[quote name='Tribute to H2O']What the Hell??? What is the thread starter apologizing for??? Isiah Thomas GM of the year??? What's going on here?? QUOTE] Well maybe not GM of the year but at least he has the "cojones" to apoligize.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">What the Hell??? What is the thread starter apologizing for??? Isiah Thomas GM of the year??? What's going on here?? The optimism by the Knick fans in this thread is sickening. The Knicks are no better now than when Isiah Thomas took over. The Knicks were in a better position under Layden than they are now. The payroll is through the roof and we have nothing to show for it. Isiah Thomas, to quote a Knicks fan, is "taking the Knicks into a black hole". We have a whole bunch of shooters-and none of them are true shooting specialists- most of the team wouldnt play defense to save their lives and he's added contracts that cant be moved. For all of Isiah's wheeling and dealing he's succeeded only in putting together an expensive mess. This team is a paper tiger. On paper we look good but on the court we suck. Forget about GM of the Year, Isiah Thomas is giving Rob Babcock a run for his money for Worst GM of the Year. After analyzing all of Isiah's previous moves I have a good idea of what he plans on doing during the summer and I've come to the conclusion that the only way the Knicks are going to do anything worth mentioning is if Sweetney develops faster than I thought possible and becomes a premier power forward. In which case we would be thanking Layden and not Isiah. Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired.</div> Marbury Crawford Richardson Sweetney James That's not a bad starting line up. You might have a few bad shots, but they'll be flying up and down the court so fast you'll barely notice. Not to mention that you have Nate, Trevor,Frye, Mo Taylor coming off the bench. Put it together, the Knicks have the talent to compete in the East. They can easily win they're division. Gone are the days where a 6'7 Kurt Thomas was playing Center, now you have a legit bigman and some serious young talent to look foward to down the line. The future looks good.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">The Knicks are no better now than when Isiah Thomas took over. The Knicks were in a better position under Layden than they are now. The payroll is through the roof and we have nothing to show for it. Isiah Thomas, to quote a Knicks fan, is "taking the Knicks into a black hole".</div> They?re actually much better than they were with Isiah than they were with Layden ? that goes without saying. How can you mention the payroll being through the roof and than you support Scott Layden? Layden is the reason why the payroll is the way it is now. The ridiculous payroll is all Layden?s doing. I don?t think we?re headed into a black hole at all ? we seem to be well on our way into the right direction. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We have a whole bunch of shooters-and none of them are true shooting specialists- most of the team wouldnt play defense to save their lives and he's added contracts that cant be moved.</div> So what did Layden do? He overpaid Allan Houston who was a shooting specialist, however, he is the reason why we are in the condition we?re in now. He gave Allan Houston 100 million dollars and made him the 3rd most paid player in the whole league. He is terrible defensively, isn?t a great passer nor rebounder and his contract makes him immovable and yet you still like Layden? Isiah is adding talent to the team who have all-star potential and whether or not his moves pan out well is yet to be seen, but so far it looks good on paper. In addition, if he finds a way to get Larry Brown, we will be all the more better. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">For all of Isiah's wheeling and dealing he's succeeded only in putting together an expensive mess. This team is a paper tiger. On paper we look good but on the court we suck.</div> Again, Layden didn?t do better. Even if this team happens to be expensive, at least we know we?re better than last year?s team. In the draft, it seems as if he did decently as well. If James turns out well and we get Larry Brown, Isiah deserves props. I just want to know: how you we?re going to suck on the court when you haven?t seen these Knicks play together? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Forget about GM of the Year, Isiah Thomas is giving Rob Babcock a run for his money for Worst GM of the Year. After analyzing all of Isiah's previous moves I have a good/dea of what he plans on doing during the summer and I've come to the conclusion that the only way the Knicks are going to do anything worth mentioning is if Sweetney develops faster than I thought possible and becomes a premier power forward. In which case we would be thanking Layden and not Isiah.</div> How so? I don?t understand how you can judge this move so quickly. Training camp didn?t even start and yet you?re judging our players already? You?re not being reasonable, Tribute. At the very least we owe Isiah Thomas time to see how his moves turn out. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">But the difference is, Iverson and Webber or Jefferson and Carter are only two guys compared to Thomas, Richardson, Marbury, and Crawford- four guys who are going to be demanding the ball. And unlike the Suns last year, those four guys above don't share the ball well so there's obviously going to be some chemistry issues. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Marbury have Tim Thomas and Jamal Crawford last year too? How many shooters do you need?</div> Marbury doesn't really demand the ball unless no one else is doing anything with it - that's when he takes the game into his own hands. Also now with Richardson, Marbury will look to pass much more having the presence of yet another good shooter. Last time when Marbury had good shooters around him, he averaged 9.3 assists which was good enough to be the leader in APG. Last year, not Marbury, Thomas, nor Crawford had chemistry issues. Being absent due to injuries did effect their game play a bit, however, it was not major; and now that they have a season under their belt, they will be better. These acquisitions make the Knicks perhaps the deepest team on the perimeter this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">But the difference is, Iverson and Webber or Jefferson and Carter are only two guys compared to Thomas, Richardson, Marbury, and Crawford- four guys who are going to be demanding the ball. And unlike the Suns last year, those four guys above don't share the ball well so there's obviously going to be some chemistry issues. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Marbury have Tim Thomas and Jamal Crawford last year too? How many shooters do you need?</div> Marbury doesn't really demand the ball unless no one else is doing anything with it - that's when he takes the game into his own hands. Also now with Richardson, Marbury will look to pass much more having the presence of yet another good shooter. Last time when Marbury had good shooters around him, he averaged 9.3 assists which was good enough to be the leader in APG. Last year, not Marbury, Thomas, nor Crawford had chemistry issues. Being absent due to injuries did effect their game play a bit, however, it was not major; and now that they have a season under their belt, they will be better. These acquisitions make the Knicks perhaps the deepest team on the perimeter this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">But the difference is, Iverson and Webber or Jefferson and Carter are only two guys compared to Thomas, Richardson, Marbury, and Crawford- four guys who are going to be demanding the ball. And unlike the Suns last year, those four guys above don't share the ball well so there's obviously going to be some chemistry issues. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Marbury have Tim Thomas and Jamal Crawford last year too? How many shooters do you need?</div> You're completely wrong, and obviously didn't watch this team this year. Our problem last year was no one had confidence in each other, alot of guys didn't want to take control, some guys were scared, and pass the ball to the 4th or 5th option (Penny Hardaway at the Sacramento game for example.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">They?re actually much better than they were with Isiah than they were with Layden ? that goes without saying. How can you mention the payroll being through the roof and than you support Scott Layden? Layden is the reason why the payroll is the way it is now. The ridiculous payroll is all Layden?s doing. I don?t think we?re headed into a black hole at all ? we seem to be well on our way into the right direction. So what did Layden do? He overpaid Allan Houston who was a shooting specialist, however, he is the reason why we are in the condition we?re in now. He gave Allan Houston 100 million dollars and made him the 3rd most paid player in the whole league. He is terrible defensively, isn?t a great passer nor rebounder and his contract makes him immovable and yet you still like Layden? Isiah is adding talent to the team who have all-star potential and whether or not his moves pan out well is yet to be seen, but so far it looks good on paper. In addition, if he finds a way to get Larry Brown, we will be all the more better. Again, Layden didn?t do better. Even if this team happens to be expensive, at least we know we?re better than last year?s team. In the draft, it seems as if he did decently as well. If James turns out well and we get Larry Brown, Isiah deserves props. I just want to know: how you we?re going to suck on the court when you haven?t seen these Knicks play together? How so? I don?t understand how you can judge this move so quickly. Training camp didn?t even start and yet you?re judging our players already? You?re not being reasonable, Tribute. At the very least we owe Isiah Thomas time to see how his moves turn out. Marbury doesn't really demand the ball unless no one else is doing anything with it - that's when he takes the game into his own hands. Also now with Richardson, Marbury will look to pass much more having the presence of yet another good shooter. Last time when Marbury had good shooters around him, he averaged 9.3 assists which was good enough to be the leader in APG. Last year, not Marbury, Thomas, nor Crawford had chemistry issues. Being absent due to injuries did effect their game play a bit, however, it was not major; and now that they have a season under their belt, they will be better. These acquisitions make the Knicks perhaps the deepest team on the perimeter this season.