The Knicks Thread....

[The X]

If the Knicks really wanted to keep Lin, surely they could've locked him up on 1 July with a 4 year, $24 million deal. He would not have declined that offer. Dolan's an idiot. Lin made Knicks more money than they made him.

[Andrew]

Exactly. That'd still be a fairly reasonable deal given the promise he's shown and the money they can make off of him.

[Jeffx]

The whole situation is weird - both sides made questionable moves. Lin said himself he wanted to stay - he and his agent should have known the 'poison pill' contract would tick off the owner off. Look at Dolan's history.

These Lin banwagoners are annoying as fuck with their whining - blaming Carmelo, acting as if the Knicks lost a HOF player. Please. If the team gets off to a good start, they'll pipe down.

[_Steve_]

The whole situation is weird - both sides made questionable moves. Lin said himself he wanted to stay - he and his agent should have known the 'poison pill' contract would tick off the owner off. Look at Dolan's history.

These Lin banwagoners are annoying as fuck with their whining - blaming Carmelo, acting as if the Knicks lost a HOF player. Please. If the team gets off to a good start, they'll pipe down.

Lin will most likely become no HOF player. Maybe he'll never play in an All-Star game. BUT as Andrew and others said, this guy is money. He had a big impact on Chinese/Taiwanese marktet and sold a tremendous amount of jerseys.

[[Q]]

he and his agent should have known the 'poison pill' contract would tick off the owner off. Look at Dolan's history.

they did and with contracts given to guys like Eddy Curry, Jerome James, Allan Houston, & Larry Brown, overpaying Lin for one year wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world. if he didn't live up to it, they could've used his expiring contract as a trade commodity while still reaping the benefits of his marketability, which would obviously help make up for some of it

[shadowgrin]

These Lin banwagoners are annoying as fuck with their whining.

AW SNAP!

[Jeffx]

These Lin banwagoners are annoying as fuck with their whining.

AW SNAP!

It's the truth. They're acting as if the Knicks will fall apart without the great Jeremy Lin. Give me a m-fing break! These Lin stans are making us NY basketball fans look bad.

The key to the Knicks success depends on Carmelo & Amar'e finding some way to co-exist. Right now we have two mismatched stars who thrive in two different offenses. If they can't figure it out, Knicks are toast, no matter who's at point.

[homicide1550]

phpBB [video]

[The X]

Moving on from Lin, where do these Knicks sit in East? Obviously Heat are top team, with Celtics being 2, who edge out the Pacers at 3. After that, you got a team like the Nets, who have talent to push for top 4 seeding. Chicago is well coached & capable of hanging in the middle of the East even without Rose, but depends on their health. Knicks are probably a 50 win team, which puts them around a 5 or 6 seed.

Looking at where they are positioned beyond this year, they are what they are. Heat, Bulls, Nets & possibly Pacers will be better than them. Celtics depends on health & whether they can add a star. So Knicks seem to be locked into that mid-tier 4/5 seed for next couple of years. Better than where they were in Eddy Curry & Stephon Marbury years though.

[_Steve_]

I see the Knicks closer to 45 than to 50 battling for 6-8 seed.
They were one of the select few teams that lost to the Bobcats last season.
But to be serious for a moment. I can hardly see them sweep many series. Wizards, Nets, Cavs and even Raptors got all a little bit stronger. Nets and Raptors are opponents in the Atlantic division and even when these teams sucked, the Knicks played just 8-6 against teams in their division.
It will be more difficult to win in the East, so the Knicks will have it a lot harder to achieve something like their 28-20 conference record.

[NovU]

Moving on from Lin, where do these Knicks sit in East?

