martin wrote:

TMS wrote:

Killa4luv wrote:These are points, me, TMS and many many others have been making all along. I have said this 2 million times:
Melo is a complete offensive player, there is literally nothing on the court that he cannot do.

I just finished having the Melo - Durant discussion with my best friend. Durant is a jump shooter who can also drive to the basket. He is 6-9 with super long arms and no post game. This could and should change, but if it does not, he will be Dirk Nowitski part II. NOt bad at all, but underachieving imo.

Melo is a special talent and his acquisition brings us closer to contention. Add Marc Gasol and I think we're there. We'll probably have to change the coach though.

Killa, i've tried to address the Melo - Durant comparisons numerous times on this forum but it seems like people just think Durant is in a different league... i could never understand it... each guy does things better than the other in different aspects of their game, but as a whole i think Melo has the more well rounded offensive skillset & as a whole is easily on the same level as a basketball player... he can beat you any number of ways on the floor, he's literally impossible to guard 1 on 1... players like that show their true value in the playoffs... when u think about the double threat he & Amare would pose to every team we face on a nightly basis i can't see how anyone thinks we wouldn't be an improved team because of it... even if you added a halfway capable C that could defend the paint & give you minutes i think we'd be right there with the elite teams in the NBA when u factor in Ray Felton, Landry Fields & the rest of the Knicks' roster that's left over.

I think the one thing to keep in mind with the Melo - Durant comparisons is that some are projecting with Durant. The dude is 5 years younger than Melo. And for direct comparisons, he is a LOT cheaper right now.

everytime i've brought up the topic not once has the age factor or the salary factor even entered into the conversations... people have just dismissed Carmelo as being on Durant's level based on his game... supposedly Melo was an overrated high volume scorer & Durant was a cut above... if Durant were an option for us to target then i fully understand the case for the money he's making & the age factor... & i would be in agreement with you that he's the guy i'd prefer for those reasons, but that's a different discussion martin... talent for talent right now do u think Durant is a cut above Melo?

TMS wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:I dont recall Paul Pierce being looked at as a great player before he teamed up with Garnett and Allen.

Amare and Carmelo together will change alot of minds.

The guy was a darn good player between the 2000-2001 season and the 2006-2007 (the year before he got his title), with SF stats that were as balanced as anyone who plays the position.

Of course he never even won more than 49 games until the other two (and some others) showed up.

Boston was in lottery land just like the Knicks man. As I said Paul Pierce wasnt considered all that just a few years ago.

Look at the players he had supporting him- not much to write home about, in general.

How many players are considered "great," though. Pierce was in the second tier, IMO- never "great," but pretty good.

No so different, in my mind, than Anthony.

I'll also say this- for the Knicks team that we presently have, I think that a 27 yr. old Pierce, who could probably play SG, and has an outside shot that is more complimentary to Amare's game, would be a better fit with the Knicks than Melo, and give us a better team.

Pally, regardless if Pierce is a better fit than Melo or not, that's a moot discussion, we have no shot at getting Pierce anyway... we have a shot at acquiring 1 of the premier scorers in the game right now... do u think we should pass that up because he doesn't fit the ideal prototype of what you think is the best fit for this team, or do u think he can still help us by doing the things he does well in his game? i fall in with the latter. i think Melo makes us a better basketball team, & that's all there is to it for me.

Just read that Larry Coon piece on ESPN. Seems like the Knicks don't have that great of a shot without getting rid of a players both to trade for him and to clear space to sign him.

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

TMS wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:I dont recall Paul Pierce being looked at as a great player before he teamed up with Garnett and Allen.

Amare and Carmelo together will change alot of minds.

The guy was a darn good player between the 2000-2001 season and the 2006-2007 (the year before he got his title), with SF stats that were as balanced as anyone who plays the position.

Of course he never even won more than 49 games until the other two (and some others) showed up.

Boston was in lottery land just like the Knicks man. As I said Paul Pierce wasnt considered all that just a few years ago.

Look at the players he had supporting him- not much to write home about, in general.

How many players are considered "great," though. Pierce was in the second tier, IMO- never "great," but pretty good.

No so different, in my mind, than Anthony.

I'll also say this- for the Knicks team that we presently have, I think that a 27 yr. old Pierce, who could probably play SG, and has an outside shot that is more complimentary to Amare's game, would be a better fit with the Knicks than Melo, and give us a better team.

Pally, regardless if Pierce is a better fit than Melo or not, that's a moot discussion, we have no shot at getting Pierce anyway... we have a shot at acquiring 1 of the premier scorers in the game right now... do u think we should pass that up because he doesn't fit the ideal prototype of what you think is the best fit for this team, or do u think he can still help us by doing the things he does well in his game? i fall in with the latter. i think Melo makes us a better basketball team, & that's all there is to it for me.

Just read that Larry Coon piece on ESPN. Seems like the Knicks don't have that great of a shot without getting rid of a players both to trade for him and to clear space to sign him.

we touched on this in the renouncing Wilson thread babyKnicks posted a few days ago... bottomline, we're looking at renouncing Wilson if we wait til free agency to sign Melo... the only other way around it is if we can somehow trade AR, Mozgov & Rautins for expirings at the deadline, & even then we might come up a little short of the necessary cap space to sign Melo depending on what the new CBA is like.

http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topic.asp?t=37759&page=1

TMS wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

TMS wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:I dont recall Paul Pierce being looked at as a great player before he teamed up with Garnett and Allen.

