What are you guys talking about? Most of you never watched Splitter play. Splitter has the ability to shoot from anywhere in the court, there was a reason why he compared to Gasol and Dirk in his early career. This seaosn at Tau, they switch his role, he's the most phyiscla player in Europe, he plays center and bangs against the best, and better comptetion Taft or Fyre has faced....lol come on Fyre bangs against guys like Austine ...... Splitter has always been the better prospect, and has the highest IQ of these guys. Taft is a spectator on the court, if you want another Tim Thomas, lazy guy with talent but just stands on the court, then taft if your man. Fyre is over hype, you wanna talk about not physical? Fyre is pretty soft from what I seen, and I'm not down for another soft big man. I wish you guys seen Splitter play more, he's as very athletic, and his jumpshot is very good, the thing is, he DOESNT use it, because he's banging inside for Tau, thats his role, like Tyson Chandler's role on the Bulls, come off the bench rebound, block shots, play team defense, and defend one on one. Splitter does all those things. Splitter also has a couple of perimeter skills, take you off the dribble, he's an excellent interior passer, he could shoot from anywhere in the court, and is a very good descion maker on the court, you rarely see him make bone head plays Not only Splitter is better than these guys, his potential is just unlimited with his combination of talent, skill, basketball iq, and hard work, he's just going to get better Taft didnt even have a goodcollege career, and Fyre isn't even the best player on his team Stoudamire, Hassan Adams, and Kustafa Shakur will be better NBA players than Fyre, Fyre will just be a role player, he'll never be good center, he shys away from physical contact, he's not explosive to the basket like Splitter, he's pretty finnese with his little turn around jumpers, his offensive game is limited, post skills are garbage alot of his points come from tip ins, his rebounding skills are average at best, Honestly, I don't see what people are hyped about, he's a big man who runs the floor...lol HELLO, this is the Knicks, we're not a full court team, this is Marbury's team Isiah should be fired on the spot if he selects Fyre, I rather have Taft
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">i had to drop in and ask Tribute how many games you've seen Splitter play? You're building your whole messed up comparison from weak sauce scouting reports and rumours. Splitter a lottery pick? Not likely. There are many questions about him, same as Frye. Is he better....i dont personally thing so, but we all have opinions. Splitter cant shoot, is far far far to weak to be a center in the league this year or next ( i dont care what you're feading him) so it would be like drafting your 7th powerforward. Frye isnt ideal if his size is indeed the same as college, but its at least a little better. His height, his build..improvements over Splitter. Frye can shoot...Splitter has the worst shot outside of 5feet since Shaq. He either dunks it or hook shot, but he's to weak to get that close the bucket at the offensive end vs centers and probably even alot of PF. He's a project, and could be very good. But i dont think he will be much better than Frye, personally i dont think he'll be better at all, but even if he is i have to ask; do you want to wait a few years for him or are you satisfied with adding to the knicks PF problems. Splitter has good defense, Frye has good defense. Its hard to compare the two because of the difference in opponent size and all. I mean euro guys are generally bigger but they're far from good. I mean Zan Tabak was supposed to be the starter?! I'd say though that because of body composition, the style's of play taking into consideration their ability to play that way in the NBA and all that junk Frye is the better selection. He could do a Marcus Camby and play even though he's light, and if he is bigger like they say he is GREAT. so what if his mobility is hampered a bit, shouldnt stop a 7footer from being able to get a 16footer off and should make him more solid in the block at both ends of the court. Its not like he's a Chris Bosh type player who uses his agility and speed to be successful. Splitter is as weak as Chris Bosh, and there's no difference in their body compositions. To assume that Splitter can put on the needed weight to play the nba 5 spot is a bit much to risk a 8th pick on. Chris Bosh has been in the league 2 years now and he's still not ready to play the 5 despite efforts to increase his bulk to defend NBA 4's better. If splitter cant end up playing the 5 spot at all he's almost a useless pick for the Knicks with the number of pf's you have especially when considering that all 5 of the 6 (sweetney aside) wouldnt be easy to move. K. Thomas might be, but its still tough cause he makes like 8 mill till he's 36. MRJ - strange enough as it might seem i like your ideas better. Granger is solid offensively and a tremendous defensive player which is really what you guys need. NY is a tough place to develop, a project center is less than ideal for the city that never sleeps and never gives basketball players a break. Granger will give you blocks too...great on ball defender, very high IQ. just my 2cents Edit: post fixed....Taft's name has been strickened</div> I've seen Splitter play in a fair amount of games. Sometimes they show Euroleague games on NBATV and sometimes it's his team. Other times I use the internet to watch him play. Last game I saw was a few weeks ago. ACB playoffs, quarterfinals against some team that I cant remember. He played pretty damn good too. But yeah scouting reports are mostly what I use for any player I do research on. And most scouts would agree that he's a top ten pick at least without the contract issues. In fact Draftcity which in my opinion is one of the best if not the best source to get information on prospects considers him to be the second best big man in the draft(in terms of experience, current ability, upside and all that