TMS wrote:how much do u guys wanna bet that MDA will be hanging off Lebron's nutsack for pulling Nate-like shenanigans in a Knicks uniform?

speaking of which, IF Nate had pulled what Bill Walker did with NY up 20 vs Detroit he would have been benched for the last 26games. I'm not downing Walker (loved his showing) but, just goes to show how much a (four letter word) perception is.

TMS wrote:

Cosmic wrote:

TMS wrote:

Childs2Dudley wrote:

TMS wrote:how much u wanna bet if Lebron doesn't end up signing here there will be cats whose focus will turn to 2011 for Carmelo Anthony as our savior?

I'd rather do that than sign Rudy Gay and Carlos Boozer.

doesn't matter what u'd rather do cuz Dolan's gonna want playoffs next year... he didn't put all his eggs into the 2010 plan just to wait for 2011.

Yeah, pretty much. It's something I'm prepared for. Loading up on lower tier players - who could make us a 42-46 win team, playoffs, at best a 2nd round showing....type deal. Hoping the next MLE signing or trade puts us over the hump.

But, still, I'll take that over the disaster we've all witnessed over the past decade. Sure.

what choice do we have at this point? we no longer own the rights to our draft picks the next 2 years so even the tank the season for a prospect plan is no longer a viable option... we're not going to build this team through the draft, the management made that abundently clear w/the T-Mac trade... the head coach isn't interested in developing rookies either... this management is no different than ones in years past, the only difference is the players on the backs of the jerseys are slightly different, but in the end we'll be rooting for a team full of overpaid veterans with bloated contracts fight to win 40 games for the next 5 years if we don't strike gold this summer in free agency.

I think the plan all along was to:

*Abandon recycling of large contracts for a gamble on another team's large contract player who fell out of favor.
*MLE signings praying they are the final piece to the puzzle.
*Crap shooting the draft.

...and the idea was clear all the space you can and build the new team through free agency.

Honestly, we may do just fine with this. It's not all going to happen this summer. Just like it took 2 years to tear it down it's going to take 2 years to build it up.

What if we get: Bosh or Johnson, re-sign Lee, and run at Melo in 2011?

Is that really all that bad?

We all want the home run, but, that's not realistic. What is realistic is we've put ourselves in the position to build a winning team. Now, who we can sign is unknown. But, I'll wait until we actually make moves before I get upset about something that is or isn't there.

Cosmic wrote:Remember how many times we slammed Jordan to the ground?

Not to many actually, it was the Pistons that used to rough him up on the regular. you have to remember that Oakley & Jordan (and to a lesser extent Ewing & jordan) were & still are good friends, so they were never really gonna lay him out. Although Jordan never seemed conflicted about "dunking" all over them, which is why Van Gundy called him a "con" man. The only Knick of that era who really got in Jordan & pippen's faces was Xavier "if any of you homos touch my stuff...i'll kill ya" McDaniel.

We need another X-Man!!!

Cosmic wrote:

TMS wrote:

Cosmic wrote:

TMS wrote:

Childs2Dudley wrote:

TMS wrote:how much u wanna bet if Lebron doesn't end up signing here there will be cats whose focus will turn to 2011 for Carmelo Anthony as our savior?

I'd rather do that than sign Rudy Gay and Carlos Boozer.

doesn't matter what u'd rather do cuz Dolan's gonna want playoffs next year... he didn't put all his eggs into the 2010 plan just to wait for 2011.

Yeah, pretty much. It's something I'm prepared for. Loading up on lower tier players - who could make us a 42-46 win team, playoffs, at best a 2nd round showing....type deal. Hoping the next MLE signing or trade puts us over the hump.

But, still, I'll take that over the disaster we've all witnessed over the past decade. Sure.

what choice do we have at this point? we no longer own the rights to our draft picks the next 2 years so even the tank the season for a prospect plan is no longer a viable option... we're not going to build this team through the draft, the management made that abundently clear w/the T-Mac trade... the head coach isn't interested in developing rookies either... this management is no different than ones in years past, the only difference is the players on the backs of the jerseys are slightly different, but in the end we'll be rooting for a team full of overpaid veterans with bloated contracts fight to win 40 games for the next 5 years if we don't strike gold this summer in free agency.

