just got back from a donnie walsh town hall type q&a for season ticket holders at the garden. i think they're going to put it up on msg.com soon (it's about an hour long). the questions were emailed by season ticketholders prior to the q&a.

here's a quick recap. my opinion will be in italics.

on cap room: walsh will not jeopardize giving up cap room in 2010. that's his goal no matter what transaction takes place. he believes ny needs cap room b/c every player in the league wants to play in ny. he does not feel pressure to make a deal today just to achieve that 3 years from now. he will take his time.

on the team: it will take some time. he wants to get cap room but wants to try and be competetive in the interim. he does not know what he has here so this next season will be to see who fits and who doesn't and then it will be his job to get players that do. they will have to play hard and earn the respect of the fans back.

EDIT: he said this team has players that know how to get themselves going but not sure on how to work as a team. that's why he brought in duhon b/c he looks for his teammates. and why he brought in gallinari b/c he's looking to pass the ball. when you have players that aren't necessarily looking for others, you have to bring in players that will help them.

on d'antoni: thinks he's a great coach. he can adapt to any situation and has proven so in his years in italy and pheonix. the team will run but what impresses him the most is that d'antoni exudes positivity. and the players see that. he also puts players in the right positions to succeed. he has a knack of knowing how a player can contribute and how to play for a team to be successful.

on defense: the league has changed and you can't touch anybody. so team defense is key instead of that one lock down defender. everyone must keep moving on the court. he thinks that they can play up and down by forcing the tempo starting with the defense. he wants a shot blocker tho.

on zach/clipper deal: what was reported was not accurate. and he doesn't feel he should make a deal for something less. he thinks you have to get the same value or more in a deal. if you don't value your players high, nobody else in the league will either.

on balkman deal: team has 9 players at the forward spots. and they figured balkman will not play that much. he'd rather trade a guy that won't play instead of him being here and being unhappy and bring that type of negativity to the locker room.

onto the players individually:

steph: thinks he's a big time talent and is a very good scorer. he doesn't care what happened prior to his hiring, and is basically giving steph a clean slate. "he's a part of this if he wants to be". he's very impressed by how hard he's working this summer. seems like d'alsh will give him every chance to play this season and may be counting on it.

david lee: i am not shopping david lee. (crowd applauds). i like him and thinks he will do very well under d'antoni. this type of system will hide some of the things he can't do.

quentin: q is a good player that was too heavy last season. he's working out hard this summer and has lost weight. he expects him to be the type of player he was with d'antoni the first time around.

chandler: was very impressed with what he saw in summer league. he loves danny granger and he felt chandler went right at it with him.

danillo: brings a unique set of skills. will probably fill out to 240 and will be a good player. he even alludes to larry bird here as a comparison. said he's not injury prone and that almost every top10 pick got hurt early in summerleague. not worried about it and expects him to be a very good player in the league.

crawford: thinks crawford can have an allstar year. he's a very talented scorer and looks for him to make the jump like allan houston and reggie miller did. he's been in the league for a while, the time is now.

nate: he couldn't believe his athleticism and thinks he's a one of a kind talent. didn't really get into what they expect from him or where he fits tho.

jeffries: (crowd groans). walsh says atlanta fans groaned about diaw also. says he's has alot of skill and d'antoni is excited to coach him.

zach: (someone says get rid of him). walsh says sarcastically, yeah, get rid of a 20/10 player. he's a very good player and they will try to make him do things he doesn't want to do (i'm guessing pass and be unselfish) and that will make him better.

curry: if you're going to take a risk on a player, it's a 24 year old center with quick feet. he's a good player to have but he's going to have to want it.

mardy: he has a quiet toughness. he was surprised at how intelligent he is as a player. not a good shooter but knows how to play.

walsh was very candid and seems like someone a knick's fan can trust. he didn't try to sweet talk and was just matter of fact. probably left some stuff out but you'll see all this on msg.com soon enough. he was very complimentary towards steph and surprisingly jeffries. and looks like he thinks this will be crawford's year. he kept repeating that this will be a slow process to turn it around but the plan is more 3 years than 7 years. and cap room in 2010 will happen no matter what even if that means not extending anybody or signing any new players.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 08-13-2008 10:06 PM]

[Edited by - djsunyc on 08-14-2008 12:17 AM]

Posted by djsunyc:

and cap room in 2010 will happen no matter what even if that means not extending anybody or signing any new players.[/i]

That's pretty forthcoming, and explains even more why Balkman was dealt.

His comments on defense are also very on point.

And I love the comments on D'Antoni. To me, that's exactly what I wanted to hear, because those are well demonstrated tools for success.

