BRIGGS wrote:Finestrg wrote:BRIGGS wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:BRIGGS wrote:I know you've been singing his praises and this is the 2nd time I caught him in the last two weeks. He's playing much better now than he has in his career--he looks much more confident and his shot looks really good.I can kind of see what the Knicks are trying to do--they want a core of rotational players so they can kind of fit when players are added to the team. The problem is I dont think they are very good. Guys like Babitt and Anjica are better rotational back ups who can also step in and play then many of the guys we have. There is no doubt that we have to "mine" in FA and the draft's 2nd and 3rd rounds to see if we cna strike some gold so to speak. Both of these players will have low cost contracts and who's skills we can use.
I have no problem with Luke Babin either way. The thing is, we know what he is--a fringe rotational players who can hit a three and stay out of the way defensively. It's definitely not the end of the world if we don't sign him. I thinm Travis Wear can provide the same thing at a cheaper price. I'd rather sign someone else with upside tho. Alexis Ajinca is playing his ass off and he looks like he's turning into a solid rotation guy. I don't see him being the answer to our hole at center, but he can help.
I think Anjica and Babbitt can be much better than Thomas and Smith. Were talking secondary players--but like tonight--those secondary players were the main cogs that beat a very good Toronto team. There is no way Smith and Thomas could do that.
Agreed. I desperately wanna see some new blood in here. Babbitt's had a real funny year -- the N.O. broadcasters were talking about him tonight--how he went through a bad funk where he was poor from 2-point range, how he went from starting to being completely out of the lineup for awhile but since being reinserted, he's played perhaps the best ball of his short NBA career so far. The kid's a solid player. I think he's more than just a 3-pt shooter..He played very well tonight. He and Ajinca both. Both were very instrumental in the nice comeback against a quality team (I think they were down 12 at the half to the Raptors). Babbitt's starting to show he's more than just a spot up shooter...We're not going to be able to bring in 5 all-stars this off-season. Part of the roster reconstruction will have to involve some decent low-salary talent as well. Guy we hopefully won't have to break the bank for. These 2 guys fit that bill. I think both Ajinca and Babbitt could be real nice additions for us in the off-season. Lavoy Allen is another player in this class (shouldn't cost too much/could exceed expectations with a bigger role) that I'm very interested in. And I'd take it a step further -- we're not even up to the Ajincas, Babbitts and Allens yet. Right now, I'd do what I had to do to create another roster spot or 2 or 3, jettison a couple of players that clearly aren't part of the future and bring in 1-3 of the best DL-level guys I could get my hands on. Start the process now, before we get to the draft or FA. Jeremy Lin. Robert Covington. Hassan Whiteside. Those are 3 players nobody thought could play and they wound up proving everyone wrong. There are others. If it were up to me, I'd be trying to uncover another player or two like that right now. I don't understand the apparent reluctance by Phil and management here. Listen to what Mike Francesa had to say about Phil and his tweets:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/raissman-francesa-rip-jackson-sign-dolan-article-1.2126837
Whether he's talking for Dolan like the article suggests is really irrelevant. God knows I don't care too much for Francesa but the big guy makes good points here. The team is simply awful. But they are trying. Where the hell does Phil get off ripping his players and possibly even his coach on twitter like that?? Makes no sense. I said it before either yesterday or today -- he's assembled a JV high school team out there. They are completely outclassed going up against other NBA teams. Instead of ripping his own team on twitter, how 'bout trying a little harder to audition some better talent in the remaining games for next year!
Im the other way on Francesa fine. It makes no sense to take a jab at Phil Jackson. We want/need the highest pick possible. I understand what they are trying to do with Thomas Galloway Smith Thomas etc..--they might not be the right cast but isnt this the best time to try it? And Phil used to rip Kobe on the media when they were winning big to motivate him--why would we care if he used the same tactic on our guys here(if that was even what he was doing) Were giving guys a great chance and some of them need to play more consistently. Jim Dolan ha s been the worst owner is sports franchise history and 2nd place is not close. When handed a pile of sht--you cant expect a man to turn sht into gold in the NBA that fast. Maybe we see some d league players we like--but we have to respect that they are trying to give Galloway time to develop a Lance Thomas time to develop. If it doesnt work out ok but Id rather give guys 10 games of 30 minutes etc.. playing together with extended minutes before starting to make judgements.
