smackeddog wrote:Oh and by the way, according to Isola ( who has gone berserk with the anti Lin tweets) said that the interviewer was a former classmate of Lins. So great, objective journalistic work there. It's a fluff piece. Lin will try and spin that he is an innocent who wasn't wanted, and really wanted to return to NY, while Dolan is spinning it was a financial decision (it wasn't it was purely emotional). Both are lying, so don't get suckered by them, they're both in the wrong.

You actually believe anything Isola/Berman write. That kind of kills your credibility.

Hippo wrote:Commodus (Dolan) is out of touch with the masses (us).
He thinks he can just throw us some bread and circus and we'll be happy.

Are we not? After all, fans still keep paying for tickets even though prices get higher and higher. That's all the proof he knows that we are happy.

smackeddog wrote:Can't believe you buy that story by Lin! So he's not interested in endorsements or money? Oh so why did you just dump your long term agent and hire a shark who's speciality is in endorsements?! Please answer me that! We absolutely wanted Lin back, it was obvious right until the point he secretly renegotiated the deal. He is not some innocent victim, he made a money grab after we had showed him good faith by telling him we'd match the offer!

Didn't want him? Absolute rubbish! We were looking at veteran guards to mento him- Nash, Kidd and miller are all old. That was a fluff piece BS interview to make Lin out to be some bambi innocent. Oh poor Lin had to fly to his coach rather than the other way round! Oh poor Lin!

Don't buy the 'aw shucks' act.

He had to. Knicks didn't show that they wanted him. Only talked to him once. No documentation of offer. What would you do differently? Just wait like a sitting duck? They already resigned and signed everyone except for him. Naturally, he needed to do something for himself. Wouldn't we all?

Hippo wrote:Commodus (Dolan) is out of touch with the masses (us).
He thinks he can just throw us some bread and circus and we'll be happy.

Why he will think differently? It works all the time.

Knicksfan wrote:Maybe its just my nature of not trusting anything from the media, but its really amazing how in a single article, that by the way Lin posted in his twitter page as his "free agency in a nutshell", every single one of the main arguments people could have against Lin are surprisingly answered as to leave no stain on the Lin legacy.

I was especially surprised with the mention of James Dolan inquiring about Lin's ability to play in the playoffs and how it was Lin who wanted to play but the veterans urged him not to. Hey, it probably happened that way for all we know, but reading this article I cant help but see propaganda to make sure Lin's image isn't damaged with this nasty divorce. As I said previously, many elements of this article seem sincere and true, so Im not saying the article is completely false. But it does seems biased to a fault, and as I also question the biased ones that sometimes come from the team (since usually media is openly against the franchise, making fun of them) I wonder how many of this is truth.

Either way, truth or not, this is such a polarizing story that people will either believe it or not. I still feel the truth is in the middle and all sides made huge mistakes.

I agree there is probably some bias. But look around the national media and find one article saying "The Knicks really handled this Lin thing well." It's another in a long string of embarrassments that make this team a laughingstock. Winning will change that, but it'll have to be a lot of winning.

The fun thing about Linsanity was that the rest of the nation for once stopped slamming the Knicks and just got caught up in the excitement. Everybody loved it. Except for the biggest, most sensitive egos at MSG.

Jmpasq wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:I really wonder if the Knicks did ever intend to keep him. Even though I dont think Lin would of accepted the max Knicks offer without testing FA why not just throw it out there just because. Whats the harm in it? Where they worried he would take it? Did Melo or Woodson express privately they didnt want him back. From a Knicks PR Standpoint they would look better had they just lobbed it out there. I mean maybe if Lin had that definitive contract maybe he wouldnt of signed the Rockets reworked deal. Very doubtful,but at least U could say, Hey we offered him this but he took the money. The thing that bothers me about losing Lin isnt losing the player its that we did a trade with houston. Couldnt of we got Camby back from them and not given up the Bigs and Picks. Could of used those in another trade for another player OJ Mayo perhaps. I truly believe Lin didnt want to be here and for his game he is better off in Houston. Still the Knicks made it real easy for people to take shots at them.

It really seemed like Woodson wanted Lin back. He flew out to have a dinner with Lin, Melo, Tyson, etc in California.

Then after the first offer, Woodson giddily said the Knicks would match and he was "absolutely" excited for Lin to be his starting PG. He said absolutely several times and was beaming in the interview.

I have to think this is about the offer upping. Maybe if Lin was worried he could have checked back with the Knicks... but there were multiple places quoting that the knicks would match "up to a billion dollars". Offer gets raised $6M... Jimmy picks up his toys and goes home.

But still why didnt they offer the 4 years 24 Million or whatever. Whats the harm in doing that. Thats the 1 thing that has bothered me about this. It just looks better from the Knicks point if they had just put that on the table

This is a bit of the evidence to me. OUT OF RESPECT for what Lin did, you offer him the max you can - 4 years at 24 million - IMMEDIATELY! Now, if Lin doesn't accept that right away, that is reasonable. But if he then signs that 3 year 25 million dollar deal and we don't match, well the burden sort of falls on Lin. As it stands now, the Knicks and Dolan look terrible. This article shows there was no communication to Lin but once a month or something like that? What? Man, this is just hard to believe. You know, they say actions speak louder than words. Well, there were next to no words and the actions were just terrible on Dolans part.

I'll watch the team on occasion, for sure. But the magic that it was is gone. If I'm wrong then I'll be happy, but I just see us being a worse team. For us to be better, Felton would have to play better than he was playing when he was playing good under D'Antoni - that is not happening under Woody.

