Posted by TMS:

Posted by BRIGGS:

Kind of like last year when everyone said Anthony Randolph was too skinny or Brook Lopez was slow and uncoordinated.


Anthony Randolph
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BRIGGS
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Member: #297 05-23-2008 9:39 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote From reading people's comments I think there is a misconception on this player. I watched 7 full games of his--anyone can--they are still archived on Yahoo. While he does have some SF skills--there is no doubt about he is a 4 man--perhaps a bit of a hybrid power forward but still a 4 in my book. He is younger than almost anyone in the draft coming into school barely 18 years old yet played at a very high level in a very tough conference. Right now he would get puched around some--Chris Bosh did--but lets say were looking at the difference between Gallinari and Randolph--Randolph is much more athletic--he's better in the post--he can handle the ball as well as any big man coming out in years--his wingspan makes him play longer than his 6-11 frame---he's much faster baseline to baselione he's going to be a much better rebounder--he's got a nice left hand stroke.

When looking at Randolph--we must ask--where would this kid be drafted IF he stayed and played two more years at LSU? I think he would easily go up to 20-10-3 next year --where would that leave him on a draft board at 6-11--lets say he gets hinself up to 225 by 19. On top of it while he is skinny and gets pushed around he's disruptive defensively because of his length he can block shots--simply he can do more than Gallinari he has more natural gifts and when its said and done he will be a true 4 with the potential ability to be an athletic 20-10 PF in the NBA.


Brook Lopez - bust?
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quote:Originally posted by purple012870:

Brook Lopez is good at being 7'2".

I bet that if Brook Lopez falls to 6 there is a very high possibility the Knicks take him. I don't think he will get there but it is possible--someone is coming down. Just my guess work but I would have to think the Knicks view Lopez as a top 5 pick and if they go by their board they will take him. When you start talking about pick 6--they want as close to a sure thing as possible---Not saying he is a franchise player[but he could be] but at 6 they dont want extra guess work and if I look at Walsh history of drafting he will take the big man. He's not my choice but people are being a little crazy saying he is good at being 7-2. He's a guy who dominated big time games in a big time league and came in late into the season as a sophomore. You don't put up multiple 30 point games as a 7 footer if you sck. Ive seen PLENTY of big men in college 6-10--7-3 who stink. Brook Lopez is a good player--he is definitely not on my list of guys who I would consider a disappointment if we picked him. Everyone who is 6-10 is viewed as Channing Frye --this is not Channing Frye--this guy has a very solid frame with good skills.

The honesty is most of the people who are calling Mullens something else are the same people who rocked Randolph Mcgee and Lopez. Lets face it here dude--I like Blair but I wouldnt touch him with a pole--we danced that tune 6 years ago. He still weighs 273? Go back to the drawing board my man--I think my credibility for the lat 7 years is pretty dam straight.

speaking for myself i put my faith in your judgement about McGee last year based off the clips you showed just i'm doing w/Mullens... we didn't take him, obviously Donnie's got a different vision of how he intends to build this team than you do.

as for Blair, i believe you were saying we should be seriously considering taking him w/our pick earlier this season when he was having big performances against Thabeet, were you not? (if i'm wrong, feel free to correct me, but i could swear you were one of them)... i argued that Blair is a late 1st round, early 2nd round type talent at best... now ur saying you wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole... if u wanna quote your own posts & play the "I Told You So" cards at least try & remain consistent on your views, otherwise these kinds of posts are worthless... anyone can keep flip flopping on every prospect, bookmark every thread, & then quote the ones that suit their arguments weeks later.

i am giving you the benefit of the doubt & trusting your judgement on Mullens cuz you've been pretty consistent about this kid's upside for a while now same as you were on McGee last year, but don't even play like you were promoting Brooke Lopez much cuz your prognostication of the Knicks' interest in him was obviously off & you weren't exactly saying we should definitely take this kid w/our pick in that post you just quoted either.

btw, Brooke Lopez IS slow, that's not a secret... don't remember hearing many people say he was uncoordinated tho, but i could be wrong on that.

