Videos Break: One Hundred Dywane Wade Videos

There is a revised plan for posts that are "breaks" from the usual thick basketball content here. Now there will be four breaks each month instead of just three. The schedule is as follows:

--First Thursday of any month: Team Videos Break: 100 Videos of a selected team.

--Second Thursday of any month: Music Break: between one and five very carefully selected specific music videos. Sometimes there will be some text to go with these.

--Third Thursday of any month: Player Videos Break: 100 Videos of a selected player.

--Fourth Thursday of any month: Laugh Out Loud, George Karl! Break: As the name implies, we get a chuckle from any of the many shortcomings with respect to the playoff coaching of George Karl.

MUSIC VIDEO PLAYERS SUSPENDED
Note that only single music videos will be on QFTR until and unless we come up with a good solution for a major problem that recently developed. That is, the fifty music video players are suspended indefinitely due to the fact that the giant music corporations refuse to allow the videos on YouTube that they have taken some control over to play in video players. We (and you if you have a blog or site) can still, however, show individual videos on your site. So we will go back to what we did originally which is pick out and show our absolute most favorite music videos.

BASKETBALL VIDEO PLAYERS MALFUNCTIONING
The Internet itself is relatively reliable but content placed on individual pages is completely unreliable and unstable. There are many reasons many of which are because overall, there is no real quality control applied to content and there is no real cooperation between sites and tools that need to be combined to produce and show content on a particular page. This huge problem manifests itself to individual webmasters as what you could call the "here today, gone tomorrow" phenomenon. Or it could be the "Sometimes she works, sometimes she doesn’t" phenomenon.

A textbook example of this is with the QFTR basketball video players. They were working correctly just about 100% of the time until sometime early in 2011 (we don't know the exact date things broke down). As of now players loaded with 50 videos are not playing all 50 videos. They appear to be playing between 25 and 35 of the 50 videos. Between 15 and 25 videos in a player will not play.

However, you can still watch any video that won't play at QFTR. Simply click the link back to YouTube that is in the lower right corner of the player (that will be black when the video is failing to play at QFTR). The link is the YouTube icon that is in the lower right of the otherwise black player area.

QFTR is able to correct a lot of content failures of this nature simply by substituting something new that works (for awhile anyway). In this case, we can't find any comparable player that is working (which is not surprising given that there are precious few players available to begin with and also given that if we had to bet we'd wager that the problem is due to some change at YouTube rather than with any of the players).

The bottom line is that this will be an indefinite problem.

QFTR considered scrapping the basketball video players and has decided not to scrap them for the time being since technically every video can still be watched either at QFTR or YouTube

SOME VIDEOS IN "LATEST VIDEO" TYPE PLAYERS ARE GOING TO BE OFF TOPIC
Due to uploaders intentionally mislabeling videos to try to artificially jack up their view counts, some videos in any player of the "latest videos" type will be off topic. For example, you might see a video about athletic shoes in the "Latest Los Angeles Lakers Videos" player. Obviously there is nothing QFTR can do about this and seemingly little or nothing that YouTube could do about it.

FIFTY VERY POPULAR DWYANE WADE VIDEOS

iDesktop.tv

THE FIFTY LATEST DWYANE WADE VIDEOS
NOTE: Due to uploaders intentionally mislabelling videos, some videos in this group may not be Dywane Wade Videos.

iDesktop.tv

The Aftermath of the 2011 Carmelo Anthony Trade, Part Two: What the Knicks Need to do Next to Become Real Contenders

First some editorial notes that explain to you the context for what you are looking at and direct you to additional resources. To skip past this information skip past everything in italics

This Report on the Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade is divided into three parts:

PART ONE: The Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade Part One: Who Won the Trade and by How Much?

PART TWO: The Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade Part Two: What the Knicks Need to do Next to Become Real Contenders

PART THREE: The Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade Part Three: Why Did Carmelo Anthony Insist on Leaving Denver?

I am especially looking forward to producing Part Three. Although no one knows exactly except for Anthony himself and possibly a few close associates, Quest for the Ring (QFTR) is highly qualified to explain the most likely reasons.

There will also within a month or two months at the most be this Report:

"What Owners, Managers, and Coaches Should do to Keep Their Superstars"

We are debating whether to make this last one Part Four of the “Aftermath” series; we probably will have it stand on its own instead.

In another future Report (which may or may not be a part of the "Aftermath" series) QFTR will Report on the state of the Nuggets following the Carmelo Anthony trade and following any other trades they might make before the trade deadline (which is on Thursday, February 24).

As a final note, please realize that Parts One and Two were originally joined together (before we realized and corrected the “mistake”). For roughly 36 hours they were posted while combined. When they were separated, both parts were reviewed, improved, and extended. Anyone who read the original combined version might want to start over to get the advantage of the improvements and the additions. But if you did read the original version, you did already get the gist of what we are reporting.

Now let’s get to Part Two of this series…

THE AFTERMATH OF THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE PART TWO: WHAT THE KNICKS NEED TO DO NEXT TO BECOME REAL CONTENDERS
The Knicks now have their foot in the door to the Championship house (or crib for BET watchers) but they have a small and a huge problem to deal with before they can go in that house. First we’ll briefly discuss the small problem and then spend a large amount of time discussing the huge problem the Knicks still have.

THE SMALL PROBLEM AT THE POINT THAT WILL KIND OF SOON BECOME A HUGE PROBLEM
The relatively small problem the Knicks have is that at the point the Knicks have only one playoff caliber point guard and he is getting old in basketball terms. They have Chauncey Billups, who is not automatically an outstanding playmaker in the way that Deron Williams or Rajon Rondo are. In fact, Billups will not even necessarily make as many plays for you as will Raymond Felton. If however Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni and/or D’Antoni’s system have the effect of causing Billups to make more plays and to take fewer shots, then this likely problem would be for a year or two anyway a much smaller problem.

But when Billups is too old, which could be as early as next year and will be within three years at the very most, the Knicks as of now would be without a good point guard and that would completely kill their chances. So obviously, the Knicks need a new, younger, outstanding point guard to complement Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. Specifically, the Knicks have to get a playmaking point guard, even a lower scoring one.

Now if Chris Paul demands to become a Knick the way that Carmelo did, the Knicks’ offense would be pretty much locked into being the best in the NBA for who knows how many years. Deron Williams would be a great consolation prize. (Excuse me for speculating about players moving which I rarely do, but note that technically I’m not speculating about a trade but rather about yet another player conspiring to team up with other conspiratorial superstars. This is NOT speculation about trades which I always promise to almost never and hopefully never do. (I am allowed to occasionally speculate about player conspiracies as long as I don’t overdue it, laugh out loud.)

THE HUGE PROBLEM: IF THEY REALLY WANT TO WIN THE QUEST, THE KNICKS NEED TO UPGRADE DEFENSIVELY
So the Knicks now have two superstars and possibly three if you think Chauncey Billups will be able to play into “old age” in basketball terms. But the problem for the Knicks is that while Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony are superstars, they are not historical superstars (the next level up). They are not at Tim Duncan’s’ or Pau Gasol’s or Kobe Bryant’s or Kevin Garnett’s or Rajon Rondo’s level mainly but not exclusively because they are relatively poor defenders.