Thanks for this dj, great post.

danillo: brings a unique set of skills. will probably fill out to 240 and will be a good player. he even alludes to larry bird here as a comparison. said he's not injury prone and that almost every top10 pick got hurt early in summerleague. not worried about it and expects him to be a very good player in the league.

Damn skippy! Gallo is Bird Lite. The skillset is there. Gotta see if he has the heart.

Thanks DJ. You ****in Rick Roller.

Posted by EnySpree:

Question......

If Marbs is gonna be down, Nate is a great athlete, Mardy is smart, and Craw is gonna be an all-star......then why the hell did we sign Duhon? And Roberson?

"Somethin, Somethin.......somethin, somethin just aint riiiiiiiight" - Keith Sweat

check the edit i put in (after "on the team")...

Posted by nixluva:

I think we can all just accept that Walsh isn't gonna downgrade any of his players and kill any value they may have or any bargaining position the team has. He wants to go with the poker face and act like he really likes guys that we all know he clearly doesn't. I mean what other choice does he have?

We may want Steph to go away, but his job is to get as much value out of this roster as possible and he's gonna try to present a positive image as long as he can. That is up until the day they reach a buyout with Steph :) I mean as Eny is pointing out, how is this gonna work if Steph is still here?

a question was asked "what are we going to do with marbury, will he hold back some of our younger players". his response was, crawford's been in the league 8 years, nate 3. they are young veterans. there is nobody in the backcourt where we have to say "ok, let these guys get some minutes." steph is not holding anybody back. (meaning if steph is here, he will play. from what he said, it really sounded like he wants steph to make it with this team b/c i think he sees him as a guy that has the talent to help the team win games but referred to him as a scorer and didn't mention him as a pg).

[Edited by - djsunyc on 08-14-2008 12:25 AM]

Pretty funny spin on a bad team. If he isnt shopping David or Nate robinson and isn't extending anyone past 2010--houston we have a problem. jared jefferies now will be averaging 12 points 8 rebounds 6 assits. the knicks are somewhat lucky that marbury is trying this hard because he still is starter material although he may be crazy

I already said if I see guys like Marbury, Curry, and Zach starting and playing a lot next season that I will not watch a single game. I could watch Galinari highlights on Youtube. I don't need to be drawn into watching these pieces of **** wear a Knicks uniform. It's sad, really. I can't even watch my own team anymore because I despise my own players. I have never rooted for a team where I truly hate nearly every player on the roster. In the end, that's not rooting. That's torture.

I guess football is all I got this winter. Let's hope the Giants can make some noise again.

A lot was factual....a lot was PR.

Facts: Knicks will have an upbeat tempo...and a new start with a great new coach. Team ball, defense, get under cap, etc. Check.

PR: Descriptions of each player and how good they can be this year if they work hard and are coached well. He has to say this. He can't blast a player now before they give him another chance. AND....he is trying to bring up the player's value in any upcoming trade talks with another GM.

Overall - probably give Walsh an A- for the presentation......Walsh is a very solid and steady GM... D'A IS an excellent coach.

And the main point - We really do have something positive to look forward to next season.....so buy those tickets.

Posted by Markji:

A lot was factual....a lot was PR.

Facts: Knicks will have an upbeat tempo...and a new start with a great new coach. Team ball, defense, get under cap, etc. Check.

PR: Descriptions of each player and how good they can be this year if they work hard and are coached well. He has to say this. He can't blast a player now before they give him another chance. AND....he is trying to bring up the player's value in any upcoming trade talks with another GM.

Correct analysis- surprised that some of you are not taking Walsh's words with a grain of salt.

By the way, this was Alan Hahn's comment on Walsh discussing Lee:

When asked if the Knicks might trade Lee at the trade deadline because they don't want to sign him to an extension, he said "I like Lee, so why do people keep asking about trading him?" He got big applause for that. But then he said, something to the effect of, "but we could trade him if we get great value for him."

Walsh is no fool. The bottom line is if he thinks he can get value for one of the guys he so glowingly discussed, he will do it.

And for the people still harping on the Gallinari pick- why not wait and see how things develop. You may even be pleasantly surprised someday.

[Edited by - Paladin55 on 08-14-2008 10:36 AM]

Posted by djsunyc:


side note, he actually used rik smits as a comparison to eddy. alot of people didn't think he would be a bigtime center or help them win, and he wasn't a world class defender, but he was a good piece for them.

Problem with that comparison was that Smits had heart and a great work ethic. He was not a very good defender but he tried and was adequate. He also had the Davis boys and McKey to protect his back. That means Walsh has to get some defenders to protect Eddy and maybe inject some of Patrick Ewing's determination into his lazy arse.