Starting Five Named

[Shapecity]

Mike D'Antoni is wasting no time putting his stamp on the Knicks. Most notably, he's removed two perennial NBA starters from the first unit, as The New York Times reports:

Mike D'Antoni seems pleased with his starting lineup, which is probably bad news for Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry. Both are longtime starters who will now come off the bench. D'Antoni is starting Chris Duhon over Marbury at point guard and Zach Randolph in place of Curry at center. Asked if there were any reason to change his lineup, D'Antoni said: "No. Not that I know of."

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wonders if Marbury and Curry will even see regular playing time:

Curry and Stephon Marbury are the odd men out and it will be interesting to see if they can crack D'Antoni's eight or nine man rotation. Nate Robinson should be the first guard off the bench and D'Antoni could decide to play small which is good news for second year forward Wilson Chandler. Curry will get minutes ahead of Malik Rose but only until Jared Jeffries returns. Assuming Marbury is still on the team when the regular season begins, he will the fourth guard.

Incidentally, shooting guard Jamal Crawford, small forward Quentin Richardson and power forward David Lee round out the Knicks' starting lineup.

Source: FanNation

Cliff note version:

PG - Duhon
SG - Crawford
SF - QRich
PF - Lee
C - Randolph

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Randolph is gonna be abused by Center's. He has no vertical at all. I like Duhon starting at PG for them (to see what he can do) and Q-Rich was probably a given since he has had experience in D'Antoni's system.

 

[NJNetz]

LOL @ Curry.

I don't watch too many Knicks games, so don't bash me when I ask this, but does Curry do anything besides score once in a while? He's a terrible defender and rebounder from what I've seen, and he looks like he's about to have a heart attack each time he runs down the court.

Nate seems like D'Antoni's type of player, so him being the sixth man comes at no surprise.

It's good to see Lee start for the Knicks. He is the hardest working player on that Knicks squad, so he deserves it.

 

[Shapecity]

LOL @ Curry.

I don't watch too many Knicks games, so don't bash me when I ask this, but does Curry do anything besides score once in a while? He's a terrible defender and rebounder from what I've seen, and he looks like he's about to have a heart attack each time he runs down the court.

Nate seems like D'Antoni's type of player, so him being the sixth man comes at no surprise.

It's good to see Lee start for the Knicks. He is the hardest working player on that Knicks squad, so he deserves it.

You'll love this:

Eddy Curry can't seem to catch a break. After showing up to training camp overweight — for Curry, an annual event as dependable as the autumnal equinox — the Knicks center was hospitalized for a week by a bacterial infection, his disposition surely brightened by new coach Mike D'Antoni's quip that "throwing up is a good way to lose weight." Things didn't get any better when Curry finally arrived at practice yesterday: as he sat down on one of those giant, high-strength blue exercise balls, it promptly exploded. And as if his scraped elbow and bruised ego weren't enough, D'Antoni has apparently settled on his starting lineup, and Curry isn't in it. Instead, he'll be battling Malik Rose for the ninth spot in the rotation, and until he summons a faster, svelter version of himself, that's likely where he'll stay in D'Antoni's up-tempo offense. Like that rubber exercise ball, any hopes of Curry improving on last year's dismal season may have already burst.

Source: NYMag - Exercise Ball Explodes Under Curry

 

[Shapecity]

Randolph is gonna be abused by Center's. He has no vertical at all. I like Duhon starting at PG for them (to see what he can do) and Q-Rich was probably a given since he has had experience in D'Antoni's system.

Yeah the Knicks are going to struggle once a team slows the game down and forces them to play in the halfcourt. D'Antoni never put an emphasis on defense in Phoenix, but he did demand his players to be well conditioned able to run, run, run for 48 minutes.

I think Randolph is going to struggle the most with staying in shape.

 

[Mr. J]

I'd rather have Marbury starting. I'm not too impressed with Duhon so far.

I'd also throw Wilson Chandler over Richardson, but I can't blame D'Antoni for going with Q-Rich since he's accustomed to the system.

 

[NJNetz]

You'll love this:



Source: NYMag - Exercise Ball Explodes Under Curry

What's the deal with Curry? Is he too much of a fat guy to show up to training camp in good condition, especially knowing that D'Antoni is taking over the coaching position? Lazy bum.

 

[Jurassic]

It seems like Marbury is being benched just to prove a point. I never thought there were any problems between he and D'Antoni in Phoenix so I assume there is some understanding between them about why he is a bench player. Then again maybe coach got pressured to bench him.

I agree Duhon is more of a back-up, but a quality one, and Curry is horrible.

 

[Shapecity]

I'd rather have Marbury starting. I'm not too impressed with Duhon so far.

I'd also throw Wilson Chandler over Richardson, but I can't blame D'Antoni for going with Q-Rich since he's accustomed to the system.

Marbury is playing well off the bench in the few preseason games the Knicks played, based on the boxscore. Maybe he can function in a similar role Leandro Barbosa played under D'Antoni.

I wouldn't be surprised if Walsh builds up Marbury's stock and then trades him to a team trying to get over the hump.

 

[Mr. J]

Marbury is playing well off the bench in the few preseason games the Knicks played, based on the boxscore. Maybe he can function in a similar role Leandro Barbosa played under D'Antoni.

I wouldn't be surprised if Walsh builds up Marbury's stock and then trades him to a team trying to get over the hump.

I wouldn't mind that if they took Curry or Jeffries off our hands. But something like that would be pretty difficult to do financially.

I'd rather trade Randolph at the deadline though. Maybe Donnie can pull off something like Wally for Randolph?

EDIT: And Joker, Curry is just terrible and doesn't belong on the team.