Finestrg wrote:Not sure of the time yet. As soon as I find out I'll post it.

Finestrg wrote:Pretty decent interview with Donnie by Mike F which surprised me considering the Knicks and NBA basketball haven't been a big part of this guy's show for a long time. Here what I took away from it:

- Donnie sounds good health-wise, saying he's improving & doing a lot of rehab to get back to full strength. Sounds like he's real close to walking again w/o any help which is nice to hear. Good for him.
- He sounds very excited about this team he put together. Extremely enthusiastic - you get the feeling he could've talked about this unit and each player for hours. It got me pumped! He should feel good about this team -- he wasn't able to get the big fish but yet still managed to put together a young, talented, relatively complete team awfully quick while also retaining big cap flexibility moving forward. Again, nice job. He deserves a lot of credit.
- Said he was surprised Miami was able to get all 3 big FA in the same place (Miami). Gave credit to Riley and even more credit to D Wade who he called very mature and impressive, esp when he had a chance to met with him during the summer.
- Very high on Amar'e, Gallo, Randolph, Felton and he thinks they all compliment each other well. I agree - they were all solid additions.
- Said the team will probably start off with Wilson at the 2 (Donnie singled out Gallo and Wilson as two guys who've had some success in the league and are now ready for the next step) and mentioned Patrick Ewing Jr. and Landry Fields as possibilites as well. Sounds real high on Fields, talking about his height, his athleticism and scoring ability. Fields was obviously a Donnie guy. Again, I give a lot of credit to Donnie with that pick -- he found a very good player there.
- Refused to comment on the Isiah situation saying it's too uncomfortable a topic. Mike quickly moved on.
- Couldn't comment on Melo specifically but when Mike asked him if he had enough assets to make a trade for another top player Donnie said "we have good players." Also went out of his way to repeat that he liked the team he has and that he doesn't want the current players to be thinking about any trade hanging over their heads.
- Said he's here to stay, he's not going anywhere.

MDA coming up here at 4:05.

Just to add to what you said, it sounded like the team is taking a wait and see approach in terms of Chandler's abilities to guard twos. He was excited about 'Buke addition but his status is unclear. He also mentioned Curry. He said reports are that Curry looks in shape, but his conditioning is still a question mark. Walsh also added that he spoke to Curry and made it clear that he isn't going to chase him around. It's up to Curry to determine if he wants to resurrect his career.

BigDaddyG wrote:I apologize for double posting

This is all great to hear. Walsh isnt a guy who throw poop on the wall and see what sticks. He may not have built champions in Indy but he's shown repeatedly he can build teams and he's one of the best GMs when it comes to making trades and evaluating NBA talent.

I love that he talks about being here to stay and glad he's doing better health wise. When you look at Field's skill set, his size, his athletic scores at the combine you really have to think he's a real steal. The kind of multi skilled player that looks great playing around talent. Maybe a Marquis Daniels type player or Rick Fox. Something like that

- No timetable yet for Azubuike. Mike said he would prefer that he take his time and only come back when he's 100%. Sounds as if he's a long way away. Disappointed a little. I love this guy and think he really could've helped us. Mike's right though - no need to rush him. If we can get him back for the 2nd half somewhere close to 100%, GREAT! Then we'll see what he's got. Maybe he could be a real nice option for us for the playoffs and then for next year at a reduced cost.

- Talked about Felton and TD playing together at times, saying Felton "has the strength to guard 2s." Interesting comment considering TD actually a little bigger.. Said he'd like to play his top guys around 35 mins in general but when Francesa mentioned that Felton's a good athlete, Coach agreed and said he could go 40 mins on some nights. Sounds like TD's gonna play though. Coach talked about keeping guys fresh which led me to believe that he could be open to playing a few guys and lengthening his rotation..

- Eddy Curry: Both Mike and Walsh haven't seen or heard from the guy the whole off-season so they both basically had no comments other than "we'll have to wait and see." They both sound curious and don't know what to expect. We've all dealt with this guy longer than they have so I think we're all are pretty sure what the answer will be, although I forgot to mention above (good catch BigdaddyG!), Donnie mentioned quickly that he did receive word from someone close to Eddy that he has maintained his fitness this summer and will come in in good shape. Donnie also mentioned that when he met with Curry at the end of last year he told him, "look, you have to find out what you wanna do with the rest of your career." Mike didn't sound upset that he's not here yet, saying that training camp doesn't officially start until Sat. Mike can sugarcoat it all he wants, I for one think it's a shame he wasn't one of the first ones in. To me this guy's worthless and will continue to be a non-factor..

- Mike sounds high on Mozgov. Talked about his height, his athleticism (said he can run the floor "like a deer") and said he thinks he can play on both ends. Said he's not yet a guy they can just throw the ball to down low but said he's got something to offer offensively with his finishing & pick & roll ability. When Mike asked him if he can block a shot he said, "he better, he's 7'1"! I think he's gonna get time..

- Mentioned chemistry between Amar'e & Felton as being one of the most important things we'll need to see immediately when it comes to team success.

- In general, it sounds like Walsh and D'Antoni are excited that they added a lot of talent here but aren't sure yet how it'll all come together. Understandable.

- Right after the D'Antoni interview, Mike spoke quickly with his update guy John Menko -- Menko said he thinks it's gonna be another long year. I disagree - I think this team is vastly improved from last year. Almost time to start proving it.

BRIGGS wrote:Three things I take away from this

#1 I never thought Isiah was an arsehole and for the most part I've stayed away from personal attacks on him other than he really did not do a good job. I really get a sense from listening to Walsh that indeed isiah Thomas is a first class arsehole is still very romantically connected to this team and ready and willing to step back in the second DW cant do it. There is no doubt in my mind that IT has some power play here with what goes on

#2 I think that D Walsh is happy and knows the pieces he is putting together form a team--a big team the way he built it with Indiana and that they should stay together--in fact he mentioned that with Boston--old C's--I agree with this--I like the team and we should enhance not remove

3#We were lucky to get D W

DW done his job - not completely done yet - and now it's MDA's turn.

My expectations are so high for felton, that I'm expecting him to have a better year then rondo, as a matter of fact, im expecting him to be top 5 in ast, and should make the all star team..

Finestrg wrote:
Donnie mentioned quickly that he did receive word from someone close to Eddy that he has maintained his fitness this summer and will come in in good shape.

Sign of the apocalypse.