IMO people get on your case because of your constant waivering on prospects, not because they enjoy making you a target.

[Edited by - TMS on 05-23-2009 9:51 PM]

No Im saying that-- i wouldnt touch blair with a 20 foot pole. Flip flopping I usually name 3-4 prospects are really like- and usually one makes it to the top of the heap. If you say I like this one guy and he is drafted at 4--then you like no one else? Like I said in the Brook lopez post--I didnt think he would make it to 6--he wasnt my first choice[Randolph] but I certainly wouldnt be unhappy if we took him---look harder--I said he has franchise type possibility. If you go back further i wrote about Lopez a lot early that year--but realistically I didnt think he would fall to us and then when we hired dantoni i didnt think he was a fit.
If I say I like Curry--i think he is a top 3 player in Oct Nov and I see things that chnage my view in him--doesnt mean I dont like him--it measn that I like others better. Realistically Im with my same top 5 Griffin Thabet Derozan Evans and Mullens--Im probably the only guy who has Mullens a top 5 guy--I told you so? who gives a sht--I think he is a legit type 5 prospect in this draft. I think for the Knicks he might make more sense than Derozan or Evans

Posted by Finestrg:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by martin:

Posted by TMS:

what you don't see in this clip is what you see in the clip above--the guy looks like he can absolutely shoot the ball in a big time way in the mid range post and pop.

not even sure what u meant w/the first part of that comment but i don't see any pick & pop skills on display in this clip, much less a midrange J... he seems like he's got D Lee type springs in his legs, gets up real quick to follow up missed shots, & has a soft touch on his layups around the basket (which all seemed like they were right handed layups, which he'll have to rectify at the NBA level cuz he's gonna have to learn how to finish w/his left hand also)... i think he can be a good offensive rebounder & finisher based off that alone & i like how he goes up w/2 hands to dunk the ball on most attempts... but he's gonna have to face much bigger & stronger competition at the NBA level & as it is his first year at Ohio State he showed he still needs a lot of work on his game & at his size & w/his hops & wingspan his rebounding totals really should have been alot better than they were... he's a bigtime project at this point & even tho u or i might like his upside i have a feeling Donnnie's only looking at more NBA ready prospects... sucks that he'd limit his scope like that but i doubt he wants to go back to back drafts w/players who he has to wait a few years for them to develop.

what BRIGGS meant was that in the very first post in the thread, the video clip showed BJ shooting 10-15 footers and they were smooth enough, as opposed to just the dunks and layups and footwork that was on display in the YouTube video.

ic, thanks for the clarification... dude seems to have solid form on his shot but it's 1 thing to knock down jumpers in practice while warming up w/no one trying to guard you & another to do it in game action... really all i've been going off these days when it comes to Mullens is based on what BRIGGS has been telling me about him & the clips he's shown... i dunno much about this guy other than that, have never seen him in game action personally, nothing like my opinions about Derozan & some others... i like what i see in the clips & i hope the Knicks at least bring this kid in for a workout... maybe he'll surprise Donnie & MDA w/his skillset enough to warrant them making a move to grab him.

