Not Feeling This Decision

nyk_nyk

All Star
http://m.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/playoff_minutes_determined_in_knicks_qyDkbElF1ti4MkOzcL5vuK

Playoff minutes determined in Knicks closing stretch

By MARC BERMAN

Last Updated: 6:23 PM, April 6, 2011
PHILADELPHIA -- The sixth seed in the Eastern Conference may or may not be a worthy cause to fight for across the final five games, but it surely would be nice for the Knicks to finish ahead of the 76ers.

A sixth seed could mean facing Boston instead of Miami in the first round, if the Celtics end up No. 3. The Celtics and Heat have flip-flopped between second and third for weeks and now are tied. Flip a coin, But Wednesday night?s game vs. the 76ers will be a distinct test on whether this Knicks? four-game winning streak is a mirage or not. A victory would put the 'Melo-?Mar'e Knicks at .500: 12-12. Amar?e Stoudemire has called it a big game and feels the sixth seed is worth fighting for. Philadelphia leads the season series 2-1 but has not faced the Knicks since the Feb. 22 trade.

Mike D?Antoni said his bench guys are on audition, that he could decide to play a seven-man rotation come playoff time next weekend.
D?Antoni has yet to figure out among the former Nuggets throw-ins who deserves to play. Shelden Williams has made a late charge as a serviceable starting center, though D?Antoni flip-flopped and started Jared Jeffries 20 minutes before tip-off against the Raptors because it was a better matchup against Andrea Bargnani.

?Guys on the bench, I told them, they?re more or less auditioning for the playoffs,?? D?Antoni said. ?I?m not going to play 12, 11 10 guys. Maybe nine, eight or seven, so you?re going to have to play and they?re auditioning . There should be competition on who's playing the best.??
Scrappy veteran reserve point guard Anthony Carter right now appears in. Roger Mason (inactive Tuesday night) appears out. Shawne Williams, playing with a sore back, has slumped, this being his first full season of play. Billy Walker is on the bubble.

D?Antoni seems to be fazing out center Ronny Turiaf, who played six minutes Tuesday night in the Toronto blowout, unless he?s just saving his battered body. Turiaf has missed so many games this season with various knee and ankle ailments, D?Antoni may believe he can not be counted on.

Athletic second-year forward Derrick Brown, the waiver-wire pickup, finally got a look Tuesday night in garbage time: a 10-minute spot in which he threw down a mammoth left-handed dunk with such force, the entire Knicks bench went bananas. Brown has privately brooded the Knicks claimed him. The plan was for him to clear waivers and rejoin Charlotte after the trade deadline. Instead, he?s been inactive or just not played...

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I don't like the way he's approaching this. We are not a well balanced team, so why pick only a certain group of players to use in the playoffs? Guys should be used based on game situation (as Clyde said) and if their not needed then fine but you can't say your only going to play x number of guys.

I'm sure they'll be a reason to play Turiaf, Williams and JJ in the same game. There may be a need for Walker and Carter depending on the situation. I just don't like his hard stance on not playing his entire available roster.

Thoughts?
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
Berman tweeted that it puts extra pressure on the players buy making playing time a contest. Guys should play based on need.
 

TR1LL10N

Hannibal Lecter
And now your in here... idiot!

You constantly ether yourself lol :teeth:

Plus my new post contained relative info you NERD lol.

You should be thanking me for being another poster besides yourself to reply in your thread. Just PM next time dude and ask me to bump it so you don't look desperate...I'll throw an ugly chick a pity lay now and again. :teeth:

P.S. you did not bump anything new and the tweet was from Berman and he already stated in the article you linked that it breeds comp. Who you trying to fool with this obvious self bump!? LOL
 

STAT1

Starter
I have a distinct feeling Jared Jeffries will be a part of the playoff rotation regardless of how crappy his play has been since he rejoined the Knicks. If he gets playing time over Turiaf or Shelden there's something seriously wrong.
 

Red

TYPE-A
http://m.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/playoff_minutes_determined_in_knicks_qyDkbElF1ti4MkOzcL5vuK

Playoff minutes determined in Knicks closing stretch

By MARC BERMAN

Last Updated: 6:23 PM, April 6, 2011
PHILADELPHIA -- The sixth seed in the Eastern Conference may or may not be a worthy cause to fight for across the final five games, but it surely would be nice for the Knicks to finish ahead of the 76ers.

