I was a bit gutted at the time, when we decided not to match Lin's offer sheet, but also angry at him. But then I was pleased when we got Felton, but worried about whether he'd be in shape.

Now I'm not really bothered- I think Felton is a better fit for us, and I'm glad we don't have to put up with all the Lin vs Melo stories that there would have been. Also pleased Felton seems to be taking keeping in shape seriously.

Did Lin get over rated or has he been wrongly used in Houston? Would he have been a good fit with this current Knick squad? Must say I remember our offense was lethal with him, and so was the Rockets this year, so I wonder if he deserves a bit more credit for his ability to run an offense.

Now, the ball is often in Harden's hands and it is hard to really see what Lin can do. He's had his ups and downs.
But I'll say this, at the end of close games, not having him sucks. We have Melo who is clutch but no one else. I would love to have Lin back as our #2.

Regarding Felton, I like him, I just think he is better suited as a backup on most teams. He does play pretty good for us though, so he isn't a terrible starter.

If we could do it all over again, I'd take Lin and it wouldn't be close. Especially after how things went with Camby, Kidd and Novak. I think it ended up costing us, not saving us anything - which was actually questioned by many people.

yellowboy90 wrote:finally a thread to compete with the bargs is a steal thread. Lin was a better pg last year at a higher price. They both fought through injuries and finished well. Ray had an ok post season and Lin not so much. Who knows what would have happened if Lin stayed and Woody pulled Lin like McHale did. That would have been an amazing sight to see. Also, what kind of hit would Lin have taken this off-season if he got hurt during the Boston series after not playing last year.

Ha, just ask Tyson!

I still think Lin would be the better PG here. His pushing the ball up would give Melo at least 6 extra easy buckets per game. I also think Lin is the better on-ball defender. He gets in trouble when there are picks but if the big knows how to play the PnR like Fishlips where you show first then Lin is ok. Lillard is one of few players that took Lin at will to the paint. Westbrook had trouble with Lin due to Lin's speed and length.

Felton just kills me when he misses open players and when he starts chucking perimeter shots. His game management is also suspect at best.

smackeddog wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:I think we would be a more dangerous team with Lin. He played well on the stage and you can't overlook that. He was a different player here. In Houston he just isn't the "it" like he was here.

Now, the ball is often in Harden's hands and it is hard to really see what Lin can do. He's had his ups and downs.
But I'll say this, at the end of close games, not having him sucks. We have Melo who is clutch but no one else. I would love to have Lin back as our #2.

Regarding Felton, I like him, I just think he is better suited as a backup on most teams. He does play pretty good for us though, so he isn't a terrible starter.

If we could do it all over again, I'd take Lin and it wouldn't be close. Especially after how things went with Camby, Kidd and Novak. I think it ended up costing us, not saving us anything - which was actually questioned by many people.

It would have been nice watching Lin and Shumpert develop as our backcourt over 3 years, but then again with that huge salary in year 3, I doubt we would have kept JR, or taken on Bargs contract (some folks would be see it as win, win, win, though I'm not one of them). What worries me is that Lin seems to always charge at the basket, and end up face down on the floor- he did it with us and continued with it in Houston- he's tough, but I do wonder about injuries- can't keep that up if he wants to last a long time in the league.

Felton is an average PG with less upside, but I like him. He's tougher than Lin, and surprisingly seemed to raise his game in the playoffs (really wasn't expecting that). He's not great at running an offense though. I think Lin improved as the season went on, but would his confidence have survived such a slow start in NY? Not sure it would have...

I don't think Lin would have affected any of the deals NY made this year except maybe udrih.

CrushAlot wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:I think we would be a more dangerous team with Lin. He played well on the stage and you can't overlook that. He was a different player here. In Houston he just isn't the "it" like he was here.

Now, the ball is often in Harden's hands and it is hard to really see what Lin can do. He's had his ups and downs.
But I'll say this, at the end of close games, not having him sucks. We have Melo who is clutch but no one else. I would love to have Lin back as our #2.

Regarding Felton, I like him, I just think he is better suited as a backup on most teams. He does play pretty good for us though, so he isn't a terrible starter.

If we could do it all over again, I'd take Lin and it wouldn't be close. Especially after how things went with Camby, Kidd and Novak. I think it ended up costing us, not saving us anything - which was actually questioned by many people.

I think Felton is a better fit. Also, Lin's contract in this cba is an albatross. Even with the Rockets getting the average 8 mil a year versus the poison pill deal that the Knicks would have gotten Lin is still overpaid. It will probably cost the Rockets Asik to get out from under his deal.

Seriously, if you like ISO ball, then yes, Felton is a better fit. But, that is a self defeating ideology to have in a team game. But Lin clearly can see the floor better and distribute the ball better and most would say a better defender. Regarding seeing and distributing, remember what he did to a bunch of no names here? Lin is on another level there.
Money can't be weighed into the equation as you are talking about a billionaire. It is like 1000 more bucks over the course of a year to a common man. You feel it a little, but not too bad.

Lin is only overpaid in year 3 and Houston is averaging the deal out over 3 years, at 8 per. So that is reasonable. But we have deep pockets (and couldn't do that as we were over the cap or some reason).

earthmansurfer wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:I think we would be a more dangerous team with Lin. He played well on the stage and you can't overlook that. He was a different player here. In Houston he just isn't the "it" like he was here.

Now, the ball is often in Harden's hands and it is hard to really see what Lin can do. He's had his ups and downs.
But I'll say this, at the end of close games, not having him sucks. We have Melo who is clutch but no one else. I would love to have Lin back as our #2.

Regarding Felton, I like him, I just think he is better suited as a backup on most teams. He does play pretty good for us though, so he isn't a terrible starter.

If we could do it all over again, I'd take Lin and it wouldn't be close. Especially after how things went with Camby, Kidd and Novak. I think it ended up costing us, not saving us anything - which was actually questioned by many people.

I think Felton is a better fit. Also, Lin's contract in this cba is an albatross. Even with the Rockets getting the average 8 mil a year versus the poison pill deal that the Knicks would have gotten Lin is still overpaid. It will probably cost the Rockets Asik to get out from under his deal.

Seriously, if you like ISO ball, then yes, Felton is a better fit. But, that is a self defeating ideology to have in a team game. But Lin clearly can see the floor better and distribute the ball better and most would say a better defender. Regarding seeing and distributing, remember what he did to a bunch of no names here? Lin is on another level there.
Money can't be weighed into the equation as you are talking about a billionaire. It is like 1000 more bucks over the course of a year to a common man. You feel it a little, but not too bad.

Lin is only overpaid in year 3 and Houston is averaging the deal out over 3 years, at 8 per. So that is reasonable. But we have deep pockets (and couldn't do that as we were over the cap or some reason).

But it was still stupid for a capped out team to not take advantage of having Lin's Bird Rights. There's 100% chance we've seen the best Raymond Felton will every play. There's a good chance Linsanity was the peak of Lin's career but he's still young.

He should hope he keeps his starting in Htown.