</div> Yeh, we're better, but thats not saying much, we're still not playoff contenders, and anything is an improvement over Howard Eisley/Frank Williams/Charlie Ward Allan Houston/Shannon Anderson Keith Van Horn/Lee Nailon Clarence Weatherspoon/Othella Harrington Kurt Thomas/Micheal Doleac We had the chance to get under the cap, Isiah completely KILLED it, Clerance Weatherspoon has an expiring contract this year...same with Ward and Doleac, Anderson, Nalion, Keith Van Horn, Howard Eisley, Othella Harrington contracts all expired this season, with Houston expiring in a year or two...........lol jesus man, we would have cap room to sign all these top free agents this year, or Lebron and Yao in 2007, suck and rebuild from then to now....and just start a new era. Isiah is trying to rebuild with the cap on his back, thats why I don't respect Isiah.
Regardless, of what anyone says I just can't see this squad going anywhere with just talent. The the Lakers fantastic four couldn't get it done, the Olympic team couldn't get it done, Dallas can't get it done, but teams like the Spurs, Heat ,Pistons team which have their star(s) but for the most part have players that compliment the stars is what really gets the job done at the end of the day. I don't see why Thomas can't understand that. Truth be told, behind the 76ers I want to see the Knicks do well, I was born and raised in the middle of NYC and for once in my life I want to root for my hometown team but Thomas makes it so hard to do that with these questioable moves, but yet people support him with these moves.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Avery:</div><div class="quote_post">Regardless, of what anyone says I just can't see this squad going anywhere with just talent. The the Lakers fantastic four couldn't get it done, the Olympic team couldn't get it done, Dallas can't get it done, but teams like the Spurs, Heat ,Pistons team which have their star(s) but for the most part have players that compliment the stars is what really gets the job done at the end of the day.</div> At least the Lakers fantastic four went to the NBA Finals, yhe extremely poorly composed Olympic team didn?t do well but at last got Bronze, the Mavericks had a great team a couple of years ago and if Dirk Nowitzki wasn?t injured, they could have possibly won the series and could have played New Jersey in the finals. My point is while these teams may not have gotten championships, these teams have gotten significantly far in the playoffs and for the Knicks, that would be a huge step. Also, why do you say complimenting each other? I think the Knicks team has perfect compliments with their outside-inside-penetration attack. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't see why Thomas can't understand that. Truth be told, behind the 76ers I want to see the Knicks do well, I was born and raised in the middle of NYC and for once in my life I want to root for my hometown team but Thomas makes it so hard to do that with these questioable moves, but yet people support him with these moves.</div> Hopefully he?ll make you root for them this season. I have a feeling the Knicks will defy expectations and do pretty well in the East. They?re younger, more talented and better overall. But I won?t be able to persuade you ? after seeing the results of this season, you can make your own opinions.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">At least the Lakers fantastic four went to the NBA Finals, yhe extremely poorly composed Olympic team didn?t do well but at last got Bronze, the Mavericks had a great team a couple of years ago and if Dirk Nowitzki wasn?t injured, they could have possibly won the series and could have played New Jersey in the finals. My point is while these teams may not have gotten championships, these teams have gotten significantly far in the playoffs and for the Knicks, that would be a huge step. Also, why do you say complimenting each other? I think the Knicks team has perfect compliments with their outside-inside-penetration attack. Hopefully he?ll make you root for them this season. I have a feeling the Knicks will defy expectations and do pretty well in the East. They?re younger, more talented and better overall. But I won?t be able to persuade you ? after seeing the results of this season, you can make your own opinions.</div> Good post, hopefully everything works out to the way Isiah sees it, and we get to that level someday.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">Marbury Crawford Richardson Sweetney James That's not a bad starting line up. You might have a few bad shots, but they'll be flying up and down the court so fast you'll barely notice. Not to mention that you have Nate, Trevor,Frye, Mo Taylor coming off the bench. Put it together, the Knicks have the talent to compete in the East. They can easily win they're division. Gone are the days where a 6'7 Kurt Thomas was playing Center, now you have a legit bigman and some serious young talent to look foward to down the line. The future looks good.