Posted by TMS:

even Michael Jordan didn't win anything until he got the right supporting cast around him...that was several years into his career...are we going to look at Lebron James & judge him not to be a "franchise player" if he doesn't win a championship for another 6-7 years either? if what consistitutes a "franchise player" is the ability to carry his team to an NBA championship, then only Tim Duncan, & maybe Shaquille O'Neal qualify, because not even Shaq won anything until he had Kobe playing alongside him.

Somebody should send this to Lupica before he shreds us.

Great post!

How is Elton Brand a franchise player and Marbury not when Brand hasn't even been to the playoff yet???

Marbury isn't a franchise player I will admitt. But if you were to put him on Indy with J'Oneal, Stephen Jackson, Artest or Miller they would win a championship. I think he would win a championship if he played on Sacramento with Peja-Webber & Brad Miller. Spursas well with Ginboli,Bowen,Duncan.

Speaking of Spurs. Stats wise they are nothing special at all but they have one of the best record. Duncan 21.9pts, Parker 15.4pts, Ginobli 14.9pts next best is 8.4pts. Rebounds wise 11.7 by Duncan and the next best is 6.8. They also only shoot 71% from FT line.

SA averages 42.4rebs, 22.4assist, 13.6TOs, 7.3stls, 6.6blks, 71ft%, 20.6 PFs, 96.5ptspergm 30-9 record

Knicks average 40.2rebs, 20.2assist, 14.3TOs, 8.4stls, 3.8blks, 78ft%, 22.6 PFs, 96.3ptspergm 17-19 record

They must destroy us in pts allowed for us to be that close to them in every category except blks & for there record to be that much better than ours.

Posted by NYK3:

and also everyone is praising Nash this year but if we had Nash instead of Steph we would still have the same record, maybe even worse

Amen to that. For me it isn't about who's franchise and who isn't, its about building a championship team. We clearly have one of the best if not the best PG in the league. He is still young and will still be getting better each eyar. We are set at that position. We have crawford who is definitely a talented scorer, and is maybe one step away from being a next level 2 guard in the league. It is not about who is franchise and who isn't.

The real question is what are the pieces that this team has that work, and what are the pieces that this team needs to go to the next level?
More than any other piece we have, Stephon Marbury is a piece that you keep and build around.

The pieces we need are big guys who can block shots and rebound.

OR you can look at this team and say:

You know what, this Marbury guy just doesn't have enough talent to keep up with the rest of this team. With all of the high-flying, fast -running, atheletic guys on this knicks squad, we have got to get a point guard who can put the ball up on the air for Kurt Thomas on the fast break!



[Edited by - Killa4luv on 01/16/2005 19:27:25]