Comments on: Celtics 96, Knicks 86

By: Spree8nyk8

Spree8nyk8 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:35:17 +0000

StevenU: Spree-of course talent is key-but you also need heart. Balance. Complimentary skill sets. We regressed in those areas because of the desperation for star power, and now we have two great offensive stars, and less of a team.

No, we do not have less of a team. THAT is a mistake. Denver is doing better because they had more there to begin with. We have not become worse from the trade, we are probably about the same or slightly better. As far as the heart goes. Like I said before (but has been once again ignored), heart is easier to add than Talent. If that were not the case the 90's knicks would have won 10 titles because they had heart in spades.....but they did not have the talent. And talent is going to trump heart 99/100. We can go out and find pieces that bring the heart and desire we'll need. But for us to have passed on the trade and then tried to find talent to add. Would have been a much more difficult thing.

By: Spree8nyk8

Spree8nyk8 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:31:15 +0000

StevenU: I would take Gallo, Chandler and Felton back for Melo this second, even without the Mosgov, AR and the picks. OUCH! It still hurts.

See this is a comment that I just don't get.....Why would you do that? What upside is there to taking back pieces that are NEVER going to help you win? If you were going to trade Melo at least you could trade him for another star. I mean if worst comes to worst at least next season we could trade him for one of the superstars that will be up for grabs (howard/paul/dwill). None of those guys could get you any of those guys, but Melo could. That is reason enough for me, and on top of that Melo is just much better than any of those guys. There is some adjustment pain right now but in the end it's going to work out one way or the other.

By: StevenU

StevenU — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:27:02 +0000

Spree-of course talent is key-but you also need heart. Balance. Complimentary skill sets. We regressed in those areas because of the desperation for star power, and now we have two great offensive stars, and less of a team.

By: Spree8nyk8

Spree8nyk8 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:26:52 +0000

@StevenU

I just think it’s much easier to be efficient when you are the guy that doesn’t demand the ball. for the most part Gallo never takes a contested shot. If at any stage in his career he wants to move into a star caliber player he’s going to have to take more shots, which means he’s going to be focused on defensively, and more of those shots will become contested. I don’t think he’s going to be quite as efficient then. Also while he may not have pouted and not got back on defense, the difference between him and Melo defensively is that Melo CAN actually play good D. Gallo cannot. It’s frustrating that Melo doesn’t choose to defend well with more consistency, but maybe with a coaching change that will come. I’m pretty sure Phil Jackson could get more D out of him. I don’t know how much more D anyone is going to squeeze out of Gallo though.

And about the Felton part, I ALWAYS thought that. But because so many here insisted how much better Billups was I pretty much just assumed I was wrong.

By: StevenU

StevenU — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:24:37 +0000

Gallo was absolutely not a terrible defender-maybe as a rookie, but that was one of several areas of his game that were visibly improving.
I would take Gallo, Chandler and Felton back for Melo this second, even without the Mosgov, AR and the picks.
OUCH! It still hurts.

By: Spree8nyk8

Spree8nyk8 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:20:33 +0000

Idk how much older we really got. Chauncey can be gone at the end of the season if they want to go that route. And let’s suppose that we didn’t get melo and that he instead went to NJ (which would have happened). What would we be doing this season that would make a huge impact? I don’t see many superstars available this offseason. Next offseason sure, but we have money then. So in my opinion (which is only that) it’s better to get what you can now. Now that we have a real core in place we can start to define what is needed and find those pieces. It’s much more difficult to add a core to pieces than it is to add pieces to a core. So I’m fine with where they are at this point. The only thing I would really like is for them to play with more heart. THAT and THAT ONLY is what I do miss about the old team. The old team definitely had heart. But like I said before, heart doesn’t win titles, talent does.

