The Knicks Fix

I get a "Sorry, this video is no longer available" message when I try and play it.

me too...that didn't take long, huh?

...apparently was removed by the person who posted it. Alan (or someone who saw it) can you give a quick recap?

Can we get some clarity on the Gallinari, Glass Man thing Alan?

- identity of the "Italian Scout?"

- list of the "chronic injuries" he has suffered and games missed due to injury?

Can you call his dad?

Nate for Sean Williams, straight up. Be warned however, the guy is a serious flake. There's a reason you would consider trading a guy with his skill set.

Zach for Iverson

Willis what skill set are referring to? SW can't do nothing but dunk. He does get up there though and blocks shots but thats athletisism not skill.

Williams' athleticism in the front court would be a nice asset for the Knicks if they are planning on running. Other than Lee, the only lanes the Knicks' bigs are filling are at fast food drive throughs.

Sean Williams would play nicely beside Curry

SW would block shots and rebound while curry
can concentrate on the things he is good at:
1.scoring
2.eating

kind of how chicago played curry with tyson chandler

the knicks need a shot blocker badly
once they get past our guards its cruise city
straight to the rack

@ Pete. It was Larry Brown who started Frye over Lee their rookie year, not IT. That's two coaches and now MD and DW are looking to deal him. I like Lee, I think he is a very solid/good player, I'm just being realistic about what we have to do going forward with contracts, player combos on the floor and putting a championship team together. But I do value Lee, remember people were killing me for saying I wouldn't trade Lee for Lowery and Arthur.

I like Sean Williams but if we gave up Nate straigtht up for him who is our other gaurd off the bench. I'm assuming we are trading/releasing Marburry so we would have to use Collins as a combo guard. Duhon and Collins are not scaring anybody as our two PGs. I doubt the Nets make that trade after just signing Dooling though since they already have Harris/Williams/Dooling/Carter. They would be trading for Nate to be the odd man out in their rotation.

@ Knicks4Life - You're right about LB and Lee - that's a brain fart on my part. I think the idea was for Frye's outside shooting to keep defenders from sagging on Curry or something. Brown's rotations were as indefensible as Isiah's. I see your point on Lee though - people get carried away with his value and make Amare comparisons (overvaluing Knick's players is a recurring problem through the years). I have no problem trading Lee, so long as Walsh and D'Antoni take into account he is the best per-minute rebounder on the team and is the only 4 or 5 who even tries on defense (unless you consider Jeffries a 4/5, and he doesn't exactly clean the glass). I'd be willing to give up a couple of his boards for a reliable shotblocker, for example.

What is it about the Knicks? I have been a Yankee fan and a Giants fan longer, but I follow this bunch hungrily all year! They have been frustrating, embarrassing and dysfunctional for a long time and I keep coming back for my Knicks Fix. Am I a champion of the underdog, mentally ill, or simply dumb and happy?

It seems that there are several others of you with the same condition. Maybe we need a support group! Any suggestions?

Iverson for Mar-baby works (1 year left each and same salary)...at lest them Mello and Mar-baby would get to play together.

Okafor and Mohammed for Zbo...not sure if this works past this year (does it have to?). At least the next 2 years Mohammed's contract is 1/2 Zach's.

On Guards with the Nets: i think they are shopping Marcus Williams too, so they would have a use for Nate.

On Skills of Sean Williams: rebounding, shot blocking, weak side help defense.

Okafor is looking for a long term contract, so he would be paid through 2010.

This is why not much is going to happen, and we shouldn't be looking for Zeke type bigass moves. All players are at their lowest value now, because of 1. losing, losing, losing 2. all GMS know they need to be moved, 3. the players: we would move - Snacks, Q, Jeffries, Starbury, Balkman - unwanted, Zach, Curry, somewhat interesting but only in a ripoff like the deal the Clippers offered, Crawford, Robinson - could stay or go, nobody is knocking down the door, Lee - valuable to other teams, but to us as well. Plus we will not take on salary, of the above players, only Starbury has an expiring contract to offer, so we can't even help other teams with their cap issues. So really its either sit tight and wait for the market fundamentals to change, or get ripped off for the sake of making a move.

George Karl vs. Marburry. I see a reverse Sprewell/Carlesimo situation. Great trade for NY if it happened but Denver would have to be crazy to do it even if they waived Starburry. They would have given away Camby and Iverson in the same off-season. Knicks would finally have a superstar and with him and Crawford in the backcourt Lee will get plenty of rebound opportunities and become the all-star the Lee lovers have dreamed of.

