iSergio wrote:I wouldn't fall in love with ANY of the Golden State players. They are just assets for a future trade - including Anthony Randolph. I don't think Donnie Walsh made this trade with the idea of using these 3 players as building blocks.

I think DW looks at these guys as building blocks that ALSO have good trade value. Since you can't predict a trade happening you have to build your team right and this team makes sense.

TMS brought up AZ's ppg n Rebs but failed to mention his steady improvement and his excellent shorting %'s. If you want to play efficient BB you start with guys like AZ who get it done efficiently.

http://video.msg.com/Home/Kelenna-Azubuike-on-Joining-Knicks-7-12

Not once do you hear him sound overly cautious about anything -- he's says the knee's coming along well, he expects to be ready and sounds real confident in his ability on both ends of the floor..

Big thing I like a lot is that we not only acquired some standout offensive players but a lot of these guys we got are either already established defenders or have the potential to be top defenders. Felton's a good defender, so is Azubuike, with 30-35 mins. AR should be top 10 in the league in blocks easy--probably top 5, Turiaf's a very good shot-blocker who could average 2 blocks a game in only 20 minutes--dude knows his role, Amar'e can block a shot, not sure if this kid Fields gets a lot of PT right away but he looked pretty smart & sound defensively from what I saw in Vegas ---- now you add all this to Chandler & Douglas, two of the few holdovers who can defend, even Gallo who surprises you from time to time defensively ---- we've got the makings of a fairly complete two-way squad. It's one thing to amass a collection of scorers but quite another to also get guys who will bust it on the other end and won't give it right back so easily. Scoring, defense, versatility, interchangeability, a substantial PG upgrade, guys that are hungry, a great find in the 2nd round with Fields, two intriguing, young 7 footers for added height and depth -- to say I'm excited is an understatement!! Damn I wish this thing started tomorrow son!

tkf wrote:

TMS wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

TMS wrote:10 & 4 over his career... he's not that good... he's solid on both ends but not great... just like any player, he can catch fire & put up a big game here & there... he's just another stopgap player with no future on this team... i'd almost rather see Bill Walker getting minutes over him off the bench just for the curiosity factor alone.

I dont care about 10 -4 I care about what have u done for me lately--what his his upside at 30+ minutes as sixth man--17-6 if healthy?

i'm projecting him to be no more than 14 & 5 for us this season... i think Wilson will get a fair share of minutes at the 2, & Landry Fields will also get some time... i don't see Azabuike as much more than another Q Rich type stopgap... he is not going to get anywhere near Al Harrington's scoring opportunities or minutes this season... you make it seem as if he was stuck playing in a low scoring half court style offense last year that prevented him from breaking out... dude has been playing for Don Nelson his entire career.

Azabuike will be a solid stopgap, nothing more.

well 14/5 is not really a stop gap. I mean, on this team, if he can give you 14/5 with efficient shooting from the field and downtown with good defense, then you have a solid player. and I am not just talking stats, I am talking defense, passing, making smart decisions, playing a true SG role.... Raja bell was a 14/3 player for the suns, during their run. but the key is he shot 43% from the field and 40% from three and defended.. that efficient play along with defense and solid passing, made him a great fit in dantoni's system.. far from a stopgap.. if buike can give us anything close, then we would have made out like bandits here...

IMO Buike will no longer be a part of this team after this season... Al Harrington put up better stats than 14 & 5, but he was still a stopgap... we are still playing the "waiting for a savior in free agency" game.

Finestrg wrote:Right from the horse's mouth:

http://video.msg.com/Home/Kelenna-Azubuike-on-Joining-Knicks-7-12

Not once do you hear him sound overly cautious about anything -- he's says the knee's coming along well, he expects to be ready and sounds real confident in his ability on both ends of the floor..

Big thing I like a lot is that we not only acquired some standout offensive players but a lot of these guys we got are either already established defenders or have the potential to be top defenders. Felton's a good defender, so is Azubuike, with 30-35 mins. AR should be top 10 in the league in blocks easy--probably top 5, Turiaf's a very good shot-blocker who could average 2 blocks a game in only 20 minutes--dude knows his role, Amar'e can block a shot, not sure if this kid Fields gets a lot of PT right away but he looked pretty smart & sound defensively from what I saw in Vegas ---- now you add all this to Chandler & Douglas, two of the few holdovers who can defend, even Gallo who surprises you from time to time defensively ---- we've got the makings of a fairly complete two-way squad. It's one thing to amass a collection of scorers but quite another to also get guys who will bust it on the other end and won't give it right back so easily. Scoring, defense, versatility, interchangeability, a substantial PG upgrade, guys that are hungry, a great find in the 2nd round with Fields, two intriguing, young 7 footers for added height and depth -- to say I'm excited is an understatement!! Damn I wish this thing started tomorrow son!

