In Phil We Trust | A New York Knicks Dynasty

[ThatKidNamedTae]

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System: Xbox 360
Roster: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ter-360-a.html
Sliders: Default (Slightly Modified)
Draft Class: Tricfecta/Game Changers
Season Length: 82 Games
Team Chemistry: On
Player Roles: Off
Progressive Fatigue: Off
Trade Deadline: On
Trade Override: Off
Allow CPU Trades: On
Preseason Games: On
Injuries: On
Playoffs: 7-7-7-7
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Team Preview

2013-2014 Record: 37-45, No. 3 in Atlantic Division, No. 9 in Eastern Conference

Roster Additions: Jose Calderon (via trade), Samuel Dalembert (via trade), Shane Larkin (via trade), Wayne Ellington (via trade), Cleanthony Early (34th pick in NBA draft), Thanasis Antetokounmpo (51st pick in NBA draft), Jason Smith (via free agency)

Roster Subtractions: Tyson Chandler (via trade), Raymond Felton (via trade), Toure Murry (via free agency), Kenyon Martin (via free agency), Shannon Brown (waived), Lamar Odom (waived)

Predictions:

New York Knicks first-year head coach Derek Fisher will have some difficult personnel decisions to make for the 2014-15 season, beginning with his starting lineup. Fisher is faced with the challenge of developing young talent like Tim Hardaway Jr., Shane Larkin, Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, all while competing for a playoff spot. His job is complicated by an imbalanced roster with a large amount of wing players and lack of a two-way big man.

The starting lineup

calderon.jpg

Point Guard: Jose Calderon

Calderon is not a speedy drive-and-kick point guard. Rather, he is a facilitator, whose game is built on intelligent decision-making and efficiency. The Spaniard has finished among the top four in assist-to-turnover ratio every year since the 2007-2008 season, and is deadly from long distance. He connected on 44.9 percent of his three-point attempts in 2013-2014 and is a 41.1 percent shooter from behind the arc for his career. Unfortunately, Calderon will not provide much relief for the Knicks' defensive woes. Calderon, who turns 33 next season, does not have the lateral agility to keep quick point guards out of the paint.

shump.jpg

Shooting Guard: Iman Shumpert

Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. are all candidates to be the Knicks’ starting shooting guard. Shumpert's defensive supremacy gives him the edge. The Knicks finished 24th in defensive efficiency in 2013-2014 and traded their best interior defender, Tyson Chandler, in the 2014 offseason. S hump had a disappointing 2013-14 season in what was expected to be a breakout campaign. He was often afraid to pull the trigger and shot a dreadful 37.8 percent from the field. The fourth-year guard will be a free agent next summer and has been shopped repeatedly by the Knicks.

smith.jpg

Small Forward: J.R Smith

Starting Smith at small forward has a couple of benefits. Without a penetrating point guard, Smith is the only player on the roster other than Anthony who can create his own shot. Smith found his groove over the last few months of the season, averaging 16.6 points per game, while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 41.7 percent on three-point attempts after the All-Star break. His defensive intensity picked up as well. It would also benefit the Knicks to showcase Smith, and a bounce-back season could convince Smith to try free agency or enable the Knicks to trade him.

melo.jpg

Power Forward: Carmelo Anthony

Anthony played almost exclusively small forward for the first nine seasons of his career. During the past two seasons, he has bounced back and forth, playing the majority of minutes at the 4. Anthony has thrived at the 4, using his quickness and improved range to exploit slower forwards. Most importantly, the Knicks have played their best team basketball with Melo at the 4. The spacing has been better and ball movement crisper. New York's personnel also favors Melo at the 4. The Knicks have three talented wing players in Hardaway Jr., Smith and Shumpert, who they would like to either develop or showcase for trade purposes and not one starting-caliber power forward on the roster other than Anthony.

dalembert.jpg

Center: Samuel Dalembert

No one man on the Knicks roster is capable of filling Tyson Chandler's shoes. As a result of this, Derek Fisher will be forced to turn to center-by-committee. Recently signed Jason Smith is a legitimate 7-footer with a solid mid-range jumper. However, Samuel Dalembert, who the Knicks acquired in the Chandler trade, is the favorite to earn the starting nod. He is the best defender and rebounder of the bunch (11.6 boards per 36 minutes for his career), two areas where the Knicks are expected to struggle and has started 673 games at center over his 12-year career.

