GREENBURGH, NY, April 11, 2005 -- At this point in the season, much of the Knicks focus must be on the future. And what could be more future-istic than the growth and development of the Knicks' young talent?
Promisingly, the Knicks appear to have an abundance of that. Watching Jackie Butler toward the end of practice is encouraging: the just-turned 20 year-young CBA signee has a touch (and range) on his shot that not many 6-10, 260-pound centers of any age own. Baseline fifteen footers, college three-s from straight-up, NBA treys off the dribble, swoosh, swoosh, and swoosh.

Trevor Ariza, even younger, concludes practice with a fifty-foot nothing-but-net-ter into the basket -- one that happens to be on the NEXT court. (Then he jumps around madly waving his arms from joy as only a teenager can.) Then 22-year old Michael Sweetney contemplates his Pacers-beating game-winner from last night. “I never hit one of those at the buzzer,” he shakes his head with a serious smile. “Never once at any level.” Still, in spite of his career-best 20-point game to go along with his 9 rebounds, the Sweetman is the very last Knick to leave the practice court. “I’ve got to practice those free-throws,” he says. “I missed five more yesterday. So I need to put time into extra shooting.”

Hitting freebies is of particularly prime importance to Sweetney, “our only player who’s certain to get fouled every time he touches the ball in the paint,” according to Coach Herb Williams. “If Sweetney can keep himself on the court, stay out of foul trouble and, at the same time, also be aggressive…That’s what I’m constantly telling him. Whenever he is aggressive, he makes things happen for us.”

“He’s agile, has great footwork and strength, rebounds real well and has a nice touch,” adds Williams. “Yes, he has the talent to be an NBA All-Star one day. Whether he will actually become that …well, that’s up to what is in his insides. Ultimately, that’s up to Michael Sweetney, isn’t it?”

For his part, the 6-8, 260-pound second-year power source remains as laconic as ever. “I’ll say this much: I am a lot more comfortable this year,” Sweet pleads the fifth when the question of his ultimate future potential comes up. “I feel that my teammates, my coaches and the fans all have a lot more confidence in me.”

As far as his own future, Williams can’t even concern himself with that. “Whatever happens, happens,” he smiles. “I can not – I WILL not – worry about things I can’t control. If you do that, you are wasting your energy and you won’t worry about Toronto tomorrow night, you won’t worry about winning. I just want this team to finish strong; hopefully, the great game the guys won last night -- beating a good team such as Indiana in overtime on the road -- is a lift. It shows that the guys are still playing hard and still have a trust in each other. I hope it’s the start of a winning streak -- and the basis for building something bigger and better in the future.”

“Whether I’m a part of that future as the coach -- those are the type of things that, as long as you are doing your best, you simply can’t worry about. They will surely take care of themselves.”

I hope it’s the start of a winning streak -- and the basis for building something bigger and better in the future.”

Yup, that scares me. I think Isiah needs to get on the phone with Herb and tell him to start playing the youngin's and stop giving Marbury these freaking 45 minute nights.

Good article. It's good to hear about those three since we've hardly seen two of them on the court lately.

I just want to see this young cat on the court with Marburry running the point...

Marb, Craw, Ariza, Sweetney, and JB

Posted by fishmike:

this team and this GM DESPERATLY needs to hit a little luck. You see guys slip through the woodwork all the time for various reasons. Obviously Ben Wallace and Brad Miller are examples 1 and 1a.

To say we are due for some good luck is an understatement.

If JB could be part of the rotation next year I would give Isiah all the credit in th world.

And what could be more future-istic than the growth and development of the Knicks' young talent?
Promisingly, the Knicks appear to have an abundance of that.

as far as this I will wait and see until I can see more than promising reports from practice, but it certainly seems like he's working hard, and that alone may get him a modest contract (is there such a thing in this league???) next year.

And what about Jermaine Jackson? He is young and with the playing time he's had, he hasn't played bad. Well, you can't look that bad when you are playing for this kind of a Knicks team, but...

Just draft good players this year, keep the ones you already have and make Marbury actually become a real leader. Ohh, and bring in a center, please, and I'll be happy! Yeah, right, its the Knicks... *sighs*

As I have said before, why isn't Butler getting some significant PT. This team is (or should be) playing for the future.

Posted by Rich:

As I have said before, why isn't Butler getting some significant PT. This team is (or should be) playing for the future.

I would love to see the dude play......I would love to see JYD get benched. We already know what he does. Butler needs the time.

Posted by fishmike:

this team and this GM DESPERATLY needs to hit a little luck. You see guys slip through the woodwork all the time for various reasons. Obviously Ben Wallace and Brad Miller are examples 1 and 1a.

To say we are due for some good luck is an understatement.

If JB could be part of the rotation next year I would give Isiah all the credit in th world.

And what could be more future-istic than the growth and development of the Knicks' young talent?
Promisingly, the Knicks appear to have an abundance of that.

as far as this I will wait and see until I can see more than promising reports from practice, but it certainly seems like he's working hard, and that alone may get him a modest contract (is there such a thing in this league???) next year.

Why are Ben Wallace and Brad Miller examples of luck? They look more like examples of excellent work by their GMs.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by fishmike:

this team and this GM DESPERATLY needs to hit a little luck. You see guys slip through the woodwork all the time for various reasons. Obviously Ben Wallace and Brad Miller are examples 1 and 1a.

To say we are due for some good luck is an understatement.

If JB could be part of the rotation next year I would give Isiah all the credit in th world.

And what could be more future-istic than the growth and development of the Knicks' young talent?
Promisingly, the Knicks appear to have an abundance of that.

as far as this I will wait and see until I can see more than promising reports from practice, but it certainly seems like he's working hard, and that alone may get him a modest contract (is there such a thing in this league???) next year.

Why are Ben Wallace and Brad Miller examples of luck? They look more like examples of excellent work by their GMs.

2 for 2, I agree with Bonn........."Whats happening?"

Posted by Allanfan20:

It's that AND luck b/c all of the GMs before them DIDN'T draft Wallace and Miller. When it comes to these late picks, there is definitely a stroke of luck.

agreed...the WAS GM didn't take Ben Wallace w/the pick...if their GM saw all that potential in him they would have...it took Ben 5 years to work himself into a good player.

same goes for the CHA GM who failed to see the potential in Brad Miller & didn't pick him in the draft...it took Miller about 4 years to work himself into a good player as well.

you don't give credit to GM's who traded away these guys & failed to see the talent they had until they grew to become good players on other teams.

if you want to give props to the DET & SAC GM's for trading for these guys, then that's a different story...even so, these guys became good as a result of hard work on their parts...no credit goes to the GM's imo.

[Edited by - TMS on 04/12/2005 13:27:44]

It's not luck; it's a *given*, a *guarantee* that each year some players like this will be overlooked. Luck is something that works out great where the outcome was in question. Here there is no question. There will always be these players available. And the skillful GMs will always be the ones who grab these players.

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 04/12/2005 14:24:38]