This team desperately needs a backcourt upgrade at both spots

GOD FORBID Shumpert ever goes down, develops leg cramps like we saw again tonight late, or just plain old gets tired and is forced to take a seat, this team is gonna struggle...BIG TIME.

We're OK at the 3, 4 & 5...And even though Melo and Amar'e struggled shooting the ball in this game, the defense was much better than the first time we saw these guys the other night (we played real solid defense for about 85-90% of this game) and that's what pulled us through...Same problems remain however -- we're getting very little outta this backcourt save for Shumpert. That kid's a flat out baller...Everyone else isn't reliable at all. All wild cards, the lot of 'em...Douglas, to his credit, looked a little better tonight esp. defensively but he still can run the team and make good decisions on the offensive end...And Fields -- I don't even know what to say man. I'm rockin' my Landry shirt right now as I write this but the dude's a problem. His whole game has gone south like a duck in winter. And as well as Bibby's been playing Mike couldn't even get him in there because he wouldn't have been able to matchup defensively against anyone (Augustin, Walker, Henderson at the 2, etc.).

EARTH TO GRUWALD: DO SOMETHING!!! If we're not gonna give this kid Lin a shot other than in garbage time, get him the F outta here and look for an upgrade immediately. Someone who can come in and give us important mins. throughout a game. I want more than just a practice player -- I want someone with talent who can push Toney for mins and maybe even take his job...Someone who can handle the ball, facilitate and score it a little. And while we're at it, get Walker the hell outta here as well. I'm not ready to quit on Landry -- I still believe in him -- I think he's just playing way too tight for some reason. Thinking too much..But when he's off we can't possibly go to a backup SG that's even worse. Walker's the pits. I don't even know why the F we picked up his option. We should've let him walk and looked for an upgrade as soon as the lockout ended.

Unless someone has something better, I say cut Lin and Walker and bring in Willie Warren and another bigger guard with solid talent like a Manny Harris or maybe buy out Sylven Landesberg from his Israeli contract and get him in here. Trying to make a trade now could be tough -- who's gonna want Fields & Douglas at this point? They each have zero trade value right now...I'm not even saying get rid of these guys -- keep Douglas & Fields and see if they can regain their form and work through their problems...But until they do, we can't possible go with guys like Lin & Billy Walker. Lin's probably not even good enough to play meaningful mins and Walker just sucks...These guys can't help us at all. I mean we saw our achilles heel on full display tonight -- backcourt depth. With Shump in the game it's obviously not magnified as much because he's good, but if he has to sit, we're in trouble. DO SOMETHING NOW!!! Don't tell me the plan is to stand pat and wait for Davis. Be proactive dammit!!! Infuse the backcourt with some better talent -- upgrade over what we currently have.. Even if a trade doesn't present itself, there's still things we can do. Good things, for the betterment of the team. I mean for Christ's sake, we had Alan Hahn put up a list of available players that could help us on the pre-game show, including two guys I've been talking about lately, Patty Mills and Al Thornton. Grunwald's done a nice job so far overall, but come on, a GM's job is never done until you win a title. Infuse this backcourt with a little more talent, upgrades over Lin and Walker...That's all I ask.

finestrg said:

GOD FORBID Shumpert ever goes down, develops leg cramps like we saw again tonight late, or just plain old gets tired and is forced to take a seat, this team is gonna struggle...BIG TIME.

We're OK at the 3, 4 & 5...And even though Melo and Amar'e struggled shooting the ball in this game, the defense was much better than the first time we saw these guys the other night (we played real solid defense for about 85-90% of this game) and that's what pulled us through...Same problems remain however -- we're getting very little outta this backcourt save for Shumpert. That kid's a flat out baller...Everyone else isn't reliable at all. All wild cards, the lot of 'em...Douglas, to his credit, looked a little better tonight esp. defensively but he still can run the team and make good decisions on the offensive end...And Fields -- I don't even know what to say man. I'm rockin' my Landry shirt right now as I write this but the dude's a problem. His whole game has gone south like a duck in winter. And as well as Bibby's been playing Mike couldn't even get him in there because he wouldn't have been able to matchup defensively against anyone (Augustin, Walker, Henderson at the 2, etc.).