By: StevenU

StevenU — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:16:01 +0000

Spree, At least you agree with me (now) about the Felton part. And I hear you re: the legend of Gallo already being a lot larger than he was as a player-granted. At the same time, he IS 22. He IS still learning the game and improving and expanding his game. He IS a lot more efficient than Melo. And yes, those stretches where he disappeared drove me batty, but that is just the kind of thing a young player can improve. I wish I could find it but there was a great article about Paul Pierce and how his coach at Kansas would scream at him to just do something-anything, because of how he drifted in and out of games. Paul Pierce is not an incredible athlete just a great player. I believe Gallo was being humble and it doesn't matter if he thinks he is a star-only what he produces. And I never once saw him pout rather than get back on D.

Spree8nyk8: He is a gigantic upgrade over Gallo.Melo draws a double team and is capable of making great passes out of that double team.Melo can get to the line with much greater consistency than Gallo.Melo can break down defenses 1 on 1.See this is the fucked up part.Gallo was my favorite Knick before the trade.But holy christ I feel like I’m the only person that remembers him.I mean he was super efficient yes…he’d get you 18 on 6-8 shots sometimes.But how often was he completely invisible?How many times did he show ZERO offensive initiative.He never demands the ball and takes a game over.He’s not going to explode for 40 or 50.He was a terrible defender and a very bad rebounder (especially for 6’10?).And his 3pt shooting has regressed.But now since he’s gone and we don’t have him anymore people talk about him like he was a fucking unicorn.He wasn’t some mythical basketball phenom.He was a 16-18 pt guy who said himself “i’m not a star”.And I love the guy to death but he’s right.He is not a star, and he’s not going to be one...

By: StevenU

StevenU — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:03:28 +0000

Spree, your point that they were not going to win anything this year is totally valid. And naturally, being New York, there is always an urgency to win now, make a splash, grab the headlines (aka impatience). And I am sure you’re a real fan like most of us. I think we are all more than a little frustrated and to say this is year one of a rebuilding plan debatable. Sacrificing two entire seasons (completely unprecedented in the NBA and to the best of my knowledge in any sport ever) with the sole purpose of getting LeBum plus one was also part of the rebuilding plan.I would call it year 3.
I for one am very happy we got Amare and was 100% fine with NOT having a second superstar just yet. Especially given what you just wrote: They were not-and are not-winning anything this year. And I do not think it’s simplistic to say our options going forward are certainly more limited now than they were prior to the trade. Nor do I think we are any closer to winning anything of substance, having gutted our depth, defense and size-none of which were strengths anyway (and gotten older in the process).

By: Spree8nyk8

Spree8nyk8 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:56:46 +0000

I will say this about the trade. If we were wrong about any aspect of that trade it was probably about billups being a big upgrade over felton. Felton’s heart is severely missed right now. And his assist numbers seemed to be much better than what we have now. Idk, I really hope that Billups picks it up, but I really really miss Felton….

By: Spree8nyk8

Spree8nyk8 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:54:08 +0000

StevenU: Melo is simply not such a huge upgrade over Gallo, either. I posted at the time and still belive that upgrade was basically trading a 22 year old 6’10? still improving guy who scores 16 and is very likely a 20 point (plus) scorer, for a 25 pt scorer. Not nearly enough of an upgrade to justify dismantling a decent young improving team.

He is a gigantic upgrade over Gallo. Melo draws a double team and is capable of making great passes out of that double team. Melo can get to the line with much greater consistency than Gallo. Melo can break down defenses 1 on 1. See this is the fucked up part. Gallo was my favorite Knick before the trade. But holy christ I feel like I'm the only person that remembers him. I mean he was super efficient yes...he'd get you 18 on 6-8 shots sometimes. But how often was he completely invisible? How many times did he show ZERO offensive initiative. He never demands the ball and takes a game over. He's not going to explode for 40 or 50. He was a terrible defender and a very bad rebounder (especially for 6'10"). And his 3pt shooting has regressed. But now since he's gone and we don't have him anymore people talk about him like he was a fucking unicorn. He wasn't some mythical basketball phenom. He was a 16-18 pt guy who said himself "i'm not a star". And I love the guy to death but he's right. He is not a star, and he's not going to be one.