As the Knicks struggled through the worst campaign in franchise history last season, Turner Sports analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was notoriously critical. As the team was bounced from multiple national television appearances, Barkley mocked them for it. In the games that the Knicks actually remained on national television, Barkley used that opportunity to criticize them even more.
And while Phil Jackson and Co. failed to reel in any marquee free agents this summer, Barkley surprisingly isn’t ready to jump on the bandwagon with those who consider this offseason a failure.

Instead, he’s impressed.

“I actually disagree with all of the criticisms people are giving the Knicks,” he said in an interview during NBA TV’s season schedule release special on Wednesday.

“I think the Knicks should be on national television. They actually got NBA players,” Barkley said, adding that most of the players the team employed last season deserved to be playing overseas or in the D-League.
As fate would have it, Barkley isn’t simply dishing out praise just to be different. He also gave out specifically examples, praising the acquisitions of Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant, and Arron Afflalo.

“I give Phil Jackson credit. He didn’t get any high-profile players. But Robin Lopez is a heck of a player. And I said the same thing about Jerian Grant, the kid from Notre Dame,” he added. “Arron Afflalo’s been a solid player in this league.”

As for other reasons to be hopeful, Barkley pointed out, “They’re going to get Carmelo [Anthony] back. [Kristaps] Porzingis is going to be a good player. Maybe not right away, but he’s going to be a good player.”

While the Knicks missed out on the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan, and other marquee names, perhaps it’s for the best. Adding the players they did will give the team an opportunity to be competitive while also maintaining some flexibility for the future.

The pressure is on Anthony to lead this team. It’s up to him to determine what direction the team goes in. Phil Jackson has, for the most part, held up his end of the bargain so far. That said, the free agent acquisitions he made were all signed to reasonable (Lopez and Kyle O’Quinn) and/or short-term (Afflalo, Derrick Williams, and Kevin Serpaphin) pacts. There will be room to improve, should Anthony not be able to find success with this group. It’ll be interesting to see if he remains a part of the plan after that.

But as Barkley puts it, there’s reason to be hopeful and optimistic right now.

Da fuq is Barkley smoking? Hope and optimism in Knicks land from Sir Charles?!!

Now I've seen and heard it all...

I'll take it!

SupremeCommander wrote:refreshing - the offseason lacked the backpage splash yet the basketball minds mostly agree that this team actually looks like a team

Yup. On paper, every player pickup makes sense, fills a role, not glamourous by any means, but are Phil's type of guys.

Remember he had tons of these types of players on his roster in Chicago and LA: Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bison Dele, Ron Harper, Stacey King, Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Cliff Levingston, Will Perdue, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Rick Fox, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, Devean George, etc

No frill dudes, just play a role and play it well. No BS, no attitude, just play the right way, and stay in your lane type guys.

Each one of the aforementioned played valuable minutes during those championship seasons and chipped in where they could.

MJ and Kobe wouldn't have won all those titles without the support of these type of fringe lunch pail type players. This is season 1 of the building blocks....

dk7th wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:refreshing - the offseason lacked the backpage splash yet the basketball minds mostly agree that this team actually looks like a team

Yup. On paper, every player pickup makes sense, fills a role, not glamourous by any means, but are Phil's type of guys.

Remember he had tons of these types of players on his roster in Chicago and LA: Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bison Dele, Ron Harper, Stacey King, Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Cliff Levingston, Will Perdue, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Rick Fox, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, Devean George, etc

No frill dudes, just play a role and play it well. No BS, no attitude, just play the right way, and stay in your lane type guys.

Each one of the aforementioned played valuable minutes during those championship seasons and chipped in where they could.

MJ and Kobe wouldn't have won all those titles without the support of these type of fringe lunch pail type players. This is season 1 of the building blocks....

but melo has been hoodwinked and bamboozled, throwing headbands, livid and outraged!!! i thought that as a "favorite son" we had to cater to his personal needs and preferences as though the knicks were part of his entourage? you mean the knicks do not revolve around melo any longer? ohmygoodnessgosh

you will will turn any comment into a melo hate thread. If someone asked about Lin's mother you will somehow incorporate melo in the answer

Moonangie wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:refreshing - the offseason lacked the backpage splash yet the basketball minds mostly agree that this team actually looks like a team

Yup. On paper, every player pickup makes sense, fills a role, not glamourous by any means, but are Phil's type of guys.