</div> It sure doesnt look like a bad starting lineup but then again you could have said the same thing about last year's starting lineup. There is still no defense out on the perimeter which spells trouble for the foul prone Jerome James. Marbury and Crawford dont compliment each other very well and Crawford's shot selection is simply terrible. Richardson isnt that good. I dont know why people think he's so great. He's just another trigger happy shooter(not even a particularly good one) who doesnt play defense as far as I'm concerned. And with a perimeter line up like this Sweetney will rarely get any touches in the low post. Marbury isnt really that good on the fast break and you have to be able to play defense and rebound the ball before you can talk about transition game and this team cant play defense and James isnt a great rebounder. So the Knicks will not be a transition team. If I was running the team the future would look alright but with Isiah at the helm...it's looking like a very bleak future. This is the same guy who traded away the Knicks future for a career loser afterall. He wont hesitate to deal Sweetney for some lazy bum that has potential(i.e. Kwame Brown) or for some overpaid player that really wont help the Knicks. The Knicks payroll will rise and rise and the Knicks will hover around mediocrity while Isiah is here. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">They?re actually much better than they were with Isiah than they were with Layden ? that goes without saying. How can you mention the payroll being through the roof and than you support Scott Layden? Layden is the reason why the payroll is the way it is now. The ridiculous payroll is all Layden?s doing. I don?t think we?re headed into a black hole at all ? we seem to be well on our way into the right direction. So what did Layden do? He overpaid Allan Houston who was a shooting specialist, however, he is the reason why we are in the condition we?re in now. He gave Allan Houston 100 million dollars and made him the 3rd most paid player in the whole league. He is terrible defensively, isn?t a great passer nor rebounder and his contract makes him immovable and yet you still like Layden? Isiah is adding talent to the team who have all-star potential and whether or not his moves pan out well is yet to be seen, but so far it looks good on paper. In addition, if he finds a way to get Larry Brown, we will be all the more better. Again, Layden didn?t do better. Even if this team happens to be expensive, at least we know we?re better than last year?s team. In the draft, it seems as if he did decently as well. If James turns out well and we get Larry Brown, Isiah deserves props. I just want to know: how you we?re going to suck on the court when you haven?t seen these Knicks play together? How so? I don?t understand how you can judge this move so quickly. Training camp didn?t even start and yet you?re judging our players already? You?re not being reasonable, Tribute. At the very least we owe Isiah Thomas time to see how his moves turn out.</div> You honestly think the Knicks are in a better place now than when Isiah took over for Layden?? Let me see...the Knicks were a lottery team under Layden and their a lottery team under Isiah. The payroll under Layden was less than 100 million dollars. The payroll under Isiah is over 100 million dollars. So we got more for our money's worth under Layden. I am not supporting Layden. I think both he and Isiah are bad GM's. Layden may have caused the Knicks salary cap woes but Isiah didnt help it and if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. Isiah continued the trend of taking more salary to patch things up so that makes him just as guilty as Layden in my book. When he came in he could have scrapped the whole thing and started over but he didnt. Instead he traded young talent, cap space and picks for somebody who has never been able to lead his team past the first round. As for Layden overpaying Houston...Layden did not give Houston the 100 million dollar contract. Dolan is the one who gave it to Houston so you cant blame Layden for that one. Calling Houston a shooting specialist is like calling Tim Duncan an "alright" powerforward. Houston when he got the contract was considered the best shooter in the league. And Houston, all things considered, was probably a 90 million dollar player so he wasnt way overpaid. "Terrible defensively"??? Wow. If Houston was "terrible defensively" the Knicks in the late nineties would not have been as good defensively as they were so make sure you know what your talking about before you start regurgitating(spelling right?) what some jackass sports writer writes. He was a decent defender who would step up his defense every now and again. I'll take Houston's contract and the way he was playing before he got hurt over Stephon Marbury, his contract and nonsense anyday(before anyone even thinks of disagreeing with me they better be prepared and bring more than stats to the table). Adding players with all star potential to the team?? Who??? I hope you dont mean Channing Frye, David Lee or Nate Robinson!! I dont need to see this team to play to know it's going to be a disaster. I just have to look at the team, the problems we had last year and Isiah's track record to know were going to be in the lottery. If we get Larry Brown and the Knicks start doing well it'll be because it's Larry Brown who's coaching and doing a great job despite the huge mess Isiah made. I dont owe Isiah Thomas a damn thing. In fact he owes me an apology for this disaster. Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired(now that would be a step in the right direction!).
