http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_18030.shtml

By Bill Ingram
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jul 8, 2006, 11:32

The first-quarter hammer dunk was impressive enough. He came up over two defending Cavaliers and slammed home a dunk that brought oohs and ahhs from the crowd gathered in Cox Pavilion to watch the first game of Friday's summer league action. Known for his court vision, his defense, and his energy, Balkman isn't necessarily known for his scoring. A couple of minutes later, when he tipped away a pass and flew length of the court to hammer home another crowd pleaser, New York fans in attendance couldn't help but high-five each other. At the end of the first quarter Balkman had six points and shared the scoring lead with second-year guard Nate Robinson, who also managed to pull off a dunk-competition style dunk.

Ironically, Dallas Mavericks Rolando Blackman was in the stands taking a look at his almost namesake, and had some interesting insight into why Balkman drew the attention of the New York Knicks in the first round.

"Renaldo is a guy who really allows other players to be great," said Blackman of Balkman. "He's in a situation in New York where he's going to be surrounded by superstars and he will be the guy who makes everyone else better."

Why don't the New York fans understand this?

"It's a situation where New York fans don't like anyone who isn't Michael Jordan. But once they get a chance to see him play they'll start to appreciate his game. I've been watching him since he played in the NIT and he has always impressed me with his hustle. He plays hard with or without the ball and brings it every time out."

No one was more surprised than Balkman when his name was announced in the first round.

"I was surprised," he admits. "A lot of people were saying I would be in the second round or undrafted - when they called me at number 20 I almost fell out of my seat."

Balkman was one of the players who really stood out in the Orlando pre-draft camp, putting on a show with his end-to-end hustle and his gritty defensive determination. Those attributes were almost certainly what landed him in the first round, especially considering that Isiah Thomas was looking on.

"I feel like I finished my season strong and I had a strong showing in Orlando, which probably made the difference for me in getting called in the first round."

Herb Williams is the first assistant to Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas - or at least he was first assistant to Larry Brown. He is also first assistant to Mark Aguirre, who is at the helm of the Knicks' summer league team. He shares his insight into the play of his surprising first round pick.

"He's an unusual player. He's a very good defender, he pushes the ball, he makes very good plays on the break, he's athletic as I don't know what, and we look at him as a stopper. Hopefully he's a guy who can go in a slow down some people. We know you're not going to stop guys, but we feel he can slow guys up at that position. We believe he's capable of doing that."

When approached with Blackman's observation that Balkman makes the players around him better, Williams agreed wholeheartedly.

"He definitely helps other players to be better because of what he does out there. He's always going to be there to help, he's always good in rotation, he's a guy that can take it off the glass and push it up."

Isiah Thomas was also on hand to see his summer league team take the court on Friday. He liked what he saw from his surprise first round pick.

"I thought when he first started he was probably a little nervous, but I thought his defensive intensity was great. We don't expect a lot of him offensively, but the way he covered the ball, the way he covered the court was great."

What does Isiah like most about his young prospect?

"His hustle plays, his energy plays, I thought he made two plays specifically. One on the opposite side of Cleveland's bench when he jumped into the passing lane and made the steal, then on the other end a guy was taking a 20-foot jump shot and he ran out and contested the shot and blocked it right out of the air. I thought those two plays represented the type of intensity and energy that we need to play with."

Balkman knows that it's exactly that type of energy that will make or break his tenure in the NBA.

"I think as an energy player it's my role to get everyone hyped up. In that game today, that dunk I got at the beginning was my way of telling the team 'let's go!' That's what I can bring to this team right away."

And all of this . . .with a sprained knee.

"The knee is OK. I feel like it's where it needs to be. It hurts a little, but I'm not going to sit down just because I have a sprained knee."

Balkman played 23 minutes on that sprained knee on Friday, scoring six points to go with four rebounds, a block, an assist, and a steal. A little bit of everything - that's Renaldo Balkman. If you were among those who booed when the Knicks picked him on June 28th, you'll soon find yourself feeling the need to send him a note of apology. He's going to make some noise with the Knicks this season.

"It's a situation where New York fans don't like anyone who isn't Michael Jordan.

This is why many fans wanted Marcus Williams, he has potential to be a star. But everyone last year was complaining that we have a lot of talent, but no defensive minded role players.

"Renaldo is a guy who really allows other players to be great," said Blackman of Balkman. "He's in a situation in New York where he's going to be surrounded by superstars and he will be the guy who makes everyone else better."

that's why the Knicks drafted him and i think he's just what we need

I think its not so much a question of if the Knicks need a defensive minded player (which most agree they do). Its more of how you acquire that type of player. A 20 pick is a stretch....even Balkman acknowledges that to a degree.

