Originally posted by Rich:

Originally posted by nyk4ever:

Originally posted by Rich:

It says nothing about wanting him in the second round. It's merely spin.

It also says nothing about wanting him in the first round, which was merely spin.

That's possible, but we don't know either way.
We do know one thing: 21 GMs passed on Williams, and 19 passed on Balkman.

Another view is that 29 would've passed on Balkman, while less than 29 would've passed on Williams. Let's hold some semblance of reality.

For once, please step away from the kool-aid.

I hear a lot of people defending Isiah for making risky moves - which risky moves has he made that have ultimately paid off? If you ask me he has taken far too many risks and few if any have paid dividends.

In this case, he should have gone BPA, it would have been the wise choice and even if the guy wasnt a superstar, he would have been productive. Isiah needs to learn when to stop rolling the dice.

Posted by Solace:

Originally posted by Rich:

Originally posted by nyk4ever:

Originally posted by Rich:

It says nothing about wanting him in the second round. It's merely spin.

It also says nothing about wanting him in the first round, which was merely spin.

That's possible, but we don't know either way.
We do know one thing: 21 GMs passed on Williams, and 19 passed on Balkman.

Another view is that 29 would've passed on Balkman, while less than 29 would've passed on Williams. Let's hold some semblance of reality.

For once, please step away from the kool-aid.

this was a need draft... gms from other teams would have passed on a lot of players that other teams took. how many teams wanted Shawne Williams? if Isiah took Shawne Williams over Marcus Williams, the move would have been bashed all over the place, but Bird does it and no one bats an eye. people would have been happy with Marcus in the short term, but really, his pressence would have created more roster problems than it solved.

[Edited by - crzymdups on 06-29-2006 4:41 PM]

Posted by Rich:

Posted by nyballer:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Guys, the world is NOT out to get Isiah. Isiah has made his mess and thats why people gang up on him. It's not like Isiah's hands are clean in all of this.

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 06-29-2006 1:29 PM]

I don't think the world is out to get him and I am not an Isiah supporter. I agree, Isiah totally screwed up this team and deserves the criticism he gets. But I think he's become such a source of ridicule that anytime he makes a risky move, even in the draft which is supposedly his strength, he won't get the benefit of the doubt like other teams (and deservedly so) will.

And he had to knew that he would be killed for this pick. Rightly or wrongly, the guy has a conviction about Balkman. I respect that.

And wrongly, Ed Tapscott had a conviction about Frederick Weis. You might respect that too but it doesn't make it any less dumb.

Posted by Solace:

Originally posted by Rich:

Originally posted by nyk4ever:

Originally posted by Rich:

It says nothing about wanting him in the second round. It's merely spin.

It also says nothing about wanting him in the first round, which was merely spin.

That's possible, but we don't know either way.
We do know one thing: 21 GMs passed on Williams, and 19 passed on Balkman.

Another view is that 29 would've passed on Balkman, while less than 29 would've passed on Williams. Let's hold some semblance of reality.

For once, please step away from the kool-aid.

No Kool-aid. I'll be very clear: I DON'T like Isiah's performance and I DO want him fired as GM. I also think this franchise is screwed for the rest of my life because Cablevision will never sell it. I've said these views countless times. Tell me which part sounds like Kool-aid?

If you combine all of that with the idea that I've concluded that we don't know who would have taken or wouldn't have taken Balkman, can you really say with a straight face that I sound like a Kool-aid drinker?

Also, you may feel that other GMs "would have" passed on Balkman just like others are sure they "wouldn't have." (I simply admit to not knowing and I don't treat these people's feelings as evidence.