Nazr has been averaging 11pts and 9 rebounds in 28 minutes for March. His averages go down because he had 3 bad games because of injury, or something like that. Otherwise his numbers would be like 14 and 11.....
The guy has earned his spot on the Knicks just like TT, Sweetney and Baker.

So why do we need a center?

11pts and 9 rebs in 28 minutes? Magloire has been getting 12 and 10 in 33 minutes and was an all-star. With 5 more minutes or if he didn't have the 3 bad games in March his march numbers would be alot better....like I said above.


[Edited by - enyspree on 03/30/2004 15:04:40]

[Edited by - enyspree on 03/30/2004 15:10:07]

nice point. Dont kno what to say

i like naz also. but he is an undersized center. i think people think, which is true, that a "traditional" center is what we need. naz is built more like a power forward than a center. he has a hard time forcing other centers out of the block and can't defend them well. he can get away with it in the east but if we are serious in a year or two with competing for a championship we need a real center. frontcourt size makes the difference.

naz is a better othella, solid role player at power forward and center. He won't take us to the promised land.

Nazr is an outstanding rebounder and garbage points scorer. He gets a healthy amount of tip ins and easy dunks, but can't score with any consistency outside of 4 feet, and stinks at the line. He's good at what he does, but is very limited. What hurts more is that he's a non-entity as far as shotblocking is concerened. He rarely challenges shots. And he hasn't shown that much as a one on one defender. Still he's a very effective player when given 25-30 minutes.

I agree with the notion that he can work well with Baker out there. Baker can play low post PF and help with the shotblocking, while Nazr focuses on boards and easy baskets. Gives us intimidating height and rebounding presence, and can cause matchup problems for opponents.

Sweetney and Nazr kind of do similar things at this point. But Sweetney is a better offensive rebounder, and will soon be a post up threat.

Posted by TRU:

You guys are crazy. The dude is giving us like 10 and 10, he's young, he's big and burly-- we should be happy to have him.

He is what he is, a starting center in the big-man-depraved East. Cookie Monster couldn't get us 10 and 10, neither could Othella.

good point

I am happy to have him. I liked that trade a lot. I thought Nazr was a good pickup and like TT more than KVH for a variety of reasons.

There is a reason Nazr has been a backup on the Hawks, a very bad team. He's got some huge holes in his game. We still dont have a good front court. Sweetney shows great promise, Kurt is Kurt. Vin has had some nice moments, as has Deke (who turns 50 this week). We have a lot of guys but none that are very good or consistant. Lenny has just gone with whoever is playing best that game.

I like Nazr but more than anything I love the trades that lead up to Nazr and the position it leaves the Knicks in.

Spree -> KVH
KVH, Doleac -> TT, Nazr

Seriously, Laydog did us a solid by getting this ball rolling and Isiah capped it off by moving the Knicks in the right direction personnel-wise and building block-wise.

I still don't know what everyone liked about Spree. Frankly, he came with energy and excitement but his best days were behind him. His numbers are still in decline and he was always out of position (not his fault). Too bad he can't play SG on the Wolves.

With TT the Knicks will always have a mismatch at SF AND a guy who can spread the floor and he is 5 years younger than Spree. Nazr is a very tradable asset or a very cheap filler in the middle with potential. I consider the loss of Doleac a toss up because he was in the last year of his contract, and with the likes of Baker and DerMarr the possibility of re-signing him as minimal (or about the same as being able to re-sign him again after the season). Doleac also duplicated Kurt and his game.

When all things are said and done, in my mind, the trade went like this:

Spree -> TT, Nazr

You can't beat that.

As far as the Knicks' starting C position goes, Nazr is a solid player for the Knicks and an even better trade piece. He will get better this summer, and that I like that prospect.

Posted by simrud:

A rebounder of his ability is invaluable. Just look at Ben Wallace. He is a multiple allstar now, and all he does is rebound and blcok shots. He scores less than 10 pts a game. You don't want Wallae anywhere near the ball anytime in the game. But you sure do want him on your team don't you.

Oh here we go.

Now Mike Sweetney is Ben Wallace? I thought this forum was a Drug Free Zone...

I know Mike is showing a lot of promise, but Ben Wallace? Do I even need to take the time to explain why that comparison is premature (read: rediculous)?

A more realistic possibility is leavin Tim Thomas open. Time only has two years, and is a nice scoring piece to add to a new team. I like him a lot and would love to have him stay but that might actually be enough to get someone like Kobe or QRichardson. I DONT want that money used to get Sheed.. he's just too old and mental. If we could get him in a sign and trade for Nazr and Moochie, a #2 and $3 mill I would consider that, but otherwise I would just rather keep TT.