franco12 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:What is the difference? He would give us that athletic defender at the 1 to start the game against PG's who are likely going to be top caliber--jose can come in 2nd against guys who are either tired or 2nd string. This really compliments our D to start game.

Calderon's shooting ability spaces the floor. The Knicks don't have a traditional Stretch 4, which really isn't very common in today's NBA. A traditional Stretch 4 would help draw a big out of the paint and space the floor. To play team ball, you need to pass, you can't pass if your players are all compressed. Floor spacing is critical not just to the Triangle, but to any team "system"

Larkin is also a sub 6 foot point guard. Guards at that size rarely succeed as starters in the modern NBA, not unless there are some unique circumstances ( i.e. Allen Iverson, who was also paired with Eric Snow ) Starting Larkin will force the Knicks to pair him with a shooting guard to hide Larkin's deficiencies. It's not just about height, but length. Having length at your guard positions helps to close down passing lanes.

Larkin's ceiling IMHO is JJ Barea in his prime.

Zen Master is also clearly looking to dump whatever contracts he can. By playing Calderon, it's possible he will try to feature him for a future trade at the deadline. Calderon at two years left is a lot more digestable in trade than with three full years left. I'm not saying he'd be desirable, I'm saying the contract situation in trade down the road would be better than right now.

If Larkin was starter worthy, Dallas would have never included him in the deal.

I agree with most of what you said, but Amar'e is potentially a stretch 4 as he has historically been money with his mid range jumper.

larkin is better then berea, I mean larkin runs the PnR better than any guard we have. His length and height will probably keep him as a 6th man, but when you really think about it, so many teams across the league play 2pg's anyway.

knicks1248 wrote:

franco12 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:What is the difference? He would give us that athletic defender at the 1 to start the game against PG's who are likely going to be top caliber--jose can come in 2nd against guys who are either tired or 2nd string. This really compliments our D to start game.

Calderon's shooting ability spaces the floor. The Knicks don't have a traditional Stretch 4, which really isn't very common in today's NBA. A traditional Stretch 4 would help draw a big out of the paint and space the floor. To play team ball, you need to pass, you can't pass if your players are all compressed. Floor spacing is critical not just to the Triangle, but to any team "system"

Larkin is also a sub 6 foot point guard. Guards at that size rarely succeed as starters in the modern NBA, not unless there are some unique circumstances ( i.e. Allen Iverson, who was also paired with Eric Snow ) Starting Larkin will force the Knicks to pair him with a shooting guard to hide Larkin's deficiencies. It's not just about height, but length. Having length at your guard positions helps to close down passing lanes.

Larkin's ceiling IMHO is JJ Barea in his prime.

Zen Master is also clearly looking to dump whatever contracts he can. By playing Calderon, it's possible he will try to feature him for a future trade at the deadline. Calderon at two years left is a lot more digestable in trade than with three full years left. I'm not saying he'd be desirable, I'm saying the contract situation in trade down the road would be better than right now.

If Larkin was starter worthy, Dallas would have never included him in the deal.

I agree with most of what you said, but Amar'e is potentially a stretch 4 as he has historically been money with his mid range jumper.

larkin is better then berea, I mean larkin runs the PnR better than any guard we have. His length and height will probably keep him as a 6th man, but when you really think about it, so many teams across the league play 2pg's anyway.

BRIGGS wrote:

Nalod wrote:if Shane can get the job done Im all for it. I like Calderon off the bench. Problem is not who starts but finish's. Go with the hot hand or let the PG know his role and confident build down the stretch?

They will likely go with Calderon for many reasons but I like the possibility of starting Larkin for a defensive spark to start game. It takes away from Calderon having to match up with the Roses's Wall's etc.. to start and Jose like you said can still play 28+ min. Calderon is the safest PG but Larkin might be the best way to start games.

As a side note, we obtained the rights to 6'1" PG Curtis Jerrells in the expansion draft -- I believe, like some of the other guys whose rights we got, this dude signed a deal to play abroad (Russia?), but I'm sure that deal includes an early out to the NBA. I've always liked this guy. Picture something close to PHX's Isaiah Thomas, only this guy's bigger/stronger. Solid player at Baylor that got even better in the DL and while playing overseas...Interested to see what happens with Jerrells and the Knicks -- I think this is a guy that's good enough to play in the NBA. A cut above your typical DL player.