Therefore, the Knicks should try to get Stoudemire and Anthony up to the next higher level. Since both of them are below average defenders (which is kind of unusual for such top offensive superstars) the obvious high payoff way to get either of them up to the historical superstar level is to get them to be better defenders.

Although defending is partly energy, effort and raw athleticism, it is also partly talent and defensive intelligence, particularly when you are talking about trying to defend some of the best offensive players in the world. Neither Amare Stoudemire nor Carmelo Anthony have a great amount of defensive talent. They can get better defensively if they “try harder”, but since their talent is limited the best they can ever be defensively is about average.

I not a total expert on Stoudemire but seemingly, Stoudemire has attempted to get better defensively over the years and has improved a little but is still not a high quality defender in or near the paint. Stoudemire’s athletic talent set and his physical attributes are such that he is automatically much more valuable offensively than defensively.

That said I’m sure he could be better defensively if he was strongly coached to become so. The problem for the Knicks is that Mike D’Antoni is apparently not the guy who will ever be able to coach Amare Stoudemire to get better defensively. In other words, I hate to say this, but defensively Mike D’Antoni is one of the worst coaches Amare Stoudemire could possibly have. Hopefully the Knicks at least have an assistant coach who specializes on defense.

Carmelo Anthony has some talents and physical attributes that could theoretically produce and have actually from time to time produced a reasonably good defender, so with him it may at first appear to be simply a matter of effort. But lack of effort is only on the surface what the problem is. Actually, in pro basketball it is rare that mere lack of effort explains some lack among the best players. Almost all players who sometimes simply don’t want to put in effort to achieve something are weeded out long before they reach the NBA. For NBA players and especially for the best of them, the real reason for something being relatively lacking is not effort itself but their thinking that determines what their effort will be.

Note that I am NOT talking about “mental toughness” because that is one of those catch-all terms that many others use but that I never use because it does not really mean much of anything and it doesn’t really get at what is important. As far as I am concerned at least 98% of NBA players (and probably all but one of them, laugh out loud) are “mentally tough” enough, thank you. I am talking about actual thoughts, not about whether someone is “mentally tough” or not; God I hate that misleading and close to worthless term.

Carmelo Anthony is a textbook example of where thinking has led to reduced effort which in turn has led to sub-standard defensive performance. Carmelo clearly knows himself well and concluded a long time ago that he would never be a lock down defender, which is quite true. But Carmelo is used to being among the very best basketball players offensively and overall and it is tough for him to get motivated to put out a lot of effort in a particular basketball component only to end up being average. Since Carmelo is one of the very best offensive players in the League, since he is a very competitive person, and since he understands several of the most important principals involved in winning playoff games and Championships, it can be very difficult to keep him motivated to keep trying enough on defense to keep him up to the average level. His tendency is to reserve almost all of his big efforts for offense and to take a “whatever happens happens” attitude toward defending. So the main objective or consideration about Anthony on defense is keeping him motivated to be merely average.

This is a known “flaw” in very talented, very competitive, and smart people: they decide to put in sub-standard effort in areas where they know there is no way they are going to be among the very best or at least the best. Then they go to the ends of the earth so to speak to be the absolute very best at what they know they can be extremely good at.

Therefore, the coach of Carmelo Anthony needs to teach him that he and his team will have a substantially better chance of winning playoff games and a Championship if he is merely average defensively (as opposed to below average when he doesn’t try hard enough). Not only is it perfectly acceptable for Carmelo to be average in something, it would be great and outstanding for the Knicks if he could be just average in defending.

One final point before we leave the subject of Carmelo’s defending, since this was his big move year, he was finally fully motivated to make the kind of increased effort defensively that I have been talking about. So technically, this season Carmelo has been at the top of his game both offensively and defensively. The above discussion refers to all of the previous years when he was not as good defensively due to the factors discussed. So it is a proven fact that Carmelo can be average defensively when he wants to be.

But the obvious threat is that once Carmelo is settled into the Knicks, he will lapse back into being a well below normal defender. Further, just as D’Antoni is about the worst possible coach you could imagine for Amare Stoudemire becoming a better defender, he is also about the worst possible for getting Carmelo Anthony to keep his defending efforts up so he can be an average defender instead of well below average. Perhaps the Knicks have an assistant Coach whose responsibility it will be to see to it that Carmelo will be average defensively and to see if Stoudemire could get better? If they don’t have such an assistant coach then the Knicks are going to need a new head coach if they really want to win the Quest.

THE KNICKS NEED TO FIND AND PLAY INEXPENSIVE LOCK DOWN DEFENDERS AND YES, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO THIS
If at least one and preferably both between Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony could simply be average defenders then the Knicks still have their foot in the door for being possible real contenders to win the Quest. After this, what the Knicks need are at least two and preferably three or four good paint defenders and, among those, at least two of them should be outstanding or "lock down" defenders. We are talking about forwards and centers only here; guards are never going to be the kind of lock down paint defenders you need for the playoffs.

Exactly how many quality defensive players the Knicks needs depends on several things, among them:

--Do the Knicks get a younger, playmaking point guard or not?

--Does Mike D’Antoni come to his senses and give substantially more playing time to Ronny Turiaf or not?

--Does Reynaldo Balkman get to play or is he cheated out of playing time?

--For that matter, does Shelden Williams get to play at least a little or not?

--Can the Knicks acquire any lock down defenders or can they get their hands only on good defenders?

The more yes answers to the above, the fewer new defensive players the Knicks need. Arguably, if the answer to every single question above was yes, the Knicks could possibly need as few as one new defensive player who is merely good as opposed to lock down, and they would be serious contenders to win it all. But even if every answer is yes, they probably can not win the Quest with no additional defensive players at all.

You would be wrong if you thought that given how bad the Knicks have been in recent years, and given how obsessed with offense they are due to Coach D'Antoni, that they don't have any good paint defenders as we speak. The Knicks now have these good paint defenders:

--Reynaldo Balkman
--Ronny Turiaf
--Shelden Williams

Note that Balkman and Williams who the Knicks obtained in the trade along with Carmelo and Chauncey are better defenders than any of the players the Knicks gave up with the possible and only in the future exception of Timofey Mozgov.

Among these three and given everything that can go wrong (including D'Antoni cheating them out of minutes) let's say that the Knicks already have at least two good paint defenders. Since Balkman could be a lock down defender, let's be optimistic for a change and say that the Knicks already have one lock down defender. So approximately speaking, the Knicks need one or two more good paint defenders, at least one of which needs to be a full scale lock down paint defender.

The bottom line is that one lock down paint defender might very possibly be enough if D’Antoni voluntarily or if necessary involuntarily gives reasonable playing time to every qualified defensive specialist he has now and in the future. If on the other hand D'Antoni cheats all of the defensive specialists to one extent or another, the Knicks will never win the Quest for the Ring.

