As the pre-season goes on I find myself wondering where the Knicks will find improvement over last season. Fans of this blog agree that IFF (if and only if) the Knicks play above their abilities can they improve their record significantly. And fans hope they improve enough so as to make the playoffs.
But in the win over the Nets, there are few players looking as though they're in extraordinary condition, and fewer who look poised to have a breakout year. In fact of the players drafted by the Knicks playing in the Macabi game, Marcej Lampe was the most impressive of the bunch.
Yes, it is premature to judge the results of these games because much tinkering is going on and the quality of competition is almost laughable.
But the concerns I have are threefold.
1.) Duhon looks flat. If he plays above his head he will be merely competent and in pre-season he's not playing above his head. Complicating this, is the fact that the Knicks STILL have no competent backup for Duhon. Nate Robinson can be a spark-plug off the bench, it's true. But N8 is not necessarily a solution here.
And while Toney Douglas continues to impress, much of his ability to impress is based on how flat-out awful our back court is.
2.) There is not a competent two-guard on the roster. Swingman Marcus Landry has been more impressive that Chandler and Hughes. Toney Douglas looks to see a lot of playing time here and that is not a good thing.
3.) Of the handful of SF candidates, Chandler is devolving into a poor outside shooter at the sacrifice of his inside game which remains a strong point. Like Nate he appears to be more suited to come off the bench than start.
Gallo looks like an over-rated pick at this point in time. While he shows flashes of talent, it is not necessarily NBA talent. Fans who buy into the hype project an All-Star. He's looking more like the Darko Milicic of SFs, limited, useful, but not a key player.
Expect a lot of Harrington and Jeffries at SF. Jeffries and Lee being the only two players looking as though they will have breakout years thus far.
If the Knicks are to improve, it will be the success or failure of D'Antoni's system that will get them there.
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Monday, October 19, 2009
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