I still think this kid has a future in the league. He's up to 260, filling out his shoulders. He knows how to play. He'd be a perfect fit with Steph on the pick and roll. Zeke said the Knicks need to get a center and a shooting guard in the draft. I think it's safe to say the Frye will be the best center available to the Knicks in the draft - at least for the next three years.

I think that the inevitability of the lockout hurts the chances of a Bynum pick. How are you going to get a high school player ready for the league without Summer Camp? I think asking Bynum to come into camp when the lockout ends in like October would be a DISASTER. Who knows if he'll gain that weight back? He's 17! There's no telling how his body will react to losing weight like that, or if he's just laying off the cheeseburgers to get his lotto contract. Not saying he's lazy, but a long slow summer with nothing to do after being drafted and having worked you ass off for three months, it's natural he might slack a little with the Knicks brass not being allowed to legally have contact with him.

To me, Frye is a better option with his work ethic and the polish on his game. Bynum COULD be fine, but he could also balloon up to 300 and have conditioning issues that set him back a year...

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/magazine/magBlog?id=2039748

Frye is draft's high-riser

A few months ago scouts were talking about Arizona's Channing Frye as a late first-round pick.
A few weeks ago, they dramatically changed course, calling him a likely top-10 pick in the NBA draft.

How could he rise so high in such a short time? I went back to Tim Grover's ATTACK Athletics on Friday morning to see for myself.

Frye simply looked awesome. He's put on 10 pounds of muscle since he started training with Grover. Most of it is in his shoulders and chest. Now weighing a legit 260 and measuring 6-foot-11 in shoes, Frye now looks the part of a center.

On the court, he was even more impressive. He's improved his explosiveness the last few months and is now springing off the floor. Laterally, he's very quick and moves effortlessly around the court.

He showed off an impressive array of basketball skills. He has an excellent jump shot and has extended his range out to the college 3-point line. He gets great lift on his jumper and should be murder on the pick and pop. He's especially impressive with his accuracy on stepbacks and fadeaways.

Frye has a soft touch around the basket. He also showed some great footwork. He used his quickness to spin away from defenders on the baseline and also showed a nice little baby hook.

The bottom line is that he should be able to score in the League.

Whatever knocks there are against Frye weren't evident in his workout. Scouts have questioned Frye's toughness and aggresiveness at Arizona. I think he dispelled some of that in the NCAA Tournament.

Any team that brings him in (his agent Rob Pelinka is being very selective in for whom Frye works out) is going to be impressed.

For a team looking for a skilled, athletic big man with shotblocking skills, you're not going to get a prospect better than Frye. That's why he's moved up to the top 10. It's tough to imagine the Knicks, Warriors and Lakers all passing on him.
posted: June 10, 2005 10:56:01 AM PDT | Feedback




[Edited by - crzymdups on 06/10/2005 14:19:35]

getting really athletic bigs is a must, but another side to it is, if we get a PF or C who can pop a jump shot, it makes KT totally expendable. the one reason i would be hesitant to let him go is that he does add a good bit to our offense. if we can find a young guy with that J in addition to athleticism, shotblocking, etc, we can wave bye-bye to kurt. frye may be a really good fit for our frontcourt if he can move into that kind of role in our O.

I still see Frye as a sort of Tyson Chandling defender/shotblocker/rebounder with KT's offensive game, so I think that's an accurate assesment.

EDIT: he would also be a good fit to play with Sweetney and Malik Rose. His size will allow them to just snatch rebounds.

[Edited by - crzymdups on 06/10/2005 14:28:48]

[Edited by - crzymdups on 06/10/2005 14:29:32]

well Im open to anything reasonable. Remember, the lasting impression of Channing Frye for FOUR years was one of a 230 pound man who shied away from contact. As good as Frye looked against the 6-6 230 Roger Powell in the NCAA final 4, he legitmiately looked just as bad 2 months before being shoved around blantantly be the 245 pound Bogut. But there is no doubt that he has great offensive skills, the question being we he be able to hold position at 230 something? If he has legitimately put on that much weight, yet it hasnt effected his athletic abilities, then a reasonable man person will say that he is a reasonable choice for us. But in fairness, the lasting impression of 4 years is one most people equate with Frye. Its sounds almost impossible to weigh 235 for 4 years when you have every opportunity to use the weight room, amnd then all of a sudden you are a diesel 260?

I agree with BRIGGS...what kind of 260 lbs is this if he was playing at 230 just months ago. I'm not convinced that this is a strong player who plays strong. That's just not what I saw out of him for years. He was always a very average big man. Good a little bit of everything, not great at anything and certainly not strong or intimidating. He's never been much of a rebounder, and I never really saw him call for the ball or really dominate a game until he did last year in the tournament? Was that enough to sell him to me? He defintiely opened my eyes a bit more but I'm still not convinced this guy is a top 10 player.

I still see this guy as a Lorenzen Wright type of center...has some skills, is serviceable, looks the part....a guy who can give you 12-8-1 but not a star. That's cool, but I think we need to draft a guy who can be a star in the top 10. If Bynum/Splitter/Petro etc. are not worthy of pick 8, then don't reach for a big man like Frye. Go ahead and draft Webster/WRight etc. and take 6'10" Ronny Turiaf at 30 who always struck me as playing bigger and tougher than Frye.

