I spent part of the weekend attending the Sloan Analytics Conference, and I'm excited to share some of my thoughts on that in a succeeding post -- that was the happy part of the weekend. Getting caught up with two more Knick losses (Raptors, Nets) wasn't so happy, though they reaffirmed more of the usual, especially since the trade. This is not a Knick team that is designed to win, or even compete very effectively, without a lot of things falling into place (like injuries to the other team). Any reasonably healthy and rested group of players (and that includes the Nets) is going to have a field day with this Knick roster.

It's to be expected that the defense, already shaky pre-trade, would suffer with the trade of Jeffries, Hill and Hughes (and the benching of Duhon); the current configuration of players is in the unenviable position of being versatile enough to defend every position on the floor poorly. The loss of Jeffries, especially, has really hurt the perimeter defense, and say what you want about Duhon and Hughes, but they could keep their men in front of them and communicated on assignments. Some of the defensive dropoff has been mitigated slightly by an increase in pace, with House and Rodriguez in particular pushing the ball and shooting quickly, but it's not been enough.

The post-trade lineups, especially those with House and Rodriguez playing together, have been a travesty defensively, never more evident than in the most recent games, where Jarret Jack, Jose Calderon, Sonny Weems (!) and Devin Harris abused the Knick guards/wings endlessly. Jeffries couldn't always keep quick guards in front of him, but his length at least disrupted their vision, and he had a very good nose for where the ball was going after a pass and provided very good help. The current Knick defense is a throwback to the start of the season, featuring lots of switching, and either slow rotations to shooters, or anemic resistance inside when the ball finds it way into the paint.

Lee and Harrington have to shoulder their share of the blame for the much publicized lack of interior defense, but the weak perimeter pressure and the ability of opposing guards to get open 15 foot jumpers, dribble into the lane, and/or deliver passes inside with no resistance, makes it tough on the Knicks responsible for protecting the basket. The Knick defense has been giving up between 110 and 120 points per 100 possessions in recent games, and they're headed for last in the league in defensive efficiency at their current pace.

The odd assortment of pieces on the Knicks -- looked at a certain way -- gives D'Antoni the opportunity to be creative in a mad-scientist manner, given the profliferation of wing type players. Chandler, Walker, Gallinari, Harrington, McGrady and even Bender all play like small forwards or big guards. Unfortunately, they get placed in roles that highlight their deficiencies, whether it's Chandler having to defend power forwards, Harrington having to be a center, or Gallinari/Bender having to defend combo guards. This was most painfully evident in the second quarter of Saturday's Nets game, where foul trouble on Lee and Gallo forced D'Antoni to play a lineup of McGrady-Walker-Harrington-Chandler-Bender. This lineup couldn't guard the 3 point line, had difficulty with Lopez inside, and had little flow offensively, giving up the lead and control of the game to the Nets for good.

The point guard position remains the weak link, creative lineups and positional fluidity be damned. Using McGrady at the point sort of works when he's feeling good and rested, as he did for the Piston game and parts of the Raptor loss on Friday. He plays a solid two man game with Lee and is terrific at seeing over the defense to find cutters in the blink of an eye, but a lot of his effectiveness is predicated on the threat of his own offense. When his jumpshot isn't falling and he isn't able to use his guile to penetrate or post-up, he's not very effective. Defensively, T-Mac ranges from passable to indifferent, again based on how his body feels; I get the sense he cares about defense, but just can't push his body to cooperate all the time, leaving him looking helpless and apathetic on certain nights (especially the second night of back to backs).

Sergio is a more conventional point guard and no better an alternative, as he only seems to operate at one speed. He had his first decent game in a while against Toronto, taking advantage of the Raps' terrible transition defense to push the ball and rack up the assists: his confidence and creativity clearly improve when he's able to run. In halfcourt sets, he pounds the ball too much, is turnover prone, and his court vision doesn't seem as acute (he actually missed Gallo next to him twice in one game recently). He's daring on his dribble penetration, but isn't a great finisher, and he has too much faith in his ability to shoot 3 pointers that are clearly out of his range. And that defense! If it weren't for Sergio's steals, he might enter the discussion as one of the worst defensive guards to ever put on a Knick uniform.

At this point, it's time to give Toney Douglas a set 10 to 15 minutes per game, even if it means even uglier results than the recent string of games. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'd rather see House's minutes taken away, but I'm fine with Sergio losing some minutes as well. The development of Gallo, Chandler, Douglas and Walker are the main reason to watch the remaining games.

There's an overall deficit of length and athleticism on both offense and defense that D'Antoni is right to point out and lament. He understands that's the card he's been dealt, and he soldiers on, talking about finding a combination that will work.  He can barely hide his distaste for his issues with the current roster though, and is starting to openly pine for the end of the year. I can't say I blame him.