Bench

Amare Stoudemire- PF
Tim Hardaway Jr.- SG
Andrea Bargnani- PF
Shane Larkin- PG
Cleanthony Early- SF
Jason Smith- C
Pablo Prigioni- PG

[ThatKidNamedTae]

New York Knicks Depth Chart - 14-15
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Jose Calderon	Shane Larkin	Pablo Prigioni
SG	Iman Shumpert	Tim Hardaway Jr.	J.R Smith	Wayne Ellington
SF	J.R. Smith	Cleanthony Early	Thanasis Antetokounmpo
PF	Carmelo Anthony	Amare Stoudemire	Andrea Bargnani
C	Samuel Dalembert	Jason Smith

[ThatKidNamedTae]

Knicks start slow, finish strong in win over Bucks (Oct 30)

jr.jpg

Milwakee Bucks at New York Knicks
Oct 30, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Milwakee (0-1)	29	26	23	33	111
New York (1-0)	22	30	25	38	115

Milwakee Bucks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
O.J Mayo	34	7/16	4/9	6/8	7	4	0	0	1	24
TEAM TOTALS		39/75	10/22	23/32	39	22	6	3	10	111

New York Knicks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jose Calderon	37	3/7	2/4	8/8	1	7	1	0	1	16
Iman Shumpert	35	1/4	1/3	2/2	2	6	0	0	0	5
J.R. Smith	36	8/14	4/9	6/8	7	4	0	0	2	26
Carmelo Anthony	33	8/14	0/2	5/7	7	3	2	0	3	21
Samuel Dalembert	28	2/4	0/0	2/4	6	1	0	0	2	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Amare Stoudemire	21	5/7	0/0	2/2	4	0	0	1	0	12
Tim Hardaway Jr.	13	2/5	1/2	0/0	4	1	0	0	0	5
Cleanthony Early	12	3/7	1/3	5/5	5	0	0	0	2	12
Shane Larkin	9	0/3	0/2	1/2	1	3	1	0	0	1
Jason Smith	7	0/4	0/0	0/0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Andrea Bargnani	7	3/5	1/2	2/2	1	0	0	0	1	9
Pablo Prigioni	2	1/2	0/0	0/0	1	0	0	0	0	2
Thanasis Antetokounmpo	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Wayne Ellington	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		36/76	10/27	33/40	44	25	4	1	11	115

Stats: 26 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 57% Shooting

[JG80]

I will follow.


Sent from Nawlins.

[gsutiger]

way to start off the season

[ThatKidNamedTae]

Quote: Originally Posted by JG80

I will follow. Sent from Nawlins.

I just wanted to say thank you for following and I hope you enjoy.

Quote: Originally Posted by gsutiger

way to start off the season

Yeah man. J.R was really lighting the Bucks up. Thanks for reading.

[ThatKidNamedTae]

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist grabs career high 16 rebounds in win over Knicks (Nov 8)

New York Knicks at Charlotte Bobcats
Nov 8, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
New York (3-2)	25	24	23	20	92
Charlotte (3-3)	26	32	22	37	117

New York Knicks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jose Calderon	32	1/3	0/0	3/3	4	9	0	0	2	5
Iman Shumpert (INJ)	33	2/8	1/4	0/0	4	0	0	0	3	5
J.R Smith	34	4/14	3/8	0/3	7	3	2	0	3	11
Carmelo Anthony	37	8/22	2/5	5/7	5	1	0	0	4	23
Samuel Dalembert	32	4/4	0/0	3/4	10	0	0	1	2	11
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Amare Stoudemire	18	4/5	0/0	3/4	2	1	0	1	1	11
Tim Hardaway Jr.	15	1/5	0/3	3/4	0	1	1	0	0	5
Cleanthony Early	12	3/4	0/0	0/0	5	1	0	1	0	6
Shane Larkin	11	1/1	0/0	4/6	2	5	0	0	0	6
Jason Smith	8	3/4	0/0	1/2	1	0	1	0	1	7
Pablo Prigioni	5	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	0	0	1	0
Andrea Bargnani	3	1/3	0/1	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Thanasis Antetokounmpo	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Wayne Ellington	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		32/73	6/21	22/33	42	22	4	3	17	92

