18 points 10 rebounds 4 assists 2 blocks 1 steal in 33 minutes.

I implore the Knicks to keep it simple. Draft Mike Muscala. I fully understand that the man needs 15 pounds(although he is 230+ now and by no means a a guy who needs rediculous body work)

After that lets take a look. We are playing with fire with our thin non offensive FC.

We have a C with NO offensive game we have Amare who cannot play more than 24 minutes and we have no idea how long he will hold up. Weve played carmelo out of position and while he can do that for parts of game--he will wear down. Its rare to find a 6-11 F with this mans offensive skills so late in the draft. You can find 6-6 SG in the D league--you can bring over 6-8 foreign players you can find sf's but baby 6-11 skill post players DO not grow on trees(either draft trade or free agency). Look at his skills he has an array of advanced post moves and an outside shot to 24 feet. When he is physically a finished product--he will be an inside outside monster. The ONLY reason why he is NOT top 5 is that 15 pounds they didnt physically train him right at Bucknell. And still he was the leading rebounder in the nation. We have a chance to solidify the 4 spot for 12 years--take your leverage and do it. I believe we can find a high quality PG in the 2nd round. The two hardest positions to find--a skilled big man and a quality PG--I believe we have the ability to do it. I wish I had the opportunity to make a few of these calls through the years not for any self adulation--but wed have better teams. Right on this board and the ole NYK I have predicted guys like Mike redd Wade Bosh kaman Stoudemire Bynum Vucevic i even wrote about picking Nate robinson 30 the year we took him 21. But this is an easy one this isnt hard this man has all the skills hes not 7-0 265 like Vucevic or Kaman hes a 4 but hes one heckuva prospect you do not find at 24. Lets add a PF and a PG to our roster--make some other small deals grab the best undrafted SL player and smart NBA minimum vets and lets go. This is a smart conservative pick. At WORST this man is a highly productive player as a third big in a 9 man rotation. At best this is a 20-10 PF for years

Nalod wrote:

I wish I had the opportunity to make a few of these calls through the years not for any self adulation--but wed have better teams.

You have a healthy ego. .

hahahaha ... you think?

Nalod wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Nalod wrote:

I wish I had the opportunity to make a few of these calls through the years not for any self adulation--but wed have better teams.

You have a healthy ego. .

hahahaha ... you think?

Briggs is beyond reproach. Pure knick love.

You are an idiot - I LOVE THE KNICKS!

What a mistake this was. Muscala look like a better version of Kaminsky more athletic. In could be sitting in a Knicks jersey. We also missed on Taveras when Phil had every chance to grab him? We needed a shot blocker why wouldnt we take a 7-3 270 pound player? Did we even look at him? I know we got our picks at the last minute but wouldnt a shot blocker C take privvy over a SF who played PF in college?

.

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

What a mistake this was. Muscala look like a better version of Kaminsky more athletic. In could be sitting in a Knicks jersey. We also missed on Taveras when Phil had every chance to grab him? We needed a shot blocker why wouldnt we take a 7-3 270 pound player? Did we even look at him? I know we got our picks at the last minute but wouldnt a shot blocker C take privvy over a SF who played PF in college?

.

I would slow down on the criticism of the Knicks scouting given the short turn around of last summer. It's possible they just didn't have enough info on Taveras or maybe just didn't like him. In any event I doubt that they are unaware of most of the talent that is out there now. It's not realistic to think they'll get everyone worth going after. Every year teams miss on lots of players that end up on other teams. It's gonna happen. Maybe they will target Muscala this summer.

INixluva--I think we can do some of this with these raw guys--but we need to up the ante with our vets. We dont need Admundson Jason Smith and Lance Thomas. We cant have bad vets and raw newbies. Also when I watch this--if we do get pick 3 or 4--maybe it would be smart to trade down just a tad to get Kamimsky?

BRIGGS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

What a mistake this was. Muscala look like a better version of Kaminsky more athletic. In could be sitting in a Knicks jersey. We also missed on Taveras when Phil had every chance to grab him? We needed a shot blocker why wouldnt we take a 7-3 270 pound player? Did we even look at him? I know we got our picks at the last minute but wouldnt a shot blocker C take privvy over a SF who played PF in college?

.

I would slow down on the criticism of the Knicks scouting given the short turn around of last summer. It's possible they just didn't have enough info on Taveras or maybe just didn't like him. In any event I doubt that they are unaware of most of the talent that is out there now. It's not realistic to think they'll get everyone worth going after. Every year teams miss on lots of players that end up on other teams. It's gonna happen. Maybe they will target Muscala this summer.

