TMS wrote:i think our best hope is that Nate is showcased from now til the trade deadline & we can somehow use him to dump Fishlips' contract... that would seem to be the best possible outcome for our longterm goals & for MDA's sanity.

Yeah, I guess it comes down to whether we are going all in for the 2010 plan or are we going to try to win games. Nate is our best offensive spark when the team is in a funk and as much as we have talked about Jeffries on this board, the bottemline is that he IS our defense. Jeffries pretty much singlehandedly has risen our defense from terrible to marginally effective. If we traded Nate and Jeffries, I think this team would go into a tailspin unless Hill and Douglas can step into those roles. Basically, if we trade Nate and Jeffries, we are probably kissing the playoffs goodbye.

holfresh wrote:U know it's amazing how passionate some get about why a player shouldn't play until he steps on the court and drops 41...

I for one thought it was a mistake to bench Nate for so long, but I think even those that supported the idea did so only because of Nate's immaturity, not due to a lack of belief in his talent. I still have doubts about Nate's ability to remain in control over the longterm, but I would not give him DNP-CDs, I would just limit his minutes when he acted up.

TheGame wrote:

holfresh wrote:U know it's amazing how passionate some get about why a player shouldn't play until he steps on the court and drops 41...

I for one thought it was a mistake to bench Nate for so long, but I think even those that supported the idea did so only because of Nate's immaturity, not due to a lack of belief in his talent. I still have doubts about Nate's ability to remain in control over the longterm, but I would not give him DNP-CDs, I would just limit his minutes when he acted up.

When Hughes was having those good games it was easier to keep Nate from getting any floor time. I wonder if he would have played last night if Hughes was able to contribute solid play for 30+ MPG like he was doing earlier in the year?

TheGame wrote:

TMS wrote:i think our best hope is that Nate is showcased from now til the trade deadline & we can somehow use him to dump Fishlips' contract... that would seem to be the best possible outcome for our longterm goals & for MDA's sanity.

Yeah, I guess it comes down to whether we are going all in for the 2010 plan or are we going to try to win games. Nate is our best offensive spark when the team is in a funk and as much as we have talked about Jeffries on this board, the bottemline is that he IS our defense. Jeffries pretty much singlehandedly has risen our defense from terrible to marginally effective. If we traded Nate and Jeffries, I think this team would go into a tailspin unless Hill and Douglas can step into those roles. Basically, if we trade Nate and Jeffries, we are probably kissing the playoffs goodbye.

we kissed the playoffs goodbye last year when we traded Zach & Jamal to dump their contracts... MDA & Walsh tried to spin it by saying we were an improved squad with Tim Thomas & Al Harrington & people bought into it... i think if we are able to trade Nate & Fishlips, it's a benefit to our main goal, which is the 2010 plan for free agency... that should take precedence over making the playoffs IMO... i think Jordan Hill & Toney Douglas filling in for Fishlips & Nate also accomplishes the other "stated" goal, which was to develop the young guys... u kill 2 birds w/1 stone if u make that move, it's a no brainer as far as i'm concerned... Nate belongs on a team with a head coach that can harness what he brings to the table & deal w/all the other stuff... Fishlips has given us a nice effort on defense this year but he's simply way too much of a liability on the offensive end & is an albatross on our cap for what we're trying to accomplish in the offseason, he has to go.

TMS wrote:

TheGame wrote:

TMS wrote:i think our best hope is that Nate is showcased from now til the trade deadline & we can somehow use him to dump Fishlips' contract... that would seem to be the best possible outcome for our longterm goals & for MDA's sanity.

Yeah, I guess it comes down to whether we are going all in for the 2010 plan or are we going to try to win games. Nate is our best offensive spark when the team is in a funk and as much as we have talked about Jeffries on this board, the bottemline is that he IS our defense. Jeffries pretty much singlehandedly has risen our defense from terrible to marginally effective. If we traded Nate and Jeffries, I think this team would go into a tailspin unless Hill and Douglas can step into those roles. Basically, if we trade Nate and Jeffries, we are probably kissing the playoffs goodbye.

