TMS wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

loweyecue wrote:The bias that most fans have against european players is really annoying. Scola is better than anyone on our roster as is a 33 year old Manu.

I dont think it is anything to do with them being European they are just old. Scola will likely be resigned and Manu cant stay healthy.

dude, Scola's 29 & Manu at 33 has more energy & skill than plenty of 20 something's who are starting for NBA teams right now.

anyway, they're Argentinian but i get low's point... foreign players are often regarded as soft & inferior to US players & that's just not the case w/these 2 guys... Manu has proven himself in the NBA time & time again & Scola hasn't missed a single game in his 3 year NBA career.

Scola is a baller which is why Houston traded Landry and not Scola. We'd have to overpay for Scola because Houston can offer more years with bigger raises. I want no parts of Ginobli because he is way too old and injury prone(at this point). If he wants to take MLE type money then fine but I read he was offered 13 million by some European team to play with them next year. Im always weary when a guys current team doesn't want to pay him.

Scola i'd be willing to offer a contract starting at $7 million in the 1st year... something like 5 years $45 million, which averages out to $9 mil per which is 3 times Scola's current salary & a helluva lot less than the $12 mil per 6 year $74 million contract some guys around here wanna pay him this summer... if Scola's looking for more than that & can get it from Houston, all power to him... even then i still wouldn't sign Lee up for that type of cheese.

if u can get those 2 guys at that level money, u'd still have enough money left over to sign a max FA to play w/them this summer, or u can split it between 1 lower paycale tier max guy like Rudy Gay & a midlevel type signing like Camby or Haywood on a short term deal... or you can just sign a couple role players & bite the bullet for 1 more year & wait for Melo... at that point i'd be fine w/any of those options cuz we'd already have failed this summer by not landing Lebron, Wade or Bosh... last thing i wanna do is hinder ourselves with more huge bloated overpaid contracts of flawed players or players who have baggage like we've been doing over the Layden & Isiah eras in NY.

TMS wrote:

Anji wrote:have mercy on this Scola/Manu talk as well. Lee shats on Scola and Manu is 33 years old.

Scola is playing in a much more competitive & big man saturated Western Conference playing next to a 6'6" C as his running mate & his team is contending for a playoff spot... compare his per 48 statline to D Lee's this year & there really is not much drop off at all between the 2 players in any category... one of them will cost us at least $12 million per season to re-sign over 6 years... the other will cost about half that in my estimation.

u can say all you like how Lee sheits all over Scola but Scola has shat all over plenty of quality bigmen in the NBA this season including Zach Randolph, Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess, Jeff Green, Brook Lopez & Andrew Bogut, some of whom have shat all over Lee in head to head matchups... he's also more than held his own against guys like Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Nene, Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett & Al Jefferson to name just a few, all while being routinely out sized at his position just like D Lee's been all year... & the first time the Knicks played the Rockets Scola put up 23 & 7 on Lee in only 26 minutes while it took Lee 45 minutes to put up his 26 & 12, so i wouldn't exactly say he crapped all over him that day.

go ahead & minimalize Scola's talent all u want, just cuz the dude's foreign don't make him soft & don't make him a bad player... this guy is damn good & IMO would be well worth the lesser investment & make him a better value than signing David Lee to an overpaid contract for the same reasons some of you prefer Lee over Chris Bosh... stats wise Lee maybe offensively more consistent but he also plays on a much crappier team where he is the main focus of the offense & averages 2 more shot attempts with 5 more minutes played per game, while Scola has shared scoring duties in the frontcourt for most of the season with Carl Landry & been the 2nd or 3rd scoring option for most of the season.

as for Manu, i don't care how old he is, i bet he's got more gasoline left in his tank to play at a high level than most guys 4 years younger than he is... if you've watched this guy play at all you can see he go balls out on both ends of the floor every night & brings all the leadership & character intangibles that MDA seems to be looking for... you'd be an absolute fool to take David Lee over Scola & Manu if u ask me.

I like Scola and agree that he will cost less than Lee. That would a smart move by Walsh if we could sign Scola to a 5 year, $40-$45 million dollar deal. We would probably save $2-$3 mill per season versus Lee, and save about $6-$8 million versus a Bosh or Amare, and I think Scola is good enough to win with if we can find a center and can get James or Anthony next year. I would pass on Manu. He has been hurt too much and is simply too old to add to this team. It will take at least 2 years for this team to mold itself into a contender, even with James. Manu will simply be too old at 35-36 to play a major role.

TMS wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:I think a Lee/Amare frontcourt with a top flight guard is good enough to contend for a championship. I mean, Lee/Amare + Gallo/another outside shooter would be lethal. That team doesn't really need a playmaker because everyone to a certain extent has the ability to create and space

can u name me the last championship team with as bad a defensive frontcourt as that?

I really have no retort for that... but I do think the two are perfect offensive foils for each other, and adding a third into the mix like Joel Przybilla or Brendan Haywood (or a Cole Aldrich type) be awesome

you may be right but Amare/Lee would get the Knicks to the ECF and we will all have plans next May

TMS wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

TMS wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:I think a Lee/Amare frontcourt with a top flight guard is good enough to contend for a championship. I mean, Lee/Amare + Gallo/another outside shooter would be lethal. That team doesn't really need a playmaker because everyone to a certain extent has the ability to create and space

can u name me the last championship team with as bad a defensive frontcourt as that?

I really have no retort for that... but I do think the two are perfect offensive foils for each other, and adding a third into the mix like Joel Przybilla or Brendan Haywood (or a Cole Aldrich type) be awesome

you may be right but Amare/Lee would get the Knicks to the ECF and we will all have plans next May

see if our goal was to make some noise in the playoffs, then sure i think Amare & Lee could win you games, but i don't think that would ever win you a title... u need a defensive presence in the paint to win championships in this league... it's been proven over & over... obviously u need great players too, but that defensive presence in the paint is very key... even the Bulls who had scrubs playing the C position still had Horace Grant & Scottie Pippen who offered terrific help defense inside... Lee & Amare's production on the offense will do no good if they're giving up the same stats they're putting up on the defensive side of the ball... i would be OK with 1 or the other if i absolutely had to choose between these guys, but not both... personally i think both will be overpaid this summer so i'd steer clear of both of them & find cheaper alternative solutions for the PF & C positions, hopefully guys who can play on both sides of the ball... if we absolutely must overpay for an offensive only player i'd rather do so for a perimeter scorer who can create his own shot & be a go to guy in crunchtime & shore up the frontcourt with tough defensive players who will rebound the ball & block shots... personally i think that's a better winning formula than watching jazz hands & red carpet matador defense all game long by our bigs all year.

If you want to win a title, what I think has been proven is you need one of the best players in the league. So unless we're adding Amare & Lee to Lebron or Kobe, doesn't matter.

loweyecue wrote:The bias that most fans have against european players is really annoying. Scola is better than anyone on our roster as is a 33 year old Manu.

I think those guy's are good supporting players, but with out and elite, PG or C, you remain a playoff contender, not a championship contender