In general, if the Knicks got one or two young, inexpensive lock down or good paint defenders, and assuming there is no disaster on the playmaking front (like Billups being too old and there is no new playmaker on the roster) then the Knicks would probably be a true contender to win the Quest.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE IGNORANCE OF OTHERS REGARDING YOUNG DEFENDERS
The most well known and proven lock down defenders are invariably older veterans. But they come with very high price tags that most teams can not afford, not to mention that their existing teams are going to make it extremely difficult to get them. The objective for a team like the Knicks that is loaded with offensive talent (some of it very expensive) but is short on the defensive is to get high quality defenders on the cheap and then to make sure they get playing time (so D'Antoni may have to be read the riot act, laugh out loud). While often the old “you get what you pay for rule” stands in the way of such bargain hunting, in this case the Knicks can exploit a well known bias among many coaches and among a substantial number of managers. In other words, the Knicks, if they are serious, can indeed get two, three or even four high quality in and near the paint defenders to go along with their two defensively challenged superstars.

In fact, as already alluded to, the Knicks already have a few quality defensive players, but knowing Mike D’Antoni, all of them are going to be cheated of playing time to one extent or another.

QFTR knows that many coaches and probably a number of managers discriminate against young forwards and centers who have what appear to be (or actually are) poor offensive styles and/or poor offensive production. Sometimes they refuse to start them when they clearly should be starting. They don’t give them the playing time they deserve. In extreme cases they refuse to play them at all. Meanwhile, many veteran forwards and many veteran centers who are much more important on defense than on offense are generally not discriminated against by the very same coaches who discriminate against the younger ones. Incidentally, some of the coaches who discriminate against the defensive forwards and centers don’t discriminate against the defensive guards even though the payoff in the playoffs for a high quality defensive guard is less than the payoff you get for a high quality defensive forward.

Further, some coaches discriminate against young, great on defense but questionable on offense forwards and centers much more so than others, but it seems that a majority of coaches make the error of discriminating in this way at least some of the time. Many coaches need to learn that young forwards and centers who are almost 7 feet tall may sometimes not be the most polished offensive players ever seen, but:

--They can be very outstanding and extremely valuable defenders, even more valuable in the playoffs than in the regular season.

--They should like any other player be given the opportunity to get better offensively via experience.

--They should like any other player be worked into the offense to some extent by the coach and the point guards.

IF THE KNICKS REFUSE TO PLAY RENALDO BALKMAN THEY WILL NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT FROM QFTR; WE WILL BURY YOU IN BAD PRESS, LAUGH OUT LOUD
As already mentioned, the Knicks have a new, very outstanding and very valuable inside defender (who comes cheap): Renaldo Balkman. Most people are not going to know this since Balkman has barely played at all since 2008-09. Unfortunately, Balkman apparently has a personality, and/or a style, and/or an appearance that “turns off” coaches who allow their emotions, hunches, and/or biases to determine decisions rather than objective thinking about exactly what they really need out on the court to win games against the best teams.

George Karl is probably the ultimate basket case (sorry for the pun) when it comes to both discrimination against defensively great young forwards AND when it comes to discrimination against players with seemingly bad personalities or styles. Since Balkman fell into both of these bias categories, Karl predictably decided to really detest Balkman and to refuse to play him at all for 2009-10 and then again for 2010-11.

But the thing is, the QFTR Real Player Rating system was fully up and running back in 2008-09, and back then Balkman was new to the Nuggets and Karl had not yet decided he was going to detest Balkman, so Balkman played almost 1,000 minutes and produced a Real Player Rating in the border area between “very good player / solid starter” and “superstar” (slightly over .800). Technically it is a slur to say that Balkman is just a "defensive specialist" who can not produce offensively. Balkman in 2008-09 was not just a defensive specialist at all but was very good on offense also.

Although not quite as pleasing stylistically, and although shorter and packing less muscle, Balkman offensively reminds you of Nene, who has become essentially the most offensively efficient big man in the League. Certainly for a power forward / small forward, Balkman if given a full chance is offensively a poor man’s Nene.

The Knicks are absolute fools and idiots if Reynaldo Balkman gets very little or no playing time simply because he looks funny or just because he doesn’t have the best personality of all time or just because of some other dumb ass reason.

OTHER GREAT PAINT AND MAN TO MAN DEFENDERS THAT THE KNICKS (OR ANYONE ELSE) MIGHT BE ABLE TO OBTAIN, POSSIBLY FOR AMAZINGLY LOW HITS TO PAYROLL
How about some real life examples of players of the kind that the Knicks need? Some of the players on the list below are great more because of rebounding than defending per se, while others are great more so because of the defending and less so due to the rebounding. But all of the ones on the list are defensively great, underrated to one extent or another, and subject to being discriminated against by coaches who don’t understand the importance of this type of player. Ironically, even coaches who preach defense sometimes discriminate against this type of player.

All of the following are currently 30 years or fewer years old. When older than that they are generally harder to get, more expensive, and of course the number of years left in the career will be fewer.

The more underrated and/or the worse on offense the following players are, the cheaper they would probably be to get.

The order is alphabetical by first name.

--Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks
--Anthony Tolliver, Minnesota Timberwolves
--Caron Butler, Dallas Mavericks
--Chuck Hayes, Houston Rockets
--DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs
--Emeka Okafor, New Orleans Hornets
--Gerald Wallace, Charlotte Bobcats
--James Singleton, now playing in China
--Joel Anthony, Miami Heat
--Joey Dorsey, Toronto Raptors
--Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks
--Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
--Kosta Koufos, Minnesota Timberwolves
--Kyrylo Fesenko, Utah Jazz
--Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls
--Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
--Marcin Gortat, Phoenix Suns
--Matt Barnes, Los Angeles Lakers
--Oleksiy Pecherov, now playing in Italy
--Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz
--Reggie Evans, Toronto Raptors
--Reynaldo Balkman, New York Knicks
--Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma Thunder
--Stephen Graham, New Jersey Nets
--Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls

The Knicks don't have to try to get Reynaldo Balkman because they already have him; some things are easy after all! Did I mention already that there will be hell to pay if Balkman does not get substantial playing time?

Some of the players listed will prove impossible to get (good luck trying to get Kevin Love, for example, laugh out loud) but you can't know for sure until you creatively try to get them.

Of course, the above listing does not include every single possibility; it includes only most of the players (not all of them) who were proven to be very high quality defenders in 2009-10 and/or so far in 2010-11. Aside from proven players such as these there would be a few rookies and near rookies who might solve the Knicks’ dilemma, provided that D’Antoni is smart enough to play them, which unfortunately is debatable to say the least. Just about the worst possible coaching error I can think of would be if the Knicks obtained Ibaka but then D’Antoni refused to give him a lot of minutes.

While all of the above are just the kind of outstanding defenders the Knicks desperately need, some of them are much better than others on offense. For example, Reggie Evans and Joel Anthony are very poor on offense. On the other hand, Serge Ibaka and Al Horford are very, very good on offense. But again, the Knicks given what they already have for offense do NOT necessarily have to have a great paint defender who is also really good on offense. Assuming they get the point guard taken care of, the Knicks have so much on the offensive side that Joel Anthony or DeJuan Blair or even Reggie Evans would be important additions for the Knicks.

