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Kaman doesn't play defense though, Pau is old, and Jordan Hill is too small to defend against real 5s.
Also yeah perimeter defense is a HUGE issue as well, even when you get Kobe back.
Anthony Davis is killing everyone down low though, so it's not even that bad.
Didn't watch vs LAC but I'd imagine shutting down DeAndre Jordan isn't actually indicative of skill, and your problems with Houston isn't big's offense, as Asik never had an offensive game and dwight will continue to be ineffective as long as he insists on pretending he has a post game.
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@Vindicare: Losing Dwight hurt's a lot. Not only because he's still good at basketball(I know, that's a sore spot for all of us but like DysotopiaX said, there aren't enough replacements to fill in the gaps. Signing Nick Young, Meeks, an old Nash and old Pau isn't going to get you near 40 wins. There just aren't enough good players, and some of them are downright bad. To D'Antoni's credit he isn't giving Young major minutes and will somehow get Jordan Hill playing time. Still not enough. 8th seed is a wet dream and I think the Lakers are going to be one of the bottom teams in the league. It's early but their point differential is stunningly bad. Minny opened up -3 against them on the road and I told people to rush as much money as they can on that line. No way Minny wouldn't blow them out by double digits. Same thing with Knicks and Spurs.
@Dysotopia: Something like they have Nick Young, Kaman, and when they get Kobe back they'll be dropping buckets. Typical points per game type guy that is clueless to anything else on the court. I tried to bet the Knicks fans too and after today it seems obvious that they are going to struggle for 50 wins. Melo is supposedly a star but has been horrible.
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I mean, I have a bit of confidence in D'Antoni that he can shape them into something better than a bottom feeder and make them much better than the sum of their parts. Even then, that's like a .500 team at best (which is definitely pushing it in the West.) But I also think there's a good chance Kobe destroys that chemistry like Carmelo did.
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It's less Melo and more Chandler being out for a quarter of a season. Between Melo and JR they won't have problems getting buckets, even if they don't do so as well as they did last season, it's that they have like no good healthy bigs now and even less defense.
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they are going to struggle to score. Melo's pretty mediocre there and JR is JR. We'll see though.
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I mean, they're not going to score at the same rates they were last year but Melo's always been a great scorer, it's basically the only reason he gets money, and that hasn't changed- as with many things I think he'll improve as the season goes on. And it's not like Chandler was doing amazing things on that side of the ball anyway. I just think that their defense is by far the more pressing of their problems.
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On November 11 2013 17:30 DystopiaX wrote: And it's not like Chandler was doing amazing things on that side of the ball anyway. I disagree. I think healthy Chandler was one of the more underrated players for an offense, even without scoring. The Knicks have basically no one else who can set an effective screen (forget legality, I just mean actually freeing the ballhandler.) He also had good timing and spacing to keep the threat of a lob alive, so that his defender couldn't just collapse on the guard.
He's gotten worse as he's gotten slower/more hobbled, but it's still worlds above what anyone else on that team can do. I think Felton is going to have a rough(er) few weeks on offense because of that.
It's not that hard to do, but it's just a resource they lack. They have loads of scorers, but not many people that'll help execution to get the scorers a good shot.
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I mean I guess, but I'd consider screening and rolling basic big-man skills and was rolling that into their "no big man rotation" category of their woes. I don't mean to imply that he does nothing there, cause being a C and shooting FTs well is a skill in itself, just that he's going to be much more missed on D than on O, especially on a team with Carmelo/JR. Not to mention that they're relying on Bargs and Amare (maybe) for big man minutes, and those are offense first (or only) guys too.
Does anyone else think that they're no longer a lock to make the playoffs? I think a lot of "border" teams like Cleveland and maybe even Orlando might do better than them.
edit- also they should totally waive JR Smith's talentless brother (who they only signed to keep him happy anyway) and find a stable, cheap big man. Someone like Jason Collins or Camby (and pray he can provide some actual minutes).
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If you ask me,and I've said this before,knicks need to either fire their management yet again or just embrace the fact that they constantly throw big money at questionable stars that don't play defense for decades,bring don nelson out of retirement and run TMC that shit. at least you'll have entertaining games.