Charlotte Bobcats
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Kemba Walker	39	11/19	4/6	1/4	4	6	1	0	5	27
Noah Vonleh	44	10/25	4/9	1/2	9	3	2	1	0	25
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist	43	8/13	0/0	6/7	16	6	1	0	0	22
TEAM TOTALS		45/86	10/22	17/26	49	29	6	2	10	117

Player of the Game

Stats: 22 Points, 16 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 62% Shooting

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Iman Shumpert Strains MCL; Out 1-2 Weeks

J.R Smith had just stripped Gerald Henderson of the ball on a drive attempt and fired the ball down court to the breaking Iman Shumpert. All Iman had to do was beat Kemba Walker and it was an easy 2 points. As Shumpert got closer to the basket, he attempted a euro-step and collapsed. He was soon escorted off the court by teammates Jason Smith and Amare Stoudemire. After multiple tests, team doctors reported to head coach Derek Fisher that the 4th year guard had strained his MCL and wouldn't be able to return that night.

" Yeah Roger (Hinds) came over and said that he won't be able to play again tonight, but he can play through the injury until it heals for another 1-2 weeks. But I've decided to not play him until it's fully healed and will be appointing Tim (Hardaway Jr.) to start while Shump rests. I trust he can help get the job done."

By losing their best perimeter defender in Shumpert, the Knicks might aswell just let the other team score. The SG practically covered the entire perimeter by himself. Calderon is too slow to keep up with any guard that has the ability to run, Shane Larkin is too small to make a true defensive impact without some sort of help and Hardaway's defense is still being searched for. You should expect this team to perhaps run a zone to help cover the arc, but this won't be a pretty 2 weeks.

[ThatKidNamedTae]

Smith steps up with 23 as Pistons survive Knicks (Nov 19)

New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons
Nov 19, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
New York (4-6)	21	30	17	23	91
Detroit (3-7)	15	26	27	26	94

New York Knicks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jose Calderon	33	2/7	1/1	0/0	2	7	0	0	1	5
Tim Hardaway Jr.	35	6/10	0/1	4/4	6	2	3	0	3	16
J.R. Smith	34	3/10	2/7	4/7	4	2	1	0	4	12
Carmelo Anthony	37	9/24	1/6	2/3	11	2	0	0	2	21
Samuel Dalembert	32	2/5	0/0	1/2	10	2	0	4	1	5
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Amare Stoudemire	19	3/3	0/0	0/0	5	0	0	0	0	6
Cleanthony Early	15	1/5	0/2	4/4	2	0	0	2	1	6
Shane Larkin	13	1/5	1/4	4/4	0	1	0	0	1	7
Jason Smith	10	6/7	0/0	0/0	3	0	0	0	0	12
Andrea Bargnani	6	0/3	0/1	1/2	1	1	0	0	0	1
Wayne Ellington	3	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Pablo Prigioni	3	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Iman Shumpert	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Thanasis Antetokounmpo	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		33/79	5/22	20/26	48	18	5	6	14	91

Detroit Pistons
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Josh Smith	38	10/19	0/3	3/6	5	5	2	1	0	23
Brandon Jennings	32	4/10	0/2	2/2	7	8	2	0	2	10
TEAM TOTALS		37/78	3/15	17/27	49	21	10	6	13	94

Player of the Game

Stats: 10 Points, 7 Rebounds, 8 Assists

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Oh How the Knicks Miss Iman

Iman Shumpert has been out with a strained MCL since November 8th. From that date to their most recent game, a 94-91 loss to the Pistons, the Knicks have allowed opposing guards to score 293 total points. In the 5 games the Spurs,Hawks (x2), Rockets and Pistons scored 547 points. Now I wasn't a wizard in Math back in school, but if my calculator is correct, guards account for 54% of points scored against New York since Shumpert has been hurt. The "Get Better!" cards are pouring in right about now.

That isn't to add how poor Tim Hardaway Jr. has played during his 5 games as a starter. Although it's a small sample size, the sophomore guard has a lot to learn. Hardaway Jr. is averaging 10.3 points on a dismal 34% shooting and a hard to look at 28% from three, which is supposed to be his "specialty".

If anything, Knicks fans should be starting donations to help heal Mr.Shumpert's knee and get him back on the court. If this makes you feel any better, Iman has been upgraded to the "Day to Day status. But judging on Coach Fisher's comments, they will still be taking it slowly.