Foxsports.com Prediction: NY goes 40-42

Trin_Starr

Starter
All right, after spending much of the past 10 months ripping the Knicks apart, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they flirt with winning 40 games this year. Here's the theory … I have always said if Herb Williams was coaching the team instead of Larry last year, they would have won anywhere from 6-10 more games. Not because Herbie's a great coach, but he wouldn't have lost his players by December, he wouldn't have started 127 different starting lineups and he would have let his guys play and learn how to work together. You don't have to be an innovator to be an effective coach. So, that makes them somewhere around a 30-win team last year under "normal" circumstances.

Now you add Isiah to the mix and no one, especially me, is going to accuse him of being a great coach. But he's going to have several things working in his favor.

# 1. The better the Knicks play this year, the worse Larry looks. Make no mistake - This is going to be a driving force for Isiah.

# 2. The better the Knicks play this year, the better Isiah looks. And he might even get to keep his job.

# 3. The Knicks cannot get worse. They would literally have to start 50 different lineups and bench Stephon Marbury, Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry to come close to last year's apathy.

# 4. Jeffries is going to bring a calming effect to the team and play defense.

# 5. Their starting five of Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Jeffries, Channing Frye and Curry is better, at least on paper, than a lot of teams in the league.

So, taking all those things into consideration, I really think the Knicks have a chance of winning 37-40 games, which would not only be good enough for Isiah to keep his job, but could get them close to the playoffs. Maybe I'm losing my mind in my old age?

http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/story/5894842
 

alrobinson6022

Benchwarmer
hmmmmmmm... very interesting. one thing i don't see is francis coming off of the bench. he'll be a big problem if he's not starting... he already made a comment about that last year.
 

Trin_Starr

Starter
i know right
isiah is going to start Francis so he can increase his trade value and hopefully get back to his 21pts/7asts/6rebs a game production he did in Orl in 05. So by February 07, we can trade him for something good and then give back JC his starting 2 spot.
 

The 1 and Only

Rotation player
But why trade francis if he's putting up those numbers? I say we trade steve only if things don't work out. He's not a poor player in any aspect. He just fits in certain systems. So his trade value won't necessarily drop. But his cred will...
 

datruth

Your Best Bet is B Ez
Trin_Starr said:
i know right
isiah is going to start Francis so he can increase his trade value and hopefully get back to his 21pts/7asts/6rebs a game production he did in Orl in 05. So by February 07, we can trade him for something good and then give back JC his starting 2 spot.

those stats are not coming in dis team
 

Trin_Starr

Starter
I would trade him because
1. he doesn't allow young big men to grow to their full potential and that's why Houston (Yao) and Orlando (Dwight) traded him...Curry and Frye are sure to suffer
2. We already have Marbury and Francis is playing out of position at SG
3. With better stats, we might be able to get a real good SG or PF in return
 

donchris

Next season, keep waiting
Wow something from Foxnews actually worth reading. I agree 100% Actually I've been saying that ever sense Brown was fired. This site is full of so many Thomas haters it's almost like they forget to be real fans. I don't know what Francis' future looks like. We can only speculate. Any how, expect the Knicks to aproach the playoffs.
 

brooklyn_baller

Benchwarmer
If the Knicks get a 40-42 record, I am going to throw a big party. But it would be better for the to get a better record than that because having that record they would be in 7th or 8th place. and if they be in 7th or 8 th place they will have to face Miami or Pistons who may take the 1st or 2nd place in the playoff. I at least want them to make it to the 2nd round of the playoff
 

The 1 and Only

Rotation player
Trin_Starr said:
I would trade him because
1. he doesn't allow young big men to grow to their full potential and that's why Houston (Yao) and Orlando (Dwight) traded him...Curry and Frye are sure to suffer
2. We already have Marbury and Francis is playing out of position at SG
3. With better stats, we might be able to get a real good SG or PF in return

Points number 2 and 3 are excellent points but number 1 is a common misunderstandment of francis's game. They traded francis from houston because A) They were going to get T-Mac B) It was either Francis or Van Gundy that was going to leave and it just so happened to be Francis and C) Van Gundy wanted a 'real' point guard. And in Orlando...he was butting heads with management and was clashing with the new head coach by not playing hard for him all the time. They also wanted to relieve cap so they can make a run for the great free agent market in a couple years. He didn't get traded because he didn't make his post players better. That's too easy of an excuse...By the way... DonChris excellent point....EXCELLENT point....
 

datruth

Your Best Bet is B Ez
The 1 and Only said:
Points number 2 and 3 are excellent points but number 1 is a common misunderstandment of francis's game. They traded francis from houston because A) They were going to get T-Mac B) It was either Francis or Van Gundy that was going to leave and it just so happened to be Francis and C) Van Gundy wanted a 'real' point guard. And in Orlando...he was butting heads with management and was clashing with the new head coach by not playing hard for him all the time. They also wanted to relieve cap so they can make a run for the great free agent market in a couple years. He didn't get traded because he didn't make his post players better. That's too easy of an excuse...By the way... DonChris excellent point....EXCELLENT point....

thats is not the reason francis is not in houston or orlando, francis was butting heads wit both orlando and houston, van gundy did not want em in houston no longer because he did not fit van gundys plan which has always been focusing on the center(same thing in NY) and in orlando was the same situation
 

