Good catch! I agree that the Knicks need a deep bench to contend, or we wont go very far when we start making the playoffs again. We also should figure that since the Knicks have so much work to do, Phil will probably have to make a very generous offer to convince some FAs to play in NY. He just has to make sure they're worth it.

fishmike wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:He better start eating a lot of chicken

Labeyrie eats more chicken than any man ever seen.......

Glad that Phil is beating the brushes for talent. The less money he has to spend on role players, the more he can offer the big names.

He's a backdoor man!

Totally agree on the bold and its the best approach. Top talent wins, but you must build a team that makes the talent better.

With Amare/Melo/Tyson over the last few years we have seen how important the team building is in addition to having top talent. We have seen the good bad and the ugly. Phil is here to build a team/roster that isnt clumsy. Dont be suprised to see a Euro vet or two signed

BRIGGS wrote:

fishmike wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:Hes averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds per game in France. Hes 23 years old. I have high doubts he will be an NBA player any time soon. His FG% has dropped from 63% last year to 48% this year. His 3 point shooting is low output and 22%. Assists and shotblocking stats are almost nothing

http://www.basketball-reference.com/euro/players/louis-labeyrie-1.html

I don't know what made you come back to this topic, but I will say that you can't get too caught up in the stats of young guys in these Euro Leagues. They often don't play young guys any major minutes. We don't know who he's playing behind. Gotta leave it up the scouts who live and breath that stuff. They targeted this kid for some reason and made a point of having Phil use resources to get him. My guess is that they have a good idea of what he's capable of and view him as a good prospect. I'll reserve judgment until we see if he comes to the States this summer.

I guess the unfortunate part is he stepped his play back this year from last. Could just be a mediocre year but I think the avenue to the NBA is an upward trend--not downward.

I wouldn't worry about it. I think he'll come here and have a chance to show what he's got. Those Euro situations are the worst for trying to really gauge some players. Like I said, this is someone that our scout has been watching for years and I doubt he would put his reputation on the line if there wasn't something about the Kid that was worth Phil spending $1.5 mil on in addition to having to buy out his contract if he shows he's worth it. All of that had to be taken into consideration. I'm hoping it was worth it and we find a nice player for cheap.

I don't know what position he would play in the NBA? A 3- 4 who cant shoot it with range? It looks like he can play a little D but are we going to start stocking our team up with raw athletic defenders who cant play 2 way basketball?

Is that so bad? I mean you and I have griped about "style of play" for about a decade or so around here. I mean when you look at the guys are hoping to add the above makes a lot of sense. Say you add OK4 and sign Dragic for 4 years $65mm. Suddenly some lunch pale athletic defensive guys look pretty good. Its all fluid at this point but I think those are the kinds of guys to add.

I keep watching the Spurs and I am just so impressed by them. Their form of basketball is the best I have ever seen. They DO NOT have 1 raw player on their team. And what happens is the more skill you have--the easier the games gets for all.

They do... they certainly do. But they play perfect system basketball, and that means the role players focus on their strengths. Like your guy Baynes you mentioned. He's very skilled, he's not very athletic, but its more than just playing next to good player. Its the system. Move the ball, play your role, do your job. When that happens you have a machine.