other stuff) behind only Bogut. I'm not too worried about Splitter's jumpshot. He used to be a very good shooter before Tau Ceramica started discouraging from playing out on the perimeter. In fact he was drawing comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki since he's pretty much as mobile and had a good jumpshot. All he needs is to shake the rust cobwebs off his jumpshot start using it more and gain some more confidence in it and he'll be fine. Besides Ariza and Sweetney didnt have a jumpshot either this season. Now Sweetney will be working on his turnaround fadeaway jumper this summer and Ariza will hopefully be working on gaining more range and consistency. Ron Artest didnt have one when he first entered the league(one of the reasons the Knicks didnt draft him) and now he can hit trey's with regularity. It'll take a single season for him to start shooting jumpers like he used to. By the way I find it comforting that Splitter wont leave the paint to shoot jumpers. I like my big men in the paint mixing it up. Getting post position isnt all about muscle. Hell Nenad Kristic gets low post position to fire off those hook shots. And I dont care how Splitter finishes around the basket as long as he finishes. Fyre is not an improvement over Splitter at the center position. Last time I checked Fyre was still a shade under seven feet tall whereas Splitter is already slightly over seven feet. Splitter can put on as much muscle as he'll ever need to play center. I said this before and I'll say it again: There arent any more real centers left in the league besides Shaq, Yao and Big Z(I suppose you could say Dampier is a center but he has no offense). Any powerforward with some height, a little muscle and attitude can play center without a problem. Look at Nenad Kristic. Look at the Suns. The Pistons dont have a real center either. McDyuess I believe plays center when he comes off the bench. Either him or Rasheed Wallace but the point is their not real centers. Splitter has the height, frame, intensity and defensive ability to play center in this league. It's interesting that you bring up Camby. Camby was successful in playing center because of three reasons: 1. He was athletic 2. He was intense. 3. He was willing to bang even though he was lighter than his rivals. Fyre has none of these attributes but Splitter does. Even if Fyre(and like I said I think it's a lie) was bigger it wouldnt make a difference. He'd still be soft and refuse to bang inside. He would still settle for outside shots even though we can get that from Kurt Thomas or some other big man that wont cost more than the MLE. With Mark Agguire's help Splitter will be strong enough to start at center by the 2006-2007 campaign providing he comes over this summer(and he'll have a killer post up game too). As far as defense goes, Fyre was pretty much always the tallest player on the court at nearly seven feet playing against undersized powerforwards. Good defense on those guys do not impress me. Splitter guards full grown men(no undersized powerforwards in the Euroleague) and as everybody knows the average European big man is relatively skilled when compared to other big men. So judging by the competition I'd say yes Splitter is easily a better individual defender and I hope you're not going to tell me that Fyre is as good on team defense. By the way about Zan Tabak starting over Fran Vazquez that doesnt mean a thing. Jawad Williams started over Marvin Williams. I guess you think that means Jawad Williams is better than Marvin Williams. Vazquez has a good jumpshot just like Fyre but he's much more athletic, more active, better defender and not soft in the least. I suppose you could say he's a rich man's Fyre. As I said before Splitter is better in just about every concievable way. The only advantages Fyre has are the most temporary. He has a better jumpshot and is bigger than Splitter right now. Splitter will shoot the way he used to shoot since he'll be encouraged to shoot the jumper in the NBA and he'll have no problem adding on the muscle to play the five spot. There really is no comparison between the two and again I say Fyre does not belong in the lottery or even mid first round. There are a whole bunch of big men I'd rather have play center for me like Diogu or Jawad Williams. Bosh doesnt have the frame to add on a significant amount of muscle. That was a serious concern of his when he was drafted. I'm not surprised he's having issues with that. Splitter has a much better body to put on weight without having to worry about losing his athleticism. Let's say you're right about Splitter not being able to add on enough weight to play center. Nevermind the fact that there are hardly any real centers left. Let's say hypothetically you are proved correct. Splitter will be the best big forward coming off the bench in the NBA which will especially be important if Sweetney still has issues with the whole fouling thing. We can always deal him and since he'll still be a very good powerforward we'd be able to get a good center out of him(worst case scenario). And the final thing we could do is have Sweetney match up against the other team's center on defense so Splitter wont get outmuscled(come to think of it the Knicks are probably going to do that anyway if they draft Splitter). Drafting Splitter has way too many benefits and practically no risks. If we draft Fyre we get a Jason Collins type of guy and end up kicking ourselves when realize what a waste of a pick that was. I'd really prefer Taft. Danny Granger is a nice player. But he wont help. Nine out of ten of defensive break downs in the perimeter came from the guard positions. The small forward position is not the problem. Granger will not be able to help. Granger especially doesnt make sense since we already have Ariza. The Kncks need interior prescence to make up for the guard's lack of intensity on the defensive end. We also need a big man so Sweetney can play the four spot(he'll be much more effective there!). We need a big man named Tiago Splitter! Anyway Isiah Thomas should be fired.
