Well, that makes sense doesn't it? We talk about Felton's best statistical season: a result of an inflated offence. This is speculative, but not unreasonable - if inflated possessions are a result of inflated offensive numbers, Anthony Randolph's defensive numbers should inflate also, as an example. This doesn't correlate in the win column.
Of course one could speculate that Felton was going to have a breakout year under any coach or system but when you look at Nash and the similarities moving to SSOL one can draw a parallel. Add that to a David Lee who had all-star numbers last year and a dramatic drop this year and one can safley conclude that the system has definitely helped Felton elevate from mediocrity to all-star caliber. That elevation of his game is a direct reason we are currently in the 6th seed and one can look at the pattern of his play verse our record for further proof.
AR? I don't see your point and we were not talking about AR. If anything that is pure speculation...we have no idea what sacrificing wins in the beginning in order to put a player "not ready for prime time" on the court in meaningful minutes would have done for our season. Sure, we def need what AR is SUPPOSED to bring but we also needed to rack up as many wins when the schedule was easy. I distinctly remember commentators talking about D'ants shortened rotation prior to that rough stretch designed to pad the win column. Had D'ant not done that one could SPECULATE that we would be several games under .500. Now you could argue that it may have resulted in AR getting minutes and that those minutes would have resulted in him becoming capable of contributing nightly on the defensive end. Further you could argue that those early extra losses would have been outweighed buy a now deeper more defensive roster because of the addition of a now capable AR but again that would all be SPECULATION.
Our lack of size has been our bane all year. Competent offensive size at least. It's been solely about offensive woes and, in The Gov's case, fouling. Randolph's arrested development is about his weak point: offence, while the rest of the league drools over his strong point: defence. Needless to say, the import of one outweighs the other in NY. As I mentioned above.
The only teams that are drooling over his talents are teams rebuilding. They can afford to play him, taking the time to develop him with meaningful minutes because they are rebuilding and not going to the playoffs either way. The Knicks cannot afford to develop AR on court evidenced by our .500 + 1 record. We don't have the luxury of letting AR find his way during a game when it could result in a winnable game becoming a loss.
Don't you think you're selling out our players for the sake of point making? I think you should elaborate on their deficiencies, because all I'm seeing is a lack of defensive cohesion. Especially in the paint. Why can't we reciprocate defensively? What is that due to?
I'm not selling out our players, I am recognizing reality. Amare has never been a good defensive player and certainly cant be effective playing out of position at center because we lacked(may still lack since jury is still out on Moz) a starting center. This ends up putting Chandler at PF when he should be playing SF(possibly as 6th man) and our size issues are further compounded.
Rebounding is crucial to a teams defense since a lack of rebounding will give the opposing team more possessions which equal more chances to score. That has ripple effects through out the game and lineup, tiring out our players on the defensive end. If we can add size for rebounding and a defensive presence it will do wonders on the offensive end and take unneeded pressure off of Amare.
Too often we see Chandler defending a bigger, heavier opponent in the block, that's related to focusing on/sacrificing for offence. Are you saying that is solely the fault of the players? It's a very circumstantial approach to the game.
See, I don't agree. In the beginning of the year Chandler was coming off the bench and Amare was starting at PF. It was only when Moz was pulled form the lineup that we went to a "small ball" lineup.
Let's be real...we have two centers on this team, Moz and Turiaf. (I would argue Turiaf really is a PF) Turiaf has battled knee injuries all year and Moz was simply not ready in spite of his tremendous play in pre-season. This left D'ant with no choice but to play Chandler at the PF. Compound that with the fact we don't have any other viable PF other than AR (see above) and one can see how Chandler has been relegated to that role even when coming off the bench.
There's no necessity for adjusting the structural weakness of our team offensively, as you said the team was built for racking up points and I agree. There's a dire need for restructuring within our coaching defensively. It's an issue amplified by the amount of points we give up in the paint. Mozgov's back in and opponents at spots 1-2-3 score against us in the paint because our rotation and communication defensively are a debacle. Blaming individuals is bogus.
So you are saying that with another coach our size and defensive issues would just go away? How do you make that conclusion? When Larry Brown, a defensive HOF coach was our coach we were giving up almost the same amount of points and our defensive ranking was 27th in the league. Yes, our roster was completely different but this highlights the importance of the roster verse system when it comes to rebounding and defense.
On the arc, Felton and Douglas play the defensive P&R and passing lanes well enough, but our rotation is heinous once there's a breakdown. 53 games in and there's been minimal improvement. Is that the players' fault?
Well, if you don't have a defensive presence down low or you have a player like Amare who is afraid to pick up a foul resulting in an easy shot how can you blame the coach? Add to it, the extra possessions our lack of rebounding creates and additional scoring opportunities as a result and one can see why we struggle on the defensive end.
That is a gross over-statement. You seem to literally have 10% faith in our roster. There's taking sides, and there's being reasonable.
I don't agree. This is not 2k11 and D'ant does not have a wireless controller able to make minute by minute decisions on what each player does. The players hold in my opinion 90% of the culpability. The coach can make an impact with substitutions, play calls, defensive switches and during practice but cannot control what players do on the court from play to play.
A complete roster or a complete D'Antoni/SSOL roster with automatic defence? Phase 1 failed in FA. There's still been a lack of adjustment. A veritable drought!
Phase 1 did not fail. We acquired an MVP caliber talent who is 2nd in the league in scoring. We also acquired Felton on a very reasonable 3 year deal and elevated his game to near all-star level. We did this while retaining our cap flexibility in order to add to this young athletic core.
Lack of adjustment? Wasn't starting Chandler over Moz several games in an adjustment? Wasn't cultivating Williams and giving him minutes after 20+ games an adjustment? Isn't going back to giving Moz meaningful minutes now an adjustment? Of course they are but you expect the rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic to result in the ship not sinking. (even though this ship is poised to make the playoffs)
Nobody could have predicted that Milwaukee and Charlotte would have underachieved so much this year, but you're right. 6th seed is above expectation. The way things are going though, the way we seem to constantly run through the motions, it's under serious threat.
Yes, its under threat but we our OVERACHIEVING while you admit no one expected us to do so. I argue that the overachieving is due to several players having career years and I would argue that our system has a direct role in that. (see Lee and Nash) Again, the high octane offense combined with several players having career years has helped us overcome the structural deficiencies in our roster. (size and defensive players)
This isn't last year or the year before. Our boys are better than the basketball they've played across the last 15 games, a period that included home losses to three teams - the Clippers, Sacramento and Phoenix - that aren't among the Western Conference's top eight.
They are better than that but lets remember that our roster has a $14 million+ hole in it. Compound that with the extra possessions they give up due to a lack of size and the lack of depth because of injury and you can see why we are struggling.
In conclusion, you admit we are overachieving as the 6th seed something that has to be attributed to D'ants system. (see above) No one can argue that several of our players are having career yearsomething that has to be attributed to D'ants system. (see above) Further no one can argue that having Curry's contract taking a roster spot from a potential max player does not effect the win column. I don't see what another coach could do to somehow win more games or makes us good defenders/rebounders with the roster as currently constructed.