Not true dude. I've heard the man talk about Frye (when describing Frye as a player, esp. right after they drafted him) and Curry's ability to block shots on numerous occasions (sadly, neither one is really adept at it though and it's still a major, major weakness on this team - Frye and Curry aren't shotblockers). I think Zeke thinks we've got that element covered with those two, but I'm telling ya, we don't. Hence, a Justin Williams pick at 29, a trade down to the 2nd round for him or at least a SL invite would've made a lot of sense to me.

You're right on LB, he did want a shotblocker and did push for Ratliff, but tell me exactly when Zeke ever said "shot blocking is over-rated." I never heard him say that. My point is he over-estimates a guy like Balkman and probably never even had Justin Williams on his radar, which to me, when you consider he went for defense anyway with his two picks, is very suprising.

He also hyped JJ's ability to block shots when he signed him and we all know what kid of player JJ turned out to be.

Posted by Finestrg:

Just like Collins, not really any room on the roster for Williams here, but you take him and eventually flip him in a deal with say a Steve Francis by telling a team, look, take Francis, a great talent, and if he doesn't pan out, you got your future PG in Marcus Williams. Teams needing a real PG, but skeptical on Francis alone, would've jumped at that deal.

Many of those teams that you are saying will take SF's 16 million plus M. Williams, could have simply drafted him themselves and chose not to. If so many teams would trade for him, why did so many of those same teams not draft him without giving up any assets at all?

hey man, how about we wait & see how this kid works out for us before we dismiss him as end of the 2nd round type talent... there've been plenty of sleepers taken over the years in the 2nd round that have gone on to be way far superior to guys taken in the lottery ahead of them... who's to say this kid won't be worthy of a #20 pick when it's all said & done? i for one don't care where he was picked as long as he makes a real impact on this team & fills their biggest need of defensive minded players that we're currently lacking.

Posted by Andrew:

Finestrg...i was referring to the quotes from Isiah when Nazr was traded for. Isiah specifically said that shot blocking was over-rated.

Personally I think we need it big time and also liked Justin Williams.

I remember that moronic quote very well...typical Isiah. he may not be the greatest coach but he's a muvh better coach than GM

Posted by SlimPack:

I agree with every you said except about balkman being end of the second round talent. how can you say that for sure based on two summer league games?

Well Slim, I go by numbers and word of mouth/buzz first and formost when trying to evaluate a player I've never seen before. Balkman had none. No numbers (playing for South Carolina no less) and very little buzz (even after a nice showing in the NIT, although he was getting a little buzz on DraftExpress for his pre-draft play in Orlando to be fair). Next I look at our team needs and to be honest, the skills that he does possess (defense/energy) do fit the Knicks nicely - so that's a plus. Now that I've seen him actually play though, I like what I see, no question, and he's exactually what I expected: a hustle/energy guy that will be extremely easy to root for/a guy that will probably develop quite the cult following (I wouldn't be suprised if we eventually see a lot of Renaldo Balkman jerseys out there). But I gotta tell ya, he's 2nd round talent all the way - AND THAT'S NOT A KNOCK AGAINST THIS POOR KID. He'll be a good fit. Again, I like him, like the intangibles he'll bring. My problem is with Zeke and where he took this kid. You want him, fine. You grab him at 29, and even that's too high (again, don't believe the hype that he was going to Phoenix at 21 - Isiah had to come up with something. There were a lot of angry fans out there that night after the pick. Zeke and co. weren't even at the Garden on draft night - what does that tell you about what they expected regarding fans' reactions? Besides, where does he play on Phoenix? Ahead of Marion or Diaw? Or ahead of Raja Bell, James Jones or even Dijon Thompson? Or over Tim Thomas if they decide to bring him back? The Suns are stacked to the gills with wings over there. Sorry but I don't believe Zeke on this one), you trade down to get him AND MORE for the 20th pick alone or possibly expand the deal to jettison some of the extra parts around here (Phoenix sold their pick for cash for God's sake - we couldn't have traded down???), or you invite him to your summer league with a good chance to make the roster after the draft's over. He's a nice little player, just like Ariza was, but not first round/20th-pick type talent. At least I don't see that in him. I tell you what, if it came down to the last roster spot and it was between Qyntel Woods and Renaldo Balkman, I take Woods and I don't even look back. What do you think of that?

Killa4luv - Here's my take on Marcus Williams back on draft night. On the surface it looks like teams passed on the kid because of character issues and the bad buzz surrounding his conditioning. BUT, there were a lot of teams that picked after us who I bet would've liked his services and been willing to deal (the Nets obviously like him, they took him! How about Memphis or Cleveland who both took PGs (think LeBron would've liked playing with a floor general like Williams?). Or how about the Lakers who took Jordan Farmar at 26? You think they would've liked going forward with a guy like Marcus Williams delivering the ball to Kobe and Andrew Bynum? You don't think a Steve Francis/Marcus Williams for Lamar Odom could've been worked out? I do...
Plus a lot of teams that picked before us only had one crack at it to get this thing right. They liked the players they took more than Marcus Williams at their only spot but that's not to say these teams didn't like him outright. Make no mistake, if a team like Boston doesn't make the trade for Telfair, say it fell through, you don't think they would've been interested? Or Atlanta - they wanted the landlord, they got him. But say Atlanta has the 5th AND 6th pick - is it out of the realm of possiblity that they take Marcus at 6? Remember they were one team that drafted out of need and were criticized by some for taking Shelden so high. You don't think they'll eventually look for a true PG and look to return Joe Johnson to his true position at the 2? Sorry but Tyronn Lue doesn't cut it and they know that. Sign and trade for Al Harrington anybody? That's not to say I'm huge fans of Harrington or Lamar Odom for that matter, I'm not, but they are significant upgrades at the 3 for us and both are still relatively young. The point is our chances of aquiring young, talented guys like this while also unloading a guy like Francis who most of us want outta here in the worst way (he and Steph in the same back court will never work) increases dramatically with an "asset" like Marcus Williams to include in the deal. He would've served as a really nice trading chip for us. BTW - I still say Indiana **** the bed by not taking Williams at 17. How do you take Shawne Williams when you already have Danny Granger (who's better) AND have two subpar PGs in Tinsley and Anthony Johnson? Big mistake there Mr. Bird...

Andrew and Gunsnewing - Ok, if you guys say Zeke said shotblocking was overrated when he acquired Nazr then I guess he said it. But I also know that he put particular emphasis on that skill as a team need when he discussed the acquisitions of Fyre, Curry and Jerome James. I'm positive about that because I remember him discussing it on the 3 seperate occasions! I guess Zeke is quite the little hypocrite then...