2015 NY Knicks offseason thread, Los Almighty appreciation thread

Chris Herring going around the country to watch the top draft prospects in person & do a writeup on each of them.

this is why he's the best at his job
 
give me d'andgelo russell still on draft day tho ..
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@russbengtson: The Knicks have shut down Jahlil Okafor for the remainder of the season.

@TommyBeer: @russbengtson Knicks will only draft him if he's able to play during all-star weekend next year

:lol:
 
nickmaz96 said:
Chris Herring going around the country to watch the top draft prospects in person & do a writeup on each of them.

this is why he's the best at his job
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he wrote a blog post on making it as a journalist and one of the things he mentioned was finding your own niche/avenue that no one else is exploring. dude has definitely done so. he may not be a new yorker or a knicks fan, but he does his job damn well.
 
Okafor's overrated. Reminds me more of Eddy Curry than Tim Duncan.

Yeah hes a "grown ******* man" but thats exactly the point. Yeah, he looks great being a "grown ******* man" against college kids. But at the NBA level? I cant ever see him being elite. 

Yes he is a big body and has nice footwork in the post, but Eddy Curry had those same kind of praises heaped on him when he was coming up. Fact is, Okafor isnt big enough to dominate NBA centers the way he does at Duke nor is he fast/quick enough, He isnt a great athlete and will be a defensive liability in the NBA. Forgive me for not wanting our potential franchise player to be a defensive liability.

As far as centers go, Karl Towns' ceiling is about 5 stories higher than Jahil. Not nearly as polished as Okafor is, but that should be the least important thing right now. We arent worried about winning the championship next year, it would be foolish to draft Okafor just because he is the better player right now. Towns is longer, more athletic, a better passer, and a better shooter. Thats a lot harder to develop than what Okafor does. IMO Towns is the better prospect.

However as far as overall, give me D'Angelo Russell on the Knicks with the first overall pick. Absolutely love his game. Hes about as good as Okafor is right now, and unlike Okafor, I could definitely see Russell developing into an elite level NBA PG.

He reminds me of a mix between Brandon Roy in his prime and Steph Curry. Russell is a better passer/has better PG abilities right now than Curry did when he entered the draft, thats a fact, and Curry was a junior. No, Russell cant shoot like Curry, nobody can, but he is still lights out from 3 and in addition to his phenominal passing ability/court vision Russell can  kill you as a scorer in so many ways. 

D'Angelo Russell has been one of the best players in college basketball this season regardless of position. In additon to that he is a 6'5 PG who COMPLETELY fits the mold of players like Steph Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard, westbrook, etc. who have come to take over the NBA today.

In addition to everything else offered by DLo he most importantly possess all of the fundamental triangle PG qualities in spades (unlike another PG prospect I am also very high on in Emmanuel Mudiay) in that he is big, has excellent court vision/awareness, and can hit the 3 consistently. Add the fact that this dude is unfazed like a Steph Curry, is a ******* gym rat, and a great leader I have no doubt that under the toolage of Derek Fisher he can revolutionize the triangle PG here in NY. 

If we draft this kid and worry about spending our $ elsewhere in the form of some combination of players like Gasol, Monroe, Milsap, Draymond Green, Wes Matthews, etc. Russell will be the QB we need to handle NY and make sure things run smoothly into the future. I just do not see Okafor doing all of those things here. 

Imagine a starting 5 next year and in the future of:

PG: Russell

SG: Wes Matthews

SF: Melo
PF: Draymond Green

C: Greg Monroe

That may be a tad bit of a pipe dream, but if we are able to trade away Calderon I honestly think that lineup can be a possibility. That is the core that has become my ideal scenario for the Knicks in a perfect world. Young lineup, cancel out each others weaknesses, and would flourish playing in NY/the triangle offense IMO.
 
we all despise curry for the way he handled things, but in all honesty, the guy was actually very talented. he just didn't care and let himself go physically after being paid. the talent was there, the desire wasn't .

i really think the steve francis trade is when things really got bad. francis had no business being on this team. a marbury and crawford backcourt was talented enough to be decent in the east at the time.
 
Okafor doesn't have to be athletic at 6'11 275. He's still bigger than most NBA big men. And his footwork is excellent, real light on his feet while being a mountain of a human being so even if he doesn't overpower you he'll out maneuver you. He has more of a mean streak than Curry ever had and that will take him much farther on its own. He can also develop defensively, he's a certified space eater with a crazy wingspan, all he has to do is put his arms up and hold his ground and he'll be solid defensively with that alone. He'll probably never be good at defending pick and rolls though.

With that being said the great thing about this draft is we have options. You can't go wrong with Okafor, Towns, Russell or Mudiay. Hell throw WCS up there too, he's a defensive wonder.
 
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JohnnyRedStorm said:
we all despise curry for the way he handled things, but in all honesty, the guy was actually very talented. he just didn't care and let himself go physically after being paid. the talent was there, the desire wasn't .

i really think the steve francis trade is when things really got bad. francis had no business being on this team. a marbury and crawford backcourt was talented enough to be decent in the east at the time.
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Curry was a fat piece of ****. Saying he only lacked desire is such a cop out. Dude was a 300 pound waste of space who could OCCASIONALLY score at an above average level. That is all.

