Okay, smart young man and an even smarter older brother. I've worked with young people for sometime now and I think i've got a pretty good feel for if a kid has a head on his or her shoulders or not. Bynum is a very intelligent young man and it's obvious from how he talks. Just totally backing up what Briggs has been saying about Calhoun's impression of him. In this case I think the mental aspect is at minimum 50% of that battle and he's got that covered with a snap.

Physically, he's obviously lost quite a bit of weight even since the MCD game. The kid's got great form on his jumper and can get up and down the court like.....and I know i'm tripping here ...like Ewing....I know...i'm back now . He's on the weights and has a sweet looking baby hook. Bottom line, he's a stud and if he's there at 8 we got our 5. 8 to 5. Go get'em Isiah.

[Edited by - Junkmein on 06/05/2005 12:04:22]

I just realized that he is going to be the 2nd overall pick in the draft.

Posted by rain:

Bynum is two to three years from contributing. Big men take awhile to mature. He will get hammered in the paint for two years before he figures out how to contribute. He is a kid at this point. GM"s know this. His upside is considerable. He will not go before the Knicks pick.. GM's and coaches want their jobs, they will draft people that are ready to contribute.. Hopefully we can get another pick and get this guy.. or Blatche.

How do you explain Howard, LeBron, Kwame. The fact is potential is sometimes an ingredient that GMs look for rather than a sure thing.

Lets hope so because the Knicks really need this kid for their well being. He seems like he has the drive and desire to be in the league to stick. It would be nice to have him in NY and maybe get him together with Pat Ewing to bring him along. That would be ideal what would even be better would be to have John Thompson coach the Knicks with Ewing as his assistant. This way he get to be coached by a legit big man coach.

Posted by rain:

Bynum is two to three years from contributing. Big men take awhile to mature. He will get hammered in the paint for two years before he figures out how to contribute. He is a kid at this point. GM"s know this. His upside is considerable. He will not go before the Knicks pick.. GM's and coaches want their jobs, they will draft people that are ready to contribute.. Hopefully we can get another pick and get this guy.. or Blatche.

No, I don't think so. I believe Bynum can be an impact bench player in his second year and should show great signs toward the end of year 1. I wouldnt use the term project with him either, I would use the term PROSPECT. It's not going to be a matter of if with him, its going to be a matter of when.

I wouldnt use the word Diop with bynum. Bynum is intelligent, hard working coordinated and agile. Diop is none of those.

Posted by BRIGGS:

Posted by rain:

Bynum is two to three years from contributing. Big men take awhile to mature. He will get hammered in the paint for two years before he figures out how to contribute. He is a kid at this point. GM"s know this. His upside is considerable. He will not go before the Knicks pick.. GM's and coaches want their jobs, they will draft people that are ready to contribute.. Hopefully we can get another pick and get this guy.. or Blatche.

No, I don't think so. I believe Bynum can be an impact bench player in his second year and should show great signs toward the end of year 1. I wouldnt use the term project with him either, I would use the term PROSPECT. It's not going to be a matter of if with him, its going to be a matter of when.

I wouldnt use the word Diop with bynum. Bynum is intelligent, hard working coordinated and agile. Diop is none of those.

In fact Ill go areasonable step beyond. i *really* do believe that he could have a JEFFERSON role next year, meaning 10-12 minutes off the bnch like Al Jefferson had last year. I dont see leaving him on IR, I see him put right in the fire. Again were talking about a 7-1 280 skill player, hes got the assets and ability to score reround and block shots in the NBA RIGHT THIS MOMENT. You think 6-9 235 Kurt thomas can reach over a 7-1 280 pound player who is more athletic than he is and grab a rebound, or you dont think he can alter shots, or go to the basket and be fed by Marbury for easy slams and lay ins? right now, today, not 3 years from now.

Posted by Knick2001:

Briggs I think it's more than just being athletic for a a HS player to make any kind of impact (apart from the Lebron James type of rare player). A HS player has to adapt to an 82 game schedule, long practices, travel and most importantly the physical beating they take in every game they play, especially at the center position.

Well, isn't that the case for a college player as well? Enough HS to NBA players have done more than quite well handling the transition. One of the reasons I like Bynum is the package of work ethic and inelligence. I look at it like this, we have 0 center and if you look at the player pipeline down 5 years sans foreign guys, there are few. This is a long term investment in the franchise, this is not a get rich quick gig, or as some people believe that an antoine wright is going to come in and play 40 minutes like Tmac or something. the bottom line is almost ANY rookie will get sparse time because we simply have to much money invested in our players. By the time some of these contracts burn off, Bynum will be ready to play 35 minutes as a starter. If this kid goes to uconn[and I guarantee, guarantee he is going lottery to someone, he isnt seeing the storrs campus]for two years, I believ he would be the number 1 pick in 2 years. We have to bite the bullet to invest long term at the 5. this kid has a rae combination of assests along with some very nice raw skills--for example someone brought up Diop, Diop had 0 offensive skill in hS and 3 yeasr later had no offensive skill in the nBA. Andrew already possess's a nice jump hook and 3-4 nice post moves including a nice little spin and dunk off the baseline. Andrew ALREADY got himself in better shape than Mike Sweetney Robert traylor et al, by working hard 5-6 hours a day and watching what he ate. these guys are NBA players and they are fat. this kid on his own got in shape. A lot of intangibles here, 6-7 guys are really a dime a dozen.

Briggs you are right, Every year there is a T-Mac clone coming out and the Knicks have their seudo T-Mac in Ariza why not let him develope. Aren't people in love with Crawford anymore he was the bomb when some thought Isiah stole him from Bulls. The Knicks need to draft on need now there is no way around it. You want to complete the puzzle then its time for the Knicks to stop trying to put sqaures into the circle and just get a Big man. and stop playing players out of position because they are the best available player. Stability needs to be key to any franchise and without proper functioning part they are going nowhere.

People want to get every T-mac clone out there and hope he can be the next T-mac well I just rather try and get a Shaq clone and hope he can be the next dominating big man. Its a risk anyway you look at it but this time I want to target a need that this team has had since Pat Ewing departed.

Posted by BRIGGS:

from this[and this is what people only remember 3 months ago]

http://www.kusports.com/art/apps/pennynews/1112275293_ku2.jpg

to this



http://www.courant.com/sports/college/husky/men/hc-bynum0605,0,4231372.photogallery?coll=hc-headlines-sports-top&index=5


if this kid ever came to the MCD game in this shape, I would bet 1mm $ that he would be hyped as a top 3 pick. the first picture is in peoples mind and he still played well, but the new kid is a different specimen 7-1 282 and in shaoe like this with a good skill set? Beuhler? are you out there??????????

That's him?? He's too skinny!! Soemone please feed this kid!!!

Look I love the kid and wnat to draft him but this looks like some kind of show to starve the kid down before the worksouts like ALi before Holmes. I don't like oeeing anyone lose that much weight that fast, if you like this kid you work on his conditioning over time, not go for the cosmetic appeal in 3 months time.