http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/lockout-2011/2011/09/chauncey-billups-in-charge-iman-shumpert-new-york-knicks/

Lockout or not, Billups wants to make Iman Shumpert a star.

The Impact Basketball League added some notable star power to kick off their second week of action when New York Knicks pg Chauncey Billups came through for his first run in the series on Monday. The five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA Selection and former NBA champion teamed up for the first time with Knicks first-round draft pick Iman Shumpert in the day’s second game, and said afterwards that he likes what he’s seen from the No. 17 overall pick out of Georgia Tech.

“We didn’t get a win but it was a fun game,” Billups told SLAMonline afterwards. “We had a good time, but I’m just looking forward to playing more with my new teammate Shumpert. He’s very athletic, and I’m just trying to learn his game right now. I’ll only have to play with him a few times and I will see how to best use him. I’m gonna try to make him a star, man.”

Shumpert, who paid his own way to Las Vegas to compete in the full slate of these Impact games, has done very well for himself thus far. He is bigger and quicker than most people think up close and in person, and Knicks fans have plenty of reasons to be excited about this kid.

Since last Monday, he’s averaging 18.5 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, but it’s also been his freakishly athletic abilities on the defensive end of the floor that have really made him stand out. Which is one aspect of Shumpert’s game, specifically, that Chauncey believes will allow him to come in immediately and fill a need for the Knicks next season.

“A lot of young guys want to come in and be effective by scoring,” Billups said. “They want to show they have all the nice moves, which is good, you gotta have that in your skill-set, but if you’re talking about playing winning basketball it’s a little different. Some things are more important than others, and Shumpert’s going to be a good one because he’s able to defend. That’s probably what we’ll need him to do more than anything this year with all the scoring power we have on the team, is come in and stop some guys, and also get some buckets for us when we need it too.”

As far as the opportunity to learn how to play winning NBA basketball from the guy they call Mr. Big Shot for a reason, Shumpert noted that he’s looking forward to that, and was excited to get out and play alongside Billups for the first time on Monday.

“It was good to get out here and play with Chauncey,” Shumpert said after the game. “Of course we’re gonna need some more games together, we don’t really know each other well at this point, but today was great, and it’s just our first time playing together so it will only get better as more games come. ”
Shumpert added that he came out to Impact to improve his game by getting some run in against NBA competition, and was all business when asked about how that was going for him so far.

“It’s going good, and I feel like I’m playing well. It is different for me because I’m used to being ball dominant, and right now I’m working on playing off the ball more here, but I’m getting used to it. I’m trying to learn how to pick my spots, and get to the right spots on the floor, and it’s been a good adjustment so far.”

When asked if off the ball was where he saw himself playing in the League next season, he said he didn’t know that for sure. At the moment, the combo guard is trying to develop that aspect of his game too just in case that ends up being a role he can help Chauncey and the Knicks in next season.
“I don’t know if they’ll need me to play off the ball next season or not at this point, but I’m just trying to get used to doing that now so that just in case I am I’ll be ready for it.”

Which seems to be the thought process necessary for developing the mentality to play the winning NBA basketball referred to by Billups earlier; something Chauncey also plans to assist the young rookie with moving forward. Just like guys did for him when he was coming from the same spot Shumpert’s in now, as Chauncey went on to recall on Monday.

“There were a few guys who helped me develop the right mentality to play in this League when I first came in. Guys like Jason Kidd and Tim Hardaway did a lot for me,” Billups added. “I used to talk with those guys about the attitude and the mentality you needed in this game, Sam Cassell was great for me also, but the player who’s done the most for me over my career was the Terrell Brandon. I had the pleasure of playing with him for two years in Minneapolis and he made the biggest difference for me of any player in my career. I do plan to pass those things along to Shumpert as well the more we get to know each other.”

Iman certainly appears receptive to the tutorial forthcoming from Billups too. He’s put himself in a position to start learning from one of the greats as early as possible, and has excelled on the court all summer long in the process. There’s good reason to believe that Chauncey very well could help make this kid into a star when it’s all said and done, too, especially since that’s his intention.

Brendan Bowers is an NBA writer from Cleveland, OH. You can follow him on Twitter @StepienRules.

