JamesKPolk wrote:nixluva wrote:JamesKPolk wrote:gunsnewing wrote:Luck? You think Isiah, layden, dolan & walsh wouldve been on top of something like that?
There was nothing to be on top of. They had an injury and needed depth so they signed a guy off waivers as insurance. There was nothing anything more in that move than that and Grunwald will tell you that himself.
You're wrong!!! Both MDA and Grunwald actually liked Lin for a while and Grunwald called MDA and let him know this was his chance to get him and they did. The team had a need and they went and got a guy that they actually liked talent wise. They could've picked up anyone but they actually TARGETED Lin. Lin was more than an insurance move. Do I have to break out the articles with Grunwald and MDA's actual statements to back this up? No move you make is guaranteed and so no they didn't know Lin would explode like that, but they picked him up because they liked his talent. Lin was a Penetrating PG that they had worked out and made a note that they liked him. That's what a GM is supposed to do.
Novak was another specific move to fill a need that MDA always wants to have a Stretch 4 in his scheme. He's was well known inside as a great shooter even if most of us didn't know him.
Lin was an insurance move. If they liked his talent they would have picked him up off waivers the first time Golden State waived him. They only got him after someone got injured if my memory serves me right.
As for the bolded part...exactly.
And Novak was already known as a great shooter. He just managed to have a career year here. Too bad he can't create his own shot and is a liability when great defensive teams play us.
Of course the reason we initially brought Lin in was due to injury, but the decision to pick LIN over other options was based on fit for the team and what MDA wanted and needed in a PG. They could've picked up any number of players but they specifically targeted Lin a player that in Grunwald's words he felt had the right skill set.
In a rare chat with reporters, Grunwald addressed one of the many remarkable aspects of the Lin story -- that he was nearly cut earlier this month.Lin, 23, had barely gotten off the Knicks' bench in his first month with the team, even spending six days with its D-League affiliate. The Knicks decided to give him an extended look because they were faced with a Feb. 7 deadline by which they had to either guarantee Lin's contract or cut him.
"We were evaluating what (we were) going to do with our team," Grunwald said. "Our team was struggling and we talked to coach Mike (D'Antoni) and Mike said I guess we really need to take a hard look at him now otherwise, we're going to have to make a decision and maybe we didn't have full information to have a full evaluation. We were looking at a number of options.
"We were obviously struggling (the Knicks were 8-15 at the time) and we were looking at what we needed to do to get this turned around and fortunately the guy was sitting on our bench."
Lin first received significant minutes Feb. 4 against New Jersey. He scored 25 points and handed out seven assists that night in the Knicks' win. Lin has started six games since -- and the Knicks have won all of them to climb back to .500 entering Friday night's game against New Orleans.
Grunwald said the Knicks had been watching Lin since college. They "liked" him coming out of Harvard but passed on him in the draft.
Grunwald revealed that the team had "discussions" with Golden State when Lin played there in his rookie season. It's unclear if they ever came close to acquiring him. But the opportunity arose again in mid-December --- after Lin was waived by Golden State and Houston -- and the Knicks claimed Lin off of waivers.
"It just was an opportunity to acquire him when we needed someone that has his skill set and it worked out -- so far, so great," Grunwald said.
I can pull more quotes from MDA about Lin that also expressed that they scouted Lin for quite some time so he was on their radar, but he was a prospect and so they went with known vets like Bibby and Baron 1st, but when the need was there and Lin came free they jumped on him. It may be looked at as only an injury pickup, but they made a conscious decision to send him to D league and then play him to see what he had before making a final decision on whether to keep him. If he was just a normal backup body on the bench they wouldn't have done all of that, but rather just let him go.