Frank:
Interesting – Chad Ford’s most recent draft blog says the Knicks are looking seriously at Selby, Vucevic, Klay Thompson, and Jeremy Tyler. I would be satisfied with any of those picks.He also wrote that Jeremy Tyler thinks he has a 40? vertical.6’11?, 260, and a 40? vertical? yes please.

I was not very impressed with Vucevic. I saw USC play several times and thought, “Meh. I don’t see the upside. He’s just a dime-a-dozen pick-and-pop center.” I rather like Klay Thompson and Tyler is intriguing, though he could potentially be around later.

They just don’t deserve this.

http://m.espn.go.com/wireless/story?w=1anul&storyId=6583376&disableShare=true&adBlock=block&i=SC&hidePageFooter=true&hidePageHeader=true

His free throw is probably the most UNIQUE (ugly) that I’ve ever seen. Really? You lead with your LEFT foot when you shoot right handed? The shots are brutal, but FT can be fixed. He’s got a decent stroke and good form for a mid-range shot too.

He seems to make a lot of stupid fouls by using his hands too much and sometimes overly aggressive/stupid fouls come his way.

Against THAT competition, he does look good. How he does against an NBA big will require adjustments, but he does show promise of ‘learning’ as the season goes on, if he gets some time. His improvement in the Japanese league is DRAMATIC. From the link Z-Man posted until the last one on 3-9-11 that I posted, it is two completely different players. The latter has confidence, good motor skills, a refined post games that include back to the basket and face up skills, somewht knack for offensive rebounds.

I think he’s more intriguing than most people think. He seems far more active than Jerome Jordan is, and a lot less statuesque. Really guys, a big, if he can do that against NBA bigs, is someone you don’t want to take?

i’m not sure. I tend to agree that maybe BAP is the way to go. But Tyler, if he can live up to the potential he shows, can fill a gigantic need.

Jim Cavan: Yikes. I guess the truth is somewhere in between, but logic says anyone who came off the bench in that league probably isn’t making the leap his first year in the show.

It isn’t. This is a high school kid basically. He was 18 years old I believe, playing professionally.

With playing time and more coaching, he showed improvements. That link was from a game 1-18-2011.

This is 2-15-2011 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=immtfGHZjew&feature=related. There is improvement.

2-22-2011 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW6PZOdOMbk&feature=related

3-6-2011 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld8YmrMONUM&feature=related

3-9-2011 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXbszlyhFeo&NR=1

I certainly don’t think he’s the next Olajuwon. I’m just trying to show you guys that this is the reason why he started getting noticed among the GMs.

Pros: His footwork improved tremendously (most of it seems confidence based). He started getting more minutes. He doesn’t have bad court vision. His rebounding seems good, he follows up after misses, hustles after boards (things Curry did not do for instance). His low post game seems refined for an EIGHTEEN year old. It looks very good actually. He has a big AND athletic body (rare combo seen on Howard/DeAndre Jordan/Andrew Bynum). His ball handling is surprisingly good.

When he gets the ball in the post, he has face up moves as well as a baby hook.

When he rebounds or gets the ball downlow, he keeps the ball high (another skill rarely seen on young players). Hell, even Amar’e has this weakness still.

He’s got massive measurements and good quickness (from what I saw from Draft Combine). He jumps out of the gym and has good speed as well.

He has all the makings to be a REALLY solid defender/finisher in this league. He’s got the body and length and athleticism that if he went after rebounds, he’d be a monster. He needs to do everything except score, and we can put him next to Amar’e. I think with Melo and Amare, the ‘character’ issues will go away for certain. I don’t even really think he has any to be honest. He was just a kid who made a dumb decision. We don’t know if he did it because his family needed money or what either. It isn’t as if he was charged with a crime.

It does seem like Markieff is a great fit if he’s there. He might be worth moving up for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBSQf0wWiKw&feature=player_embedded

http://knickerblogger.net/robert-and-john-go-to-the-2011-nba-draft-lottery/

KnicksFanInVA:
Isn’t Faried similar to someone we already have in Balkman?

I think similar TYPE of player in terms of energy/hustle, but Faried was a far superior player to Balkman in college – all-time leading rebounder in NCAA history. And he doesn’t come with Balkman’s facepalm attitude. I think Balkman forever lost any chance at playing time when he started chucking up 3′s during his one garbage time chance last year. Showed a total disregard for his role – he should’ve been out there hustling and playing smart – instead was just throwing up dumb shots.