The Road Woes Begin

Turnovers
Was there much expectation of a win in NYC? With the Knicks playing reasonably well and the Jazz on the road, they didn't have much of a chance but it was a poor effort for a first game on a road trip. There were too many turnovers yesterday which is reminiscent of last year's games. The Jazz have never been particularly good in the turnover department, but the numbers are actually a little deceiving. The Jazz use an offense involving a lot of cutting and passing and it leads to more assists. They were 2d to the Suns last year in assists per game. They were in the middle of the pack in turnovers per game. Their assist to turnover ratio as a team ranked fifth last year. It makes sense as more assists means more passes. More passes would naturally mean more turnovers. More assists also means a higher shooting percentage, which the Jazz are always near the top. Of note, the teams with better A/T ratios were all teams with solid offensive systems lead by efficient point guards. New Orleans, Phoenix, Detriot and the surprisingly efficient Raptors run by Jose Calderon. In reality, the Jazz could always take care of the ball better and Andre Kirilenko could also throw less passes through three defenders but the Jazz should be praised for their overall ability to take care of the ball.

Addition by Subtraction
Take away 30 million in contracts from one of the worst teams in the NBA and what do you get? A winning team. Dantoni is either crazy or a genius but his sitting of Marbury and Curry is working miracles so far. The Knicks always had talent but never seemed to be able to work well together on the court. This is probably more of a testament to Dantoni's coaching ability and his commitment to a system than proof for Marbury's detractors. It also speaks to the Larry Brown's inability to adapt to his players and Isiah Thomas' complete coaching ineptitude. The team's talent is in offense. Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Marbury, Richardson, Crawford, Robinson are offensive players not known for their defense. What Dantoni does is he stops trying to jam square pegs in round holes and just cuts the holes into squares. Genius. What I don't agree with is sitting Marbury. He would run an uptempo team very well and even if you didn't plan to keep him, you could showcase him for 2 months and then trade him after he regains his value. Now the Knicks are going to have to eat his contract, not that they have problem with eating contracts. Duhon is not a starting point guard in this league. Its like the Charlie Ward days all over again. You might get excited if he plays well for one or two games but the next game is going to be a dud. The malady of franchise point guards that lose favor with their coach, lose their confidence and then lose all value should be named Stevie Franchise syndrome. I can't think of 2 players as talented that have diminished so quickly without a physical ailment or substance abuse.
If this Wilson Chandler thing works out, then Dantoni needs to called Einstein, or maybe Michelangelo for his Italian roots and ushering in the Knick renaissance. David Lee is a good, solid, energy PF who does all the dirty work that a team needs. Wilson Chandler is a shorter, less talented version of David Lee. I don't think the Knicks should overpay for David Lee but not playing him isn't going to decrease his market value or help the team.