If we can get a McGrady for a Marbury, then that is a move that you absolutely have to do. I don't know if I like trading Sweetney in that deal though. Would you think the would just take Thomas and Marbury for Grant and T-Mac? If that offer is on the table though, Thomas would have to consider it. What would Dolan think of that though?

Again, I am still all for keeping Marbury in all ways. But like I said, if you can get a superstar like T-Mac, then you have to pull that deal. It kinda helps with the cap as well, b/c, I BELIEVE McGradys contract runs out at the same year as Houston. Am I wrong about that? Or is it a year before? If it's the same year, then we will probably be way under the cap b/c we have so many contracts running out, that we could resign McGrady and go after someone else as well.

That's a deal you just have to do, again, b/c it works for us in all ways.

If we can get a McGrady for a Marbury, then that is a move that you absolutely have to do.

barf! That's a move you absolutely have to NOT do

I still don't understand the T-Mac obsession. Like Stephon, he's awesome; I'll give you that. He's even more talented than Stephon. But I'll take any day someone who lives for basketball and jumps at the opportunity to play for our country over someone who at age 24 starts contemplating retirment as soon as his team is losing and who has chronic back problems.

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 05/28/2004 10:06:49]

The grass is not always greener on the other side. The great difference between Marb and Tmack besides height is the fact that Marburry can basically run a team and most of all make other players better. TMack has yet to show or prove that he is inclined to do such a thing. There were instances during the season where he totally showed his lack of maturity on and off the court. He was being criticized by legends like: coach Thompson, Magic, Michael, Barkley, mainly because of the way he has handled himself. We don't need TMack come to think about it. We just need a player like Dampier or a beast like maybe Garnett to take us to new hights.

Posted by Bonn1997:

If we can get a McGrady for a Marbury, then that is a move that you absolutely have to do.

barf! That's a move you absolutely have to NOT do

I still don't understand the T-Mac obsession. Like Stephon, he's awesome; I'll give you that. He's even more talented than Stephon. But I'll take any day someone who lives for basketball and jumps at the opportunity to play for our country over someone who at age 24 starts contemplating retirment as soon as his team is losing and who has chronic back problems.

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 05/28/2004 10:06:49]

I would take Marburry 10 times over TMack or Vince Carter. Here is a question to all the haters: Which team during the last 5 championships that won the crown without a dominant PG???? Please don't say the Lakers, because they have to great PGs in Fisher and Kobe.

Posted by Bonn1997:

The grass is not always greener on the other side. The great difference between Marb and Tmack besides height is the fact that Marburry can basically run a team and most of all make other players better. TMack has yet to show or prove that he is inclined to do such a thing.

exactly!

Marburry can basically run a team and most of all make other players better. TMack has yet to show or prove that he is inclined to do such a thing

That is so true. He's quick to pop sheet though. He places blame on his teammates but they are watching him, waiting to see what he's gonna do. T-Mac is a chucker and to me he is lazy. Sometimes is seems like he's just pacing himself. Then all of a sudden he'll score the next 8 points then get quiet again.

T-Mac has the potential to be better or in the same sentence as a Bird, Johnson and Jordan......He still has alot to learn about the game. Just cuz you score alot and are getting you stats doesn't mean you are the man.

I think the basketball gods punnished him after his arrogant comments about the Knicks at the beginning of the season. They turned out to be a lock for the #1 pick rather than a seed in the playoffs. Maybe he will tur that corner one day.

personally I think people are missing the value of having both Marbury AND Frank on the same team and in the same lineup. The 4 game (bad) series against the Nets wasnt much to watch but the only time we were competive was when Frank and Marbury were on the floor together, and that was because of Franks defense and it gave us two superior ball handlers.

This is why I could care less about Jamal Crawford for Steven Jackson. I have NO problem (in fact I like it) playing those two together as the guards, ESPECIALLY with Tim Thomas on the floor as a shooter/slasher/runner. This is why its IMPERATIVE that we improve the frontcourt... especially the center posititon with an athletic two player. Sheed would be great, Blount would be OK, Dampier would be nice... I'm assuming Houston will be relatively healthy and able to give 30 minutes or so a night.

What I like about Frank (and Marbury together) is both can defend bigger players. Remember Frank is 6'3-6'4 and a big solid guy. Marbury is probably the strongest PG in the NBA.

Forget about 10 man rotations... less is more, especially when you have versatile players that can do several things.
pg Marbury
sg Houston
sf TThomas
pf KThomas
c Dampier/Blount/Sheed
bench Frank, Penny, Sweetney, Doleac and thats it unless Dermaar shows up 30 pounds of muscles stronger.

