misterearl wrote:"As a matter of fact, "the Knicks are back" still sounds crazy."

Palladin55 - You think Amar'e was out of line for speaking with such confidence in his new team from day one?

No. I like his confidence/cockiness. I also liked it when he called out his teammates earlier in the year.

His shot blocking outburst the other night at a critical time against a solid opponent (an opponent we will be competing against for a playoff spot, I might add), was more than a little exciting for fans who have had so little to really cheer about over the past 10+years, but as an older fan of the team I can't forget how many times the team/franchise has let us down, so I'm not going to get too excited.

Just not ready to drink the kool aid yet- too many variables and too many things which can go wrong.

fishmike wrote:

tkf wrote:

fishmike wrote:You dont think Lee could fit here? One of the best passing bigs in the league, shoots 55%, great mid range and rebounds? The D is weak but as I mentioned in another thread its tough to guard 5 guys. Pretty sure Lee could do a lot of good things.

I dont focus on the past though... Lee did everything you can ask. Drafted last his hard work got him all the way into the all star game and before he got hurt he was part of the Warriors resurrgance

Agree on Amare, but the losing streak still hit 6 and was close to killing our coach in November.

Hey.. I said Knicks would win 45 games. Thats like a 5th seed in the East and I stick by that. I figured if we could work out enough kinks through the first 40-50 games we could start winning at a higher clip later in the year.

Im very happy the team right now all things considered. ATL is a big test. They are a big deep proven team

fish, I miss lee as much as the next guy, but where would he fit here and we still be .500? I said this before, turiaf impacts the game much bigger than his numbers.. He gives hard fouls, he hits the boards, he blocks shots, and changes a lot more...HE protects the paint.. something lee never did... protect the lane.. at some point it goes beyond stats.. lee would get 20/10 while the other team had a party in the paint, I mean a real house party.. at what point does that 20/10 really impacts the game? especially when the other team is having their way on the other end..

100% yes... Lee NEVER had the benefit of playing on a team with any kind of defensive mentality. Forget the trade, if you add Lee to this group we are like 12-4. You have a scoring rebounding center/backup PF for 30 minutes a game. Bring Turiaf off then bench, or Lee off the bench behind Amare... you need to rotate bigs up front.

Turiaf did EXACTLY the same things for GS that he's doing for the Knicks, and those GS teams were TERRIBLE. Turiaf looks great because he's playing with a higher caliber talent. Who is the best player Lee played with? Marbury? Harrington?

You get high % scoring with Lee, you get rebounding and you get superior ball movement, all things the Knicks have struggled with when losing this year.

I do not regret the Lee trade. I wanted him back for 6 years $70mm (starting at $9) at the most. He got lots more from GS so happy trails. He earned that contract, and GS was off to a GREAT start. I'm happy for the guy. He was a class Knick and worked his way from a hustle garbage pick 30 guy to an all star.

And moving forward I could certainly see an elite title caliber team with Lee in the rotation as the first PF/C off the bench getting 30 mpg getting his 15ppg 10rebs 4assists and shooting 55%. I could see that for sure.

Its water under the bridge, I just dont see the reason people feel the need to trash the guy. He was probably the only bright spot in the last 5 years. It would have been nice if he could have been part of turning this franchise around but it was bad timing, thus is life

I understand the sentiment, but there is one problem. There is no Turiaf if there was a David Lee. Right now, I liken Turiaf to a Oakley-like persona. We can never discount a 20-10 player, but Turiaf, even injured, brings different dimensions to the team. It is no coincidence that our 6 game slide was intermingled with his injuries and sitting during those games. On both offense and defense, he's like a glue player. We also benefit from his preaching to AR and Mosgov on what their contribution should be. Argueably our best trade in years.

If David Lee could play center, The Mayor can play center.

misterearl wrote:"Without starting center Ronny Turiaf, whose status for Tuesday’s game against the Nets and beyond is uncertain, plus Toney Douglas, who believes he’ll be back Tuesday after sitting out Sunday with a bruised right thigh, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni dug deep into his bench."

The silver lining is that without Turiaf, Mozgov will gain valuable minutes. The extra time will afford Timo added exposure to refs and tendencies. That will make a difference down the line.

Meanwhile, the Heat are holding closed door team meetings.

I dont think the extra minutes for Mosgov will make much of a difference,the only pesron that will benefit from Turiaf's absence should be AR. He really needs the PT, he's just so loss for so many of his megar minutes, that it's hard for him to get any kind of rythem going befores he's right fully yanked

fishmike wrote:nobody got extra minutes... instead Felton/Amare/Chandler/Fields/Gallo all played 50+ minutes. Ouch. Hope they got today off

These guy's are in there early 20's, they trained really hard in training camp for day's like these..
At 22, me and my friends who drink, smoke and party til 6am...comeback around the way and somebody would go get the ball, and we would run til 8:30/9 all the time.

