Posted by McK1:
Rony Turiaf
Ryan Gomes
I like both players. It will be interesting to see how much it would take to get any of those guys away from their teams. The variety of possible moves that can happen this summer is very interesting. It's not a blockbuster type of FA class, but there are some decent players that will be available.
Kapono and Carroll are real interesting to me, cuz I remember thinking that we should've kept Carroll when he was in camp that one year with the Knicks. I like what i've seen of him this year for the Bobcats. He stepped up really nice when they had all those injuries. I don't think he'd be too expensive.
He's avg'ing 12.1 ppg on 43% and 41% from 3pt. 90% FT in 26 mpg. His intangibles are pretty good. He plays smart.
Knicks 2003-04 Pre-season Profiles
Matt Carroll Takes Aim at Knicks Roster
by Tom Kertes
Matt Carroll is no “Rudy”. Yes, he's from Notre Dame. Yes, he's a dreamer. And yes, he's a real longshot to make the Knicks roster. But he has one thing the diminutive movie-one-sacker did not have: legitimate, unadulterated, major-league talent.
The 6-6 shooting guard was one of those players -- there are 20-30 of them every year -- who were at the ability-level where they might just as well have been drafted, but weren't. "You can't imagine the pain, the feeling of disappointment you feel when your name is not called," said Carroll. "Especially because I fully expected some team to pick me. I thought I was good enough -- and people around the NBA TOLD me I was good enough. But then, if you really love the game, you get over it, just suck it up and go on. Hopefully, I'll be in the right place at the right time." But are the Knicks, a team practically legendary for its overload of "two-three"-s, the right place? "Well, Spree is not here any longer," Carroll points out. "So who knows? Maybe there's some room behind Allan (Houston) and Shandon (Anderson)."
"Actually, my being with the Knicks goes way deeper than that," adds Carroll. "Growing up in Pennsylvania, I was always an enormous Knicks fan -- so being here, in many ways, is a dream come true. I played with the Knicks in both Summer Leagues, so I'm already comfortable here with the coaches and the guys. There are great people on this team. And then, most of all, I think I play a little bit like Allan Houston. He's been my role model as a player for the longest time. So being here, getting a chance to face him, practice with him, and learn from him is not only a thrill but it could also be invaluable to my future as a player."
Clearly, Carroll is a man with a plan. "A lifelong plan," he smiles. "Drawn up when I was maybe, what, two years old? Really, I don't see how I could become anything BUT a ballplayer. As far back as I can remember, my mom and dad would take me to my grandfather's high school games. My grandpa coached at North Catholic High school in Pittsburgh -- he is the winningest coach in Pennsylvania high school history. My Dad, who was a quarterback at Penn State but a great basketball shooter as well, played in high school for my grandfather. He would take me out into the backyard and show me how to shoot. He'd work on my technique, day in and day out, all the time, for hours. Plus, both of my Mom's brothers became Div. I ballplayers in college, one at American U. and the other at St. Francis (Pa)." Understandably enough, Carroll grew up to be the purest of shooters -- his brother, Pat, led the nation in three point percentage last year while playing at St. Joseph's -- with exceptional intangible instincts for the game.
"I may not be the fastest guy in the world," he smiles. "But, yes, I do believe that I have something in common with my other idol, Chris Mullin. I think, mentally, I am a step or two ahead of the play. And Chris -- I've worked out with him in San Francisco for a couple of weeks earlier this summer -- had himself a pretty good NBA career, didn't he?"
"Shootingwise, I'm as good as any player in the NBA," adds Carroll. "I feel that, more than anything, my shooting ability is what's going to carry me here. But, in addition, I'm a far better ballhandler than people realize. You know, you get stereotyped -- a 6-6 shooter, how could he possibly handle the ball all that well? But I've played POINT GUARD throughout high school -- so I know what I'm doing with the ball. And defensively, I'm a scrapper. I've worked hard all summer on my conditioning, to get stronger so I don't get overpowered by the bigger, stronger NBA guys on defense."
"I know I still have to prove this to people, but I can guard the players in this league," adds Carroll. " I may not have the quickest feet but I do know how to play the game. I've learned, I absorbed. I was not around the best basketball minds all my life for no reason. Anyway, I tell you one thing: I may not be a guy who'll take off at the foulline and dunk on somebody, but I'll do ANYTHING to get the job done. Anything at all."
"The coaching here has been great," says Carroll. "They've already helped me so much....Herb Williams, Brendan and Mike Malone, Lon Kruger, all of them. Herb was a player, he knows what it was like, what it's all about. He's a master at keeping you relaxed. Mike is the guy I've worked the most with so far. He works so hard, it's unbelievable. As much as I want to get better, he wants me get better just as much. Maybe more. Kruger, a genuine great guy, very classy. And Brendan....he's been around forever. He's taught me a zillion little things about the game that I did not know. Things that I could not even imagine existed."
"I haven't had a chance to work with Coach Chaney individually as yet," adds Carroll. "But, just in these two days in camp, you can see how he made the NBA All-Defensive team I don't know how many times. He's taught me some amazing subtle things I did not know on defense."
Carroll chose Notre Dame over 200 other colleges because "the Irish were not particularly good at the time but I could tell that they were on the verge of something. And I wanted to be there at the beginning, to help create something wonderfully exciting, something new, and something big. I think the Knicks are on the verge of something, too. Maybe I can help to create a new winning era in New York as well."
4/7/2007 1:33 PM