Player Age Height Weight College PAWS40 Josh Harrellson 22 6’10″ 275 Kentucky 11.8 Gary McGhee 22 6’11″ 250 Pittsburgh 11.7 Keith Benson 22 6’11″ 220 Oakland 11.6 Jordan Williams 20 6’9″ 250 Maryland 11.5 Nikola Vucevic 20 7’0″ 260 USC 10.9
Killa4luv@ 6/24/2011 12:28 AM
Im not mad at Harrelson, but we shoudve taken Keith Benson, imo. He's longer far more athletic and far more along in his offensive game. he's not as wide, but Benson is a better overall prospect with a much higher upside. Benson also is a shot blocker.
Only thing is, Harrelson can probably play right away because of his size, whereas Benson is a question mark because of his.
Gary McGhee is on my radar too. We need to sign him as a free agent since he went undrafted. ZHe's a banger with bulk. And he's 6-11. He just has no game at all with the rock.
nixluva@ 6/24/2011 12:30 AM
I noticed that he was really good at keeping his position on the blocks. He's got a low center of gravity and that likely helps him to hold his ground. He just didn't seem to be easily moved from his spot.
knickstorrents@ 6/24/2011 12:30 AM
This is an interview... guy has a sense of humor:
BigDaddyG@ 6/24/2011 12:34 AM
Killa4luv wrote:Im not mad at Harrelson, but we shoudve taken Keith Benson, imo. He's longer far more athletic and far more along in his offensive game. he's not as wide, but Benson is a better overall prospect with a much higher upside. Benson also is a shot blocker.
Only thing is, Harrelson can probably play right away because of his size, whereas Benson is a question mark because of his.
Gary McGhee is on my radar too. We need to sign him as a free agent since he went undrafted. ZHe's a banger with bulk. And he's 6-11. He just has no game at all with the rock.
Yeah, I kinda wish we took Benson too. On the plus side, Harrelson is a bit more athletic than I originally though and he is a quality rebounder. Rebounding is a skill that translates well to the league and it is an area of weakness for us. Plus, he's a gym buff from some accounts, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that he gets in even better shape and becomes a better athlete.
On the negative side, his outside shooting numbers aren't impressive and that's supposed to be an area of strength. I trust Donnie on this, so I'll give Harrelson the benefit of the doubt.
Markji@ 6/24/2011 12:48 AM
I like him at the #45 pick. We don't need another long skinny center. Harrelson fills a role, and at #45, that is all you are hoping for. He is more skilled around the basket than people are giving him credit for. And he is built like a bull. He actually looks like a big tough, rugby player. But he is also light on his feet; he has very good hands, puts the ball into the basket at 61% efficiency; and knows how to play bball. He uses his big, wide body very well, both around the rim and in setting picks. He has a 31" vertical which is 4 more inches than Vucevic but he has shorter arms. I think of Harrelson as someone who can be a Kendrik Perkins; Big Baby; DuJuan Blair, or Anthony Mason type.
NYKBocker@ 6/24/2011 12:57 AM
Markji wrote:I like him at the #45 pick. We don't need another long skinny center. Harrelson fills a role, and at #45, that is all you are hoping for. He is more skilled around the basket than people are giving him credit for. And he is built like a bull. He actually looks like a big tough, rugby player. But he is also light on his feet; he has very good hands, puts the ball into the basket at 61% efficiency; and knows how to play bball. He uses his big, wide body very well, both around the rim and in setting picks. He has a 31" vertical which is 4 more inches than Vucevic but he has shorter arms. I think of Harrelson as someone who can be a Kendrik Perkins; Big Baby; DuJuan Blair, or Anthony Mason type.
I agree. I good comparison to Kendrick Perkins.
martin@ 6/24/2011 12:57 AM
Love this pick at #45. Seems like an unrefined Nick Collison. Chubby.
And every good team team needs a dude like this: he should be first off bench at PF/C but may eventually start for Knicks cause of need.
NYKBocker@ 6/24/2011 1:00 AM
martin wrote:Love this pick at #45. Seems like an unrefined Nick Collison. Chubby.
