up better than chris paul numbers, and hes still coming off the bench. NAte deserves 50 mil over 5 years if we are going to sign him. he is of more value than LEE , because of one thing, ( he finishes games ) lee is non existent in the fourth quarter, I watched for this intentively and Lee wasnt cutting to the basket, was not asking for the ball, and would fade to the corner of the court, and let chandler and nate take over. DO you want to pay top money to a guy who does not want to the ball in crunch time. Ill give my money to nate, and then chandler, and then gallinari before LEe. sorry.

7) rounding out the rest. harrington is obvious, if his shots falling he plays D, if its not he looks like he doesnt cross half court by the time turkoglu and lewis are pulling up for threes. turkoglu lit him up like crazy when harrington was guarding him. There was honestly a moment where I day dreamed about crawford being out there instead of him, and saying to myself, we would of been a better team with out that trade..butttt, 2010, I Get it I get it. Jefferies, should not be playing more than 5 mins off the bench for this team, I dont get it, I thought all year that Mike D was only starting him to bolster him for a trade, now I just dont get it, Gallo is more active on Defense, goes after rebounds, and is not a ghost on defense.
Q rich, is slowly seeing the end of his career come to light, he looks as if his shins are going to break when he runs the floor.

overall I give the knicks hope, chandler, nate, gallo, and lee if walsh pays them appropriately will be a nice combination with a true center, and an elite player come 2010. duhon might be looking at the door when his 2 yr contract ends if Mike D doesnt either rest him, or he figure out a way to not start chucking threes when other things arent working out for him, i was disappointed in duhon last night, it seemed that he three up an air ball, turned the ball over, and then stopped running the offense, the ball would stop when it got to him he would hold it and shoot too many threes.

we are looking good guys, just gotta get the right players taking more shots.

I think Q is a gonner.

He's at that stage where he's on that list of names that didn't get picked up on fantasy teams and people say "Oh Q is available? I didn't know he still was in the league"

The problem: We get down early and have to force comebacks, almost all the time. The reason: Because our best players aren't playing til' the end of the game. Solution: D'Antoni hasn't figured out a line up that contains off. & def. His players are one dimensional. Ex. Jeffries plays D but can't shoot. Lee can rebound and score but can't play D and is non-existent on the blocks (except when cutting to the basket) etc... . D'Antoni has to figure who are his best two way players. Also he nor anyone knows what to do with N8. N8 is unlike any player and D'Antoni needs to stop reigning him in. When Duhon and Jeffries starting you are WASTING 2 spots. D'Antoni feels Duhon facilitates the off. in the 1st and gets everyone involved. N8 can do the same and still provide more. Jeffries is a BENCH PLAYER. Stop using him now that Wcox is here. Bench Duhon. Start N8-Chandler-Al-Lee-Wcox or Gallo. Run the off. thru N8 and Chandler, let Al roam on the perimeter and let Lee and Wcox clean up the boards. BTW someone mentioned Lee not playing D, not hitting his jumper etc...I agree. His limitations as a true big man are evident. As a big, if you can't D another big and SCORE IN THE POST without the pick & roll you are over-rated. Lee can learn how to play on the block but he will never learm athleticism and how to block shots. See him for what he is. Limited for his size. If you can't play D or hit clutch 4qtr shots you are replacable.

Nate isn't Tony Parker, and doesn't deserve Tony Parker money. He's probably the most entertaining player the Knicks have had in years tho with the most personality.

Nate is going to resign for about 6 mil a season, and Lee will get 9 mil

back to the topic sick thread New New York, Hughes needs to get more games under his belt and get int shape before we judge him and take hi out of our rotation, he was playing at an allstar level in Washington no reason why he cant do that for us. and he is our best defender so that right there is enough reasons to play him

and Gallo needs to get more minutes, especially in the 4th quarter; dude was nasty and hit some big shots, besides he needs to develop.

i say Q-Rich's minutes go down the most. and he will eventually be traded(either in the offseason or by next years deadline).

I say Qrich's minutes go down the most. I think we should keep Q-Rich only for his leadership. He has played a big role in developing Wilson Chandler. Larry Hughes need to stop chucking up shots and play some D. That is what we mainly got him for, perimeter D.

DaTPRiNCE said:

Nate is going to resign for about 6 mil a season, and Lee will get 9 mil

back to the topic sick thread New New York, Hughes needs to get more games under his belt and get int shape before we judge him and take hi out of our rotation, he was playing at an allstar level in Washington no reason why he cant do that for us. and he is our best defender so that right there is enough reasons to play him

and Gallo needs to get more minutes, especially in the 4th quarter; dude was nasty and hit some big shots, besides he needs to develop.

i say Q-Rich's minutes go down the most. and he will eventually be traded(either in the offseason or by next years deadline).

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Thanks for the support your highness!

Yeah we both agree that it just isnt fair to bench Hughes now.

Really I can't believe how the fans have gotten on him so soon. I'm mean we got him in a trade that saw Jerome James depart the fact that he can even walk from the bench to the court is a vast improvment!

dont give up on hughes just yet, its not like al harrington came here hot either...hughes will get it right..i vote for Qs minutes to get cut down

Red said:

The problem: We get down early and have to force comebacks, almost all the time. The reason: Because our best players aren't playing til' the end of the game. Solution: D'Antoni hasn't figured out a line up that contains off. & def. His players are one dimensional. Ex. Jeffries plays D but can't shoot. Lee can rebound and score but can't play D and is non-existent on the blocks (except when cutting to the basket) etc... . D'Antoni has to figure who are his best two way players. Also he nor anyone knows what to do with N8. N8 is unlike any player and D'Antoni needs to stop reigning him in. When Duhon and Jeffries starting you are WASTING 2 spots. D'Antoni feels Duhon facilitates the off. in the 1st and gets everyone involved. N8 can do the same and still provide more. Jeffries is a BENCH PLAYER. Stop using him now that Wcox is here. Bench Duhon. Start N8-Chandler-Al-Lee-Wcox or Gallo. Run the off. thru N8 and Chandler, let Al roam on the perimeter and let Lee and Wcox clean up the boards. BTW someone mentioned Lee not playing D, not hitting his jumper etc...I agree. His limitations as a true big man are evident. As a big, if you can't D another big and SCORE IN THE POST without the pick & roll you are over-rated. Lee can learn how to play on the block but he will never learm athleticism and how to block shots. See him for what he is. Limited for his size. If you can't play D or hit clutch 4qtr shots you are replacable.

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We have one dimensional players because most of them are just role players. Not really star players who can play both sides. The multi-dimensional ballers are still developing (i.e.- chandler). The best thing the one-dim players can do is perfect their ability.


As for minutes, Q-rich should take a seat. Start him(cause he's captain) and then bench him after two minutes.

New New York said:

Thanks for the support your highness!

Yeah we both agree that it just isnt fair to bench Hughes now.

Really I can't believe how the fans have gotten on him so soon. I'm mean we got him in a trade that saw Jerome James depart the fact that he can even walk from the bench to the court is a vast improvment!

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LMAO:teeth::teeth:

anyways yea NY is tough no one told him it would be easy, but he doe have the right attitude, he was smiling the whole time when he was getting booed, ima give him another 2 weeks before i pass judgment either way im happy cause like you said, James is gone....