What does it mean (?)

I hope it means that Knicks are finally doing what a Triangle oriented organization
does: find and develope players who have the characteristic Triangle skill sets . . .
and that don't fit on other, conventional teams.

I believe it means that Phil wants to leave the team with good to great prospects. Wants to have an impact on this team, the league, long after he's gone back to Jeannie. Doesn't want to be remembered so much for trades.

anyways i do like YOUTH. these are not CANT MISS rookies (but then again most rookies arent)

Pavvy wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:I mentioned this in another thread. It is pretty awesome that the Knicks have 5 rookies on the team when they didn't have a pick in the past draft.

yeah exactly- thats a testament to Phil changing the culture as he deserves credit for this.

To be fair all 5 of those are considered older rookies as they either have years of experience abroad or in college. Players like Kuz and Willy have played professionally in quality leagues to go along with their respective national teams. Ndour has some of this experience as well to go along with last years training camp

and Plumlee and Baker have gone to the full 4-5 year college run where they have reached their potential and are more mature to contribute

Yeah, most of these rockies are just rookies by definition. But they are very experienced otherwise, as are our "true" rookies (seniors).
We might have a pretty smart team on our hands, all things considered.

NYKBocker wrote:Willy, Kuz and NDour are not exactly rookies though. They played euro ball. KUZ was actually a euro mvp. Baker and Plumlee are seniors. These rookies are are all experienced rookies.

knickscity wrote:

NYKBocker wrote:Willy, Kuz and NDour are not exactly rookies though. They played euro ball. KUZ was actually a euro mvp. Baker and Plumlee are seniors. These rookies are are all experienced rookies.

Basketball isn't just basketball everywhere. Pablo Prigioni was a rookie when he came to the NBA at his age. Overseas action doesn't replace the grind of actually being in the NBA as a rookie. Sure they'll be able to do certain things a little easier having such experience, but they go through the grind just the same.

true true- its still a big adjustment for the Euros coming to the nba as much as any other rookie. the difference is that a Euro player can use his IQ and experience to overcome some of those difficulties whereas a 19year old US rookie will struggle both with the speed and power of the game but also the mental part of the game

fishmike wrote:what you see now vs. the days of old is this is an organization looking to improve and collect talent through all means available. That includes the draft, acquiring extra picks and making draft day trades, undrafted FAs, FAs overseas, NBA FAs... wherever talent can be found the Knicks are active and looking and that is a wonderful thing.

I am very pleased with the current state of the Knicks franchise and their direction.

+1
Phil's done an excellent job of mixing fairly bright drafting with free agent signings. He's torn down, tanked, and reengineered the team to win.

A nice mix of Hinkie-ism--lite (keeping your draft picks) and still signing some vets.

By golly, having all those rings and coaching experience must mean something towards understanding the NBA. Imagine that.

Knicks have a lot of vet presence and experience on the roster. Nice to have a couple rookies with extensive pro experience on the team. Fill the back of the roster with guys have one good skill and can play a role. A shooter like Baker, a banger like Plumlee. Then you have a guy like Mindaugas with a lot of versatility that would probably get paid 7-8mm per if he was coming from an NBA roster but we get him for less than half that. Hernangomez on the other hand a great example of using your late draft picks wisely. Hopefully gonna work out to be a great draft and stash type player - the kind of play San Antonio usually gets.

So if the kids are busts that's bad. But maybe they're not. That's great for this year. That said, I favor playing the younger guys because you have to develop some sort of core along with KP. Rose, Noah, and Melo are here for now. KP is obviously important for this season but It hink his importance extends well into the future. If Kuz, Big Billy, Ronny Baker or whoever else can develop into a Robin to KP's Batman this will have been a successful season for the bench