Comments on: Knicks Morning News (2019.05.24)

By: Silky Johnson, Fleet Admiral of the Tank Armada

Silky Johnson, Fleet Admiral of the Tank Armada — Sat, 25 May 2019 15:13:58 +0000

@65

Their passing stats are very similar, with the caveat that it’s Culver’s sophomore season where they are similar (he had worse passing than RJ his freshman year). Culver is also a playmaker. What differentiates RJ from Culver is RJs worse defense but his superior rebounding and volume scoring. RJ was better than year 1 Culver, but year 2 Culver was significantly better than RJ. What you’re relying on to justify RJ (especially when considering his tepid steals numbers) is that he would’ve made a year 2 leap that would make him more productive than Culver. Because Culver is more productive now and has better projectibles, I’d probably take him despite his what looks to be a lower ceiling. If we can trade down though, that’d be terrific.

By: Stratomatic "I'm tired of the Knicks paying lip service to DEFENSE. Get defenders & two-way players. Then play them!

Sat, 25 May 2019 14:16:58 +0000

Just looked at Doncic’s splits and saw that he shot 22% on 102 3PA in March. Looks like he just fell off a cliff everywhere in March. I wonder if it was fatigue, injury, high usage (35%!) or just a bad streak.

Clubbing with Porzingis? 🙂

By: KnickfaninNJ

KnickfaninNJ — Sat, 25 May 2019 13:22:56 +0000

I really don’t know draft picks well, but just reading here if Barrett can assist but Culver can’t or does much less that seems like a qualitative difference, not a quantitative one, and it makes Barrett more valuable if they are otherwise similar players

By: GoNYGoNYGo - Calling for KD

GoNYGoNYGo - Calling for KD — Sat, 25 May 2019 13:01:28 +0000

What I like about Barrett is that at times he looks like a power forward and at other times he looks like a point guard. He’s the type of player that could take over a game offensively both by scoring and dishing. My question would be his tendency to fall asleep on the defensive end which reminds me of Melo.

By: Grocer

Grocer — Sat, 25 May 2019 03:44:26 +0000

RJ Barrett is an average jumper and/or free throw line consistency away from being the whole package,

Yeah, all this volume shooter had to learn is how to shoot.

Trade down if we can. This draft is shit.

By: Bruno Almeida

Bruno Almeida — Sat, 25 May 2019 02:15:53 +0000

The point about Culver and Barrett has mostly been that Barrett should have more reputation and be worth more in trade scenarios, so unless you really like Barrett much more than Culver, I’d rather have Culver + asset than just Barrett. If we can’t trade down and simply have to pick whoever is at 3rd, or if the pick is simply going to be trade fodder for Davis, then I would rather pick Barrett, as if he is bad he should still have more trade value, and I think he has a chance of being a good player, about the same chance I would give to Culver honestly.

I’m just not a big fan of either. Like Grocer said, I’d be happy picking either at the 6-8 range, but I just don’t see enough to get really excited about using the 3rd pick on either of them. Anyway, that’s the predicament we’re in because it seems like a weak draft, so at least there are prospects with some upside.

By: The Honorable Cock Jowles

The Honorable Cock Jowles — Sat, 25 May 2019 02:11:40 +0000

Just looked at Doncic’s splits and saw that he shot 22% on 102 3PA in March. Looks like he just fell off a cliff everywhere in March. I wonder if it was fatigue, injury, high usage (35%!) or just a bad streak.

By: The Glass Half Rebuilt

The Glass Half Rebuilt — Sat, 25 May 2019 01:30:19 +0000

For as much shit as RJ Barrett gets for his shooting, he does average a hair over 2 3PM per 40. Nobody doubts that Luka Doncic can shoot even though he hit 32.7% from 3 and 71.3% from the free throw line last season. RJ Barrett really isn’t as bad as Zion’s shadow made him seem.

By: JK47

JK47 — Sat, 25 May 2019 01:09:16 +0000

The Steve Nash connection means nothing to me. If it’s such a great advantage having Steve Nash as your godfather maybe your shooting should be good already. That’s a non factor for me.

The reason to prefer Culver is for defense. The reason to prefer Barrett is that he’s a year younger and he’s a playmaker. They’re reasonably comparable. Knowing that Culver is in fact 6’6 3/4” makes me slightly prefer RJ.

I also think RJ has higher perceived value, and that matters. He might fetch more in a trade because he’s “RJ Barrett, Consensus Prep #1” and Culver does not have that mystique.

By: The Glass Half Rebuilt

The Glass Half Rebuilt — Sat, 25 May 2019 00:55:19 +0000

My point is you cannot be down on Barrett but not be down on Jarrett Culver. Are they similar prospects? Absolutely, they have similar numbers, but doing what RJ Barrett did as a freshman in the ACC is more impressive than what Jarrett Culver did as a sophomore in the Big 12. That’s why I give him the edge over Culver, and I think that’s pretty reasonable.

I really hope we take Barrett. This isn’t a prospect where you look at him and say “well if I could just teach that kid how to play basketball he’d be really good” the way our scouts did with Frank and Knox. RJ Barrett is an average jumper and/or free throw line consistency away from being the whole package, and if Marc Gasol can learn to shoot 3s in a summer, then 19 year old RJ Barrett can lock himself in a gym with his godfather Steve Nash (who works as a player development consultant with Golden State) and make improvements to his shooting.