NY sports fans know that there are guys that are "NY Players" and there are guys who just can't cut it. For example, Mike Piazza was a NY player -- Jeromy Burnitz just could not cut it. John Starks was a NY player -- Charles Smith just could not cut it.

Some guys can make it in this town and others can't. There are players who excelled outside of the bright lights of NYC, but melted under the NY pressure. It's not all about stats here. Sometimes is just about handling the scrutiny that comes with playing in the media capital of the world.

How much of that is a problem here? And of our current roster -- how would you categorize our players? Since I'm starting the thread, I'll give it a try myself:

Definitely not NY players -- Frye, Jeffries, Rose, Francis, James...
Not enough time or experience to tell -- Collins, Morris, Cato
Could be NY players, but I'm not 100% sure -- Robinson, Curry, Richardson
Definitely NY players -- Crawford, Balkman, Lee

That leaves Marbury. Can Marbury really handle being here? Being the home town hero. I'm not sure that he can. And this might have been the 2nd biggest flaw in Isiah's plan (the biggest being betting the farm on Curry). Just because he is from NY doesn't mean he's an NY player. There's a certain attitude that NY players need. Their egos have to be bulletproof. Marbury has proven to be sensitive to criticism. He's shown a lot of insecurity (look no further than the "I'm the best PG..." remark). This year it seems like he's made way more clutch plays than in all his previous seasons here combined. But most of those plays came after Crawford's injury. When Craw was playing, Marbs often deffered to him in the closing moments of tight games. Marbury has given us some good numbers, but I'm not sure he's a NY player.

Regardless, who do you think is a NY player on this team?

You've got some interesting thoughts but I have to disagree with one thing...

Definitely not NY players -- Frye, Jeffries, Rose, Francis, James...
Not enough time or experience to tell -- Collins, Morris, Cato
Could be NY players, but I'm not 100% sure -- Robinson, Curry, Richardson
Definitely NY players -- Crawford, Balkman, Lee

Wait, wait, wait a minute! What did Jamal do to get in that group? He seems like a good guy but he's soft and a poor decision maker.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 04-12-2007 3:31 PM]

Collins, Balkman & Lee come the closest. Richardson if he wasn't crippled.

Posted by eViL:

Posted by Bonn1997:

You've got some interesting thoughts but I have to disagree with one thing...

Definitely not NY players -- Frye, Jeffries, Rose, Francis, James...
Not enough time or experience to tell -- Collins, Morris, Cato
Could be NY players, but I'm not 100% sure -- Robinson, Curry, Richardson
Definitely NY players -- Crawford, Balkman, Lee

Wait, wait, wait a minute! What did Jamal do to get in that group? He seems like a good guy but he's soft and a poor decision maker.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 04-12-2007 3:31 PM]

I put Crawford in the NY group because he doesn't show signs of fear. He's a soft defender for sure, but the kid is not scared. I think NY players need that quality to survive. Trust me, I realize my whole list is debatable... This is a highly subjective topic and that's why I thought it would be interesting to discuss. I wanna know what people think a NY player is and who out of the Knicks are true Knicks.

I agree on Crawford. The kid is not afraid to shoot in crunch time.

Posted by eViL:

Posted by Bonn1997:

You've got some interesting thoughts but I have to disagree with one thing...

Definitely not NY players -- Frye, Jeffries, Rose, Francis, James...
Not enough time or experience to tell -- Collins, Morris, Cato
Could be NY players, but I'm not 100% sure -- Robinson, Curry, Richardson
Definitely NY players -- Crawford, Balkman, Lee

Wait, wait, wait a minute! What did Jamal do to get in that group? He seems like a good guy but he's soft and a poor decision maker.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 04-12-2007 3:31 PM]

I put Crawford in the NY group because he doesn't show signs of fear. He's a soft defender for sure, but the kid is not scared. I think NY players need that quality to survive. Trust me, I realize my whole list is debatable... This is a highly subjective topic and that's why I thought it would be interesting to discuss. I wanna know what people think a NY player is and who out of the Knicks are true Knicks.

I hear what you're saying, though. I think being willing to take the final shot is a good start to being a NY player. But any true NY player has to play tough defense or at least be very active on defense and hustle hard IMO. If we put guys like Ewing, Starks, and Oakley in that category, then I think it's an insult to them to include Jamal.

Posted by newyorknewyork:

Crawford handles the media like a pro. And he is clutch. I say he is an NY player.

Why isn't Malik Rose considerd an NY player?

[Edited by - newyorknewyork on 04-12-2007 4:09 PM]

I thought about that too. I think Malik's too old, short, slow, and retarded. (I put retarded because it really bugs me to see a guy think he can do more than he can do on offense and get his shot-blocked or miss badly. Jerome and Malik have this problem. It's why Malik shoots around 35%.)

Posted by GhandiOrr:

Crawford is a funny kind of NY player. He'd be the same playing anywhere IMO. NY doesn't get in his head and distract him from his game. And the way the Knicks have suffered without him, he's more valuable than I gave him credit for.

You're right Evil, Balkman and Lee are the other two. Hopefully Collins belongs too.

yep. he will fire up prayers if given the opportunity playing for any team. need somebody to chase him off the 3 line and make him play a more efficient game. a jason kidd would turn Craw into an all-star. we have Steph. therefore Craw doesn't get roasted in the press because the entire nba landscape sans Isiah it seems knew what kind of player Crawford was from his prior 2 losing seasons as the man in Chicago.

With the right teammates, Malik might be an NY player. I don't necessarily think he's wilting under NY pressure as much as I think he's not being cast in the right role. I'm not surprised that some might think he deserves to be considered an NY player. He seems to have a toughness to him that NY'ers respect.

However, I'm very surprised that no one took issue with my opinion of whether or not Marbury is an NY player. Granted, this thread is not dedicated solely to Marbury -- I think that's one of the more interesting things to consider because I don't think it's so black and white. Is he an NY player or not?

[Edited by - eViL on 04-12-2007 5:25 PM]

If Mardy Collins continues to play well, instead of being used by Isiah Thomas to come into the game and throw flying drop kicks when the Knicks are down... then I might agree with him having the potential of being a true Knick also.