Nice post. I am pretty excited about this team. I say we hold off on Paul and see what we got. With Amare in the middle and a real pg in Felton, that just changes things for guys like Gallo, Randolph, etc. Having a real pg in Felton, who is tailor made for this offense (don't forget, he was a top 5 pick) is going to be what makes this team work. I can't wait to see Felton, Amare, Gallo, Randolph and whomever on the court at the same time. That is going to be fun to watch.

I liked this kid when he was out in GS- he reminds me a bit of Gerald Wilkins - explosive, running type player- but obviously a much better shooter.

Key for all of these guys will be consistency- and if their not shooting, can they do other things like D & Board - believe all these guys can.

I think the biggest question mark on the season is MDA. Will he get his hands dirty and work hard?

Markji wrote:Azubuike went down with a very serious injury at the beginning of last year, and reportedly, is taking longer to heal. We can't count on him to be at his former playing ability. At least not right away. I hope he recovers but I am not expecting much from him for the first 1 to 2 months. This was his injury. ouch!

No doubt that was very painful but as far as injuries go, I don't know man, maybe it's me but to the naked eye that one looked pretty tame compared to some other doozies we've seen recently (Shaun Livingston, Tony Allen's knee injury, Andrew Bogut's arm/wrist/elbow injury, etc.). ..Not trying to downplay it at all -- no doubt it was severe, he tore the patella tendon, but it didn't have that 'OMG, I can't even look' quality to it as far as how it exactly happened & trama sustained goes...It seemed to have happen either on his last push off or in mid-air. Weird..Anyway, I say this only to point out that it's a good thing. It didn't look as severe as some other injuries and he's actually had ample time to heal (basically 85% of the season and an entire off-season)..I believe the book on returning from this type of injury is 4-5 months..As of right now, Kelenna's going on his 8th month of recovery..And I feel good about hearing him talk about it in that clip -- sounds like he's well informed & doing what he needs to do to strengthen all the muscles in & around the knee. He sounds positive & upbeat -- doesn't sound pessimistic or worried in the slightest. It all sounds very encouraging to me thus far..When he says he'll be ready to go for training camp, I gotta believe him. He's still a wait & see of course but I think he might be closer to what some people think..

Based on all of this info, I'll continue to remain optimistic with Azubuike for the time being but truth be told we really don't know. I have to conceed that.. We'll have to wait and see how he responds once training camp hits..There's always the possiblity that he doesn't come back 100%, even to the point where we just let him expire off the cap at the end of the year..Same for Wilson Chandler -- if the Mayor doesn't show marked improvement, the Knicks could choose to renounce his rights as well to free up approx $4M next off-season or even trade him at some point to accomplish that goal..We could find ourselves very thin at SG in the near future..Landry Fields has shown some nice potential but even if he shows he's a keeper, we're still a little thin at that position moving forward...This is why I wanted the Knicks to make the simple move of adding 6'6" Sylven Landesberg to the mix. He would've been perfect -- some nice insurance at a position that could turn out to be a real definciency sooner than we expect not to mention he's got real nice ability & upside as a player. Very young too -- to me, you can't possibly add enough young assets to your team in the NBA esp. one's with obvious talent like this kid has demonstrated..Well forget that now -- SL just signed a two-year deal to go play in Israel:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Av1e.paIqSg5wHkQxRA1KnBzK7J_?slug=ap-maccabihaifa-landesberg

I truly believe every team in the league missed the boat on this kid Landesberg in a big way..Perhaps too much was made of his dismissal from UVA (he cut an art class, big f'in deal)...I don't know man..I do know this much -- we could've added him for peanuts and even if we didn't have room with the pro club right away, we could've utilized the D-League with him...Dude's a NY product that Mike had in for a workout so we know coach knows about him. Even if we informed Landesberg that he had to go to the DL for the time being, he would've accepted those terms over packing up his suitcase and heading overseas (I would think it would be a lot easier to accept a stint in the DL as long as you're under contract from a parent club, rather than as an independent FA trying to make it. Esp. on a team from your own hometown that may have an opening at your position within the next year or two)... PG Patrick Mills, PF Wayne Chism (why overpay for Anthony Tolliver when you can get a younger, cheaper & possibly better carbon copy with this guy?) along with Landesberg are the 3 young players we could've added with the remaining cap space that would've gone a long way in improving roster depth at all the right positions..They would've come cheap and would've provided us with a nice sense of insurance and security. Ashame the Knicks obviously don't feel the same way..If I was running the show -- these three would've been Knicks already and I would've felt set and ready to go..We had a hell of an off-season but these last three young/cheap pieces would've really put the bow on the gift box for me..Oh well.