we kissed the playoffs goodbye last year when we traded Zach & Jamal to dump their contracts... MDA & Walsh tried to spin it by saying we were an improved squad with Tim Thomas & Al Harrington & people bought into it... i think if we are able to trade Nate & Fishlips, it's a benefit to our main goal, which is the 2010 plan for free agency... that should take precedence over making the playoffs IMO... i think Jordan Hill & Toney Douglas filling in for Fishlips & Nate also accomplishes the other "stated" goal, which was to develop the young guys... u kill 2 birds w/1 stone if u make that move, it's a no brainer as far as i'm concerned... Nate belongs on a team with a head coach that can harness what he brings to the table & deal w/all the other stuff... Fishlips has given us a nice effort on defense this year but he's simply way too much of a liability on the offensive end & is an albatross on our cap for what we're trying to accomplish in the offseason, he has to go.

Paladin55 wrote:

TMS wrote:

TheGame wrote:

TMS wrote:i think our best hope is that Nate is showcased from now til the trade deadline & we can somehow use him to dump Fishlips' contract... that would seem to be the best possible outcome for our longterm goals & for MDA's sanity.

Yeah, I guess it comes down to whether we are going all in for the 2010 plan or are we going to try to win games. Nate is our best offensive spark when the team is in a funk and as much as we have talked about Jeffries on this board, the bottemline is that he IS our defense. Jeffries pretty much singlehandedly has risen our defense from terrible to marginally effective. If we traded Nate and Jeffries, I think this team would go into a tailspin unless Hill and Douglas can step into those roles. Basically, if we trade Nate and Jeffries, we are probably kissing the playoffs goodbye.

we kissed the playoffs goodbye last year when we traded Zach & Jamal to dump their contracts... MDA & Walsh tried to spin it by saying we were an improved squad with Tim Thomas & Al Harrington & people bought into it... i think if we are able to trade Nate & Fishlips, it's a benefit to our main goal, which is the 2010 plan for free agency... that should take precedence over making the playoffs IMO... i think Jordan Hill & Toney Douglas filling in for Fishlips & Nate also accomplishes the other "stated" goal, which was to develop the young guys... u kill 2 birds w/1 stone if u make that move, it's a no brainer as far as i'm concerned... Nate belongs on a team with a head coach that can harness what he brings to the table & deal w/all the other stuff... Fishlips has given us a nice effort on defense this year but he's simply way too much of a liability on the offensive end & is an albatross on our cap for what we're trying to accomplish in the offseason, he has to go.

We need a team with some players who have the leadership ability to keep Nate under control, not a team whose best player- Lee- was wearing a "Free Nate" t-shirt, if I remember correctly.

unless we get Lebron this offseason, that won't be happening anytime soon.

MDA could have another stuck another knife into Nate's career as a Knick by simply playing Douglas the minutes he gave Nate las night.

MDA could have also limited the minutes he gave Nate, as is his prerogative as a coach, but he did not do this, and pretty much let Nate do his thing.

At least for one game, everything worked fine.

Nate played great from the moment he stepped on the floor... if u think MDA deserves credit for sticking w/a guy who was clearly the best player on the floor last nite, that's fine... for playing Nate over TD i will give MDA whatever props u think he deserves... personally i think that's a no brainer choice, Nate is a much better player than TD any day of the week.

EnySpree wrote:Showcasing is for the birds...D'antoni has been saying the most important thing is winning...his best five will start and his best 8 guys will be rotated.

if MDA was all about winning & he was going to play his best five, Nate & Al would both be starting games right now... this is about him wanting guys who play his system, & he's going to play the guys that do it & those that don't will take a backseat... if we had another Gallo on this team then Al Harrington would have been getting DNP-CD's right along w/Nate... MDA is inflexible, let's face it... he believes in his system, which is his right... he's had much success with that system in the past... but he's not necessarily going to play his best guys... what MDA says & does are 2 separate things.

As for Curry, sorry, you have no case here. He hasnt done crap and whenever he steps on the court, he gets hurt.

TMS, I dont think you give Nate enough credit for his game. Yes, hes a scorer first, but in short spurts, he can play the pg pretty well.

I also think wed be aable to trade Jared without Nate, bc of how well he has been playing and the fact that his contract is now reasonable. Like ive been saying, not all teams are under the cap this summer and a contender would be willing to give Jared a try to stock up their defense.