Marc and Jay talk about the last two games, we give grades for everyone on the roster, talk about the Thibs rumors, and more
grades
Knicks 2015 Draft Reaction & Breakdown
Written by Ian Ellis (iellis2018@yahoo.com)
Hey guys, I’m baaaaack to help explain what happened last night. The Knicks got three players: Kristaps Porzingis (4th Pick), Jerian Grant (19th Pick) and Guillermo Hernangomez (35th Pick). So everybody calm down, and let’s begin!
Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C, Latvia
The Knicks made a huge splash in the draft by taking the big man from Latvia with the 4th pick. To be completely honest, I booed this pick for the first minute after the pick, just like most of the Barclays Center, but after that I reminded myself why I and all other Knicks fans should be excited with the pick. Let’s look more into Porzingis.
Player Analysis
Pros:
Physical Tools: Porzingis is very long at around 7’3″. May I repeat, 7′ freaking 3″. That’s huge for a player projected to be a PF in the league. Size is not the only thing going for Porzingis, as he is also very athletic. In addition to all of this, he is very smooth and quick like a guard in his movements, he is not just a huge and clunky bigman (*cough* Bargs *cough*)
Shooting: Porzingis has a silky smooth stroke and might be the best shooter in the entire draft class. This, with his superb size, gives him an unblockable shot and allows him to space the floor. In addition he has a very good touch around the basket.
Level of Competition: It should be noted that he played in the ACB last year, probably the best basketball league besides the NBA. Granted, there still is a huge dropoff in play, but it’s good to note that Porzingis probably played against better competition than players like Karl Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor in the NCAA.
Defensive Potential: While Porzingis struggles with defensive concepts (like most young big) and will struggle defending post players due to his lack of strength, he has the tools to become an outstanding shot blocker and pick & roll defender.
Attitude: The problem with a lot of these Euro busts it seems like is that they don’t love the game. For example, when you watch Bargs play, he never seems to really care. From what’s he’s told us, he really cares. He has amazing English, which shows that he wants to learn the game here with language not being a barrier. He’s already said how he doesn’t want to be the next Bargs or Darko or Weis. He’s shown a fire and desire for the game, which I think is important.
Cons: Continue reading
Knicks Roster Mid-Season Grades
Jay’s Grades
Cole Adrich – C
Carmelo Anthony – A-
Andrea Bargnani – C-
Tyson Chandler – C
Raymond Felton – D
Tim Hardaway Jr. – B+
Kenyon Martin – B+
Toure Murry – A- Continue reading
Episode 238: Midseason Grades
Marc and Jay talk about the last 3 games, The Knicks roster midseason grades, Jays beard theory, listener questions
End of the 2012/13 Season Grades
These are the grades from Episode 202
Jay’s Picks
Carmelo Anthony – A-
Earl Barron – A
Marcus Camby – D-
Tyson Chandler – B-
Chris Copeland – B+
Raymond Felton – B+
Kenyon Martin – A+
Steve Novak – C
Pablo Prigioni – A
Quentin Richardson – D Continue reading
Episode 202: End of the Season Grades
Marc and Jay talk about the first two finals games and answer listener questions. Then Brock replaces Marc to give the end of the season grades for the Knicks roster.
Knicks Roster Mid-Season Grades
In Episode 170 Marc and Jay gave their mid-season grades for the Knicks roster. Here are the results:
Jay’s Picks
Carmelo Anthony – A
Ronnie Brewer – C-
Marcus Camby – F
Tyson Chandler – B
Chris Copeland – B+
Raymond Felton – A-
Jason Kidd – A+
Steve Novak – D
Pablo Prigioni – C+
Iman Shumpert – B+
J.R. Smith – B+
Amare Stoudemire – C+
Kurt Thomas – C-
Rasheed Wallace – B+
James White – C+
Mike Woodson – B
Marc’s Pics
Carmelo Anthony – A-
Ronnie Brewer – C+
Marcus Camby – D
Tyson Chandler – B+
Chris Copeland – B+
Raymond Felton – B+
Jason Kidd – A
Steve Novak – C+
Pablo Prigioni – A-
Iman Shumpert – B
J.R. Smith – B+
Amare Stoudemire – C+
Kurt Thomas – B
Rasheed Wallace – B
James White – D
Mike Woodson – C+
Episode 170: Knicks Roster Midseason Grades
Marc and Jay talk about the Boston and Philly games and then give their mid-season grades for every player on the Knicks roster. Download Episode 170
Episode 129: Final Grades
We give each player and coach season ending grades, make fun of the Heat and recap the 2nd round games. Download Episode 129
Grading all of the Trades
For the weeks leading up to the trade deadline all anyone would talk about is where Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Rajon Rondo were going. Well none of them got moved. There were a bunch of other moves, so lets take a look at them:
The Wizards acquire Nene, Brian Cook, Clippers 2nd round draft pick (via Hornets)
The Nuggets acquire JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf
The Clippers acquire Nick Young
Denver: B
This was the most surprising move of the day for me. In the offseason Nene signed a 4 year, 53 million dollar contract. He also is having a bad season and has been injured constantly, so maybe that made Denver think twice about their franchise center. In other words Denver decided that their 29 year old center who is injury prone should be sold while his value is still high instead of waiting until the injuries kill Amar’es, I mean Nene’s value and the contract is worthless.
McGee makes dumb mistakes. A lot of dumb mistakes. Maybe coach Karl will help with that. I’m guessing Denver really really hopes that’s the case. McGee is also only 24 years old, scores as much as Nene and rebounds and blocks much better. He’s going to get paid this summer, but that contract won’t be as high as Nene’s. Which is good because Lawson and Faried are going to need bigger contracts soon.
Turiaf and McGee also both fit in the $7 trade exception from the Raymond Felton trade (not as upset about losing him after seeing what a fat mess he’s become in Portland), which means they now have a $13 trade exception.
We’ll see if McGee works well with the rest of the team. It’s a big risk because Denver is a playoff team right now, but it gives them a lot of cap flexibility and potentially a more lethal scorer in the post.
Washington: D+
I know Washington didn’t want to move forward with McGee or Young, but it looks like they pretty much gave Young away in this deal. They are also banking on a very high paid and injury prone center. When you have a young team that is very far away from even making the playoffs I don’t know why you roll the dice on an older center. By the time Wall and company are ready to make some noise, Nene is going to be as productive as Dampier or worse. I don’t bet but if I did I would go to the best sports betting sites and put money on Washington really regretting this move in a year or two. Continue reading
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