nixluva wrote:

TPercy wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

TPercy wrote:Can someone please explain how this a good move. He has a horrid offensive game. We don't need more offensive liabilities. We need a center,not him.

You are not going to find all stars to be your 15th player on a minimum contract- what do you expect the talent level to be, honestly? Why cry about something so trivial?

Does it look like I am crying? There is a fine distinction between crying and disagreeing.
He is a terrific defender from what I have heard, but we are loaded with players in his position at the 3 and 4 spot. He can't play center because he is six foot eight and unlike Ndour or draymond green, he posesses 0 offensive game to compensate for his lack of height.

It is clear we are need a center, and viewing robin Lopez injury history, the center we need would need to play significant minutes at one point and I have zero confidence in a majorly undersized offensive liability protecting the rim and running the triangle.

Atkins was an elite defensive player who defended 3-5 and was a rim protector. Not a bad idea to see what he can do. Maybe he shows more in TC and Pre Season.

NCAA Awards & Honors

Lefty Driesell Award (Defensive POY) - 2015
ACC Defensive POY (Media) - 2015
ACC All-Defensive Team (Media) - 2015

The easy response for everyone is that these guys are camp invites and lttle more but I'm suspiciously optimistic that both of these late signings may be contributors.

I'd bet one of these guys making it before I'll bet on a guy like Early who has shown me zero b-ball IQ and zero defensively.

smackeddog wrote:

TPercy wrote:Can someone please explain how this a good move. He has a horrid offensive game. We don't need more offensive liabilities. We need a center,not him.

You are not going to find all stars to be your 15th player on a minimum contract- what do you expect the talent level to be, honestly? Why cry about something so trivial?

When you are roster gutted of draft picks for the future, you don't have a strong record of developing your own draft picks/young players and it stands a good chance you won't make the playoffs this season, the value of those minutes you can offer young developing players is a very valuable asset.

For a guy trying to prove his worth as NBA caliber, minutes often mean more than money, location and whatever chance there is to actually win.

There are two sides to this IMHO,

1) I think you have to mine the talent where it lies, meaning sometimes you just have to grab the guy you think can help you long term without regard to positional value. Better to have three pretty good point guards trying to develop than 1 pretty good point guard and two mediocre pivots just because they are taller

2) The issue of minutes comes back up. There are likely more minutes potential at the Knicks wing positions than there are right now at PF and C. Riding on a guy who is likely to be cut could shave off opportunity for a wing prospect would could actually help the Knicks.

At least the kid can play defense.

Again, still not a fan of the Amundson and Thomas signings. Would rather just give more rookies/UDFAs an opportunity. This is basically a lost year to the Knicks playoff wise, so development should be at the forefront.

TPercy wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

TPercy wrote:Can someone please explain how this a good move. He has a horrid offensive game. We don't need more offensive liabilities. We need a center,not him.

You are not going to find all stars to be your 15th player on a minimum contract- what do you expect the talent level to be, honestly? Why cry about something so trivial?

Does it look like I am crying? There is a fine distinction between crying and disagreeing.
He is a terrific defender from what I have heard, but we are loaded with players in his position at the 3 and 4 spot. He can't play center because he is six foot eight and unlike Ndour or draymond green, he posesses 0 offensive game to compensate for his lack of height.

It is clear we are need a center, and viewing robin Lopez injury history, the center we need would need to play significant minutes at one point and I have zero confidence in a majorly undersized offensive liability protecting the rim and running the triangle.

No it doesn't look like you're crying but it sure does sound like you are.

BigDaddyG wrote:

nixluva wrote:

TPercy wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

TPercy wrote:Can someone please explain how this a good move. He has a horrid offensive game. We don't need more offensive liabilities. We need a center,not him.

You are not going to find all stars to be your 15th player on a minimum contract- what do you expect the talent level to be, honestly? Why cry about something so trivial?

Does it look like I am crying? There is a fine distinction between crying and disagreeing.
He is a terrific defender from what I have heard, but we are loaded with players in his position at the 3 and 4 spot. He can't play center because he is six foot eight and unlike Ndour or draymond green, he posesses 0 offensive game to compensate for his lack of height.

It is clear we are need a center, and viewing robin Lopez injury history, the center we need would need to play significant minutes at one point and I have zero confidence in a majorly undersized offensive liability protecting the rim and running the triangle.

