Knicks>Raptors? Ryan Ruocco thinks so!

[RPT23]

As much as I would like to hate on the Knicks, I wouldn't underestimate them because:
1) They have Carmelo Cleanthony
2) ...can't think of anything else...
3) ...still nothing...

Well... it really depends on how well they are coached. If they appear receptive to a first year coach in D-Fish, then I expect them to be "in the mix". But I agree with some of the posters here, a lot of things have to go right for them to be even considerd Top 4. I hope that the Raptors are focused more than ever because the East Conference is so wide open, they have a golden opportunity to take advantage of getting the Top 2!

[Primer]

One thing people are overlooking, probably because they didn't even notice. Calderon had by far his worst season as a pro last year, and judging by his age (he'll be 33 when the season starts) the decline is probably permanent and going to continue this year.
His assist % dropped all the way to 22.4% from 34.1%. Calderon typically was above 40% for his career. Age is catching up to him quickly, and the Knicks are going to be paying him big money through 2017. Knicks fans are delusional.

[MACK11]

One thing people are overlooking, probably because they didn't even notice. Calderon had by far his worst season as a pro last year, and judging by his age (he'll be 33 when the season starts) the decline is probably permanent and going to continue this year.
His assist % dropped all the way to 22.4% from 34.1%. Calderon typically was above 40% for his career. Age is catching up to him quickly, and the Knicks are going to be paying him big money through 2017. Knicks fans are delusional.

These are the same knicks fans that thought Bargnani was gonna have a Renaissance when he was traded to NYK last year LMAO

Us raptor fans have suffered watching a starting lineup consist of Calderon and Bargnani!
Just give it till December when they realize that you cannot win with Bargnani&Calderon starting

[Primer]

These are the same knicks fans that thought Bargnani was gonna have a Renaissance when he was traded to NYK last year LMAO

Us raptor fans have suffered watching a starting lineup consist of Calderon and Bargnani!
Just give it till December when they realize that you cannot win with Bargnani&Calderon starting

We had them in their primes too. NKY have them on a steep decline. I'm not sure if anyone on the Knicks is going to be better this year than they were last year.

[Heatdreamer]

How long wil it take the Knicks to learn the offense. More importantly who is going to play defense on this team - Sam dalembart?

[Balls of Steel]

Really?

A team everybody has to watch out for in the East are the Toronto Raptors. They have the talent to sneak up and win the Eastern Conference.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) July 15, 2014

[webfeat]

Lemme try to play Devil's Advocate here

Calderon > Lowry (started over him like 4 years ago)
THJ > Tross (Look at how Ross played in playoffs, what a joke)
Melo > DD (obvious)
Bargnani > Amir (come on! I'd way rather have Bargs taking summer 3s than Amir)
Dalembert > JV (Dalembert brings that vet presence that JV doesn't have yet)

Okay, now let's see you do that with our bench!

[ezz_bee]

Lemme try to play Devil's Advocate here

Calderon > Lowry (started over him like 4 years ago)
THJ > Tross (Look at how Ross played in playoffs, what a joke)
Melo > DD (obvious)
Bargnani > Amir (come on! I'd way rather have Bargs taking summer 3s than Amir)
Dalembert > JV (Dalembert brings that vet presence that JV doesn't have yet)

Let me play devil's advocate to your devil's advocate...

ON DEFENSE
Lowry is a + Calderon is a -
TROSS is neutral (although hopefully, this season a +) THJ, don't know him well enough, but I think giving him neutral is generous based on what i've read

DD is a -, Melo is a -
Amir is a +, Bargs is a -
JV is neutral (although again, I think this seasons he'll be a +), Dalembert is a + (when he's not pouting)

Raps +1, Knicks, Negaitve -2.

That's before you factor in bench.

The Raps were top 10 last year in BOTH offense (9th) and defense (also 9th). The Knicks were 11th in offense, and 24th(!!!) in defense. It's very possible that the Knicks will be a better offensive team this season than the Raps, but they'll be sooo terrible on defense that there's no way they finish ahead of us.

There's a lot of good teams in the East now (although, not any GREAT teams). I don't see New York finishing higher than 7th. I don't see the Raps finishing lower than 6th.