INixluva--I think we can do some of this with these raw guys--but we need to up the ante with our vets. We dont need Admundson Jason Smith and Lance Thomas. We cant have bad vets and raw newbies. Also when I watch this--if we do get pick 3 or 4--maybe it would be smart to trade down just a tad to get Kamimsky?

mreinman wrote:

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

What a mistake this was. Muscala look like a better version of Kaminsky more athletic. In could be sitting in a Knicks jersey. We also missed on Taveras when Phil had every chance to grab him? We needed a shot blocker why wouldnt we take a 7-3 270 pound player? Did we even look at him? I know we got our picks at the last minute but wouldnt a shot blocker C take privvy over a SF who played PF in college?

.

I would slow down on the criticism of the Knicks scouting given the short turn around of last summer. It's possible they just didn't have enough info on Taveras or maybe just didn't like him. In any event I doubt that they are unaware of most of the talent that is out there now. It's not realistic to think they'll get everyone worth going after. Every year teams miss on lots of players that end up on other teams. It's gonna happen. Maybe they will target Muscala this summer.

or its possible that the Knicks FO has just done a terrible job and have pretty much missed on every move that they have made.

too early to judge? Yes. Its a 5 round fight and in round one they got knocked down 10 times. But now, they have an open gash on top of their left eye that may be hard to close up and finish the fight.

Just like the 76ers, but you seem to give them a pass on everything and are willing to be more patient with them!

Judge the knicks after this off-season, no point in doing it now. No team is going to find every diamond in the rough, it's silly to judge them on that. We found Galloway, Shved, Ledo and Wear (who I think will be okay next year) - that's good enough. Also Thannasis and Early may turn into contributors in time. How many teams find more than one diamond in the rough in one season?

Why does Muscala get a couple of seasons to develop, but our players are judged after a few months?

smackeddog wrote:

mreinman wrote:

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

What a mistake this was. Muscala look like a better version of Kaminsky more athletic. In could be sitting in a Knicks jersey. We also missed on Taveras when Phil had every chance to grab him? We needed a shot blocker why wouldnt we take a 7-3 270 pound player? Did we even look at him? I know we got our picks at the last minute but wouldnt a shot blocker C take privvy over a SF who played PF in college?

.

I would slow down on the criticism of the Knicks scouting given the short turn around of last summer. It's possible they just didn't have enough info on Taveras or maybe just didn't like him. In any event I doubt that they are unaware of most of the talent that is out there now. It's not realistic to think they'll get everyone worth going after. Every year teams miss on lots of players that end up on other teams. It's gonna happen. Maybe they will target Muscala this summer.

or its possible that the Knicks FO has just done a terrible job and have pretty much missed on every move that they have made.

too early to judge? Yes. Its a 5 round fight and in round one they got knocked down 10 times. But now, they have an open gash on top of their left eye that may be hard to close up and finish the fight.

Just like the 76ers, but you seem to give them a pass on everything and are willing to be more patient with them!

Judge the knicks after this off-season, no point in doing it now. No team is going to find every diamond in the rough, it's silly to judge them on that. We found Galloway, Shved, Ledo and Wear (who I think will be okay next year) - that's good enough. Also Thannasis and Early may turn into contributors in time. How many teams find more than one diamond in the rough in one season?

Why does Muscala get a couple of seasons to develop, but our players are judged after a few months?

how do I give Philly a pass?

I just think that they are giving themselves many chances to fail and not waiting for their players to completely deflate themselves of value before they get rid of them. How have they failed? They still need to prove themselves but they have not failed and have given themselves numerous chances to succeed.

Hard to sell Philly to FA's so any GM there is already behind the 8 ball.

Who on our team to you feel is being judged too early? Timmy? You can pick up any player off the scraps and say that they should not be judged.

Muscala was able to be brought along because they had enough good players in place so that they did not need to rely on him. We have nothing in place aside from Melo who does not seem to be a player who will make others that much better. If Melo is hitting HIS shots then great ... perhaps the supporting cast can do some dirty work. If he is not, then he will keep on shooting and we are fukked and it makes no difference who his teammates are.

Melo is the big leak ... if Phil can somehow fix him then we can be really good. Can he fix him? Year one says no ... melo don't wanna be fixed. Check Mate to Melo.