The 1 and Only

Rotation player
Wrong....if houston wanted to focus on there center Yao then they would not have gotten T-Mac. And in Orlando...Dwight Howard is not ready for that type of role...especially at that time. In my opinion...that's not a reasonable excuse....
 

datruth

Your Best Bet is B Ez
The 1 and Only said:
Wrong....if houston wanted to focus on there center Yao then they would not have gotten T-Mac. And in Orlando...Dwight Howard is not ready for that type of role...especially at that time. In my opinion...that's not a reasonable excuse....

u might not think dwight howard is not ready for that role but orlando does and wat u trying to say about Tmac, Tmac is willing to put the all in the post, steve francis loves to dribble dribble dribble, i remember when they was playing toronto steve francis ran the whole shot clock dribbling to lose the game, that was super funny
 

The 1 and Only

Rotation player
datruth said:
u might not think dwight howard is not ready for that role but orlando does and wat u trying to say about Tmac, Tmac is willing to put the all in the post, steve francis loves to dribble dribble dribble, i remember when they was playing toronto steve francis ran the whole shot clock dribbling to lose the game, that was super funny
Again how do you know that Orlando is ready? How do you know that they traded Steve Francis for cap relief and for the fact that he was clashing with the coach and the organization? Remember he was suspended a couple of games last year in orlando for insubordination. Trading your potential all-star just because he can't throw the ball into the post isn't working for me. That's not an excuse...that's a lie. It's what we all been hearing in the media and it's a lie. You don't trade you're best player because 'he can't throw the ball in the post'. Philly didn't trade AI for shooting too much, Boston didn't trade Paul Pierce for not playing any defense, and Miami didn't trade Zo because of his kidney ailment and his age. Steve Francis was the best player on the rockets at the time...you're going to tell me that they traded him because he couldn't throw the ball into the post??
 

Trin_Starr

Starter
Orlando is ready because as soon as they traded Francis, they went on a 17-4 run for the playoffs with Dwight Howard carrying them
 

datruth

Your Best Bet is B Ez
The 1 and Only said:
Again how do you know that Orlando is ready? How do you know that they traded Steve Francis for cap relief and for the fact that he was clashing with the coach and the organization? Remember he was suspended a couple of games last year in orlando for insubordination. Trading your potential all-star just because he can't throw the ball into the post isn't working for me. That's not an excuse...that's a lie. It's what we all been hearing in the media and it's a lie. You don't trade you're best player because 'he can't throw the ball in the post'. Philly didn't trade AI for shooting too much, Boston didn't trade Paul Pierce for not playing any defense, and Miami didn't trade Zo because of his kidney ailment and his age. Steve Francis was the best player on the rockets at the time...you're going to tell me that they traded him because he couldn't throw the ball into the post??

maybe because orlando said they traded em for em that reason, thast the knock on francis, and like i said b4 van gundy always played the offense in the post
 

The 1 and Only

Rotation player
I'm sorry that's not a justifiable answer...you don't trade your all-star PG just because he can't pass the ball in the post. I'm sticking to my reasons because they seem more realistic and not what the media is telling me...
 

The 1 and Only

Rotation player
Trin_Starr said:
Orlando is ready because as soon as they traded Francis, they went on a 17-4 run for the playoffs with Dwight Howard carrying them
What season were you watching? They went 17-13 after they benched and traded francis. Starting from the new jersey game. So therefore Dwight Howard didn't do too much leading there. Especially since he only led the team in scoring 7 times. And look at his stats...now tell me that's a leader. He had some monster games but a true leader is consistent...and he's far from that. And orlando didn't make the playoffs. You haters lie too much...I can't trust none of ya'll haters now cuz I always find somebody that tells a half truth or a complete lie. I'm callin ya'll out...TELL THE TRUTH! I know the game so there are no lies coming from me...maybe some mistakes but some of ya'll lie constantly...TELL THE TRUTH...if you're wrong you are just wrong...
 

wymm

Rookie
The 1 and Only said:
What season were you watching? They went 17-13 after they benched and traded francis. Starting from the new jersey game. So therefore Dwight Howard didn't do too much leading there. Especially since he only led the team in scoring 7 times. And look at his stats...now tell me that's a leader. He had some monster games but a true leader is consistent...and he's far from that. And orlando didn't make the playoffs. You haters lie too much...I can't trust none of ya'll haters now cuz I always find somebody that tells a half truth or a complete lie. I'm callin ya'll out...TELL THE TRUTH! I know the game so there are no lies coming from me...maybe some mistakes but some of ya'll lie constantly...TELL THE TRUTH...if you're wrong you are just wrong...
I have to agree. I don't think Steve Francis was traded away because he wasn't passing the ball to the post player.

Houston got the best player in the trade of T-Mac for Steve Francis/Cuttino Mobley. If Houston was willing to trade away T-Mac to the Knicks for Francis and another player (as long as its not Channing Frye), the Knicks would be stupid not to make the deal.

Orlando focused towards their future to build their team around Dwight Howard. Trading for Darko Milicic and Trevor Ariza. Giving the PG job to Jameer Nelson. In essence, despite being 28 years old at the time, Francis was in fact too OLD for the Magic and didn't fit in with their plans anymore. Francis wants to win now (he's not getting any younger) and Orlando wasn't looking to do that.

Oh, by the way, I think the Knicks could go 41-41 or better this season. Let's start off the season with a positive attitude. The Knicks are young, talented, and finally united behind a single cause.
 
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