[bryan colangelo]

One thing people are overlooking, probably because they didn't even notice. Calderon had by far his worst season as a pro last year, and judging by his age (he'll be 33 when the season starts) the decline is probably permanent and going to continue this year.
His assist % dropped all the way to 22.4% from 34.1%. Calderon typically was above 40% for his career. Age is catching up to him quickly, and the Knicks are going to be paying him big money through 2017. Knicks fans are delusional.

Fun fact. Calderon my be one of the twenty best shooters in NBA history; a borderline 50/40/90 club member. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50%E2%8...2%80%9390_club

They used him off the ball in Dallas to take advantage of his spot-up-shooting ability. He was doing a lot of the ball, which is part of the reason his assists are down.

Being in the triangle is going to extend Calderon's career. All he needs to do is get the ball past half-court, make decent entry passes and not take dumb shots, which is Calderon's bed and butter. If he can still run the pick and roll, all the better. It doesn't change the fact that his lack of size and lateral quickness makes him a defensively liability, but that's been true since he entered the league.

TLDR; I agree Knick fans are delusional, but Calderon is a huge upgrade over what they had, which is probably why they're getting carried away. Calderon should be a Derek-Fisher-type-starter for a championship team with three other stars, or a second unit, steady-the-ship point guard. He's too slow to keep up with the new generation of point guards.

[Primer]

Fun fact. Calderon my be one of the twenty best shooters in NBA history; a borderline 50/40/90 club member. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50%E2%8...2%80%9390_club

They used him off the ball in Dallas to take advantage of his spot-up-shooting ability. He was doing a lot of the ball, which is part of the reason his assists are down.

Being in the triangle is going to extend Calderon's career. All he needs to do is get the ball past half-court, make decent entry passes and not take dumb shots, which is Calderon's bed and butter. If he can still run the pick and roll, all the better. It doesn't change the fact that his lack of size and lateral quickness makes him a defensively liability, but that's been true since he entered the league.

TLDR; I agree Knick fans are delusional, but Calderon is a huge upgrade over what they had, which is probably why they're getting carried away. Calderon should be a Derek-Fisher-type-starter for a championship team with three other stars, or a second unit, steady-the-ship point guard. He's too slow to keep up with the new generation of point guards.

Derek Fisher was a much better defender than Jose ever was. Derek could play off the ball so much because Kobe handled the ball. Are the Knicks expecting Carmelo to be the primary ball handler, or Jose? I don't get the comparisons between Jose and Fisher, the only thing similar about them is they're both good 3pt shooters. Fisher was always a combo guard, which I thought fit the triangle much better than a pure point does.
TLDR; I don't think Jose is a great fit for the triangle unless he's going to start playing like Kobe.

[bryan colangelo]

Derek Fisher was a much better defender than Jose ever was. Derek could play off the ball so much because Kobe handled the ball. Are the Knicks expecting Carmelo to be the primary ball handler, or Jose? I don't get the comparisons between Jose and Fisher, the only thing similar about them is they're both good 3pt shooters. Fisher was always a combo guard, which I thought fit the triangle much better than a pure point does.
TLDR; I don't think Jose is a great fit for the triangle unless he's going to start playing like Kobe.

I'm trying to remember younger Derek Fisher. I'm biased against Fisher because all I remember is slow as fuck old Fisher.

I don't think Jose is a good fit anywhere unless his primary role is to take care of the ball and hit open shots. Or if he's going to playing against an opposing teams scrubs.

[psrs1]

I encourage posters to listen to callers for Sirius XM 86 re Knicks. So many callers think they are closer to 54 win season two years ago than last year's team. Even Mike Dunleavy questions Raptors status in our division for this upcoming season.

[raptors999]

Weird. All they did was resign the same guy they didnt make the playoffs with last year and that was Melos best season. New coach, brand new offence that won't work with ball stopping Melo and no center. All the makings for a terrible season.

[bryan colangelo]

Weird. All they did was resign the same guy they didnt make the playoffs with last year and that was Melos best season. New coach, brand new offence that won't work with ball stopping Melo and no center. All the makings for a terrible season.

Calderon is an upgrade. But Dalembert and Bargnani ...

Is there a vomiting emoji? How is this team going to stop anybody?

[MixxAOR]