NFT: Knicks Chat: Melo open to other teams?

With the team, particularly president Phil Jackson, insisting to stick with the Triangle offense moving forward, New York's saviour might actually come from the Philippines.

From the barangay actually.

American sportswriter Roland Lazenby, author of the best-selling books Michael Jordan: The Life and Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, said on his Twitter account a couple of days ago that the Knicks would be smart to bring Tim Cone to New York.

He added that the winnigest coach in PBA history is the ultimate triangle coach on planet Earth right now.
Link - ( New Window )

further asserts that Phil strongly misses Tex Winter. He claims Winter was one of the few people who could critique Phil and Phil would listen.

be all over James Young. 34% from 3, 0.76 WS, good size (6'7), 22 all of next season. I'd load up on draft failure types.

willy is a much better passer, kanter is allergic to passing the ball..

willy also at least tries defensively, kanter just cares about scoring..

sure where all the Slick Willy hate is coming from.

Last six players to average 16 and 13 per 36 as rookies:



Yes, he has to work on his defense. But holy shit, the kid just had a great rookie year out of nowhere. He scores, rebounds, passes, works hard. He's absolutely a building block.

Now comparing Willy to a guy who just had a 23.74 PER age 24 season and was given a 70 million dollar extension at 23 is "hate"? lol wow.

point was his defense was really, really bad to the point I'm not sure why we should expect him to ever be an average defensive big. Based on what?

In comment 13430423 DanMetroMan said:

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Now comparing Willy to a guy who just had a 23.74 PER age 24 season and was given a 70 million dollar extension at 23 is "hate"? lol wow.

Relax buddy. Read above your comment.

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Willy is not a real building block, not as of yet. I'm a huge Wily fan but to call him a building block is crazy

In comment 13430427 Jon in NYC said:

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In comment 13430423 DanMetroMan said: Quote: Now comparing Willy to a guy who just had a 23.74 PER age 24 season and was given a 70 million dollar extension at 23 is "hate"? lol wow. Relax buddy. Read above your comment. Quote: Willy is not a real building block, not as of yet. I'm a huge Wily fan but to call him a building block is crazy

Fair enough. I just meant for me personally I don't see how we can say both Kanter isn't one but Willy is. I have doubts Willy is ever even average defensively. I just don't see any reason to believe that's the case other than "Marc Gasol!!!". I mean even KP and Willy himself have said it needs work. Maybe the "work" helps but I'm not blindly projecting significantly better defense.

Which is why I was all over Robert Williams before he decided not to declare. Big Willy fan over here but I don't classify him the same as KP were I'd avoid looking at 2-way players at his position completely come draft time.

Green drooled over Willy's offense yet said the following

With Willy, Knicks fans can expect an up-and-down year. He is a special offensive talent. He has nice post moves, a soft touch, a good mid-range J, and vision/passing abilities that are very advanced for his age. Check out this perfect lefty pass from underneath the rim out to an open 3-point shooter (and sorry for the grainy videos -- I'm running a low-budget, low-tech operation here).


"Willy's body is more similar to Marc than Pau. He does not have what you'd consider "NBA athleticism." He runs the floor hard, but he can't jump, he struggles to slide his feet defensively (despite great footwork on the offensive end) and he is a horrible pick-and-roll defender. He was badly exposed in pick-and-rolls at the Euroleague level, and it will be his biggest problem in the NBA."

It's important for Knicks fans to keep their expectations for Willy in check. He's not Marc Gasol. He's probably never going to be a good defender, and he may never be a starting-caliber center.

In comment 13430431 giantsfan44ab said:

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Which is why I was all over Robert Williams before he decided not to declare. Big Willy fan over here but I don't classify him the same as KP were I'd avoid looking at 2-way players at his position completely come draft time.

I love what we saw from Willy this year. I just don't understand why we are ignoring the defense and the odds he becomes a good defender. If he improves to "below average" we still likely will be considering a defensive 4/5 to pair with him. That was my only point. Expecting Marc Gasol seems kind of silly. How many Marc Gasol's have their been?

with the notion that Enes isn't a "building block" either. 14/7 off the bench at 24 years old? He's a really talented player.

willy is going to learn how to use his bldy and pisitioning because he is not the most athletic center and not the quickest..

he can really learn alot from marc gasol playing for spain

In comment 13430405 DanMetroMan said:

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be all over James Young. 34% from 3, 0.76 WS, good size (6'7), 22 all of next season. I'd load up on draft failure types.

Not going to quibble over signing young guys to cheap deals (because that is what this team SHOULD be doing), I just have had issues with Young since he was drafted. Not a very good athlete, horrible defender.

Throwing the 34% from 3 ignores the fact he's only played in 29 games this season and hit 12 3s. He's 28% from 3 for his career. If he's not going to morph into a 40% 3 point shooter he's not an NBA player at all. Awful defender, rebounder and passer. Only reason he was a lottery pick was because he was a proclaimed bucket getter at U.K. and he's averaging 9.7 points per 36 on 37% from the field for his career.

Again, if he's a minimum type signing I'm not going to soil my pants over it.

