Official 2017 Knicks Offseason thread, Phil Jackson gone

[ihust1e]

 

I thought he turned the corner and learned if his shot was off he can still contribute to a win like he did against Portland, boy was I wrong.

Melo  only passes ou the pinch post if he thinks he has a sure fire assist... if there is any doubt in his team mate at that moment, he straight chucking it.. 

melo gotta learn to live with letting teammates flourish regardless of his avg... his speed and mechanics are off as well..

even on the night he drop 30 something, it wasnt that fluid. melo needs to re tool his game like lebron , not saying to play like lebron but play within your skill set and defer to your team mates..

seems like melo forgot he was once the most feared offensive player for a few years.. he's turning into joe johnson 2.0 

 Dont say that brudda

 

[sharpshooter718]

 

 Dont say that brudda

its true from what i been seeing, you see it too, dont front

 

[kingfoamnyc]

Dude averages 2 assist a game with all this offensive talent he's playing with. Unreal

 

[everysingletime]

Melo seems to be capable of going hard to the rack and getting fouled. Not sure why he doesn't do that more if his shot isn't falling.

 

[Sonny Corinthos]

Melo seems to be capable of going hard to the rack and getting fouled. Not sure why he doesn't do that more if his shot isn't falling.

He's too fat to blow by people

 

[everysingletime]

am i the only one bewildered as to why willy was taken out after getting that steal and layup?

hopefully this was hornacek like - "prove yourself, and if we dont win youre not playing down the stretch again" type of message to noah.

either that or he thought billy was too soft.

melo and willy got that ESP on the PnR. lets use that.

Apparently Hornacek wanted to finish the game with more size. That's all.

 

[the 718 truth]

 

 

[the 718 truth]

I feel bad for Noah. We all know how intense he is and the fire he brings to the game is much appreciated, but his body just can't do it anymore.

 

[everysingletime]

I'm not giving Noah the luxury of that excuse.

His knees don't prevent him from fumbling passes, tapping the ball instead of trying to grab it on rebounds, and passing the ball when he's wide open cuz he has no confidence in his jump shot.

Its his confidence that's shot. Not his body.

 

[the 718 truth]

I agree but I think it's a combination of both. He's not getting up like he used to. Even running the floor he looks different. Either way he's definitely hurting us when he's out there for extended minutes

 

[njavier03]

tbh, i'll take ANYONE on the timbs roster for noah

 

[squatchnt]

With a shot like Noah has I'm surprised anyone expects him to shoot. WTF did he get that shot from? Never watched him much in Chicago but that shot is horrible. Usually when a player has effed up mechanics, the shot is somewhat accurate (I.e. Marion or Kevin Martin) but Noahs is pretty bad. I always thought of him as a defensive player, but he's not that anymore. Will anyone really take that contract off our hands though?

 

[everysingletime]

From 2009-2013 his jump shot wasn't great but he had enough confidence in his jump shot to pull the trigger when he's open. He was consistent enough that he wasn't getting blatantly disrespected and it helped keep passing lanes open which he could hit from the high post.

Noah still insists on moving around in the high post now but because of his lack of confidence in his scoring, the offense just stalls when he has the ball in the high post. He literally gets wide open, he panics, gives it off to someone else, sets the screen and the offense resets. It's either that or he'll be looking for someone to thread the needle to but he'll find there's no one to pass it to. Passing lanes only open up if you're somewhat of a threat to score.

Literally all he does on offense is move around in the high post looking to set picks or he will hold the ball until someone comes to him. I'm super annoyed when he sets picks these days because all that does is crowd the ball handler. Setting picks only helps if you're a threat to pop or roll, and he is a threat to do neither.

 

[GaBeGRaMz]

Melo seems to be capable of going hard to the rack and getting fouled. Not sure why he doesn't do that more if his shot isn't falling.

He's scared of not getting a call and getting his shnip punched cause he has no lift.

I thought he turned the corner and learned if his shot was off he can still contribute to a win like he did against Portland, boy was I wrong.

It's a damn shame bro, I don't understand this guys thought process. He HAS to be aware that he can't do what he used to every night. He just keeps trying to fight it out hoping he's gonna regain his elite scoring abilities. Super stressful to watch.

Even worse when you know he can do other things to help us win like you said. He a more then capable passer. Above average IMO. He can D up when he wants to. He can communicate on the floor very well when his shot is falling and he's knocking himself in the head, but if he's off forget it... And he's a great rebounder. He should focus on trying to get 10 rebounds a game rather than the 30 points he chases.

He should be just shooting spot up jump shots at this point. The iso is not commanding a double team AT ALL. And that's the problem for Melo. He sees one and one and thinks it's a win for him, when in reality he needs to just give it up and move around without the ball, find open spots and shoot. The iSo should only be called if he has hit like 3 spot ups shots in a row. Real talk. He's a great spot up shooter. I feel like he makes the shot at a higher percentage coming off a pass then off the dribble. Anybody got stats to back this up?

We had the game in our hands yesterday man! Too many wasted possessions on Melo going one on one and everyone watching.

I love the stats about Melo and Porzingis being on the floor together and KP shooting a much higher percentage, but im pretty sure that a very small percentage is cause Melo assisted on the play. It's more about the spacing and attention Melo commands more then him setting KP up or anything like that. To me, you can sort of see that KP kind of already knows that if Melo has the ball it's going up. I've seen so many instances this season where KP has been wide open on the cut and Melo ignores it cause he's in a personal battle with his defender.