I'm both ways in my thinking on the New York Knickerbockers. I thought they would be in the semis of the Eastern Conference this year... turns out they had an underacheiving year yet again... It seems the Knicks are hyped almost every year, because of the amt. of talent they have, but it just doesnt seem to mesh together well, or something or other goes wrong, etc. I can see them doing well this year, but I can also see it being a disastrous year... only time will tell.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">"Isiah Thomas is giving Rob Babcock a run for his money for Worst GM of the Year" This attitude towards Babcock is a result of reading one to many know it all analysts who used Babcock as a tool to get out thier punch lines. Babcock's draft pick didnt work out, but might still since its only been 1 year. Worst things have happened and been done by other GM's...he's not the first GM to draft a player in the lottery that didnt produce. It might still happen but we'll see. Then people rag on him for the vince deal saying it was horrible and rambling on and on and on about it. I think the deal was pretty good actually. What more could we of gotten for a sulking whining crybaby who obviously wasnt trying and was constantly repeating to anyone that would listen that he wanted out of Toronto despite being the franchise, despite the team wanting him, despite the fans wanting him, and despite his 14 million dollar annual paycheck. Graham + a 1st year next year is definately nice....hell if Vince was still with the Raps and Graham with the Nets i'd do that deal straight up for salary cap reasons and especially to get rid of his dead weight and attitude. Babcock had one of the best drafts this year if not the best and he's put together a very very solid young core. The team still need work but overall its way better off that it was looking then when he took it over.</div> This is completley off topic, but what the hell are you thinking? Babcock had another horrible draft. Villanueava is going to amount to nothing in the NB maybe a 10 7 player, but he is not a good pick whatsoever. Babcock has the chance to take Granger who obviosuly loved Toronto and Babcock decides to take Villanueava who is just the same position that your franchise okayer Bosh is so lets see. You take Granger and you have Altson Rose Granger Bosh Araujo Pretty damn good lineup. Now with the 16 you pass up on Green who is TmacII and take... Joey Graham. Come on this guy is not worth passing up Green. Graham is a good player and will contribute but will not be half as good as Green. Take Green and Alston Rose Green Granger Bosh Please tell me you don?t want that lineup over Alston Rose Graham Bosh Hoffa. Please. You could have enough cap felxibility with the Granger Green draft to nab a good C via FA per se, Chandler Alston Green ?Granger ?Bosh ?Chandler ?And you say that ?Babcock had one of the best drafts this year if not the best. ?Please. ?GSW had a much better draft.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting j0se:</div><div class="quote_post">Charlie is V is underrated by most, I hope he proves all you guys wrong.</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">It sure doesnt look like a bad starting lineup but then again you could have said the same thing about last year's starting lineup.</div> Houston was supposed to be a part of that starting lineup but he was injured so you need to take that into consideration. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There is still no defense out on the perimeter which spells trouble for the foul prone Jerome James.</div> True, but I believe Frye could help in this category as well. The very Larry Brown?s defensive philosophy should increase our defense. I also think Marbury and Crawford have learned their lessons and will try harder defensively. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Marbury and Crawford dont compliment each other very well and Crawford's shot selection is simply terrible.</div> Actually, they do. They are two terrific ball handlers who are very good passers. Crawford has a better shot when taking the right shots. His shot selection does have to improve, but after tape reviews and playing 6th man, I think he?ll play much better. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Richardson isnt that good. I dont know why people think he's so great. He's just another trigger happy shooter(not even a particularly good one) who doesnt play defense as far as I'm concerned.