EARTH TO GRUWALD: DO SOMETHING!!! If we're not gonna give this kid Lin a shot other than in garbage time, get him the F outta here and look for an upgrade immediately. Someone who can come in and give us important mins. throughout a game. I want more than just a practice player -- I want someone with talent who can push Toney for mins and maybe even take his job...Someone who can handle the ball, facilitate and score it a little. And while we're at it, get Walker the hell outta here as well. I'm not ready to quit on Landry -- I still believe in him -- I think he's just playing way too tight for some reason. Thinking too much..But when he's off we can't possibly go to a backup SG that's even worse. Walker's the pits. I don't even know why the F we picked up his option. We should've let him walk and looked for an upgrade as soon as the lockout ended.

Unless someone has something better, I say cut Lin and Walker and bring in Willie Warren and another bigger guard with solid talent like a Manny Harris or maybe buy out Sylven Landesberg from his Israeli contract and get him in here. Trying to make a trade now could be tough -- who's gonna want Fields & Douglas at this point? They each have zero trade value right now...I'm not even saying get rid of these guys -- keep Douglas & Fields and see if they can regain their form and work through their problems...But until they do, we can't possible go with guys like Lin & Billy Walker. Lin's probably not even good enough to play meaningful mins and Walker just sucks...These guys can't help us at all. I mean we saw our achilles heel on full display tonight -- backcourt depth. With Shump in the game it's obviously not magnified as much because he's good, but if he has to sit, we're in trouble. DO SOMETHING NOW!!! Don't tell me the plan is to stand pat and wait for Davis. Be proactive dammit!!! Infuse the backcourt with some better talent -- upgrade over what we currently have.. Even if a trade doesn't present itself, there's still things we can do. Good things, for the betterment of the team. I mean for Christ's sake, we had Alan Hahn put up a list of available players that could help us on the pre-game show, including two guys I've been talking about lately, Patty Mills and Al Thornton. Grunwald's done a nice job so far overall, but come on, a GM's job is never done until you win a title. Infuse this backcourt with a little more talent, upgrades over Lin and Walker...That's all I ask.

Click to expand...

Appreciate your passion here but truth be told we got better than we are getting from the back court. But it's so thin that IMAX was pushed to to many minutes before full healing on his knee. An...MCL injury takes longer than he was given. But trust me he has star potential . The REAL star was Chandler and his 20 points and a truck load of boards...plus angry D.
There are enough changes for one season..new guys means a new start...means having to reconstitute and gel this mess. BARON will be the answer in the PLAYOFFS.The regular season just does not count. It's all about the post season.
However , unlike last year the 76er's are playing excellant ball from the giddy ap. Therefore, nothing is assured for us. ONE GAME AT TIME FOLKS. We are struggling aganst second tier teams...eeeking out victories or just getting creamed.
Yes ,Lin was a cut player picked up as an emergency fill in NO DOUBT but I like WALKER...remember the Garnett stop..lol.

In closing, look at the shooting %age of Melo and STAT last night...very poor. MELO is hurting and Amare taking that 3 he missed at a crucial time. Last year he got every call going to the hoop. This year he is not finishing ALL THE TIME and he is not getting all the calls like last year.

So the 3 and 4 were forcing shots and playing out of the flow in the second half. MELO's passing to Chandler was SUPERB....IMAX over all was better than superb. NO MINUTES for BALKMAN OR NOVAK...to many minutes for MELO...lately. Foul difficulty last night got him some rest and pain PILLS after the game. I was still bottom line thrilled to get the "W".

Do Stat & Melo co-exist on offense/defense???
HELL-NO!!!!!

When the two ($20M per) superstars co-exist as team-ball leaders, rather than
one dimensional iso players demanding the ball....then I will concentrate on the
Knicks Guards/Center/and Depth off the bench.

It starts with Stat & Melo first....