As much as I am rooting for the Knicks, I am not too keen on their projection. Little too much of good things that need to happen. Melo needs to learn to play better team basketball. Same with Stoudemire while knees stay healthy. Felton needs to be in shape and learn to mesh with Melo. Even if they remain healthy, they are just a playoffs team, perhaps 45-50 wins being their ceiling without major improvement. Somebody else will need to take over to be the best player over Chandler. Otherwise I think blame game will begin once again sort of like in the days before the Linsanity. Like it or not, Linsanity saved their last season, 3 weeks of good basketball. My senses tell me they might get into figuring out how-to-co-exist-game once again. And I don't believe Melo has that another level to reach. He's been the same Melo from the Nuggets as a Knicks, and I expect similar level of production from him next season. It'll be up to other players to produce while he does what he does. But talent level that's surrounding Melo doesn't look better than the ones that were from his Denver days.

[rise]

I still don't think Melo and Amar'e can co-exist. Trade one of them for a solid PG and you're good.

[shadowgrin]

I still don't think Melo and Amar'e can co-exist.

Why so?

[_Steve_]

Amar'e und 'Melo could coexist with a real playmaker (pass first PG) running the show. Maybe 'Melo would still be ball hogging from time to time, but Knicks could use Amar'e more like PHX did when he played together with Nash.

[graybakflip]

I still don't think Melo and Amar'e can co-exist. Trade one of them for a solid PG and you're good.

might be right.. if you have only observed their specific game styles carefully(from their old teams w/c they were effective).. carmela needs to hog the ball for him to be effective(can't imagine him to be a spot-up shooter guy), so he needs great perimeter shooters around him to spread the floor(not amare)..while amare, somewhat the same but he needs to have that uptempo and a great PG(i.e. past nash), remember that unstopable pick n roll they've had?..jkidd+chandler have some chemistry, dunno about amare+carmela..

[Andrew]

Amar'e und 'Melo could coexist with a real playmaker (pass first PG) running the show. Maybe 'Melo would still be ball hogging from time to time, but Knicks could use Amar'e more like PHX did when he played together with Nash.

They do now have such a player in Jason Kidd, though he's not a long term solution and it remains to be seen just how much he has left in the tank.

[graybakflip]

nice pick-up, adding a 'lil bit more on perimeter defense

David Aldridge ‏@daldridgetnt
Knicks continue to build backcourt, agreeing 2 terms with ex-Bull Ronnie Brewer on one-year deal, per source. Check the Hang Time Bkog soon.

[Jeffx]

I like the signing too. Brewer can hold the fort until Shump gets back.

[_Steve_]

Knicks have also signed Pablo Prigioni as PG. The 35 old Prigioni played most recently in the Spanish leagues and is the PG for Argentina's national team.

[Andrew]

Not to harp on the Jeremy Lin stuff as it's over and done with, but I still reckon the combo of Kidd and Lin - even with that contract - would be better than a trio of Kidd, Felton and Prigioni.

Nice pickup in Brewer, though.

[_Steve_]

Not to harp on the Jeremy Lin stuff as it's over and done with, but I still reckon the combo of Kidd and Lin - even with that contract - would be better than a trio of Kidd, Felton and Prigioni.

Well I'm really no fan of Lin but I tend to agree Kidd and Lin would have been very interesting, especially for Lin's further development as a true playmaker.

[[Q]]

i was hoping kidd would really help him in his devlopment but now i hope the rockets pick up a veteran pg to help him in houston.

watched prigioni vs team usa and he's pretty nice. he has great court vision

[Jeffx]

Knicks signed J.R.'s younger brother Chris. Don't know anything about him.

[_Steve_]

Knicks signed J.R.'s younger brother Chris. Don't know anything about him.

He's a 6'2 PG. From what I've read it seems as if he's supposed to play D-League.

[ibelieve]

Man knicks had a great off season so far. They led lin go to get felton which was a perfect move because lin is a combo guard who makes many turnovers so they did the right thing by aquiring felton who fits in well with amare stoudemire and who is more a pass first pg. Kidd as a backup and prigoini as a third option should be perfect man i can say so much about their off season but the last piece that should complete the knicks is definitly kenyon martin. If they get him they will have the best chances to win a championship. Look at the depth of the team its incredible even if they are old its a win now team and they can make it im sure about that.