BigSm00th wrote:martin wrote:BigSm00th wrote:martin you seem to reply to every post of mine about AR. perhaps we can just agree to disagree? you think he will never develop or will be it won't be for a while, i think regardless of when he develops, we at one point had him so his not developing as a knick is on the coaches/mgmt.
too bad your assumptions about what I am thinking are completely wrong. I would have loved to keep the likes of AR on team. I was pretty adamant about not doing trade and seeing if Knicks could nab Melo in offseason.
I was also a big fan of keeping AR around.
Mostly I have responding to some pretty bad assumptions on your part throughout thread.
For me, players not developing fall into a couple of different categories of why they aren't getting better: potential/talent, coaching, self-discipline. We all can see that AR has potential. It's been widely reported by more than 1 beat writer that AR doesn't put the effort into practice like some of his teammates, so the self-discipline thing for me is obvious. How does one tell if a player is getting the right coaching?
It's funny to me that you try to call out someone for not seeing practice, but at the same time blame coaching as AR's downfall... something you could only know about if you had seen practice. Right?
Eddie Curry not getting any better is on coaches/mgmt, right?
those are fair points. i haven't seen him in practice but i've seen the guy in games on the knicks, on the warriors, on the twolves, and when he was at LSU in person. he is a 7' 21 yo with lots of skills. that is what i see when i watch him play.
completely agree with you about the self-discipline, but he's 21. i wasn't disciplined when i was 21. the knicks missed a huge opportunity to develop a difference maker. instead of putting on the kiddie gloves and treating him like an immature 21 yr old with heaps of talent they treated him like he was roger mason (a vet who if he was playing well was in the rotation and if not out of the rotation). once he was out of the rotation that was it, it was obvious he was checked out as a knick. he started sulking, probably not trying as hard in practice, and moping around in "woe is me" mode, which likely further incense d'antoni.
i don't get the ed curry comparison -- curry's 28 years old who has a weight problem. you know what you're getting with him.
if AR stuck around in college for 4 years he would've been the #1 pick in the draft this year (he is one grade above kemba walker and less than a year older than him). heck, if he came out last year he probably would've been top 3. you're telling me if the knicks had drafted john wall or demarcus cousins last year you would have benched him a week into the season after a few boneheaded plays and then dealt him 40 games into the season b/c he was acting immature post-benching? you're telling me if the knicks somehow had a top 3 pick in the draft THIS yr, took derrick williams, yanked him out of the rotation a week into the season and then traded him 40 games in (kinda like they did with jordan hill but i never understood that pick to being with) b/c of immaturity you wouldn't be scratching your head? its different with AR b/c he's been in the league for 3 years and he's just getting written off/labeled as an immature headcase, but i think with the right coaching staff and support system he would've flourished.
watch the TYSON documentary that carmelo produced. tyson says he was an immature street punk who, when he was discovered by cus d'amato, was incessantly and almost to the point of absurdity praised and encouraged and supported. his confidence was built up (because he had none) and once he believed in himself he was unstoppable. i don't think the comparison is too far off the reservation -- randolph's natural basketball tools are almost unmatched. instead of building up the confidence of randolph and creating our own monster (who would actually be perfect in this system he's like shawn marion on steroids) the knicks gave up on him and then dealt him.
if some want to accept that as currency for getting into the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, fine, i'm happy too about being in the playoffs. but it takes 8-9 guys to win it all and this guy could've really helped if brought along at the right speed and with the right support.
Smooth, great post. With all due respect it was a shame you wasted it on Anthony Randolph. I said in another thread about the Randolph trade that I fully expected him to break out in Minnesota. Reason being, there was little to no pressure to do so.
When we traded for him my biggest concern was his mentality. He is mentally weak. Very weak. Granted he is 21, and he may grow out of it, but that just may be who he is. The kid does not handle pressure, failure, or responsibility very well. He is uber talented no denying that, but playing in Minny and playing in NY are two different animals.
That is a great story about Tyson. The difference between Tyson and Randolph though is that-up to this point-Randolph has not shown the desire, guts, intestinal fortified, and pride Tyson had. In all honesty, I bet Tyson showed more of all of those things while potty training then Randolph has his entire NBA career.
I really don't think it was a coach thing or a NY thing with Randolph. I think if you put him on Chicago, Boston, Lakers or any team coached by a guy like Riley, Sloan, or Jackson, or Popovich.
I really don't think AR would have developed here at all regardless.
4/12/2011 10:23 PM