martin wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:i would NOT want to trade felton for billups.. i know ray has struggled a bit lately, but i don't see how having a broken down billups is going to help us. i know we're not all in for this year, but still...

I have to tell you, normally I am against this type of deal but I would be in favor for swapping the 2, and here's why.

Felton is a bulldog and a fierce competitor and about a 1000 years younger, but I think Billups runs a team a little better. And with Melo and Amare,you want a PG who knows when and where to get the ball to his guys. Billups is a very good 3point shooter and is also a good teacher, which means TD and Rautins will learn from one of the best.

My guess is that Billups would distribute the ball to Melo, Amare, Gallo better than Felton would.

he has a ton more playoff experience....I would make the swap

martin wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:i would NOT want to trade felton for billups.. i know ray has struggled a bit lately, but i don't see how having a broken down billups is going to help us. i know we're not all in for this year, but still...

Same here, and this pace would destroy Billips.

Denver and NY play the same pace, but Billups is old. 35 at beginning of next season, but with $3.9M buyout.

But he's only playing 32 mpg.

martin wrote:

martin wrote:

Q: Alan -- whats your best guess on the Knicks starting 5 come March 1st?

Alan:
PG-Billups
SG-Fields
SF-Carmelo
PF-Amar'e
C-Mozgov

Billups+Melo for Felton, Chandler, AR, Curry, Azu, picks. Denver flips Chandler to Dallas or Memphis for picks and/or players.

I can see this happening but I can also see Denver insisting on including Harrington to NY, and Donnie HAS to draw the line on him.

We would look like:
Billups
Fields
Melo
Amare
Mosgov
bench: Gallo, Douglas Rubio, something like that? Gotta sign up for that. Maybe we could draft a guy like Fredette. Quality PGs are not easy to get. Felton is one.. thats a big piece to give up

tkf wrote:

martin wrote:From this morning's chat:

Q: whats up Alan, why havent Donnie send Moz or Rautins to the D-League to open up a roster spot and get some vereran help out there?

A: I answer this question a lot and really don't have a good reply, at least not one I think is credible. But it's accurate: The Knicks just don't believe in the D-League. They are paying a player to be in the NBA and they feel he is better off working out with the team and being available to them. Rautins, for sure, should be in the D-League. This is like a lost year for him in many ways, but they feel he's getting educated by video sessions and team meetings and being on the bench, seeing the NBA game up front. I think he has a future because he's smart and he's a hard-worker. Opportunity will come.
Mozgov is different. He's really, really close. I think we're going to see him back on the court soon, especially with such a loose schedule in February and plenty of opportunity to practice. I've watched him in practice and his workouts and he really looks good. So many tools. Just raw and needs reps. They're working with him a lot so he's not being pushed aside at all.

Hahn should have also added that even when you send someone to the DLeague, they still count as a roster spot, so you can't really add anyone anyway.

Alan: Like I said above, Jim, I think Mozgov is getting closer to being a player they can go back to in the rotation. He's another one with confidence issues. What happened to him was, like you said, the speed of the game on defense got to him and then he started struggling to catch the ball, which made him extremely frustrated and down on himself. He's a very interesting athlete because he works extremely hard, he listens well and is eager to learn and he has high demands of himself. When he started hurting the team on the court, he got very down on himself. They've slowly built him back up and what I saw of him over the road trip in practice and working out on the side with Dan D'Antoni and Herb Williams was a player who was feeling better about himself and starting to get it. I've talked to all the coaches about him and they have high, high hopes for him. They think he has plenty there to help them in the future, if not the near future.

very interesting stuff.. and good to hear.. at least we know the knicks coaching staff does work to help develop players and put them in a position to succeed on the court.. I like moz, and I hope we can get him back into the fold real soon..

Of course they do. It's a false fan assumption that if a player is not in the rotatioin then the coach hates him and is doing nothing to help them get better.

Very glad to hear about Moz making progress. I always expected that he could develop and get back in there to help. Just hope he can learn to freakin rebound

nyk4ever wrote:

martin wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:i would NOT want to trade felton for billups.. i know ray has struggled a bit lately, but i don't see how having a broken down billups is going to help us. i know we're not all in for this year, but still...

I have to tell you, normally I am against this type of deal but I would be in favor for swapping the 2, and here's why.

Felton is a bulldog and a fierce competitor and about a 1000 years younger, but I think Billups runs a team a little better. And with Melo and Amare,you want a PG who knows when and where to get the ball to his guys. Billups is a very good 3point shooter and is also a good teacher, which means TD and Rautins will learn from one of the best.

My guess is that Billups would distribute the ball to Melo, Amare, Gallo better than Felton would.

definitely agree about the teaching part - billups is the epitome of a floor general. his story is also good for those guys as well as AR because billups never quit on his nba career, he kept at it and turned himself into all-star and finals MVP. i just worry if billups is going to be able to stay on the floor (even this year) because it seems like playing in the world championships this past summer really sped up father time on his nba career.

either way, i worry about giving up felton/chandler/gallo for billups/melo - thats alot of youth essentially for melo.. unless of course either chandler/gallo is the 6th man and out of hahn's starting 5.

Right, I would not give up BOTH Gallo/Chander (along with others) for Billups/Melo. I give them AR, TD, Walker, but not both of those 2 guys (and certainly not Fields).

I get the feeling from watching Timofey Mozgov lately in practice and in his pre-game workouts that he's just about ready for a second chance in the rotation. The Knicks obviously could use his size and after going through a tough stretch in which the game got so complicated for him he couldn't even catch a pass, Mozgov seems like he has his confidence back. The trick is to get on the court in meaningful minutes to prove he can make a positive contribution. D'Antoni continues to promote the small-ball strategy -- the latest theory is that it's better for Amar'e to play center because it forces other teams to play small and then there's only one big for him to go up against -- and yet Walsh said he thinks the team needs more size. "We could use another big man," Walsh said. "That's for sure." What good is acquiring a middle-of-the-road center if he's only going to take the bench seat vacated by whomever you traded for him? The goal may be to develop Mozgov to where he can fill that need on a regular basis. And somehow convince D'Antoni to give him a second chance.

Vmart wrote:

martin wrote:from Hahn:

I get the feeling from watching Timofey Mozgov lately in practice and in his pre-game workouts that he's just about ready for a second chance in the rotation. The Knicks obviously could use his size and after going through a tough stretch in which the game got so complicated for him he couldn't even catch a pass, Mozgov seems like he has his confidence back. The trick is to get on the court in meaningful minutes to prove he can make a positive contribution. D'Antoni continues to promote the small-ball strategy -- the latest theory is that it's better for Amar'e to play center because it forces other teams to play small and then there's only one big for him to go up against -- and yet Walsh said he thinks the team needs more size. "We could use another big man," Walsh said. "That's for sure." What good is acquiring a middle-of-the-road center if he's only going to take the bench seat vacated by whomever you traded for him? The goal may be to develop Mozgov to where he can fill that need on a regular basis. And somehow convince D'Antoni to give him a second chance.

Seems like there is a conflict of interest. Walsh is the same guy that went to battle with Smits and Dale Davis and Antonio Davis. He knows this small ball is fools gold.

if he knew it was fools gold what did he hire him for?