Game Thread: Atlanta Hawks @ NY Knicks Thursday Oct. 29 8PM
- Thread starter tiger0330
- Start date
I'm already reading the same stuff early from the media and fans. On ultimateknicks forum fans are suggesting Melo isn't 100% healthy. Really how long are we going to ride this? Until he scores 30pts on an efficient game? Until our next winning streak? What?
When Afflalo comes back it just means Porzingis and Lopez and whoever else Fisher juggles the lineup with, become that much more of non factors...as these two will surely be on the Patty Cake train.
Melo shooting 4-16 and 10-27 and probably 7-21 his next game, then 11-18 his next , then 9-25 his next, then 8-18, then 12-30, then 10-20 is the norm for him. It's what he's done his entire NBA career.
"Whenever he gets hot"...llooll, it more than likely means we've deviated from what we're running and no one else is getting involved. There has rarely been a case where his streaks have married with valuable contributions from his teammates since he's been here. Melo and Afflalo are self contained players, who statistically for the most part do okay for themselves but ultimately are Zero-Sum for the teams they're on.
Also talking about rust and whatnot, well every team could say they're rusty but the schedule going forward doesn't say it's rusty. You gotta win games at home, you gotta play defense, you gotta play like you're worth $100+mil, you have to coach like you're worth $25mil, you gotta manage like you're worth $60mil.
Last edited:
People are making too much about that one play with Zinger or is it just me.
mafra
Legend
All true. With Melo's jumpshot looking like Peyton Manning's passes, the one hope (that Melo regained his top-10 player in NBA status) looks remote, and that means this team is one good to halfway decent player surrounded by role guys.... Not an elite all star surrounded by role guys.
Our owner-gm-hc triumvirate doesnt inspire much confidence.
and, in a guard driven league we have a washed up, headed towards social security PG, Marty McFly is back from the past (or europe), a rookie and a D-league guy... Headlined by bigfoot... This supposed number two option to Melo, who will nurse a nagging injury and barely sniff the level of play we imagined when we signed him.
hard to win in nba with a number one option like this version of Melo, and these guards.
mafra
Legend
Fisher needs to either start Gallo and Grant over Cal and Sash, or Wiiliams over PORZ.
Terrible coaching if he keeps this starting 5 moving forward. The opponent is simply given a gift by Fisher, making it easy to take away Melo... which is preventing him from getting into a rhythm. Melo needs scoring help... Gallo-Grant combo or D-Will will provide that relief. Only a moron trying to bed women on the opposite coast is oblivious to this reality.
The...
is gonna be the overused NBA Zinger going forward. We're gonna hear every sport analyst(live game action or in studio), every media rep(journalist or blogger) say this ad nauseum. #kporzee is the shiny new toy, so anything and everything he does is going to be blown up times infinity good or bad. It was a pretty decent move, but it almost turned blooper as he didn't have complete control. You know with his size much of what he does even when converting looks clumsy as heck but what I like about him is embracing the challenge to play/compete. He's a project though as I said day 1 with pick.
Last edited:
Because we have a Motley Crue of Gulash roster Fisher is gonna have a tough time finding the best mixes. It's more than apparent Calderon should not be playing right now. #kporzee didn't truly earn a starting spot but you can't have Melo/Afflalo/Williams on the floor chasing shots at the same time. Grant and #kporzee should play as many minutes together as possible, no explanation necessary. Both guys need to develop without having their growth stunted/buffered/interrupted/roadblocked by has beens and never wases. Once again the schedule this month is nothing to play with
You know I complimented him the other day for playing 7 guys 20 minutes apiece but last year I criticized him for doing the exact same thing saying his lack of set rotations kept guys from getting into a rhythm and developing chemistry. I just read an article by Keith Schlosser over at Knicksblog that blamed yesterday's loss on the "farfetched" lineups DFish was putting out there. Let's see what he does with the lineups but he seems to be reluctant to heed the calls to dump Calderon despite him being horrible in the frist 2 games. I can see his point because no one is calling for Melo to be benched over 2 games.
