Stephen A. Smith goes off on NY Knicks.. Melo, Amare and Mike D'Antonio LOL?

Chandler just makes no sense for their half-court offense. I realize that they got him because they thought they could trade Stoudemire for CP3, but D'Antoni's spread PnR sets really relies on having a stretch 4/5 and a competent PG. With another big clogging the lane and Carmelo Anthony doing Carmelo Anthony things, the Knicks' offense is just a mess.

 

Amare went to the Knicks because they paid him. That's all. The comments he made about NY after signing were window dressing that fed the press and gave Knicks fans what they wanted to hear.

I'll repeat that signing Chandler was dumb and he and Amare ($35 miilion/year together) don't belong on the same team.

dharocks, where did you read the Knicks signed Amare because they thought he was tradeable for CP3? Make no sense because Amare became untradeable when the ink dried.

 

No, no, they supposedly signed Chandler with the intention of trading Amare for Paul.

Edited to add link: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knic..._yssonHk1y72BN7jKN9tNTO?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

 

As much as I respect Carmelo Anthony's game, he's as flawed as Amare is. Melo is not a good defender by any stretch of the imagination, while he's a chucker and doesn't make his teammates around him better. Once, I heard youngster say that "Melo is better than overrated Larry Bird," I shook my head in dismay. If Melo's game had a fraction of Bird's game, he would've been out of the 1st round more than once. Stephen A. called him a closer, which he is and has been for all of his career. Though, if you are not putting teams in the position to win for the other 3 quarters, what does it matter when you get to 4th quarter, while him not being a good or even somewhat-hearted defensive effort.

It's almost weird as good as Denver was with Carmelo Anthony that they have turned into real contenders without him, even George Karl speaks about him with certain indifference, like "it was ok, while it lasted, but we are focusing on this season." Moreover, the Nuggets are 33-12 or 34-12, since the trade, while the Knicks are only hovering around .500. It's funny, how analyst like Stephen A. and Skip Bayless think so highly of him, one even argues (probably in joking manner) that Anthony is better than Lebron. Yet, you could give LeBron the same Knicks team, I bet that team is somewhere in the Eastern playoff picture competing every night.

Compared to Carmelo, the first time Lebron had teammates who were as good as Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Lineas Kleiza, JR Smith, Ty Lawson, Andre Miller, Nene, Kenyon Martin, or Amare Stoudemire. Lebron was signed up for the Heat. As much as critics attack Lebron for his passiveness, his style of play has gotten teams to 60 wins and in the NBA Finals and Conference Finals. LeBron won 66 games with Mo Williams, Zydranus Illgauskus, and Delonte West as his supporting cast. Seriously, a player being closer is overrated, if he cannot help his team win regular season games and is hoisting the ball away 40% and 32%, respectively.

 

I don't know about all that... I didn't see Amare laminating lists of approved destinations like the rest of the NBA. Maybe I'm forgetting something. Being able to pay someone the max is becoming less and less relevant for these top tier guys.

 

I do admire Anthony for his one-on-one scoring ability. I'm not sure there's anyone better at scoring the ball in isolation sets.

It would be tough for a team to win a title with him as its best player though.

 

People actually like Stephen A?

**** Stephen A and his cheese doodles.

 

Being paid was all that was relevant for Amare. There weren't any other stars that wanted to team up with him. I think the Knicks panicked when they gave him 5yrs/$100MM because he was their last chance to make a splash after Joe Johnson turned them down. Amare was the Knicks' Plan D or E.

 

I'm sorry for the typo. I understood you but typed it incorrectly.

My comment still stands, even stronger. Amare's injury has made him+contract even more radioactive. The Knicks should have clinched the deal to trade Amare before inking Chandler.

Knicks should have kept Donnie Walsh and they would be in good shape.

 

Can you imagine if Amar'e said no? They'd be trying to sell season tickets by promising fans David Lee, Gallinari and Raymond Felton.

 

I wonder whether the Rockets would have offered comparable money to Amare in free agency-- nice player but the injury history and uninsurance contract are scary.

I know there were rumors of the Rockets talking to the Suns about trading for him before he became an FA, but the financial commitment would be much less in this scenario.

 

No arguments here. I was sure they would hold on to their amnesty clause, just in case.

 

He also went because NYC was a natural fit for Jewish-American basketball superstar.

 

I'm sure Morey wouldn't mind taking Amare off their hands.

 

I really hope not. He may improve this season but I can see him becoming average and/or injured next year.

 

Volume on minimum and my ear drums are still shaking. Is this how everything is in New York?

 

Horrible timing. If it were Friday, we would get blown out by NY, since there's still a few days until then, we're going to face a tougher team than expected.

 

The Knicks were the only team that was willing to pay him the full max. Given that the option was "LOL We walk out of 2010 FA with Nothing" they kind of had to.