earthmansurfer wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:I think we would be a more dangerous team with Lin. He played well on the stage and you can't overlook that. He was a different player here. In Houston he just isn't the "it" like he was here.

Now, the ball is often in Harden's hands and it is hard to really see what Lin can do. He's had his ups and downs.
But I'll say this, at the end of close games, not having him sucks. We have Melo who is clutch but no one else. I would love to have Lin back as our #2.

Regarding Felton, I like him, I just think he is better suited as a backup on most teams. He does play pretty good for us though, so he isn't a terrible starter.

If we could do it all over again, I'd take Lin and it wouldn't be close. Especially after how things went with Camby, Kidd and Novak. I think it ended up costing us, not saving us anything - which was actually questioned by many people.

I think Felton is a better fit. Also, Lin's contract in this cba is an albatross. Even with the Rockets getting the average 8 mil a year versus the poison pill deal that the Knicks would have gotten Lin is still overpaid. It will probably cost the Rockets Asik to get out from under his deal.

Seriously, if you like ISO ball, then yes, Felton is a better fit. But, that is a self defeating ideology to have in a team game. But Lin clearly can see the floor better and distribute the ball better and most would say a better defender. Regarding seeing and distributing, remember what he did to a bunch of no names here? Lin is on another level there.
Money can't be weighed into the equation as you are talking about a billionaire. It is like 1000 more bucks over the course of a year to a common man. You feel it a little, but not too bad.

Lin is only overpaid in year 3 and Houston is averaging the deal out over 3 years, at 8 per. So that is reasonable. But we have deep pockets (and couldn't do that as we were over the cap or some reason).

This..... good post.. I wanted lin and still feel the same way...I enjoyed that brand of ball, heck even novak was effective when lin was here.. and chandler was a part of the offense... anything that takes us away from sticky iso ball I am down with..

However, it was definitely the wrong move at the time and I can't say in the end it was the right move to let him go. Lin is better than Prigioni and Udrih, hands down. And matching the offer sheet wouldn't have effected our cap situation, as we're going to be well over the cap next year regardless. Plus, he would have been moveable this trading deadline or next offseason.

I was absolutely crushed when we let him go.

Melonoma wrote:Also, "Lin or Felton" is a misleadng title. We already had acquired Felton when it was time to make the Lin decision. We could have had both.

Yes we could have had both, but the title is fine......Felton replaced Lin as the starter.

Melonoma wrote:Also, "Lin or Felton" is a misleadng title. We already had acquired Felton when it was time to make the Lin decision. We could have had both.

The Knicks trading for Felton basically stated the Knicks were moving on. If we were keeping Lin, Felton would not have been brought over. It was never a matter of both but rather one or the other.

CashMoney wrote:I said it then and I'll say it again the Knicks made the right decision. For all the crying people do about our cap situation imagine the flexibility we would have had Lin received the ridiculous contract.

Is that all you care about? a player's salary? Are you for the game of basketball or are you an accountant? Dolan himself said money ain't a thang, baby. He changed his tune when it got too hot.

arkrud wrote:I think Knicks made the ultimate decision on what bbal we are going to play.
And it is Melo/JR/Woody/ISO/Hero ball. Lin has nothing to do with it and here he went.
I do not like waht we are bacause it is hopeless. This kind of ball sucks.

YEP.. i agree..

CashMoney wrote:

Melonoma wrote:Also, "Lin or Felton" is a misleadng title. We already had acquired Felton when it was time to make the Lin decision. We could have had both.

The Knicks trading for Felton basically stated the Knicks were moving on. If we were keeping Lin, Felton would not have been brought over. It was never a matter of both but rather one or the other.

It's interesting you should say that- at the time I thought all of those whispers about Woody not liking Lin, or the Knicks didn't want him back were BS. However I remember very early on in free agency, someone over on another board was posting that they were at Dolan's annual BBQ and Felton was there telling people he was going to be a Knick. Obviously didn't believe the poster at the time, and then word got out that we were going to match the initial Lin offer, and the Felton story looked like even more BS. However it turned out to be true all the time.

Now I wonder whether the intention was to bring him in instead of Lin, right from the start, or whether he was the fall back option, or whether the plan was to have him and Lin (as well as J Kidd), in which case I wonder how that would have worked. I don't think Felton would have been happy as a backup- he even said when we got him that he'd have had to have thought about it more if we'd kept Lin. If Lin had started and struggled early, likely Felton would have been made the starting PG, and that would have been an awkward situation- the starter would be getting paid half of what the back up was!