gunsnewing wrote:Great stuff. This thread is why this is the greatest Knick site in the planet

Yeah. That was great info from S3!

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:I don't understand "forget the triangle" talk, it only an option..Phil hired a coach with no experience with assistants specifically to run the triangle..He is trading players for nothing in return that so called don't fit the triangle...Now it's only an option??..Well can we get a real coach in here then and tell him the triangle is an option??

Phil isn't saying forget the Triangle as in they're abandoning it! He was saying that the media focused on it way too much. The Triangle is just a system of playing ball. Isola in particular is saying that Phil and the Knicks made out that it was all about the Triangle when Phil said any system could work but he liked the Triangle. Phil like's that the Triangle leads to unselfishness. He also said to Fish from the start that he is free to tweak the offense as he wishes and make it his own but that he wants the base to be the Triangle. Besides he wants the team to push the ball and look for early offense and only settle into the Triangle if nothing is there.

Seems to me that not only the Media but many fans are not even close to understanding what Phil has been talking about. No matter how many times I post the information it just gets ignored and people hear what they want to hear.

Cleamons - “Some coaches, they would irritate or disappoint me with some of their comments,” Cleamons, an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, said before a recent game against the Knicks. “We’ve never said that was the only way to play, or the best way to play. It’s just a way to play.”

Cleamons noted: “No matter what your system is, that’s got to be the first hurdle. So what’s happened with the triangle, because we won so much, it’s taken on a life of its own. But Tex always said that it’s basically a junior high school offense, based on the simple principle that any one of three positions — a guard, forward or center — can be your post player.

“At any time you can pass the ball to any of your four teammates, and if the defense takes any of those passes away, there’s a logical sequential action that takes place after that. If they take away all four passes, then you have an opportunity to drive the ball to the basket.”

Jackson has lamented how the N.B.A. game relies too heavily on the point guard to create off the dribble or a high screen. He espouses the near-rhythmic movement of five players to connect stars to their teammates.

Scott Williams, a center/forward who played for Jackson’s Bulls in the early 1990s and is an assistant coach for Milwaukee, credited the triangle with benefiting less-talented players.

“I had opportunities to have the basketball, make passes, make cuts, set picks,” he said. “It wasn’t just being parked out on an island like I was for the years after that when I went to Philly — all right, you two guys stand over here in the parking lot and when the shot goes up, try to get in there and give us an offensive rebound.”

Yet Mike Fratello, the television analyst who coached against Jackson during tenures in Atlanta, Cleveland and Memphis, said that many teams, including San Antonio, had incorporated triangle concepts related to positional strategy into their offenses. They just hate to admit it.

“Without question, there are pieces of it being used along with the other stuff they are running,” Fratello said.

Cleamons added: “You got a lot of teams now that run what they call elbow. Elbow is one of our strong-side actions. They’re all given new names, but many of these things are part of the triangle.”

Exactly, nix nailed it. Phil was just explaining how the triangle had been overhyped by the media and that at the end of the day, it is a basic structured offense to give the team options if the fastbreak isn't there or if there aren't any other advantageous opportunities. Let me clarify that even though he did say "forget the triangle" at one point, he still emphasized the importance of finding players that fit the "system." In no way was Phil saying we should abandon the triangle last night but he was just saying everyone has placed too much emphasis on it.

FistOfOakley wrote:phil said a lot of things and ppl focus in on what they want... he didn't really say anything dramatic... the tea leaves will appear as you want...

BRIGGS wrote:

nixluva wrote:BRIGGS Let's say Phil is high on Stein. He could get him with a lower pick and thus if he was set on Stein he would be in a prime situation to trade back and get another pick. In terms of Stein's defense, he's a freak of nature in terms of being able to slow down perimeter players with his size and lateral quickness. Maybe that would be the right kind of big for the kind of defense you need to play now with all the spread offenses. I'm just playing devils advocate with your suggestion. It's still highly possible he was referring to Towns.

I don't think Phil would consider Towns a C and some of the things he described do not match Karl Towns. Everything he said matched Willie Stein. He basically told the fans we are taking Stein. That also could be from position #1. This is a done deal.

If I wanted get the kind of fear mongering that you are spreading in this thread I would watch Fox News. Kind of like when you used the same fear posting technique in the vampire thread.....http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topic.asp?t=50744.

The elephant in the room for almost everyone on the planet is the constant dilemma of comparing/drafting Okafor vs. Towns. Phil stated that he wants his Big Men to think Defense first. Last I checked, KAT is a 7 footer at 19 years old and still growing. Phil was obviously referring to the Okafor vs Towns debate and not some wildcard Stein pick made 10 to 15 draft slots early.

Finestrg wrote:

smackeddog wrote:Phil said all the things we wanted to hear- basically would take Towns over OK4, signing Amare was a mistake of a strategy, that we won't trade the pick (mills said teams know if you need a pick call the knicks), that we won't be chasing big names, only players who make sense.

Agreed. I've read all the twitter quotes from Phil and Mills and this is pretty much what I got out of it. Mills also mentioned one min. about not "chasing big names" but then followed that by saying we could spend big money on a player. That, to me, seems to indicate interest in Kanter, Middleton or maybe Brandon Knight -- potential max-type players but not necessarily the biggest household names. Fine by me if they think those guys are realistic -- I just don't think those guys are obtainable. Last thing I'd wanna see is us fixate on these guys, offers get matched and then we missed out on good 2nd choices. This is why I pray Phil can handle juggling many different scenarios at once--that's what this is gonna take. I don't wanna see him get stuck without a chair when the music stops. Rookie exec, a little older, more than a tad eccentric... Also not that comforting that Steve Mills is the main guy helping him navigate through this off-season. I hope these guys are up for this, man....I also feel what Briggs is saying to a degree -- I also got the feeling Phil was talking about Stein, but not at #1 (hopefully) -- I think if we slipped to 4, Stein might be Phil's guy there. To me at 4, if we wanted/needed a big man, I'd take Myles Turner over Stein. Stein and Turner would both probably be a little bit of a reach there (at 4) but I feel Turner has the much better upside to become an all-around 2-way big man between the two. Turner remains my big dark horse pick in the lottery.

Isn't it a little odd-ball that these guys are coming out with all these quotes? What other NBA execs are holding court like this? I mean WTF -- Town hall meetings? Just tell the season ticket holders and all the fans that you're committed to building a winner and getting this thing back on track. That's all I need to hear -- I don't need to hear the entire thought-process laid out for the world step by step. Why tip your hand like that (unless there's a lot of smokescreen here)? Getting fined for commenting on a specific college player (D'Angelo Russell, right??). Phil attending all of those Kentucky games/practices himself (you don't send a nondescript guy there to take notes, maybe shoot some video if that's even possible, etc. ???). I dunno--no biggie I guess. I'd like to see these guys keep the cards close to the vest a little better though, no? Weird...

Phil has done Town Hall's in LA for years he said. As for Phil being overwhelmed by the Free Agent negotiating, keep in mind that he has experienced men helping him. Mark Warkentien won an Executive Of The Year Award when he was with Denver. So it's not like Phil doesn't have guys who fully understand how this all works helping him. This is a team effort.

Absent that sort of trade, I remain steadfast as I have been saying for weeks: The Knicks will select Towns with the #1 pick.

He is the closest thing to a Ewing/Olajuwon type player we can find in this super-class. With 20 lbs more muscle and the professional coaching/nutrition/conditioning he will get as a pro athlete, this guy will be unstoppable on both ends of the court.