nixluva wrote:Dolan wouldn't let DW bring in more of his guys to the scouting crew. Dolan decided to keep Zeke's guys. I seem to recall DW had some health issues and wasn't able to travel so he was reliant upon the scouts more. I think DW publically complained so Dolan would let him bring in more of his own guys.

This is some excuse making bullshyt right here, fam.

sebstar wrote:

nixluva wrote:Dolan wouldn't let DW bring in more of his guys to the scouting crew. Dolan decided to keep Zeke's guys. I seem to recall DW had some health issues and wasn't able to travel so he was reliant upon the scouts more. I think DW publically complained so Dolan would let him bring in more of his own guys.

This is some excuse making bullshyt right here, fam.

it's called hindsight rationalization...

Besides, Rubio is the One! Kahn will give him up for shyte once he realizes his job is on the line for blowing the #5 pick last year. That moron will lick DWs balls and beg him for a bukkake. We will give up a future first rounder, most likely, but we'll get our guy.

s3231 wrote:Jeez and some of you say you have the stomach to rebuild. Doesn't look like it.

We're on track and both Mike and Donnie are doing their respective jobs so far. There was a poll that someone bumped up from before the season that showed over 80% of us didn't think this was a playoff team. Why are people surprised at the results then? We don't have the talent and balance right now to compete with other teams and if any of you think that we do, then you are just delusional.

If you want to ask this question a year from now, it would make more sense but why question Mike and Donnie when they basically told you that this was going to happen? It's not like Donnie said "we're going to compete in 2009." The primary goal has always been to gain cap space, even if it means sucking for a couple of seasons.

This will be the first off-season that Donnie truly has some flexibility to improve this team. How about we give him a chance to show that his plan could work?

And those that want to blame D'Antoni for the current record are being ridiculous. We all bitch about how flawed this team is and still expect Mike to take this team to the playoffs? Come on now. Would I like to see this team rally and get that 8th seed? Of course, I would. I've watched this team live about a dozen times this season and I can't tell you how many stinkers I've seen in person. Still, I came into this season expecting another transitional year and I can't say that I'm discouraged or surprised by the results. Consequently, it is hard for me to understand why some of you don't have the patience to see this thing through.

speaking for myself, i fully expected this team to suck this year... what i didn't expect was to see veteran scrubs who have absolutely no future on this team getting minutes over both our 1st round picks... i expected MDA to be developing the young guys this year & giving them max burn, not seeing them wasting away on the bench collecting DNP-CD's for much of the season... i posted about that numerous times before the season even started... i wanted this year to be all about trying to get those kids ready for 2010, either to be integral parts of the rotation or to be useful pieces in a possible trade... we were never a playoff calibre team but somehow playing the veterans took complete precedence this season even tho MDA & DW fooled y'all & said it was all about developing the young guys when we passed on signing AI... after the trade deadline if they're unable to dump Fishlips' contract in a trade, what exactly have we accomplished in the first half of the season?

nixluva wrote:Dolan wouldn't let DW bring in more of his guys to the scouting crew. Dolan decided to keep Zeke's guys. I seem to recall DW had some health issues and wasn't able to travel so he was reliant upon the scouts more. I think DW publically complained so Dolan would let him bring in more of his own guys.

Panos wrote:

sebstar wrote:Missing so badly on Jennings has made my faith in Walsh and D'Antoni waver a bit. I dont think anybody reasonably expected the Knicks to be any better than they are now.

I'll be honest, I don't remember too many people talking up Jennings before the draft. He got picked about where he was expected to go or higher. While Hill was considered a #3-4 pick going into the draft. I dunno, you could say he should have known better then the guys making the mock polls, but to me it seems like a bit of 20/20 hindsight.
Its not like a single guy on here complained that we missed out on Jennings before the season started and he started lighting it up.

The media made Jennings into a joke, we knew about his immaturity off the court, but the guy is a baller, strictly business on the court. If the silly age rule wouldn't have been in play Jennings was projected top 4 in the draft in 2008 draft

Childs2Dudley wrote:why would i stop believing in them? didn't we all know the deal from nearly 2 years ago when donnie took over? didn't we know the deal going into this season? i'm not sure why people are shocked by the play of a team that wasn't very good to begin with. we all knew the circumstances and the plan. i'm not sure why people are angry now.

