Posted by Knixkik:

At this point our best bet is to not find our center in the draft but figure out the center situation over the summer. Hakim Warrick is the guy i think i want at the 10-12 pick in the draft. Out of all these names we've been tossing around, he really seems like one of the only sure things. He's dominated at the college level and has improved every year so we know he has the talent and work ethic to be a good nba player. He can play either forward spot and actually still has the potential to become a very special player. I see him playing the power forward as long as we have a big center. With our second pick take the best player available, maybe Stoudamire because he can play both guard spots and is a very good shooter. I can see him possibly becoming the next Nick Van Exel. This summer we will have Sweetney and Thomas expandable for a center. Eddy Curry might be our best option. We might even be able to get him just for Thomas and a future pick or cash.

A few things, we have 0/100 chance to get Eddie Curry. NO F WAY.

Secondly, Im not against drafting Hakim Warrick, but I have to question the sense of it to a degree. If we draft him, who exactly is leaving or not playing?


I agree with you on Stoudemire in general because he can play PG and SG, it's an option at pick 29, he is no doubt about one of a few options there for sure along with a few other guys, but he is five miles away from being Nick Van Exel. NVE was very athletic and was a true shooting PG and Salim, who can play PG is much more of a 2 with much less athletic ability. We could use a shooter, anyone could use a shooter like that. One thing I can tell from watching him talk though is he is a pothead.

Andriuskevicius ia better than Petro. Ranked much higher and has better stats.

Andriuskevicius will be a high lottery pick while Petro will go somewhere between picks 12-20

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/26/2005 19:04:33]

yeah but at least Martynas Andriuskevicius puts up good stats unlike Splitter, Vazquez, Pavel Podkolzin & Tskitishvili. Pau Gasol was pretty dominant in Europe too so much so that he was picked 4th overall and had a great rookie year. It all comes down to whether they are impressive in rookie camp or at the olympics. Pau and Nene who gave Duncan a hard time impressed during the Olympics and rookie camp. Same goes with taft, green and Petro.

One thing is for sure... if the Knicks somehow land Martynas Andriuskevicius, we better find him a nickname because I'm not gonna be spelling his name out during the game in the game thread

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/26/2005 21:25:47]

1 thing guys, this is a VERY limited sample that i'm drawing these conclusions from, so please take them with a grain of salt...Splitter could very well turn out to be a great player, who knows...i'm sure the scouts have alot more info on this kid than i drew from watching this 1 game...i'm just relaying a general opinion based on the limited action i saw from him today against Euro competition...it doesn't seem to me he's a dominant type player, at least not yet...he does have some good 1 on 1 defensive skills from what i saw, & he can move like a SF...as far as his game translating into a C someday, it all depends on what type of C you are envisioning...if by C you mean someone like a Pau Gasol who plays off his athleticism & can shoot from the outside, i guess it might be possible if he works his tail off to develop his game...but i don't think there's any way he'll ever become someone like a Brad Miller who will bang hard down low.

for a 7 footer Gasol is very athletic imho...not a Kevin Garnett clone, but definitely alot more athletic than Brad Miller or Vlade Divac...plus Pau has somewhat of a SF type game too, which is why i make the analogy...i don't see him as a bruising type C who plays off his strength at all...he's more of a finesse player.

i think we have differing definitions of "toughness"...when i use that term, i do it to describe players like Charles Oakley, Charlie Ward, Brad Miller, Ben Wallace, Chris Childs...guys who don't fear contact & are willing to give up their bodies for the sake of the team & don't take any crap from anyone trying to bully them around...

for a guy like Gasol i'd describe him more as "aggressive" in that he takes the ball to the hole, but i've seen him shrink when defenses get very physical with him, like how KT managed to do in a game against Pau not too long ago.

Well as i've said a number of times over the last few weeks I think this draft is going to be one of the strongest of the last few years. Mainly because of the pending changes coming to the NBA (i.e cap, age & contract limit, etc) a lot of fringe players that would consider going to college or staying in college longer are going to spring. We won't see the results immediately because some will indeed come out to early along with the line of foreign Dirk wannabes. However the advantage of that is that some super star caliber talent will sink to the lower part of the draft (i.e Granger, Stoudamire) along with quite a few sleepers (i.e.high school talent-Blatche). In order to take advantage of this you've gotta have someone that knows how to spot talent (better than we do). Just based on their track record with Isiah and his scouting staff we're in a better position than most clubs.

Now I was able to see Splitter play last week on NBAtv and while he didn't look bad I certainly did not come away from it with the impression that he would develop into an offensive juggernaut or lane clogger. That's fine because I think what we need primarily is a defensive stopper....not a splitter (I know, I know). The problem with it is that some of the players on the opposing team blew by him for layups with ease (he did make one nice block). Imho I think our first pick should be for Petro (looks like he's ready to rumble from the clips i've seen). The second pick will hopefully go for Granger from New Mexico (if he falls that far) and if not Andray Blatche. If we can get a pick close to the beginning of the second round for Kurt Thomas then we should spring for Stoudamire. That's Petro, Granger/Blatche and finally Stoudamire.

Last but certainly not least, no trading of Sweetney and/or Ariza combo nonsense. Put the pipe down.

Posted by gunsnewing:


One thing is for sure... if the Knicks somehow land Martynas Andriuskevicius, we better find him a nickname because I'm not gonna be spelling his name out during the game in the game thread

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/26/2005 21:25:47]

Andreezy!!

Laydens eye for talent was never the problem, it was the economics of the players he took to attempt the hangover left from Ewings demand to leave, and Glen Rices sudden decline. Lampe was a long term project who won't do much until a team commits to him. Vujanic is making nice money in Europe and playing well. Teams play the big contracts first, and layden was handicapped by the capped out knicks, and the money theyw were paying already. Giving guarantees in terms of money and playing time to Vujanic did not make sense.

The total sum of Laydens tenure speaks for itself and I am not defending it. He would be a great addition to a staff, but not as GM!