I appreciate your optimism in regards to Splitter and i respect your opinions. I swee wher e you are coming from and thats cool, unfortunately i'm not able to make the step to join you in your optimisim. Regardless of your opinions, the draft will go how the GM's want, this forum and thread in particular is just sort of putting ideas out for others to play with and look forward to as well as to be able to look back at and say "see i told you he was going to be special didnt I?". We'll have to wait and see who gets drafted where, but i can honestly say that in my opinion, if Splitter stays in the draft he wont go in the top 15 and maybe not the top 20. If he pulls out he's got time to come back next year, which should be a weak draft if the age limit comes in, or the year after that. If you're right than his role on Tau will increase and he might be able to work out his contract with them to make the jump into the NBA. I'm going to predict though that we never see him starting for any NBA team ever in a consistent fashion. Just my prediction, and i could be wrong cause i'm not an oracle, but we'll have to wait and see. Whoever the knicks get its an improvement. Even a Frye, while you might not think he's as good as Splitter, is an improvement over your current players over 6-11(since the Knicks have none) at very least he's a Doleac. And MRJ is right that you guys were defending Doleac while i was saying what a good deal Nazr for Doleac was. Whether he's worth the 8th pick is up for contension, but we still wont know till draft night.
Then I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. You're right Fyre will indeed improve the Knicks but that's not saying much since the Knicks will be improved no matter who we draft. I did indeed defend Michael Doleac and I still do. I thought he was a great player considering the way we used him. But I never said he was worth a lottery pick. And four years from now when Splitter is one of the best, most versatile power forwards in the league, when Isiah Thomas is out of a job(again), when Knick fans curse the day Isiah Thomas was born I'll say "I told you so". Ah well knowing Isiah I guess I better start getting used to the idea of drafting Channing Fyre. Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Knick pick may point to younger Parker BY CHRISTIAN RED DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER A French point guard named Parker running the Knicks' fast break? It could become a reality - that is, if Isiah Thomas liked what he saw yesterday when several prospects completed a predraft workout at the team's Greenburgh facility. Tony Parker, San Antonio's dynamic point guard, isn't defecting from the Spurs, but the Knicks could get his 21-year-old brother, T.J., who is foregoing his final year at Northwestern and entering the NBA draft.</div> http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketba...8p-273744c.html
Sorry to reply so late, Tribute. I had Regents to study for. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont like Curry but I'd rather have him over Fyre and no you cant imagine how much I dont like Fyre. Why wouldnt they make things up? There were serious concerns about his body frame this whole season and how much weight he could put on without sacrificing mobility. Then all of a sudden he's added twenty or so pounds of muscle and is more explosive than before?? Does that make sense to you? I already told you why his stock went through the roof. Someone said(his agent I believe) he has a top ten guarantee and then all the GM's were like, "Wow! There must be something special about this kid that I missed let's have another look at him!". They take another look at him and say, "Wow! He really is a top ten pick I'm going to use my lottery pick on this guy!", even though its still the exact same guy they had penciled in the late first round. Even you fell for it because now you think since there's all this hoopla around Fyre there must be some substance when there isnt any. And if all that nonsense does indeed turn out to be true I would consider him with my 30th pick(hey its an improvement from considering him with my 54th).</div> Well do you think you?re letting your personal opinion of Frye affect your decision making? There were definitely some concerns on how much muscle he can gain without losing some of his quickness, but the thing is, he has! If many scouts are saying the same thing, ESPN Insider is reporting this, and even someone on this very site has seen him! He said that Frye is about 270 pounds and benched 185 lbs.19 times. If he was half as bad as you said he was, regardless of what his agent said he still wouldn?t be getting lottery consideration. If that were the case, why couldn?t anyone?s agent say that to boost the stock of their clients? So if Frye were 270 pounds and was more quick and explosive, you would only consider him with the 30th pick? You do realize that Frye is exactly what you wanted right? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I too believe those Collins' comparisons are unfair. They're unfair to the Collins twins. They at least bang and play good underrated defense. When Jason Collins played college ball I'm pretty sure there werent as many undersized powerforwards and centers(I could be wrong though) so his blocks didnt come as easily as Fyre's.</div> The Collins twins bang? Since when has this taken place? I always remembered the Collins twins as simply taking jumpers and not being great defenders as you said. Jason Collins is a hack. I don?t think that?s good underrated defense. No, there were the same amount of undersized power forwards in college ball as there is now. Don?t try to take away from Frye?s game. He?s a great shot blocker and with his wingspan and increased vertical, he should be even better. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The jumpshot was the icing on the cake you say??? Where's the bloody cake then??? And I did indeed say Doleac was better for the Knicks than Nazr. And no he still isnt worth it. Besides the fact we can just sign a center with a jumpshot the team is different now than it was before with Doleac. When we had Doleac we also had Kurt Thomas, Van Horn, Houston(later on it became Shandon Anderson) and Marbury. Marbury dominated the ball(he's good at that) and dished the ball whenever someone tried to double team him. And one of the shooters I just mentioned above would nail the open jumper. Now we have Sweetney in our line up which changes things and besides we already have Kurt Thomas who is better than Fyre will ever be. Fyre is afraid of contact he wont be a good low post scorer. We should drop this Fyre garbage, make the promise to Splitter and draft him. It's funny that you say he'll be useful. The Raptors said that last year about Rafael Araujo and look how that turned out. It's also worth mentioning that they had the 8th pick last year which is the same pick we have this year and your line of thinking is the same line of thinking they had last year.</div> The team should be even better because now we have an up and coming low post threat in Sweetney, and a 41% three-point shooter in Tim Thomas. If Allan Houston is still healthy, we can include him and Maurice Taylor, and Malik Rose also are able to hit the midrange jumper with consistency. We are on the same level as we were last season in terms of shooting. That is funny, but I don?t think we?ll be drafting an Araujo. He was able to get by in college ball because he was just big and when you?re that big I think you should be putting up even better numbers. The thing about him was he didn?t have as many tools as Frye does, he was just so big! He was a terrible defender, was 24 years old, unbelievably foul prone, very slow and lacked athleticism, and the list goes on. The biggest and perhaps the only knock on Frye was his body and his focus. He?s fixed both of those problems, so now what? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You're right. Splitter isnt better than Fyre. He's only more intense, far superior individual defender, superior team defender, taller, more athletic, higher basketball IQ, played against better competition(no kids or 6'7" powerforwards in the Euroleague), better passer, better shotblocker, likes to be physical(Fyre's kryptonite), more promising low post game, can play without the ball(unlike Fyre), can put the ball on the floor to attack the basket as well and can play both big positions.</div> Yes, he is. Frye has become much more intense as shown in the NCAA Tournament and in his workouts. Frye also has a much better jumper than Splitter which would help keep shot blockers out of the paint as you said. Did I mention he can hit the college three with consistency now? It is bound to improve to the NBA three in the near future. Are we still on this NCAA, Euroleague topic? Then you mention no kids in the Euroleague? First of all, Splitter can be considered a kid and the NBA snub, Lonny Baxter dominated Euroleague competition from what I?ve seen. If Diogu was sent overseas I?m more than sure he would be able to dominate Euroleague competition easily. How can Splitter be physical when he?s a toothpick? From what I?ve seen, he gets backed down like nothing in the Euroleague, and overseas, many players aren?t really known for their bodies their either. Basically, Splitter lacking a jumper will allow anyone to play away from him. There is no way he?ll be able to take it back-to-the-basket. Whether Splitter is better athletically, and a better shot-blocker is debatable. Frye does have some nice footwork. I?ve seen some if his moves. I don?t know how true that is. The things that take place overseas are overrated in my honest opinion. Reports are those who were dubbed as ?super athletic? weren?t as good as advertised once NBA scouts saw them. Players like Garnett and Amare Stoudemire are ahead of him in that department. Also, while stats can be deceiving sometimes, I have yet to see someone who averages 8/4 off the bench as the ?Next Big Thing? as you suggest. Again, I think you?re letting your personal feelings get in the way of who is better and who is not. Splitter can?t dominate a weaker league, and what makes me even more hesitant to draft him with my 8th pick in the draft is him pulling out all the time. Two years ago I heard he performed so badly in workouts he had to pull his name out, last year, I heard the same thing and now he?s doing it yet again. If anyone pulls their name in and out so frequently, I would be pretty suspicious of them as would many other people. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You're absolutely correct. Fyre is better than Splitter. How can all of this stuff that Splitter can do possibly measure up to Fyre's jumper??(loads and loads upon loads of sarcasm) Fyre is WAY OVERRATED. No he is not worth our 30th pick. Randolph Morris is more deserving than him and Lucas Tischer more deserving at our 54th pick(at least they'll go in and mix it up in the paint instead of shoot jumpers all day). Vazquez has a better jumpshot, is a better defender, and is a better finisher around the basket. He is better than Fyre. Fyre is one of the worst big men in this draft. Isiah I'm A Giant Fool Thomas passed up Big Z for Marcus Camby didnt he? Now I love Camby but Big Z is better now and was the better choice all those years ago. So no! I choose not to trust his vaunted "eye for talent".</div> I think Splitter is way overrated as many other international products. To have all of those tools and a premier power forward in the making, why does he keep on pulling his name in and out? As I said before, Frye is about 270 pounds with a great jumpers, has more than enough moves in the post to get by, he?s playing with more focus, and also has better foot speed and an improved vertical. His jumper has increased dramatically and is bound to keep the opponents out of the paint. Defensively, his wingspan and vertical should improve us defensively drastically especially if we intend on keeping Marbury and Crawford. Lucas Tischer is more deserving at 54th than Frye? As I said earlier, please don?t let the fact that you hate him blind his value to this club. I don?t know if Vazquez has a better jumper. He?s pretty accurate from 15 feet-in, but Frye is hitting NCAA three-pointers and his range is vastly improving. With the way he?s been improving, he should be hitting NBA three-pointers very soon. Frye is not overrated, and I will more than gladly pick him up with my 8th pick after hearing how much he?s improved. At that time, the Raptors needed a big man and who better than the NCAA Player of the Year, Marcus Camby? You do realize he managed to get the award over Allen Iverson, right? Also whether Ilgauskas is better than Camby is debatable. Personally, I?d take Camby over Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Camby isn?t that much of a scorer, but he?s a much better, rebounder, defender, brings much more energy, hustle and heart to the table. So I think you should stop knocking Isiah like this because he?s made some pretty good draft moves. I don?t see you attacking his Rookie of the Year choice in Damon Stoudamire, or his superstar choice in Tracy McGrady. Besides, I?ve heard Splitter removed his name from the draft and if this is the case, who would you want to draft? Would you draft the big man who can block shots, run the floor, and has a jumper like we talked about a couple of months ago? He can also post up, and is about 7-feet tall which is a bonus. It?s time to discuss actual scenarios now because unfortunately, Splitter will not be staying.
So when June 28th rolls around, my draft wish list looks like this: 8th - Channing Frye / Danny Granger (if he even gets to us) / Martell Webster / Antoine Wright 30th - Randolph Morris / Andray Blatche / Andrew Bynum (if he stays) / Ronny Turriaf / Julius Hodge / Francisco Garcia. 54th - Alan Anderson and if not him simply the best available player.
According to NBADraft.net: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A rumor gaining steam is that the Knicks are going to take bigman Channing Frye. According to contacts the Knicks held a secret workout in Arizona with the bigman, and have told Frye they will take him.</div> http://nbadraft.net/draftbuzz044.asp However, we don't know how accurate this info is.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">So when June 28th rolls around, my draft wish list looks like this: 8th - Channing Frye / Danny Granger (if he even gets to us) / Martell Webster / Antoine Wright 30th - Randolph Morris / Andray Blatche / Andrew Bynum (if he stays) / Ronny Turriaf / Julius Hodge / Francisco Garcia. 54th - Alan Anderson and if not him simply the best available player.</div> Anderson would be nice, I wouldn't mind Tischer also, we need as many centers as possible Morris...I'm not sure ugh...I'll disown Isiah is he takes Fyre. I wouldn't like Wright either, Granger would be an AWESOME pick. Not sold on Webster, but I'm not making the descions Isiah is...so hopefully he doesnt disappoint me, because I've been disappointed with every move he has made.