Just started reading through the thread and was thinking the exact same thing. You can't possibly decifer ANYTHING from that first clip. It's completely worthless. A fluff piece. I remember seeing a practice clip of Chris Wilcox knocking down jumper after jumper (with a nice looking form btw) in the gym last year at some point after the Knicks got him -- that's all good, practice makes perfect, but come on, we all know damn well Wilcox isn't doing that in real games. And for a guy who hasn't accomplished anything yet, Mullens sure sounded a little ****y here no? Comparing himself to Garnett was funny enough but Garnett, Dirk AND A'mare? Wow! LMAO! First of all, they're all completely different players and he doesn't resemble any of them. His response there was way over the top, let's be honest. Oh, and he EXPECTS to go top 15... Hey, what's he supposed to say there though I guess, right? I would've preferred some more humble responses based on his unimpressive, minuscule body of work thus far, but whatever. I'll give the young fella a little slack I guess... If anyone wants to read an excellent player interview, read this DeJuan Blair piece with Jonathan Givony over at Draftexpress.com. Tremendous interview of not just anyone here - Blair was a DOMINANT college basketball player last year. However, throughout their conversation together, not once do you hear Blair say something like, "yeah, Charles Barkley, that's who I resemble most.." or anything absurd like that. Blair sounds confident, he openly discusses his weaknesses and what he plans to do to correct them and he gives high praise and credit to guys like Millsap, Udonis Haslem and Carl Landry, comparisons Givony came up that Blair calls "great players" who he admires because they "worked to get to where they want to be." Obviously, Blair has potential to be MUCH BETTER than these guys but you won't here that from him. Confident yet humbled & classy at the same time, he gave honest, mature responses throughout the one-on-one with Givony. Man, call me nuts but what I think we'll eventually wind up seeing with Blair is a Larry Johnson-type inside player minus the 3 ball...

GREAT read, check it out: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/DeJuan-Blair-5049/

Anyway, back to Mullens. I guess we've got a few postives here: he does seem confident which is good, appears to be working hard if you take him at his word which I do (although I don't see this new phantom physique Briggs mentioned - physically he looks the same to me), he's a big boy and very athletic. Only thing is, that's about all we're looking at right now. The rest is pure speculation and that's it. I hope this kid succeeds, I really do. I never wanna see any young player fail and fall short of his dreams, but I just can't get too pumped up about this kid based on what I've seen so far. And again, like I said on another thread, say we drafted him (and again there's no way you take this kid 8, that's completely crazy), how do we develop him here exactly? D'Antoni's good at what he does but I think there's some truth to the speculation that this is not his type of player at all, the rest of the coaching staff, though capable, is devoid of true "big-men coaches" (Phil Weber, Mike's brother Dan, etc.. all seem like good coaches (esp. Weber) but what we would need for Mullens is a Pat Ewing or even a Mark Aguirre here ready to get busy with this kid in the gym right from day one - sadly we don't have guys like that to work with him), the NBDL is a mess of a league and anything but a true "developmental league" (odds are he wouldn't develop a lick if we grabbed him then banished him to Reno for the time being) and lastly, while I respect everyone's opinions here - Martin, please explain to us exactly what David Lee teaches Mullens except a few tips on how to pursue a rebound? David Lee's gonna help turn Mullens into a complete player? How? He's far from a complete player himself... There it is in a nutshell - unpolished/raw prospect at the moment with limited opportunities to get better in the event he ever did come here. That's my whole thing...

Hey, everyone has their favorites in the draft every year - I have mine, you fellas have yours. This kid is obviously a Briggs guy. I respect that. Briggs, you got yourself set up for the big "I told you so" in the event he ever amounted to something... we'll just have to see. Hopefully he does become a decent NBA player. But based on all the available information and what I saw with my own eyes last year, I just don't see it at the moment...

[Edited by - finestrg on 05-23-2009 11:32 PM]

I want you to think for a second--do you remember Larry Johnson out of UNLV? He was really a 3 who could handle more like a Charles Barkley--those types of skills Blair is an interior player--nothing else--no jump shot no dribble--heck if we needed a pure 4 he would be a choice for sure--but I wouldnt touch him with a pole at 8. We have NO size Im not talking horizontal--Im talking vertical--we have needed size for frikin 10 years--they dont care and they dont listen because they dont get it and thats why we have lost for 10 years--were ALWAYS one of the smallest teams. Just looking how easy and pure BJ was shooting those mid range J's--I don't care if he's doing it against air HS students or at HS--it's the form and finish Im looking at. To me from watching a lot of Ohio State--and I will be the first to tell you that I was not high on this guy when I first saw him but he caught up to the game quickly and mid season--when i watched him against Purdue and Mich St--I realized how good this kid could be. These are VERY VERY rough teams--as rough as you want to get at the college level and he was physically dominant--and if the coach let him play 38 minutes in those games and he ended up with games like 28 points 14 rebounds 12-16 shooting with 3 blocks instead of 17-8-2 in 26--then there might be some different ways we look at him. While not taking some blame off of BJ for some of his failure during his freshmen year at the bottom line I don't think he was used right or enough and I think that it affected his play at times--and if I add that up together I really believe he is being severely under rated.

