I feel you Knicks fans-as the great Bill Clinton said-'I feel your pain.'
I too felt kind of blindsided by the Pingis pick at number 4. Heck, I was already frustrated by the bad luck of the Lakers taking what should have been our number 2 pick. The Knicks were the only lottery team to end up picking lower than the record would have place them.
What better symbol than the luck of the Lakers and the lack of luck for the Knicks?
I think most Knicks fans figured-after the Sixers took Oakafor-that Jackson would get someone like Mudiay. The Pingis pick led to boos and an immediate firestorm led by Stephen A. Smith. I was initially critical as well.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/06/phil-jackson-is-becoming-chip-kelly-of.html
However, some have argued for fans to at least be openminded.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/06/steve-serby-makes-case-for-phil-jackson.html
And I've decided that they hat least can make a decent case for Knicks fans to be openminded and at least come down off the roof.
Now look, I think the real message here from fans-and I share it-is that we are done being patient. I mean 15 years of being patient ought to be enough. The fan base in incredibly loyal to the team but we're also incredibly fed up.
What Smith and reportedly Melo himself are complaining about is that Pingis-while they concede he has lots of promise and may even turn out be the next Dirk Nowitizki or Pau Gasol-but they complain that even if so he's a project, he won't get there anytime soon.
If he's the next Gasol it will take 5 years for him to get there. Knicks fans are impatient and don't want to wait 5 more years.
Smith complains that the Knicks could have gotten players at #4 that could have helped them now. But then there's the rub.
You can argue that this has been the Knicks problem for 15 years. The folly of trying to win now and so never adequately rebuilding. You can make the case that Jackson is finally doing that. Now Smith argues that Jackson lied to fans when he came here that the Knicks could win right away. Look, maybe Jackson overpromised though you can't say if he lied if you can't read his mind.
He may have honestly believed something totally wrong. Maybe he came in with the wrong assumptions but has the right ones now. The fact is the Knicks have needed to rebuild and even briging in Melo arguably had been the wrong decision at the time against Donnie Walsh's wishes.
What I think Knicks fans should do is ask themselves this question. Do you think the Knicks are better off if:
A. They draft Mudiay in the first round at number 4? Or:
B. They get Pingis at number 4 and Jerian Grant at number 19.
Yes, remember Grant? He's something of the forgotten man here. Melo is apparently upset that Hardaway was traded away so that that the Knicks could get Grant but arguably Grant is someone that meets Smith's criteria: he can start contributing right now.
Again, is the team better off in the long term and even the shorter term with Mudiay or Pingis and Grant?
As for this year, I don't see how you can say that had they gotten just Mudiay rather than Pingis and Grant they would be able to do more in 2015. How much more? Does anymore think if they had opted for A they'd be a playoff team? If not then no one is thinking super short term which was the whole reason for Smith's complaints-and those of many others including, initially myself.
So Knicks fans we don't have much choice anyway but let's just entertain the possibility that things are not quite as bad as they first looked.
I too felt kind of blindsided by the Pingis pick at number 4. Heck, I was already frustrated by the bad luck of the Lakers taking what should have been our number 2 pick. The Knicks were the only lottery team to end up picking lower than the record would have place them.
What better symbol than the luck of the Lakers and the lack of luck for the Knicks?
I think most Knicks fans figured-after the Sixers took Oakafor-that Jackson would get someone like Mudiay. The Pingis pick led to boos and an immediate firestorm led by Stephen A. Smith. I was initially critical as well.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/06/phil-jackson-is-becoming-chip-kelly-of.html
However, some have argued for fans to at least be openminded.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/06/steve-serby-makes-case-for-phil-jackson.html
And I've decided that they hat least can make a decent case for Knicks fans to be openminded and at least come down off the roof.
Now look, I think the real message here from fans-and I share it-is that we are done being patient. I mean 15 years of being patient ought to be enough. The fan base in incredibly loyal to the team but we're also incredibly fed up.
What Smith and reportedly Melo himself are complaining about is that Pingis-while they concede he has lots of promise and may even turn out be the next Dirk Nowitizki or Pau Gasol-but they complain that even if so he's a project, he won't get there anytime soon.
If he's the next Gasol it will take 5 years for him to get there. Knicks fans are impatient and don't want to wait 5 more years.
Smith complains that the Knicks could have gotten players at #4 that could have helped them now. But then there's the rub.
You can argue that this has been the Knicks problem for 15 years. The folly of trying to win now and so never adequately rebuilding. You can make the case that Jackson is finally doing that. Now Smith argues that Jackson lied to fans when he came here that the Knicks could win right away. Look, maybe Jackson overpromised though you can't say if he lied if you can't read his mind.
He may have honestly believed something totally wrong. Maybe he came in with the wrong assumptions but has the right ones now. The fact is the Knicks have needed to rebuild and even briging in Melo arguably had been the wrong decision at the time against Donnie Walsh's wishes.
What I think Knicks fans should do is ask themselves this question. Do you think the Knicks are better off if:
A. They draft Mudiay in the first round at number 4? Or:
B. They get Pingis at number 4 and Jerian Grant at number 19.
Yes, remember Grant? He's something of the forgotten man here. Melo is apparently upset that Hardaway was traded away so that that the Knicks could get Grant but arguably Grant is someone that meets Smith's criteria: he can start contributing right now.
Again, is the team better off in the long term and even the shorter term with Mudiay or Pingis and Grant?
As for this year, I don't see how you can say that had they gotten just Mudiay rather than Pingis and Grant they would be able to do more in 2015. How much more? Does anymore think if they had opted for A they'd be a playoff team? If not then no one is thinking super short term which was the whole reason for Smith's complaints-and those of many others including, initially myself.
So Knicks fans we don't have much choice anyway but let's just entertain the possibility that things are not quite as bad as they first looked.
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