2005 Knicks Predraft Workouts <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW YORK, June 17, 2005 -- On Monday, June 20 the Knicks will conduct predraft workouts with the 9 following prospects: The Knicks will be working out: Robert Rothbart Branson Rush Konstantinos Vasileiadis Martell Webster Alan Anderson Ryan Gomes Marko Lekic Bracey Wrightr James White</div> Knicks.com
Isiah is indeed going to take Fyre so further arguing is pointless(pointless anyway but even more pointless now). Looks like I'm going to have to set his house on fire afterall(just kidding...sort of) Enter Channing Fyre aka Troy Murphy wannabe... Exit all remaining hope. We're going to waste our lottery pick on a guy who probably shouldnt be in the first round. Morris is good for our 30th pick but he's very raw and probably wont make a real difference until the 2006-2007 campaign. I guess the only way we're going to make the playoffs next season is if Houston is healthy and Sweetney emerges as the powerforward I know he can be. On the flip side if Splitter does indeed pull out we'll have a chance of getting him next year. Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">Knicks.com</div> I thought James White was going to pull out?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Psycho Drama:</div><div class="quote_post">I thought James White was going to pull out?</div> I guess not. According to NYK.com, he's still in it. Isiah will probably pick him up because he loves athleticism.
James White is trash from what I've seen of him. Even the highschool clips Ive seen of him makes me think he's a waste of time. When i watched him play in the ncaa he looked lost on the court and as far as I know the only thing he has going for him is his athletic ability and hops. To me he looks exactly like Harold Minner.
The Wright Stuff For NY Knicks? <font size="2">Post anything draft related in this thread. Let's keep everything organized. </font> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">GREENBURGH, NY, June 20, 2005 -- "This was fun," Indiana junior Bracey Wright flashes a tired semi-smile after his workout for team brass at the Madison Square Garden Training Center. "We went up and down pretty good with three guards. And in the end, we did a lot of shooting." At the mere mention of The Word -- "shooting", that is -- Wright lights up like a 6-3 Christmas Tree, fatigue suddenly foreign to his existence. The man can shoot. The man loves to shoot. The Man is The Man because he's about as pure a shooter as the college game has seen in several eons. Which is why he's often been called the "Allan Houston of College Basketball". Which is why he's been so proud to be called that. "Allan's a GREAT shooter," says Wright. "I've learned so much from watching his technique, his form. So, yes, I'm excited about the comparison. Still, truth be told, once I adjust to the league, I think I could turn out to be even better ON the ball." A better defender? "Yes, but not just," the supremely confident Wright asserts. "I had the ball about half the time in my hand at Indiana; I think when Stephon (Marbury) or Jamal (Crawford) move off the ball, I could run a team. I think I'm a true combo guard. And I'm the kind of player who'll do a lot of damage without the ball in his hand as well, doing all the little off the ball things, exploiting the other team's weaknesses, and making the right decisions." "I follow the NBA -- and, in particular, I follow the Knicks," says Wright. "If the team feels that Allan can't return from his injuries, I'd fit the New York like a glove." Interestingly, Wright -- struggling through injuries for years in another Houston commonality -- fell from the surefire lottery spot that was his two years ago to "somewhere in the first round," he says. Usually that means the end of the first round - and the Knicks own the 30th pick. </div> Knicks.com
2005 Knicks Predraft Workouts <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW YORK, June 21, 2005 -- On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Knicks will conducted predraft workouts with these following prospects: Chris Taft T.J. Sorrentine Brandon Bass Sean May Filiberto Rivera Uros Slokar Will Bynum Nate Robinson Angelo Gigli</div> Knicks.com
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">It's official Tribute, Tiago Splitter has pulled out.</div> Yeah I know. It's sad really. Now there's hardly a decent big man left outside of Bogut. Petro is years away from being ready, Vazquez doesnt have as much upside as Splitter and Fyre sucks. This is depressing...we should probably draft a two guard or swingman now. I say Antoine Wright. Then again Martynas is still in...perhaps take a gamble on him? Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired.