It also is a very big deal that CB feels Iman can and should be a star!!! That's as you all know been my contention and i'm glad he feels the same way. I could care less where a player is drafted. It's about the real potential of a player and his mental makeup. This is part of the reason why MDA made the call for Iman over Singleton.

If you want to get an idea of Iman's defensive ability go look at his college highlights. There are a lot of clips of him making some great defensive plays. I don't suspect that the impact league video guys are gonna spend time on defensive highlights.

RonRon wrote:Prior to the trade, I thought Laundry had a lot of upside. After the trade, I realized he is a good team player that fed of the ball movement and the mismatches Wilson Chandler, Gallo, and Amare created. However, I don't see him anymore than just a role player that isn't good at anything. Talent wise, he just isn't as good as we all thought he was with his great start. I realize that sounds a lot worse than I actually mean, I do not mean he is a bad player by any means. What I am trying to say is he is average at best with his shot and defense. I think I am being very generous when I say average.

His greatest attributes include, being able to rebound the ball ,at SG, knowing when to box out or fly in for the the rebound. However this all changed when Melo came to town because of the isolation style he played. He never knew when Melo was going to go iso and pull up, or take it in, or just quickly shoot it. He just never got to touch the ball and the ball movement that Chandler and Gallo played was very unselfish with Fields and we made the defense move. Chandler, Gallo, and Fields also created mismatches at the 2/3/4 because they had to ability to drive to the hole, earn the first step for someone else to be open, or take the shot. Most players that guarded Gallo and Chandler didn't have the size or speed and had to give them the shot or the drive. Mixed with the teams unselfishness, the ability to share the ball, and the opponents inability to defend. Landry was the 4th or 5th option that greatly benefited. However, when teams started to guard his shot he was unable to find his it under the scarce looks. As of last season, he didn't have to ability to create his own shot, dribble and penetrate. Defensively he tries, however, he doesn't have the size to guard small forwards and doesn't have the quickness to guard 2's.

However, its a new season, and it was a just his rookie year. He is a smart guy, hard worker, and great team mate. I am saying we shouldn't get too excited about him, he was overr hyped and flawed. It was a totally different team after the trade and with a training camp, another year under his belt, and the acquisition of Iman Shumpert, it is still very possible for him to excel. I just don't think its realistic seeing him more than a bench player vs a possible starter. Of course this is just my opinion and I hope this kid improves and gets it right.

IMHO I'm not ready to go there yet, regarding Lanrdy's play after the trade. Rookie wall and just figuring out where in the offense to fit with 3 guys who dominate the ball is very tough for anyone no less a rookie. And for me, suggesting that Chandler and Gallo created mismatches is a little bit of an overstatement; Amare does create mismatches.

I'm in a wait and see with Fields.

come on!!!!

I am bringing the people back to earth. He can be a good role player with no special skill set. He made all his shots when they had to guard Felton, Amare, Gallo, and Wilson Chandler. When his guy is trying to cheat to help guard to other ex Knicks.

He is no where as good as what some people think he can even possibly be. He is a tweener, defensively he can't guard 1,2,or 3s. His skill set can't play play either spot offensively either. He just isn't that good and it showed. When the the ball starts moving again, his game will improve, however, his skill set and weaknesses were shown in the 2nd half of the season. Sure he can possibly improve but there nothing that you saw in his game to possibly even lead u to think that. He is not a lock down defender.

Physically, skills, or talent. He is a great guy and I has the right mind set of the game. He just was never that good to lead you to believe he is a possible 6th man
or future SG of Knicks.

martin wrote:

RonRon wrote:to call him 6th man of the year? To call him the SG of the Knicks future? I am being a realistic

come on!!!!

I am bringing the people back to earth. He can be a good role player with no special skill set. He made all his shots when they had to guard Felton, Amare, Gallo, and Wilson Chandler. When his guy is trying to cheat to help guard to other ex Knicks.

He is no where as good as what some people think he can even possibly be. He is a tweener, defensively he can't guard 1,2,or 3s. His skill set can't play play either spot offensively either. He just isn't that good and it showed. When the the ball starts moving again, his game will improve, however, his skill set and weaknesses were shown in the 2nd half of the season. Sure he can possibly improve but there nothing that you saw in his game to possibly even lead u to think that. He is not a lock down defender.