Here is why you should stop believe, or at least to start doubting.

Yes, we knew this was a long term project.

But we've had two years of seeing them start to affect change, and they're are clear examples of questionable actions:

Drafting Jordan Hill

Falling in love with Anthony Roberson based on 15 minutes of practice time during the summer league, and signing him to a 2 year guaranteed contract

Playing Bender over Jordan Hill

Given Duhon carte blanche to suck

Jerked Hughes around

Not giving Douglas regular minutes

I don't think anyone wants to run Walsh or MDA out of town, except for maybe BasketballJones

But, there is enough evidence to suggest that Walsh and MDA won't be on any floats down broadway.

Childs2Dudley wrote:franco, i think you are grasping at straws with some of your complaints. i'll address your examples one by one:

Jordan Hill has barely played. he can still be a good player in this league. maybe. we don't know what he will be. he needs time to develop and play and i agree that playing bender over him was really stupid. just because brandon jennings has showed some things this season doesn't mean that hill is a bust.

Anthony Roberson is probably the biggest reach on here. he wasn't given a jerome james contract. he got signed to the league minimum for 1 year. the knicks thought they had found an eddie house-type player. turns out they didn't. oh well. he was traded soon thereafter.

Chris Duhon would have been a good signing if he was signed as the backup pg. clearly he is not an nba starter. he played okay in the first half of last year but since then it's been all downhill. the only mistake they made was not finding a better pg. again, they gave duhon a 2 year deal. he was clearly a stop-gap and a bad one at that. they did not give him a long-term deal and that's a plus.

Larry Hughes sucks and has always sucked. he has whined his way out of every destination and it doesn't matter if anyone upsets larry hughes. larry hughes is only worried about himself and thinks he's better than what he really is.

Toney Douglas should get more minutes, i agree. no excuses why nate, a guy who isn't coming back, gets more time when toney is a player for the future.

D'Antoni is not developing the young guys like he should. if i were him, i would be played hill, douglas and even landry. we don't need to see hughes or nate or anyone like that. i would include Al in that but Al would obviously get mad at his lack of playing time. we really should get rid of these guys at the deadline and just field a team of young guys the rest of the way.

these aren't straws.

Why hasn't Jordan Hill played more? Why has Jonathan Bender played more minutes than Hill, in spite of showing up mid season?

Roberson is the biggest reach? Then why the hell did MDA fall in love with him after 15 minutes during a summer league practice? There was no reason to sign him to a 2 year guaranteed deal. Sure, it wasn't big money, but where is he now?

This is an example, I think and I'd argue, of Walsh & MDA's lack of skill with being able to spot talent.

And yea, Larry Hughes sucks. But he had a spurt for us where he was good, then he got hurt, and maybe he struggled in coming back from the injury, but did MDA have to isolate him, and basically have him feeling like he, Hughes, was treated poorly?

MDA is supposed to woo the mega stars here. If he can't, or won't relate to Hughes, will he try harder with the FA class in 2010? And what about filling out the roster with second tier guys that sign on to cash in on a championship run with a Lebron? Second tier guys like Larry?

Walsh has come in and done everything right according to a plan. It was very simple. Purge the bad contracts, develop a young core and create space to sign a max player. Along the way he hired winning coach who is established and respected by the elite players in the league (this has been clearly documented).

Now no GM is perfect. Walsh missed on a couple of young PGs last draft that hurt. But he will resign Lee and we will have a good young group of guys in Chandler, Gallo, Lee, Hill and Douglas to compliment whatever star he chases this summer. If he gets a Lebron, Wade or even Bosh the plan is a success and the turnaround will be dramatic.

You cant so want the team to rebuild and you want it done your way. It just doesnt work like that. Walsh has a good history for building teams and getting good talent out of trades. You dont have to trust him, but it doesnt matter if you do or dont. The plan is in front of us and for once management has been pretty upfront about what that is.