The ultimate prize from the above list could easily be Ibaka; he would be the best combination of extremely valuable defending, very good offensively, very young, and probably remarkably cheap. If the Knicks could somehow get Ibaka it would be a huge step toward winning the Quest right there.

As for someone that almost no one knows about, I like Joey Dorsey.

I don’t know the details but the Timberwolves seem to be experts at letting good and underrated players go so that could explain why Percherov is playing in Italy right now.

As for Josh Smith and Al Horford, they are probably the very best players on the list above and would be extremely difficult if not impossible to pry from the Atlanta Hawks since without them the Hawks could very possibly instantly go from being one of the better teams in the League to just about the worst. The Knicks would want Horford rather than Smith because Horford’s size and center position would be perfect for them. If the Knicks somehow got Horford, their starting three at the three, four, and five positions would be by far the best in the NBA not only right now but in many years.

THE VERY BEST FRANCHISES FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM REPORTING TO YOU AND THEY HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THIS ALREADY
Andrew Bynum could be on the list but the Lakers know all about what I am trying to teach you and so despite the fact that Bynum is as we speak only 23 years old they have paid him a fortune and have claimed him for probably all eternity. By contrast, the dumb teams would never dream of paying someone that young around or more than 10 million dollars a year or, for that matter, the dumb teams would not be giving someone that young major playing time. This is one reason why Phil Jackson and the Lakers win Championships while dumb teams don’t. Face facts, even if you DO have mega bucks to spend you are almost certainly NOT going to be prying Bynum from the Lakers.

Of course, in case you don’t know, Bynum along with Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Ron Artest form the “Great Wall of Los Angeles”, the relatively impenetrable defense in the playoffs of the Lakers. Just as I didn’t include Bynum on the list, it would be silly to put any of the other three on the list either, since unless hell freezes over the Lakers are not going to part with any of them.

What about the Boston Celtics? Do the Celtics have their Andrew Bynum or, in other words, do they have a young and inexpensive (or at least can be inexpensive, laugh out loud) but extremely good player who can handle defending the paint better than almost anyone in existence? In other words, do the Celtics know about what I am trying to teach you? Of course to all those questions! In fact, the Celtics actually have one young and inexpensive lock down and one young and inexpensive and near lock down paint defender, Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis respectively. For the Celtics, these are the two young players who supplement the older, far more expensive veterans who are lock down and near lock down paint defenders, namely, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. At less than five million dollars in salary, Perkins is very possibly the biggest bargain in the NBA this year.

What about the San Antonio Spurs? Their extremely good defender who they have for very little money is currently center DeJuan Blair who is in his second year and is just 21 years old. Many coaches including obviously and especially George Karl would refuse to start someone so young unless they had no warm bodies, but since Greg Popovich is one of the very best coaches in the world, of course he is very willing to start Blair at Center and does so virtually or literally every single game. (Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers likewise have no problem starting Bynum and Perkins respectively).

Any coach who refuses to start a very young player (defensive or otherwise) who is better than all the older players at the position, just because of the age, is an idiot for overestimating the disadvantages of youth, including Scott Brooks if he refuses to start Serge Ibaka this year.

I could give one or two more examples but I assume you must have gotten the message by now and that you must by now see the pattern. The very best pro franchises and teams all have at least one young (often very young) but very outstanding defender who is a forward or center and who can defend the paint extremely well. A good offense is icing on the cake but is not absolutely required. The best franchises often but not always have these players for cheap simply because they are young. And the very best teams actually play those players instead of parking them on the bench due to stupidity or due to old superstitions about young players.

Young players need more years experience to be great offensively than to be great defensively. Teams which need defenders need to take advantage of that knowledge. And always remember that defending the paint very well has a huge payoff in playoff games.

Meanwhile, most of the also ran, dumber teams will continue to year in and year out discriminate against young players and they also will year in and year out tend to discriminate against forwards and centers who are extremely good defenders but who are not good on offense and/or they have styles or personalities that are not likable.

The Knicks need to go out and get at least one and preferably two players of the type we have been discussing. In other words, the Knicks need to join the smart, elite teams and to leave the also ran, dumb teams behind.

The Aftermath of the 2011 Carmelo Anthony Trade, Part One: Who Won the Trade and by how Much?

First some editorial notes that explain to you the context for what you are looking at and direct you to additional resources. To skip past this information skip past everything in italics.

Since I am trying hard to keep Reports wherever possible under 2,400 words (which is already roughly three times as long as the short essays on basketball you often see on the Internet). But major Reports can not possibly be kept under 2,400 words and will sometimes be as long as 5,000 words. Part Two in the present series is about 4,500 words and Part Three will probably be at least 3,000 words.

But let me step back for a second; what exactly is a “Report Series”? It’s a series which has a mega or major theme where the individual Reports in it have important individual sub themes that when combined together cover the major theme. Years ago (before we realized it was crazy, laugh out loud) QFTR reserved the right to post 8,000 or 10,000 words in one Report if a mega or major theme was being covered. Today we identify the most important sub themes in a mega theme, post separate Reports for each of the important sub themes, and tie them all together by using the same phrase for the first part of all the titles in the series but then by using different last parts and different part numbers for the titles of the different parts. Onward, editorial progress!

But we don’t even today chop content up just to follow an arbitrary word limit. QFTR can not promise that all Reports will be under 3,000 words or under any other arbitrary limit. Any Report including ones that are parts of mega theme series will be as long as necessary to cover and prove all of the important things in the theme. With some Reports you can chop them up without losing explanation power, so to speak, but with some of them if you chop them up the two standing separately are much weaker compared to if the material is combined into one Report. Part Two of this series, which is more than 4,500 words, is a good example; we considered chopping it in two and then wisely refused to do it.

This Report on the Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade is divided into three parts:

PART ONE: "The Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade Part One: Who Won the Trade and by How Much?"

PART TWO: "The Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade Part Two: What the Knicks Need to do Next to Become Real Contenders"

PART THREE: "The Aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony Trade Part Three: Why Did Carmelo Anthony Insist on Leaving Denver?"

I am especially looking forward to producing Part Three. Although no one knows exactly except for Anthony himself and possibly a few close associates, Quest for the Ring (QFTR) is highly qualified to explain the most likely reasons.

There will also within a month or two months at the most be this one:

"What Owners, Managers, and Coaches Should do to Keep Their Superstars"

We are debating whether to make this last one Part Four of the “Aftermath” series; we probably will have it stand on its own instead.

In another future Report (which may or may not be a part of the "Aftermath" series) QFTR will Report on the state of the Nuggets following the Carmelo Anthony trade and following any other trades they might make before the trade deadline (which is on Thursday, February 24).

As a final note, please realize that Parts One and Two were originally joined together (before we realized and corrected the “mistake”). For roughly 36 hours they were posted while combined. When they were separated, both parts were reviewed, improved, and extended. Anyone who read the original combined version might want to start over to get the advantage of the improvements and the additions. But if you did read the original version, you did get the gist of what we are reporting.

Now let’s get to Part One of this series…

DID THE KNICKS OVERPAY FOR CARMELO ANTHONY?
It was reported on the Internet (where there are all kinds of garbage reports to be honest) that many Knicks fans think that the Knicks overpaid for Carmelo Anthony. Assuming that is really true (which it probably isn't if all Knicks fans were surveyed) let's dispel that false belief first off.

