still need a shot bloker tho.
I say Artest. Defense needs to become a priority. Lee will become a solid defender. Balkman, Richardson, Marbury and Collins are good defenders. Jefferies is an inconsistant defender, but thats not a bad core of defense right there. If we somehow obtain Tiago Splitter too(one of the best defensive bigs in the draft) and Artest, we'll win 45-50 games with defense only. I have faith in players like Collins and Balkman who will take it to a new level of defense we haven't seen since the 90's. And Artest embodies a 90's Knicks...he belongs in a Knicks uni.
i was gonna say artest until you pointed out our defensive rotation already... i think a SF rotation of balkman, q-rich, jeffries and lewis would be adequate defensively... i think balkman and collins could mature into effective defenders maybe equaling what artest would bring to the table... lewis would be a consistent second option on offense... and that's what we'd need to ultimately win since we have a core of good young defenders...
BUT... i would be happy if we got neither... since adding either lewis or artest would add salary beyond 08 - 09... our projected year to be under the salary cap... the same year Kobe becomes a free agent (and i think Lebron and DWade although I might be wrong on those two)... i think our present team can get to the playoffs for two years... then let's make a move for the final piece once we've gotten to the dance a few times... no need to start blowing up the team for a chance to win a few more regular season games...
Unfortunately I will not agree with TOONS! You must consider one thing, that's stats are not everything You have to look at! There are lot of players, that have good stats but these are only numbers in the columns! And I just want to say that people like Artest are making lot of dirty work, which You won't see at his stats! You don't need to have 3 steals and 2 blocks per game to prove that You are a good defensive player! Ron can play defense one on one excellent and tell me if Shard can stop players on his position to score minimum points, like Artest did this season with Kobe, Tracy, Vince & others! Remember stats never show the value of a player!!!!!!Depends on who is cheaper....if i was GM, i would get RL, but artest is a funny kind of player, ARTEST would heavily be on my mind also. Defense can be tought over time with conditioning. Look at the top 5 shotblocking teams
detroit
clippers
Atlanta
Indiana
chicago
3 out of 5 of them didnt make the playoffs
top 10 in steals
Golden state
denver
sacramento
charlotte
washington
seattle
cleveland
atlanta
indiana
3 out of 10 made the playoffs
is defense overrated? do we need to improve out defense that much? or teach and develop our players to be smarter on offense. We LEAD THE LEAGUE IN TURNOVERS WITH ALMOST 18 PER GAME. that is what is killing us....Rashard scores more than artest, shoots a higher percentage, blocks more shots, rebounds better...artest steals one more ball than rashard, but turns the ball over one more time than rashard on average, so that equals out. Shard has a way better free throw percentage....i really think u guys underrate lewis a bit too much....even tho seattle was shitty this year, ridnour was injured most of it, then he fell off horribly, ray allen was injured, he has the leadership ability to carry a team. come on guy, youtube his highlights, find out about him, look at his numbers...also look at his development....If we can keep craw, an get rashard, the knicks are playoff bound for sure
Jefferies is average on defense and terrible on offense.
Richardson is a SG.
Balkman is best suited playing an Anderson Varejao role, he doesn't have a jumpshot, so he's not ready to be a starter yet, but he will be in the future.
i wasn't talking about jeffries' offense... AND remember i said the rotation would be adequate.
richardson WAS a SG... his back injuries might have slowed him down too much by now though... remember LJ used to be an agile SF before his back problems slowed him down too much... if q's back heals then he's a 2 again... if not he's a 3 for life...
richard jefferson, josh smith, gerald wallace, josh howard, shawn marion... all starting SFs who didn't have jumpshots early in their careers... balkman could start at three with a decent handle and more offensive awareness...
the main point of my post was that whether or not we get artest, lewis, gerald wallace or any upgrades to our SF position... we have a nice defensive rotation as presently assembled...
Jefferies is garbage, why are we even speaking of him?
Richardson is a SG, might have? Lets not assume things again. Richardson gets healthy, he's back to a 15 ppg 7 rebs 3pt bomb. I like Q-Rich, at times he looked like the best players on the Knicks, giving you the boards, defense, good offense, consistantly. Just stay healthy Q-Rich.
I'll repeat myself again since you didn't understand. Balkman is the future 3 of this team, but not right now. He's best suited for the pace changing role like Anderson Varejao, comprende?
How many consistant scorers do we have tho?We have scorers...I say Artest!!