SkyWalker wrote:Give Rautins a little time. The guy only played in a 2-3 zone for 4 years at Syracuse. He needs to get used to playing man to man. I think he is more than capable of playing adequate defense. This kid is a very hard worker and he will continue to improve.

I too am for giving Rautins a bit of time to adjust. Needs to learn man defense over that 2-3 zone they ran in Western NY. Also, I gotta think that spacing in SL games kinda sucks and that there is not a big focus on rolling big man or big men who draw double teams (Amare) which would open up the perimeter where he would excel.

Think a bigger Steve Kerr for 8-12 minutes off bench for first year.

Marv wrote:

egelband wrote:Who James?

ahh, allow me to explain.

NYY1NYK2 and smackeddog are obviously both connoisseurs of the sport and sentimentalists of the first degree.

when they see a towering presence in the middle with unlimited potential named jerome, of course who else is going to come to mind but . . .

Ha ha! It's true, Jerome James's name has been seared into my brain for all of eternity- THE definitive NBA centre, greatest of all time- hmmm... is his contract now up?! Is he currently a free agent?! Or is that a treat for next year?

martin wrote:

SkyWalker wrote:Give Rautins a little time. The guy only played in a 2-3 zone for 4 years at Syracuse. He needs to get used to playing man to man. I think he is more than capable of playing adequate defense. This kid is a very hard worker and he will continue to improve.

I too am for giving Rautins a bit of time to adjust. Needs to learn man defense over that 2-3 zone they ran in Western NY. Also, I gotta think that spacing in SL games kinda sucks and that there is not a big focus on rolling big man or big men who draw double teams (Amare) which would open up the perimeter where he would excel.

Think a bigger Steve Kerr for 8-12 minutes off bench for first year.

Hope you are right, although Cosmic must be snickering somewhere as we write.

Fields is a player- simple as that- has flaws that can be worked around or corrected- but you sense that he is a gamer. Needs to put on that muscle I saw his senior year at Stanford.

Rautins, if kept, will really have to show something in pre-season, or he is another DL candidate. Seems unsure of himself. If we can only take two players out of the SL squad, Rautins is gone.

I would love to keep baby Ewing, but Fields seems like the more complete player and he is much younger. I have a feeling that the Knicks coaches really love what Fields brings to the court.

fishmike wrote:

TheGame wrote:

SkyWalker wrote:Give Rautins a little time. The guy only played in a 2-3 zone for 4 years at Syracuse. He needs to get used to playing man to man. I think he is more than capable of playing adequate defense. This kid is a very hard worker and he will continue to improve.

I agree. I actually like Rautins. He plays defense. Seems to be a decent passer and knows how to play. His shot is not falling as consistently as you would like for a 3pt specialist, but remember how Toney could not hit the side of the basket last year. It just will take a little time for him to get used to the NBA game. Having a 3pt specialist that can actually defend will be huge, so I think you have to give this kid a year to see what he can do.

yea.. good call. Douglas offense looked abysmal in the SL. Needless to say we all know the guy can put the ball in the basket

Douglas was being crucified for this by some posters, even though the guy had a history of being a solid scorer in college. I had seen enough clips of him at FS to know that his offensive ability was not the issue, but rather his ability to be a starting PG on a team that didn't have a James, Wade, or Kobe type player. I actually thought that he might develop into a PG who could run MDA's system, but I think we now know (People can debate this- but the Knicks' coaches, if honest, will tell you that Douglas is a pure combo guard) that Toney is not a playmaker first PG, and they could not go into the season with him as our 30+MPG starting PG.

Rautins does not have the ability that Douglas has in terms of quickness and creating his own shot, and never will. I hope he plays with more confidence the next few games, but even if he performs to his potential, he is probably going to be a specialty player (a sniper) at best, at least for his first season.

BRIGGS wrote:

martin wrote:

SkyWalker wrote:Give Rautins a little time. The guy only played in a 2-3 zone for 4 years at Syracuse. He needs to get used to playing man to man. I think he is more than capable of playing adequate defense. This kid is a very hard worker and he will continue to improve.

I too am for giving Rautins a bit of time to adjust. Needs to learn man defense over that 2-3 zone they ran in Western NY. Also, I gotta think that spacing in SL games kinda sucks and that there is not a big focus on rolling big man or big men who draw double teams (Amare) which would open up the perimeter where he would excel.

Think a bigger Steve Kerr for 8-12 minutes off bench for first year.

I hate to age myself--but I think that if you look back--Steve was a vastly superior college shooter than Rautins--I mean not even in the same galaxy in terms of FG%. The honesty with Rautins was he was never a great shooter and that his thing. I know why the Knicks like him--he's got a quick release and he probably can shoot the lights out in a practice situation like Roberson. The problem is if he is shooting 34-35% and that is his skill--well we can get that from somebody else who also does many other things. For Rautins to make the team he has to be a 43%+ shooter from 3--otherwise he may need a few years in pro leagues not named the NBA to expand his game and better his shot. I don't discount him but I think you are seeing that he lacks quite a bit.

I think the best scenario is we find a team in Europe to take him for 1-2 years and keep his rights to see if he can improve.

not sure if this really pans out. kerr def a better shooter. at the same time a majority of Rautins 3s were from 3point land (taking that from a lot of Cuse fan comments). Different era's, different players.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Kerr#NCAA_Career_Statistics
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kerrst01.html
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Andy-Rautins-5839/stats/