That being said---Carmelo was shot on a three day back to back--you could see it. Instead of dodging him up and down--use Steve Novak for 8-10 minutes. hes looked real good spreading the floor with his shot. Use Jerome Jordan for defense and maybe a couple of ay buckets for 5-7 minutes. I think these guys can contribute--not in big roles but in a shortened season--make use of what skills are sitting there--and fresh. I think we have the guys Chandler Jefferies Amare and J jordan who have the size to help close the lane down more--weve been better at it. What Ive been preaching for ten years is to find guys who close the lane down on the D find guys who can defend the ball guys who share the ball and make a nice team both ways. It cant be a team that has 6-8 Kurt Thomas at C or players who have the green light to shoot 50 5's. I like we got Chnadler I dont know if this team was ready for him in the development but no matter. Now stay with Chandler Amare Fields Lin and CA for the rest of the season and go 4-5 deep at times. Lets go out and see if we can get another guard who can shoot and we desperately need another 6-9 245 pd type who can bang make a few shots and defend. If amare goes out our PF is Jefferies with no back up. I dont know if we need JR Smith maybe years ago--we already have volume shooters. Lets look around and see what we can do to bring in a couple of nice guys off the bench--lts see what is going on in the NBDL who is not playing for another team etc... lets not overpay for JR right now.

rp wrote:

Uptown wrote:2.5 mil is not overpaying for JR. It been a traffic jam in the paint when we have the ball because we have no one who can spread the floor on a consistant basis. JR would open it up for Melo and Stat to work 15 feet and in because he would instantly be our best perimeter shooter at the guard spot. With his open court abilities, JR would be a nice running mate for Lin.

JR's dad said he wants more than 2.5.

LOL - I heard that. But, which team has more money free that he would want to play on? I don't think any.

MDA gave Jorts PT and did so with Fields and Moz early last year! MDA may have his own thought process and timetable but he's been a MOSTLY successful coach both in Europe and the NBA with his unique style of coaching. He was a MEGASTAR in Europe! Not just some dude. The 1st 2 years here have really warped people's view of who he is as a coach.

Got bashed for not playing TD and then bashed for being loyal to TD. Got bashed for not playing Hill, Darko and AR but no credit for starting Fields, Moz, n Shump. Lee owes Mike some money for how he made him look and got that big contract. Diaw has been living off that time with MDA too. Gallo and Chandler both developed nicely. Felton improved. Shawne got abigger payday off his good look under MDA.

Maybe things come together now with Lin. Let's not forget Jordan was also sent to D league and who knows if he's not closer to getting a look. MDA will usually play talent when he's confident in them.

I found it interesting that he didn't give Lin a breather in this last game and it paid off, but I thought he was asking for trouble as Lin looked spent - glad I was wrong.

Asking Dantoni to be flexible is like asking Buddha to be inflexible (Sorry, it is what came to mind ;-)

I want JR on this team. We only have 2.5 mill to spend as Barron was nice enough to take 1 mill. 2.5 for JR Smith is a bargain...
If he doesn't work out we can always cut him and then do the D-League route, but not the other way around. And that is if HE CHOOSES US.

nyshakespeare wrote:How can the Clippers offer JR the mini-mid-level exception?
Didn't they waste it on K-Mart?

Actually I think you are right! http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/03/sports/la-sp-clippers-kenyon-martin-20120204

So, the question is, do they actually have any money left. The other post where I mentioned their salary cap number says their at 59 million???

earthmansurfer wrote:

nyshakespeare wrote:How can the Clippers offer JR the mini-mid-level exception?
Didn't they waste it on K-Mart?

Actually I think you are right! http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/03/sports/la-sp-clippers-kenyon-martin-20120204

So, the question is, do they actually have any money left. The other post where I mentioned their salary cap number says their at 59 million???

Got my info on the mini-mid-level exception here:

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2012/01/201112-mini-mid-level-exceptions-update.html

According to that, each team only gets one per year.
So if the Clips already gave it to K-Mart, they would
only be able to offer JR the vet minimum.

mrKnickShot wrote:Are they over the cap?

According to Hoopsworld, they're at $59,062,110
& the salary cap is $58.044 million.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/la_clippers.htm

nixluva wrote:We see inflexibility but every coach has his ways. Mike Woodson said that Coach Ramsey told him bluntly that he was a good player but that he didn't play rookies! All I know is I can point to more successful development of young players than unsuccessful ones. Not every player fits with every coach but here there's been so much turnover and turmoil it's hard to think straight. Just imagine how tough it has been here losing in NY! You can't do anything without it being criticized in the media. The pressure here is unmatched. So you're darn right MDA is slow to make a move. He's trying to be sure when he makes a move.

In 1998, I remember when Coach Jeff Van Gundy (who I truly respect) waited until pretty much the entire Knicks frontcourt was injured before he decided to give Marcus Camby some minutes. Camby end up as the X factor in our run to the NBA final that year.