Posted by Bippity10:
Solace dont' fall prey to the pre-draft clips. I have a highlite film of my high school play that would make you think I was going to be the next great superstar. You really have to see a player play before you can have any evaluation. The rest is just guessing and hope as a fan.
That's why you never see me comment on any player in teh draft that is not a Uconn player.
Sure. Like I said, the hype was based on what the scouts saw, same as Darko. Were they wrong? Maybe, but were so many people wrong? I honestly think, that had the "Lampe won't be able to sign" draft day fiasco not happened that he goes either #5 to Miami or #9 to us, instead of #30 to us. Him falling to 30, years later, was turned into "he was never that good", when in fact, he fell because of potential Euro contract issues.
Anyway, to tie it back in, there are two main points: 1) We've had four or five years to evaluate the results of Layden's picks, while Isiah's we've had almost no time and have already declared every Isiah pick a success. We declared all of Layden's picks a success and look how that turned out. 2) Isiah, the GM, is a different spot than Layden the GM. Layden the GM had one mandate: "playoffs". His coaches were given one mandate: "playoffs". The kids did not get much opportunity, and opportunity is necessary for success. Layden's coaches never got to do much with the kids, and their jobs were always on the line. Isiah's coaches were allowed to play the kids, but their jobs were also on the line. Finally, Isiah the coach and GM, suddenly the kids are allowed to play, the coach finally gets support from GM and ownership. This is something that has not happened in years, and now we see a few of the kids flourishing. Is it unreasonable to say that under similar circumstances, the Lampes, etc... of the world wouldn't have a better shot at developing too? They never got that chance.
One of the big misconceptions is that good players can work in every scenario. It's true for some players, but for many, no. Look at Marbury. He plays like complete garbage when we have five guards in the backcourt that all need minutes. Then a few of them get suspended, and Marbury starts playing like a star again. Could it be that the right opportunity plus talent is the real combination to showing something in this league? Also, when talking about Lampe, he's still a kid, and the door isn't closed for him to bust out. I hope he does.
To wrap up, Isiah the GM stinks, just like Layden the GM stinks. The only reason Isiah the GM is looking good at all, is because Isiah the coach has full support from Isiah the GM, which is something a Knicks coach hasn't had in 10 years.
Wishing everyone well. I enjoyed posting here for a while, but as I matured I realized this forum isn't for me. We all evolve. Thanks for the memories everyone.
1/18/2007 7:22 PM
