Praising Wil
Jay Greenberg of the NY Post wrote a nice piece on Wilson Chandler this morning, discussing how his combination of youth and talent is the bright light in a dim Garden nowadays. Greenberg discusses how the 21 year old Chandler works as hard as anybody to make himself better on the court.
Last night, I read that BlueandOranges’ comment comparing Chandler to
Richard Jefferson and Shawn Marion. BaO believed that those comparisons were hard to make because of Chandler’s superior upside. Well, I do not think that those comparisons can be made quite yet. If Wil turns out to be either of those guys, then I will be a very happy man, given that both RJ and Marion are all-star talents.
I have said before that I think Chandler has a shot to be our best player by he end of the year. He has decent form on his jumper, but he is not a deep threat (not yet). He rushes too many of his threes, and he is much better suited inside the arc than outside it. But I believe that he can develop that outside game, and therefore I can withstand some of the bricks he throws up there.
He has all the talent and physical tools to be a stud player. But he also has a very important intangible as well. He has an innate sense of fearlessness. His aggressiveness in not newfound, not in the least bit. Ever since his first time taking the NBA floor last year, Wil has shown a propensity to get into the action on practically every play. Wil is not afraid to shoot the rock, even when he has no shot. As a young kid, he will determine what is a good NBA shot with more experience. Chandler’s aggressiveness gets him into foul trouble a lot, and only experience will help him get over that.
All in all, the Knicks have their young stud. He is underrated, as he was neither a high draft pick nor did he come out of a national powerhouse program. But this league should know that Chandler is on the rise. And I am unsure if there is anything that someone can say or do to change that.