Good call Willis. Nets traded Williams to GS for 1st round draft pick.

im sick of the knicks players balkman jeffries david lee, we dont have a small foward with a shot it is so pathetic how can u be a nba player and not even have a 15 foot shot, get rid of them and send curry away to fat camp, people stop talking about zach what other power foward in the east would u pick over him beside chris bosh and maybe rashed wallace

Willis - your analysis is bleak but solid. However in the unlikely event that worthwhile deal comes along, it is important that management be willing to pull the trigger. I don't know if Williams for Robinson (and his expiring) was ever in play, but if it was and Donnie passed in favor of continuing his evaluation process, then that is pretty poor. Not that it would be the kind of move that vaults the Knicks into contention, but the opportunity to add a cheap young big who addresses a pressing weakness (shot blocking) and is suited to a running game for one of the collection of ball hogs should be jumped on. I'm not a desperate fanboy calling for change for its own sake, but a GM who dithers along while small, potentially helpful moves flow by, is not helping things. This roster needs a massive turnover, whether it starts now, in February or sometime in 2015 - why not get started?

Of course if the Nets (wisely) had no interest in Nate, my rant is moot.

@ ralphie - um... Garnett?

yeah
the nets
traded williams to the Warriors
for a 1st round pick

i wonder has walsh inquired about sean williams?

he said is priority is finding the knicks a shot blocker

the knicks need someone who actually
wants to play defense

all we got at the rim are the "twix towers"
and who is scared of that?

i hope walsh is on the phone because it
seems like the knicks are moving in mud

N8 for williams sounds like a plan to me
but that would mean we would have to keep
marbury because besides robertson
no else can shoot...
(mardy collins work on your shot fool)

Pete my fault if I confused you, the Nets traded Marcus Williams to GS. So theoratically they could still trade Williams (Sean) to the Knicks. I can't see Knicks-Nets dealing with each other. I'm trying to remember the last Net-Knick trade. I think Childs came as a free agent so nothing comes to mind.

Garnett, Oneal, Bosh, Howard, Okafur, Brand, Wallace, Beasley, Josh Smith and Jamison are all considerably better than Zach. I think many Knick fans would say he isn't the best PF on his own team.

Knicks4life....I'll give you KG, Bosh, Brand, Wallace, Josh SMith and maybe Jamison but Beasley is not better than Zach, O'neal is a center as is Okafur.
Come on bro...stop exaggerating LMAO!!!!
Your putting an unproven rookie in the same class as a player that averages 20 and 10 in the NBA not college LOL.

You are to much brother....good stuff guys.

We don't need or will we get Williams from the Nets.....
Dantoni like's players that can shoot.
We don't want other peoples problems.

Change in 08!!!!!!!!

Not my day. I'd better get back on RealGM...

I just realized....

Marcus Williams was the guy that everybody howled for Zeke to take when he took Balkman. He is now essentially a do-over. What does this mean? I don't know, but I just remembered it. Who knows, if D'Antoni can find a role for him, Zeke was right again - on drafting talent, not trading for it, or paying for it, or coaching it, or, well, anyway....

Nets are getting into serious shape. They will have only around 20 million on the payroll in the summer of LeBron and they will have VC's 17 + mill coming off the books the following year. IF Yi pans out, Lopez pans out, Williams keeps his head on straight to clean up for Lopez, Boone stays solid, and Harris grows, maybe Simmons stays healthy too, they can be decent, pay LeBron's gazillions, plus be ready to buy more players the following year when VC drops off the books. Very nice work by Stefanski/Thorn/Vandewegh. Still need a shooter though. Maybe a nice small quick change of pace guy, maybe they give up a shot blocker, maybe I'm on the chronic because you NEVER trade big for small, and his name aint Never Vandewegh.

@ DaVonn I think the question was "what other power foward in the east would u pick over him beside chris bosh and maybe rashed wallace"

I know Beasley hasn't played a game yet but I would still rather have him than Zach. Trust me if the Heat offered Beasley and a terrible K for Z the Knicks would fall off their chairs accepting that offer. I think Oneal and Okafur are both PFs (were def drafted as such) that were asked to play out of position at times at C. Indiana started Jeff Foster at C so Oneal could play his natural position. Same w/ the Bobcats. I would not classify either as a C but we can agree to disagree on that.