TripleThreat wrote:

franco12 wrote:I agree with most of what you said, but Amar'e is potentially a stretch 4 as he has historically been money with his mid range jumper.

During STAT's four years with the Knicks now, he's attempted 44 three point shots total. 44.

In the past two seasons of that four, he's fired exactly zero three point attempts.

Long two's aren't efficient in today's NBA and STAT does not hit his jumper at a high enough rate, and not enough three balls, to be considered an elite Stretch 4 candidate.

Again, Dallas is rolling with Fatboy Felton, Jameer Nelson and what's left of Devin Harris. If Larkin had any starter potential where his weaknesses didn't outmatch his strengths, the Mavs never would have dealt him to start.

If you felt your biggest weakness in your system was tyson, then you sacrifice to get him. They absolutely did not want to lose larkin, and everyone knows (every report coming out of dallas media)larkin had to many veteran guards (who can still play at a very high level)ahead of him.

Dirks window is closing fast, and Veterans win championships,you can't take away lakins value by acting as if he was a throw in during the trade. He has enough skills to be an asset on the roster or in another trade. But even with that said, I don't believe he can be a starter right now, especially with calderon on the same roster.

CrushAlot wrote:

Finestrg wrote:Larkin brings a lot to the table: speed, breakdown ability, transition ability, can create for others or for himself when things break down and/or he's got it going, solid defense (2 steals per his last yr at Miami playing heavy mins.) and I think he'll become a real quality outside shooter eventually (over 40% his last yr in college). He could be a real good mixture of plus offense and disruptive defense...Whether he starts or not (good case being made here why he should start btw--I agree), he's got to be part of the rotation. Absolute no-brainer...I can't see playing 2 older PGs that are way too similar to one another, even in a system that masks their weaknesses somewhat, esp. when one of those guys (Pablo) never looks for his own shot.. Pablo needs to be the odd man out -- Calderon is a slightly younger, better version of Prigs imo and Shane in the change of pace guy we need as part of our attack. Ideally I'd really like to see us add yet another younger PG in addition to Larkin, unload or waive Pablo (probably won't outright waive him since there's salary implication for next yr--they'd rather move him and thus unload the salary--plus I think they generally like him), and go primarily with Larkin and another younger PG with Calderon relegated to 3rd man on the depth chart. We'll see -- might have to wait for next yr for that..

As a side note, we obtained the rights to 6'1" PG Curtis Jerrells in the expansion draft -- I believe, like some of the other guys whose rights we got, this dude signed a deal to play abroad (Russia?), but I'm sure that deal includes an early out to the NBA. I've always liked this guy. Picture something close to PHX's Isaiah Thomas, only this guy's bigger/stronger. Solid player at Baylor that got even better in the DL and while playing overseas...Interested to see what happens with Jerrells and the Knicks -- I think this is a guy that's good enough to play in the NBA. A cut above your typical DL player.

Great points about Jerrells. I think the W-Knicks swung for the fences and got the rights to some guys with nba potential. In addition to being a good player I think Jerrells is another point guard with a huge wingspan.

I agree. Some old familiar names that I don't think will amount to much but then I think we targeted some guys that are absolutely NBA rotation players, all they need is a chance:

Curtis Jerrells -- could be something close to Brandon Jennings/Mike Conley Jr. maybe.
Richard Howell - very similar to DeJuan Blair.
Craig Brackins - a 6'10" skilled face up 3/4 with a plus offensive game. Maybe something close to Al Harrington here.
DaJuan Summers - nbadraft.net compares him to Wilson Chandler. I agree. Could be better than Chandler--I think he's less mechanical & might be more skilled. ATL's Mike Scott with even more offensive versatility maybe.
Austin Freeman - smooth & skilled SG--could be something close to Marcus Thornton in the NBA.

There are other guys I like as well (Luke Harangody's a great hustle guy; Kris Joseph could be a serviceable 3 man; Stefhon Hannah's not a terrible PG--he can play; not very familiar with Kyle Gibson (any video on this guy?) but it looks like he can really shoot the ball, etc.. All about establishing relationships with these guys and their agents -- maybe we could fill some holes on next year's club with a few of these guys. There's some real nice value here..