CrushAlot wrote:
I think a lot of people wanted Lee. Remember he was rumored to be a first round pick right out of high school. His college career was unspectactular, he played four years so the mystery about him was gone. I don't think Rautins and Fields have a chance. This reminds me of the Chenowith draft. The other guy the Knicks took was a surfer. It was pretty clear that the only thing Chenowith had going for him was size and the other guy was quite a reach if I remember right. I see Rautins as only having a good shot. I think Chad Ford called it about Fields, he wasn't even in Chad's top 100.
So Ford is the ultimate draft guru? Fields was only an average player his junior year so there was no pre-senior season buzz about him going around, and his team, Stanford, sucked his senior year, even though he put up impressive numbers. Put him on Duke and I'm sure everyone would have known about him.
DraftNet was aware or him, for instance- Analysis from the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament:
He may have gone under the radar a bit this week because of his quiet game and less than spectacular stats, but Fields proved that he is a player and the he knows how to play the game. Unlike many other guys at the camp, he wasn’t there to “prove himself” and by doing so force the issue, instead he picked his spots within the flow of the game and still made some very impressive plays. Playing as a SG/SG, he has good size and very good length on the wing. He sees the game and makes the extra pass to get his teammate a better shot if it’s available. He doesn’t have great athleticism and his quickness is subpar, but he has a very long first step and he is extremely effective at using shotfakes and jabs to create separation. He is a dangerous slasher and he can slither through the defense with his length and more importantly finish plays at the end of it all. He likes to operate on the baseline and is very crafty at using the glass to protect his shots. His touch around the basket is terrific, he plays the angles and is able to finish at a high percentage. His outside shot is a work in progress, and unless his feet are completely set, he has a very hard time converting from the outside. His release is very slow and it results in most of his shots being closely contested because it gives his defender more time to close the gap. Lacking great footspeed, Fields has a hard time containing penetration off the dribble and will have problems defending at the next level. Athletically his shortcomings are obvious, but he may just have enough size and game to overcome. -Borko Popic 4/15/10
Has to work on his outside shooting technique, I would think, and his D, in order to compensate for his footspeed, but I think the Knicks, at this point, see him as a minor rotational player who will be able to fit in without gumming up the system through stupidity or selfishness.
I think a good case can be made that we had other needs as a team- and could have picked up a few other players who were out there who better fit our needs, but I actually think that Fields, given his ability and potential, was picked at, or near, the right spot.
No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities- C.N. Bovee