When we start seeing a hint of "KG & Pierce, or Gasol & Odom, or Boozer & Deng" type of
offense/defense chemistry as a tandem-foward in Stat & Melo performance in a lineup....
everything else will start to fall into place with the rest of their teammates in their lineup.
Whats holding the two superstars back?
could be Dantoni....could be their laziness....could be their refusal to accept change?
whatever it maybe it starts with Stat & Melo first.

Kiyaman said:

Do Stat & Melo co-exist on offense/defense???
HELL-NO!!!!!

When the two ($20M per) superstars co-exist as team-ball leaders, rather than
one dimensional iso players demanding the ball....then I will concentrate on the
Knicks Guards/Center/and Depth off the bench.

Click to expand...

I don't see Amar'e/Melo chemistry as a main problem...They are what they are man: two very good players at their positions/two very good one on one players. Amar'e's doing his thing -- his overall energy just seems a tad down from last yr at this time though -- he's not making his usual forceful moves with the same conviction and he's not blocking-shots nearly at the same clip (maybe he feels he doesn't have to with Chandler out there helping him now, who knows)..Overall though, he's still playing well enough. Production is still high and he's doing a good job on the glass lately which is something I'm always on him for, so that's nice to see...And Melo's doing his thing -- dude won the Celtic and the Wizard games all by himself with his scoring in the clutch and he's been doing a great job of handling the ball and passing it (he really is a criminally underrated passer)..If you've been watching carefully then you've seen Melo and Amar'e looking for each other throughout these games. I've seen Melo throw Amar'e alley-oop passes this year and vice versa..It should get even better as the yr goes on but I think they're co-existing well enough right now.

The real issue is that besides Shumpert, who looks great (we just need to get this cramping issue straightened out -- reading this morning that it might have to do with a dehydration issue -- dude's gonna needed to stay constantly hydrated during these games, I guess more than your average player. He might need something stronger than Gatorade), we're not getting enough from the backcourt. That's the problem for me. Everything else looks solid..Defense looked to be a problem but guys really stepped it up last night which was good to see..I dunno if Mike or Woody deserve more credit than usual for last night (you know the philosophy and the message hasn't changed) or if the player's pride just kicked in a little more, as in 'there's no way we're letting these guys come in here and do this to us again.' Melo & Amar'e are coming to play, Tyson's contributing more now (he had his best game as a Knick last night), etc...The problem is TD's been MIA and so has Fields...And then behind them, nobody's picking them up -- Walker doesn't do enough and Lin's obviously not good enough to play (dude must not be showing a thing in practice, otherwise he'd play more I gotta believe)...Bibby's been better, or shot the ball better I should say, but he's still got his limitations -- like TD, he's not a true point and he's slowed down a lot from his younger days. That's what kept him out last night for a majority of the game in fact -- there was no one on the Bobcats he would've been able to matchup with. Tell me I wasn't the only one who shit his pants when it looked like Shumpert (leg cramp) & Douglas (shoulder) both went outta the game at the same time with ailments -- I thought that was the game right there for a sec. Luckily, TD made it back in there to provide defense at the end. You see my point though - backcourt depth is a serious problem right now.

The Knicks, w/o making a trade, can still make some subtle changes to upgrade this roster right now for the better. Minor changes that could go a long way. Here's what I'd be looking to do right now if I we're Grunwald:

(1) Cut Lin and replace him with one of the following -- SOMEBODY BETTER!:
- Willie Warren
- Patrick Mills (provided he's healthy and has no further obligation in China)
- Ben Hansbrough
- Curtis Jerrells
- Curtis Stinson (provided he's healthy)
- Demetri McCamey
- Sherron Collins
- Hell, I'd even be up for giving Blake Ahearn a look -- dude's been ripping apart the DL this yr, going for over 25/game...He can really shoot the ball and he's also going for over 6 assists a night, which tells me he's got at least some idea how to facilitate and deliver the ball to people out there. We had this guy in summer league a few yrs ago -- he kinda reminds me of Steve Blake a little bit. How's Blake look for the Lakers since they got him? Solid enough, right? Ahearn might be able to do the same type of thing here for us. Bring the ball up, set up guys and then knock down open looks. This is what TD's supposed to be doing only he struggles mightly with the facilitating part of it and the offense stalls on his watch often.

