The Morning After…

by Tommy Dee on June 27th, 2008 at 10:15 am

Great times last night. Thanks to the folks at Butterfield 8, and the SNY crew for coming together on a terrific night. My thanks to the TKB staff: Andrew, Steve and Mike, the Knicks could use such teamwork, already.

I was very pleased I got the chance to meet some of the fans of the site and posters, all of whom share great love for the Knicks, chicks, and beer.

I have to say that at no point did I take McHale seriously with Mayo, but I thought Love in Memphis was a good fit. Either way, I’m not sold on how aggressively Donnie was trying to trade up.

Now comes the task of getting a point guard, and there are options. Look at the Bobcats, look at Memphis or Steve Blake. Either way, I know we’ll have one in place very soon.

Gallinari playing the 4 in D’Antoni’s system is intriguing since it allows for Wilson Chandler to get minute as well. It also gives the post some much needed space. Not sure how Gallinari would fare in the pick and pop, as he could use a little weight, but it seems like all he needs is slight separation to knock down open shots.

As far as the booing goes, and the “USA” chants that tried to make noise, if you were the same person that cheered Maciej Lampe, then consider yourself a suspect fan.

TKB’s 1st Commandment

Thou shalt not BOO a player you’ve never seen play….and don’t underestimate the level of the European Elite league.

Check out this video of Gallinari verses Maccabi Elite.
  • hot stove chef

    Looks pretty nasty, though how “elite” exactly is Macabe? Someone on SNY made a good point last night… everyone looks good on highlight reels. Still I like that he draws a lot of fouls and gets to the line.

  • Arputter

    We have to trade Lee…he is a restricted free agent after this year and we definitely shouldn’t re-sign him if we have any interest in creating cap space for the Lebron/ Wade/ Bosh bonanza…his value is high and a team trading for him will have a year or 2 to control him before he is an unrestricted free agent…we must deal him NOW

  • theghostofwillisreed

    yup.

  • vino

    Fans chanting USA should be ashamed of themselves. This kid wanted desparately to come play in New York. Publicly he said that he would be very upset if he didn’t come to NY. He did not give the same generic, politically correct responses that others gave in their workout interviews. This kid did not want to go #1 or #2 or #3. He wanted to go to the Knicks. Who cares where he is from. No one else was pouring their hearts out to come here. In fact, after he worked out for NJ, he said that he would accept that because it was CLOSE ENOUGH to New York. “USA! USA!” ? Give the kid a break. It’s not his fault that he was born and raised in Italy. Hell, a good amount of college players were raised in Europe and are only here to get better looks from NBA teams. No one has a problem with them.

    Tommy, as for the point guard plan, of the three options that you mentioned, I would only consider trading Lee for either Ray Felton or Mike Conley. Given that Lee won’t go to Memphis, I guess that plan is shot. I think that the Ray Felton deal would be ideal.

    Steve Blake is good, but not for Lee. Please not for Lee. If there was a deal involving Lee and Blake, there would have to be more pieces than simply that. They would have to eat one of our contracts for us to give them Lee for Blake. I doubt that they would ever give up Aldridge, but that would be a name to look at. Ship them Curry and Lee for Blake, Aldridge and Darius Miles. I know that does not make sense and the Blazers would never do that, but it’s just a thought.

    I almost wonder if the Grizz would be interested in Curry. I would take on Milicic’s awful contract to get Conley. Would a deal revolving around Curry, Conley and Milicic ever work?

  • mross

    Maccabi Elite is one of the top teams in the Euroleague. Marko Jaric used to play there I do believe.

    Mike Conley Jr. would be a phenomenal fit for D’Antoni’s offense.

  • theghostofwillisreed

    vino, you are the man. perfect, simply perfect and i couldn’t agree with you more. sometimes i’m really ashamed to be a fan of new york sports. with the idiocy of mets fans this year and yesterday’s display, i don’t get it.

    anyways, i would take conley in a second. get ‘er done, donnie!

  • hot stove chef

    Can’t we let him play a year under the new system, see how he does and then move him in a sign-and-trade for an expiring contract?

    I understand the urgency on the fans part to get a PG in here now, but this is not going to be an overnight fix and if we bring in a PG like Felton, or someone else we might lose out on a better PG next year or in 2010.

  • theghostofwillisreed

    not with gallinari and chandler on the roster. both of them have better skill sets than lee. i like david but talent has to win out here. ket’s not forget d’antoni’s not a big lee fan either.

  • hot stove chef

    “let’s not forget d’antoni’s not a big lee fan either.”

    Is this just speculation by reporters? I haven’t seen him say anywhere that he doesn’t like Lee.

    Also, I don’t understand why they want to play Gallinari at the 4. Won’t he just get muscled to the basket?

  • rjo262

    I happened to be at the draft and actually sat right behind where the players were interviewed by espn radio(it pays to know people), and i wasn’t shocked that people booed, but very disappointed. I really like this guy and its a shame that knicks fans associate every international player with the frenchman whom i shall not name. Its just people not taking the time to look into the player enough, which is fine, but don’t boo when you don’t know what you’re talkin about.

    I hadn’t thought of using gallinari at the 4 spot, but he would be a matchup nightmare if he can rebound well enough to be there for extended minutes.

    O, and after DJ Augustin ended his interview with the espn radio guys i told him to come play for the knicks when hes a free agent… his face lit up with a smile and then he gave me a finger point. Im not giving up hope on DJ in the blue and orange