I think we're going to have to cut him a little slack and get into the season for a couple of more weeks to see what the record looks like before you see some definitive action.
Steezo
Benchwarmer
Random thought, but watching Kristaps play, I mean this guy's really tall. Usually guys over 7'0 don't end up being too durable, and certainly aren't usually anything other than fringe all-stars at best. My gut feeling tells me, best case scenario, we'll see flashes of greatness from Porzingis mixed in with lots of injury time. Hope I'm wrong here...
Steezo
Benchwarmer
You think Anthony's past his prime?
mafra
Legend
I wouldn't start both Affalo and Williams together myself... But, Affalo is out right now with an injury. To make up for the loss of Affalo, that's where I would consider stating Williams (if i preferred the Calderon-Sasha backcourt over Gallo-Grant).
Again, i have been saying this for years... It is impossible to win in today's NBa with the guards the Knicks trot out there. Think of when they have been food the last few years... Notice the common denominator... Billups, Kidd, Felton, Duhon, Lin were playing well. You need a dominant guard... Helps to have both a quality pg and sg... But with Melo, we survived when we had one decent option. Lately, we consistently have mediocre Guard play.
ergo, start Grant with Porz and that might help out a bit.
mafra
Legend
Knicks were bad two years ago... They were 7-30 with Melo last year and 10-35 without him. OK, he's been hobbled the last two seasons... I get that it will take time for Melo to get his jumper back. But, I think Melo is on the back end of his prime years. He's never been an efficient scorer, and now that he is older he is avoiding contact to prolong his career... So... He is relying more and more on the three and long jumper...
I think Carmelo's days of carrying a team are over. I think he could win an NbA title if he had a legit go-to star playing alongside him, as the number 1 option. Carmelo need a Kyrie or a Westbrook. Unfortunately, he doesnt have a star, or even a borderline all-star, or even a legit rotation player on a contender currently on the floor with him.
Steezo
Benchwarmer
If 'Melo's shooting more than 2 threes per game, yeah, we're gonna be first-round losers at BEST for quite a while... He had arguably his best years imo when he played with Iverson-- they both could play well off the ball, but 'Melo got AI at the tail end of his prime, plus they lucked out in the competiton they faced when AI was there (Kobe + Duncan).
That was the last time I remember when Anthony wasn't shooting TOO many threes, and he played in the post more. But you're right of course, had Carmelo managed to team up with CP3, or had a 1 like Irving, or hell even had Stoudemire stayed healthy (he could've either been a piece of a trade that could've gotten us someone useful, or been a super 6th man) things would be quite different.
I'm just nervous as to what's ahead for the boys in orange & blue. We're gonna need a superstar here real soon, and I'm not sure how we'll acquire him. Again, we look to be first-round losers at best, and I'm not sure that'll attract marquee free agents. We have no trade assets, and acquiring a superstar through the draft doesn't look promising...
pat
Starter
Sasha is solid. Give him time. You have top play Calderon and hope he will sort things out. They need to trade him. KP needs to get his feet wet. This season is -- no matter what they say -- about winning. This is not about Melo using "his window". He is there to put butts into seats and KP and Grant are there to become something they cannot be as of yet. There will be no success for the Knicks as long as Dolan cannot refrain from being 'hands-on'.
pat
Starter
Draft one and develop him. I think they are trying that at the moment. Let's hope that 7-3 and lanky does not mean injury-prone. If KP turns out to be durable, the Knicks might have found their centre-piece.
You mean like Ewing, Olajuwon or Nowitzki?
pat
Starter
I doubt they would like to play with him on one team. He's a black hole.
Steezo
Benchwarmer
Yeah, don't hold your breath on Porzingis being anything other than a part-time superstar at best. And us getting a franchise player through the draft is slim; if that were to happen, I think it'd take YEARS
Akeem and Dirk are both 6'10, and guys like Big Pat, Admiral, Wilt etc are the rare exceptions.