Most definitely, the Knicks did not overpay for what they got in the trade from Denver (and from Minnesota). The worst possible interpretation from a Knicks point of view is that the Knicks neither gained nor lost from the trade. But that most pessimistic and cynical possible viewpoint is based on the assumption that the Knicks’ objective is set on low rather than on high. That is, if the Knicks’ objective is to just quietly win 40 or 50 games year in and year out and never win 55 or 60 and actually be a real contender to win the Quest then you could possibly argue that the Knicks-Nuggets trade is a wash for the Knicks. In order to do so you must believe that Chauncey Billups will be too old to be of much value very soon, within months.

I would argue that the Knicks got the better deal even assuming the Knicks just want to quietly and conservatively win 40-50 games a year and never be real contenders, but I would not laugh someone out of the room if they argued that the trade was a wash if the Knicks have no interest in really trying to win the Quest.

On the other hand, those who claim that the Knicks overpaid in the trade are most definitely completely wrong regardless of whether their objective is for the Knicks to win 40-50 games every year (and then lose in the first round) or whether their objective is for the Knicks to be serious contenders. The Nuggets may not be one of the better managed teams in the NBA, and they are not despite the fact they had really good managers in recent years who were, however, fired. But the owner of the Nuggets, Stanley Kroenke, is very, very rich from business dealings, which means at the least that he is not a complete fool, and there was no way that he was going to be left “holding the bag”, ending up with nothing at all for Carmelo Anthony. As they say in the hood, Kroenke was never going to “go down like that”. While Kroenke clearly lost out in the trade, which was inevitable given all of Kroenke's previous mistakes, the loss could have been worse and would have been a total catastrophe if the Nuggets had gotten nothing for Anthony.

For more information about Kroenke and for specifics about the Nuggets in the current year, see especially the three-part series called How and why the Nuggets are on the Brink of Disaster. You can also browse the Report title lists or do a search using any of the Google custom search boxes scattered around the home page.

Looking at who the Knicks gave up, Danilo Gallinari is at best a very slightly above average small forward which means overall he is a below average player. Wilson Chandler, who is another small forward, is only a little better than Gallinari and is at best a solid and a slightly above average player overall. Timofey Mozgov is practically worthless on offense and has only partially proven himself defensively so far; players like him are often and correctly called “projects”.

The Knicks biggest give up was Point Guard Raymond Felton, who judged by point guard standards is at least a very good solid starter, and the odds are he will be a star point guard in the NBA (if given the opportunity) in the next few years. But as of now it does not look like Felton is ever going to be a superstar. Felton is as of right now the sort of player who is good enough to be a lot of help in winning some first round playoff games but who is not quite good enough to be a major factor in a Conference Final or in a Championship series.

D’Antoni is one of the best point guard coaches in existence and Felton really was helped by D’Antoni. Now, however, Felton falls under the control of one of the worst point guard coaches in existence: George Karl. Knowing him, Karl’s first act will be to (secretly) decide that Felton will never start over Ty Lawson regardless of whether Felton is better at point guard than Lawson or not. Ty Lawson has a personality to die for, laugh out loud.

Aside from these four players, Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, and Mozgov, the Knicks gave up 3 million dollars which is essentially a token amount of money. And they gave up two second round draft picks which are little more than two more tokens. And they gave up their 2014 first round pick, which under Knicks’ plans to be a major winning team in that year won’t be very much more valuable than an early 2nd round pick.

Only early to at best mid first round picks are truly valuable; late first round and all second round picks most often end up being only a little more valuable down the road compared to just picking up players off waivers. In general, trying to get players who have fled to Europe or China is probably even more valuable. But at the same time remember that teams who respect and who know how to coach young players have a lot more success with later draft picks than the teams that discriminate against and/or that don’t know how to coach young players.

In exchange for Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, and Mozgov, the Knicks obtained from Denver Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Reynaldo Balkman, and Sheldon Williams. The Knicks also obtained Corey Brewer from Minnesota.

Carmelo Anthony is a superstar and possibly an historical superstar as long as he doesn’t let his defending lapse which he will automatically do unless coached correctly. When he is a poor defender, Carmelo Anthony is merely a star player overall, although by small forward standards he is a superstar even while playing lousy defensively. This May Anthony is 27 years old which is absolute prime age for pro basketball: the Knicks get Carmelo Anthony for what should be his absolute best years.

Chauncey Billups is a superstar player but (1) He would be better and possibly an historical superstar if he would make more plays and fewer shots and (2) by point guard standards he is not only not a superstar but only barely a star (the next category down from star is “very good player / solid starter”). And (3) Billups will be 35 years old this September which means that his career is over within about the next three years.

Reynaldo Balkman is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He’s young and has been extensively cheated out of playing time so far. In Part Two of this series Balkman is extensively discussed.

Shelden Williams, 27 years old, is a defensive specialist who will produce little on offense although like any player will produce more on offense if he is part of a good offense that is slightly organized, as QFTR likes to say. He is not the best defensive specialist you will ever see but certainly not the most lame either. While the best defensive specialists rebound well AND defend well, the ordinary everyday ones usually are limited to just doing one or the other. Williams is much more of a very good rebounder than a very good defender per se. His foul rate is at the high end and his block rate is on the low end.

Corey Brewer is 25 years old and is currently an average 2-guard but will probably get better.

So in conclusion, whether or not you want to be in the running to win the Quest by obtaining superstars (which is mandatory) the Knicks definitely did not overpay for Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Reynaldo Balkman, Sheldon Williams, and Corey Brewer. Balkman and Williams are actually slightly better than Gallinari and Chandler. All things considered, Felton is more valuable than Chauncey Billups when you factor in age but not as valuable as Carmelo Anthony (and that’s probably an understatement). Plus as a bonus so to speak the Knicks picked up a decent young 2-guard, Corey Brewer.

By the way, as a general rule of thumb, a big majority of trades over the years have been won in basketball terms by the team that has given up draft picks and/or money. This one was no exception; the Knicks gave up three draft picks and $3 million, which signals correctly that the Knicks won the trade in basketball terms.

The Knicks “won the trade” by a moderate amount. Despite the fact that there are dumb franchises and managers around, it is relatively rare to “make a killing” in a trade. In the real world, teams only rarely will win a trade by more than the Knicks won this one. Money doesn't grow on trees and good things very seldom if ever come on silver platters.

THE RISK INVOLVED WHEN YOU SERIOUSLY TRY TO WIN THE QUEST
Unfortunately, there is a risk you take when you seriously try to win the Quest, although I personally think the risk should be ignored. You have to risk becoming a team that can’t even win 40 games in order to create the possibility that you could win 55 or 60 or more and then win The Quest for the Ring. I say “unfortunately there is a risk” to signal that I am a risk-averse type of guy and also to signal that I wish basketball (and the rest of the world) was perfect rather than imperfect. I wish it wasn’t true that teams risk becoming major losing teams (within a few years, not immediately) when they go all out to try to win it all, but there is some risk of that.

