Hopefully we will have a 50-plus win season and be in the top three in the east. Guys to look out for this year are the new Marcus Camby, Othella Harrington, Shandon Anderson, and the obvious Sprewell and Houston. I predict everyone will have decent seasons, but these are the guys who will really have their best years in my opinion.

Posted by Knixkik:

Getting off the topic...

10/18-TAG's DAYS COULD BE NUMBERED- There has been rumor for the better part of the summer that the Utah Jazz have been entertaining trade offers for Greg Ostertag. This last weeks output may speed the process up. In speaking with media Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan said he simply wasn't getting enough rebounding and interior presence from his centers. The bloated contract of Ostertag may become very expendable, especially in light of New York's serious interest. Ostertag admitted he'd heard the talk, and would play hard regardless of the team he's on. The Knicks are rumored to be dangling Charlie Ward and a draft choice for a serious center, and that package has been offered to the Jazz at least twice. Olden Polynice is still talking with the Jazz about a possible return.


Thoughts?

Damn I would rather have one of GS'centers.

Didn't you guys read any of the article's lately? Even our cheap Felton Spencer who makes about $590,850 a year outplayed that big O who receives $6,933,333 with an increasing paycheck each year. Why would we take someone like that on? I'm not that desperate for a big stiff who doesn't play well and should daily count his lucky stars that he got such a contract in the first place.

Ward has been in shape this preseason with his best knee in seven years.

Our best course of action would be either a trade with GS or wait it out untill december 15th and get creative as everyone is tradeable.

If we're deadset on dealing with Utah I'd rather get that fruitcake Polynice who has better career averages and plays better "D".

[Edited by - knicksbabyyeah on 10/19/2001 09:20:34]

I agree that it would be utterly ridiculous to pay Osterteg that type of money. I don't think the Knicks will do it - at least I hope they won't. VGundy has been quoted recently as saying that the Knicks will not go out and acquire a center just becuase of their size if they don't have any talent. It wouldn't help the situation. It doesn't matter how big you are if you can't defend, grab a rebound or score - none of which Osterteg do well then what good are you. We'd be paying over 6 million dollars to a guy just because he's tall! That makes no sense. The Knicks need to stick with Felton. Even with Felton's limited moves, he is a 100% better then Osterteg.

I'm rather curious at how big the rotation will be used by JVG. If he can hold his nerves and go deeper than that silly 8 man rotation but go 10-12 untill the 15th of december he could truly know the playing value of the current team, raise the value of some players for other teams and not be the underdog in a trade. Everybody will be tradeable the 15th so why not make them more valuable at the same time go faster with the rotations. Spencer might be the best example of this, he has rarely gotten any playing time from "the prince of darkness" but he has shown his skills sporadically last season and this preseason. The only real scrub on our roster is Travis Knight, who should get an immediate designation to the IR or be waived/cut/traded for a bag of chips aka second round pick to Portland who can use the height Knight has.

BskBall.com's Brook B puts out a good weekly report of the knicks. He mentions the outstanding playing of Othella Harrington, Shandon Anderson, and more.

Othella Harrington is quickly becoming my favorite player off the bench. He moves well, is shiftier than you'd expect for someone his size, and has become a solid finisher. At times last year I felt he was missing easy layups after touch-fouls and would not finish with enough authority when presented with a clear basket. It seems that his resolve has strengthened this season, and he now plays with a great deal more confidence. He's averaging 4 points per game more than Kurt Thomas, and had one impressive high-game of 16. On the glass, Harrington is a bit of a liability--but his post-moves help to redeem him. If Van Gundy provides him the opportunity, Othella could become a critical cog in the Knicks' offensive machine.

Shandon Anderson continues to impress me. Occupying the floor alongside much less qualified bench players from both teams, Anderson was able to truly shine and take the reins of the offense. He was every bit the slashing and disruptive player I had heard about, but also stepped out of character with a competent outside-shooting game. Shandon shot 50% from the field, with 13 points in 24 minutes with one steal--coincidentally, the exact same numbers Sprewell had that night. What's more, Anderson appears to be continually on the move--sliding around the court with quicker cadence than his teammates. Combine his movement and shooting touch, and it's like a Glen Rice record played at the wrong speed.

Rest of the Article: http://www.bskball.com/NewYork.shtml

Posted by knicksbabyyeah:

I love our knicks but it's pretty obvious we need a trade to be a contender. All of us here have been messing around with the tradechecker at realgm or been posting rumors found on the net. Eventhough I've been pleasantly surprised with the play of Ward, Othella and Anderson I truly think we should go at least 10 deep to showcase our roster. Make other teams covet one of our players for a change and get that illustrous draft pick in the trade when THEY sweeten the pot. We have a good roster besides Knight for a very good team, hopefully a fast playing team. To go deep into the playoffs however we'd need some size to boot. We really need some size but we need to make a slow and deliberate decision on this.

The guys who deserve to not be traded and stay on the team are Sprewell, Houston, Camby, Harrington, and Anderson. Showcase the others and hopefully we can make a good, smart trade. If not, i think we are still an elite team with the roster we have.

Posted by knicksbabyyeah:

Actually it's just Camby and Othella I won't let go, emotions aside, if you look at what they bring into the game and at what price. What could we possibly get in return for their salaries which would be worth it? NADA They're too good to be capfillers in a trade so I hope to enjoy them for a long long time. However, if Shandon keeps up the good work I'm really up for a trade of one of our SG's. Either Houston or Spree, fill in your own preference. Shandon is a natural SF and I'd be happy to let him start there if he continues to work out. In return for AH/Spree we could balance our roster while hopefully getting the missing piece to go all the way in the playoffs. What about Spree+KT for Dice+Wahad? Just a suggestion.
I know Wahad is a SG as well but if we'd have the combo of Dice and Camby we'd be one mean hoop drilling machine.

[Edited by - knicksbabyyeah on 10/19/2001 18:52:55]

Like it or not Sprewell and Houston are going nowhere anytime soon. I like Anderson a lot, but he's better coming off the bench then starting in my opinion. Camby should be untradeable and Harrington should only go in the right deal, but you definetly have to do all possible to hold onto him.

First, I love Spree but not as much as I love the Knicks. I'd be very happy if we could keep him and still add an allstar quality player to the PF or C position. With the two SG's we have we might go to the finals but I don't see us winning the loot. I don't like Wahad either but it be worth it to get McDyess. Second, it may be only preseason but Anderson has been a starting SF who now is backing up Spree. Third, AH is virtually untradeable with the contract he has. Besides it's largeness and the BYC it's an overpaid contract hard to trade. I'm willing to do all it takes to get the rings and not play favorite. The only team I can think of who went all the way without a good center are the bulls, help me out if I'm wrong. My dream lineup would be with Spree, Dice and Camby but that won't happen.

[Edited by - knicksbabyyeah on 10/20/2001 06:14:39]