MS wrote:Willy get double figure rebounds every time he play 30 minutes.

He's a star. He needs some help defensively, but how many 21 year olds are out there putting up 13pts 16rbs and 4ass. He polished as all hell in the post and has no pg feeding him the ball. Have to be very excited about that kid.

Another worthless win, but hopefully we get a little lottery luck.

We saw Baker play well in big, meaningful minutes against a team fighting for a playoff spot. Willy looked like a starting center tonight. We were running the offense through KP until he got hurt. There is nothing worthless about this. You cannot lose every game.

nyknickzingis wrote:So what are we doing to yellowboy for starting this thread? The TANK got killed tonight !!!

In seriousness.

Willy Hernangomez is something, man. He's a 22 year old rookie and his post moves and touch is just fantastic. He's your Spurs player down to a T. I don't know what his player comparison is anymore. He's just so smooth in there. His only weakness on offense is he fumbles the ball when trying to pass or catch on the move, but he can work on being more composed. Great pick.

I love Baker's defense. He stays so close and tight with his man. Same Lance Thomas. I don't care about their limitations on offense, they must be regulars next year.

So happy Randle got benched in the second half. I am not a big fan at all. Baker is much much better. Baker passes the ball to the right guy and defends. We should bring both back as backups for next year and have 3 point guards. However Baker needs to play ahead of Randle.

Real "veteran" game by Melo and Rose tonight. Picked spots. Played pretty hard. Melo's an unstoppable scorer when he's on. He just has to commit to the system and ball movement and trust he will get his time to shine.

As much hate as the Triangle gets, the Knicks have been able to win 40% of their games since the change to Triangle, which actually is a better winning percentage than when they were going through a long rut. As Horny said, it was about a season that was going down the tubes and they decided they needed to change tactics a bit.

Anyway hate this for the tank, but I do not hate when I see young players like Willy/Baker shine and also see Melo play like this. This was a game where Melo played like a system ball player. Let the game come to him. He was off in the first, but got going eventually.

KP took the old Melo position. Bad shots. Too much 1 on 1. Just a bad game on offense by KP. I appreciate that he atleast had defensive effort in the second half. Got quite a few blocks and had a good motor. But KP, please no more games like that. You got to play better smarter basketball. I also feel he and Rose get robbed off calls more than any other players on the team. Rose and KP are constantly fouled and never get the calls it seems.

I loved Baker in this game too--especially his defense. And that's probably the only advantage he has over Randle. He's a lot stronger and plays tougher. However, Randle can facilitate better, create his own shot and is a better shooter. He's also just as cerebral as Baker is. He needs a longer look in the remaining games before you can say Baker is better. They both should see a lot of time. Don't like he was benched in the 2nd half. He needs to get experience and we have to assess his game. Te jury is still out.

As far as Willy, he showed me tonight that he may be a starting center in this league and not only a good backup C. If only he can improve his defense, he can blossom into an all-star Center.

fishmike wrote:If we have to win this is the kind you accept. Why? Because we saw a young player take a step forward and get us a win. As the Knicks have missed first rounder 2 of the last 3 years its tough to build up the young talent. You need to strike gold and get lucky with and Isiah Thomas or Whiteside type, or you need to get lucky in round 2 with an overseas guy. Boy does it look like we struck it here.

Willy's line:
13 points, 16 rebs (6 offensive), 4 assists, 3 steals and a block and he shot 50%

He comes from another BB family. Its literally in his blood. He looks like a Gasol. Size, quickness, skill... wow.

I think there is a really good chance that Willy has an exceptional 2nd year and make a leap much greater than KP did this year. I think Willy just needs a few more gains in strength in the upper and lower body but I think that any minimal gain will go a long way because of his frame and ability to play with leverage. So while KP got a little stronger it didn't have the same effect because he can't drop his base low enough to keep players from pushing him off his spot. Willy will not have the problem as he get stronger becuase he already does a great job right now. The added strength will help WH finish in traffic and probably improve his overall athleticism which would make him a little more explosive.

The other thing that will help Willy is that he doesn't have that many holes in his game and can focus on improving his few weaknesses and refining his overall offensive skill sets.