By the way Curry and Mullens both played against Purdue--go look at the differences.

[Edited by - BRIGGS on 05-24-2009 10:11 AM]

Posted by BRIGGS:

Time[finally] to get some much needed size. Mullens is a safe pick in this shtty draft. We will be happy we picked him. The guards all have to many holes in their games--Id rather see if I can wait a bit and pick 1 up down in the draft--heck you might get a Jeff Teague at 22 because some of these guys will slip.

Jeff Teague in the middle of the season was talked about AND looked like a top 3 pick--remember what Sugar Ray leonard said--you only remember the last 10 seconds of the round.

To me Teague is a guy who ALSO is being under rated because his athletic ability and quickness translate well at the NBA level. This guy should be a lottery pick as well but seems to have lost flavor due to late season slump.

So that's how I think we should play it---get Mullens high--we need size desperately and lets see if we can be opportunistic and grab Teague later down the slide. Teague and Mullens can be players in this league. Pick up Almond with the LLE will be like having 3 first round picks.

If we are unable to bring on salry and ordered to cut payroll--the plan
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BRIGGS
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if we cant retool on the run and we are going to let contracts expire-the best way to retol slowly while keeping our core together si through the draft--here are the two players we can legitimately have a serious chance for whether we make the playoffs or not.--->

Chris Kaman another 20 -10 and a block in 27 minutes on 9-13 from the field against Kent St. The first comparison I got from a big tem player was Brian Cook who put up 30 on Michigan but got only 4 rebounds. When Kaman played Michigan he had 30 points and 21 rebounds.
Dwayne Wade--another high caliber game 25 points on 10-15 4 steals 6 assits 5 rebounds. Dwayne Wade is very much like a young sprewell without the attitude but is a better athlete and 20 pounds heavier. He is the best defensive guard in the nation--as I said early in the year he is the best two way player in the nation in terms of the wing position.

IF we are bound to cutting salary-the best option is to start bringing in talent from the draft because you can keep the player on a relatively cheap pay scale for years and still retain their rights.
After watching sprewell and Houston I dont think it is IMPERATIVE that we have a 6-8 wing as long as the wing is a superior athlete like Wade.

If we are bound to keep Milos Vujonic and bring Frank Williams along with eisley then we are pretty much set at the PG position long term.

So where are we at in terms of helping the team in the offseason?---my feeling is to bring in the 7 footer with skill level and let him develop. You cant teach height the center pipeline is THIN and this kid is putting up numbers that are pretty incredible. Also we need to really start thinking about a substitute player for Sprewell and as I said from day 1 Wade is my guy. As long as you have normal size froncourt players 6-10+ at the center and 6-9 and up and the PF the 2 and 3 can be players who are in the 6-5 6-6 range. Now what you are getting with wade vis a guy who plays extremely good defense and has athletic ability on par with guys like Ricky Davis Corey Maggette-guys who can score EZkets.

I dont think we will be in draft position to grab guys like Milicic bosh Oka4[and they ALL may not even be in the draft--but with the two 2nd round picks our first rounder and using harrington as some trade bait--we should be able to bring in two rookies who can help contribute right away but dont have to--but help us reduce payroll and address areas for long term success.


This plan has nothing to do with us making the playoffs or not. I am going on the premise that we need to cut payrolland that we will not be in the trade market unless we are pairing $--the way to address needs with talent on the cheap is through the draft. We still have our basic core of players including -hopefully Mcdyess so we are not leaning on a 1st year player to have massive contributions-although I believe both players can contribute. Wade has also played the PG on many occasions for Marquette so he gives another dimension we could use.


Anyone from the Knicks organization want to argue with me?