Spare me the sympathy, these guys are paid a lot of money for 50 minutes

misterearl wrote:10-9 feels like being at a high altitude

Ray Felton is playing with gusto, as Clyde might say.

Amar'e must have meant what he said back in July.

i learned a word from Clyde tonight: sequacious - following with smooth or logical regularity

This is no small task. Many free agents (hello Randy Johnson) have been signed New York and wilted under the first bank of cameras or interviews. Amar'e not only signed for big bucks, he had the nerve to proclaim things were different. Prodigal son Stephon Marbury, who KNEW the city like the back of his hand, could not live up to his promise as a leader of men, no matter how many points he scored.

It is doubtful that Lebron, under more intense scrutiny than Stat, could have lived up to the insane expectations. He was wise to choose Miami. You lose in Miami, you go to South Beach and watch honeys while one newspaper writes about it. You lose in New York and every cabbie, concierge and doorman lets you hear it, and your locker is infested with more reporters than a Serta mattress with bedbugs.

But this is not about Lebron. This is about appreciating a player who has embraced the challenge, and raised his game. In the process he has found a new voice, without Steve Nash no less.

Thank you Amar'e Stoudemire for taking a stand... and delivering.

Stay thirsty my friend.

fishmike wrote:

tkf wrote:

fishmike wrote:You dont think Lee could fit here? One of the best passing bigs in the league, shoots 55%, great mid range and rebounds? The D is weak but as I mentioned in another thread its tough to guard 5 guys. Pretty sure Lee could do a lot of good things.

I dont focus on the past though... Lee did everything you can ask. Drafted last his hard work got him all the way into the all star game and before he got hurt he was part of the Warriors resurrgance

Agree on Amare, but the losing streak still hit 6 and was close to killing our coach in November.

Hey.. I said Knicks would win 45 games. Thats like a 5th seed in the East and I stick by that. I figured if we could work out enough kinks through the first 40-50 games we could start winning at a higher clip later in the year.

Im very happy the team right now all things considered. ATL is a big test. They are a big deep proven team

fish, I miss lee as much as the next guy, but where would he fit here and we still be .500? I said this before, turiaf impacts the game much bigger than his numbers.. He gives hard fouls, he hits the boards, he blocks shots, and changes a lot more...HE protects the paint.. something lee never did... protect the lane.. at some point it goes beyond stats.. lee would get 20/10 while the other team had a party in the paint, I mean a real house party.. at what point does that 20/10 really impacts the game? especially when the other team is having their way on the other end..

100% yes... Lee NEVER had the benefit of playing on a team with any kind of defensive mentality. Forget the trade, if you add Lee to this group we are like 12-4. You have a scoring rebounding center/backup PF for 30 minutes a game. Bring Turiaf off then bench, or Lee off the bench behind Amare... you need to rotate bigs up front.

Turiaf did EXACTLY the same things for GS that he's doing for the Knicks, and those GS teams were TERRIBLE. Turiaf looks great because he's playing with a higher caliber talent. Who is the best player Lee played with? Marbury? Harrington?

You get high % scoring with Lee, you get rebounding and you get superior ball movement, all things the Knicks have struggled with when losing this year.

I do not regret the Lee trade. I wanted him back for 6 years $70mm (starting at $9) at the most. He got lots more from GS so happy trails. He earned that contract, and GS was off to a GREAT start. I'm happy for the guy. He was a class Knick and worked his way from a hustle garbage pick 30 guy to an all star.

And moving forward I could certainly see an elite title caliber team with Lee in the rotation as the first PF/C off the bench getting 30 mpg getting his 15ppg 10rebs 4assists and shooting 55%. I could see that for sure.

Its water under the bridge, I just dont see the reason people feel the need to trash the guy. He was probably the only bright spot in the last 5 years. It would have been nice if he could have been part of turning this franchise around but it was bad timing, thus is life

lee's goal in ny was to be a yet another overpaid loser on the knicks. lee knew what old man walsh team plans were/are. lee passed on signing long with the knicks and walsh was even good about and gave lee that one season to reconsider. it was lee's call he made it, i dont blame him but i dont miss him. we dont need that mindset in ny anymore. you pay to win in ny. i already got my david lee plus more in landry fields-- every fan loves the hustle player, but hustle for your team, dont try to hustle your team.