Swishfm3 wrote:He's thinking, "Maybe I shouldn't have included Chandler in that trade"

Nice job Swishfm3 (+21). Palladin55. nyshaknbake. nixluva. CrushALot.

I invite everyone to put themselves in the Florsheim shoes of Donnie Walsh (the most important person in the equation) and decipher the "thought bubble" that is hovering above his head. Stretch a bit. Do a Vulcan mind meld if you need to. Step outside your personal angle and, having been on the job for three years, into his brain. Imagine you ARE Donnie Walsh.

Just as Swishfm3 did, put it in quotes for that authentic feel.

Humor is appreciated because that mango margarita this afternoon won't be enough.

What is DONNIE WALSH thinking?

MS wrote:I'm sure he is thinking that 90% of the people who supported this trade have no acumen.

I still can't believe everyone was excited. Have so many people thought we got the best two players in this deal is mind boggling.

I have to say I really can't stand this team; don't enjoy watching them and am as close to done supporting this team as I have ever been.

I loved our young team, each guy was finding there place and learning how to win. We threw it away for a guy that has made us selfish complacent and really has destroyed the team.

I don't care about his scoring. We could have had Monte Ellis for David Lee and kept everyone. Instead we have two guys and that's it. It's amazing how we had youth, skill and size at every position and now we are one of the worst teams in the east.

Two superstars? Is that a ****ing joke. How do two superstars allow loses to the Bobcats, Pistons, Pacers and Cavs.

Yet another person who was in love with 28-26. Size at every position? Only two of all those players got any sort of run. Moz at 7'2 and Gallo totally destroys Melo on size with those 2 inches. AR didn't play. We were in rebuilding mode before and we are still there.

Did the trade make us a better team? No. We got worse at every position including SF. Felton is 4.5MM cheaper than Billups who can't stop anyone body. Felton outplayed the elite point guards this season on a number of occasions and wasn't a liability on the other end.

Chandler really suffered with all the trade rumors. He is twice the defender that Melo is and guards multiple positions. Gallo needed to be more aggressive and can duplicate close to Melo on offense giving the same number of shots and is a better defender.

We needed someone to give Amare a rest. This team was setup to allow Amare to be effective. Moz was making strides he obviously wasn't close to there yet, but was young and moving in the right direction.

AR didn't play, however he was still 21 and had a world of potential. His confidence was gone and his ankle was still healing and he didn't have the explosion he needed.

In case you haven't watched Billups is getting killed. We are forcing shots and Melo isn't a superstar. He doesn't change the game for the better and we need multiple bigs, a point guard and a sixth man. We have 20 plus million tied up in a guy that sulks, bitches, isn't in shape and doesn't get along with teammates. If the coach and all his former teammates say bad things about him it speaks volumes. He takes no blame and all of the shots. Ohh and by the way Denver is the second hottest team in the entire league since the trade and has been blowing teams out and the games they have lost have been to elite teams by less than 5 points

We are in a worse position now and likely will not recover from this move. We needed size up front and a backup point guard and that was it. We resign Chandler and go from there. A Jordan, MGlee or someone that can bang and defend and we had a very promising future. A top 3 team in the east with room to grow at every position.

It would have been easier to get a coach in here that uses his players instead of using his system. If Coach K has a different game plan for every team he coaches and works to their strengths perhaps the Knicks could have done the same and hired someone that gets the most out of there team. Mike is not that guy and will never be.

Papabear wrote:

Two superstars? Is that a ****ing joke. How do two superstars allow loses to the Bobcats, Pistons, Pacers and Cavs.

Papabear Says

Easy!! They don't play defense. Amare and Melo never played defense. Others did it for them. Now they have a coach who don't play defense. This was the Perfect Storm, The CBA contract. Carmelo didn't care if only 4 guys were left on this team after the trade. He wanted his money before a quality team. He should have resigne with Denver.

Papbear: What is DONNIE WALSH thinking?

MS wrote:Yet another guy with little understanding about the needs of the team.

Did the trade make us a better team? No. We got worse at every position including SF. Felton is 4.5MM cheaper than Billups who can't stop anyone body. Felton outplayed the elite point guards this season on a number of occasions and wasn't a liability on the other end.

Chandler really suffered with all the trade rumors. He is twice the defender that Melo is and guards multiple positions. Gallo needed to be more aggressive and can duplicate close to Melo on offense giving the same number of shots and is a better defender.

We needed someone to give Amare a rest. This team was setup to allow Amare to be effective. Moz was making strides he obviously wasn't close to there yet, but was young and moving in the right direction.

AR didn't play, however he was still 21 and had a world of potential. His confidence was gone and his ankle was still healing and he didn't have the explosion he needed.

In case you haven't watched Billups is getting killed. We are forcing shots and Melo isn't a superstar. He doesn't change the game for the better and we need multiple bigs, a point guard and a sixth man. We have 20 plus million tied up in a guy that sulks, bitches, isn't in shape and doesn't get along with teammates. If the coach and all his former teammates say bad things about him it speaks volumes. He takes no blame and all of the shots. Ohh and by the way Denver is the second hottest team in the entire league since the trade and has been blowing teams out and the games they have lost have been to elite teams by less than 5 points

We are in a worse position now and likely will not recover from this move. We needed size up front and a backup point guard and that was it. We resign Chandler and go from there. A Jordan, MGlee or someone that can bang and defend and we had a very promising future. A top 3 team in the east with room to grow at every position.

