Crazy⑧s
Evacuee
At this (early) stage I would hold on to 4 players out of our entire roster.
Lee: Face it, he's good enough & seems to have improved thus far. His attitude is outstanding as a team member and his selflessness is exemplary. His post game is rounding toward becoming quasi -formidable(ish) his passing is under rated and his outside shot seems to be on the rise. He out rebounds a lot of players more athletic than he is and has a nose for the ball.
Needs to improve: Lateral movement, Passing out of the paint after putting the ball on the floor, Defensive awareness in general, Asking for too much cash.
Harrington: He's a fool it's true. His antics are often comical and always over the top. But he wants to stay in NY and the only other teams that'll offer him big $ are those contending for a title. Less minutes + a potential championship won't outweigh his often publicized desire to be a part of the NYK turn around. He's a good post scorer and pivots/up fakes with the best of them as a big bodied versatile forward. Good ball handler/shot creator.
Needs to improve: Maintaining his intensity. He's over zealous, hungry for highlights and crowd pleasing, both of which seem to cloud his judgement about the big picture. It's the latter that'll have him in orange and blue next year. Defense can occasionally be lack luster. Passing can be poor on occasion.
Toney Douglas: The only way is up for Toney D. He's a naturally gifted defender which is rare in a nation of show off ballers. He's under-sized as a combo guard, but the list of under-sized players that are & have been extremely successful, stands to cancel out any doubters if his mindset is in place (Wade, Gordon, Mourning, LJ, Byron Scott and so on).
He's still first year as we know, but he's tenacious and determined. If things don't bloom as we'd hope, he's still a very cheap player with that un-coachable defensive mindset.
Needs to improve: Awareness, Shot selection, Transition passing, doing all in a hurry so we can get rid of Duhon asap.
Gallo: It's easy to forget that The Mighty Cock is only 20 years old. He's a heady player who is a 3 way threat on offense - Shoot, Dish, Board - and at 6'10" presents a lot of match up headaches for opposing coaches.
He's an excellent verbal player as well. He communicates constantly with others on defense (could be to save himself getting burned) and already at age 20 has said that he wants to be a leader in NY and his demeanour shows that sentiment.
We've seen shades of an All Star caliber player, we've seen shades of frustrating inconsistency, but again......20 years old. If healthy, he's potentially even an All NBA 3rd team member IMO.
Needs to improve: Night in night out performance, maybe some conditioning issues?, defensive game, not settling for the 3 as a first option.
**** everybody else except Chandler who STILL has a chance by the ASG to show his capabilities CONSISTENTLY!!!!!. Fingers xed on that one. And Jordan Hill... Just cause there's no friggin' choice when the cap is crashing. Really hope it works out because Jennings could have been ours.
And yes, no Nate Robinson.. Really just can't see it working out as being anymore than a buzz about a very good player that is still too small and dances and screams like a baboon on ice.
Lee: Face it, he's good enough & seems to have improved thus far. His attitude is outstanding as a team member and his selflessness is exemplary. His post game is rounding toward becoming quasi -formidable(ish) his passing is under rated and his outside shot seems to be on the rise. He out rebounds a lot of players more athletic than he is and has a nose for the ball.
Needs to improve: Lateral movement, Passing out of the paint after putting the ball on the floor, Defensive awareness in general, Asking for too much cash.
Harrington: He's a fool it's true. His antics are often comical and always over the top. But he wants to stay in NY and the only other teams that'll offer him big $ are those contending for a title. Less minutes + a potential championship won't outweigh his often publicized desire to be a part of the NYK turn around. He's a good post scorer and pivots/up fakes with the best of them as a big bodied versatile forward. Good ball handler/shot creator.
Needs to improve: Maintaining his intensity. He's over zealous, hungry for highlights and crowd pleasing, both of which seem to cloud his judgement about the big picture. It's the latter that'll have him in orange and blue next year. Defense can occasionally be lack luster. Passing can be poor on occasion.
Toney Douglas: The only way is up for Toney D. He's a naturally gifted defender which is rare in a nation of show off ballers. He's under-sized as a combo guard, but the list of under-sized players that are & have been extremely successful, stands to cancel out any doubters if his mindset is in place (Wade, Gordon, Mourning, LJ, Byron Scott and so on).
He's still first year as we know, but he's tenacious and determined. If things don't bloom as we'd hope, he's still a very cheap player with that un-coachable defensive mindset.
Needs to improve: Awareness, Shot selection, Transition passing, doing all in a hurry so we can get rid of Duhon asap.
Gallo: It's easy to forget that The Mighty Cock is only 20 years old. He's a heady player who is a 3 way threat on offense - Shoot, Dish, Board - and at 6'10" presents a lot of match up headaches for opposing coaches.
He's an excellent verbal player as well. He communicates constantly with others on defense (could be to save himself getting burned) and already at age 20 has said that he wants to be a leader in NY and his demeanour shows that sentiment.
We've seen shades of an All Star caliber player, we've seen shades of frustrating inconsistency, but again......20 years old. If healthy, he's potentially even an All NBA 3rd team member IMO.
Needs to improve: Night in night out performance, maybe some conditioning issues?, defensive game, not settling for the 3 as a first option.
**** everybody else except Chandler who STILL has a chance by the ASG to show his capabilities CONSISTENTLY!!!!!. Fingers xed on that one. And Jordan Hill... Just cause there's no friggin' choice when the cap is crashing. Really hope it works out because Jennings could have been ours.
And yes, no Nate Robinson.. Really just can't see it working out as being anymore than a buzz about a very good player that is still too small and dances and screams like a baboon on ice.