Comments on: A Crumbling Sanctuary: One year after LeDecision, some reflections on pain, promise, and a Knick fan’s penance

By: Jim Cavan

Jim Cavan — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:13:37 +0000

BRIAN! THE LEVEE’S A-BREAKIN’!

By: Z-man

Z-man — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:53:59 +0000

One other thing I like (from the highlights, fwiw) is his comfort level going left. Although he doesn’t seem particularly explosive, with his size, athleticism and handle, he should be able to attack the rim with either hand.

By: SeeWhyDee77

SeeWhyDee77 — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:10:38 +0000

RE: Shump..I really think that his bad shot selection is due to the lack of shot makers he’s played with. Favors never really was what he was “supposed” to be his 1 season at GT…and when he left Shump was all they had left. The only difference between Shumpert in HS and Shumpert in college is..the shots went in in HS and he passed more in college. I think even a lax coach like D’Antoni can rein him in and get him to play more efficiently simply because he has Stat and Melo to take the shots..and Billups. If Shump just falls in line to the pecking order, his game will immediately improve. His shot will also improve once he stops being forced to take bad shots. He does need to attack the rim more often though. But i’m not too worried about him, he’ll develop nicely.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:00:26 +0000

Shumpert is a very solid FT shooter, which is very promising. He is not going to be allowed to chuck up off-the-dribble contested fall-aways like he did time and time again at GT. I really think he is gonna turn out to be a good offensive player if he takes the same shots that Fields took this year. He might develop along the lines of WC, but has better form to start with.

By: James

James — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:49:46 +0000

“he ranks Stuckey as #1. Is it just me, or does Shumpert seem to be quite Stuckey-like? Both are big PG-vs combo-guard-types with shaky outside shots, excellent athleticism, and good defense. Would have been interesting to see what sort of stats Shumpert would have put up if playing at Eastern Washington instead of the ACC.”

I don’t see it. I think Shumpert’s a better athlete than Stuckey who is only a slightly better than average one for me and will be a better defender. He’s also not nearly the shotmaker that Stuckey is.

I like Shumpert and I like him better than Singleton because while both are plus defenders with shaky, inefficient offensive games, at least Shumpert brings ball handling and playmaking to the table that Singleton doesn’t. What really baffled me about Shumpert in college though was how often he cut off drives in order to shoot off balance mid-range jumpers. He would get free on a pick and have an opening to the hoop, an opening an athlete and ball handler of his caliber should have seized upon to challenge a big man and either score or get to the line. Yet consistently Shumpert chose to take a flashy mid-range jumper in the face of clanks galore.

On the one hand, Shumpert’s awful shot selection could mean he has a stubborn basketball personality and might never improve. He could be the bad version of Larry Hughes. On the other hand, how much was his continued bad shot selection a reflection of bad coaching? Paul Hewitt absolutely qualifies as a bad coach who doesn’t rein in players or run a tight, coherent system. It’s on the player too but it’s possible with better coaching and mandates to attack the rim that his potential could be unlocked, not to an all-star level but to become a key rotation player.

By: Jim Cavan

Jim Cavan — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:43:18 +0000

Z-man: If anyone is alive out there, there’s an excellent all-star game on from the early 80?s.

YES!

By: Z-man

Z-man — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:55:10 +0000

It’s the 1985 game, with Bird, Magic, Kareem, Isiah, Jordan, Moses, Bernard, Hakeem, Sampson, Dr. J, among others.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:23:04 +0000

If anyone is alive out there, there’s an excellent all-star game on from the early 80′s.

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:57:23 +0000

Amazingly, Ric Bucher actually wrote a good article about the so-called (and to me, obviously fake) NBA player exodus to Europe:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/6764023/nba-ric-bucher-perils-going-europe

It’s insider though. He basically interviews Josh Childress who says essentially that players that have big guarantees or are approaching free agency would be crazy to go there, and that the “star mentality” that all these guys have been part of since AAU ball is non-existent there – and that NBA players would struggle with that.

Meanwhile, reading Zach Lowe’s piece on the best available PGs in FA (http://tinyurl.com/66ctezk) – he ranks Stuckey as #1. Is it just me, or does Shumpert seem to be quite Stuckey-like? Both are big PG-vs combo-guard-types with shaky outside shots, excellent athleticism, and good defense. Would have been interesting to see what sort of stats Shumpert would have put up if playing at Eastern Washington instead of the ACC.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:13:59 +0000

You’d be amazed at what you can program bots to do. I believe there’s a good video somewhere on the internet that shows you, step by step, how bots created spam accounts – including registering e-mails so that they can comment on sites. And it’s all done by a program!!

As for us, I have no idea why we’re being hit so especially hard recently.