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On November 11 2013 18:33 TheKefka wrote: If you ask me,and I've said this before,knicks need to either fire their management yet again or just embrace the fact that they constantly throw big money at questionable stars that don't play defense for decades,bring don nelson out of retirement and run TMC that shit. at least you'll have entertaining games. D'Antoni was trying that with Gallo and Amare and co., and then they decided to get Carmelo.
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I've been thinking recently, was the Amare acquisition really a bad thing? Sure he was a little overvalued, sure he hasn't played for the past couple seasons, but he made Knicks basketball relevant again, and you could argue that he was the catalyst for the Knicks bringing Melo and Chandler and co. together.
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I really don't see how losing Dwight was a big deal at all.
We were a bottom five defensive team with him last year and he provided next to nothing for us on the offensive end to compensate.
He was actually a liability every time he had the ball in his hands due to how turnover prone he was and management insisted on him being played in later portions of the game when hack-a-howard was being used because we wanted to show him we trusted him or some crap.
Regardless of how bad the Lakers may or may not be this season, having Dwight Howard in the mix wouldn't improve our situation in the slightest of that I am thoroughly convinced.
We made the playoffs on Kobe's back last year, and the success or failure of our season can't really be determined until we see what kind of shape he comes back in and whether or not injuries will have sidelined any of our key guys before that happens.
As for Minnesota's line. That's some bullshit. That team is better than most analysts are giving it credit, they're a threat this year if Love keeps playing like he has been.
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Because you were still better with Dwight on the court than off? He was still a good defender in the paint even if he wasn't as good at defending the PnR, specifically coming out to challenge PGs- probably his back injuries? He lead the league in rebounding, which is hella important. And despite what you're saying he's still a ridiculously good big man defender, something your rotation is sorely lacking. You can see this in Houston- whatever other problems their lineup may be having opposing teams really struggle to score against him. And as I've said before, losing Dwight is fine but you literally replaced him with a bunch of no-names, another chucker, and an offense-only big man.
I agree with you about Minnesota though. I thought they'd be a playoff team for sure last year until literally everyone on their team got injured, and I think they'll make the playoffs this year if their core guys can stay healthy.
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losing dwight was a blow, but honestly, i enjoy not having to watch his ugly postwork and bad free throws since the lakers probably werent getting anywhere anyway... too bad he's not in the rockets line of the best shooting centers
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Minnesota is great to watch, I'm quite confident they will make the playoffs. Of the playoff teams from last year that are below them, Denver looks very bad, and I expected Memphis to slide before the season began, so far so good, but they did have a good win in their last game. I dunno, Minnesota should make it. Phoenix has genuinely looked really good, watched most of their games so far. With dragic and Bledsoe in the backcourt, they are seriously fast, getting rid of Gortat was a great choice, totally surprised Miles Plumlee is doing so well though..I guess they'll fall back, but the megatanking 15-20 win kind of season that everyone predicted from them may not happen..
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yeah instead of the 6ers and suns it looks like the Jazz and Celtics.
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I don't understand having Shumpert help at 1:45. Aside from going over the screen against a player like Sessions, isn't the ideal situation for Carmelo to take a step that way to discourage that lane and have MWP ready to be the help?
Having Shumpert help and try to recover is like a free Ray Allen 3 all day long.
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Everything about the Lakers so far goes out the window if Nash is out. The difference in how they played in games when he was in and when he wasn't in is bigger than people realize. Unless Blake and Farmar step it up consistently.. but just like when I see Nick Young, I see Farmar and I see real potential for us. Potential for Wiggins.
I am joking, he has improved a lot, but he is still overly aggressive at the wrong times on occasions. Even with Jordan being improved though, the PG position in the NBA is no joke, and he is nothing special...
Vindic, Howard is a great player. He can still be part of a championship team, he just can't be the best guy on the team. He might not even be able to be the 2nd best guy on the team, unless Harden gets even better (and mans up). He has no post game, its laughable actually (only b/c his attitude off the court and how he takes no fault). That 3rd quarter against the Lakers by him was sad and all I needed to realize how much I actually wanted him to do good in the post last year to no avail.
Imagine this though. Howard with CP3 and Kobe. Howard would be the 3rd best player on that team. CP and DH would both be in their primes at the right time to battle LBJ and Heat (they would be in their 2nd year together now). Lakers were so ahead of the curve...Jim Buss gets some undeserved flak IMO.
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