While I know that the risk of becoming one of the worst teams goes up for teams that go all out to try to get the superstars and other pieces they need to be serious contenders, risk does not automatically mean that it will happen. Only a subset of the teams that go all out to try to win the Quest but never win it suffer the penalty of becoming one of the worst teams. Many teams that make valid attempts to win the Quest by getting the superstars that gets their foot in the door, but fail to win it, merely drop back to being 35 or 45 win teams, which is almost exactly where they might be had they never tried to win it all.

If there are very smart managers, coaches, and owners involved, the risk is much lower

But if your objective is to create the possibility that the Knicks could be a real contender assuming they did one or more additional key transactions and made one or more management and/or coaching changes then the Knicks underpaid for Carmelo Anthony. Without any superstars it is essentially impossible to win the Quest for the Ring even if you have the smartest and best Coach and even if you have solid starters (who are not, however, superstars) and even if you have the best non-starters in the entire NBA. You could probably have everything you could possibly wish for but still never win the Quest without at least two superstars or rock bottom minimum one major historical superstar.

The Denver Nuggets and The New York Knicks After the Carmelo Anthony Trade

Quest for the Ring (QFTR) interrupts regularly scheduled activities to report on the big trade involving the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks. I am doing so not because I am just another naive person who is obsessed with trades (most of which never happen and even when a trade finally happens it virtually never guarantees a Championship). No, instead of being in that rut I am doing this because I have been specializing in the Nuggets in general and in Carmelo Anthony in particular for years and I need the information in this Report for my own purposes.

By the way, that I am definitely NOT like seemingly everyone else obsessed with trades is proven once and for all by the fact that I never once over the last several months speculated about what the Carmelo Anthony trade would end up looking like during all the months that many other basketball writers and commenters were speculating morning, noon, and night about that ultimately unimportant topic.

Always remember, if you are obsessed with speculating about trades, most of which never happen:

--You won't be able to satisfy your obsession at QFTR because we almost never speculate about trades.
--Most of your time spent doing this is wasted time.

QFTR just reported out yesterday what the New York Knicks' Real Player Ratings (RPRs) were just before the trade. About ten days ago QFTR posted the latest RPRs for the Denver Nuggets for 2010-11. Now in this Report we'll look at how the teams look following the trade. The format is the same as for an ordinary RPR Report, except that I have added in the player positions so you and I can instantly see which positions New York and Denver are now weak and strong in.

After this, QFTR will produce a text Report on the trade. In that Report I will attempt to but the odds are I will only partially succeed in keeping my gloating and my "told you so's" to a minimum.

In this soon to come text Report we'll review what is known about why Carmelo Anthony demanded a trade, we'll take a close look at both the Knicks and the Nuggets post trade (making extensive use of the information in this Report) and we'll explain why the Knicks will almost certainly never win a Championship unless they get a new Coach AND unless either Amare Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony play better defense (preferably both of them).

So let's proceed right now with the Real Player Rating breakdowns for the Knicks and then for the Nuggets following the trade:


NEW YORK KNICKS REAL PLAYER RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
as of February 22, 2011
Congratulations and respect are due to CARMELO ANTHONY who leads the Knicks in quality basketball so far in 2010-11.

Congratulations and respect are due to AMARE STOUDEMIRE who has produced more than any other player on the Knicks so far in 2010-11.

KEY PLAYERS--ABOVE AVERAGE IN THE NBA
MAJOR HISTORIC SUPER STARS
None

HISTORIC SUPER STARS
None

SUPER STARS
CARMELO ANTHONY (SF)
AMARE STOUDEMIRE (PF)

STARS--WELL ABOVE NORMAL STARTERS
Chauncey Billups (PG)
Toney Douglas (PG)
Ronny Turiaf (C)

VERY GOOD PLAYERS--SOLID STARTERS
None

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS--GOOD ENOUGH TO START
Landry Fields (SG)
Bill Walker (SF)

AVAILABLE PLAYERS
KEY (ABOVE AVERAGE) PLAYERS DEFINITELY NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS
None at this time.

TOTAL NUMBER OF ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYERS AVAILABLE AS OF NOW FOR THE PLAYOFFS: 7

BEST BY SIDE OF COURT
BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER
Chauncey Billups (PG)

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER
Ronny Turiaf (C)

NEW YORK KNICKS REAL PLAYER RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players
--The hidden defending adjustment, which is necessary for a full evaluation of defense, is included for all players rated
--After the ratings the positions are shown. PG means point guard, SG means shooting guard, SF means small forward, PF means power forward, and C means center.

Carmelo Anthony 0.964 SF
Amare Stoudemire 0.951 PF
Chauncey Billups 0.881 PG
Toney Douglas 0.854 PG
Ronny Turiaf 0.846 C
Landry Fields 0.732 SG
Bill Walker 0.722 SF
Shelden Williams 0.698 PF
Shawne Williams 0.637 SF
Corey Brewer 0.617 SG

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player and less 0.399

CHECK HOW GOOD THE KNICKS ARE POSITION BY POSITION
When both the ratings and positions are shown in one place as they are above, you can pretty easily see where the team is strong and where it is not. But you need one other thing to be able to know exactly how good or bad a team is at a position: you need to know what the average rating is for the position. The following will give you that information.

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

HOW TO EVALUATE TEAMS AT POSITIONS
1. Find what the average rating is for that position (see just above).
2. Go back to the ratings (above) and look for the players at that position.
3. See where those players rate in comparison with the average rating for the position.
4. Also, compare two or more teams position by position. In this Report, you can easily compare the Knicks and the Nuggets.

Looking at the bigger and all-important picture, a big majority of teams have at least one player at least a little above average at each position. The very best teams have at least one player above average at every single position, plus they feature players way above the position averages at two or three positions.

PLAYOFF GRADE PLAYERS
Playoff Grade Players have ratings of .560 and higher. Players with ratings below .560 should not play in the playoffs unless the team is forced to play them so that they have two players at a position and/or so that the team has at least eight players playing in the playoffs and/or because the coach is absolutely certain the low rating player will play better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. The greatest Championship teams will generally not have any players with a rating below .600 playing.

NEW YORK KNICKS REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real basketball production of players
--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown

Amare Stoudemire 1854.24
Carmelo Anthony 1457.13
Chauncey Billups 1292.87
Landry Fields 1287.84
Toney Douglas 1012.20
Corey Brewer 743.41
Ronny Turiaf 674.37
Shelden Williams 494.26
Shawne Williams 409.55
Bill Walker 369.52

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS ===============

NEW YORK KNICKS OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players' offense

Chauncey Billups 0.596 PG
Amare Stoudemire 0.592 PF
Carmelo Anthony 0.538 SF
Toney Douglas 0.423 PG
Ronny Turiaf 0.375 C
Landry Fields 0.360 SG
Shawne Williams 0.336 SF
Bill Walker 0.294 SF
Shelden Williams 0.264 PF
Corey Brewer 0.254 SG

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

NEW YORK KNICKS DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players' defending
--The hidden defending adjustment, which is necessary for a full evaluation of defense, is included for all players rated

Ronny Turiaf 0.471 C
Shelden Williams 0.434 PF
Toney Douglas 0.431 PG
Bill Walker 0.428 SF
Carmelo Anthony 0.426 SF
Landry Fields 0.372 SG
Corey Brewer 0.363 SG
Amare Stoudemire 0.359 PF
Shawne Williams 0.301 SF
Chauncey Billups 0.284 PG

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

=======================================

DENVER NUGGETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
as of February 22, 2011
Congratulations and respect are due to NENE who leads the Nuggets in quality basketball so far in 2010-11.