Amare and Carmelo together will change alot of minds.

The guy was a darn good player between the 2000-2001 season and the 2006-2007 (the year before he got his title), with SF stats that were as balanced as anyone who plays the position.

Of course he never even won more than 49 games until the other two (and some others) showed up.

Boston was in lottery land just like the Knicks man. As I said Paul Pierce wasnt considered all that just a few years ago.

Look at the players he had supporting him- not much to write home about, in general.

How many players are considered "great," though. Pierce was in the second tier, IMO- never "great," but pretty good.

No so different, in my mind, than Anthony.

I'll also say this- for the Knicks team that we presently have, I think that a 27 yr. old Pierce, who could probably play SG, and has an outside shot that is more complimentary to Amare's game, would be a better fit with the Knicks than Melo, and give us a better team.

Pally, regardless if Pierce is a better fit than Melo or not, that's a moot discussion, we have no shot at getting Pierce anyway... we have a shot at acquiring 1 of the premier scorers in the game right now... do u think we should pass that up because he doesn't fit the ideal prototype of what you think is the best fit for this team, or do u think he can still help us by doing the things he does well in his game? i fall in with the latter. i think Melo makes us a better basketball team, & that's all there is to it for me.

Understand this- just sticking up for Pierce, and playing devil's advocate. Serious about how he would fit into our offense compared to Anthony though, in terms of offensive philosophy.

Still not sold on Anthony if we have to give up too much, and I continue to wonder about how he fits in.

You think our D is bad now? Watch how it is if Landry and Gallo are gone.

And remember this, nobody knows what kind of offer sheet Chandler may get next year, and how we will deal with that.

as far as our defense suffering with Melo, i think u also have to factor in that he will be getting the other team's top players into foul trouble w/his ability to get to the FT line, which will undoubtedly help our defense on the other end... obviously Melo isn't the defensive player that Wilson, Gallo or Fields are, but none of them can even touch Melo's ability to change a game on the offensive end.

i just have a feeling DW is trying to hold out & try to get Melo in deal w/o having to give up 2 of our top 3 young guys... i think he really wants to try & hold onto Fields & i don't think Wilson is gonna be as appealing to the Nuggets as Gallo would be because of his pending contract situation... i think he's obviously got a plan in place to get a 1st rounder for AR, & he's said he thinks he could probably get another one if he wanted to (probably with cash i'm guessing)... i just think DW has a plan in place to try & get Melo w/o having to give up more than 1 of those 3... otherwise he's gonna hold out & wait for Melo to come here as a FA... really he would have no reason to give up anything more than that when Melo's made it clear he wants to play for the Knicks.

I think Bill Walker and a 2nd could net one of hte last few picks in the first round. Some contender may want a guy that can stroke it from range

TMS wrote:

Killa4luv wrote:These are points, me, TMS and many many others have been making all along. I have said this 2 million times:
Melo is a complete offensive player, there is literally nothing on the court that he cannot do.

I just finished having the Melo - Durant discussion with my best friend. Durant is a jump shooter who can also drive to the basket. He is 6-9 with super long arms and no post game. This could and should change, but if it does not, he will be Dirk Nowitski part II. NOt bad at all, but underachieving imo.

Melo is a special talent and his acquisition brings us closer to contention. Add Marc Gasol and I think we're there. We'll probably have to change the coach though.

Killa, i've tried to address the Melo - Durant comparisons numerous times on this forum but it seems like people just think Durant is in a different league... i could never understand it... each guy does things better than the other in different aspects of their game, but as a whole i think Melo has the more well rounded offensive skillset & as a whole is easily on the same level as a basketball player... he can beat you any number of ways on the floor, he's literally impossible to guard 1 on 1... players like that show their true value in the playoffs... when u think about the double threat he & Amare would pose to every team we face on a nightly basis i can't see how anyone thinks we wouldn't be an improved team because of it... even if you added a halfway capable C that could defend the paint & give you minutes i think we'd be right there with the elite teams in the NBA when u factor in Ray Felton, Landry Fields & the rest of the Knicks' roster that's left over.

Recent blog article from the NY Times (January 7th) on clutch shooters. Amare's in that list.

knickstorrents wrote:http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/identifying-the-n-b-a-s-top-clutch-players/

Recent blog article from the NY Times (January 7th) on clutch shooters. Amare's in that list.

Good to know!

martin wrote:

Killa4luv wrote:These are points, me, TMS and many many others have been making all along. I have said this 2 million times:
Melo is a complete offensive player, there is literally nothing on the court that he cannot do.

I just finished having the Melo - Durant discussion with my best friend. Durant is a jump shooter who can also drive to the basket. He is 6-9 with super long arms and no post game. This could and should change, but if it does not, he will be Dirk Nowitski part II. NOt bad at all, but underachieving imo.

Melo is a special talent and his acquisition brings us closer to contention. Add Marc Gasol and I think we're there. We'll probably have to change the coach though.

Melo can't shoot 3's.

Don't worry. D'antoni already has enough.