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\u05e4\u05e2\u05dd \u05d1\u05e9\u05d1\u05d5\u05e2 \u05d4-NBA \u05e9\u05d5\u05dc\u05d7 \u05d0\u05ea '\u05e9\u05d0\u05dc\u05ea \u05d4\u05e9\u05d1\u05d5\u05e2' \u05dc\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05db\u05ea\u05d1\u05d9\u05d4\u05dd \u05d1\u05e8\u05d7\u05d1\u05d9 \u05d4\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd. \u05d4\u05d7\u05dc\u05d8\u05ea\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d4\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05e1 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05d1\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2 \u05e9\u05e0\u05d9\u05e9\u05dc\u05d7 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d9\u05e0\u05e1\u05d9\u05d9\u05d3\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05dc\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8 \u05db\u05e4\u05d9 \u05e9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d0 \u05e4\u05e2\u05dd \u05d1\u05e9\u05d1\u05d5\u05e2, \u05d5\u05dc\u05de\u05d9 \u05e9\u05d9\u05e9 \u05e7\u05e9\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05d0\u05e0\u05d2\u05dc\u05d9\u05ea \u05d4\u05d4\u05d5\u05e4\u05db\u05ea \u05d9\u05d5\u05ea\u05e8 \u05d5\u05d9\u05d5\u05ea\u05e8 '\u05dc\u05e9\u05e4\u05ea \u05d4\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd' – \u05e9\u05d9\u05e2\u05d1\u05d5\u05e8 \u05dc\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d7\u05e8.<\/p>\n
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>\u00a0We\u2019ve seen a lot of changes in New York, and a vow from new boss Phil Jackson that the Knicks will be in the playoffs. Your thoughts? Playoffs? Are they a better team than last year?<\/strong><\/p>\n Steve Aschburner, NBA.com<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0Sure,\u00a0the Knicks will make the playoffs<\/strong>. The East still isn\u2019t the West and I think enough has changed with New York \u2014 \u00a0driven by Jackson\u2019s arrival, altering the culture sufficiently \u2014 that it will be a little better.\u00a0Carmelo Anthony<\/strong>\u00a0got an awfully cushy call-out (five years, $124 million) but seems to get it now that his legacy will be limited unless his team wins big. My hunch: New York and Brooklyn share All-Star Weekend, then fight over the East\u2019s final playoff spot<\/p>\n Fran Blinebury, NBA.com<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0The 37-45 Knicks missed the playoffs by one game last season, so\u00a0Phil Jackson\u2019s promise isn\u2019t exactly going to register on the Joe Namath Scale in New York<\/strong>. Carmelo Anthony is re-signed and happy. That\u2019s nice.\u00a0Jose Calderon<\/strong>\u00a0is at the point. That\u2019s nice. They\u2019ve swappedTyson Chandler<\/strong>\u2019s defense for\u00a0Samuel Dalembert<\/strong>. That\u2019s not so nice. \u00a0They\u2019re counting on a resurrection byAmar\u2019e Stoudemire<\/strong>\u00a0and a recommitment by\u00a0J.R. Smith<\/strong>. That\u2019s unlikely. Can the sideline combo of Jackson and\u00a0Derek Fisher<\/strong>\u00a0get them to .500 if everything clicks? \u00a0In a glass-half-full world, I suppose. But hardly any more.<\/p>\n Jeff Caplan, NBA.com<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0Yeah,\u00a0I think they will be in the playoffs<\/strong>. They have a very motivated head coach and superstar. They\u2019ve improved at point guard with steady Jose Calderon, and while losing Tyson Chandler in the middle theoretically hurts, he wasn\u2019t healthy much last season and Sam Dalembert is serviceable, and I like the Jason Smith pickup. I really think\u00a0Tim Hardaway Jr.<\/strong>, can give the Knicks a real scoring boost and I\u2019m eager to see\u00a0Cleanthony Early<\/strong>\u00a0bring some youthful elbow grease. Above all else, this team can have fun, and that was in short supply a year ago.<\/p>\n Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com<\/strong><\/a>: They could be a little better, but the problem is, Cleveland will be a lot better. Milwaukee will be better. The team that finished just ahead of the Knicks last season, Atlanta, will be better. Indiana is a candidate to fall out of the top eight, and Miami will go backward as well, though maybe not lottery backward.\u00a0New York and the playoffs will be a close call.<\/strong>\u00a0For an October answer, I\u2019ll say no.<\/p>\n John Schuhmann, NBA.com<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0They\u2019re in the 7-10 range in the East with a decent shot of making the playoffs<\/strong>\u00a0with good chemistry (especially defensively), or injuries to teams that would otherwise finish above them. Jose Calderon\u2019s shooting should help an offense that was already pretty good. The loss of Tyson Chandler would seemingly hurt the defense, but any cohesion on that end of the floor would be more than they had last season. They certainly have a chance of improving on 37-45, but there are a lot of variables.<\/p>\n Sekou Smith, NBA.com<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0Playoffs? We\u2019re talking playoffs? In New York? Listen, nobody loves having the Zen master back in the building more than I do. He is truly great for the game. But\u00a0I\u2019ll refrain from any playoff proclamation about the Knicks until at least Christmas<\/strong>. We need to see this crew in action before swimming in those deep playoff waters. I don\u2019t know if this a better team than what we saw underMike Woodson<\/strong>\u00a0last year. Derek Fisher\u2019s going to have to find his own coaching niche with this group and from a personnel standpoint there hasn\u2019t been enough of an upgrade to automatically vault this team into the playoff mix in the Eastern Conference. It\u2019s way too soon for playoffs chatter from new York.<\/p>\n Lang Whitaker, NBA.com\u2019s All Ball blog<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0I do think they\u2019ve built a better roster than they had a season ago. But as my co-host\u00a0Rick Fox<\/strong>\u00a0has talked about several times on the Hang Time Podcast,\u00a0getting a full understanding of Phil Jackson\u2019s triangle offense takes years, not weeks or months<\/strong>. So it might take these Knicks some time to be able to fully grasp how to maximize their offensive system. An for all the talk about the West being better than the East, the East should be more competitive top-to-bottom this season than last. My top seven in no real order are Cleveland, Chicago, Washington, Charlotte, Toronto, Atlanta and Miami.\u00a0Maybe we see Indy and the Knicks fight it out for the eight spot<\/strong>?<\/p>\n