First, anyone's better than W.

Second, look at this from NBA.com. Dude is ballin:

Ranks #9 in the NBA in Field-Goal Percentage(0.527)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds(49.0)
Ranks #1 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per Game(4.1)
Ranks #18 in the NBA in Steals Per Turnover(1.0)
Ranks #16 in the NBA in Double-doubles(5.0)
Ranks #3 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(7.3)
Ranks #11 in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(15.4)
Ranks #18 in the NBA in Efficiency Ranking Per 48 Minutes(29.19)

I know. He can't D up against good centers. But how many of them are there? And he had one of his best games of the season in San Antonio, when Duncan was covering him a good part of the time. Right now, the problem with our D isn't Nazr. It's our inability to stop dribble penetration or to play the pick and roll.

I was not a Nazr believer entering the year. He looked awful in preseason and first couple of games. But he's changing my mind fast. And watching the leap he's made on offense gives me confidence that he can improve on D too.

You don't need to be a great athlete to be a very effective center. How many rings does Robert Parish have?

actually, Nazr is a great athlete and not a very good center. But he's been a good pickup for us, and we would be screwed with out him. He gives us good production and hustle from that position and we dont have depth there with Baker being awfull.

statistically he has been great. Now if only we had a true center that he could play alongside of or backup.

if we could only add a Marcus Camby to this present roster, this team could really make some noise in the East imo.

Man im getting really tired of all this bad talk about Nazr. He is amazing! Hes performing way beyond any of our expectations and is really giving a boost to our team. Without him our team would be nowhere near as good as they are now. I love watching him develop into the starting center he is. I dont care what any of you say he is one of the top centers in the east. And I agree that he isnt a defensive powerhouse, but honestly his D has been very good; the team defense is what is lacking.

Swift, Chandler, Kwame, Nene -- All are young, athletic bigs who would fit in perfect with this team. Swift and Chanlder are great shotblockers who would help our entire defense tremendously. I would say I want Chandler first because he would come cheapest and has the potential to be our starting center for years to come if he can stay healthy. Next would be swift because he's so athletic his long arms make up for his 6'9 frame.

same reason Doleac's production literally doubled the day Marbury became a Knick. Just give me a guy that can finish and play D and your doing pretty good.

You can't teach "A nose for the ball". Nazr is always around the ball. His uncanny ability to get offensive rebounds is pretty impressive. I looked at his career averages and his average for offensive rebounds are pretty good. He is a product right now of good coaching. Aguirre and Glymph looks like they are doing wonders with this group of big men. I would rather have player that works hard than a skilled player with no heart.

I know. I know. Spoken like a true 90s Knick Fan.

Posted by NYKBocker:

I would rather have player that works hard than a skilled player with no heart.

i guess that's why everyone hates a player like tim thomas while loving a player like starks.

thomas is waaaaay more skilled yet starks was all heart.

i think i mentioned in my earlier post that alot of Nazr's offensive rebounds result from his own lack of ability to finish off passes from Marbury & Crawford...to his credit though, he sticks w/the play & doesn't just give up when he misses the layups in the paint.

Nazr does seem to get 1 or 2 boards a night finishing off his misses, but he's still shooting 53%. If he hit those gimme's, he'd be leading the league in FG% and his bounds would drop 1 or 2 per game ... he'd be equally efficient.

Yes, a lot of his shots are lay-ups off penetration, but he's been hitting off his low post moves too. He's just on a roll, and we shouldn't take anything away from him. Of course he's not in Marbury's class, but right now he's outplaying all but the handful of star centers in the league.