After playing their first 11 games this year, the New York Knicks’ W-L Record was 3-8/.273.
Over the course of their next 14 games, however, the Knicks’ W-L Record has looked like this:
Q1. What precipitated the Knicks turn around this season?
A1. In sharp contrast to what different “stats gurus” have said about the Knicks so far this year …
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The chief reason reason New York has improved so dramatically over the course of their first 25 games is because, in Game 11, Mike D’Antoni finally made the right decision and re-structured the rotation of his team, by:
i. Shifting Amare Stoudemire [6-10, 240] to his best position, i.e. Center;
ii. Shifting Danilo Gallinari [6-10, 225] to the Power Forward position;
and,
iii. Re-defining the role of Timofey Mozgov [7-0, 1st-yr], who had functioned as their starting Center to that point in the season.
If you examine the Game Logs for Mr. Mozgov, you should be able to see that he started each of New York’s first 7 games this year; then, was used off the bench for Game 8 and Game 9, and returned to the starting line-up for Game 10 and 11.
In Game 11, however … according to the Play-By-Play … he was only used for 11:00+, and was not re-inserted into game after being substituted for by Ronny Turiaf [PF-C] at the 7:31 mark of the 3rd quarter:
1st Quarter, 12:00, Nyk 0, DEN 0
1st Quarter, 07:28, Nyk 9, DEN 13 [-4/4:32]
—————————————————–
2nd Quarter, 03:49, Nyk 43, DEN 50
2nd Quarter, 01:05, Nyk 51, DEN 59 [-1/2:44]
—————————————————–
3rd Quarter, 12:00, Nyk 54, DEN 61
3rd Quarter, 07:31, Nyk 64, DEN 72 [-1/4:29]
Even though the Knicks went on to lose this game to the Nuggets, it marked The Turning Point in New York’s season.
The next day, at Sacramento, the Knicks implemented their “new” rotation for the first time:
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NEW YORK’S NEW & IMPROVED
8-MAN ROTATION, AS OF GAME 12
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STARTERS
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PG
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OG
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SF
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PF
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C
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Raymond
Felton
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Landry
Fields
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Wilson
Chandler
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Danilo
Gallinari
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Amare
Stoudemire
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KEY SUBS
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PG
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OG-SF
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PF-C
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Tony
Douglas
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Bill
Walker
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Ronny
Turiaf
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RESERVES
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PG-OG
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SF
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PF
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C
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Andy
Rautins
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Anthony
Randolph
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Shawne
Williams
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Timofey
Mozgov
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EXTRAS/OUTS
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G
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OG-SF
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C
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Roger
Mason, Jr
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Kelenna
Azubuike
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Eddy
Curry
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Since re-working their rotation, in the midst of Game 11, the Knicks have won 13 games and lost only 1 game.
While it has also been the case that the Knicks have benefitted from playing a relatively easy schedule during this same section of their schedule …
i.e. of these past 14 games only 3 have been against teams with winning W-L Records; Game 12, L @ DEN, Game 18, L vs Atl, and Game 25, W vs Den
… it will be very interesting to see if New York can maintain a positive W-L Record while moving into the next phase of their schedule, where they will encounter a higher class of opponent on a consistent basis:
including:
* 9 opponents with a .500+ W-L Record [in red]
* 3 opponents with a W-L Record that is only 1 game below .500 [in yellow]
* 1 opponent with a W-L Record that is well below .500 [in green]
Yes, the Knicks management team – i.e. Donnie Walsh & Mike D’Antoni – made a series of solid personnel decisions this past off season, including:
- the selection of Landry Fields, in the 2nd Round of the 2010 NBA Draft
- the signing of Amare Stoudemire, as a solid 2nd Tier Unrestricted Free Agent
- the signing of Raymond Felton, as a solid 3rd Tier Unrestricted Free Agent
- the acquisition of Anthony Randolph [SF-PF], Ronny Turiaf [PF-C] and Kelenna Azubuike [OG-SF], in a 3-for-1 trade with the Golden State Warriors [in return for David Lee, PF-C]
- the signing of Timofey Mozgov [C], as a relatively unknown player from the Euro-league
- the signing of Roger Mason, Jr. [PG-OG], as a 4th Tier Unrestricted Free Agent
- the signing of Shawne Williams [PF-SF], as a 5th Tier Unrestricted Free Agent
But the harsh, cold, objective reality of what’s entailed with everyday life in the NBA is that none of those individual – and collective - moves would have mattered one iota, unless their embattled head coach, Mike D’Antoni, also had the good Basketball Sense to re-structure their entire rotation AROUND the skill-set of Amare Stoudemire, while playing him at the Center position; and, not the PF position where so many other non-expert NBA observers mistakenly think ’Stat’ belongs, given his perceived ‘lack of size’, compared to the biggest players in the league who happen to work at this same position.
This type of highly specific, decisive, unconventional and accurate thinking is part of what is commonly referenced here as the work of a Top Notch practicioner in the field of Basketball Coaching.
Kudos to Mike D’Antoni … for replicating the basic systemic footprint he first established with the Phoenix Suns 6 years ago.
Authentic genius does not involve going out on a proverbial limb.
Authentic genius involves simply identifying accurately:
[i] What actually works, in a given situation
vs
[ii] What actually does not work, in that same [or, at least, a very similar] situation
before others are able to reach a similar conclusion.
[e.g. Please note the reply comment to "Raptorsss", July 28th, 2010, at 10:55 PM, re: the projected Starting Centers in the EC this season, and the proper roles for Amare Stoudemire and Timofey Mozgoz with Mike D'Antoni's Knicks.
]
Related:
Why Is Amare Stoudemire So Hard To Defend?