Remember he had tons of these types of players on his roster in Chicago and LA: Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bison Dele, Ron Harper, Stacey King, Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Cliff Levingston, Will Perdue, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Rick Fox, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, Devean George, etc

No frill dudes, just play a role and play it well. No BS, no attitude, just play the right way, and stay in your lane type guys.

Each one of the aforementioned played valuable minutes during those championship seasons and chipped in where they could.

MJ and Kobe wouldn't have won all those titles without the support of these type of fringe lunch pail type players. This is season 1 of the building blocks....

Well put. Our lunchbox guys will be fun to watch develop this season. Zinger will have little pressure on him. Melo can use the season to figure out if he wants to be a part of the future, or roll with another team.

Exactly right. Most of the spotlight will be on Me7o, if he buys into the program, and plays the "right" way. Assuming he does, this will take alot of the pressure off of Kristaps and Jerian.

If everyone plays their role, this could be the makings of a very fun and enjoyable to watch season. We might not make the playoffs this year, but we can probably see the seeds planting of a burgeoning contender as our YOOTS grow into ballers from season to season.

sad, but true.

Nalod wrote:Charles has been pretty much accurate when it comes to the knicks the last few years.

sad, but true.

Charles has been also critical in the 54 win season, saying things like the Nets were the better team:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/sir-charles-picks-nets-big-apple-best-team-article-1.1208801

Obviously, he was dead wrong that year, Knicks won the division and Nets bowed out in the 1st round.

That's neither here nor there now, though. Now's the time to change the narrative of the Knicks to the mainstream media, and stop being the running butt of a joke they've been for 15 years.

Gots to let their play do the talking to change the perception.

dk7th wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

dk7th wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:refreshing - the offseason lacked the backpage splash yet the basketball minds mostly agree that this team actually looks like a team

Yup. On paper, every player pickup makes sense, fills a role, not glamourous by any means, but are Phil's type of guys.

Remember he had tons of these types of players on his roster in Chicago and LA: Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bison Dele, Ron Harper, Stacey King, Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Cliff Levingston, Will Perdue, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Rick Fox, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, Devean George, etc

No frill dudes, just play a role and play it well. No BS, no attitude, just play the right way, and stay in your lane type guys.

Each one of the aforementioned played valuable minutes during those championship seasons and chipped in where they could.

MJ and Kobe wouldn't have won all those titles without the support of these type of fringe lunch pail type players. This is season 1 of the building blocks....

but melo has been hoodwinked and bamboozled, throwing headbands, livid and outraged!!! i thought that as a "favorite son" we had to cater to his personal needs and preferences as though the knicks were part of his entourage? you mean the knicks do not revolve around melo any longer? ohmygoodnessgosh

you will will turn any comment into a melo hate thread. If someone asked about Lin's mother you will somehow incorporate melo in the answer

i am simply quoting stephen a smith and other nuggets from the media and social networks. how is that hate? frankly this is going to be melo's best chance and proving himself. he's never had to prove himself because it has always been about the world revolving around him, and it has led to nothing but failure. he should be embracing the opportunity. i myself will be his loudest supporter when i see him play the game the right way on both ends of the floor.

Melo has been to the playoffs a maturity of his career as the best player on his team. 'Nothing but failure' is implying that any player who does not lead his team deep into the playoffs or a championship is doing nothing but fail. Chris Paul? His career has been "nothing but failure" i guess. Congrats on dragging your personal, delusional opinion/hated and destroying yet another thread that had nothing to do with Melo.

Knixkik wrote:

dk7th wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

dk7th wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:refreshing - the offseason lacked the backpage splash yet the basketball minds mostly agree that this team actually looks like a team

Yup. On paper, every player pickup makes sense, fills a role, not glamourous by any means, but are Phil's type of guys.

Remember he had tons of these types of players on his roster in Chicago and LA: Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bison Dele, Ron Harper, Stacey King, Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Cliff Levingston, Will Perdue, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Rick Fox, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, Devean George, etc

No frill dudes, just play a role and play it well. No BS, no attitude, just play the right way, and stay in your lane type guys.

Each one of the aforementioned played valuable minutes during those championship seasons and chipped in where they could.

