That’s a very good and well articulated point. The thing is that I was hoping Walker would come out in D-League having developed his game a bit. People who are high on him always point to his high school hype and athleticism… but he hasn’t really put it to use in the NBA besides finishing well on the few inside attempts he gets and defensive versatility. I was hoping he could build on finally getting some NBA minutes late last season to become more than just a 3-pt specialist who can finish when he occasionally gets to the basket. Maybe become a legitimate 2-guard by improving his handle. Maybe show more on defense. Summer League would have been the time to see the ball-handling and offensive development. It wasn’t completely discouraging, but not as encouraging as I hoped.

If all he’s doing is scoring efficiently, I think he becomes pretty redundant in the Knicks’ rotation between Gallo, Azu, and TD. All of those guys might hit 40% from 3 and have a TS% in the high .500s or .600s, but all those guys bring more to the table in other areas than Walker (or at least we hope they will).

Fields may struggle to make the rotation, but it would be nice if he forces his way in.

massive,

Take a deep breath. Turiaf is a weak rebounder. Amare is average. Randolph is above average. Timo himself could be well above average as a rebounder (though some of his other skills are suspect). D’Antoni’s frontcourts in Phoenix featured mostly average rebounders and those teams never went 37-45. I don’t know if you’ve been reading too much Berri, but rebounding is part of the game not the whole game. Rebounding is one of many things the Knicks have to figure out to have a good year. I don’t particularly see it as THE THING, and would probably put other issues ahead of it.

Would I like Greg Oden? Sure. Is Portland giving him away? No. Oden is going to cost you at least Gallo or Randolph. He may be all but untouchable, since no one is likely to give a huge package for such a risky player and Portland may be looking for a huge package.

re: 80 Would I like Noah, sure. Are the Bulls likely to let him walk as a RFA? Not at all. Doubt Yao leaves Houston, either. It’s a possibility, though.

DS:
Mike – Severely delayed response.You, for the most part answered my question. But I’m really trying to get at;“to what extent should we expect Felton’s career arc to follow Starks’s or Chris Whitney’s or can he be much better?” You are saying that Randolph is “most similar to a bunch of All Stars” but at the same time, he’s only .200 z-sum similar.So if you included on Felton’s list eeryone with up to a .200 or .300 z-sum similarity of Felton maybe some more encouraging names would come up (Payton? Cassell?) Could we expect Felton to perhaps start playing more like those kinds of players if we’re suggesting that Randolph could play like Kemp or KG?  

A z-sum of ~ .065 is one standard deviation away. So z-sums of .200 are to be taken with a bottle of salt, and .300 is an ocean’s worth. The reason I just use the top 10 because, well I have to stop somewhere. Not having a player that is similar indicates a player’s uniqueness. With a player like Magic it means greatness, not so much with a player like Turiaf.

Anthony is 3 standard deviations from anyone else, but most players remotely close to him were good players. But with Felton, there are a lot of players like him at much closer similarities.

To use a beer analogy, let’s say someone brings over two beers and asks you to choose one. The first is a coffee stout, and there aren’t a lot of coffee stouts, but most of them are very good. The other is an American ale. There are lots of American ales, there are a few good ones, but a lot of mediocre and crappy ones. Granted there are lots of great American ales, but you’re more likely to find a good coffee stout.

In any case here is the list for Felton – 25 long. z-scores go to .130. That’s 2 standard deviations away.

0.036 John Starks
0.048 Rex Walters
0.052 Bimbo Coles
0.054 Chris Whitney
0.061 Brent Barry
0.061 Billy McKinney
0.063 Lorenzo Romar
0.064 Steve Colter
0.068 Luke Ridnour
0.07 Jason Williams
0.093 Sedale Threatt
0.093 Jeff Hornacek
0.103 Kirk Hinrich
0.106 Mike Evans
0.107 Chris Corchiani
0.109 Keith Jennings
0.11 Jason Terry
0.114 Jon Barry
0.116 Danny Ainge
0.118 Johnny Davis
0.123 John Roche
0.123 T.J. Ford
0.124 Billy Shepherd
0.13 Earl Watson

“We also need a big to spell Turiaf and Stat becuz who knows when Turiaf will break down playin big minutes and Stat’s health is still something of a question mark b/c of the surgeries.”

