Yes, although I don't recall exactly what was said or the context, but it was a real uproar in New York at the time. I think that hell will freeze over before Les lets CD sign him, unless Alexander decides to forgive and forget. Very nice post, Jeff. What's the matter with you... trying to introduce some sanity and kill our speculative mania?!?
Maybe is Les is able to squeeze a cheap contract out of Ward than he can overlook his own principles. But anyways, regarding Ward the player....take it from a NY'er who's seen his game 500+ times....at this point in his career he flat out SUCKS.
Here's a little background on the Ward anti-semitic comments, including JVG's take at the time: Ward, an African American, is a former Florida State quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in the nation several years back. He's currently a point guard for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association. Ward is a conservative with "a long history of using Christianity as a bludgeon and as a shield," writes Gwen Knapp, a sportswriter with the San Francisco Chronicle. He is one of a growing number of professional athletes who have taken to wearing their Christianity on their sleeves. They're the players, who thank God after winning a ball game, as if God actually takes sides in sporting events. Ward and several of his teammates are so serious with their proselytizing that it moved a frustrated Knick head coach Jeff Van Gundy's to recently remark that the two things tearing apart basketball these days are "god and golf." Van Gundy told New York magazine: "We let a preacher into our locker room. Spends as much time as he wants with our players before games. Now, do people in offices have preachers coming into their place of business, interrupting their work? No. They have to do it before and after work. They don't get to do it during work. That's the problem I have. As a team and an organization, you've got to try to minimize those distractions." Ward's anti-Semitic remarks set off a firestorm in New York City, where he was relentlessly booed at Madison Square Garden, his home court. Although Ward later apologized for his remarks, the incident still reverberates. http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=11218
I'm not going to sit here and pull stats out of my back side to analyze Charlie Ward's current level of NBA PG skills. All I can tell you is this. In two consecutive playoffs series', Greg Popovic was faced with Jason Williams, Earl Watson, Gary Payton & Derrick Fisher. Not exactly Murderers' Row. He overwhelmingly played Jason Hart and Devin Brown instead of Ward. Additionally, that number #10 three point percentage your placing so much emphasis on? How about Ward shooting 6 whole percentage points lower as a Spur than a Knick. And which team runs an offense more resembling the Rockets? Rent-a-Charlie for 1 or 2 seasons @ $1.6m or Spend half of the MLE and have a starter named Damon Jones, Antonio Daniels or Mike James? To quote the very old commercial..."Sorry Charlie".
i do agree with giving jones, daniels, or james half the mle. But i dont know if the rockets will. Maybe ward is bad, i wont lie i am judging him by stats. He could be bad.
sup123, take it from someone who saw him play(not just the stats), he's not bad...he's horrible. Honestly, he's not worth the gamble. Not even at minimum price.
lol Sane, Who "established" it that Tyronn Lue doesn't play defense? I remember the NBA Finals in 2001. Try watching them again if your memory fails you. Tyronn smothered AI from the time he was put on him, which was after the first game. Phil Jackson didn't use him in the first game; which is the only game Philly won. Anyone that watched the series will say the same thing.
if Ward is so horrible, why do CD/JVG still wanna get him??? Shouldnt we fired Cd/Jvg cos they are so horrible at evaluating talent??? I mean not that i want Ward, i definitely prefer mike james or even a. daniels but we still couldnt get any pg to sign then i will accept ward as our last resource ...sad but true
I don't pretend to know more than JVG or CD. I don't even know one millionth of what they know about basketball and players. And they shouldn't be fired if they bring in Ward. But sometimes even the pros make mistakes that we, the novices, saw ahead of time. Perfect example is when they signed Moochie to that ridiculous contract. The vast majority of us here couldn't believe they'd commit that much money and years to such a limited player. Ironically, now he's the example they want to avoid repeating. If we knew better than to give Moochie that deal, surely they knew, also, but did it anyway. If we're scared to death at the thought of signing Ward, then surely they shudder at having to resort to that as well. But it doesn't mean they won't make a mistake and do it anyway. I'm glad they don't want to repeat a Moochie and throw money away as others are doing this year. But I'm hoping they don't overreact and go the other way...sign only players who'll take the very minimum and end up with minimal skills if any.
B.S. B.S. B.S. one third of the ppl here though he should've/or could've won 6th man of the year when the contract was signed. one third thought the money was ok, but was worried about the length, but were ok with it. Only about one third didn't like the deal. Heck, his first year after the contract, most of the posters on this board was like "thank god we sign moochie or we would've really sucked" when Francis was out most of the season with the ear disease.