A sixth seed could mean facing Boston instead of Miami in the first round, if the Celtics end up No. 3. The Celtics and Heat have flip-flopped between second and third for weeks and now are tied. Flip a coin, But Wednesday night’s game vs. the 76ers will be a distinct test on whether this Knicks’ four-game winning streak is a mirage or not. A victory would put the 'Melo-‘Mar'e Knicks at .500: 12-12. Amar’e Stoudemire has called it a big game and feels the sixth seed is worth fighting for. Philadelphia leads the season series 2-1 but has not faced the Knicks since the Feb. 22 trade.

Mike D’Antoni said his bench guys are on audition, that he could decide to play a seven-man rotation come playoff time next weekend.
D’Antoni has yet to figure out among the former Nuggets throw-ins who deserves to play. Shelden Williams has made a late charge as a serviceable starting center, though D’Antoni flip-flopped and started Jared Jeffries 20 minutes before tip-off against the Raptors because it was a better matchup against Andrea Bargnani.

“Guys on the bench, I told them, they’re more or less auditioning for the playoffs,’’ D’Antoni said. “I’m not going to play 12, 11 10 guys. Maybe nine, eight or seven, so you’re going to have to play and they’re auditioning . There should be competition on who's playing the best.’’
Scrappy veteran reserve point guard Anthony Carter right now appears in. Roger Mason (inactive Tuesday night) appears out. Shawne Williams, playing with a sore back, has slumped, this being his first full season of play. Billy Walker is on the bubble.

D’Antoni seems to be fazing out center Ronny Turiaf, who played six minutes Tuesday night in the Toronto blowout, unless he’s just saving his battered body. Turiaf has missed so many games this season with various knee and ankle ailments, D’Antoni may believe he can not be counted on.

Athletic second-year forward Derrick Brown, the waiver-wire pickup, finally got a look Tuesday night in garbage time: a 10-minute spot in which he threw down a mammoth left-handed dunk with such force, the entire Knicks bench went bananas. Brown has privately brooded the Knicks claimed him. The plan was for him to clear waivers and rejoin Charlotte after the trade deadline. Instead, he’s been inactive or just not played...

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I don't like the way he's approaching this. We are not a well balanced team, so why pick only a certain group of players to use in the playoffs? Guys should be used based on game situation (as Clyde said) and if their not needed then fine but you can't say your only going to play x number of guys.

I'm sure they'll be a reason to play Turiaf, Williams and JJ in the same game. There may be a need for Walker and Carter depending on the situation. I just don't like his hard stance on not playing his entire available roster.

Thoughts?

Hey, I say do what got you here. Problem is its hard to tell what got us here roster wise when it changed before the last 20 odd games. Of which we began to gel only lately.

Its Mikes bed to make, he knows the ramifications of his decisions. I would guess his approach is simply go with the few best players that get and maintain leads in games when we clicked, reduce the players that gave the leads up, shot inconsistently, or he played sparingly.

I see his depth chart as:

PG- CB, AC
SG- Fields, TD (6th man)
SF- Melo, Walker (used less since Melo is one of the best)
PF- STAT, Shawn Will
C- JJ or Sheldon (depending on match up, size/speed for JJ, bulk block scorers Williams), Turiaf (spot duties if needed)

only on the bubble is Mason and Brown

Seems like he'll revert to his short rotation especially if its close or we win- in that case, hey go with what works like I said. He shouldn't worry about burnout or fatigue with only a few games and off days between. He's gonna push it to the limit.
 

tiger0330

Legend
Most coaches do shorten the rotation going into the playoffs but the Knicks have been winning with playing the subs. I hope D'Antoni has an open mind about this and if Walker, Williams or Brown play better than JJ, they can get some or all of his minutes. D'Antoni plays favorites way too much.
 

skisloper

Starter
Ideally a 7 man rotation is the way to go...
As each game presents itself I am sure Dantonio will make the adjustments needed.....Listen we have won 6 in a row,,,and Melo is playing as well as he has ever played....we are heading to the playoffs in the best way possible
 
I agree, Melo is playing like an MVP heading into the playoffs. Magical.

PF- Amare
SF- Melo
SG- Fields / TD23
PG- Billups / TD23

Thats the main 5 right there.

With the way Melo is playing, it's impossible to expect more than 8 mins from Walker & Shawne combined @ the SF position backing up Melo. Give those guys 4 mins each @ the SF position & it's up to both Walker & Shawne to make the most of it. It's also foolish to expect both Walker or Shawne to get more than 3 mins each @ the SG position backing up Fields;especially considering the fact that TD23 is one of the most explosive 6th men off the bench in the game today (on both sides of the ball).

