Saturday, June 28, 2014

Knicks offseason preview and predictions


The Knicks have not made the 2013-14 playoffs they had a terrible season with injuries and still managed to almost make the playoffs, testament to them and the luck of the three ball going in. The season was chock full of terrible events. The most memorable were Mike Woodson not calling a timeout when the Knicks were down to get the ball to midcourt, allowing the time to tick of clock when they went up the court. As well as the now infamous "I believe I can fly" Andrea Bargnani failed dunk; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9dX6IhU2tM and the Andrea Bargnani shooting the ball with the knicks up with the clock ticking down; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7b5wHb6htM.THe Knicks hired Phil Jackson, the NBA legendary coach with 11 NBA titles, coaching and playing.



What has happened so far this offseason:
The Knicks traded fired head coach Mike Woodson and hired former Laker and Thunder Derek Fisher. They also traded center Tyson Chandler,and point guard Raymond Felton for point guards Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, center Samuel Dalembert, shooting guard Wayne Ellington and the 34th and 51st pick in the draft. They used  those picks on Wichita State power forward Cleanthony Early, the "Greek Freak"'s brother shooting guard Thanasis Antetokounmpo from the Delaware 87ers in the NBA D-League. After watching a video from Draftexpress I posted on facebook a scouting report of Cleathony Early. He looks like he is big and strong, and can muscle his way into the paint. I also like the hustle back on D, his scoring looks good,but if he could develop an outside game, he would improve, his handle needs to be closer into his body, it won't survive so far out in the NBA. He looks good at spot up jumpers but all the highlights are when he has tons of space, NBA defenders do not usually give tons of space, so he needs to work on his outside and step back and spot up game with defenders in his face, pressuring him,not letting him get an inch.Cleanthony only had 0.8 blocks per game, last year, that needs to improve tremendously, he needs to get smarter with the shots he takes, needs improvement on playing vs the big men in the paint, he needs to improve his awareness and stop standing around watching when his man does not have the ball. Early needs to work on getting out of double teams and not forcing shots when double teamed; he has bad court vision, and peace of mind to develop a play before it happens.He suffers from lackluster passing at times, and that is putting it nicely.Cleanthony  needs to have a more consistent shot, take his time, not shoot it as soon as he gets it, get set, he's only 207 needs to bulk up to 215 to push in the paint.He is already 23 years old, which could be a concern, he needs to take less stand up jumpers and incorporate more step back jumpers, he needs to adjust to the NBA three as he had trouble toeing the line in college. Overall he looks good not great in his highlights and atrocious in his lowlights. I was more impressed by Thanaisis Antekumpo's highlights. He averaged 11.7 ppg last year in Delaware. He is good in transition because of his size. The first highlight of him, he grabs the rebound dribbles all the way up the court and then takes off for the one handed slam in the paint.Upon a second viewing of that he could've passed it to his teammate who was wide open in the corner but  I will take the dunk, as long as he is not a ball hog.He succeeds in taking advantage of the defense giving him space and slashing it with a good first step to the basket for a layup or dunk. He plays well above the rim and getting the ball to go in when he is right under the basket.He has a high motor so his ceiling on defense his high. He had 1.3 steals per game last year. As a result of his long arms, he can deflect inbounds passes easily. He can get back on defense if his team turns the ball over or a simple change of possession and swat the ball away. He is a big energy guy that can come off the bench and provide the Knicks with a shot in the arm when they are down late in a game. He also plays very hard, which I like in a player. One highlight shows him pressuring the ball hander to lose control before getting it back and getting it past Thanasis and then Thanasis getting back to the ball and blocking the shot; forcing a turnover. He can sometimes struggle on the offensive glass. He is very good at the little things that do not appear on sportscenter or the box scores, like boxing people out, or hustling down the ball to save a turnover etc.. One thing that can be negative and positive about him, is he shows a lot of emotion, when he dunks the ball or forces a turnover he gets amped up about it. His mechanics are not consistent. Sometimes he shoots the ball while on the way down. He is a shoot first ask questions later type of player so when he is not square and with the right mechanics he does not take two seconds to fix it, he immediately puts one up. He struggles mightely shooting off the dribble, out of his 67 jumpers last year only two were off the dribble. He is lacking in basketball IQ. Thanasis does not get his teammates involved enough. He forces plays which result in turnovers. Per 40 minutes he averages 3.3 turnovers. He does not create well in Iso or pick and roll situations. His ball handle in poor, which leads to turning the ball over 25% of the time in iso and pick and roll situations. The Knicks drafted two, "long term projects" in my mind, which is what second drafts usually are. 


Predictions:


The perceived attitude of the Knicks was to scrap this upcoming season and wait till 2015 when NBA MVP Kevin Durant is on the market. However, with taking on 5 more million dollars in the Chandler to the Mavs trade they look like they will not do that. I think the Knicks might sign one or two more players to the veterans minimum and come off the bench to provide good minutes but I think it is highly unlikely that they will get enough free cap space to sign premier free agent Lebron James. I think Lebron will go to join Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins in Cleveland. I think New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony will join Joakim Noah and Derek Rose in Chicago. Phil Jackson is a genius and I'm sure he will all have it work out but I think they are done for next season and will settle for a lottery pick. I think in 2015 the Knicks will sign Kevin Durant and Chris Bosh. I think they will sign Chris Bosh because in Miami he is the third fiddle per say. The chain of command goes Lebron James-Dwayne Wade then Chris Bosh. However if he is a Knick, especially if Carmelo leaves he will be the first fiddle, and it makes sense for the Knicks too because Amare Stoudemire's contract is up at the same time and unless they are crazy, they will let him walk. I also think that the Knicks will work out a way to get Kobe Bryant to the Knicks because I think Kobe wants to win one last championship with Phil Jackson. 


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