Congratulations and respect are due to RAYMOND FELTON who has produced more than any other player on the Nuggets so far in 2010-11.

KEY PLAYERS--ABOVE AVERAGE IN THE NBA
MAJOR HISTORIC SUPER STARS
None

HISTORIC SUPER STARS
None

SUPER STARS
NENE (C)

STARS--WELL ABOVE NORMAL STARTERS
Raymond Felton (PG)

VERY GOOD PLAYERS--SOLID STARTERS
Kenyon Martin (PF)
Wilson Chandler (SF)

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS--GOOD ENOUGH TO START
Chris Andersen (C)
J.R. Smith (SG)
Ty Lawson (PG)

AVAILABLE PLAYERS
KEY (ABOVE AVERAGE) PLAYERS DEFINITELY NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS

TOTAL NUMBER OF ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYERS AVAILABLE AS OF NOW FOR THE PLAYOFFS: 7

BEST BY SIDE OF COURT
BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER
Raymond Felton (PG)

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER
Chris Andersen (C)

DENVER NUGGETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Milwaukee Bucks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players
--The hidden defending adjustment, which is necessary for a full evaluation of defense, is included for all players rated

Nene Hilario 0.980 C
Raymond Felton 0.868 PG
Kenyon Martin 0.800 PF
Wilson Chandler 0.760 SF
Chris Andersen 0.759 C
J.R. Smith 0.758 SG
Ty Lawson 0.701 PG
Arron Afflalo 0.674 SG
Danilo Gallinari 0.659 SF
Al Harrington 0.629 PF
Timofey Mozgov 0.538 C
Gary Forbes 0.448 SF
Melvin Ely 0.440 C

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player and less 0.399

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. In pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. (Some teams will have a different pattern.) The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

CHECK HOW GOOD THE NUGGETS ARE POSITION BY POSITION
When both the ratings and positions are shown in one place as they are above, you can pretty easily see where the team is strong and where it is not. But you need one other thing to be able to know exactly how good or bad a team is at a position: you need to know what the average rating is for the position. The following will give you that information.

HOW TO EVALUATE TEAMS AT POSITIONS
1. Find what the average rating is for that position (see just above).
2. Go back to the ratings (above) and look for the players at that position.
3. See where those players rate in comparison with the average rating for the position.
4. Also, compare two or more teams position by position. In this Report, you can easily compare the Knicks and the Nuggets.

Looking at the bigger and all-important picture, a big majority of teams have at least one player at least a little above average at each position. The very best teams have at least one player above average at every single position, plus they feature players way above the position averages at two or three positions.

PLAYOFF GRADE PLAYERS
Playoff Grade Players have ratings of .560 and higher. Players with ratings below .560 should not play in the playoffs unless the team is forced to play them so that they have two players at a position and/or so that the team has at least eight players playing in the playoffs and/or because the coach is absolutely certain the low rating player will play better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. The greatest Championship teams will generally not have any players with a rating below .600 playing.

DENVER NUGGETS REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Milwaukee Bucks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real basketball production of players
--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown

Raymond Felton 1800.85
Nene Hilario 1353.95
Wilson Chandler 1336.01
Arron Afflalo 1186.79
Danilo Gallinari 1100.63
J.R. Smith 872.88
Ty Lawson 816.26
Al Harrington 708.06
Kenyon Martin 317.69
Timofey Mozgov 246.53
Chris Andersen 245.88
Gary Forbes 225.28
Melvin Ely 150.16

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS ===============

DENVER NUGGETS OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Milwaukee Bucks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players' offense

Raymond Felton 0.638 PG
Ty Lawson 0.584 PG
Nene Hilario 0.559 C
Danilo Gallinari 0.445 SF
Wilson Chandler 0.435 SF
Arron Afflalo 0.430 SG
J.R. Smith 0.418 SG
Al Harrington 0.363 PF
Kenyon Martin 0.336 PF
Gary Forbes 0.329 SF
Timofey Mozgov 0.215 C
Melvin Ely 0.214 C
Chris Andersen 0.202 C

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

DENVER NUGGETS DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS AFTER THE CARMELO ANTHONY TRADE
--As of February 22, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Milwaukee Bucks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players' defending
--The hidden defending adjustment, which is necessary for a full evaluation of defense, is included for all players rated

Chris Andersen 0.557 C
Kenyon Martin 0.464 PF
Nene Hilario 0.421 C
J.R. Smith 0.340 SG
Wilson Chandler 0.324 SF
Timofey Mozgov 0.323 C
Al Harrington 0.265 PF
Arron Afflalo 0.244 SG
Raymond Felton 0.230 PG
Melvin Ely 0.227 C
Danilo Gallinari 0.214 SF
Gary Forbes 0.119 SF
Ty Lawson 0.118 PG

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
For complete details regarding how the Real Player Ratings are designed, how and why they work, and how exactly you can use them, see the User Guide. The User Guide for Real Player Ratings is a necessary reference for anyone who wants to truly understand the value of, the validity of, and the ways you can use the Real Player Rating performance measures.

Also, you should become a regular visitor to Quest for the Ring if you want to get the full advantage of reading and using Real Player Ratings Series performance measures. The more you visit and check out ratings, the more quickly and easily you will be able to evaluate what you are seeing.

ABOUT TEAM REAL PLAYER RATING REPORTS
During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first calculate the hidden defending adjustments) Quest for the Ring (QFTR) posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. At the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin, we post the final ratings for the four teams in those finals. The final ratings for those final four teams can then be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

After the playoffs are over QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards.

The User Guide for Real Player Ratings was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed between February 20 and March 15, 2011. The current User Guide is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components. There are links to the current User Guide at the bottom of this Report.

New York Knicks Real Player Ratings as of February 21, 2011

This Report shows what the New York Knicks' Real Player Ratings were just before they obtained Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets in a multi-player trade.

Next, I'll produce another Real Player Ratings Report that will show how the Knicks look after the trade. Third, I'll produce a text Report on the trade. Fourth, I will attempt to and only partially succeed in keeping my gloating and my "told you so's" to a minimum in that Report and in future ones. Fifth, I'll wish the Nuggets a fond farewell and resolve never to write another Report about them.

Wait a second, getting realistic here, I am probably just dreaming on the fifth one because even now I'll probably still every once in a while do a Nuggets Report. I'm like a dog loyal to where I was a puppy, remember? And even though Carmelo Anthony and Renaldo Balkman have been freed from the Nuggets' Dungeon and from the clutches of Warden George Karl, J.R. Smith is still down in that dungeon behind enemy lines. I've been writing a lot about that strange and misunderstood player (who could have been a major star if the coaching had been there) since Quest for the Ring started, and I learned a lot in the process.

