callmened wrote:portland is a mediocre 28-27 lead by 2 diminutive shooting guards who got HOT last night. great games by both but lets not act like this is the blueprint for winning. that team has LOTS of wholes because thse two refuse to play consistent defense

Their 27-27 but lets not forget they lost 4/5 of their starting line up. I think that is why they have so many holes. Their in a rebuilding season and doing well in the west. I think they will start to pull back because they do not want to lose their lottery protected pick from the AA trade.

Ok.

nyknickzingis wrote:They have a legit superstar in his prime with Lillard making far less than Melo. They had capspace to go out and sign far more players than us, because unlike Melo who makes 25 million a year and plays like a 15 million dollar a year investment, Lillard is the opposite.

The biggest problem outside of our point guard/guard position is that Melo is not on par with other stars who carry their teams to the playoffs. These other stars are healthy and look like they can carry the team every night. Just look at last night, Melo looked so good and fresh in the 1st. Then in the 2nd, especially the 4th Q you could see how he had gotten stiff and had little left. It's the knees. The age. He's not able to go 38-40 minutes and be the number 1 option. He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy on the team in terms of importance, minutes and carrying the load. Only he commands the type of money Lebron James, Kevin Durant or the like get.

In comparison Lillard is doing what we need Melo to do and making far less money. That's why Portland's been able to do what they are. If we had Melo the same age Lillard is - we'd be a .500 team right now as well, probably a little better.

Genius comparison. Compare a players contract who was obtained by the draft to a free agent with over 10 years experience and perennial All Star. Portland is in such a better position after doing what you suggest we do. Dumped their free agents this past off season. Hiw are they doing. I guess if they just pick up Jimmer from the D league or some of the waived players from the NBA, they will turn things around. We need a proven All a star on this team. We have a good rookie that needs to keep improving and we need to add a good PG and a more consistent secondary scorer. Stop acting like Melo is our biggest issue. If you watch a Knick game you will realize that it is just not the case. Unless you have and are blinded by something else?

BRIGGS wrote:I don't think so which may show some rigid ness of thought process. Just watching Damian Lollards and c j McCollum smash the warriors. Just shows where the nba is going you better have a few guards who can dominate. We have NONE

This is agreed upon by everyone that we need better guards. No secret there. So how do we get them? What is your idea?

Nalod wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:They have a legit superstar in his prime with Lillard making far less than Melo. They had capspace to go out and sign far more players than us, because unlike Melo who makes 25 million a year and plays like a 15 million dollar a year investment, Lillard is the opposite.

The biggest problem outside of our point guard/guard position is that Melo is not on par with other stars who carry their teams to the playoffs. These other stars are healthy and look like they can carry the team every night. Just look at last night, Melo looked so good and fresh in the 1st. Then in the 2nd, especially the 4th Q you could see how he had gotten stiff and had little left. It's the knees. The age. He's not able to go 38-40 minutes and be the number 1 option. He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy on the team in terms of importance, minutes and carrying the load. Only he commands the type of money Lebron James, Kevin Durant or the like get.

In comparison Lillard is doing what we need Melo to do and making far less money. That's why Portland's been able to do what they are. If we had Melo the same age Lillard is - we'd be a .500 team right now as well, probably a little better.

Yes, Lillard was drafted and a great pick up with the 8th pick!!!! best thing to do is draft well. We can all agree on that. WE did not draft Melo. He cost us like half a decade in assets. Was it worth it?
Easy when you have 5 year hindsight isn't it?

They got the pick from trading with the Nets. Bad trade. Nets are showing us that its possible to actually compete with Dolan on the ignorant scale. Not they got SAS clone things should improve but its going to take a while.

Portland also let their all star walk but it was not about money. One might say they would be better this year if they kept Aldridge? One can only guess there are on Trailblazer sites discussions similar to ours debating the benefits of Aldridge vs no Aldridge.

"To Melo or not to Melo, that is the question"........
Hypothetically speaking, that's really all we can do. Hypothesize.

IN a prefect world knicks either sign a starphuch this summer or trade Melo.

Melo spoke that he was not receptive to a mid season trade. Other than that, read into all his statements and makes sure you look at his eye movment and if the left side of his mouth turns up with he is not being honest.

Maybe you can as no one else has. But can you tell me which players in the draft we lost due to Melo trade to Nuggets. In other words, who did they pick up with the 1st rounder and 2 seconds? And who have they kept of the players we gave them who are excelling? Gallo?

fishmike wrote:great post. Im sure Phil would have no interest in Lilliard because he's small.

you didn't know there was a "you must be this tall" (6ft6) sign outside the knicks locker room?