Posted by Bippity10:
Again, you always try to change the issue by somehow claiming that everyone is impatient and just doesn't understand that young guys need to mature and develop. I say this is simply a falsehood used to change the issue.
I am as well, if not more aware(because I do it every season myself) than you what is needed to develop young players. The question isn't about the young guys developing. It is about what is Isiah's plan? The offense and emphasis was clearly on the 3 guard line-up at the beginning of the season. Then when Curry got going it went to a post up game. Now that Curry is struggling against the double teams(which are never going to stop for the rest of his career) we are back to focusing on the guards. Now this is adjustment on the fly and I can appreciate that and understand it was completely necessary by Isiah the coach.
The question again comes back to Isiah the GM. And the reason maybe I am very skeptical and you are not is that I was pointing out these events during the summer. You could look at the roster and it was entirely clear what the issues would be and are. To build around Curry we need certain types of players. But when I look at the roster that Isiah has assembled(after you trim the fat) there is not one of these players on it. Jamal can get him the ball but there is no real distributor. There is no shot blocker or jumpshooter. No perimeter defense. Why can I see that this needed to be addressed two years ago and Isiah hasn't. And the truth is that he has. He knows all the things we need. But he is sidetracked by the need to fill the seats while trying to rebuild. Balkman was a pick to help with today's weaknesses, not to build a team. David Lee is a great player. But if his defense doesn't improve or we dont' somehow obtain a shotblocking SF, David and Curry will be a liability as well as a positive next to each other.
Going forward we are developing a similar roster to the one we have today, just younger. this post is not meant to say we are doomed anymore than the obvious questions I asked during the preseason. The questions that you said were negative but as we are seeing right now were very relevant. You will find in time that the above question is relevant as well. Will Isiah change his style or continue down the path of picking the same type of team that isn't winning today, but is younger. Will he address the issues? Will he begin to make effecient moves? Or will we see him tear up the roster for the 4th time in 4 years and the 5th time in 5 years all the while calling it a plan. If idiot fans like me can recognize issues with our backcourt, or ballhandling or defense in preseason and ask questions about it. I don't want my GM being surprised when those problems come to fruition. I do not trust this man to build my team. He can caoch it, but his building is one smoke screen after another.
[Edited by - bippity10 on 03-28-2007 08:00 AM]
[Edited by - bippity10 on 03-28-2007 08:01 AM]
Bippity10, as always, you make good points. This is how I see the next year going. IT's plan is to use these assets to get the two way players that we need on this team. Frye, Curry, Lee, Crawford, Morris, Balkman, Nate, and Collins all have trade value. Some a little, some a lot. IT is going to draft the best SG or defensive PF he can find in the draft (unless another solid prospect drops unexpectedly) and then he is going to cut Francis this summer. He will work on the game plan to better fit our personnel and work on the players in training camp to help them improve on defense and with handling the double teams. He is going to play out the early part of the season, the team will start better than it did last year, and IT is going to start thinking it is time to make a move. He is going to try to identify that star player we are missing, perhaps a Gasol, KG, O' Neal, and he is going to put together a package of players and try to get a deal done. Where the Knicks go from there is going to be dependent on how good a deal IT can make, which I know is not an encouraging fact.
Like I said before, this team beats itself more than it gets beaten. Eliminating mistake prone players like Francis will be a start. Working with Curry on passing out of the doubleteam will also help. We are at a point now where we cannot rebuild, we have to make 1 or 2 trades to consolidate our talent and bring on some 2-way players and then ride it out and hope that our young players improve individually and as a team. It will either work or it won't, but there is no way IT can do a complete rebuild after spending 4 years rebuilding.
3/27/2007 10:16 PM
