Not sure about Marshall, he can't shoot a lick and Duhon and felton looked good for MDA too.

Also, I hope phil does not make moves that are short term, I could care less about this season and hope they don't starphuck.

mreinman wrote:Shump may have some value but Phil knows that he can increase it enough to trick a dumb GM like Walsh and Grunfeld.

Not sure about Marshall, he can't shoot a lick and Duhon and felton looked good for MDA too.

Also, I hope phil does not make moves that are short term, I could care less about this season and hope they don't starphuck.

My bad we couldn't have acquired Marshall

I forgot we were way over the cap, and he was waived

Nevertheless at $915k he's better

Than what we have at backup and can hit the 3

There were other pgs available, I know this

Acquiring someone like Marshall is not a starphuck move

Marshall is a terrible defender.

As for the two. I hope Phil goes after Wesley Matthews who will probably be pushed out based on the numbers. He is the best combo of THjr and Shump that the knicks can possibly get.

Melo's looks fine at the 3. Beat up on Evan Turner the other night for a little bit before Brandon Bass started checking him and last night he was good again to open the game. He's executing all his moves in the halfcourt set with precision and he's getting to the basket when he wants to...He's fine at the 3. Let's utilize the size we have with these other guys to do what they do well -- rebound, clog the lane and protect the rim. For once I don't want to see anything gimmicky -- I want to play it straight and I wanna see everyone playing their natural positions. It'll work -- need to trust it's the right way to go & stick with it. How does playing everyone at their natural position not work exactly??? I'm not worried about losing the game last night. Melo and Shumpert looked good early on (and at their natural positions too) -- if those guys were allowed to finish, we win this game last night, even if the Raptors played Lowry and finished with DeRozan. Just mho. No Calderon down the stretch (who continues to play well) and no Aldrich at all last night affected us as well. Both of those guys would've helped turn the tide in the end I feel (remember the game Aldrich had last year against Toronto at the Garden to wrap up the season? He was great that game, playing against Jonas Valanciunas a majority of the time if I remember right)...Fish just decided to stick with that 2nd unit lineup to finish the game to see if they could dig themselves outta the hole they dug themselves into. Nearly worked too -- if Early doesn't airball that wide open 3 he took....if he hits that shot, we cut it to 1 I believe, and we would've had even more momentum to possibly steal that game...No big deal. We're still trying to work some rust off, find out about personnel, how it all fits together, etc.. It'll come. Never like losing esp. at home but I'm not overly concerned yet.

Speaking of rust, I'm stilled not worried at all about STAT. I like what I see outta him...Right now, the man's trying to shake off obvious rust in limited mins. with no one making a conscious effort to keep going to him once he enters the game. I mean LET'S GO!! Let's get the guy going already!! Get him the ball more!!! I bet this changes soon. It has to. Amar'e's too important a player for us imo. He needs to be featured in our attack...If we can get this guy going, look out. Major weapon...Everything I see looks good besides the ball going in the hole with regularity yet for Amar'e-- he's making his post moves with strength, quickness and conviction and he's taking the jumpers he needs to take when he's open. The man's a 6X all-star and still an offensive force. I want him looking for his offense, bottom line...His shot selection has been good. I'm not worried about anything -- when his shots start falling we'll see all the negativity disappear...We need a deep post option to make it all come together and this guy's it. I say starting tonight in Syracuse, whether he starts or comes off the bench, I'd love to see his teammates make a concerted effort to go to him early and often. There's some rust there--no big deal. Let's expedite the process of trying to scrape the rust off. I wouldn't mind seeing STAT starting & working with Calderon to be honest. I think Calderon could help get him going..

Starting to really wonder if Early has any kind of a put-it-on-the-floor game and if he does, why are we not using it? The kid shoots it well -- but can he put it on the floor and create something off the dribble, get all the way to the rim? I'd like to see him try to do that. Every time the ball swings around to him on the perimeter, he hesitates to put it on the floor and usually just looks to get rid of it quickly like a hot potato. Wouldn't mind seeing someone come over and set a screen for the kid, try to free him up. We know he's got the good stroke and the step-back move to free himself up for a jump-shot when matched up with a defender 1 on 1. I think some screens out high to free him up a little bit could benefit him when he's in there -- it'll either spring him loose for a good open look, develop a P&R/P&P situation with the big setting the screen or maybe a lane opens up where Early can get all the way to the rim. I think there's more to Early's game that we're not utilizing right now..

Splat wrote:Stat sucks. He's not a starter on any team in this league. Anything good he does occasionally gets cancelled out by his own innate lack of understanding of the game of basketball.

smackeddog wrote:

Splat wrote:Stat sucks. He's not a starter on any team in this league. Anything good he does occasionally gets cancelled out by his own innate lack of understanding of the game of basketball.

Wasn't everyone saying that this time last year?

Players like Stat are hard to discuss for different groups of fans because the imprint of what he once was vs. what he is now is so vast a disparity.

I've seen a very slow adaptation to his current status among many fans who think he is something more than he really is. This was evident after his first year here. It took the majority of Stat fans two full seasons just to accept he was damaged goods even though it was glaringly obvious he was playing on grinding knees and a shell of himself.

Kudos to Stat for staying the course and working on his health and recovery. But he is still a glimmer of what he once was.

But more important to any discussion of Stat is what kind of player he ever was. When he was young and strong, he could overpower, but now that he is basically an ordinary physical specimen by NBA standards, the fall-off in his abilities is precipitous because he utterly lacks the fundamental skills that would make him a well-rounded player with his current physical abilities.

The ghost of Stat past is what still echoes through many assessments of Stat present. He just is not that good, nor is he part of this club's future. And if anyone think he'd be resigned, consider that this is Phil's club now. He wants it to be his players. Stat is old news. He is not returning now matter what sentiment a fan holds for him.