Physically, skills, or talent. He is a great guy and I has the right mind set of the game. He just was never that good to lead you to believe he is a possible 6th man
or future SG of Knicks.

let's set some perspective: No one thought he was good enough to even draft. I think those professional scouts used the same line you did: "'I am being realistic' about Landry's chances of making a team". That's what they said. And now look.

Give him some breathing room and let's find out.

What RonRon is saying about Landry reminds me of Marion. If you really look at Marion's game, he doesn't have a great handle or breakdown skills. He's not really a great shooter either. But he has been able to be a successful player. Landry doesn't have to be great at any one thing to be a productive player. Yet he still has time to develop and improve his game. we'll see.

These kind of players can be important to contending team and can be glue players. I would rather have a player like Ariza who's role is much more defined. A combination of Shumpert, Ariza, TD, or even Shane Battier, a Tony Allen, Marion. Those type of players are much more defined than Fields and they all would be making less or about the same money. We just have to wait till next summer but those are the type of players I would target vs Fields. I would have Grant Hill over Fields. Not those names in particular their style and what they would bring.

If Shumpert has the ability to play PG offensively he will be LOCKDOWN at the PG spot. He has one of the explosive first step and athletic ability, Westbrook, Rose, and a younger D. Wade has with that size. Westbrook became totally a different player his first year vs his 3rd, even his 2nd. Lets have a rotation of tough defenders in which we can use Shumperts and the teams ability to the fullest. I want the luxury of having him guard PG at times and SG at times, all depending on the matchups. Bring the DEFENSE back and let the garden ROAR!

I want him to have the advantage on the PG with his size, length, and athleticism. I do not want him possibly be like D.Wade and Brandon Roy deteriorate or break down to injury. Protect this asset we somehow managed to acquire. Have options, TD can come in guard the PG's as the 6th man. I would love to pair him up with Ariza and Battier type, with one of them starting and one on the bench next year...

I value those type of players much more vs Fields. They are very obtainable and at reasonable contracts. Throw a center in the mix and the Heat and Knicks Rivalry would be almost as strong as it once was...

Does anyone see the point I am trying to make and the vision I am seeing vs fans here overhyping Fields?

"I wasn't there for his workout, so I said, 'Put on some film,'" Walsh said. "And I watched the film and said 'Wow!' Then I'm reading: 39-inch vertical, averaged 22 points per game, he was top in the Pac-10 in scoring and rebounding, and I said, 'This guy shouldn't be coming all the way down to us.'

"I asked why this guy was available, and I was told the Pac-10 was down, it wasn't a good year for the conference. And I said, 'OK, if the ACC is down, does that mean there's no good players in the ACC?'"

Fields left a strong impression on the Knicks' summer league staff, with coaches telling D'Antoni he would have a hard time finding reasons to take Fields off the court. And after experimenting in the preseason with a Raymond Felton/Toney Douglas pairing as his starting backcourt, D'Antoni gave Fields a shot in the starting lineup alongside Felton in the final exhibition game. Fields won the job.

"He's a really intelligent guy and player, great temperament, doesn't get too high, too low. Works hard, knows how to play, he's confident, and he was the most fit guy on the team when he came in from the West Coast," Walsh said. "We have a way of testing and measuring fitness, and Toney had been first, but this guy was more fit than anybody. And I look at his body now and it's better than when he got here. The way he's approaching this is perfect for a guy trying to impact an NBA team, and I think he's going to get better and better."

This isn't an argument that Fields is or will be as good as Marion. Just that the kid has a chance to improve and his style of play fits what MDA likes to do. I think he has a role as a do everything type off the bench. We don't need him to force things and try to be something he's not. Every team needs solid role players like Fields.

It was a totally different team and system, Fields was use to. Melo, sometimes going in, sometimes for a pullup, Fields just couldn't predict when Melo was going to shoot, or drive in. If he crashed too early, it would draw an extra defender to the basket. It is just had a hard adjusting to the new players and system. The way the team played with Felton, Chandler, and Gallo was very unselfish and much more team oriented. Most importantly, the ability that Felton penetration started a lot of the ball movement.

Melo has to put this behind him, he isn't in the same situation in Syracuse or the early Denver Nuggets. He was forced to take over, taking bad shots, and being praised for it. Over the course of the years, it became a habit, taking these bad shots, he doesn't even see it as bad shots because he had gotten so much praise when he made them. Probably playing like that from high school and thru the early stages of his Denver career, its was made him who he is today, becoming a pro. And playing with Allen Iverson didnt help either.

