Cope made the team!

richtree

Rotation player
Chris Copeland, PF - The offical coming out party

I have been reading but haven't posted in awhile and I think this kid deserves his own thread.

With Amare's injury, I believe Copeland will see significant minutes and really impact the Knicks this season.

The Knicks have 2 tough games for a guy to open with, but after that I see no reason why this guy can't be a legit player in the rotation.

Copeland's Positives:

Rebounds on both ends
Has a Jump shot
Long and Tall
Can play with back to basket and facing
Can handle ball
good bball insticts
good free throw shooter
pretty good passer

Negatives:
Could use some more strength, especially in legs
Not great in pick n roll
A little slow laterally on defensive side
Not a good vert jumper
Commits to move too early at times



Overall I think he can really contribute and maybe start while Amare is out. He seems like he can be a 10pt 10rebound guy and can score when Carmelo goes to the bench.


I wouldn't doubt it except I wish he was just a tad more explosive. I think guys like B.Bass, K.Faried, and B.Griffin may be too strong and tough for him to guard but he seems to have the desire.


Chris Copeland, PF from out of nowhere to make a big impact.

Let's go Knicks !!!
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
He's not as good as you make him seem. Also, he's not a passer.

His jumper is decent and he does get to the foul line alot but you have to remember, he was fighting for a roster spot and that was where his aggressivness came from. Woodson won't allow him to do half the things he did in preseason. It'll be a different game for him as the 11th guy on the bench.
 

NYk_Reloaded718

★KNICKS-TAPE★
You make some good points about Copeland and i agree with majority of them, but at the same time i feel your slightly over rating him in some areas... remember this is just pre-season.
 

NYCLakerfan

Rotation player
He's not as good as you make him seem. Also, he's not a passer.

His jumper is decent and he does get to the foul line alot but you have to remember, he was fighting for a roster spot and that was where his aggressivness came from. Woodson won't allow him to do half the things he did in preseason. It'll be a different game for him as the 11th guy on the bench.

I agree, he's def a serviceable player but he's not a very good defender or rebounder and in the regular season he won't be given this much minutes not to mention teams will eventually start figuring him out.
 

tiger0330

Legend
I heard Woody say IF we keep Copeland so it's not a lock. Spurs just cut Eddie Curry and he had a pretty good pre-season, they're just going with 13-14 guys.
 

Wargames

Starter
I heard Woody say IF we keep Copeland so it's not a lock. Spurs just cut Eddie Curry and he had a pretty good pre-season, they're just going with 13-14 guys.

its a good strategy considering their are teams still with an amnesty clause. The knicks used the hell out of it last year to get Lin and JR
 

CA7

Scoring Champ
Copeland is an okay 15th man but he is not an NBA rotation player

-low IQ(especially on D when it comes to rotations)
-horrible lateral movement
-weak jumper
-what is he a weak 4 or a slow 3

like I said as a 15th man but if he's getting big minutes for us I wont be happy
 

Bishop*

Rookie
wow I am surprised at the reactions coming out about Copeland. The guy is definitely going to be in the rotations. Apart form STAT who is injury prone name name 2 natural PF in the knicks team who will come before him.
 

tiger0330

Legend
wow I am surprised at the reactions coming out about Copeland. The guy is definitely going to be in the rotations. Apart form STAT who is injury prone name name 2 natural PF in the knicks team who will come before him.
It's all about leaving a roster spot open to get a better player. Spurs cut Eddie Curry who was averaging 8.6ppg and 3.5 RB in 15 MPG in the pre-season, they cut him to maintain roster flexibility by keeping a spot open and not having his guaranteed salary on their books. Curry had a pretty good pre-season and his weight seems under control, it would be ironic if we cut Copland and signed him.
 

iJoe

Rotation player
Copeland is giving Renaldo Balkman a run for his preseason hall of famer spot.

Heh that so funny. Its exactly what I was thinking :beer:

Can't get too excited over anyone in the preseason. No way on earth Copeland is getting that many touches in the regular season. The question is can he keep a high percentage and play smart ball even when he's not being spoon fed the ball constantly by our PGs. I think on a normal team without elite PGs, he'd look very average.

The stat that worries me the most about the Knicks is rebounding. Minus Tyson, interior rebounding is really weak. Can only hope Camby comes back strong because we really need him badly.
 

Paul1355

All Star
Copeland bring intesity and can score. He is great at the pick and roll with Pablo. He needs to work on his rebounding but he brings it on offense and does well on the defense.

Now that Amare is hurt, and will likely be hurt again, Copeland will have his shot. I believe he has forced Woodson to give him minutes.

the kid scored 34 points in a preseason game. Preseason is not summer league, this kid is legit.

If he is not on the team then as Wally said..."Something is wrong"

Is he a starter? No. But he can be a valuable role player...and maybe with more experience if he shows consistency and Amare is out then he can get his few starts but lets not jump ahead.
 

Wargames

Starter
I think its more waiting to see who is cut the next few days than anythibg else. He fits a need but a better player who has more experience might show up. In that case it would suck if we guaranteed Copeland's contract where the way it is setup now he couldn't be poached anyway.
 

Bishop*

Rookie
This guy is legit!!! Think otherwise and you will see him on another team giving it to us!!! His pick and roll with Prigioni will be the best game plan for the second unit.
 

NYk_Reloaded718

★KNICKS-TAPE★
Mike Woodson and Glen Grunwald sat down on Thursday to talk about the team's roster.

Don't be surprised if it wasn't a very long conversation.

The Knicks roster is basically set. The only minor question mark is with the 15th spot, and all indications point to Chris Copeland filling that spot.

Copeland finished his strong preseason with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the Knicks' overtime win over Brooklyn on Wednesday. Overall, he averaged 15.5 points on 51 percent shooting.

After Wednesday's game, Copeland said he was 'optimistic' that he'd make the team.

"I'm optimistic, but you never know what they're looking for," the 6-foot-8 Copeland said. "I'm excited and I'm blessed to have the opportunity. I'd love to be here."

Copeland can play multiple positions. With Amare Stoudemire out for another two weeks, Copeland could provide points from the power forward spot
for Woodson.

"I think I can help out at every position," Copeland, 28, said. ".... I have played every position except point guard at some point. So I think (Woodson) can use me wherever he would like to. (But) I don't know what they will do at the end of the day."

The Knicks will need to cut five players from their roster to get down to the mandatory 15 by Monday. They have 13 players under guaranteed contracts and Rasheed Wallace is signed to a non-guaranteed contract. Barring something unforeseen (a major injury), Wallace will make the team. Copeland should as well. The rookie will need to improve on defense, rebounding and limit his turnovers. He finished the preseason averaging 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 turnovers.

WOODY REFOCUSES ON REBOUNDING: The Knicks will begin tightening things on Friday in preparation for the season-opener. The team will scrimmage several times over the next seven days, with a focus on improving weaknesses that have emerged in the preseason.

Chief among those are defense and rebounding.

"We've got to start adding some things defensively. I think we've got to get better," Woodson said after Wednesday's win over Brooklyn. "I don't think we're great yet in terms of our rotations. And rebounding-wise we have been awful in exhibition season. So we've really got to pick that up as well."

The Knicks averaged just 37.33 rebounds per game in the preseason, the lowest total in the NBA. They also had the second-worst rebounding difference (7.17) in the league.

They're giving up just over 100 points per game, the fifth-highest league total. And they're allowing opponents to 46% from the floor, the fourth-worst preseason total.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/26664/copeland-optimistic-about-15th-roster-spot
 
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