EuroKnicks!

In a scheduled break from the Political wailing and gnashing of teeth...

Nice games from Hernangomez, Vujacic and Porzingis tonight!

If only we could get Olympic-Melo to make an appearance!!

I like the kid Willy, I said he deserves minutes since Nov-Dec. Olympic Melo was on display the month of January and this was his first bad game since PJ started his shenanigans. KP had the comeback game tonight, he'd been sick and battling injuries and it showed in his game. Looks like hes getting healthy again

I usually wait until after the Super Bowl, check the standings to see where the Knicks are and then start watching them more regularly--the way Phil Jackson does.

They should have traded Melo two years ago. The Knicks will never win anything with him on the roster.

^^ this ^^

been saying it since dolan overrode donnie walsh and scuttled what was a fun, young team to watch in order to get melo....melo has never shown the ability, desire to lead, play both ends of the floor and make the players around him better...ugh

Love how the public address announcer calls the name Kuzminskas after a basket. Memories of Gallinari!

yahooyahoo said:

They should have traded Melo two years ago. The Knicks will never win anything with him on the roster.

They never should have traded for him in the first place, but the Knicks won't win anything with any roster until Lebron retires or signs up in the West. However it's kinda obvious there's not many people who actually watch the Knicks posting with the comments about Melo :lol While I agree Melo is not a vocal leader he has raised his rebounding and assist avg. The ability to make players around you better is so rare you can probobly only name 1 or 2 players in the league who can. Phil is shopping Melo like one of those people you run into in Targets parking lot with a good deal on stereo equipment so the Knicks will get nothing in return on that trade. I think PJ is under the assumption that a NTC means Melo can 't ask for a trade..

@the18thletter

thanks for the real talk on Carmelo. The hate he gets is ridiculous. Theres no player without weaknesses and trade Melo for anyone and between the media and the New York pressure the criticisms will just continue. Even the star in the making Porzingas will get the same treatment Melo gets if he doesnt get the W in the big game.

Just look at the heat Eli Manning gets and he actually won it twice.

The Melo hate is irrational.

I don't hate Melo. He's just the wrong fit for the Knicks and should have been traded a long time ago. Now the Knicks can't get anything for the guy. I blame Phil Jackson more than Melo for the current state of the team.

yahooyahoo said:

I don't hate Melo. He's just the wrong fit for the Knicks and should have been traded a long time ago. Now the Knicks can't get anything for the guy. I blame Phil Jackson more than Melo for the current state of the team.

sure, yet you make blanket statements like they'll never win anything with him on the roster, when the issue is the talent around him.

no one has a change of winning anything in the NBA without a star studded team around them. Not Lebron, not Kyree, not Steph, not Russell, not Harden, not Durant. No one.

so the answer isnt who is a wrong fit, theres no talent on the Knicks minus Melo and Porzingas - who is 2 or 3 years from his potential.

I hear that statement all the time and its irritating. " the ____ will never win with so and so on the roster".

Next thing you know JR Smith is winning a chip, Shump, chip. Its a non statement, just like "he doesnt make the other players better". They arent better because they arent that good.

I know the truth hurts but they will never win anything with Carmelo Anthony. He's a one-dimensional player making approximately 25% of the payroll. Is it his fault the Knicks offered him a contract that undermined building a good roster? No.

hoops said:

@the18thletter

thanks for the real talk on Carmelo. The hate he gets is ridiculous. Theres no player without weaknesses and trade Melo for anyone and between the media and the New York pressure the criticisms will just continue. Even the star in the making Porzingas will get the same treatment Melo gets if he doesnt get the W in the big game.

Just look at the heat Eli Manning gets and he actually won it twice.

The Melo hate is irrational.

Good points about JR and Shump. Im pretty sure I heard the exact same thing about them during their time with the Knicks. PJ is way more to blame than Melo for the state of the Knicks, yet you'll never hear anyone say "NY will never win a chip with Phil Jackson as GM." I don't think you'll be able to attract a marquee player with PJ as GM never mind a championship.

Dollar for dollar, the team has gotten much more from Carmelo than from Phil.

the18thletter said:

...but the Knicks won't win anything with any roster until Lebron retires or signs up in the West.

That may be true, but it would be nice to at least watch some meaningful basketball. Knicks couldn't win with Jordan around, but think about the great battles we got to witness -- not only against the Bulls, but also the Pacers and Heat. Hornets even. It's why many Knick fans revere so many players from that era, even mere role players. Despite a great, even HOF career, what will we really remember from the Melo era? His 62-point game? A couple of regular season buzzer beaters against the Bulls and Bucks? Sadly, the most memorable playoff moment will invariably be Roy Hibbert rejecting his dunk. Yes, I know a title is out of the question with LeBron in the East, but still. Just a reasonable amount of memorable basketball would've been nice.

I agree with this, but I disagree that it because of Carmelo Anthony. Its because the owner get rid of one GM that was doing the right thing trying to right the ship prior to the Carmelo trade in Donnie Walsh and instead decided to trade for Carmelo - pretty much the way the Nets decided to trade for Garnett and Pierce, by mortgaging the future and trading away the draft picks.

What is required - and take a look at Toronto or Boston as paradigms is to slowly build talent, retain the talent you have and make wise choices in free agency and the draft. Its not that we have Carmelo Anthony, its that we have very little else. Porzingas and Hernangomez are good starts but its a process that is going to take a few years more and by then you wont have Carmelo to kick around.

