Posted by bigbeast:

Balk should be our starting SF this year. Fits better next to Zach and Curry, who both need the ball to be affective, than anyone else right now.

Posted by Erniecat:

Posted by bigbeast:

Balk should be our starting SF this year. Fits better next to Zach and Curry, who both need the ball to be affective, than anyone else right now.

Yep. Q at the 2, Balk at the 3, Crawford off the bench. It makes so much sense, it's ridiculous. Which means ... no way Isiah goes for it.

With Marbury, Randolph and Curry, not to mention Q, we DO NOT need Crawford's offense in the starting lineup. We need Balkman's active, all-around play. And Crawford would lend some good offensive punch to the 2nd unit.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Erniecat:

Posted by VDesai:

There were 31 games where he played over 15 mins. He averaged about 25 mins per in these games. These were his stats:

8.3 pts, 7.1 rebs, 1.35 stl, 0.96 blk, 0.8 asts, 1.1 TO, 54.4% FG, 53.2% FT

Clearly he can produce when he's called upon. Has to improve the FT's though. Just for comparison's sake, the other "one dimensional defender" Jeffries, also in games over 15 mpg (44 games, 27.5 mins per)

4.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 stl, 0.60 blk, 1.4 asts, 1.25 TO, 45.4% FG, 45.4% FT

So Balk puts a competent amount of pts on the board at a more efficient rate. His reb/steals/blks seem to negate the supposed length Jeffries has as well.

But forgetting Jeffries for a moment, those number Balk puts up are something we could use every night. He scores enough to make sure someone has to to put a body on him or he'll make em pay. A jumper would help, but I don't see him as a full liability out there offensively.

My favorite Isiah quote of all time is when he marveled at Balkman's play after a game in which Balkman got major minutes and had something like 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Isiah told reporters afterward (paraphrasing a bit): "You know, it's amazing. Whenever I give Renaldo major minutes, he's an almost automatic double-double and puts up good numbers in all areas."

It's amazing that he didn't start giving Balkman serious minutes though.

Yes, that's my point, and that's why it's my favorite Isiah quote of all time: Isiah acknowledges that Balkman is highly productive yet still would hardly ever give him major minutes consistently.

I used to cringe every time I looked at a box score and saw JJ Skinny getting more minutes than Balman.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Erniecat:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Erniecat:

Posted by VDesai:

There were 31 games where he played over 15 mins. He averaged about 25 mins per in these games. These were his stats:

8.3 pts, 7.1 rebs, 1.35 stl, 0.96 blk, 0.8 asts, 1.1 TO, 54.4% FG, 53.2% FT

Clearly he can produce when he's called upon. Has to improve the FT's though. Just for comparison's sake, the other "one dimensional defender" Jeffries, also in games over 15 mpg (44 games, 27.5 mins per)

4.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 stl, 0.60 blk, 1.4 asts, 1.25 TO, 45.4% FG, 45.4% FT

So Balk puts a competent amount of pts on the board at a more efficient rate. His reb/steals/blks seem to negate the supposed length Jeffries has as well.

But forgetting Jeffries for a moment, those number Balk puts up are something we could use every night. He scores enough to make sure someone has to to put a body on him or he'll make em pay. A jumper would help, but I don't see him as a full liability out there offensively.

My favorite Isiah quote of all time is when he marveled at Balkman's play after a game in which Balkman got major minutes and had something like 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Isiah told reporters afterward (paraphrasing a bit): "You know, it's amazing. Whenever I give Renaldo major minutes, he's an almost automatic double-double and puts up good numbers in all areas."

It's amazing that he didn't start giving Balkman serious minutes though.

Yes, that's my point, and that's why it's my favorite Isiah quote of all time: Isiah acknowledges that Balkman is highly productive yet still would hardly ever give him major minutes consistently.

I used to cringe every time I looked at a box score and saw JJ Skinny getting more minutes than Balman.

I hear ya. I had the exact same reaction whenever JJ Skinny played ahead of Balkman and Malik and Frye took minutes from Lee.

Yep, nothing short of mind-boggling. Just as it will be mind-boggling to see Crawford used as a starter when he has so much more value as a sub, and vice versa with Balkman.

I think either Balkman or Lee should always be on the court.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Erniecat:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Erniecat:

Posted by VDesai:

There were 31 games where he played over 15 mins. He averaged about 25 mins per in these games. These were his stats:

8.3 pts, 7.1 rebs, 1.35 stl, 0.96 blk, 0.8 asts, 1.1 TO, 54.4% FG, 53.2% FT

Clearly he can produce when he's called upon. Has to improve the FT's though. Just for comparison's sake, the other "one dimensional defender" Jeffries, also in games over 15 mpg (44 games, 27.5 mins per)

4.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 stl, 0.60 blk, 1.4 asts, 1.25 TO, 45.4% FG, 45.4% FT

So Balk puts a competent amount of pts on the board at a more efficient rate. His reb/steals/blks seem to negate the supposed length Jeffries has as well.

But forgetting Jeffries for a moment, those number Balk puts up are something we could use every night. He scores enough to make sure someone has to to put a body on him or he'll make em pay. A jumper would help, but I don't see him as a full liability out there offensively.

My favorite Isiah quote of all time is when he marveled at Balkman's play after a game in which Balkman got major minutes and had something like 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Isiah told reporters afterward (paraphrasing a bit): "You know, it's amazing. Whenever I give Renaldo major minutes, he's an almost automatic double-double and puts up good numbers in all areas."

It's amazing that he didn't start giving Balkman serious minutes though.

Yes, that's my point, and that's why it's my favorite Isiah quote of all time: Isiah acknowledges that Balkman is highly productive yet still would hardly ever give him major minutes consistently.

I used to cringe every time I looked at a box score and saw JJ Skinny getting more minutes than Balman.

I hear ya. I had the exact same reaction whenever JJ Skinny played ahead of Balkman and Malik and Frye took minutes from Lee.

LOL, this has to be ... well. David Lee averaged 30 minutes a game in the 2006-2007 season. Malik Rose average 12 minutes a game the same season. Hmm... something is not right here. Well it appears that Malik's minutes ranged from 2 minutes a game to 37 minutes. Yet he took Lee's minutes. Hmmm... Well he only played approximately 22 games where he had more than 12 minutes a game that season. 22 games out of say 82 games. Lee's minutes seem to dramatically fall to say 0 per game at the same time that Malik's minutes increase. Hmmm... I had a weird thought that maybe he played those minutes say because of an injury to Lee.

Lee was our best player. He should have played at least 38 min. Most people in my poll a few months ago thought our record would have been significantly better if Lee had payed 38 mpg and Frye and Malik had played fewer mpg.

But you're Bonn he got those minutes unfairly.

I'm starting to take it as a compliment that all the "lovers" resort to making posts about me rather than about basketball content. I think I'm now ranked 2nd only to Islesfan in that department!

Posted by Bonn1997:

Lee was our best player. He should have played at least 38 min. Most people in my poll a few months ago thought our record would have been significantly better if Lee had payed 38 mpg and Frye and Malik had played fewer mpg.

Posted by TheGame:

I think Balkman is showing that it is him and not Lee who should be getting more minutes next year. I think Lee shoud stay around 30 mins spelling Curry and Randolph but Balkman should get all the backup minutes at the SF spot. I also want IT to limit Q to about 28 minutes to make sure his back holds up.