A small article from MSG

Milos Vujanic, a second-round draft pick of the New York Knicks last June, is tied with former Arizona forward Joseph Blair as the leading scorer in the Euroleague with an average of 26.7 points.

Frederic Weis, a 1999 first-round pick of the Knicks, is the leader in shooting percentage (85 percent), and Mirsad Turkcan, a former member of the Knicks, is the leading rebounder (11.4).

Ed Cota, who grew up in New York, leads the league in assists (6.1).

Milos hopefully will be joining us within the next two years. My only other thought is why arent those other three on our roster? Weis could have sit on the bench and developed as our project instead of people like Felton Spencer and Travis Knight holding down the final roster spots. Same applies with Turkcan. Do we have the dumbest brass in the NBA?

Posted by OasisBU:

Do we still own the rights to Weis? And what are the odds we actually land Vujanic? His last interview didnt seem to give playing in the NBA the thumbs up.

Yeah, we still own Weis' rights. I think Milos will want to come to the NBA only if he has a chance to succeed....so at least one of our 3 point guards need to be moved. I can't see the Knicks carrying 4 PGs for next season.

Posted by jon1970:

Fordy I agree with ya weiss was a complete disaster tho, I still think Mirsad Turkcan guy is a very solid player was another wrong time right place case huh?

He is a talented player who ended up on the wrong teams. If he ended up on Sacramento or Dallas he would be still in the league. I don't think the Knicks and especially JVG showed him any love. They were to hard on him from the begining and JVG all he does is mess rookies up any way he can't develop talent to save his life. Thank goodness he is out of here because if JVG had to rebuild a team he wouldn't be able to handle rookies or young talent. I still think that the Knicks have a long way to go before they develope any of their players. Frank Williams and Postell don't see any action this franchise has to do a better job of developing talent, they can't dicourage player as JVG use to do. I wonder sometime if the Knicks did land LeBron would they be able to develop him properly or would they give him limited time and mess him up too.

I thought our rights to Weis expired in 2000. Knicks had until a certain date to get him to commit, and Weis didn't want to be in the NBA. In fact, I think Layden talked to his agents in a last ditch effort to get Weis to commit, and he just wouldn't do it.

He was labeled "French Toast" after we lost his rights and Vince Carter dunked on him badly in the Olympics. Total NY Post headline.

Don't blame the brass for Weis being in Europe. That's Weis being a jerk. Blame Tapscott for picking that p@#$y in the first place.

Turkcan has played some NBA, but was not overly impressive. Maybe his rebounding numbers will get another shot with a team in need. jon1970 is right, timing can be huge.

I laugh at how some of you guys act like the Knicks missed out because some bench warmers are having good numbers in Europe. We used to have Doug Christie, remember? Do you miss him because he's doing well on a winning team?

It's not just about having a player on your team, he has to play well when you have him. Heck, we could dump Travis Knight next week, then next year he has a 20 rebound game, and you'll say "Why did we dump him? Our managament is so stupid!" Not that I think Knight will have a breakout year. Ever. Knicks management sucks for so many other reasons, not those.

Also, I understand JVG's POV. This is the NBA, not basketball camp. If you come into the league and still need to learn the game, you don't belong in the league. That's Stern's fault. NBA needs a developmental system like baseball. You can't just come into the league out of high school or sophomore year. It's ruining the sport. JVG maybe a bit idealistic about it, but I understand where he's coming from.

Posted by DefAndReb:

I thought our rights to Weis expired in 2000. Knicks had until a certain date to get him to commit, and Weis didn't want to be in the NBA. In fact, I think Layden talked to his agents in a last ditch effort to get Weis to commit, and he just wouldn't do it.

He was labeled "French Toast" after we lost his rights and Vince Carter dunked on him badly in the Olympics. Total NY Post headline.

Don't blame the brass for Weis being in Europe. That's Weis being a jerk. Blame Tapscott for picking that p@#$y in the first place.

Turkcan has played some NBA, but was not overly impressive. Maybe his rebounding numbers will get another shot with a team in need. jon1970 is right, timing can be huge.

I laugh at how some of you guys act like the Knicks missed out because some bench warmers are having good numbers in Europe. We used to have Doug Christie, remember? Do you miss him because he's doing well on a winning team?