I think that is why we just acquired the Russian, Mozgov. I bet we are pretty much set with the big men at this point. The only thing we might pick up is a shooting guard, but that all depends on Azubuike’s health.

Kevin McElroy:skill.Rautins = I despise Andy Rautins (because I am a self-respecting Georgetown fan) but have been impressed by his passing thus far.The shots will fall eventually.He is fine as the 10th or 11th best guy but we should not kid ourselves into thinking he’s a rotation player.

Amen..lol..I was a lil torn when I suggested that the Knicks draft Rautins, as I too am a Hoya fan. Despise Syracuse, but greatly respect Boheim.
Anyhoo…suppose Mike D throws a lineup out there of Turiaf, Stat, Rooster, Azu, and Felton. I think Rautins smarts, ballhandling,shooting ability and passing makes a great fit offensively in that 2nd unit of Randolph, Chandler, and Douglas. Now, Randolph will problee play the 3, 4 and a lil 5…an we all know Mike D has no prob playin Chandler and the 2-3-4..and Douglas can problee play both backcourt spots off the pine. That is problee something coach would luv 2 do, as he likes to keep his rotations tight. But that would wear those guys down becuz Chandler and Randolph have a well documented injury history. Which is why one of the rookies must get minutes..maybe not alot, but enuf to keep Randolph and Chandler from killin themselves. We also need a big to spell Turiaf and Stat becuz who knows when Turiaf will break down playin big minutes and Stat’s health is still something of a question mark b/c of the surgeries. I think coach has to find a way to expand his rotation until the GS Boys (lol..doin tha stanky leg) prove they can hold up with big minutes. And I still say Walsh should make a serious play for Ryan Hollins….

Mike Kurylo:
I’m not sure if it’s a guard/forward thing with respect to the similarities. With Amar’e – great players usually have lower similarity scores. With Randolph – he’s only 20 years old and there aren’t a lot of players for him to be compared to. And Turiaf is pretty much off the charts. Great assists & blocks, bad rebounding & scoring?I list the top 10 similar players, regardless of score. The z-sum is there to indicate how close the players are. Look at high nearly identical Felton & Starks are, while Randolph has nearly double the assist rate of his closest comparable. That’s a significant (enough) difference.  

Mike – Severely delayed response. You, for the most part answered my question. But I’m really trying to get at; “to what extent should we expect Felton’s career arc to follow Starks’s or Chris Whitney’s or can he be much better?” You are saying that Randolph is “most similar to a bunch of All Stars” but at the same time, he’s only .200 z-sum similar. So if you included on Felton’s list eeryone with up to a .200 or .300 z-sum similarity of Felton maybe some more encouraging names would come up (Payton? Cassell?) Could we expect Felton to perhaps start playing more like those kinds of players if we’re suggesting that Randolph could play like Kemp or KG?

Kevin McElroy: Fields…The Tayshaun Prince comparisons are baffling to me –

Didn’t you know: Euros can only be compared to other Euros, white players to white players, and light-skinned black men can only be compared to light-skinned black men. It’s the cardinal rule of sports talk. (Have you noticed, there’s never been a player compared to Sam Cassell?… coincidence or conspiracy!)

Fields = I propose the nickname Landry “Magnetic” Fields — besides being a sweet pun, the way the ball always seems to find him is remarkable. This could go in a lot of different directions because if he’s not athletic enough then nothing else really matters. The Tayshaun Prince comparisons are baffling to me – Prince is much more athletic and a better defender. If he can keep up he’ll score though otherwise he’ll be D-League all star. He reminds me of one of those Euro guys who comes over and isn’t super fast or a great jumper but is just good at every developable basketball skill.

Rautins = I despise Andy Rautins (because I am a self-respecting Georgetown fan) but have been impressed by his passing thus far. The shots will fall eventually. He is fine as the 10th or 11th best guy but we should not kid ourselves into thinking he’s a rotation player.

Jordan = Moves well for a big man (obviously). Will get absolutely torched on defense for at least a season. Probably worth hanging onto as a flyer but i would be stunned if he’s anywhere near the rotaiton this year. I would see us giving Stoudemire minutes at the 5 if Mozgov and Curry are both non-options because Jordan is not ready.