jrodmc wrote:DurzoBlint wrote:http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/sports/2012/11/6547677/knicks-stay-undefeated-thanks-shockingly-large-part-jr-smithI welcome back JR with open arms (warts and all)
I hated the signing when JR first came here. I re-iterated over and over that we didn't need a whacko messing with our brainiac back court. You can spin how that turned out that any way you want, but the results from that old situation don't lie.
His play on the court changed all that. Threads like these are so schizo. You have people talking about how he carried us when melo was out, was all we had on an extremely thin, old, injured team,
but
he's an a-hole now because he got $25 mil, he threw an elbow, playoffed like sheehit, and got caught partying like any young idiot with millions of dollars. He still didn't shoot 12% from the field for two months.
I'm sure none of all the exemplary citizens posting JR hate here make bad choices. Ever. You'd be tucked in bed everynight during a playoff run in your jammies by 8:30pm, after watching tape for hours, right? Sure you would. Preach it!
I thought JR would be nothing but a back page machine and would be locker room cancer and be gone in a year. He's had his issues, but he's delivered better than what's being ranted about here.
Sheesh.
Hey man, you wanna take the high road on this guy, great. Take it, by all means. You're entitled to your opinion...Me -- I'm down on him for reasons stated. All legit reasons. If he shows up and played up to his capabilities, we may have beaten the Pacers. Unlike you, I really liked the signing when we originally got him -- he's talented and even though I didn't really want him back for $25m, I understand why we did it (we we're in a position to offer such a deal even being over the cap -- so it was basically a 'use it or lose it' opportunity to keep a talented player). I acknowledge he's still very talented and that he still has a role on this team once he's ready (I'd like it to be THE EXACT same role he had last year btw -- coming off the bench as the 6th man. I think that's where his game fits best--not in the starting unit, jacking up shots all over the joint and taking attempts away from Melo and esp. AB at the beginning of the game). I will continue to root like heck for him too once he's back, make no mistake about that...Everything I said about him is fact however, not my opinion, not something up for debate or interpretation....FACT! He let this organization down, man, point blank. Just a lot of crazy protagonism shown towards this guy that I don't think he deserves. You can argue that the way he played, he didn't even deserve the contract he got (a lot of teams would've let him walk after the way he played---and like I said, there wasn't one team out there that had a concrete offer on the table to compete with ours--what does that tell ya?); doesn't deserve to start and take the job away from Shumpert (I'm disappointed Woody's even talking that way, like it was already discussed--I mean the guy's hurt--who even knows if he informed the Knicks of the severity of the knee before he signed--AND he got himself suspended for 5 games. How the hell is Woody talking about starting him?!?); doesn't deserve to negotiate his brother onto the team--a guy who's nowhere near NBA material, etc.). He's not Michael Jordan -- enough already with the concessions. He got paid a handsome contract. Go out there now, be humble, be a team player, don't demand a thing or come off like the Knicks owe you anything, and do whatever it takes to help this team win games. What do you want me to tell ya? That's it. That's all I wanna see.
And I never said he's an a-hole simply because he got paid. I said he's an a-hole because I heard him say in an interview that he made it a point not to address the full extent of his knee issue until after he signed a contract. And since, to my knowledge, no other team out there offered him a deal except us (2 off-seasons in a row mind you), it makes me think that he very well could've went the non-disclosure route with the Knicks, a team that's done nothing but cater to his ever whim. Just didn't sound right at all when I heard him talk like that, and he did it with a little smirk on his face too from what I remember, like he got over. I've never heard another professional athlete say such things after signing a big money deal...I mean it makes the team look bad...Bottom line -- this guy did what he had to do -- he knew damn well that after the stink-job he had in the playoffs, that no team would want him at big money, esp. if everyone knew HE ALSO needed knee surgery. Hopefully the Knicks knew about it before they inked him up. They're not stupid -- I'm sure they did. But the way he came off -- it makes me think they may not have and that he got over. Something about this feels wrong to me, sorry.
10/10/2013 3:38 PM