(2) Deal off or cut Walker and look for an upgrade. SOMEBODY BETTER! My three top choices of several possibilities:
- Manny Harris (provided he's healthy)
- Sylven Landesberg (Israel)
- Jamelle Horne (Poland)

• We can't run the rookie Shumpert into the ground here, esp. when he may not be 100% physically right now and might not be able to handle heavy mins just yet. He needs help. He needs one or two more guards that play closer to his speed -- guys he can get out there and run with and guys that can take over for him while he sits..We also need least one more guard that can pass the ball & penetrate as well as Shump can too. Davis could be an answer eventually but we need the help NOW!!
• And I'm not dealing TD or Fields while their stock is at an all-time low, not unless there's a deal out there that makes sense for us. I'm willing to build them back up and continue to let them work through their problems. But when they're not bringin' it, I want other options to go to in a moment's notice, upgrades over Lin & Walker. We need this DESPERATELY!!!!

(3) Less important by comparsion to 1 & 2 but while they're at it, I'd like for them to look for one more big man that can contribute. I actually like Jorts, I think he's a player, but I want one more big that can score and rebound. I'd look to deal Jerome Jordan off for a 2nd rounder and bring in Marcus Cousin to replace him. Fact: Marcus Cousin's a better, more NBA-ready center prospect than Jerome Jordan.

(4) Again, less important, but I wanna see Mike play Balkman more. His energy could've helped last night, esp. when guys got dog-tired in the 2nd half expending so much energy defensively. I'd like to see stretches where Shumpert and Balkman are both on the court together. I wanna see how that would look..As crazy as this sounds, until we can come up with something better (or until Fields turns it around), I wouldn't mind seeing Mike give Balkman some minutes at the 2. I understand he's not a SG but F it -- couldn't possibly be any worse that what we've been getting outta that position lately.

Make these couple of changes to reshape the bench a little and improve roster depth. I betcha we'd see a huge difference.

Shumpert Playing Like a Veteran

Shumpert's playing really well. He's playing with such maturity and I think fans are just so thankful for this pickup in the off-season. But, maybe we could trade Fields to pick up a little something more solid for the backcourt. We do have Baron Davis but who knows what will happen with him.

Knicks Get Revenge In Garden http://www.thewindyapple.com

When Fields shot that airball last night, I was officially done with him for the time being. How you gonna shoot an airball from MID RANGE? I don't know what's wrong with him but maybe a demotion (when Baron is activated) will bring his game back.

Would keep Walker around since he's solid on most nights and is one of our best long range shooters. The real issue with Walker is Antoni doesn't know how to use him. A guy like Walker you allow him to cut to the basket for strong finishes. Make no mistake, Walker will posterize defenses if given the chance.

nyk_nyk said:

When Fields shot that airball last night, I was officially done with him for the time being. How you gonna shoot an airball from MID RANGE? I don't know what's wrong with him but maybe a demotion (when Baron is activated) will bring his game back.

Would keep Walker around since he's solid on most nights and is one of our best long range shooters. The real issue with Walker is Antoni doesn't know how to use him. A guy like Walker you allow him to cut to the basket for strong finishes. Make no mistake, Walker will posterize defenses if given the chance.

Click to expand...

I feel the same way as you... I'm done with Fields for the time being. I always loved Fields but now his lack of confidence is killing him and hurting our offense. Opposing teams are leaving him open and he JUST WON'T SHOOT. He needs his confidence back. Someone needs to buy him a hooker or something or maybe Stat can let him dunk on him a few times to help him get it back.

Trading him isn't an option unless we want to give him away for free. Hopefully it's just a Sophmore slump and he wakes up. Heck at least he's still rebounding... That's more than we can say for some of our Knicks.

So let's cut our third string PG and sign a bunch of other unproven third string PG/SGs that will not play either? And who you somehow think are much better players, yet a bunch of those guys were drafted and cut by other NBA teams. I guess those teams just didn't see how talented they were....

