After one night we're determining if the Knicks look like an elite team, a good team, a bad team, or if we have any Nets fans (aside from Bottle) reading this blog?
I think none of those options make sense. I can't say they looked great but I can't say they looked bad. They looked exactly like what they are...a team that has been together for 24 hours and has had no time together in practice or on the court.
Last night was very promising. The Garden was alive and will provide a real homecourt advantage come playoff time. When Melo was struggling, Amare stepped up, when Amare got into foul trouble, Melo did. Billups looked like he had some jitters with the bricks he tossed up, but that should be corrected with time and there was some solid bench production both defensively (Williams) and offensively (Douglas)
The issues of the night was the total lack of defense and Melo holding the ball too long. The defensive issue isn't news to anyone. However, the Knicks offense under D'Antoni needs the ball to move and Melo held the ball or got into "one on one" mode a bit too much. That's something that may be a direct product of not undeerstanding the offensive rotations and sets, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about that just yet.
My Vote - It was a good night with some promise.
Aka "Good, although not elite"
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's practical to say a team that never played together (preseason included) is not/is elite. "It's a good start" is the best you can do.
ReplyDeleteIf this was after the preseason, with time together, then that's something I would comment on. Like the Heat, who still don't look like a great team as they still struggle to find an even flow in their offense.
The first time anyone did anything that they eventually were elite at they were probably awful or good. There is no sense in saying they weren't elite. I think it should be understood that they (or any team for that manner) are going to look like an elite team until they play more than 40 minutes of basketball together.
ReplyDeleteWell 48 minutes, but you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI think we will be problem to a lot of east playoff teams and with the guys we got, we just became a battle tested playoff team
ReplyDeletebefore we were not
Lets be realistic here. Getting Carmelo greatly improved the Knicks, but the odds are still very low that they will make it out of the first round of the playoffs. If they can add a player or two, then things will change.
ReplyDeletePrior to the trade, Knicks were probably going to get dominated in the first round. Winning one game would have been an accomplishment. Now they'll probably win one or two but still lose.
ReplyDeleteIf Bottle thinks the Knicks are being bounced out in the first round, then I will bet a undisclosed amount of money that they will make it to the second round.
ReplyDelete