Lebron in NY: Scrimmage Video

Every time I want to write off Lebron to the Knicks something like this drops. Man DW get busy on that salary cap!

Thanks Seth and Tommy! Great to see!

Gallo looks like he is ready to lead the team on offense. Defense looks as vacant as ever. Should be a better year though.

DTR

Man I wish we can get Bron this summer.

To add to any fan’s interest level in getting lebron (besides, you know, his sick skills on the court):

Read the book “Shooting Stars” by Lebron and Buzz Bissinger

(Bissinger wrote the book Friday Night Lights and is infamous for his antiblog tirade against Will leitch on HBO’s costas now)

Its detailing Lebron’s early life and how he met his crew in Akron, Ohio (they were all on his HS team at St marys). Great background info given, great detail of his and his teammates lifes and its a quick read.

It is tough to tell who is who, but I think Milicic is wearing the orange jersey. He looks like he can definitely run the floor with this team. Good to see.

Gallo’s shot looks great.

One thing that impresses me is that this team looks like it can go full speed right now. The more I watch of that video makes me really question whether Eddy can keep up.

I cannot imagine Curry busting it like the guys in those videos.

agreed on the curry thought.

He is not built for the speed the team wants to play at and this new injury isn’t going to help matters.

I love what I am reading about the rooster’s intensity. Above all, that kid’s and wilson chandler’s development is the biggest story to watch this year for the Knicks…outside of lebron’s future destination and the salary cap obv.

Totally agree with you. Of course, hoping that the rooster stays healthy. That’s something I’m banking on. I guess that if Chandler doesn’t improve THAT much wouldn’t surprise me. His full potential is still hard to read, while with Gallo, just flashes are enough to see the kid has what it takes.
I liked the way Toney D handled the team when he went in. I know its training camp and all, but he looked a hell of a lot more in control with his game and shot than summer camp.
I think Darko is gonna be showing what he has little by little, and these sort of videos are showing that the guy can run the floor and be a presence on D and offense.
I’m still waiting to see more of Hill though, let’s hope that pick doesn’t vanish

I want to see this line up;
Starters:
PG DUHON
SG HUGHES yes hughes, until he is traded he has to play
SF GALLO
PF LEE
C MILICIC only true shot blocker on the team. must get min. and must start
Bench:
PG TDOUGLAS
SG NATE
SF CHANDLER
PF HARRINGTON
C CURRY or JEFFRIES
I really want Milicic to start at center and David Lee to start at PF. Its a mistake to have LEE play center again this year against the opposing teams starters. We will suffer on defense again if Lee has to play out of position. I DONT THINK HILL IS GOING TO BE TREADY TO STEP ON THE COURT UNTIL MID SEASON.

I agree with ya 100% on the starters, DatNewYorker. I think Jeffries will get more PT this year at center. I doubt that Curry will play much. I also think that Harrington will get about 20 ppg and might start.

DTR

Honestly seeing that I wasn’t impressed at all.The whole team seems out of control in the offense and everyone is ecstatic why?

Are you nuts Wilson is gonna start and David, Hughes has to play why because Wilson Chandler is better than him? David Lee can’t play PF in this system hes gonna start at center, and even if Hughes started you put Gallo who didn’t play last year over Wilson who played 82 games.

Somebody get this guys pills!!!!

Oh, you weren’t impressed by a video from the second day of training camp so far away you can’t tell which player is which?

I think this statement I made in a previous post is relevant here too so here goes:

My point is that, isn’t that (In reference to the defense) what he should have been doing in the first place? As a new coach with a new team that doesn’t reflect what you would like to do offensively (he bastardized the 7SOL offense once he realized he didn’t have the weapons to run it effectively), wouldn’t the obvious “Plan B” be to instill a defensive philosophy in order to give your squad a chance every night?

I read many articles where it was mentioned how “smart” _’antoni is and how he would “adapt” to his personnel and that he was more than capable of coaching a “different style” that put his players in the best position to win. I never saw that at any point last year.

Say what you will about Pat Riley, but when he came to the Knicks he adapted to his team and went to war the best way he could after coming from a “Showtime” style of offense in LA and moving toward a grind it out hard-nosed defensive style here in NY.

He didn’t pay attention to defense and _’antoni admitted as much.

“I joked about it and that’s not the right message to send,” he said. “Some guys (players) thought we were going to out-score people . . . So our approach has to be different.”