NYKnicks11 said:

So let's cut our third string PG and sign a bunch of other unproven third string PG/SGs that will not play either? And who you somehow think are much better players, yet a bunch of those guys were drafted and cut by other NBA teams. I guess those teams just didn't see how talented they were....

Click to expand...

How do you know any of these names I threw out wouldn't play here either? You don't..How do you know Jeremy Lin's not showing a thing in practice and therefore that's why he's not seeing any meaningful time right now, all while we clearly could use another ballhandler/distributor. You don't...I don't either but I can speculate...And I can also give an educated guess on these young players, all guys I've seen play mind you, and how they'd play and fit in this system with our current personnel. Remember when the Knicks took a chance on two unknowns in Starks and Mason? How'd that work out for us?

I don't see why people aren't getting this and getting all worked up over what I'm trying to say --- Jeremy Lin will, in all likelihood, never see a shred of meaningful game time. And Billy Walker to me is trash and 100% replaceable. You want an honest assessment of Walker -- might be the best athlete on the team but can't do a damn thing with it. ZERO basketball IQ. Terrible shot selection. Not nearly aggressive enough (with that athleticism, he should be living at the FT line yet he never goes there). Takes the easy way out and settles for way too many 3s. Lazy defender.

The bottom line is this: I'm recommending replacing Lin and Walker because they're replaceable and are both bringing barely anything to the table. If we replaced Lin (the easiest guy to cut on the roster -- we acquired him for nothing not too long ago and therefore won't be losing anything--he's obviously not good enough to play and help us---and don't tell me he hasn't learned the system yet--this is an Ivy League educated young man and we don't have that complicated a system---you watch by comparison with Baron Davis--when he's ready to go, he'll be inserted in there from day 1) and Walker with viable options for the times when TD and/or Fields aren't bringing it, it'll help the cause here. To me you do something like this first before making a trade, esp. with a proven player like BD waiting in the wings....AND you do this first because it's much easier than making a trade at this point. It'll only take a couple of phone calls to have any of these guys in uniform within a couple of days...A trade for better options could take weeks and then we'll have to worry about some team trying to fleece us in the process..No thanks.. The idea is to bridge the gap to Baron Davis asap w/o losing too many games because 2 key guys aren't playing well and we have no solid depth behind them. I'd like to see if we can beef up the depth here and give D'Antoni some more options to work with by going the no risk/high reward route. Makes sense to me...Makes a hell of of lot more sense than to come on this board and say shit like "let's deal Fields for something better," knowing full well he has no value right now (not happening btw -- it'll take Fields ++++ to get something decent done and even then there are no guarantees) or my personal favorite comment "we have two solid vets in Davis and Bibby. We'll be okay, we won't go far but we'll be okay" which to me is a terribly passive, complacent mentality to have. That last one is completely rediculious in fact -- taken right from another veteran poster on this board. WTF kind of attitude is that? I thought we're trying to win a chip here?????? Hopefully management doesn't have that same mentality.

finestrg said:

I don't see Amar'e/Melo chemistry as a main problem....

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All that writing....
:2cents:
Real Talk....
What part of $20M per dont u understand? the nonleadership, or the forcing
shots when double or triple teamed? or the 20+ shots per game, or getting
touches everytime on offense, or maybe its the 35+ minutes of playingtime
of faking-it on defense?
My Bad....Stat & Melo could do no wrong?

Stat & Melo are BUMS on the defensive-end of the court!
That's right I said it........Plus when u add....
Dantoni hasn't written one design offensive play in the past 4 seasons.

Our young guards need a system! Tyson plays great when in a system, for
Stat & Melo to co-exist they need a system that defines their best talents.
We are a team without any chemistry or a system to call plays on a whim on
offense or defense.

What do u know about Melo & Stat? other then being high scorers.

On the Nuggets Melo didnt have to play defense having defensive teammates
Nene, K.Mart, Birdman, Carter, and Billups to take Melo to the WCF.

