This week in the NBA

[Brett Favre 0]

What exactly has Curry done to constitute his "being a better player" than anyone in the draft? We aren't talking about a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, this is Eddy Curry.

 

This is the same Eddy Curry who no team in the league (except our beloved Knicks) would touch with a ten foot pole last summer. Suddenly this guy is some kind of star?

 

Actually the Lakers were interested, and felt they had a better offer, but the Bulls took the Knick offer instead.

 

The other teams were worried about his heart problem, which is really a non-factor, and not was he brings onto the court.

[Guest]

Even if he does become that guy, will they have any shooters? I'm willing to bet they won't, because the only one they have is Crawford, who I'm not fond of.

 

I also thank the Lord that the Bulls liked the Knicks offer, because I'm afraid that Buss has lost touch with reality.

[Brett Favre 0]

Dude, it's not the toughest thing to find swingmen. You're making it sound like this is the final year for the Knicks to ever get players again.

[naiwf 0]

I'll bet that Nate and/or Lee will be sent out in a package with Mo Taylor in the offseason so that the Knicks can get another 30 year old scrub making huge money. Mo's contract would come off of the books next year, and by God the Knicks shall not try to come close to the cap when they acquire more ASSets and low first round draft picks.

[Guest]

Ok, CW. You don't get it.

[Brett Favre 0]

Ok, CW. You don't get it.

 

This is your best counter point? So this IS the last year the Knicks have a chance to get a shooter to balance out Curry's inside game?

[Guest]

No. Good shooters cost a good amount of money. Management likes to waste money. They'll pick the wrong guy, or nobody at all. The way the market is now, everything costs too much.

[Brett Favre 0]

You can pick up Fred Hoilberg up right now for nothing.

 

There's a shitload of swingmen in the league, it's tougher to find a solid center.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Cena's Write is a homer. That's okay, most of us probably are. We want to be optimistic when it comes to our team. It just seems like he should want some more out his team than perpetual 30 win seasons.

[Brett Favre 0]

You're a pessimist. You think you're a realist because you see things as being bad or whatever. That's what most "realist" think like anyway. If the team was loaded with 35 year olds, I wouldn't be as optimistic.

[Guest]

Cena's Write is a homer. That's okay, most of us probably are. We want to be optimistic when it comes to our team. It just seems like he should want some more out his team than perpetual 30 win seasons.

I'm a homer when it comes to my hockey team, that's it. It's pretty odd that they get younger, yet get worse.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

But just because you have a bunch of young players doesn't mean that things are looking up. Having a bunch of 20-somethings doesn't mean anything when they aren't really that good. You don't have Lebron, or D-Wade, or even a Ben Gordon or Al Jefferson. You have a bunch of nice players, but they aren't getting you to the playoffs by themselves.

 

You have to supplement them, either through free agency or trades. Acquiring Rose doesn't help next year because there aren't teams that can afford to give back $16 million worth of players, unless they too are trying to ditch an equally bad contract. Antonio Davis was a nice trading chip with big money coming off the books this year, and all Isiah could get was a league average SF (which you didn't need) that is grossly overpaid.

[Brett Favre 0]

Ben Gordon and Al Jefferson? They aren't superstar players either.

 

I guess we differ in opinion of what these players can be in the future. Don't bash me for it. It's not like you know the future.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Sorry, I'm not trying to bash you. This is actually one of the better convos I've had on this board in a while.

 

I don't know the future. I see guys like Gordon, Jefferson, Livingston, etc. as having more of a chance to develop into high quality players than anyone on the Knicks. But I am far from an NBA scout, so to each his own.

[Brett Favre 0]

I think Frye can be a borderline all-star, Lee can be a very solid role player, and Nate can either be a very good sixth man, or a very solid starter (good rebounding and assist numbers to go along with his scoring). To me, the key is Eddy Curry. I think he can be a monster, who'll be able to change games with his offensive game, and if he decides to give more effort on the defensive end, his defense as well.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I think Frye can be a borderline all-star, Lee can be a very solid role player, and Nate can either be a very good sixth man, or a very solid starter (good rebounding and assist numbers to go along with his scoring). To me, the key is Eddy Curry. I think he can be a monster, who'll be able to change games with his offensive game, and if he decides to give more effort on the defensive end, his defense as well.

 

Okay but now you've described a future team full of league average players. Two solid starters and bench PG don't net a championship or even playoffs in this league. If you are considering this to be their upside, it still leaves questions about filling holes, and how they can go about doing this.

 

Here's the thing about Eddy Curry. He is young, but he's already in his fifth NBA season. We sort of already know what we are getting with him He doesn't play defense that well, he's a below average rebounder, and aninconsistent scorer. Plus he has shown no signs of having the dedication to stay in shape and prove his worth. It's become increasingly obvious in hindsight that the heart thing was blown seriously out of proportion and that realistically, the Bulls didn't want anything to do with him going forward. It seems misguided that you would bank the future of the franchise on that type of player.

[Brett Favre 0]

He's shown improvement on defense this year, contesting more shots than the early part of the year. He runs the court pretty well for a bigman. As a rebounder, I think he's average. There aren't alot of great rebounding centers in the league. He leads the league in points per shot, so as long as they feed him, he'll score. It's interesting though, because Mark Agguire, Knick assistant, said that he knew so little, after 4 years with the Bulls. This tells us that he's only scratched the surface of what he could be, as he's getting 14 and 7 on pure talent alone. Once he figures out how to use his body (getting less charges than he did earlier this year), and become a better rebounder and defender, he'll be fine. Agguire also said he was the best athlete on the team, which means a lot when you have Nate, Ariza, and Lee on the team as well.

