Post by irish2u2 on Jun 26, 2009 11:40:17 GMT -5
We didn't make any blockbuster deals but we made some smaller ones that we may look back on like we view taking Chandler at #18, Nate at #21 and Lee at #30.
Sometimes GMs and coaches get myopic about draft day. They want who they want and they miss the gems that sometimes fall their way. I applaud Donnie Walsh for doing the right thing, the smart thing, and taking Jordan Hill. Obviously he wanted to deal up to get Rubio or Curry but he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead he put it in our stable.
I don't think Jordan Hill is the next Amare Stoudamire. Hill is more refined than Amare was when he was drafted but he also was the superior athlete, almost freaky, when he was drafted out of high school. I think Hill has a good attitude and brings a nice package to the Knicks. It's unfair, an unrealistic, to compare Hill to Lee now. On paper though the Knicks got taller, more athletic and hopefully better on defense.
Hill had lapses at Arizona on defense but he also played some inspiring defensive ball and he's quicker laterally than Lee, longer, and he jumps as well or better. Off the boards he averaged double figures in a tough conference. He can rebound. He brings a midrange shooting game that D'Antoni covets and just got this year from Lee. Hill can play pick and roll basketball and he can finish with more than a dunk.
Toney Douglas was a sleeper. He's in my neck of the woods playing his ball at FSU which is 2 hours north and west of me (we Gator fans call FSU "SOW" which stands for "School Out West" ; ) and I have seen him play. The more I thought about it and then read some of the comments by the gurus and Walsh I realize he is a great choice for the Knicks and a find at #29.
So our draft had some bad luck in that we couldn't trade up or land Stephen Curry but by and large luck touched us when Hill fell to us and we showed some scouting acumen in getting Toney Douglas.
Our day got better when we traded Quentin Richardson straight up for Darko Milicic. I know Milicic has been underwhelming but he's 24 and he's skilled and he's 7' tall. I'll take the potential promise of Darko, even if we fail, over the reality and shortcomings of Q. I like Q but he wasn't going to get better as a player. Darko might and as a big, that rare commodity in the NBA, if he plays somewhere near his potential we may look back on the terrible day that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died as a memorable day in the Knicks history.
We had 4 positions of need on this team. We added players in 3 of those positions and if you consider Douglas a combo guard we actually met our needs in all four positions. We added options for the strong possibility of trading Lee and Nate and maybe we lit a little fire under Eddy Curry's enormous butt by getting a guy who will be considerable competition for him.
Sometimes GMs and coaches get myopic about draft day. They want who they want and they miss the gems that sometimes fall their way. I applaud Donnie Walsh for doing the right thing, the smart thing, and taking Jordan Hill. Obviously he wanted to deal up to get Rubio or Curry but he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead he put it in our stable.
I don't think Jordan Hill is the next Amare Stoudamire. Hill is more refined than Amare was when he was drafted but he also was the superior athlete, almost freaky, when he was drafted out of high school. I think Hill has a good attitude and brings a nice package to the Knicks. It's unfair, an unrealistic, to compare Hill to Lee now. On paper though the Knicks got taller, more athletic and hopefully better on defense.
Hill had lapses at Arizona on defense but he also played some inspiring defensive ball and he's quicker laterally than Lee, longer, and he jumps as well or better. Off the boards he averaged double figures in a tough conference. He can rebound. He brings a midrange shooting game that D'Antoni covets and just got this year from Lee. Hill can play pick and roll basketball and he can finish with more than a dunk.
Toney Douglas was a sleeper. He's in my neck of the woods playing his ball at FSU which is 2 hours north and west of me (we Gator fans call FSU "SOW" which stands for "School Out West" ; ) and I have seen him play. The more I thought about it and then read some of the comments by the gurus and Walsh I realize he is a great choice for the Knicks and a find at #29.
So our draft had some bad luck in that we couldn't trade up or land Stephen Curry but by and large luck touched us when Hill fell to us and we showed some scouting acumen in getting Toney Douglas.
Our day got better when we traded Quentin Richardson straight up for Darko Milicic. I know Milicic has been underwhelming but he's 24 and he's skilled and he's 7' tall. I'll take the potential promise of Darko, even if we fail, over the reality and shortcomings of Q. I like Q but he wasn't going to get better as a player. Darko might and as a big, that rare commodity in the NBA, if he plays somewhere near his potential we may look back on the terrible day that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died as a memorable day in the Knicks history.
We had 4 positions of need on this team. We added players in 3 of those positions and if you consider Douglas a combo guard we actually met our needs in all four positions. We added options for the strong possibility of trading Lee and Nate and maybe we lit a little fire under Eddy Curry's enormous butt by getting a guy who will be considerable competition for him.