 

[8pm at msg]

My Observations:

Melo needs to be off ball and at the 4 to really get the most out of him. If he does have the ball it won't hurt for him to just consider his options outside of shooting. He should be catch and shooting for his points. People assumed he'd settle into the Paul Pierce role, the problem is Pierce has one thing Melo doesn't and that's extreme level of patience.

Noah is washed. Plays hard but can only do so much. He couldn't keep up with OKC's big men on the glass and offers nothing offensively. Most of his playmaking comes at the cost of spacing. He's a big Rondo.

KP scored well, blocked well, stole well, and hit his teammates when necessary. However he isn't rebounding and I'm not sure if it's because he's playing so far from the rim or if it's effort. Either way he needs to step it up on the glass. I could live with 8 a game from him, but this 5 and so on gotta stop.

Rose isn't the man to run the offense. It just isn't there. Jennings isn't good enough to start though IMO, he's not a threat to score because he's too inconsistent.

Willy is a good player. I think if he slimmed down some he'd be even better, but he's already pretty light on his feet for a man his size.

 

[the 718 truth]

Melo isn't the only reason we lost btw.

 

[GaBeGRaMz]

Rose did his thing yesterday. Can't really complain about how he played at all. Russ got a trip-dub but it was ugly. Roses defense on opposing "star" PGs this season has been great. Night and day to what we had the last 5 years, when PGs came and got their career highs every night.

Noah really is a big issue tho. If the Timberwolves rumors have ANY legs I'd be THRILLED. I would probably be happy with anyone just to free up the log jam for O'Quinn (wasn't a fan until I've seen what he's done this year ) and Willy.

 

[flyeed]

Melo taking on personal battles with scrubs is always painful to watch. It's sad that a HOFer feels the need to put himself down to a role player's level. I never see Lebron putting a personal battle with a scrub over getting a win.

 

[GaBeGRaMz]

Melo isn't the only reason we lost btw.

There's never gonna be ONE exact reason. But the effect HIS negative takes on the team is the biggest. It's the worst thing to be on offense and see the ball go to someone and know it's gonna go up.

Just think about pick up ball, when you end up with a chucker. How does the game go for your team? Most likely nobody will give an effort on d and the other team has an easy job defending so it's a blow out.

Roberson killed us with big shots. Why? Cause he had the energy to play on the offensive end. You think he wasn't happy Melo was letting him off the hook by taking jump shots all game?

 

[nick.]

I don't have the numbers in front of me but if I had to guess, Melo is shooting around 55% in catch & shoot situations. That's where he's at his best.

He still has enough quickness to drive by PF's but struggles going against someone like Andre Roberson last night. Roberson stayed with him step for step & was pretty physical.

Also, his ability to finish around the rim fell off a cliff. :x

 

[100027]

That game last night is a good reminder that Russ' great stats are a little deceptive this year—he's pressing hard for those points.

Melo's had a couple of bad games but overall his commitment to taking a step back has been valuable, hopefully he sticks with that and doesn't demand too much ball dominance down the stretch.

Porzingis scoring has been consistently excellent and efficient, he is blowing away expectations in year 2.  As far as the rebounding, I do think it's a function of him being asked to take a bigger role in the offense (fatigue/energy focus and also spacing).  Plus we all know he should be playing center.  The ability is still there and it's going to come back.

As a non-fan who watches the Knicks closely, I think there are a lot of reasons to be positive about this team.  They're going through some growing pains and Noah is absolutely terrible, but the chemistry is the best it's been in years.  I think about Dallas and the way that Michael Finley slowly stepped back for Dirk to step up and I see a lot of parallels between that and what's going on with Melo/KP.  Surprised and impressed Melo has been as supportive as he has in KP's development.

 

[the 718 truth]

I'm not subscribing to the Melo killed us narrative. Our interior defense was trash and we got washed on the boards. Westbrook out rebounded our bigs by himself. Melo played poorly and his shot selection was bad but he can't be the scapegoat all the time. Defense was sus and Kanter was looking like a young Shaquille out there.

 

[the 718 truth]

That game last night is a good reminder that Russ' great stats are a little deceptive this year—he's pressing hard for those points.

Melo's had a couple of bad games but overall his commitment to taking a step back has been valuable, hopefully he sticks with that and doesn't demand too much ball dominance down the stretch.

Porzingis scoring has been consistently excellent and efficient, he is blowing away expectations in year 2.  As far as the rebounding, I do think it's a function of him being asked to take a bigger role in the offense (fatigue/energy focus and also spacing).  Plus we all know he should be playing center.  The ability is still there and it's going to come back.

As a non-fan who watches the Knicks closely, I think there are a lot of reasons to be positive about this team.  They're going through some growing pains and Noah is absolutely terrible, but the chemistry is the best it's been in years.  I think about Dallas and the way that Michael Finley slowly stepped back for Dirk to step up and I see a lot of parallels between that and what's going on with Melo/KP.  Surprised and impressed Melo has been as supportive as he has in KP's development.

We might need you to come around more for positive reinforcement. The sky has a bad habit of falling anytime we lose.

 

[Arthur Shelby]

 

[everysingletime]

When Westbrook drives, he drives hard whether he's looking to score or pass. That's what opens up passing lanes for him.

Derrick only drives hard when he's looking to score. When he's looking to pass he drops it down a gear. Less likely for something to open up that way.

If Derrick can change that, he'll increase his assist rate.