NEW YORK KNICKS REAL PLAYER RATINGS
as of February 21, 2011
Congratulations and respect are due to AMARE STOUDEMIRE who leads the Knicks in quality basketball so far in 2010-11.

Congratulations and respect are due to AMARE STOUDEMIRE who has produced more than any other player on the Knicks so far in 2010-11.

KEY PLAYERS (above the NBA average)
MAJOR HISTORIC SUPER STARS
None

HISTORIC SUPER STARS
None

SUPER STARS
AMARE STOUDEMIRE

STARS--WELL ABOVE NORMAL STARTERS
Raymond Felton
Toney Douglas
Ronny Turiaf

VERY GOOD PLAYERS--SOLID STARTERS
Wilson Chandler

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS--GOOD ENOUGH TO START
Landry Fields
Bill Walker

AVAILABLE PLAYERS
KEY (ABOVE AVERAGE) PLAYERS DEFINITELY NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS
Raymond Felton (traded)
Wilson Chandler (traded)

TOTAL NUMBER OF ABOVE AVERAGE PLAYERS AVAILABLE AS OF NOW FOR THE PLAYOFFS: 5

BEST BY SIDE OF COURT
BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER
Raymond Felton

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER
Ronny Turiaf

NEW YORK KNICKS REAL PLAYER RATINGS
--As of February 21, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included.
--Shows the real quality of players.
--The hidden defending adjustment, which is necessary for a full evaluation of defense, is included for all players rated.

Amare Stoudemire 0.951
Raymond Felton 0.868
Toney Douglas 0.854
Ronny Turiaf 0.846
Wilson Chandler 0.760
Landry Fields 0.732
Bill Walker 0.722
Danilo Gallinari 0.659
Shawne Williams 0.637
Timofey Mozgov 0.538

SCALE FOR REGULAR SEASON REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player for all Practical Purposes / Major Historic Super Star 1.100 and more
Historic Super Star 1.000 1.099
Super Star 0.900 0.999
A Star Player / A well above normal starter 0.820 0.899
Very Good Player / A solid starter 0.760 0.819
Major Role Player / Good enough to start 0.700 0.759
Good Role Player / Often a good 6th man, can possibly start 0.640 0.699
Satisfactory Role Player / Generally should not start 0.580 0.639
Marginal Role Player / Should not start except in an emergency 0.520 0.579
Poor Player / Should never start 0.460 0.519
Very Poor Player 0.400 0.459
Extremely Poor Player and less 0.399

AVERAGE RATINGS BY POSITION
Not all positions are created equal. Generally, in pro basketball, point guard and center are the most important positions, power forward is in the middle, and small forward and shooting guard are the least important. Some teams however will have a different ordering by position.

The following are good estimates for average ratings by position among all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more. There are very few small forwards and shooting guards who don't fit at other positions who are superstars. Most superstars (RPR of .900 or higher) are players who can play point guard, power forward, or center. Most shooting guards who are superstars are actually "combo guards" who are in reality covering the point guard position at the same time they are officially playing shooting guard. Superstar small forwards are even more rare even though there are many possible ways for them to rise above the usual limitations of the position and be superstars.

Point Guard .750
Shooting Guard .635
Small Forward .645
Power Forward .715
Center .755
All Positions / All Players (NBA Overall Average) .700

PLAYOFF GRADE PLAYERS
Playoff Grade Players have ratings of .560 and higher. Players with ratings below .560 should not play in the playoffs unless the team is forced to play them so that they have two players at a position and/or so that the team has at least eight players playing in the playoffs and/or because the coach is absolutely certain the low rating player will play better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. The greatest Championship teams will generally not have any players with a rating below .600 playing.

NEW YORK KNICKS REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
--As of February 21, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real basketball production of players
--An estimate of the value of hidden defending production is included in the total production for all players shown

Amare Stoudemire 1854.24
Raymond Felton 1800.85
Wilson Chandler 1336.01
Landry Fields 1287.84
Danilo Gallinari 1100.63
Toney Douglas 1012.20
Ronny Turiaf 674.37
Shawne Williams 409.55
Bill Walker 369.52
Timofey Mozgov 246.53

=============== OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS ===============

NEW YORK KNICKS OFFENSIVE SUB RATINGS
--As of February 21, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players' offense

Raymond Felton 0.638
Amare Stoudemire 0.592
Danilo Gallinari 0.445
Wilson Chandler 0.435
Toney Douglas 0.423
Ronny Turiaf 0.375
Landry Fields 0.360
Shawne Williams 0.336
Bill Walker 0.294
Timofey Mozgov 0.215

THE AVERAGE OFFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .385

NEW YORK KNICKS DEFENSIVE SUB RATINGS
--As of February 21, 2011 (includes all games through the Feb. 16 game against the Atlanta Hawks)
--All players who have played 300 minutes or more are included
--Shows the real quality of players' defending
--The hidden defending adjustment, which is necessary for a full evaluation of defense, is included for all players rated

Ronny Turiaf 0.471
Toney Douglas 0.431
Bill Walker 0.428
Landry Fields 0.372
Amare Stoudemire 0.359
Wilson Chandler 0.324
Timofey Mozgov 0.323
Shawne Williams 0.301
Raymond Felton 0.230
Danilo Gallinari 0.214

THE AVERAGE DEFENSIVE SUB RATING
for all NBA players who play 300 minutes or more is about .315

The breakdown between hidden and unhidden defending is available on request.

THE ALL IMPORTANT, AWARD WINNING REAL PLAYER RATINGS USER GUIDE
For complete details regarding how the Real Player Ratings are designed, how and why they work, and how exactly you can use them, see the User Guide. The User Guide for Real Player Ratings is a necessary reference for anyone who wants to truly understand the value of, the validity of, and the ways you can use the Real Player Rating performance measures.

Also, you should become a regular visitor to Quest for the Ring if you want to get the full advantage of reading and using Real Player Ratings Series performance measures. The more you visit and check out ratings, the more quickly and easily you will be able to evaluate what you are seeing.

ABOUT TEAM REAL PLAYER RATING REPORTS
During the regular season beginning in late January (when we can first calculate the hidden defending adjustments) Quest for the Ring (QFTR) posts Team Real Player Ratings for major contending teams and other selected teams as time permits. At the end of the regular season and before the Conference Finals begin, we post the final ratings for the four teams in those finals. The final ratings for those final four teams can then be used in team grids that are very important parts of any playoff series preview.

After the playoffs are over QFTR has enough time to produce and publish a final Real Player Ratings Report for all thirty NBA teams. These annual records of who was really the best and who really did what are scheduled to be posted in late June and in early July. They are posted in alphabetic order by team starting with the Atlanta Hawks and ending with the Washington Wizards.

The User Guide for Real Player Ratings was last revised and updated in May 2010; a new revision is "on order" and is expected to be completed between February 20 and March 15, 2011. The current User Guide is still very useful; the only section of it that is not completely accurate is the one where the specific factors are shown; the factors have been adjusted a little to reflect the latest information and understanding QFTR has about exactly how playoff games are won. There has also been a significant improvement in the calibration and validation of Real Player Ratings components. There are links to the current User Guide at the bottom of this Report.