All Star Crap and New Knicks=Old Knicks

No John Maine or Oliver Perez in the All-Star game: Bullshit.

No Eric Byrnes in the All-Star game: Boycotting

.315 AVG, 13HR, 46 RBI, 15 SB. The one player in his in his lineup doing anything worth anything. And, the most charismatic player in the game.



Carlos Beltran should give Byrnes his spot.

That's enough of that. I told you I would talk Knicks basketball today and when Sip makes a promise, there is about a 50% chance that he sees it through (at least when it comes to his blogging).

Draft Night:


1. Selecting Wilson Chandler at #23.

This pick makes so much more sense than the Balkman pick. This year, there wasn't a lot left at #23. Last year Marcus Williams was on the board. He was a top 10 talent. They should have drafted Williams.

But Isiah drafted Balkman. Balkman is considered a great success simply because he did not absolutely bust. The Knicks did not uncover the next coming of the messiah here.

They found an athletic 6'8 small forward.

They then signed an athletic 6'9 small forward to the mid level exception: Jared Jeffries

Then in 2007, they draft an athletic 6'8 small forward: Wilson Chandler



Seems repetitive.

I just think this Isiah Thomas' ego acting. When you draft a guy that no one expects anything out of, and then the player is successful, then the GM is a genius. If he fails, oh well.

So when Wilson Chandler is a bust, Isiah already has his excuse prepared: that he got a free 1st rounder in Randolph Morris.

Even with the success of Balkman if I could re-do the Balkman pick for Marcus Williams I still would.

So the Balkman pick working out is not enough of an excuse to "REACH" for Chandler, considered by most others to be a 2nd round talent.



Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, Denetrius Nicholls for Steve Francis and Channing Frye.

On paper, I think this is a slam dunk for the Knicks.

They get a 20-10 PF.

They give away Steve Francis and his exorbiant, completely untradable contract.

The one sacrifice, Channing Frye, isn't really exciting anyone.


So again, This deal, independent of all other factors is a great move for the Knicks.
Kudos to Isiah for pulling it off. Pretty much his only good trade/FA signing since he took over the Knicks.

Here's the problem.

The Knicks just got worse.

Name me a succesful team with two Low post/back to the basket players who both averaged 18PPG(big men) in the last ten years and I'll give you a soda.

Now, name me a succesful team that started a power forward and center that were both considered defensive liabilities.

There are simple resaons for this:

The two can not mix.

Offensively, only one man can touch the ball inside 15 feet. This is not the same as having two guards who are similar. Guards spread the floor and can hit 20-foot jump shots. You only need one big man to touch the ball, draw the double team. Putting two in the paint simply clogs the lane. So, when one player is doing what he does best, the other will be standing somewhere he does not belong.

Defensively, it is very difficult to hide one poor defensive player.

The Suns lost their series to the Spurs because of one defensive mismatch- Nash on Parker.

The Mavs hide Dirk by surrounding him with a purely defensive center in Dasanaga Diop and a defensive stud in Josh Howard.

We all know the Pistons can defend.

When the Knicks play Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph on the court at the same time, they will need to hide two defensive players. In simpler terms, they are going to get destroyed on the inside.



Combine that with the fact that Marbury and Crawford are average defenders at best, and the Knicks are giving up 105 PPG.

Unfortunately, the Knicks are not the Warriors or Suns. This team is at best an average offensive club.

Average offense +Awful defense= ???

Oh, and how many winning team has Zach Randolph ever played for?


Projection

This deal doesn't make te Knicks better. 35 wins is a best case scenario for '08.

There is no reason to try add on to this current Knicks team. This has been Isiah's plan for the last 3 years and it has failed miserably. There are too many stiffs making too much money.

I say, blow it up. They should have done this 4 years ago and they still should now.

Trade Randolph for a young kid and an expiring contract. Package him to get rid of Jared Jeffries or Jerome James.

Send him to the Bulls for Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah.

The Knicks have no shot as long as they keep on trying to do what they do: Fixing their current team.

Instead, they need to start over. With the right cap room, the Knicks could sign any single player in basketball. Everyone wants to be a Knick, play in New York, play in the garden and reap the sponsorhip benefits of playing in New York.

So why not free up enough space to make a run at D-Wade or Lebron James in 3 seasons. Tank those seasons, secure a few more young kids, develop David Lee(the only legitimate prospect of Isiah's youth movement), watch Jerome James and and Marbury's deal expire and have the Maximum amount of money to throw at LeBron James.

Unless he wins a title in Cleveland in the next three years, he would come to the Knicks.

Could you even imagine getting LeBron when he was 25?

It's not unreasonable.

Any player in basketball is movable. The Knicks just traded Steve Francis, something that couldn't have been less possible if you dreamt it.

So just get rid of everyone in preparation for the summer of 2010.

That's Sip's plan.

Vaya,
Sip


(Pics courtesy of Cnn.com, scout.com, slamonline.com)