</div> He?s a solid scorer who hasn?t gotten opportunities to show it playing on the Clippers or playing on the Suns. The reason why he played so trigger happy was because that?s how he was used on his previous teams. He won?t stand out on the perimeter and launch away ? that was his job in Phoenix, however, we need him differently. His defense could stand to improve, but with Jerome James, Frye and possibly Brown, we?ll be better off than you think. We were a bad defensive team last year in 03-04, but Mutombo made it much better. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">And with a perimeter line up like this Sweetney will rarely get any touches in the low post.</div> I doubt it. I?m sure Sweetney will get his share down low. Feeding the ball to our bigs will open up another dimension for us offensively. Even if they do happen to lose out, both him and Lee are such great rebounders; they can clean up after many missed shots. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Marbury isnt really that good on the fast break and you have to be able to play defense and rebound the ball before you can talk about transition game and this team cant play defense</div> The Suns were not known as a defensive team and yet they were known for their transition game. I don?t think our rebounding is as bad as you say it will be for the following reasons: 1) We now have two 7-footers on the roster. 2) We have David Lee and Sweetney only getting better. 3) Quentin Richardson will bolster our rebounds on the perimeter that our undersized backcourt of Marbury and Crawford couldn?t do. Also let?s not forget that fast breaks can be sparked by turnovers and someone like Quentin Richardson who is 12th in the NBA in Steals Per Turnover is an ideal player to have in starting a fast break. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">and James isnt a great rebounder.</div> He?s decent. He usually plays next to Reggie Evans who?s a monster on the boards and averages about 9.3 a game in 24 minutes. As you can imagine, he loses some rebounds to this guy. In addition, while James might not be the best rebounder, Lee and Sweetney are good. We also can?t forget we won?t be too terrible rebounding with Richardson around; he averages 6 rebounds a game. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So the Knicks will not be a transition team. If I was running the team the future would look alright but with Isiah at the helm...it's looking like a very bleak future. This is the same guy who traded away the Knicks future for a career loser afterall.</div> What do you mean by the Knicks future? Lampe? I don?t understand what was wrong with that move. Although I would have kept him, trading him for a consistent 20/8 all-star caliber player is definitely not a bad move at all. Besides, it doesn?t look as if Lampe is fairing too well in the league being bounced around 3 times in 3 years. I?m not saying he?s a bust, but Marbury was much more sure than Lampe. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He wont hesitate to deal Sweetney for some lazy bum that has potential(i.e. Kwame Brown) or for some overpaid player that really wont help the Knicks.</div> The reason why he was looking to deal Sweetney was because he just doesn?t fit the direction of the team and someone like Kwame Brown does. I think he needs a change of scenery and if he works with Aguirre, 20/10 numbers are not out of the question at all. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Knicks payroll will rise and rise</div> I don?t understand this. Layden is the sole reason why the Knicks payroll is so ridiculous today and yet you?re blaming Isiah for it? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">and the Knicks will hover around mediocrity while Isiah is here.</div> I?d rather hover around mediocrity than hover in the lottery. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You honestly think the Knicks are in a better place now than when Isiah took over for Layden?? Let me see...the Knicks were a lottery team under Layden and their a lottery team under Isiah.</div> Layden tore apart a championship contending team and made it a lottery. Isiah took a lottery team to the playoffs once and than to the lottery back again. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The payroll under Layden was less than 100 million dollars. The payroll under Isiah is over 100 million dollars. So we got more for our money's worth under Layden.</div> Isiah added much less money to the payroll than Layden did. I think when Layden was here it was like 90-something million dollars and Isiah made it slightly worse. We didn?t get our money?s worth at all with Layden. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I am not supporting Layden. I think both he and Isiah are bad GM's. Layden may have caused the Knicks salary cap woes but Isiah didnt help it and if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. Isiah continued the trend of taking more salary to patch things up so that makes him just as guilty as Layden in my book. When he came in he could have scrapped the whole thing and started over but he didnt.</div> Patching things up and waiting until 2007 where Allan Houston?s contract is up is not the right direction to go in my opinion. I see the direction Isiah Thomas is headed whereas Layden I did not. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Instead he traded young talent, cap space and picks for somebody who has never been able to lead his team past the first round.