@Willis

yeah i agree
the Nets are set for 2010
and also they got more athletic and taller

they might actually contend next year because
i think that Devin Harris will get better at the PG
and i really like the fact that they got CDR in the 2nd round
and i think Lopez will be a pretty decent center

actually as a knick fan
i am envious of how the nets run
their franchise
Thorn has a plan but he also
knows how to accumulate talent

right now i would say that the Nets
have the inside track on King James

I think Tyrus Thomas is defender/rebounder we can use. For Lee maybe?

As a matter of fact if we can package Zach to get Tyrus Thomas Id be in faavor of that.

@Rush

i would mos def take Tyrus Thomas.
he is a head case but he would fill a void
on the frontline.

but i don't think they trade him for zach
Lee maybe...

I'm with you, Infinite One. I was VERY surprised by the VC signing, and figured Thorn had gone off his rocker, but I've since heard that Ratner forced that one. VC is a dog, or as was written here once, Half Man, Half a Season. (I love that, whoever wrote it). They have done well to work around that. I've never been a Richard Jefferson fan, too much attitude for too little talent and his bull-to-the hoop drives were not called charges and travels as often as they clearly were. How he got the rep to get away with that BS is beyond me. They are in great shape and CDR is a great pick up.

Hey
would anyone trade Starbury
for A.I.?
they both are expiring contracts

i heard that denver is shopping him?

any thoughts?

Allen iverson and steven hunter for zach randolph jared jeffries renaldo balkman and mardy collins

AI and Steven Hunter for Zach Randolph,Jared Jeffries, Renaldo Balkman, and Mardy Collins would be good for both teams since denver is shopping AI and the GM of the Nuggets really likes randolphs game

I hate the Nets and everything they stand for. Ever since they, through Rick Mahorn, goaded Patrick Ewing into that technical foul kicking him out of a playoff game. That hatred grew when they got Marburry when we were desparate for a PG and then landed J. Kidd. They stole V. Carter after we had a deal in place and openly mocked us after drafting M. Williams.

I loved the Stinka Dare era and openly mocked Nets fans. Then I often openly wept when Jason Kidd routinely mocked us and the Knicks showed no effort or heart against their cross-town rivals who went to two finals. The fact that they may get James is an unimaginable nightmare. The only two teams I hate worse than the Nets are the Bulls (#1 enemy = Jo Jo English) and Celtics (#1 enemy = Paul Pierce). So please guys, no giving the Nets credit, lets pray for their downfall. They hate us, and we hate them.

@Knick4Life

I hate the Nets too.

so i am right there with you
but the Nets have done some good things

every since they got Thorn
they have had some of the best
management in the NBA.

been to two finals
have had superstar players
i mean i want to hate
but when you look at the last 7 or 8 years
the nets have been mopping the floor with
the knicks

they have been punking us in
our own city

i hope Walsh can change that around
with some good trades and management
but right now...
advantage Nets.

i has been hard to be a knick fan
the last 5 years...every since that
Net sweep in the playoffs
its been all down hill.

I hope the knicks future is brighter

we knick fans are true fans because
its has been hopeless for way to long

Where are you guys getting this huge trade value for Zach? Right now, the best offer NYK's received for him is Zach + No. 1 for a second rounder.

Denver is trying to unload salary now, not add it.

We might have to accept that Zach is a Knick until the trade deadline, and hope he puts up good numbers and behaves. Maybe they can get a No. 1 and a warm body.

Just for the record...Was the offer from the clippers take or leave it?? I mean couldnt we have countered with zach and a second for tim thomas?? I want to like Walsh but seems like a trade could have been made there..

Lets get alive
with some Bulljive

Enough....you guys talk about giving Glass Gallo a chance
and diss the hell out of Zach who was an every night 24-10 guy against West Coast Comp? This is not freaken Jerome James here! If he ever gets the chance to play with a real PG Zach will
be a nightmare on the Boards with Chandler and Zach being the BEST 15 foot shooter on the team will make sure Chandler isn't doubled! Keep in mind the guy lost his MOTHER last year early in that abortion of a season. It was Biologically his Grandmother, but he had no one else!
I'm not found of Walsh and his last great NBA notation being Reggie Miller 21 years ago......but he did the right thing
telling the Clips to go where Marbury's going!!!!!

This Beat writer should re-post this.....As we need him now more than ever!!!!! I just saw a Mr. Softee truck outside my UES apartment and thought of Glass Joe Gallo and the Knicks!

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/2007/07/go_for_it.html

We all know what Artest brings. You wouldn't be reading a Knicks blog in July if you didn't. A former All-Defensive player who gives you a lot of grit. A lot of New York. .....Alan Hahn .July 2007

Damn right.....I'm still here in NY so bring it!