I think the plan all along was to:

*Abandon recycling of large contracts for a gamble on another team's large contract player who fell out of favor.
*MLE signings praying they are the final piece to the puzzle.
*Crap shooting the draft.

...and the idea was clear all the space you can and build the new team through free agency.

Honestly, we may do just fine with this. It's not all going to happen this summer. Just like it took 2 years to tear it down it's going to take 2 years to build it up.

What if we get: Bosh or Johnson, re-sign Lee, and run at Melo in 2011?

Is that really all that bad?

We all want the home run, but, that's not realistic. What is realistic is we've put ourselves in the position to build a winning team. Now, who we can sign is unknown. But, I'll wait until we actually make moves before I get upset about something that is or isn't there.

dude, there's no way u can justify making these trades for guys like Joe Johnson & David Lee... & what does Melo have to do with the 2010 plan? we would have had the cap space to go after him if we did absolutely nothing since DW took the job... don't try & sell me on that to justify the T-Mac trade... we made that trade for 1 guy & 1 guy only, & that's Lebron... Donnie did this to hit a home run, not to hit a double or single... if he strikes out then he's getting his ass sent back to the minors.

TMS wrote:

dude, there's no way u can justify making these trades for guys like Joe Johnson & David Lee... & what does Melo have to do with the 2010 plan? we would have had the cap space to go after him if we did absolutely nothing since DW took the job... don't try & sell me on that to justify the T-Mac trade... we made that trade for 1 guy & 1 guy only, & that's Lebron... Donnie did this to hit a home run, not to hit a double or single... if he strikes out then he's getting his ass sent back to the minors.

Here's the deal. The moves we made weren't ever about pulling a "Celtics" and winning the title the next year. It would be nice but that wasn't the case.

The idea was to put an end to the practices that turned us into this mess (Layden, Isaih - swapping large expirings for malcontents on large contracts).

It was also about flexibility.

Now, prior to the Jeffries trade we had room to sign one max. who cares who, we're talking about plan here, the idea was to create room for a max player.

We did that.

Yet, after that we still couldn't offer that max player a sidekick. Even if that sidekick was David Lee. We couldn't do it.

So the Jeffries trade was essential.

Now we can offer 2 max, or, we could (and this is more likely), offer 1 max and retain Lee, Walker, Sergio, etc.... and then seek to finish off the roster in 2011 when Fat Fuck is gone.

This isn't a goddamn video game. I feel too many fans think it is. You use two years to tear down the mess and you use two years to build a winner.

But, no, everyone wants the one big trade where all the trash is gone and superstars are brought in. One fell swoop. BANG. From 23 wins to 59 wins.

Well, that's not reality. And watching people cry over that is mind boggling.

THIS TEAM DECIDED TO TAKE A PATH: Tear down the mess (2 years). Build a winner (2 years). Just cause a gaggle of fools on the internet can't comprehend that reality doesn't mean what we are doing is a joke.

It's not. It's proper business.

It's simply how things work.

Cosmic wrote:The idea was to put an end to the practices that turned us into this mess (Layden, Isaih - swapping large expirings for malcontents on large contracts).

if we miss out on the big names this summer do u honestly think Dolan will put off the starphuch for another year? i don't... if we end up signing Joe Johnson & David Lee to longterm extensions this summer, what really has changed from the Layden & Isiah eras? Layden went after "high character guys" with bloated overpaid contracts too... wouldn't that in effect be exactly what Donnie would be doing by locking up guys like Johnson, Boozer, Lee or any of the other 2nd & 3rd tier FA's this summer?

& dude, keep your insults to urself, no need to call people fools for believing that Donnie went all in this summer w/that trade... the only fools are the people around here who don't realize it.