[Edited by - VDesai on 06/10/2005 14:45:18]

Posted by VDesai:

I agree with BRIGGS...what kind of 260 lbs is this if he was playing at 230 just months ago. I'm not convinced that this is a strong player who plays strong. That's just not what I saw out of him for years. He was always a very average big man. Good a little bit of everything, not great at anything and certainly not strong or intimidating. He's never been much of a rebounder, and I never really saw him call for the ball or really dominate a game until he did last year in the tournament? Was that enough to sell him to me? He defintiely opened my eyes a bit more but I'm still not convinced this guy is a top 10 player.

I still see this guy as a Lorenzen Wright type of center...has some skills, is serviceable, looks the part....a guy who can give you 12-8-1 but not a star. That's cool, but I think we need to draft a guy who can be a star in the top 10. If Bynum/Splitter/Petro etc. are not worthy of pick 8, then don't reach for a big man like Frye. Go ahead and draft Webster/WRight etc. and take 6'10" Ronny Turiaf at 30 who always struck me as playing bigger and tougher than Frye.

[Edited by - VDesai on 06/10/2005 14:45:18]

If Frye can defend the paint and give us 12-8 and 2, thats really all we could ask for from that position. There are no stars at Center, except for maybe Boggut. We wanted guys like Steven hunter, Gadzuric, Chandler, he's probably as good as those guys on defense, and probably better on Offense in his first year.

Sure those numbers are serviceable. But do you really want to get only a serviceable guy with the top 10 pick? I sure as hell don't...I'd rather skip the center need and move on to Wright, webster, Granger etc, who in reality could help us more down the line than a "serviceable" big.

To me taking Frye in the top 10 is like playing for the tie rather than playing for the win.

I was going more of the 12-8-1 I mentioned above, but 15-9-2 of course would be great...not many centers give that to you. I'm not sure Frye is capable of doing that on the NBA level. If you're interested in a guy that could be a defensive presence, might be able to block some shots for you...how about Ronny Turiaf at 30? To me he was more of an intimidating player to go after in college, and definitely a more ferocious rebounder.

It's not that I hate Frye. I would've liked him if we the 9th seed in the playoffs this year and were picking 15 or 16. I just feel we are lot farther away than a serviceable center. A guy who can be a 23-26 ppg scorer down the line on the perimeter would be much more appealing to me.

As far as Sweetney, and this is getting off topic now. ..Sweetney was a far more dominating force in college...even a much better shotblocker than Frye, and showed amazing work ethic with the way he played. I never saw that kind of intensity and workrate from Frye. I'm not sure that's a good comparison at all. Sweetney dominated games and if they were both coming out of college again, Sweetney would certainly be my pick over Frye without thinking twice. Sweetney may have been a "safe" pick in teh sense that he was a finished product, but he was also the best player on the board at the time. I thinkt he only "upside" guy you could make an argument for over Sweetney was Michael Pietrus. Anyway, this is getting off topic.

I don't know if I see 20ppg with the shots that Jamal and Steph eat up, but he certainly has that capability and fits our style of play.

My bringing up Sweetney was meant to point out that, yes, Sweetney had the frame to be dominant in college against smaller guys, but it didn't translate at ALL to the league. He doesn't block ANY shots and his post moves, while great at drawing fouls, are too easily contained. I feel that Frye has a game that will translate well. He's long, big and has a good jumper. PLaying with Marbury will translate to so many open jumpers and pick and pops, he'll be getting MUCH better looks than he ever got in college. Sweetney has the same looks he got in school, but he's playing against bigger, stronger players.

I'm not saying Frye will be a super-star, but I could see him being a Brad Miller level all-star at his height. Two years ago, I was sick to my stomach when they drafted Sweetney, he just screamed Tractor Traylor 2 or Weatherspoon 2. And while I think he might be better than those guys, I still don't think Sweets can be a starter on a good team. I can see Frye being a starter on a good team.

here this article will atleast bring soem balance to this article--this looks like the same darn article, but it's about Loren Woods, yes Loren Woods the softie from AZ who peopl had the same complaints about--some times you have to seperate hype from reality. I do know that Andrew Bynum truly is 7-1 282 with real C features. I know that Channing is more polished, but at the end of the day, take out the hype, i dont think its a close compariosn LONG term. One is a C one is a tweener who is taking supplemenst like Woods did and Jared Jefferies did, although i still think Frye has a nice offensive game, I dont see the ceiling anywhere near bynum----->

Additional Information
Count Arizona's Loren Woods among those whose draft stock is on the rise. After an impressive private workout Friday in Chicago several teams are beginning to buzz about Loren Woods. Woods, who has been in a vigorous workout program this spring has been adding muscle to his lanky frame. According to his agent, Matt Muehlebach, Woods has added 20 pounds to his frame since we last saw him in the Final Four. Woods now reportedly weighs 250 pounds.

That's good news for teams who have worried about whether Woods can survive the physical nature of the NBA game. Woods reportedly shot the ball extremely well in workouts and his added bulk is making teams give him a second look. One GM. whose team is in the lottery, told Insider that Woods might really rise on draft boards in the next two weeks. "He was a projected top 5 pick last year, he played well in the tournament this year, he's 7'1" and is now showing the ability to bulk up," the GM told Insider. "When the smoke clears, he might sneak right back up into the top 10. I don't think he'll slip past Boston. If things keep going well the next two weeks, he may go as high as 6."

"A lot of people would die to be in the position I'm in," Woods said. "So I'm not by any means saying I had a rough year. It's just unfortunate that because I had some ups and downs this year, (people say) I can't play. I'm a way better player than I was last year, and last year I would have gone in the top five if I had gone to the draft."

Chad Ford - Sportstalk.com (June 12th