Its a heck of a line up, a good mix of young guys and good vets and we havent seen that line up play but 7-8 games together.

Posted by fishmike:

personally I think people are missing the value of having both Marbury AND Frank on the same team and in the same lineup. The 4 game (bad) series against the Nets wasnt much to watch but the only time we were competive was when Frank and Marbury were on the floor together, and that was because of Franks defense and it gave us two superior ball handlers.

This is why I could care less about Jamal Crawford for Steven Jackson. I have NO problem (in fact I like it) playing those two together as the guards, ESPECIALLY with Tim Thomas on the floor as a shooter/slasher/runner. This is why its IMPERATIVE that we improve the frontcourt... especially the center posititon with an athletic two player. Sheed would be great, Blount would be OK, Dampier would be nice... I'm assuming Houston will be relatively healthy and able to give 30 minutes or so a night.

What I like about Frank (and Marbury together) is both can defend bigger players. Remember Frank is 6'3-6'4 and a big solid guy. Marbury is probably the strongest PG in the NBA.

Forget about 10 man rotations... less is more, especially when you have versatile players that can do several things.
pg Marbury
sg Houston
sf TThomas
pf KThomas
c Dampier/Blount/Sheed
bench Frank, Penny, Sweetney, Doleac and thats it unless Dermaar shows up 30 pounds of muscles stronger.

Its a heck of a line up, a good mix of young guys and good vets and we havent seen that line up play but 7-8 games together.

Exactly, people seem to forget how well Frankie and Stephon played together in games 3 and 4 of the playoffs. Not a lot of people here seem to recognize how valuable it is having two good PG's on the floor and on the same team. Obviously if a good trade comes along for a top-notch PF or C then we probably have to trade Frankie away but we can still get some good bigmen without trading him. I would love it if we could nab Dampier away from GS. He would give us a post presence along with some good D. Then we could perhaps trade Nazr to a team like Utah and get one of their first round picks. This year's draft is good for only one reason, you can get a player in the mid or late first round who is as good or better than the number 1 pick.

Just b/c you get more assists doesn't mean you're a better PG. I am not saying that Frank is a better PG tahn Jamal, b/c I don't know. Jamal puts up better numbers, but the whole Kncks team plays really good when Frank is on the floor. Everyone plays like crap on the Bulls, no matter who is on the floor, let alone Jamal. I think that says a lot about Frank. Like people have said before, his assist to TO ratio is nothing to ignore, but that will improve with time and minutes.

I agree with Fishmike, though, 100% (And don't accuse me of saying I don't like Marbury b/c I said I would trade him for T-Mac) that a backcourt of Marbury and Frank works and clicks really well. They both seem to play well together, and I think Marbury has no problem playing the 2 guard, in spurts. The one thing is, Frank MUST become a more consistent 3 point shooter. Honestly, 30% from him is a DRAMATIC improvement, considering how far he has come.

Frank Williams can easily become the perfect backup too. If Lenny can somehow squeeze in 20 minutes a game for Frank, then he is a genius. The boy needs to play. I wanna see more hard work from him, like he has shown.

Frank Williams can take 10 minutes a game as backup point, as Steph rests, and 10 minutes as the point, with Steph at the 2 and while Houston rests. That works well, right?

actually, i thought the Knicks were pretty bad when Frank was playing SG. I'm not saying Frank can't become an SG, but the team really struggled with him there during the season.

I know you're not into stats, but if you look at Frank's production at each position, it's striking how much he drops off when he plays SG. http://www.82games.com/03NYK5C.HTM

Posted by s3231:

If I play Marbury and Frankie on the same floor then I put Marbury at SG and Frankie at PG, this was the case in the playoffs when they played well together.

Frank had one good game. He also shot around 20% from the field in the series. Maybe that plan will work in the future, but I wouldn't call it an impressive success during the playoffs or regular season and I don't think it will ever be as good a backcourt combo as Steph and Jamal would be

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by s3231:

If I play Marbury and Frankie on the same floor then I put Marbury at SG and Frankie at PG, this was the case in the playoffs when they played well together.

Frank had one good game. He also shot around 20% from the field in the series. Maybe that plan will work in the future, but I wouldn't call it an impressive success during the playoffs or regular season and I don't think it will ever be as good a backcourt combo as Steph and Jamal would be

Yea I don't diasgree with you on Jamal being better than Frankie. I think Jamal can be a star but all I'm saying is lets concentrate on getting a good big guy first because Frankie and Stephon are a good combo. I would love to add Crawford but not before we get a big guy (as you mentioned before) such as Dampier, Blount, or Okur.

[Edited by - s3231 on 05/28/2004 16:24:45]