somehow I cannot post a big thread. so I made some research and saw why Knicks lost 3 games after Amar'e and 'Melo came back in, with Baron Davis and JR Smith added in, and Shumpert/Walker out for injuries.
if someone'd post a big thread for me and let guys discuss, that'd be great.
Why is Knicks slowing down? L to Hornets, Nets, Heat
After the rotation is adding: Baron Davis, Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, Stoudemire.
Injuring: Iman Shumpert, Billy Walker
1. Lin?s game intensity, minutes, wear, defense
a. Lin got 11 games from nowhere, running 30+ minutes. It?s getting intense for him to drive the ball with Focused defenders. He has all the attentions, in court, in team, and in media, while all the PGs want to burn him for their benefits.
b. In additions He is not great in defense. He does do good in steals and drawing Offensive fouls, but usually he gets dizzy after his guy moves several screens and/or circles around the whole court. He let goes many open 3s. of course, better than open 2s, and 3s have lower probabilities to get in??
2. Shumpert?s Defensive ability
a. He can save Lin?s butt when Lin is on court with fully-loaded PG, for example, Calderon and the last minute dunk before Lin?s 2+1 game-tying bucket
b. Not Great, but solid, good skills with shooting J and invading to the paint. i.e. when he was vs. Kobe Bryant
3. Low post ?melo and Jeremy Lin?s turnovers
a. When Melo sleeps around the side 3-pt lines, Lin has no roads to crush into, because melo?s defenders would be 1 step away from melo, or half a step away from the paint to help blocking penetration. When Melo is waiting for 1v1, Lin has to give that to Melo, because he cannot start an offense when the paint is crowded.
4. Stat = Richard Hamilton?
a. Drafted profile: 245lb. Now: 260lb. Richard Hamilton: 193lb. Reggie Miller: 200lbs. Chase Budinger, who also likes the Hamilton style catch-n-shoot: 215lbs. You think that 260lb body really works that well with catch-n-shoot? Even Dirk Nowitzki is only 245lbs, like when Stats was drafted. His large body isn?t disadvantageous, but it depends on what position is he acting??C-positioned guys, such as Erick Dampier and Andrew Bogut are both in the 260lbs range. So shouldn?t stats change his mind of doing something that is more about the interior offense?
b. Stats is supposed to play like he has Felton last year?.. He has Lin to feed him the ball now, and do those dunks, layups that he is good at, maybe some perimeter J, but those Hamilton moves weren?t great as I said. So were his 3 attempts. He came into the league as a fast version of C and a heavier PF. Do the things he does the best: Make a EXCELLENT screen, cut down and put-it-in. His screens are not sloppy? the PG defender literally follows the PG. screen didn?t help enough to cause defense to have tensions.
5. Star power vs. drawing-foul power
a. Anthony goes for shots with star power. His physical prowess, the ridiculousness of him, being able to get shots under pressure, and when other do layups on easy ones, he can probably get an easy dunk. It does mean that? He?s good. It doesn?t mean his shot selections are excellent, though, just because he makes shots. Most the time, he would be surrounded by a defender or defenders. The good thing about star-power, is that sometimes you get double teamed. That?s when the ball movement helps to find the open man, and the shots should be made w/o much defense. He wasn?t really double teamed by anybody, though he probably gets teams? best swingman defender?.
b. Lin goes with drawing-foul power. I?m sure lots of you can remember when he throws himself into the painted area, and lots of those shots were in the top plays for the day, for Jeremy Lin?s top 10 plays, etc. While he gets those shots, he gets fouled for around 3-5 times, and get 2+1s, and some pairs of FT. While his stardom doesn?t include much physical advantage (not saying he doesn?t have physical strength), his foul-making nature helps him to score on the FT line
6. Davis not fully recovered
a. His penetrations are not excellent yet, still stumbling. His alley-oops with JR Smith really are impressive, but aside from those? Not much production. His 212lbs body looks stronger than Lin?s 200lbs, and he should have a better physical strength for him to enter the paint and shoot/pass while inside.
7. JR?s cool singles
a. You cannot blame JR for the game with Mavs, for making ridiculous 3s, and the decisive two pts that was assisted by Lin. His physical is great. JR out of bench to Lin, is almost like Jason Richardson to Nash in Phoenix Suns. His 6-6 height and 220lbs doesn?t slow him down at all. he is a fast baller, excellent shooter. However, almost everybody knows that he is double-edged. He sometimes goes solo, maybe creates a play with the teammate-in-paint, or makes a shot himself. He actually seems to pass with better situations than Melo. But? still, it somewhat interferes with the movement of ball and players to create space & shoot more effectively.
How did Knicks win the games, since the emergence of Lin?
1. Leadership/scorer role
a. I don?t care what people say, but when any team wins an NBA game, the lead scorer usually gets the appraisal. Those shots are not easy, and many can go into the top 10 plays for the day, because it was not like Yao Ming?s over-head easy dunks. And I haven?t mentioned his 8+ average in assists.
2. Novak
a. Have you seen Novak really making many shots WITH defenders? I mean, ok, with Minnesota that time, he had to do that for the game-tying three. The fact that Novak is getting more points, means he is taking more shots. while the other 4 teammates create situations suitable for Novak to hit the 44% trigger, It just means that Novak now gets lots of more open spaces (including the 3s he did not make, but still the same mechanisms, isn?t it?). While Novak gets 12pts out of 2/23/12 game with Heat, Lin wasn?t gaining many assists. Why? Because Novak didn?t seem to get assists from Lin, the buddy that assisted him so much, with 19pts avg in Utah & Net?s games.
3. Cuts with Chandler
a. You got Amar?e and Chandler, cool. Surprising enough, they don?t sound like Yao, Gasol, or the leading 4/5 positions, who are excellent in working the defense while facing behind the arc. They?re so-so. Or just once for a long time. So the cuts with Stats/Chandler are very important. Well, to cut, you ought to have the paint looking not crowded, right?
4. JR?s penetration
a. His penetration is much faster than Melo. He usually attracts double-team, and he kicks out very quickly when that happens.
5. Better shot selection
a. Good example: Plays against LA Lakers, high ball movement/location rotation
b. Bad example: Plays against Miami Heat/stats & anthony do Jumpers, few open opportunities for easy buckets.
6. Rotation with NO STARS, but specialists
a. AKA: Bill Walker, Jefferies, Fields, Novak, Chandler, Shumpert
b. Shots have 3 types: Wise shots, Spur-of-Moment do-it-myself shots, and Before-the-buzzer shots.
c. Because these guys all lack star powers, they tend to shoot much less with the spur of moment. Before the buzzer is typically not often, so most of the shots they took, are wise shots. Wise shots from low PER players, can indeed have similar or better overall effects to a team with starpowers?.