</div> He also acquired young talent and picks too. Give credit where credit is due. Marbury?s unfortunate situation doesn?t have merit to it. If I remember correctly, Jordan was having trouble getting his team out the first round of the playoffs, too. Does that make him less of a player? What about Elton Brand? He?s never even been to the playoffs but he?s as good a player as Marbury and if not, better. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As for Layden overpaying Houston...Layden did not give Houston the 100 million dollar contract. Dolan is the one who gave it to Houston so you cant blame Layden for that one.</div> I had no idea he did that. Sorry, I didn?t know that. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Calling Houston a shooting specialist is like calling Tim Duncan an "alright" powerforward. Houston when he got the contract was considered the best shooter in the league. And Houston, all things considered, was probably a 90 million dollar player so he wasnt way overpaid.</div> I think that?s pushing it. Houston was an excellent shooter no buts about it, but specialist or expert is the right word for him. I don?t think he?d get the best shooter anonymously, but he was a premier shooter. Allan Houston in no way, shape, or form was worth 90 million dollars. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Terrible defensively"??? Wow. If Houston was "terrible defensively" the Knicks in the late nineties would not have been as good defensively as they were so make sure you know what your talking about before you start regurgitating(spelling right?) what some jackass sports writer writes. He was a decent defender who would step up his defense every now and again.</div> It takes more than one person to make a team good defensively. Back in the 90?s, the Knicks were a great defense team. Team was the keyword there. They had two great shot blockers, a great defensive coach and their perimeter defense was full of guys like Sprewell and Charlie Ward who were locking the perimeter. Perhaps terrible was too strong a word and for that, I apologize, however, throughout his career, Houston has been known as a below average defender. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'll take Houston's contract and the way he was playing before he got hurt over Stephon Marbury, his contract and nonsense anyday(before anyone even thinks of disagreeing with me they better be prepared and bring more than stats to the table).</div> Well, that?s your opinion and there?s no point in arguing over that. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Adding players with all star potential to the team?? Who??? I hope you dont mean Channing Frye, David Lee or Nate Robinson!!</div> No, I didn?t mean them; I meant Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont need to see this team to play to know it's going to be a disaster. I just have to look at the team, the problems we had last year and Isiah's track record to know were going to be in the lottery.</div> You can never judge a team like that. Ever. The same was said about the Bulls, Sonics, Wizards, Bucks and Grizzlies (last year). Could the Knicks follow such a path? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If we get Larry Brown and the Knicks start doing well it'll be because it's Larry Brown who's coaching and doing a great job despite the huge mess Isiah made. I dont owe Isiah Thomas a damn thing. In fact he owes me an apology for this disaster.</div> Larry Brown has won wherever he has gone and hopefully if we get him, he can continue that trend in New York which I believe he will do. You at the very least owe Isiah Thomas a chance to show how this season will be for the Knicks.
How could you not be excited about Nate Robinson. I wasn't too familiar with him until I caught one of the summer league game, and I have to say the kid is very fun to watch. He's a team player who competes at a very high level and is fast as hell running up and down the court. I think his unselfish play will rub off on the rest of team like Steve Nash did in Pheonix.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">How could you not be excited about Nate Robinson. I wasn't too familiar with him until I caught one of the summer league game, and I have to say the kid is very fun to watch. He's a team player who competes at a very high level and is fast as hell running up and down the court. I think his unselfish play will rub off on the rest of team like Steve Nash did in Pheonix.</div> Cause of Stephon Marbury and Crawford, which will limit Nate Robinson's playimg time, I want to see him play, but we already got a guy at PG who's going to give the team 40 mins a night on avg.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting j0se:</div><div class="quote_post">Cause of Stephon Marbury and Crawford, which will limit Nate Robinson's playimg time, I want to see him play, but we already got a guy at PG who's going to give the team 40 mins a night on avg.</div> Perhaps Robinson might allow Marbury to play 35 minutes or so. He is very talented.
Maybe, but Im probably too confident in Marbruy, he takes good care of the ball, and has an elite assist to turnover ratio.
