Panos wrote:Why are we always drafting players that we hope can be turned into PGs? Why can't we ever draft a PG?

This guy wasn't drafted to be a PG.

Don't fret until the opening tip regarding the roster.

nixluva wrote:This kid was a top steals man in the draft with nearly 3 stls per game. He's got great speed and lateral quickness. Sure he's not a true PG, but he can guard 1-3 for sure and that's the big deal. We need a guy like him that is versatile and skilled. He's better than TD at passing and he's BIG! No PG is gonna abuse him like TD. He can help this team defensively and that's a good thing.

TD sucks, why are you using him as the standard? What is his role on offense?

islesfan wrote:

nixluva wrote:This kid was a top steals man in the draft with nearly 3 stls per game. He's got great speed and lateral quickness. Sure he's not a true PG, but he can guard 1-3 for sure and that's the big deal. We need a guy like him that is versatile and skilled. He's better than TD at passing and he's BIG! No PG is gonna abuse him like TD. He can help this team defensively and that's a good thing.

TD sucks, why are you using him as the standard? What is his role on offense?

The kid is gonna most likely play SG and a little PG as well since he can pass too and has great handle. He's got great quickness and agility for a guard his size and weight.

This vid is from game action and includes other players, but there is some great stuff on Iman in this one.

Let's hope for Chris Paul summer 2012.

islesfan wrote:

nixluva wrote:
The kid is gonna most likely play SG and a little PG as well since he can pass too and has great handle. He's got great quickness and agility for a guard his size and weight.

This vid is from game action and includes other players, but there is some great stuff on Iman in this one.

So we should all be comfortable handing the reigns of the offense to this kid based on some youtube highlight clips??? I'm still waiting for anybody to explain what his role is on offense.

This fella did get accepted to Ga Tech. Last I heard dumb***es don't get in. (Does he challenge Landry to a game of chess?) Though there is AI I guess. He'll be fine. With TD that would be a very fast backcourt.

Olbrannon wrote:

This fella did get accepted to Ga Tech. Last I heard dumb***es don't get in. (Does he challenge Landry to a game of chess?) Though there is AI I guess. He'll be fine. With TD that would be a very fast backcourt.

Shutup and get in the truck.

Walsh defends precarious decision on Shumpert

Updated: Jun 23, 2011 11:48 PM
By Alan Hahn

The Knicks saw Kawhi Leonard slipping out of the top 10 and then inching closer and closer to the No. 17 pick and the war room at the MSG Training Center was buzzing. Even without Jimmermania, there was potential for this to be a big draft moment for the Knicks.

"There were other guys that could have fallen to us where I was like, 'Whoa, if he comes down, we're going to have to take him," Donnie Walsh said. "And he got taken right before, so we ended up doing what we did."

Leonard, a very athletic, hard-working forward, who could have been a tremendous asset for the Knicks to use, wound up being snatched by the Indiana Pacers at No. 15. The Pacers were thinking the same way: with Danny Granger, they didn't have a need for Leonard, but he was able to land them a player they did want in George Hill from the San Antonio Spurs.

The Knicks still had a choice between two of their main targets, Iman Shumpert and Chris Singleton and Walsh said the decision was to go with Shumpert, the 6-6 guard, because he filled an area of need in the backcourt. Singleton is more of a forward and, with Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, there won't be much opportunity for Singleton.

"The fact is, we're going to have more room at the point guard position and two guard position than we're going to have with the guys we have and three and four," Walsh said. "And I know people can say [Singleton] can play the two, but that would be very difficult for a guy his size. Get around screens and stuff like that, but I liked him too."

[Carmelo, who pushed his Baltimore protege Josh Selby, immediately signed off Twitter after the pick. But perhaps even more disappointed was Toney Douglas, and not just because the Knicks passed on drafting a fellow Florida State Seminole, but because they might have just selected his replacement. Douglas could now be dangled to acquire a backup point guard (Ramon Sessions?).]