Vmart wrote:The true wildcard for the Knicks is Gallo and Chandlers development. Are they ready to make the leap into stardom. If they are they are well on their way to the playoffs if they aren't there will be no playoffs.

Have to add Randolph to this group. Don't see why he can't be our Lamar Odom, or even a Rodman-type player on D.

knicks1248 wrote:

TMS wrote:

iSergio wrote:I wouldn't fall in love with ANY of the Golden State players. They are just assets for a future trade - including Anthony Randolph. I don't think Donnie Walsh made this trade with the idea of using these 3 players as building blocks.

agreed.

why wouldn't you get excited, GS always gives away ther rising stars, SPREE, ARENAS, WEBBER,J RICH, just to name a few...some in ther prime, some on there way up.

KA, should be about as servicible as Q rich was with the suns

um... those names you listed were much better players than Azabuike when GS traded them away... we got Buike as an expiring cap filler... he will not be here past this season.

nixluva wrote:You seem to be underselling AZ quite a bit. What you're not taking note of is that he's exactly the kind of player that MDA usually has a ton of success with. He's a solid all around player, career 46%-41% 3pt, has a 40" vert and great lateral quickness and he's smart. That is exactly what Raja Bell was and he has the kind of game that will translate very well under MDA. DOn't be so quick to pass him off so lightly.

please tell me why i should get excited over a player with an expiring contract that has career totals of 11 & 4 in 24 mpg... i'm excited over what i'm gonna see out of Amare this year... i'm excited to see if Gallo can take the next step & become that go to guy on the perimeter we need... those are the guys who factor into our future, not Kelenna Azabuike... you guys need to come back to reality... he'll be a solid role player this season, nothing more.

TMS wrote:

nixluva wrote:You seem to be underselling AZ quite a bit. What you're not taking note of is that he's exactly the kind of player that MDA usually has a ton of success with. He's a solid all around player, career 46%-41% 3pt, has a 40" vert and great lateral quickness and he's smart. That is exactly what Raja Bell was and he has the kind of game that will translate very well under MDA. DOn't be so quick to pass him off so lightly.

please tell me why i should get excited over a player with an expiring contract that has career totals of 11 & 4 in 24 mpg... i'm excited over what i'm gonna see out of Amare this year... i'm excited to see if Gallo can take the next step & become that go to guy on the perimeter we need... those are the guys who factor into our future, not Kelenna Azabuike... you guys need to come back to reality... he'll be a solid role player this season, nothing more.

There maybe a little truth to what your saying, but just keep in mind that raja and q rich had career years under MDA, both were in the league for 2+ years prior to MDA, same for boris diaw, who was a raw prospect. Once he got to the suns, i had to make sure this was the same boris who played for the Hawks. The guy was posting triple doubles playing 3 position, and came into his own.

I think Mike's system, maximize's a players potential, just look at how he had marion playing center for stretches, and won 60 games in the process.

nixluva wrote:

TMS wrote:

nixluva wrote:You seem to be underselling AZ quite a bit. What you're not taking note of is that he's exactly the kind of player that MDA usually has a ton of success with. He's a solid all around player, career 46%-41% 3pt, has a 40" vert and great lateral quickness and he's smart. That is exactly what Raja Bell was and he has the kind of game that will translate very well under MDA. DOn't be so quick to pass him off so lightly.

please tell me why i should get excited over a player with an expiring contract that has career totals of 11 & 4 in 24 mpg... i'm excited over what i'm gonna see out of Amare this year... i'm excited to see if Gallo can take the next step & become that go to guy on the perimeter we need... those are the guys who factor into our future, not Kelenna Azabuike... you guys need to come back to reality... he'll be a solid role player this season, nothing more.

Why are you talking as if the kid hasn't improved over his short time in the league? His last 2 full season's he avg'd 14pts. Also you just completely ignored what I wrote in terms of his being a player that usually does very well in a D'Antoni system. He doesn't have to be a star but can you tell me how you can pooh pooh shooting %'s like he's posted? The fact that he defends, can run, shoot, drive and finish at a high level. You really do sound like a guy that just has to crap on something that has no negatives. The guy is a talented and efficient well rounded player...period! You get excited by how a player fits a role and can enhance what your TEAM does. He's a team player on a team that wants to focus on team play. He's not a volume shooting ball hog. We needed a real SG and he is one. That's why you get excited.

Tell me this, do you just ignore efficient players that can step in a produce without wrecking you teams flow? We're building a team, not a damn fantasy league roster. Come on TMS. You're better than this.

excuse me if i choose to trust my own instincts on this one.