On the Suns Stat didnt have to play defense having defensive teammates
Lopez, Frye, Admundson, Grant Hill, and Dradgic to take Stat to the WCF.

Stat did well on the Knicks his first season by having defensive teammates
Turiaf, W.Chandler, Gallo, Fields, TD, and Felton co-existing well on the
defensive-end of the court.
:gony: I hate when peeps act like they dont know what happen after the Melo-trade.....
We had two SuperStar Fowards playing NO-DEFENSE for 35 minutes per game....
equals swept in the first round.

Ba Caramba!!!!!!!! Yeah, "all that writing" and you didn't bother to read past the first sentence...LOL. I swear I think I'm the only one who enjoys sitting down for a few mins and reading and trying to understand what people have to say and where they're coming from..

Here's the REAL 'real talk':

True, Amar'e & Melo's defense is probably only average, but how can you come away from watching the other night and think that defense was why we almost lost that game in the end? I dunno man, maybe you didn't watch the game..We played great defense collectively for 85-90% of that game. Guys' pride was put to the test and they responded. Defense was not the problem the other night. We continued to get nothing from TD & Fields, guys got dog-tired playing their tails off and we had subpar depth to fall back on...That's it...OVERALL, w/o Amar'e & Melo this team isn't shit -- 2 all-stars in their prime that we're gonna live and die with. OVERALL, pluses FAR & AWAY outweigh any minuses with these two...Without them this team's like an airplane that just sits on the runway and never takes off. Amar'e and Melo are carrying this team, now with help from Shumpert & Tyson Chandler. Period. Without Melo & STAT we're a lottery team..

The real reason we almost lost the other night was because TD & Fields are stinking up the joint and D'Antoni has no one else behind them to bring in and pick up the slack. Terrible backcourt depth right now. TD & Fields have been terrible; Lin doesn't play and probably never will; Walker to me is God-awful and Bibby, despite shooting the ball better the two prior games, couldn't find his way back into that Charlotte game because of matchup problems -- Mike was afraid to use him late in that game against DJ & Kemba because they would've run rings around him. For better or worse, I feel like the whole backcourt hinges on this kid Shumpert -- that's a lot of pressure to put on this young man right now...He's obviously up for the challenge--I think he's great, but is his body up for such heavy mins. this early in the season? I don't know -- maybe, but there are signs that we've seen that scream 'probably not.' Without Shump, we're in a world of hurt.. He's gonna need some help; STAT and Melo too, and before we do anything else, I want my team to look at guys that are available -- solid talent that we could bring in in 24 hrs. w/o giving up a thing. To me we need to start there.

And If you're referring to me, I know EXACTLY what happened after the Melo trade...We came away with the best player in that deal BY FAR!!! It's a trade you make 100 out of 100 times without any hesitation. We're a better team today with Melo than we were last yr w/o him. Case closed..If you can't see that, then I don't know what to tell you..Last yr's team never wins a thing -- this yr's team has a chance provided we continue tweaking the roster the right way.

We did the hard part already -- we poured the foundation and brought in two terrific cornerstones with Amar'e & Melo. Then we we able to add a very good defensive center in Chandler and we drafted two useful rookies in Shumpert and Jorts...We're on our way.. Still need more though...There are guys out there, we just need to know where to look. How'd Utah look when they picked up Wes Matthews Jr. a couple of yrs ago outta nowhere? Like geniuses if you ask me. That dude can play and I knew he could play. I saw him many times in college at Marquette..I was even calling for the Knicks to pick him up back in 8/09 when nobody knew who he was.....Earned himself a big contract (earned every penny imo) and he continues to play big, now in Portland...Well there are plenty more good talents out there capable of playing in the NBA (and helping our team) just like Matthews that are just waiting for a phone call.

Hi, Willie Warren's agent? Glen Grunwald..We like your client's skill-set and talent level and are willing to offer him an NBA contract for the rest of the yr. What's that? You accept? Great. You sure you don't wanna talk to your client first? What's that? Playing in NY with Amar'e & Carmelo Anthony sells itself and it'd be a no-brainer for him? I know what you mean..OK, very good, have you boy at the airport in an hour.