It's just sad as many of you understand - so close, so very close to having the team we dreamed about...

Thats the 1 thing that I keep coming back 2. Even if u dont believe he will take it "Which he wouldnt of " Whats the hurt of putting it out there. Did they think Lin wouldnt get an offer that high and they didnt want to look stupid by jumping the gun. Did they think by putting 4 years 24 mil "Or whatever Max was" out there that it would drive the price up higher because of the starting point. I wish I knew why they never put that on the table to Lin to say Hey we want u back this is what the CBA says we can do. SOmething that would of been so easy to do and would of saved some face

Agreed. It also would've been smart.

But I think if they had gotten Nash they wouldn't have brought Lin back either.

I dunno, we heard Grunwald wanted Lin back, we definitely heard Woodson wanted him back. This feels like Dolan and maybe also a little bit of CAA doing Melo's bidding. Someone today wrote that Dolan didn't like that the Linsanity story was "too big" and "out of control"... sensitive egos in the Garden didn't like a star that happened on it's own instead of being manufactured.

BasketballJones wrote:I don't think it was personal. If they didn't want Lin, why fight so hard for his Bird rights? I think it is more likely a case of incompetence than malice. They wanted Lin (for the right price) and did not execute the best strategy to obtain him at the price they wanted. Incompetence is more in line with the history of this franchise.

Exactly. Knicks got sonned in a negotiation where they are supposed to have the upper hand. They had a Bird('s Rights clause) in the hand, instead chased two in the bush, and the net worth of their little hunting excursion: nothing.

This is a very unloveable organization.

crzymdups wrote:

Knicksfan wrote:Maybe its just my nature of not trusting anything from the media, but its really amazing how in a single article, that by the way Lin posted in his twitter page as his "free agency in a nutshell", every single one of the main arguments people could have against Lin are surprisingly answered as to leave no stain on the Lin legacy.

I was especially surprised with the mention of James Dolan inquiring about Lin's ability to play in the playoffs and how it was Lin who wanted to play but the veterans urged him not to. Hey, it probably happened that way for all we know, but reading this article I cant help but see propaganda to make sure Lin's image isn't damaged with this nasty divorce. As I said previously, many elements of this article seem sincere and true, so Im not saying the article is completely false. But it does seems biased to a fault, and as I also question the biased ones that sometimes come from the team (since usually media is openly against the franchise, making fun of them) I wonder how many of this is truth.

Either way, truth or not, this is such a polarizing story that people will either believe it or not. I still feel the truth is in the middle and all sides made huge mistakes.

I agree there is probably some bias. But look around the national media and find one article saying "The Knicks really handled this Lin thing well." It's another in a long string of embarrassments that make this team a laughingstock. Winning will change that, but it'll have to be a lot of winning.

The fun thing about Linsanity was that the rest of the nation for once stopped slamming the Knicks and just got caught up in the excitement. Everybody loved it. Except for the biggest, most sensitive egos at MSG.

Nah, I don't need to read any article to know this was handled in a pretty bad way. Its something I really hate about being a fan of this team, that every single thing they do, whether is good or bad, turns into a circus. Guess it comes with the territory too, being practically in the capital of the media.

And yeah, it was so refreshing that for once the story wasn't about how dysfunctional the Knicks were, but about winning, excitement and hope of a better future. Believe me, I know why you and some of the most respected posters here, fans I know love this team with passion, are so bummed about this. As I said in another post, this isn't specifically about Lin, but the accumulation of frustrations from this management.

At the same time, Im kinda developing some kind of pitty for Raymond Felton, who will probably be the worst to get hit by all this hatred. The guy accepted coming back and taking the place of the Golden Kid (no pun intended, if there is one) amd coming back to the place he really seemed to love and also the franchise that traded him away. I'm kinda rooting for him already like another underdog similar to Lin because, really, he will have to be strong and deliver just to keep fans from turning violent. I really hope he can make us feel less pain for the one who got away, for his own good. Felton deserved better than coming back under such a terrible situation.

blackisblack wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

Uptown wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:If you look at the evidence and history involved - This was personal. Lin was just gaining too much power in a sense. Dolan built a team around Melo and Stat and then along comes Lin and turns things around, the failure that was. Lin becomes the favorite Knick of most of the fans, then Melo, then Chandler, then Stat. Dolan wanted his team back for Melo and Woody - the ISO game. I see their point, but now we are a worse team.

good post. i agree with this.

Your partly right. It was definitely personal and Dolan let personal feelings get in the way of business. Its no wonder it was his dad that built the brand up and not him. Lin was set to make tons of $$$ off the court for Dolan and personal feelings let that ship sail. With that said, its ridiculous to say that Dolan, the owner of the team, wants Lin gone so he can run Iso's with Melo. That makes absolutely no sense.

I think it makes sense from the stand point of Melo being Dolan's toy that HE went out and brokered the deal for. Lin was a wildcard out of the blue and in some circles became a more popular Knick than Melo. I don't think Dolan would like that. You can argue differently, but it seems like Dolan didn't like something about Lin.

It is common knowledge that superstars, players wherein teams were built on can go straight to the owner and asked that someone be let go. And it is common knowledge that the owner would grant this request.

So are you implying that Melo wne to Dolan to get Lin off the team? Why do you guys ignore what Melo and Lin have been saying all along that they both get along, both like each other and both want to play with each other? This is all documented. Yet, you guys want to make up fantasy scenarios because its essential make up a bad guy (Melo) in all of this?