Billups doesn't penetrate and break down the defense how Felton and our pre Melo Knicks did, especially at this stage. However Shumpert does, in fact, I think its in the same category of the elites in the league. Melo has to learn to play a totally different system he is used to and learn what and how he can do improve his team mates ,without, just scoring. Not only must they find a balance with Amare and Melo but with the rest of our team as well. He after about 30 games, he started to change a bit, last season. He played some defense and even tried moving the ball. He has to lay his pride down and see everything from a new perspective and its really tough. We can see what a bad shot is, but tell that to someone thats been taking that shot and knows he can hit it 20x and won many games before, playing the same style.

Back to the Fields debate, as Knick fan's we over hype our own players a lot. We are very biest, and a lot of us keep hoping Fields will turn out to be better than he has shown he can possibly be. Go back to our history of our past players, I cant remember their names but the 2 PGs after the Ward/Childs that we drafted, Channing Frye, Morris, and there are plenty. Anyway, a lot of us keep saying, how he can play and in Dantoni's system. We are comparing his best possible game and highest possible upside verse what we has actually done. Yes, I understand he can possibly improve and its only his first year. But physically and defensively, I don't believe he is in the same caliber as a player like Ariza or Shane Battier. Shane Battier, Grant Hill, Tony Allen, Prince, and those type of players are the ones I would want to target and they are known to be glue players as well. It's just much more realistic to me and stronger defensively to pair them up with Shumpert and create our own 3-4 trio monsters on the defensive end to lock down and give fits to the Dwades, Lebrons, Westbrook, Durants, D Rose, John Wall, and whoever it will be in the future. Honestly, do you think Fields can guard any of these players and give troubles to the guys I just mentioned? I am not saying these guys will lock them down, I am saying they have much playing that Bruce Bowen type of role and physically have much more than Fields has.

And for the Marion and Fields length, height, and whatever comparison. They are no where near the same. It just shows another how biest, us Knick cans can be. Measures in height, length, or often mislead in the league. Yes Fields has shown the ability to rebound the ball at SG, but we shouldn't be looking for a SG to be rebounding. It's our Center, PF, and SF job. If a SG does it, its a plus, but he must be able to do a lot more than Fields has done. We saw how Fields was eaten up by D Wade and Lebron, while Marion could defend them. But seriously does anyone expect Fields to be able to guard either one of em one day? Yes we didn't have a center near Chandler either. We are so infactuated in growing our home grown talent, believing they will become something more than they have shown to be. Why not just go pick them up? Its not even fair to ask Fields to guard either one of Wade or Lebron, he would be eaten up like candy. Why not just sign or trade for those type of players that has the length and size to the physical specimen's Wade/Lebron etc. There are 2 major things I look for, physical ability and skills. I don't believe Fields has the physical tools to do so. Skills wise, he just isn't that good either. Yes he can become a better shooter but hes not going to gain the the length a player like Brandon Wright drafted by GS, now NJ has. Its like saying Brandon Wright can also become an outstanding shooter to go with his physical reach as well, we don't know, yet we haven't seen it either. If Brandon Wright was drafted by the Knicks, a lot of us would be saying has a chance to become a stud too.
Yes, its a possibilty but he hasn't shown that he would be able to be that person yet. Fields will never be able to guard those A+ players either, face it!

With Iman he can play next to any of our guards. So you can have him in there with Fields, CB, TD etc. Because Fields is such a versatile guy that doesn't need plays run for him it's a good fit.

Melo will adjust to being on this team with other good players. It won't be the 1st time for him. He was on the Olympic team and had to fit in and did great. Guys like him have respect for other stars and won't be selfish. Plus I just get the feeling that Melo is ready to play to WIN now and not to be a stat guy or get the publicity. Usually guys at his stage of his career start to get serious about winning titles rather than individual awards.

Still I think Fields has some upside left to improve his game. He can still improve his shooting and handle so that he's more of a threat to take his man off the dribble. Landry is a 2nd rd pick and so no one is thinking he was gonna be a superstar. He's a solid all around role player that had a very good rookie season. I just think with Iman here, Landry will eventually be moved to the bench.