It would have been easier to get a coach in here that uses his players instead of using his system. If Coach K has a different game plan for every team he coaches and works to their strengths perhaps the Knicks could have done the same and hired someone that gets the most out of there team. Mike is not that guy and will never be.

I co sign on everything!

They undid two years of work in one trade.

The Knicks will add some pieces in the off season and play better, but the current roster with those tweaks will NEVER be as good as the former roster if we had just developed the young players and added a quality C and backup PG on the off season or eventually.

One of the best writers in the business, Harvey Araton, nailed it back on February 22.

Anthony Is Only a Piece of the Puzzle

"We all want to jump to conclusions, declare the Knicks’ acquisition of Carmelo Anthony to be the greatest deal in the history of the franchise since Dave DeBusschere. Or the worst case of destructive ownership interference since James L. Dolan tried to rehire Isiah Thomas (which, granted, was only last summer, but Dolan does seem to raise the bar on recidivism)."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/sports/basketball/23araton.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"PLAYERS LOST

It’s fine to be of the opinion that the Knicks had to sacrifice the players they sent to Denver and could not risk Anthony coming to the conclusion that he had to accept a trade to the Nets to get his $65 million extension. But to write Danilo Gallinari off as a role player is ridiculous and more clueless “soft European” stereotyping. Gallinari is 22 and in only his second season of meaningful playing time (after being injured as a rookie). He is averaging almost 16 points and has made significant improvements in taking the ball to the rim.

In fact, the Nuggets did quite well — certainly far better than Cleveland and Toronto did when they lost LeBron James and Chris Bosh — given the untenable situation they were in. If they keep the Knicks players, they are probably not much worse off than they would have been with Anthony: a seventh or eighth seed in the playoffs and a first-round out.

There is speculation that they will trade at least two of the Knicks players. Prokhorov may want to pull a Dolan on his general manager, Billy King, and pull out all the stops to get Gallinari. He would be the perfect complementary forward for Derrick Favors, who in two to three years could be dominating Stoudemire around the rim when the Nets of Brooklyn invade Manhattan."

"Even if Isiah Thomas is advising James Dolan and Donnie Walsh is furious, this is still the right deal. Isiah and Dolan are doing the right thing,...I'm actually glad Dolan is listening to Isiah. This time around they're right."

- Ian O'Connor, Sunday February 20, ESPN-1050 show.

"But consider, just consider, this: The Knicks weren't winning a title any time soon -- make that ever -- with the team they would have fielded sans Carmelo. And they may not win one even now; the Nuggets couldn't throw in any guarantees. But they're in position to go for it now."

"Forget everything else and focus on that. They're closer this morning than they were yesterday. They had to get this done. And they did."

- Mike Vaccaro, NYPost, February 20

"Knicks fans have bought into the Walsh-D’Antoni line that “we can’t get Carmelo because we don’t want to lose our core; we can’t mortgage our future for one player.”

What core? What future? Who is there not to give up? Stoudemire is the only Knick who is not expendable. Danilo Gallinari? Wilson Chandler? Fine players, those two, but they are not approaching All-Star status and perhaps never will. They are complementary players, and complementary players, while essential to a team’s success, come a dime a dozen.

Players like Anthony do not.

Look around the N.B.A. Every outstanding team has at least two great players and the subsequent luxury of being able to add complementary pieces each season. If the Knicks put Anthony alongside Stoudemire, they too could be in a position to begin adding complementary pieces — and maybe another star. The Knicks could finally have a three-headed monster. But first they need Anthony. How do you not make this move if you are the Knicks? How do you not demand this move if you are a Knicks fan?"

- William Rhoden, NYT February 20

nixluva wrote:

nykshaknbake wrote:

nixluva wrote:He thinking, this is what I warned Dolan could happen. Donnie didn't want to send all those guys away and he and Mike said that over and over before the trade. So Dolan is the one that has to look in the mirror. Still the overall plan is to continue to upgrade the roster and I think Donnie will be given a chance to finish the job. This is just the beginning with this new core. Donnie should get a chance to build around it. I felt that way before the losing streak and nothing's changed.

He's thinking thank God I have a hof caliber coach at least.

No I don't think Donnie or anyone would call Mike A HOF caliber coach, but he's a good coach and deserves a chance to coach a season without half the team being traded.

knickstorrents wrote:

misterearl wrote:Look around the N.B.A. Every outstanding team has at least two great players and the subsequent luxury of being able to add complementary pieces each season. If the Knicks put Anthony alongside Stoudemire, they too could be in a position to begin adding complementary pieces — and maybe another star. The Knicks could finally have a three-headed monster. But first they need Anthony. How do you not make this move if you are the Knicks? How do you not demand this move if you are a Knicks fan?"

- William Rhoden, NYT February 20

misterearl, I know we are in agreement so this is not directed at you. But to put Melo (and even Amare) into the realm of 'great' players is not fair to them, and is not accurate. The only great players are those that play both ends of the floor. We have two good offensive players who are not meshing well together(and to assume that they will is a big assumption), and who never shown a history to defend.

People who say let's fire the coach are misdirecting their anger at the wrong person. You want a team that plays defense? Get players who defend. Right now the only player we have that defends is Toney Douglas. Before we had 3 starters - Chandler, Felton, Gallo all could either stay in front of their man, block, or do both.