Hi, Manny Harris' agent? Glen Grunwald, how do you do? How's your boy's foot doing? Better, huh? Nice..Good to hear...Glad to see he's back playing in the D-League. We liked him at Michigan and liked how he looked last year in the bigs for the Cavs. We're willing to offer your client an NBA contract for the rest of the yr. You accept? Great. Have your boy at the airport in an hour.

Hi, Marcus Cousin's agent? Glen Grunwald...

I can't picture it being that much more complicated than this...Maybe with the guys playing in Europe where small buyouts may be involved but come on, even that couldn't possibly be too difficult...Now compare this to calling up David Kahn about Luke Ridnour, Bryan Colangelo about Jose Calderon, Dan Gilbert about Ramon Sessions...Those guys are gonna ask for the moon...Each team is gonna want Shumpert, Jorts, Fields, TD and this guy, and that guy and draft picks (do we even have any left?) and that's even if they're willing to deal these guys..Just because we call up and inquire doesn't mean they're available...Then we'd have to worry about balancing salaries in any trade, maybe even taking back players/salaries that we don't want...Why bother going through any of that? I'd like to see them go the Wes Matthews route first. It's better than sitting on our hands and doing nothing, that's for sure.

TLDR

D'Antoni has to go...this is no longer an uptempo team...

I think it might be better if Stat + Melo don't play with each other as much as possible. You could give 2 looks to teams in a game that way. Oh yah...Mike bibby is a bum now too. I'm sure it's been said, but he hasn't been good in years.

clumsy said:

TLDR

D'Antoni has to go...this is no longer an uptempo team...

I think it might be better if Stat + Melo don't play with each other as much as possible. You could give 2 looks to teams in a game that way. Oh yah...Mike bibby is a bum now too. I'm sure it's been said, but he hasn't been good in years.

Click to expand...

"TLDR" -- well that's your problem because the answers are all right there. Your loss buddy.

"This is no longer an uptempo team" -- still very well could be. You need capable guards to play uptempo, first and foremost. STAT can still play uptempo. So could Melo. It'd be nice to have a legit PG out there than can get out there and run and get guys the ball. These two have the burden of playing too much one-on-one because they have no one to get them easy scores on a consistent basis outside of Shumpert. Chandler too, who should be on the receiving end of about 10-15 alley-oop dunks a game, not 3-5. Shumpert can definitely play uptempo..I actually think Fields could as well...We need better guards in the backcourt to go along with Shumpert -- more guys with his type of skills..That's the bottom line.

Amar'e and Melo can play together. That's just propaganda from last year. Doesn't apply anymore. N/A...These guy's are looking for each other and playing well together when they're on the court at the same time. Far from the real problem..

Stat should play uptempo. Melo likes to take his time. It would be interesting if you played them at different times.

clumsy said:

Stat should play uptempo. Melo likes to take his time. It would be interesting if you played them at different times.

Click to expand...

Agreed and it does happen almost every game. There are plenty of times where Amar'e's out there while Melo sits and vice versa.. It's a nice luxury to have, having the ability to play one star player while another one rests. No argument there. Most teams don't have that..Amar'e & Melo aren't the problem. Still think Melo can play uptempo with the right guards alongside him pushing the pace. Trust me, he'd probably welcome it. Any player would -- that's why players love D'Antoni and want to play for him. He can't play anything remotely close to SSOL because he doesn't have those types of guards except for Iman Shumpert who, let's be honest, is only a rookie and still developing/emerging.

Let's talk about the guard play, man...That's the problem...Shump's a good player -- every other guard on this team is suspect right now to say the least. On the flip side, most teams don't have this issue either..As good as our frontcourt is, we might have the thinest guard rotation in the league right now pound for pound..Paper thin and not very talented, again except for Shumpert. To me it's a MAJOR problem. Note to Grunwald: I'm beggin' ya man, TWEAK IT!! There's good guard talent out there ready for pick up. Go get 'em!!