We have heard Walsh comment on this. I truly believe Walsh had some respect for RB’s game but could not in good faith stash a young, develpoing guy at the end of the bench to play 9 mpg. He simply thought Balkman could grow more as player, receive better attention, and better improve his career prospects somewhere else. IMHO, I think Donnie felt he had to wittle down the roster, he was legitamately looking out for Balkman, and showing the league that the Knicks are an employer that will give its players what they want or what is in their best interest.

Sorry if this is stating the obvious but some people on the site seem to think Walsh doesn’t understand this and think this situation is a case of complete inteptitude.

I’m not going to debate that RB didn’t deserve more playing time than a lot of the other Knicks forwards who have stayed – I personally think he did. I’m just trying to get in the front office’s head a little bit.

Ewing Jr. is execting to be a 12th man (or 15th, however big rosters are today) wherever he goes so NY wouldn’t be stagnating his career.

Check out this dunk by PEJ:
http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/knicks/

Check out this dunk by PEJ:
http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/knicks/

That was a sick dunk
We’ll never truly know why Balkman didn’t work out.

It’s not ludicrous. It’s very clear actually. Any metric you care to choose will tell you that Balkman was an above average player his rookie season, even PER. And those are metrics which don’t capture defense, where balkman is outstanding.

Why you guys think PEJ, whose college numbers are much worse than Balkman’s pro numbers, will be a suitable replacement, I have no idea. But we have already had our Balkman thread. I hope you guys are right about PEJ.

Balk is an above avg NBA player?! Only by your “per 36 min” stats logic. He had trouble cracking the rotation on one of the worst teams in the league and generated virtually zero interest on the trade market despite having a near league-minimum salary, unless you are cynical enough to believe that Walsh did not shop Balk around at all since he took over months before the trade.

Agreed. Calling Balkman an above average NBA player is pretty ludicrous.

1. PEJ was the 6th man of the year in one of the best conferences in the country. I don’t think that makes him a below avg college player.

2. Balk is an above avg NBA player?! Only by your “per 36 min” stats logic. He had trouble cracking the rotation on one of the worst teams in the league and generated virtually zero interest on the trade market despite having a near league-minimum salary, unless you are cynical enough to believe that Walsh did not shop Balk around at all since he took over months before the trade.

It’s true, its not difficult to find a below average college player to replace an above average NBA player.

“I am more excited about the unknown upside of PEJ than RB, even if only on pedigree alone.”

Count me among those who never prefers “upside” to a established track record of productivity in the NBA.

PEJ may work out. If he turns into this year’s Carl Landry, no one will be more excited than me. However, right now I have to say that this is one more move that fails to bolser my confidence in Walsh.

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/knicks/

http://www.brewhoop.com/2008/6/22/543088/measurement-error-explorin

It mentions Pat Ewing Jr.’s standing reach as being probably inaccurate in the DraftExpress database (my guess is that it is 8’11.5″, not 8’1.5″).

Cleary he is a stud athlete, outperforming everyone in sheer leaping ability, even guys like Derick Rose and Joe Alexander. One thing that jumped out at me was his body fat (9.2) which is on the high side for the more athletic guys. This might indicate that he can actually get into much better shape.

I agree with IS (and said several times here right after he was traded) that Balk was probably jettisoned because of personality/intelligence issues rather than solely his lack of offensive skill. While I agree that Ewing may not put up the per-minute stats (and ultimately might not even make the team!), as a knick fan I am more excited about the unknown upside of PEJ than RB, even if only on pedigree alone.

Stoudemire’s recent comments that the Suns didn’t actually practice defense under D’Antoni are disturbing.