Isiah's basis for scouting players is based on athleticism which is why he's had luck drafting at the lower end of drafts. At that point it's a crapshoot so drafting athletic guys (Lee, Balkman and Ariza) over guys whose projected basketball skills might be higher, isn't a bad idea.

When it comes to acquiring established NBA players you can't just rely on athletic skills. Isiah sucks at judging NBA players based on their actual basketball skills. Plus his ego gets in the way. He thinks he's smarter than every other GM so he can pick the diamond in the rough that nobody else can.

Posted by Bippity10:

The guy is hustling. He's playing hard, he's just never going to be what Isiah made him out to be. Now with that added pressure he's struggling to be even who he was in Washington. Once again the "savior principal" in New York strikes again. Every player we add is touted as the "missing piece". Role players built around a mish mash crew are not going to make a difference in who we are. They may help us to win a few more games, but when you are a bad team, role players are not taking you to the next level.

We need to finally realize that Patrick is gone and build in NY. Get some young players that can grow together. Stop wasting roster spots and money on guys that are supposed to fill weaknesses. With our lack of balance we have too many weaknesses for any non star to turn us around. It's time to Build a team.

in general i agree w/all that, but i do think we have some pieces in place that can grow together... if it were up to me, given this current roster, i'd keep the following:

Curry
D Lee
Balkman
Q Rich
Jamal
Cato (cheap & can still play)
Collins (still want to see him get some minutes to see whether he's worth holding on to)


i'd buy out or send home Francis & Turd, cuz i don't see either 1 of them ever making an appreciable contribution for this franchise & neither one is tradeable.


the rest i'd try to use in a trade if i could to get some players that fit better w/the pieces i'm holding on to:

Stephon (i think he has some value now that he's playing great)
Channing
Nate
Malik
Jefferies


what i would try to get out of that bunch is a shotblocking wingman first & foremost... then try to find a veteran defensive perimeter player who can knock down an open jumpshot (a Lindsey Hunter/Ruben Patterson/Raja Bell type player)

there would probably be a little more tweaking needed to become a legit contending team, but that's a start... put that together & allow those guys to gel under the same head coach who has a defense first, share the ball type philosophy

I think Isiah got Jeffries because Brown wanted him. He's the kind of guy that contributes very well under Brown but struggles elsewhere (think about some of those Philly guys, like Ratliff, Lynch, Snow, etc.)

To my eye Isiah is doing his best to shape the roster as Brown might have advised him (JJ2, Balkman, Collins, Cato) while also trying not to bruise egos, not to alter his lineups and not to offend Dolan, but it's possible you can't make everything fit if you're afraid to take a hammer to some of the pieces.

Posted by djsunyc:

the knicks team of ward, houston, kurt, clarence, othella, shandon, doleac, etc...had ZERO athleticism. they made up for their lack of skills with hard work and smart play (aka playing the "right" way). they are the complete antithesis of this team.

they both share similar records and this team is somewhat worse b/c of their inexeperience.

but what both teams are sorely missing is a franchise player and both teams were handcuffed in assets trying to acquire one.

Actually those teams had their #1 picks to work this. Isiah has traded 4 of them away. Those teams also had a better chance of getting under the cap sooner than this one will.

Posted by TMS:

those teams had expiring contracts & draft picks... this team has D Lee & Curry... i tend to think Lee & Curry can realistically nab you a franchise calibre player if you're willing to deal them.

Which franchise player can be had for them?

Curry is a one trick pony and Lee is a very good role player. That isn't worth a franchise player.

I was curious if the wrist injury had anything to do with Jeffries' poor jump shooting this year. However, even last year he made only 30.8% of his jumpshots. http://www.82games.com/0506/05WAS10A.HTM

Fair enough. I was thinking of younger franchise players. I think you could get one with about 3 or 4 years of high level play left like KG. Not sure about JO, although he's a borderline franchise player IMO.