The only move Id be sour with going 4 ward is sticking with Calderon at PG--hes simply not a modern day PG he cant guard I mean Kyrie Irving was making him look like a 6th grader on the D. I havent hid my dislike for this player hes not NBA standard on defense and he has been spotty on offense(and cant get to the hoop) Well I think PJ needs the time and respect to do his thing without intervention from the very stupid owner and fans who are impatient.
Well, I think you gotta know who you're dealing with before popping off on social media like that. Phil can't possibly think the same rules apply to everyone when it comes to this sort of thing because they don't...Lighting a fire under the Black Mamba is one thing -- the man was probably the best player in the sport when Phil had him and was paid accordingly. On most of the Laker teams featuring Bryant, it's was championship or bust pretty much. You expect a certain level of play outta Kobe Bryant and when he's distracted and/or not playing up to capabilities, maybe I can see trying to call him out a little in public (although even then, it's strange and borderline unprofessional if you ask me -- definitely wouldn't be my style, but then again, Kobe's probably not the easiest guy in the world to deal with, having undoubtedly caused frustration for Phil and that franchise from time to time in the past). But to take this particular Knick team and it's rookie coach to task on twitter doesn't make any sense to me at all. I've been watching these Knick games pretty closely -- there's no doubt in my mind that guys like Lance Thomas, Lou Amundson, even guys like Calderon and Jason Smith are playing hard. That's not the issue at all -- nobody plays harder than Lou Amundson. He just isn't any good really. What's he supposed to do down low on the block against Tim Mozgov or any other legit NBA C? Dude's not even a C...Lance Thomas--same thing. Dude hustles his ass off--he's just awkward and not that good, no offense to him or any of these guys...Even Jason Smith (a slight step up from these other guys)--when he misses a shot, this guy hustles back down court with the best of 'em. These guys are trying, they just aren't that good. And to be honest, I'm all for being patient and actually see a light at the end of the tunnel (we are set up for a good offseason with hopefully a top 3 pick and a boatload of cap room), but outside of Cleanthony Early and Alexey Shved (out of anyone, these are the 2 players I wanna see play and find out more about), I really don't need to see much more of these other players--Amundson, Lance Thomas, even Langston Galloway. I have a good feel for what they can do now. I'd love to see us go in a different direction (look at it this way--what FAs are any of these players we're running out there going to attract in the offseason for us? Answer: not a one). I think there are better players out there that we should be taking a look at (Thomas Robinson is on the verge of signing a 10-day contract with the Nets. No cap hit for next year or anything like that. He's gonna sign a 10-day make good contract. We couldn't have offered that?? What if this guy turns into a better version of Ken Faried, maybe with even more offensive skills? What, that definitively can't happen? And we couldn't use someone like that moving forward? I would've made a play for this guy). But what are we gonna do? Phil signed Galloway, Amundson and Lance Thomas for the rest of the year, even gave Galloway a partial guarantee for next season. So yeah, he's committed to these guys for the time being. So in a way -- this is your bed, Phil. Gotta lay in it now -- funny thing is we all have to lay in it with him. Hopefully at least 1 spot opens up and we take a look at someone else before the year ends (probably Doron Lamb)...But to take to twitter and rip these guys for any perceived lack of effort -- I don't see that at all. No idea where he's coming from with that. And you know what -- he better hope nonsense like that doesn't wind up backfiring on him -- some of these FAs could easily see what he's doing and get turned off by it.
As for these other issues, we're in agreement -- I don't care for Calderon at all and was outspoken at the time about not taking he and his contract back as part of that trade. We should've tried to get Cuban to thrown in a substitute player instead (some might say, 'well, how do you know he didn't try'? because I didn't hear that he did! Tell us you tried! Tell Marc Berman. Leak it to the media--I wanna know). I think we could've been successful in doing so -- thing is, I don't think Phil wanted a different player; he wanted Calderon. Turned out to be a gross miscalculation on the player and his impact on the court and cap. Cuban wanted Chandler back -- we could've held out for a better deal and probably gotten one. But hey, what's done is done now. I like to look at the silver lining with this trade--dealing Chandler off most definitely made us a weaker team, cost us at least a handful of games this season and thus improved the position from which we will be drafting from. For that, I'm thankful...And I agree with you on Babbitt and Alexis Ajinca -- these are two good-looking young players that are better than anything we have in place now (still holding out hope it starts clicking for Cleanthony Early--I like his game, we just need to finally start seeing it translate at the NBA level), guys we shouldn't have to break the bank for. I wouldn't mind adding either guy this offseason provided we can't do any better at those positions.