C- ZACH..... better than Curry, not all that far fetched
PF- Chandler
SF-Artest
SG-Crawford
PG- Duhon...with Nate on his azz for time!

Give up the Scholar! This could work!!!!!!
Glass Gallo and Roberson in the rotation for major minutes!

Make up for a mistake made all those years ago. At this point what more have you got to lose? ...Alan Hahn...July 2007

At this point what more have we got to lose?
One year later, Alan's point is more valid than when he first wrote it! Please ...NO LBJ 2010 Bullshyte.....

"Beat up the East. Be the hated Knicks again."
That's exactly what the hell we need!

@ PEACEMAN...like a full moon, about once a month, i find something in your posts that sound particularly rational to me. your passionate defense of z-bo's game and value hit the right note.

i join you in going (way) against the grain of this room, i think randolph is terribly under-appreciated by knick fixers. certainly a flawed player (who isn't?), yet devastatingly effective at getting and having the rock in his hands. he is a baller, pure and simple, a adjective that can aptly be applied to very few recent knicks.

is his contract an albatross? absolutely. but is he a bum? no way, he is a significant force in the league (yeah yeah yeah, i can hear you guys sharpening your pens right about now). i say play him, let's see what he can do when not forced to work in an asylum.

he seems like a nice enough kid to me. perhaps a bit immature (i've seen so much worse), but all in all, given the circumstances of the past year (his maternal figure's passing, change of teams, playing on the worst knick team in history) i think he acted quite professionally throughout the season (everyone wants to throw something at n8, the kid is a menace).

it is very difficult to move this kind of contract guys, we're gonna have to live with this guy for awhile, there's no point in piling on. give him a chance to prosper in a decent system, and THEN trade him for reasonable value (the clipper offer was terrible, whether or not it included the knicks 1st pick).

well said, sec11.

@Peaceman,Sec 11

the key word is "change"

if zach is willing to change his game
then the knicks will benefit
but if he does not the knicks will
have a bad contract and an unhappy player

zach can pass.
but Zach "won't" pass
to me that is a reflection of character

if you don't have the ability
then i will cut you some slack
but to make a conscious decision
not to be a team player is
a whole new ball game

so if Zach changes his game
i will agree with you
but if remains the same black hole
type of player then the knicks
will have to beg someone to take
this cat...
and Walsh might regret not making
that Clipper's trade

Yea Zach is awesome...never been on a winning team..never passes..terrible attitude and work out regiment.
I guess you all also forgot our win total with him as our key player.

So funny to me that people think we will just magically be good while staying with these bums...

Trade Zach for anything that doesnt add salary..get way under cap for 2010 and get two key players..

Lets come alive
with some Bulljive!

@ Willis - That was mine, as VC is Half a Man, Half a Season! For a guy who seems to be in shape each season, why is he so damn brittle?

Maybe he should just go by WINCE Carter?

I agree (again I always am surprised by this) w/ the Peaceman, b/c you can't GIVE AWAY a 20-10 guy. He also really is our most consistent jump shooter...I would dare say that 1/2 his pts each night are outside jumpers.

Keepin' it Old School...

Bulljive - I thing the winning team thing is a big deal when it comes to assessing Zach - there is a big difference between putting up numbers for a winner than a doormat. Its why I get tired of people calling him a 20 and 10 (or 24 and 10!) guy as if that wasn't related to context. Those numbers were put up on lotto teams - on a contender, they would drop considerably. I use Charles Smith as an example (for 90's fans, though I hate to call him to mind): he was a 20 and 8 guy and with the contending Knicks they dropped to about 12 and 5. There is no way a team that relies on Zach for 20 and 10 is sniffing the playoffs. He takes too many bad shots, doesn't move the ball and blows off defensive assignments to pad his rebound stats. If the offense is flowing (I use that word loosely in his case) through him as the primary option, the team will lose more often then not.

I don't think he's useless - he can rebound, and has a knack for scoring that could be exploited if he is willing to adjust his more selfish tendencies. His rebounding numbers will drop if he decides to/is made to play defense, as will his shot totals if there is any emphasis on offense efficiency, but he does have some skills. My concern is his fit with D'Antoni - some people think that he'll raise his value this year playing under a real coach who'll give him the hook if he blows off his assignments and just jacks bad shots, but I can't see him getting the most out of his talent on a running team. He is overweight and slow up and down the court. He's not the kind of guy you associate with running the break.