MJ and Kobe wouldn't have won all those titles without the support of these type of fringe lunch pail type players. This is season 1 of the building blocks....

but melo has been hoodwinked and bamboozled, throwing headbands, livid and outraged!!! i thought that as a "favorite son" we had to cater to his personal needs and preferences as though the knicks were part of his entourage? you mean the knicks do not revolve around melo any longer? ohmygoodnessgosh

you will will turn any comment into a melo hate thread. If someone asked about Lin's mother you will somehow incorporate melo in the answer

i am simply quoting stephen a smith and other nuggets from the media and social networks. how is that hate? frankly this is going to be melo's best chance and proving himself. he's never had to prove himself because it has always been about the world revolving around him, and it has led to nothing but failure. he should be embracing the opportunity. i myself will be his loudest supporter when i see him play the game the right way on both ends of the floor.

Melo has been to the playoffs a maturity of his career as the best player on his team. 'Nothing but failure' is implying that any player who does not lead his team deep into the playoffs or a championship is doing nothing but fail. Chris Paul? His career has been "nothing but failure" i guess. Congrats on dragging your personal, delusional opinion/hated and destroying yet another thread that had nothing to do with Melo.

the playoffs allow 16 of the 30 teams into the playoffs. you do realize that this format rewards mediocrity and that a first round appearance means little in terms of basketball team's value but lots of revenue, right?

how many times have his teams been in the top 5 in their conference by their record in his career?

in twelve years exactly 4 times. and, if you throw out the notorious "division winner gets a guaranteed top 4 spot" rule-- the nuggets actually had 7th best record in 2005-6 but in the worst division in the nba that season, yet were seeded 3rd before getting punished in the first round that year-- then it is EXACTLY 3 TIMES IN 12 SEASONS.

that means that anthony was a valid playoff participant only 25% of the time.

chew on that for a bit.

Knixkik wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

dk7th wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

dk7th wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:refreshing - the offseason lacked the backpage splash yet the basketball minds mostly agree that this team actually looks like a team

Yup. On paper, every player pickup makes sense, fills a role, not glamourous by any means, but are Phil's type of guys.

Remember he had tons of these types of players on his roster in Chicago and LA: Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bison Dele, Ron Harper, Stacey King, Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, Cliff Levingston, Will Perdue, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Rick Fox, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey, Devean George, etc

No frill dudes, just play a role and play it well. No BS, no attitude, just play the right way, and stay in your lane type guys.

Each one of the aforementioned played valuable minutes during those championship seasons and chipped in where they could.

MJ and Kobe wouldn't have won all those titles without the support of these type of fringe lunch pail type players. This is season 1 of the building blocks....

but melo has been hoodwinked and bamboozled, throwing headbands, livid and outraged!!! i thought that as a "favorite son" we had to cater to his personal needs and preferences as though the knicks were part of his entourage? you mean the knicks do not revolve around melo any longer? ohmygoodnessgosh

you will will turn any comment into a melo hate thread. If someone asked about Lin's mother you will somehow incorporate melo in the answer

i am simply quoting stephen a smith and other nuggets from the media and social networks. how is that hate? frankly this is going to be melo's best chance and proving himself. he's never had to prove himself because it has always been about the world revolving around him, and it has led to nothing but failure. he should be embracing the opportunity. i myself will be his loudest supporter when i see him play the game the right way on both ends of the floor.

Melo has been to the playoffs a maturity of his career as the best player on his team. 'Nothing but failure' is implying that any player who does not lead his team deep into the playoffs or a championship is doing nothing but fail. Chris Paul? His career has been "nothing but failure" i guess. Congrats on dragging your personal, delusional opinion/hated and destroying yet another thread that had nothing to do with Melo.

the playoffs allow 16 of the 30 teams into the playoffs. you do realize that this format rewards mediocrity and that a first round appearance means little in terms of basketball team's value but lots of revenue, right?

how many times have his teams been in the top 5 in their conference by their record in his career?

in twelve years exactly 4 times. and, if you throw out the notorious "division winner gets a guaranteed top 4 spot" rule-- the nuggets actually had 7th best record in 2005-6 but in the worst division in the nba that season, yet were seeded 3rd before getting punished in the first round that year-- then it is EXACTLY 3 TIMES IN 12 SEASONS.

that means that anthony was a valid playoff participant only 25% of the time.

chew on that for a bit.

Thank you for proving my point. Mediocrity is not failure. Failure is failure. And no he wasn't a valid playoff participant 25% of the time, he has been there all but 2 seasons. I don't care about your obsessive theories, i care about facts. Good try.

idiot when the goal is to win a title then mediocrity IS failure! his teams have truly excelled one time in his career, with a team led by finals mvp billups.