BTW, I want to see him attempt a FG that isn't a dunk.

good article, one thing about balkman that suprised me was his explosiveness, that dunk he made, he just took on step and was way above the rim, he has great extension and he is pretty quick to the ball, again he and collins looked solid on defense, in other words not easily getting beat.... this is a good start..

Posted by TMat614:

If Balkman was the player Isiah wanted, why pass him up for a guy he doesn't want, but is considered to have more value. If he is what we need then to us he has a lot of value. I don't think it's hard to see that Isiah liked Balkman and Collins better than anyone else at the time and didn't even like marcus williams.
And we maybe didn't want to buy picks, b/c it's clear now that Dolan doesn't want to spend more money. And maybe Isiah truly thought the Suns were going to take Balkman so why risk losing him. we look back on it now knowing that they probably were not going to take Balkman, but no one knew that at the time.

I don't realy see how we were going to get more value.

And some people do not like the picks and think both of our picks will spend their lives in the developmental league.

You don't have to pass him up. There's another strategy. It's called trading down. Trade down, get a future pick in the process, maybe. I'm sure a handful of teams would've wanted the #20 and a shot at Marcus Williams. Some GMs operate with strategy. That's all we're saying.

I'm not saying we couldn't have traded down, but like i said, at the time Isiah may have truly thought the Suns were going to take Balkman. Now we know they were not, but there are smokescreens and bluffs during the draft and Isaih liked the guy enough to not risk losing him.

[Edited by - TMat614 on 07-09-2006 1:24 PM]

Posted by martin:

Posted by TMat614:

If Balkman was the player Isiah wanted, why pass him up for a guy he doesn't want, but is considered to have more value. If he is what we need then to us he has a lot of value. I don't think it's hard to see that Isiah liked Balkman and Collins better than anyone else at the time and didn't even like marcus williams.

Whither me this: Why didn't Chicago just pick Tyrus Thomas at #2 (instead of trading with POR) and why didn't Philly just pick the guy they wanted at #13 (instead of trading with CHI)?

[bonn]To make the draft more exciting. The draft is boring with no trades. Teams don't make trades during the draft for personal gain.[/bonn]

I'll throw this in there, he's also a much better ball handler than Ariza.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by TMat614:

"It's a situation where New York fans don't like anyone who isn't Michael Jordan.

This is why many fans wanted Marcus Williams, he has potential to be a star. But everyone last year was complaining that we have a lot of talent, but no defensive minded role players.

"Renaldo is a guy who really allows other players to be great," said Blackman of Balkman. "He's in a situation in New York where he's going to be surrounded by superstars and he will be the guy who makes everyone else better."

that's why the Knicks drafted him and i think he's just what we need

agreed.

it's funny how many replies this logical article has generated.

You guys are hilarious. Most people like Balkman as a player becuase most would agree that the Knicks need players of his ilk but the reason people don't like the pick is becuase he was picked 20th!!! When you guys get that through your head, talking about Balkman will be alot easier.

so basically, we're happy that he's a Knick but would rather he would've been taken later in the draft... to me, it really doesn't matter if he were taken in the lottery or as an undrafted FA as long as he's a good player & be an impact player here in NY... so far i like what i see, but summer leagues is nothing compared to real NBA action, so hoping for the best.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by TMat614:

"It's a situation where New York fans don't like anyone who isn't Michael Jordan.

This is why many fans wanted Marcus Williams, he has potential to be a star. But everyone last year was complaining that we have a lot of talent, but no defensive minded role players.

"Renaldo is a guy who really allows other players to be great," said Blackman of Balkman. "He's in a situation in New York where he's going to be surrounded by superstars and he will be the guy who makes everyone else better."

that's why the Knicks drafted him and i think he's just what we need

agreed.

it's funny how many replies this logical article has generated.

You guys are hilarious. Most people like Balkman as a player becuase most would agree that the Knicks need players of his ilk but the reason people don't like the pick is becuase he was picked 20th!!! When you guys get that through your head, talking about Balkman will be alot easier.

so basically, we're happy that he's a Knick but would rather he would've been taken later in the draft... to me, it really doesn't matter if he were taken in the lottery or as an undrafted FA as long as he's a good player & be an impact player here in NY... so far i like what i see, but summer leagues is nothing compared to real NBA action, so hoping for the best.

That's it TMS and I don't buy anything about Isiah thinking Phoenix was going to take Balkman becuase one thing we know about Isiah is that he constantly bids against himself and is a poor negotiator (see Curry deal, Jerome James deal.)