 

As far as the players go, all you reall need is one start and very solid players. Robinson and Frye can be borderline all-stars, to help out Curry, who I think can be an all-star. Look at the Pistons. They are consisted of one all-star (Ben Wallace), and a shitload of borderline all-stars. You could use a player like Lee who can rebound and pass well for his position. It's all about chemistry. If they can grow together, they'll make each other better.

[naiwf 0]

Rip and Billups are better than any player the Knicks have had with the exception of Patrick Ewing since they won their last title in '73. Billups might be the MVP of the league and already has a Finals MVP to his credit. That's a pretty big chip the Knicks will not have even if Curry develops into an approximation of Ben Wallace with offensive skills, which isn't a given. Even if every Knick youngster develops to the utmost of their potential they're a 45 win, 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs type team because Curry isn't ever going to be the next Ewing.

[Brett Favre 0]

You have to start somewhere.

 

No one thought Billups or Rip were that good till they won the title. And Rip isn't a better player than Sprewell. Sprewell is a better defender, and all-around player. They aren't better than Benard King either. And it's tough to say with Larry Johnson because he plays a different position, but he was a pretty good defender, rebounder, 3 point shooter, low post scorer, and passer.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Sam Cassell is God!!!

 

Hit three clutch threes in the fourth to turn a one point game into a blowout.

 

Clippers beat the Celtics 98-81 to go to ten games over .500 for the first time since the 1991-1992 season !!!

[alfdogg 0]

I'm sure Antonio Davis is thrilled by this turn of events

[alfdogg 0]

Also, it occured to me earlier that if both Wallaces were named as reserves along with Billups and Hamilton, Flip could play them all at the same time with LeBron which would be an ingenius bit of tampering.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

0-20 from the field in the 4th quarter; that's ri-goddamn-diculous.

 

 

AND we might have lost Artest to injury!

[Rendclaw 0]

Toronto already has two 1st round picks this draft, which is why they were willing to give up this one (which would have been their 3rd 1st rounder in this draft). This according to the guys ESPN.

 

As far as the Knicks go, I think Rose is a decent addition who could help them. I was kinda hoping in the off-season that Dumars could get Jalen Rose as our backup swingman (but I am happy with Delfino/Evans combo so far).

Still, the Knicks don't seem to have any sense of what kind of team they're building. its been that way all along, pieces and assets.

 

There was no way that Joe D was going to let that huge-ass contract sink his plans for the Pistons. I thought they were going to go out and get maybe another two guard, but I can understand their reasons for standing pat.

 

Also, it occured to me earlier that if both Wallaces were named as reserves along with Billups and Hamilton, Flip could play them all at the same time with LeBron which would be an ingenius bit of tampering.

 

I can just imagine the uproar if Flip did that, even for five minutes in the game... I can just see it, and the shit-eating grin on my face while it happens.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

^ yeah, i think the idea was that there was a slight possibility that Rose woulda been cut via Amnesty Rule as finley was (this was before the particulars of the clause were real), and then Joe D would try to sign him to a lower amount. Then the Amnesty thing turned out to be stricter than thought and that idea disappeared.

 

as far as the tampering idea goes that is absolutely evil and brilliant at the same time

[Precious Roy 0]

For the guy pegging Curry as an underachiever because he's in his 5th season, you have to take into account that he came to the NBA straight out of high school, didn't play all that much his first two years, and last year was the only time he'd been on a competitive team.

 

For comparisons sake Jermaine O'Neal spent his first 4 years riding the bench on a playoff team in Portland, meaning he experienced a winning atmosphere and was practicing against high caliber players, and his numbers in his first year with Indiana were less impressive than what Curry is doing this year.

 

Curry is 23 years old man, people be acting like he's halfway into his career, dude is just starting. Not every high school kid can be an instant star, some dudes need time.

 

I don't mind the Rose trade because I like Jalen Rose as a player, I've been a fan of his since the Fab 5. It makes the team a little better balanced. I don't care about the cap thing because the cap is already FUCKED, and I don't care about them having to pay extra money for next year to pay Rose because James Dolan is a fucking SHITHEAD, he's spoiled rich, fuck him, I hate the MSG management....

[naiwf 0]

Greg Anthony said this a while ago about Yao Ming but it applies to Curry. A dominant big man who plays primarily on the inside does not develop. He either dominates in his first couple of years and continues to do so, or he never ends up dominating. Curry's not committed to conditioning and a center whose career high in RPG is 6.5 isn't ever going to dominate games.

[Guest]

Something I've gotta ask, how much money does the MSG management have? They're paying a huge payroll and luxury tax every year.

[Brett Favre 0]

Greg Anthony said this a while ago about Yao Ming but it applies to Curry. A dominant big man who plays primarily on the inside does not develop. He either dominates in his first couple of years and continues to do so, or he never ends up dominating. Curry's not committed to conditioning and a center whose career high in RPG is 6.5 isn't ever going to dominate games.

 

Who the fuck is Greg Anthony, and who are his examples? He's just talking out of his ass again and not making sense.

 

And who are you? Curry's trainer? How do you know he's not committed to conditioning? Give me the centers that average more than 6.5 rebounds, per 26 minutes a game.

[naiwf 0]

Name a dominant center who didn't dominate from his first 2 years in the league. I'll wait for you on that one. Eddy Curry is overweight and has been since he came into the league. This is year #5, how much longer should we wait for him to get in shape?