In comment 13430439 giantsfan44ab said:

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In comment 13430405 DanMetroMan said: Quote: be all over James Young. 34% from 3, 0.76 WS, good size (6'7), 22 all of next season. I'd load up on draft failure types. Not going to quibble over signing young guys to cheap deals (because that is what this team SHOULD be doing), I just have had issues with Young since he was drafted. Not a very good athlete, horrible defender. Throwing the 34% from 3 ignores the fact he's only played in 29 games this season and hit 12 3s. He's 28% from 3 for his career. If he's not going to morph into a 40% 3 point shooter he's not an NBA player at all. Awful defender, rebounder and passer. Only reason he was a lottery pick was because he was a proclaimed bucket getter at U.K. and he's averaging 9.7 points per 36 on 37% from the field for his career. Again, if he's a minimum type signing I'm not going to soil my pants over it.

I'm not specifically a James Young fan. I just think guys like Young, Ennis, Clark etc should be our targets (again assuming their prices make sense). I just think failed 1sts for other teams that are still reasonably young are the way to go on a rebuilding team.

Is that if you have vice grips for defensive players in the backcourt it make your job helluva lot easier. I can picture a scenario where KP turns into the rangy rim protector Knicks fans' have wet dreams about combined with getting stoppers at the other 3 positions where Willy's not relied to stop every defensive breakdown.

37% from 3, only 26 years old. Some of these guys might value playing time over anything else. Wouldn't mind the Warriors needing a roster spot and dealing McCaw for our 2nd.

project. Never going to be a starter in the NBA but in a Jamal Crawford type role? Granted it hasn't worked out all that well in washington. But I liked how his effiency improved every year in Utah. In the same vein there's Shelvin Mack.

are the real building blocks. Ideally I think you want Willy to be your fourth or fifth best player (on a really good team).

In comment 13430398 DanMetroMan said:

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I just think people are underrating how far WIlly has to come defensively to be a "good" defensive player. If I had to use an adjective I'd use something closer to "horrible" defensively than "below average". I didn't see any "signs" he's ever going to be even average defensively. I keep seeing people mention Gasol but Gasol was a guy who 1. Unusual defensive development 2. MASSIVE change in his body.

BUT... Kanter is so bad defensively that he's a unique case. Thus Willy does not need to be even average defensively to be a very different proposition than Kanter. Agree Gasol is not remotely likely for a defensive projection (though I think WH is already a better rebounder than Gasol ever was, and is tracking to be as good or better offensively).

A few weeks ago, but what would it take to get Noah Vonleh? Taking on a bad contract? I think he's an ideal starting center next to KP. He can switch PnRs on defense and provides some hope of range (only 7 3s made this year but was one of his most promising attributes at Indiana). Not a big drop off rebounding wise from willy (11 per 36). Ideal scenario is starting a defensive minded center with KP and bringing Willy for 25-30 minutes off the bench. Give vonleh about 20-25 minutes.

And he's got to be top 3 or 4 for the Knicks.

makes too much sense not to happen. Learn to love him.

And I've been big on Vonleh for a while. Even at Indiana. Surprised it's taken him this long to get it going in the pros.

To the point he just waived his NTC entirely you can do:

Melo, KOQ, Kuz for

Crabbe, vonleh, harkless and ezeli

To get a core where everyone is 24 and younger:

Fox
Crabbe
Harkless
KP
Vonleh/Willy

If not Melo, KOQ + Lee for Crabbe and Vonleh could do it (Portland does it to shed salary).

In comment 13430453 bceagle05 said:

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Quote: Ian Begley‏ @IanBegley Some people in the Knicks organization are fans of draft prospect Frank Ntilikina

he is apparently working out in new york for the summer

In comment 13430400 DanMetroMan said:

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With the team, particularly president Phil Jackson, insisting to stick with the Triangle offense moving forward, New York's saviour might actually come from the Philippines. From the barangay actually. American sportswriter Roland Lazenby, author of the best-selling books Michael Jordan: The Life and Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, said on his Twitter account a couple of days ago that the Knicks would be smart to bring Tim Cone to New York. He added that the winnigest coach in PBA history is the ultimate triangle coach on planet Earth right now. Link - ( New Window )

The Spurs get Ettore Messina as an assistant and the Knicks get a triangle expert from the Philippines. The triangle focus is such garbage. I can't believe people still fall for this triangle bullshit.

In comment 13430560 TyreeHelmet said:

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In comment 13430400 DanMetroMan said: Quote: With the team, particularly president Phil Jackson, insisting to stick with the Triangle offense moving forward, New York's saviour might actually come from the Philippines. From the barangay actually. American sportswriter Roland Lazenby, author of the best-selling books Michael Jordan: The Life and Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, said on his Twitter account a couple of days ago that the Knicks would be smart to bring Tim Cone to New York. He added that the winnigest coach in PBA history is the ultimate triangle coach on planet Earth right now. Link - ( New Window ) The Spurs get Ettore Messina as an assistant and the Knicks get a triangle expert from the Philippines. The triangle focus is such garbage. I can't believe people still fall for this triangle bullshit.

I don't think anyone's falling for it. It's the only thing people talk about, and not in a good way.