There is no way that the the dearly departed free agents can compare, skill set for skill set, with the new acquisitions on this revised roster.
The six holdovers (Carmelo, Amar'e, Chandler, Shumpert, Novak and JR Smith) loved playing for former Knicks player Mike Woodson and had his back as they went 18-6, a dramatic turnaround from Mike D'Antoni. You think they want to play for anyone else? Not really.

Carmelo and Tyson are bonding in London under the tutelage of the best basketball minds on the planet. What better way to stay in shape than to represent your beloved country in The Olympics? Patriotism anyone?

Ray Felton and Amar'e are texting each other in between Stoudemire's crash-tutorial with Hakeem Olajuwon. Ray is happy to be home and is driven to prove he is a winner. He and Amar'e were having big fun before "the trade." Jason Kidd, who played with both Novak and Chandler in Dallas, is replaying what he learned about Kurt Thomas and Marcus Camby over two decades of competition. Kurt and Marcus had excellent chemistry the first time around in NY. That is a good thing. Jr Smith accepted less money to come home and replay his days in Denver with Camby and Carmelo. Our new guys have history.

Iman Shumpert, the most athletic perimeter defender this side of Ronnie Brewer, is rehabbing with Baron Davis, who will make someone a decent assistant coach. Brewer is unselfish and motivated. James White, who will be nailed to the pine, would be wise to live in 5:30 AM spin classes.

Then it gets interesting:

“The way I play is great to have wonder players like them (around me), I like to play for my teammates, give the ball in the right moments and try to exploit their talents. That’s how I think as a point guard. I’m not looking to score 30 points. Some days you need me to score more, I score. I understand basketball is a team sport. I want to play for my teammates, penetrate, dish and get assists. The way I play it is great to have great scorers around me like I have on the (Argentinian) national team.”

Pablo Prigioni brings something tangible that any NBA roster covets. Experienced leadership. He is rugged and unselfish. He is totally unpredictable. He is creative and intuitive. He is also ours.

What a great "gettin' up morning" in the long history of our highly dramatized and always entertaining roller coaster of a hoops franchise.

Did I mention we still have Steve Novak?

Some cafe patron...since its "good morning" and all

It's nice that this round of turnover brought back Felton, Camby and Kurt, I guess. Felton should actually lend some consistency, though he's never played with Melo or Tyson... or anyone on the team other than Amar'e, despite leaving a season and a half ago.

And Brewer is a really good pickup, he should replace everything Fields brought and then some. (Except consistency and continuity, but hey, who's counting)

Boston flipped their roster to get kg and Jesus.....

the nets traded for kidd and they went to the nva finals....

Barkley went to Phoenix and flipped the roster Alot and made it to the finals.

I'm just saying....teams can make major changes and catch lightning in a bottle

Knicks were 18-6 under Woodson....knicks got better they could possibly be a 50+ win team

MIami Drafted Wade.

Lakers traded for the 13th pick that was Kobe and Kobe needed a few years to be Kobe (patience factor).

Celtics had Pierce in place via draft.

Most teams have in place a core group that was created via draft or development. No doubt using assets to land a star player to complete the roster can be very very effective.

Lets just say you need these things to win:

Draft picks, patience, good scouting and Luck. Draft picks can become trade assets that can land you players.

"Luck is the residue of opportunity and design." - Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager

Nalod wrote:
Lets just say you need these things to win:

Draft picks, patience, good scouting and Luck. Draft picks can become trade assets that can land you players.

Nalod - draft picks, patience... and luck?... Way too simplistic and way too regimented. This ain't baseball cards.

These are people and personalities with fragile interactions.

Winning requires continuity. You need stability at the GM spot. Glen Grunwald has made the transition from Donnie Walsh nearly seamless. That is is something rare for a Knicks franchise where GM's and coaches feud as a matter of habit.

With continuity, the players names can change (see Boston Celtics history) but the playing personality stays intact. With the graceful transition to Mike Woodson over the last guy, the Knicks return to making defense more than a chant, it is a way of life.

After a firm personality comes trust. Trust is learned through shared experiences. The best way to build trust is to survive a 5 game west coast read swing with a losing record, without a loss of blood. This is why the shared history of the Knicks roster is vital. There is experience and wisdom... and there will be little panic when the fans are restless and the media wolves are barking at the locker room doors after a three game losing streak.

You need three things. (1) Continuity at GM, (2) a rock-solid playing personality and (3) trust.

The rest is easy.

Luis Scola scored 32 points, Manu Ginobili had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists a day after turning 35, and Argentina opened the Olympic men’s basketball tournament with a 102-79 victory on Sunday night.

It was an impressive start for the 2004 gold medalists, who have faced questions if the run is over for the “Golden Generation” that has been an international power for the last decade.

“We remembered the game in Turkey, quarterfinal in Turkey that day, first quarter they killed us,” said 35-year-old, New York Knicks-bound point guard Pablo Prigioni. “So we have that game in our head and we go on the court thinking that that cannot happen.”

Prigioni directed the floor, added 9 points (3-4 from three) and 6 assists (one turnover) and 2 steals.

“I think the message is that we are old but we can play, something like that,” said Scola.

jrodmc wrote:Sig worthy.

(cough)

An Argentina USA rematch could be veddy interesting