“When you’re 28th (defensively), obviously you did something wrong,” D’Antoni said. “We re-assessed everything we did and, yeah, I think we can do a better job COACHING it and getting their mindset right. We can do better and we will do better.”
-via Hahn’s “Fix”

So it’s not hating for the sake of hating. The fact of the matter is every player can learn defense, regardless of their shortcomings offensively. If they’re not going to play defense they shouldn’t be on the floor. Offense comes and goes for stretches at a time during games a good team needs to be consistent defensively.

What I find interesting is even after making this “adjustment” philosophically he seems like he is only thinking of his starting lineup or the players he puts on the floor from an offensive perspective.

“Even before Eddy Curry’s injury knocked him out of practice on the first day, Mike D’Antoni seemed already committed to returning to the plan that had 6-9 David Lee playing the center position.”

Even if it puts the team at a disadvantage defensively “…D’Antoni seems to like this smaller group of five and made that point when he said, “We’re going to play our best five guys.”

This guy is uncannily stubborn.

Last 2 quotes via Hahn’s “Fix” as well.

I don’t think i stuttered, I don’t see why everyone else is from the same video.

Yes. After two days of practice we can foresee so many things that will happen throughout the season… Though I agree on the stubborn point and the fact that defense is a must, maybe last season the guy wanted to instill some offensive spirit and miscalculated the teams defensive character (or lack thereof). Or maybe his plan was to teach them offense first (even if it was a B version of SSOL) and later start focusing on the defensive aspect. At least, only after 2 days, he seems determined on having the group focus more on defense, which should actually give us some relief.
I’m all open for discussion, but if the guy is trying to make up for something he lacked last season, let’s at least give him a chance to prove what he can bring to the table. If he fails spreading the defensive sprit now that he mentioned that it’s what he wanted, let him and the players deservedly have it.
Oh yeah, about the rotation. We have been discussing a while on his tight rotation, I read somewhere (cannot remember where and it’s killing me) that he’s going to use 9 to 10 men, which at least gives us the chance to maintain intensity throughout the whole game.

first of all, YOU MUST BE NUTS.
I’ll gladly explain why hughes starts.
1. he is the only true shooting guard on the team.
2. He has trade value. He has to play to have trade value.
3.Last year of his contract so you will see him at his best.
4.Wilson Chandler is not a shooting guard.
Next question was if I would put Gallo starting over Wilson?
Let me think a minute on that. UMMM, HECK YEAH. If you know it or not, Gallo is probably the only Player Walsh would not trade to dump Curry’s contract. Gallo also is the best player on the team. I am a Wilson Chandler fan but he will be expendable if that is what it takes to get CURRY OUT. Gallo is the only guy on the team who you can trust to take a shot with the game on the line.

Walsh surely wants a real 7-foot center in the middle, not Lee. If D’A starts Lee at C that would be because Darko and Curry are a lot worse or injured.

Too much scrutinizing going on about some early camp scrimmages and little injuries. Reeeelax : )

Hughes is a better 2-guard than Wilson. Hughes will be gone next year, so relax about him. His D is great. Wilson is a small forward and nothing else IMO.

DTR

Man Crush on Gallinari who hasn’t played a full season yet, It’s cute.

I am too very skeptical about Mike “NO” D. He does get a lot of credit (and he deserves it) but let’s not forget the team he had in Phoenix. I laugh at people who say that he turned Steve Nash into a 2 time MVP. If my memory serves me good Nash was tearing it up in Dallas before he went to the Suns. He had Amare, the Matrix and Joe Johnson. I am a firm believer of defense and if a team is in the bottom five in the league in defense then they won’t win a title. I said this before, I hope am wrong because I AM A KNICK FAN but I just don’t trust the guy.

Quick comment on the 2 guard possition. For all I care Hughes can be inactive for the rest of the season. Sure he has slightly better handle than Wilson and is a better defender on the ball but he has an expiring contract. Who are we going to trade him for another expiring?????

Guys, d’antoni didn’t fail to adapt to the personnel we had last year… we just had TERRIBLE personnel.

And bottom 5? The knicks were bottom 5 last year because they SUCKED on paper and on the court.

Pheonix was top half of the league every year during D’Antoni’s run. And when your best players are the likes of Amare and nash, who both struggle defensively because of lack of effort and lack of physical tools, respectively, its hard to be an elite defensive team.