However even at Curry's absolute best he was the worst defending center I have EVER seen, couldnt rebound worth ****, and on the rare occasion that he was beating you offensively, all the opponent had to do is bring a double team because he couldnt pass out of a double team for ****. That one season where he looked like he showed some signs of life offensively, he absolutely crumbled when teams started doubling him. Every single time, he would either throw the ball away, force up an ill-advised shot, or barrell his fat ******* *** into a defender for a charging foul.

Curry lacked MUCH more than just "desire" and "heart." Dont get me wrong, those things were very, very clearly lacking throughout his entire career. But people get so caught up in NBA players being "talented" just because they can score the ball.

There are so many different aspects of basketball. Its similar to how people think Okafor is the cant miss franchise player type prospect right now just because he is the best scorer right now, and players like Willie Cauley-Stein arent considered to be as talented just because they dont score as much even though Cauley-Stein contributes in much more areas of the game than Okafor does right now, and that is a fact.

Of course it is important to score in basketball. You cant win if you dont score and the basic objective of  basketball game is to score more than your opponent. But a player's value or "talent" should be weighed more by the the points they contribute offensively compared to the points they contribute in letting up, more than how many PPG a player averages. When you look at the big picture, players do not come as bad as Eddy Curry was.

People unfairly value scoring so much more highly than any other skill despite it not at all being the most important. You can always find other players to score the ball if one guy on the court isnt great at it. It is a lot more difficult, however, to cover up a player like Eddy Curry's deficencies on the other end. Not to mention how inefficient he was offensively at every single thing besides putting the ball in the hoop within 5 feet of the basket against single coverage. I mean he was so terrible back in the day that fantasy bball geeks even made up an "Eddy Curry line," for him being the only player inept enough to average less combined assists, steals, and blocks than turnovers.

Dont give me the whole "Eddy Curry was very talented because he once averaged 17 points per game," because anybody can do that **** on a garbage Knicks team. Talent lies in how well you can help your team win and Eddy Curry never once contributed anything of value to an NBA team. Every second he was on the floor, the Knicks were worse off for it. I would say he was one of the least talented players I have ever witnessed. Yet, he had idiots like Isiah Thomas paying him big money and trying to build a team around him because he was big and knew how to put the ball in the basket occasionally.

And yes, I agree that the Steve Francis trade was a top 5 bad trade in Knicks history (Ariza and Penny Hardaway's expiring for Francis), however the Knicks were doomed by the Curry trade. From a pure basketball standpoint it sits alone as the worst transaction in Knicks history and honestly one of the worst trades in NBA history. Not only did the Knicks pay Curry a ridiculous sum of money for him to be a waste of space, we gave up 2 unprotected lottery picks that would become Lamarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah. I mean, if that was an NBA front court today it would probably be the best frontcourt in the league.

Without getting overly caught up in scoring ability, I definitely dont think that Jahil Okafor is the best NBA prospect in this draft. I would honestly put him 4th behind Russell, Towns, and Mudiay. Idk maybe Okafor will be successful in the NBA, but he doesnt really look like he will dominate any particular area in the NBA outside of his scoring, which is also a maybe. And while he does have a very nice post game, soft touch, and very good footwork, he is doing most of his work right now overpowering a bunch of kids who wont even make it to the NBA, let alone become the starting centers he will go up against on a nightly basis. Okafor will need to significantly expand on his shooting range and his quickness if he wants to become an elite NBA level scorer, and if Okafor cant become a truly elite offensive center than why the hell would you even pick him? If you pick him you must truly believe in his ability to dominate the NBA offensively because he certainly isnt good enough to warrant the #1 pick for any other areas of the game.

All reasons why I strongly prefer the all around games andNBA potential as well as the potential ability to accelerate in the triangle offense of both D'Angelo Russell and Karl Towns more than Okafor. But thats just me I guess, just trying to explain why.
 
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Prime Curry could get buckets. It's just that prime lasted like two years :lol:

Trade sucked the most cause of the draft picks. LMA and Noah :smh:
 
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^^brutal trade. but we all know those 2 guys would prob be ex knicks by now anyways :smh:

not to harp on melo but the same things y'all saying about curry could apply to him, just melo has more raw talent.

agree with a lot of whats being said here about curry though. think a few things shouldn't be overlooked concerning his time here tho - 1. his heart situation was effed 2. his new born daughter and ex getting murdered, guy did go thru a lot of unfortunate real life ish
 
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anybody else rubbin their hands together at the thought of bringing Reggie Jackson here or am I not thinking of how much we'd have to give up ... I like Reggie but I can see us finding him elsewhere ...

just saw he wants out before Thursday ... call us the NY Thunder :D
 
idk who we're trading to get him but i like jackson.

reggie, goran, wes matthews, monroe, hibbert

in the offseason if you can over pay for 2 who you takin? reggie + wes for me easy.
 
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