Singleton went with the very next pick to the Washington Wizards. The Knicks left several other options on the board, such as Providence shooting guard Marshon Brooks and Lithuanian forward Donatas Motiejunas, who worked out for them on Wednesday.

And then there was Morehead State rebounding machine Kenneth Faried, who Walsh said just didn't fit the team at this point in the rebuilding process.

"I think he's a guy that if you got a full team and a team that's set up, he would be a guy that would be valuable to come off your bench and help you rebound," he said. "I don't know that we're at that point, yet . . . He could be a Dennis Rodman, but I'm not sure about that. If that was another year, and that's what we needed, then I'll go get him. But he's not going to take Amar'e Stoudemire off the center or that kind of thing."

Right. The Knicks just don't want Amar'e guarding centers anymore. That's what makes Jerome Jordan so important come training camp and why the Knicks bought a second rounder and grabbed another big body in 6-10 Josh Harrellson from Kentucky.

Though fans probably came away from this draft uninspired by a defensive-minded player as the main pick, Walsh pointed to the need to find quality role players, not high-end scorers or players who need the ball to be successful. Shumpert, he said, fills an important need.

"We've got two guys that need the ball and are going to get the ball a lot of the time, so we want people that compliment them," Walsh said. "I think in the [NBA] Finals, that's what people were talking about, having the pieces together."

The hopes for Jimmer Fredette or Klay Thompson were dashed after the three-way trade between the Bobcats, Bucks and Kings went down. The move allowed the Bobcats to grab their target, Bismack Biyombo, at No. 7 and still have a pick at No. 9 to grab a point guard, which turned out to be Kemba Walker. (So much for my mock draft, which had Kemba sliding to No. 17).

The Kings moved down to No. 10, where Fredette, who had been their main target all along, remained. Thompson then went to the Warriors at No. 11.

Walsh confirmed reports that the Knicks did try to get in on that action, but they didn't have the assets, or the willingness to take on bad contracts, to get there.

"We looked into it, but in the long run, teams really didn't want to do that, ahead of us," he said. "We had a couple of possibilities to do that, I thought, but the draft broke right for the team that was willing to do that, so they didn't do it."

Walsh certainly did a tremendous job in rebuilding the franchise with major moves, but he leaves a draft legacy behind that includes Danilo Gallinari, Jordan Hill, Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert, with all eyes now on Shumpert to see if he develops into a quality NBA player. If so, Walsh's draft performance should be commended.

But there's also a chance that Shumpert could be another Jordan Hill, who was selected in a draft that had many point guards still on the board.

* * *

* - Walsh said the Knicks will bring Shumpert in immediately and get him working at the training center, which is important because come July 1 players may not be allowed to use the facility as a result of a lockout.

* - The contracts for Mike D'Antoni's coaching staff are all up at the end of this season, but Walsh said he expected all of them to be brought back. Keep in mind that D'Antoni is also expected to conduct a search for a defensive assistant coach, with Lawrence Frank as a potential target if he doesn't land a head coaching position. Another name that may get consideration is former Lakers assistant Brian Shaw.

* - Worth pointing out here that Shumpert is represented by agent Happy Walters, who also reps Amar'e Stoudemire. Walters has Shawne Williams among his clients and late this past season signed Wilson Chandler.

nixluva wrote:From the way this breaks down, you can see that it makes a difference when you add a wing that can cover a lot of ground on defense. I was pleasantly surprised with Shawne W. defense and so we're starting to build a team with more capable defenders on it. I don't know if they intend to bring Brown back, but I would guess so and he's another young player with good defensive potential.

As a team we block a ton of shots, we just didn't stop enough penetration in the 1st place and we didn't get rebounds. Iman is a good defender and like Fields is a good rebounding guard too. Iman's 6 rebs a game is great for a guard.

Yeah, and the kid can push the rock too. Billups is old and it probably isn't a good idea too ask him too push the pull at every opportunity. Of course, I have to mention that Shumpert's scouting report does sound awfully similar too Jamison Brewer's report when he was drafted by the Pacers in 2001. I hope their careers don't turn out the same.