Well, that was fun and unexpected last night. A few observations:
Front line:
Jason Smith is very serviceable. Good shooter, will bang, solid athlete.
Cole Aldrich is just a better player than Sam Dalembert. He's very fundamentally sound in all areas.
Guards:
I like Shane Larkin in the following areas: shooting, defense, effort, willingness to pass. I don't find him to be that creative, nor do I think his handle is what you typically see out of small PGs.
Hardaway - dog house already. Surprising given how inefficient the other two SGs are.
He's not.
JR Smith played through some significant hip pain tonite. Thirty minutes after the game, he still can't bend over to tie his shoes. #Knicks
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 31, 2014
JR Smith played through some significant hip pain tonite. Thirty minutes after the game, he still can't bend over to tie his shoes. #Knicks
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 31, 2014
All this means to me is more minutes for THJR, which is what I want anyway.
On the six plays #Knicks G Iman Shumpert defended LeBron James' plays, he kept James to 0-2 shooting & 4 turnovers, per @ESPNStatsInfo.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 31, 2014
the old Bulls team would start off their sets with all sorts of triangle stuff (cutting/passing) but when it was late in the shot clock MJ could bail them out by going iso. Melo, and to a lesser extent JR, can certainly do that.
the old Bulls team would start off their sets with all sorts of triangle stuff (cutting/passing) but when it was late in the shot clock MJ could bail them out by going iso. Melo, and to a lesser extent JR, can certainly do that.
Even the way Melo's GW shot came about was a product of the offense. The ball kinda made it's way to him. They didn't just ISO him and get him the ball to go one-on-one.
You can definitely see the groundwork being laid. It's actually a little cool to watch. Lord knows under Woodson it would've been get it to Melo and get out of the way.
He even ran the team several times last night, which can work in the triangle when they actually learn it.
Smith has admitted that the concepts behind the triangle still confuse him.Given that and the hip injury, he had a very nice game. Still good having THjr if he's too sore, but there are going to be challenges all year in finding minutes for all three.
I think it has to be a problem of motivation and focus. I've watched him put of great numbers against great opponents, shitty numbers against bad opponents and the full gamut in between. There seems to be no way to effectively assess his game other than it's inconsistent. But he certainly is capable of playing like a top 10-15 center in this league.
What I love about our front office now is my attitude used to be, well, whatever a players potential we are probably going to be getting the low end of that night in night out. With the Zen master at the helm I am optimistic for the opposite. If anyone can solve a motivation problem, it's Jackson.
Which, btw, is why he sucked so often on last-minute shots last year. He was never playing on fresh legs down the stretch.
Not a fan of Larkin, but he's a backup PG. Can't really complain.
JR Smith is a god. People call him selfish yet he had the most assists last night. (Could be wrong, didn't check the stat sheets at all yet, and I was also very hammered while watching the game.)
Jason Smith is a better version of Bargnani. He's automatic with his jumper and he was doing some solid boxing out in the paint to help get his teammates some boards.
I'm a big DFish believer now. Guy has no regard for what the norm is in coaching. He went roster deep to gut this win out. Puts fucking Travis Wear on LBJ and it was a wild success.
Travis Wear belongs in this league. His game is really good for the triangle. I hope DFish keeps playing him. You can tell Travis Wear is just trying not to make mistakes right now. I'm excited for when he starts getting comfortable on this team and starts actually shooting. He's got a solid shot.
Cole is a monster on the boards and is another great fit. I thought Zen Master was selling Aldrich a bit short when he said he probably won't get much playing time. I think he's better than Dalembert.
Melo was efficient last night.
Not a fan of Larkin, but he's a backup PG. Can't really complain.
It's ok. He'll win you over.
They also have a new coach/philosophy and a lot of new faces. Fish is probably trying to find out what combos work well together.
Was it just me, or was it after every offensive possession the announcers made the triangle seem like a failure/success? It got annoying.
Bottom line, LeBron lost one of the "biggest sporting events ever".
I'm a big DFish believer now. Guy has no regard for what the norm is in coaching. He went roster deep to gut this win out. Puts fucking Travis Wear on LBJ and it was a wild success.
Fisher doesn't give a shit about Lebron, lol.
He is what he is, Keith. That isn't changing.
There are a lot of solid pieces on this team. We're a little short on top tier talent but we do have a lot of guys who can play and belong in this league. I like that Fish is willing to use all of them. Depth and role players are really important as much of a "superstar" league as it is.
Just show me progress and effort and I'm content this year.
I've liked what I have seen so far. He definitely needs to be more aggressive with his own offense, but he's feeling his way. Fisher said after the first game he was telling Larkin he needs to trust his instincts more, and I think we saw some of that last night.
There are a lot of solid pieces on this team. We're a little short on top tier talent but we do have a lot of guys who can play and belong in this league. I like that Fish is willing to use all of them. Depth and role players are really important as much of a "superstar" league as it is.
Just show me progress and effort and I'm content this year.
I am in the same boat. I'd also like to make the playoffs though. I know it might not be what's best for them long term but it would be nice to be playing basketball in May.
My favorite bit from Smith was the little after the whistle dust up that he had with Akron's famous son. Eff you, Lebron.
This just isn't true. He took 3 step backs I believe. 2 of them were uncontested because he faked going to the basket and the defender fell off. He missed the contested one.
He shot 2 "deep" 3s. They were both catch and shoot. One of those being with the shot clock at .7. Missed that one, made the other.
He had 3 FGAs inside the paint, one just outside.
Nearly half of his attempts were drives to the basket. You're just clouding your mind with his couple of JR moments.
Plus, I don't even care about his scoring. He was a big part of the reason why we were able to move the ball. The 7 assists echo that as well.
very confusing to me - ( New Window )
This team will look different a few months from now IMO. Larkin is not part of our long term plans.
They won't suck this year but even if they did, fine, get the draft pick. I have them as a mid to upper 40 win team.
Larkin's probably just a contributor, not a starter in this league so I guess the cap space probably is more valuable than his option.
He really doesn't seem like a PG at all to me. The only thing that really resembles a PG in his game is his height.
Dirty? Maybe. But he's not a soft bitch like Bargnani. He's a better version of Bargnani.
link - ( New Window )
Jeez, that's pretty flagrant. lol.
Toughness was needed though.
Dalembert is supposed to be fine for Sunday.
Link - ( New Window )
Dalembert is supposed to be fine for Sunday. Link - ( New Window )
That's funny and so typical. We all try to find hidden meaning and get embarrassed when the simple explanation turns out to be the right one.
Dalembert is supposed to be fine for Sunday. Link - ( New Window )
I mean, he played Travis Wear ahead of THJr. Not sure how that's "playing it safe".