It's not just about having a player on your team, he has to play well when you have him. Heck, we could dump Travis Knight next week, then next year he has a 20 rebound game, and you'll say "Why did we dump him? Our managament is so stupid!" Not that I think Knight will have a breakout year. Ever. Knicks management sucks for so many other reasons, not those.

Also, I understand JVG's POV. This is the NBA, not basketball camp. If you come into the league and still need to learn the game, you don't belong in the league. That's Stern's fault. NBA needs a developmental system like baseball. You can't just come into the league out of high school or sophomore year. It's ruining the sport. JVG maybe a bit idealistic about it, but I understand where he's coming from.

yes, you are right about everything... but - 1) the Knicks and JVG needs to understand what the nature of the league is, that is that young guys come in, and need to be molded. that's what the league has always been. 2) when you have young guys, you need to be a coach and a teacher to them... yes, some guys are tearing it up in the euroleague and are scrubs, but there are some good players over there that would work out here if utilized correctly. that's why supposedly Yao was funnelled to Rudy T over in Houston - because he knows how to properly develop young big men. Coaching is therein an art, you have to have the knowledge and be able to get your points across to your players properly. when this is lost, no matter how well you know your X's and O's, you're going to ultimately fail as a coach.

Posted by DefAndReb:

I thought our rights to Weis expired in 2000. Knicks had until a certain date to get him to commit, and Weis didn't want to be in the NBA. In fact, I think Layden talked to his agents in a last ditch effort to get Weis to commit, and he just wouldn't do it.

I am pretty sure that we still have his rights. We would have lost them had Freddy not signed with a team in Europe by a certian date, which he did.

Posted by Caseloads:

weis never showed up here for summer league ball.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_279.shtml

"After drafting the player that would "ultimately step into" Ewing's "very large shoes," according to Tapscott, the Knicks brought Weis to the States less than a month later to play in the Shaw's Pro Summer League, an annual event hosted by the Boston Celtics. Needless to say, his play was so poor that sports sections of the local rags were soon headlining "French Toast" when describing Weis."


I remember him playing in the league because of that quote,I coudnt stop laughing.I thought he had played in the summer league later
than that but he did try to avoid the Knicks from that point on.

Yeah, in any job, you try to work the situation so you get what you want, but when the whole institution operates differently from you, and they expect you to go along, you have to make compromises. JVG has not come off as a teaching coach. I bet he could do it if he really had to, but he always scoffs at rebuilding in interviews. I guess we'll see next year when he's out from under the Knicks organization.

Posted by Caseloads:


yes, you are right about everything... but - 1) the Knicks and JVG needs to understand what the nature of the league is, that is that young guys come in, and need to be molded. that's what the league has always been. 2) when you have young guys, you need to be a coach and a teacher to them... yes, some guys are tearing it up in the euroleague and are scrubs, but there are some good players over there that would work out here if utilized correctly. that's why supposedly Yao was funnelled to Rudy T over in Houston - because he knows how to properly develop young big men. Coaching is therein an art, you have to have the knowledge and be able to get your points across to your players properly. when this is lost, no matter how well you know your X's and O's, you're going to ultimately fail as a coach.

I gotta take exception to the Rice comment. He's an older player who's been on his downward slide for a few years now, mainly because of a nagging injury.

He used to be an All-Star (holds the record for most points scored in an All-Star game), one of the best shooters in the mid-90's but always on scrub teams like the mid-90's Miami Heat and the pre-playoff Hornets. He can't play that well now, but he used to be lethal. Laettner will never live up to the big shot he made in college. Baker is a head case. At one time a dynamite PF, he got traded to Seattle and became a loser overnight.

Posted by abdurrahman:

There are a lot of good european players who can play in this team but the numbers are so cold.
The talent is important if you have discipline, mentallity, experience.... Turckan is crazy, it can be hard but it is real and he is in a crazyshoot team like Fortson when he play with Hughes. Weiss hasn`t any fight spirit. He cannot dunk and he is so tall....Milos is different he have talent, he have sense, he is a fighter but he want be the one (in my view he can be a star, i haven´t any doub). There are examples in both sides of the ocean.
Europe: Weis, Fucka, Rentzias...
America: Laettner, Baker, Rice...
They have talent but they cannot play basket.