Quick fix? They dont exist and wont going forward because the new CBA rewards greatly free agents staying with their current teams.

Train_of_Thought said:

the18thletter said:

...but the Knicks won't win anything with any roster until Lebron retires or signs up in the West.

That may be true, but it would be nice to at least watch some meaningful basketball. Knicks couldn't win with Jordan around, but think about the great battles we got to witness -- not only against the Bulls, but also the Pacers and Heat. Hornets even. It's why many Knick fans revere so many players from that era, even mere role players. Despite a great, even HOF career, what will we really remember from the Melo era? His 62-point game? A couple of regular season buzzer beaters against the Bulls and Bucks? Sadly, the most memorable playoff moment will invariably be Roy Hibbert rejecting his dunk. Yes, I know a title is out of the question with LeBron in the East, but still. Just a reasonable amount of memorable basketball would've been nice.

Overriding and thereby pushing out Walsh was the biggest factor in messing up the Knicks. Dolan seemed to recognize this after the fact and brought in Jackson to make amends. Jackson is not Walsh as a GM.

Jackson needs to go.

You'll never get value for Carmelo now, and Porzingis loves him. Keep Melo to keep the pressure off.

I'll be honest, the initial "Olympic Melo" comment I made was based on commentary I read which indicated that he was more willing to pass and had a more complete game on that team. Looking at Olympic stats he seems like the same guy.

Move Hernangomez to the starting lineup and get a defensive center for the 2nd unit.

hoops said:

I agree with this, but I disagree that it because of Carmelo Anthony. Its because the owner get rid of one GM that was doing the right thing trying to right the ship prior to the Carmelo trade in Donnie Walsh and instead decided to trade for Carmelo - pretty much the way the Nets decided to trade for Garnett and Pierce, by mortgaging the future and trading away the draft picks.

What is required - and take a look at Toronto or Boston as paradigms is to slowly build talent, retain the talent you have and make wise choices in free agency and the draft. Its not that we have Carmelo Anthony, its that we have very little else. Porzingas and Hernangomez are good starts but its a process that is going to take a few years more and by then you wont have Carmelo to kick around.

Quick fix? They dont exist and wont going forward because the new CBA rewards greatly free agents staying with their current teams.

Train_of_Thought said:

the18thletter said:

...but the Knicks won't win anything with any roster until Lebron retires or signs up in the West.

That may be true, but it would be nice to at least watch some meaningful basketball. Knicks couldn't win with Jordan around, but think about the great battles we got to witness -- not only against the Bulls, but also the Pacers and Heat. Hornets even. It's why many Knick fans revere so many players from that era, even mere role players. Despite a great, even HOF career, what will we really remember from the Melo era? His 62-point game? A couple of regular season buzzer beaters against the Bulls and Bucks? Sadly, the most memorable playoff moment will invariably be Roy Hibbert rejecting his dunk. Yes, I know a title is out of the question with LeBron in the East, but still. Just a reasonable amount of memorable basketball would've been nice.

Nailed it.

Train_of_Thought said:

the18thletter said:

...but the Knicks won't win anything with any roster until Lebron retires or signs up in the West.

That may be true, but it would be nice to at least watch some meaningful basketball. Knicks couldn't win with Jordan around, but think about the great battles we got to witness -- not only against the Bulls, but also the Pacers and Heat. Hornets even. It's why many Knick fans revere so many players from that era, even mere role players. Despite a great, even HOF career, what will we really remember from the Melo era? His 62-point game? A couple of regular season buzzer beaters against the Bulls and Bucks? Sadly, the most memorable playoff moment will invariably be Roy Hibbert rejecting his dunk. Yes, I know a title is out of the question with LeBron in the East, but still. Just a reasonable amount of memorable basketball would've been nice.

Thats a different discussion than "the Knicks won't win anything with Carmelo on the roster". The narrative would be much better if we got to see Melo and Bron playing for an ECF vs Lebron and Derozen battling for ECF. I enjoyed those Ewing/Knicks playoff series despite coming up short repeatedly.

Yes, I believe we're in agreement on that.

I agree Melo gets an unfair share of the heat....Phil and Dolan built a subpar roster

Knicks have been a garbage team for nearly a generation. Dolan should be forced to sell the team for the mercy of the fans. What a disgrace.

Phil needs to be fired for the mercy of the fans. Team in shambles with trade rumors for a player that can't be traded and nothing is said to the fanbase or more importantly the team, but yet he's got time to tweet subliminal shots. https://twitter.com/PhilJackson11/status/829062793802420224

Im going to watch tonight, it cant get any worse can it? Last game with Oakley getting arrested has to be bottom right?

Tonight Dolan said he will honor all five years of Phil's contract. He basically put the on-court mess on Phil's shoulders. Dolan seems to forget all those years before Phil was here.

As for Oakley, Dolan claims he would like to patch things up but said Oakley will need to get help first.

Being that Dolan had to go through rehab for his issues it seems like he'd be more of a support to Oakley's issues, not to mention that Oakley was a major player for the team for over 10 years, DURING the last successful years the Knicks had. I haven't seen any former teammates stand up in support of Oakley so maybe there are some issues he needs to address, I don't know. Also, I watched the Michael Kay interview and the smirk on Dolans face when asked about the Knicks mess and replied "Ask Phil, this is what you wanted" almost like he is enjoying the failure since it's not on him technically this time. FA are not going to look to sign with NY now and I doubt KP is thinking about staying here either. The Knicks are def screwed for the foreseeable future...