Atkins was an elite defensive player who defended 3-5 and was a rim protector. Not a bad idea to see what he can do. Maybe he shows more in TC and Pre Season.

NCAA Awards & Honors

Lefty Driesell Award (Defensive POY) - 2015
ACC Defensive POY (Media) - 2015
ACC All-Defensive Team (Media) - 2015

This guy is going to end up playing for Westchester. The partial guarantee is just a way of sweetening the pot so he can make more than D-League minimum.

CrushAlot wrote:

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Virginia's Darion Atkins made the most of his last-minute invite, leading the PIT in scoring (20.0 ppg) and blocks (3.7 bpg), while finishing third in rebounding (10.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (60.0). The best part of his performance is that he did it all in the flow of the game. He took good shots. He snatched tough rebounds in traffic. He held his ground defensively, despite being matched up against taller players in the post.

As part of an ensemble cast at Virginia playing limited minutes, it was tough for Atkins to really stand out. It's impossible to ignore how well he played at the PIT. Though a bit undersized at 6-8, Atkins checks in at 240 pounds, with very good length. He plays bigger than you'd expect. And he played about as big as one can play under the hot lights of the PIT.

https://www.portsmouthinvitational.com/2015-pit-recap.html

I would rather have a 6'8 guy who is simply a much better player than a 6'11 who sucks but is big.

SupremeCommander wrote:I'm beginning to doubt this. I haven't seen one newspaper cover this

Stop reading the newspapers.... those beat writers hate us

TPercy wrote:Nix I'm still a bit skeptical he could protect the rim against NBA big at center.just because you can do it in college does not mean you can do it in the nba. Nevertheless,the staff will see what he can do in training camp.

Bleacher Report's Center Rankings. I bolded the East guys:

1. DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
2. Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
3. Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks
4. DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers
5. Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets
6. Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic
7. Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons
8. Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
9. Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
10. Al Jefferson, Charlotte Hornets
11. Tyson Chandler, Dallas Mavericks
12. Marcin Gortat, Washington Wizards
13. Andrew Bogut, Golden State Warriors
14. Timofey Mozgov, Cleveland Cavaliers
15. Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat
16. Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers
17. Robin Lopez, Portland Trail Blazers
18. Omer Asik, New Orleans Pelicans
19. Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers
20. Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves
21. Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets
22. Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors
23. Tyler Zeller, Boston Celtics
24. Enes Kanter, Oklahoma City Thunder
25. John Henson, Milwaukee Bucks
26. Alex Len, Phoenix Suns
27. Steven Adams, Oklahoma City Thunder
28. Marreese Speights, Golden State Warriors
29. Jordan Hill, Los Angeles Lakers
30. Nikola Pekovic, Minnesota Timberwolves
31. Chris Kaman, Portland Trail Blazers
32. Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers
33. Kosta Koufos, Memphis Grizzlies
34. Meyers Leonard, Portland Trail Blazers
35. Kevin Seraphin, Washington Wizards
36. Jusuf Nurkic, Denver Nuggets
37. Tiago Splitter, San Antonio Spurs
38. Kelly Olynyk, Boston Celtics

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:NEver seen him play except for the videos here. Looks athletic and appears to be defensive minded. Again, this is a theme with the players that have been added this summer.

Remember Phil said that he will change the players around Carmelo. Every player is virtually the opposite to Melo. THey have high BBall IQ, they are athletic, unselfish and defensive minded. This is a culture change and maybe he is hoping that Melo adapts (14 against 1) or that he simply gives up and asks out. Either way, its great for the Knicks. Yes, Melo is a talent but at the cost of the team, talent is not the end all.

I hope that Melo finally gets it but my guess is he won't. If he does, he could become a winner here and go down as a Knicks legend. OTherwise he will be just another in a long line of failed superstars who were to ME driven.

More importantly as you point out it's really going to be about the improved defensive posture of this roster. The better this team is defensively and on the boards the better things will be overall. That's the area this team needs to make the most progress. If they can make major gains on defense that will make everything fall into place. This is why i'm pretty optimistic about the teams chances of getting in the playoff race. When a team can fall back on their defense and hits the boards they will be competitive every night.