Keith Parris is one of the most dedicated Knicks fans we have had the pleasure to get to know, as he always speaks his mind about his beloved team.  His wide-ranging comments are so colorful, KnicksTweets felt it necessary to dedicate Tuesday afternoons to Keith, and his rants. Kind of like Mitch Albom and Morrie, only very different.

Sometimes you will agree with Keith.  Often you will not.  Let him hear it either way.

Without further ado…

Allow Me To Introduce Myself

For all who don’t know me, you’ll get your fill over the course of the next few weeks or however long you can stomach my ranting and raving about my beloved Knicks. Believe me when I say I love the Knicks, I haven’t had a favorite player since Patrick Ewing, but Landry Fields is as close as it can get!

On to the important stuff. Unfortunately, at the beginning of this recent road trip I predicted that the Knicks would go 0-3 if some serious changes were not implemented by Coach D’Amphoni.

Defense

Those changes were not and win they did not. The most recent winnable loss came in no small part to a lack of a serious challenge and defensive stop by Gallo. If calling his attempt to rattle Kevin Durant by putting his hand up after he was at the height of his jump and the release of the ball and subsequent nailing of the 3-point game winner good defense…then what I was taught and have taught players I’ve coached is 180 from what I witnessed.

Time and again, when Durant was going up for a shot late in the game, Gallo’s hand was down, it did not come up until after the ball was released. What should have happened but didn’t and what his coach fails to address adequately is that defending a shot requires you to challenge the shooter (i.e. put a hand in his face!).

To the rest of the team, yes they play defense in spots. But they don’t box out nearly enough and were out-rebounded in every instance they lost. There is a serious lack of communication on the floor, the help gets there occasionally but for the most part opponents sneak into the paint and corral more rebounds than they should.

The Rotation

That brings me to the point of the rotation. Because it is so thin, opponents will utilize their benches more effectively and get energy players and big bodies in the game to mix it up, create opportunities for themselves and teammates, while wearing down the Knicks startes and limited bench players sent into the game.

NOTE To D’Amphoni: take a page from opposing coaches playbooks and lengthen your bench, get Randolph, Mosgov, even Curry into the game to burn up minutes use up fouls and maybe create opportunities instead of relying solely on 3-point shooting that is drying up except for the occasional hot hand.

This team has a long way to go and is currently traveling in reverse, because the starters are spent and there is no real defensive coaching presence among the coaching staff as it is currently comprised.

It’s Time To Make A Change

Walsh has to review what is there and make some changes, not only in player personnel but in the coaching staff as well. Right now they’re just window dressing and not very good dressing….

Last night’s game was terrific, referee blunders and all.

It awoke the NBA world to the New York Knicks.  The Knicks probably treated the game with a bigger sense of urgency than did the Celtics (although from the antics of Paul Pierce and Nate Robinson that is up for debate).  But that’s because they have a lot more to prove…RELEVANCE.

Madison Square Garden was rocking last night in a way it hasn’t since the most recent glory days of the ’90′s.  Not only is it refreshing to see New Yorkers caring about this franchise again, but you cannot underestimate the competitive advantage of the Knicks home court.  Simply put, the MSG crowd has the ability to be the best 6th man in the league and push this team to the next level.

Sure the Knicks depth is questionable, and their interior defense is questionable at best.  Yet all that aside, this team has Rocky Balboa-like heart.  LET’S GO KNICKS!!!

Here it is. KnicksTweeps Op-Ed #1. Big thanks to Joey Langone for kicking things off. This is a great piece by a fan coming to terms with actually feeling optimistic about the team the Knicks will put on the floor.

I can’t believe I’m going to say this but here it goes….I, Joseph Anthony Langone, am excited to watch the New York Knickerbockers play professional basketball this season.

Whew…I haven’t uttered those words in about 10 years and it feels good to be able to say it again!

The days of Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley are over, and Donnie Walsh has renewed my interest in a once proud franchise, which has been a laughing stock for the last decade (author’s note: if Isiah becomes the GM, President of Basketball Operations or anything more than a “consultant” on the other end of the telephone with James Dolan, I will renounce the New York Knicks and my allegiance will lie with the Harlem Globetrotters, because they know how to win and they’re entertaining).

The thing I’m most curious about this season is how the rotation is going to play out.  Coach Mike D’Antoni typically plays his favorites and keeps a short rotation, so it’s going to be interesting to see who indeed those favorites are.  We all know he loves Gallo, and Amar’e has a starting spot locked up, but what about the rest of the roster?

Let’s take a by-position look at the roster to assess Coach D’Antoni’s options for this freshly revamped squad.

Centers:

Eddy Curry: If you’re like me, you shudder when you say those two words out loud (more…)

Homies. We are instituting a new feature on KnicksTweets today called Knickstweeps. It’s an op-ed column for our peeps, aka you, to submit your point of view, be it a mad rant, in-depth analysis, whiny bitch-and-moan, comical anecdote, or proud personal memory. We’ll then take your piece and launch it into the blogosphere for the world (or rather NY Knick-loving folks like yourself) to read, print out and put up on their refrigerators. Just shoot your piece over to knickstweeps@knickstweets.net and we’ll let you know when we’ll use and send you a sticker or something. Heck, we’ll even spell check it for you.