It's foolish to expect both Walker or Shawne to gain much playoff time.

Carter will get some playing time, especially when both CB4 & Fields are resting. TD23 still gets alot more mins that Carter @ the PG position though.

Turiaf will gain plenty of minutes as a high energy guy. It's up to Shelden, JJ & Brown to earn their playoff time during our last 3 gms.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Sad....but true

Berman tweeted that it puts extra pressure on the players buy making playing time a contest. Guys should play based on need.
:agreed:

What Berman is stating (indirectly) in the article is Boston is fighting hard
to meet the Knicks in the first-round. And for the Knicks to have a decent
series with Boston, headcoach Dantoni will have to know "all" the different-
types of skills/talents he have in each player on his 12 man roster (he will
need all of their services vs Boston in a series.).
Which means during a game Dantoni have to have a game-plan using a
strategy by "playing players to their best talents" to compete with
the Boston Celtics, which includes "scoring & stops".
It will take more than 7 of the Knicks best players for the Knicks to
have the lead at halftime. And it will take more than 9 of the Knicks
best players to win the game. We are talking about the Boston Celtics
whom still have their 4-Starters that was in the FINALS 2 or 3 times out
of the last 4 years.
Phil Jackson Lakers could'nt beat the Celtics using a 8-Man rotation.

Boston silly move on the trade-deadline has made the Celtics a "Poor
Rebounding team", they have become equal to the Knicks rebounding.
Boston giving up strong-energy depth players Tony Allen, Daniels, and
Nate has made Boston depth-chart weak as hell for a series......Donte
West is a bum, bust, and the time to make Douglas & Fields the go to
guy to score all over West.
 
C: Shelden / Turiaf / JJ
PF: Amare / Turiaf / JJ
SF: Melo / Shawne / Walker
SG: Fields / Douglas / Walker
PG: Billups / Douglas / Carter

Thats my 11 man roster & maybe use Brown as our 12th.

C: Shelden
PF: Amare
SF: Melo
SG: Fields
PG: Billups

PG / SG: Douglas
PF / C: Turiaf
C / PF: JJ
SG / SF: Walker
SF / PF: Shawne
PG: Carter
PF/C: Brown

I cant expect MDA to bring out anything more than that.

I also cant expect Carter to gain much mins as a 3rd string PG; until we have times where both Billups & Fields are resting with Carter & TD23 @ PG & SG.

Cant expect Brown to get anything more than 2-4 minutes honestly.

Also cant expect Shawne & Walker to get many minutes with Melo playing 40 Minutes @ the SF position, Douglas backing up the SG position & all larger BIG's such as Shelden, Turiaf & JJ getting time @ both the C & PF positions.
 

STAT1

Starter
Against a smaller lineup I'm gonna say MDA goes with this rotation:

C - Amare
PF - Shawne
SF - Melo
SG - Landry
PG - Billups
6 - Douglas
7 - Shelden or JJ
8 - Walker


Against a bigger lineup I think MDA is more likely to roll with something like this:

C - Turiaf
PF - Amare
SF - Melo
SG - Landry
PG - Billups
6 - Douglas
7 - Shawne
8 - Shelden or JJ

Personally I would like to see AC get some minutes I think he's earned them with his heady play & defensive grittyness at PG but going to a 9 man rotation for MDA seems like a stretch in postseason play.
 
Last edited:
No way we can go to a 9 man rotation in the Playoffs
The intensity is too strong and players will burn out
In our recent "playoff like" game against 76ers we needed
all 12 men to win.!:thumbsup:

I hope Mike D was watching when Brown was auditioning
against Nets, he showed good defensive prowess, rebounding,
and drew fouls too. :crossfingers:

If we draw Bos in the first round we should use
a Carter/Douglas Combo to disturb their Rondo/Allen back court
with Douglas all over Ray and Carter forcing Rondo to shoot.

Shelden Williams can come up Big in the playoffs
as a banger against Shaq and when Stat is resting we
could use JJ all over KG.

We can have this Bos series is Head-coach Doc Rivers doesn't out coach our coach Mike D.Celtics might lose the last couple of games to face a NYK if Rivers' believed they could win easy, Remember last Year they lost games to avoid a Bucks Squad and drew the Heat who they handled in 5 games
 
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