I agree that people are overreacting to not signing Barry, Fisher or any of the other guys that have been overpaid this offseason, but let's not completely downplay our legit need for a starter quality PG and backup C. We don't need a splash, but a Mike James ripple sure would be a nice move.
Jeff = Buzzkill Well it's obvious ClutchFans isn't a pay site, why throw a blanket on the fun...Bibby, Heinrich, We can dream! I enjoy the level of sophistication on this site. We have a few posters that seem to be on par with the best sportswriters in their grasp of the intricacies of the CBA and teambuilding strategies but it's still just a fan site. Crush the ridiculous, yes. But allow us the slightly unreasonable speculation. We might have to accept this team + Ward when the season starts, and be happy with a 6th seed and a secound round exit but in the summer it's the hope that gets you through.
What tools do we have to get it done? Cap Space? No. TE? Won't get us both. People act as though there is some large pool of talented PGs and backup Cs that we can just add to our roster, without a problem. Newsflash folks, we aren't going to throw money at bush league players just for the sake of doing it. We've done it in the past, and then everyone shouts from the mountaintops about what a terrible contract Brent Price has. I for one am relieved that CD is showing some patience and letting things play out. The reality is this 1) there aren't a lot of PGs out there, that a) fit the system b) we can afford or c) teams are willing to part with for our crappy players/TE 2) we don't have the cap room to just sign whoever the hell we want at PG and C 3) you cannot have all stars at every position. And even if you do, it doesn't guarantee victory. Personally, I'd like to see how a lineup of PG - Lue SG - McGrady SF - JJ PF - Howard C - Yao does out West. Look at the matchups. While we might not have the advantage at the 4, we will always be better than the other team at the 2 and 5.
Just what has led you to believe that Hinrich is gettable? The only trade talk he's been involved in is all the ridiculous dreamcasting that goes on in this board. Crawford is available, but the Bulls want players or a place to dump some of their terrible contracts. TE doesn't help with the former, and seeing as Crawford's more of a SG than PG mentally, I don't see why he's worth the latter. Bobby Jackson is more realistic. And be paying him max dollars in 2009? When he stopped being productive long before? Are you serious? Think about how many teams have effectively carried 3 max contracts on their roster. Think about if Les Alexander fits that description. Why not wait a little? Assuming we have TMac extend his contract in August and Ming resigns to the max in a couple years, don't we have two of the top ten players in the league locked down for a good long while? We've got at least 4 years before they'll enter the primes! We have a few offseasons to build around the team. We aren't looking at a window closing right now. Take time, make moves that are right instead of an okay move right now. Evan
I agree that people should not be in such a panic, but I am concerned about the back up C and PG positions. While we did gain one of the game's best players, we also lost some depth. Also, I hope and believe Yao can be one of the best players if not the best player in the league but he still has to improve to get there. I'd love for Yao and Tmac to be similiar to the Shaq and Kobe pairing but I think Yao has to step it up this year. I believe T-Mac is just as good as Kobe but Yao is not where Shaq. I hope this is year that Yao takes over the title of best Center in the league.
Jeff- I admit I have been negative lately. Not because of Yao and TMac. Geesh I am so excited about what I believe is the best off season move in the league period. I don't think we should go out and buy a stupid contract either. And I realize that is what we risk with B Barry. But on the other hand I am disappointed we didn't get Barry 'cause in my opinion he was a perfect fit for the next 2 seasons. (It is a contradiction- want to win now, don't want to be stupid short term) I don't know what to say about a backup center. I admit I do not have an answer. But it is realistic to temper my euphoria for the short term when I consider the strength of the west, the battle ahead for the playoffs will be tough. We did lay the key foundation stone for our return to the elite. But I know what this BBS is going to be like next season if we falter. I think we are in a battle with Phoenix, Utah, Dallas, Portland, Denver and possibly Seattle or New Orleans for 3 playoff spots. No I'm not for selling the farm to be sure we make the play offs next year (or at least giving us the best short term shot at it) But I think most everyone has their expectations TMac/Yao high that we will improve over last season. I think if we miss the playoffs eveyone will be all over JVG, or Yao or someone and it will simply be a matter of our impatience. I hate that. I know we are on the right track. Yao, JVG, Tmac those are the building blocks I believe in. I just wanted another real good addition this year to really put us in position to improve our play off chances. Yao and TMac can carry this team. I hope they prove it on the court this year.- It will take both of them stepping up some. Since we need another good scorer, and another strong inside player, I am going to keep saying whoa to everyone who is saying we are 4-5 seed next season.
