Personally I think the decision to play Mozgov was mostly Donnie's decision. Not having Williams and Chandler doesn't necessarily affect the center position. Actually, AR had a better case for minutes since he could play SF or PF. If there were no injuries or suspensions, Mozgov would still be on the bench watching. Dantoni didn't all of a sudden realize that Moz was ready and decide to give him all these minutes against DET. Mozgov could have easily had this type of game a month ago, but we'll never know because he was out of the rotation. There were games where we were getting mauled on the boards and Dantoni never even looked Mozgov's way. Its hard for me to believe this move was all Dantoni but since Moz did his thing Dant will get the credit.
We all know when Dantoni has his rotation set he rarely changes it. He was perfectly happy playing Amare at C and IMO wasn't looking to change anything no matter what the practices looked like. He's said numerous times that the team is at its best with Amare at the 5.
To all the people posting quotes from guys raving how hard Moz works in practice: What the hell do you expect them to say???? I'm sure everyone works hard in practice and if Walker ever had a 40 point game you'd hear the same things about him too. I'm not with the theory that he wasn't ready and therefore got cut from the rotation. If he needed work then you work on it in practice but you still at the very least give him limited minutes to chart his progress. There really is no substitution for the real game. Sure Moz was timid and had to get adjusted to the NBA game early on, but you don't yank him from the rotation completely. Going up against different NBA players/teams is much better than continuously practicing against the same guys day after day. IF you had to take him out of the rotation to work on a few things then it should be brief. Confidence really is half the game.
Now someone has to lose minutes since TM proved himself and I know Dantoni doesn't like having to reduce minutes to his shooting core, so I'm guessing Turiaf will get more bench time. I also can't see Dant cutting into his shooters minutes for AR either.
:agreed::agreed::agreed:
News Flash: Amare was Dantoni's center throughout his tour in Phoenix.
3 months of Shaq and Dantoni lose his Phoenix job.
Dantoni is the last coach u want coaching new and young players into the NBA. To this day Dantoni has not prove to me he is a NBA headcoach.
Its not what u know its who u know. :smokin:
The Knicks only signed two starters this offseason.
Truth be said, there are only 3 starters on the Knicks 15 man roster.
Amare/Chandler/Felton
Certain Knick players have a better performance coming off the bench. Turiaf, Mozgov, and AR are decent 20 minute bigmen off the bench.
Did anyone ever take the time to think about.....
Mozgov started out slow in this game the same as he started out slow at the beginning of the season with new teammates, new rules, new (enviroment) country, and a new STUPID wide-open system that is not made for a halfcourt setting center.
Early in the season Mozgov was receiving odd amount of minutes per game, 6 min, 10 min, 4 min, 17 min, 8 min, 12 minutes, which means Mozgov was only receiving 5 to 6 minutes straight on the court per quarter, playing only 2 quarters per game.
Last night Mozgov missed his first 4 shots in a 5 minute span..... we seen AR ready to come in to replace Mozgov, but Mozgov got fouled and went to the foul-line, so AR had to replace AMARE.
Mozgov had room to do Mozgov when AMARE left the court.
I read all the post and certain factors on Mozgov performance no one mention
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