And every good team team needs a dude like this: he should be first off bench at PF/C but may eventually start for Knicks cause of need.
Yup. I like both picks. We picked for need and the parts seems to fit well with what we already have.
martin@ 6/24/2011 1:01 AM
NYKBocker wrote:
martin wrote:Love this pick at #45. Seems like an unrefined Nick Collison. Chubby.
And every good team team needs a dude like this: he should be first off bench at PF/C but may eventually start for Knicks cause of need.
Yup. I like both picks. We picked for need and the parts seems to fit well with what we already have.
Knicks still need a front line C.
NYKBocker@ 6/24/2011 1:03 AM
martin wrote:
NYKBocker wrote:
martin wrote:Love this pick at #45. Seems like an unrefined Nick Collison. Chubby.
And every good team team needs a dude like this: he should be first off bench at PF/C but may eventually start for Knicks cause of need.
Yup. I like both picks. We picked for need and the parts seems to fit well with what we already have.
Knicks still need a front line C.
I agree. Hoping Jerome Jordan will fill that need. That's why it was painful to see Timo traded away. I really want Greg Smith just signed as FA outright. I think he has a lot of Antonio Davis in him.
PhilinLA@ 6/24/2011 1:09 AM
I loved this move. I'm a big fan of Harrellson. He and Jerome will be a nice rotation. Benson was like Jerome light. It would have been sort of two of the same guy.
nixluva@ 6/24/2011 1:25 AM
The nice thing is that Harrellson already has been trained to work PnR and make cuts to the basket for easy scores. He seems to have really good hands and moves very good for such a heavy dude. It seems to me like he uses his girth really well. He takes the bump and doesn't move. That makes him a tough defender inside. Guys just seem to bounce off of him and he's TOUGH.
At the start of the draft thing we all knew it wasn't about getting stars but instead finding solid role players. We still will have FA's to see if we can make further improvement, but this was a good start. Cheap and solid role playing big who loves to do the dirty work and has a mean streak.
crzymdups@ 6/24/2011 1:47 AM
love this pick. every team needs a guy like this. i saw him play for kentucky in the tournie and he was really solid.
i think at worst our center position will be turiaf and harrellson next year - he's definitely ready to step right in. at best, our center position includes jerome jordan, too.
nixluva@ 6/24/2011 2:38 AM
crzymdups wrote:love this pick. every team needs a guy like this. i saw him play for kentucky in the tournie and he was really solid.
i think at worst our center position will be turiaf and harrellson next year - he's definitely ready to step right in. at best, our center position includes jerome jordan, too.
As usual fans get all anxious if they don't see a sexy name that they know. They disregard actual production and put down a player that doesn't have great highlights and gets talked about. Meanwhile a grinder like Harrelson just quietly gets the job done.
He rates out as one of the better bigs in terms of production. He just doesn't have flashy offensive skills, long arms or great hops. He's a lunch pail guy and does what he's supposed to do. Defends the post, rebounds and stays out of the way of your better offensive players. He kind of reminds me of a bigger Glen Davis.
Looks like he gained all the weight in order to play center for UK. CBS sports also gave the pick B grade and compared Jorst to Marc Gasol, for what it's worth.
earthmansurfer@ 6/24/2011 5:03 AM
I like having a Bruiser on the team and he seems to have a really good attitude. He sure has trouble getting up and dunking though - was almost funny to see him barely clearing the rim to dunk. He has a motor and dunks though that is nice. I have no problem with the pick. His weight and size are going to be really of benefit to us. He won't be pushed off too easily. Really, the guy is 6'10" and is 25 pounds shy of 300 (which I bet he hits in the next two years.)
knickstorrents@ 6/24/2011 5:43 AM
It's funny he can barely clear the rim when he dunks! I still like this pick. He serves a purpose on this team. He does not foul at a high rate (2.4/gm) or turn it over (.7/gm). He has a good rebound rate (8.7/gm). At pick 45 I think this is a very solid pick.
For those who wanted Benson or Tyler - we do not have the time to groom these players. We need help now. Otherwise we are paying Carmelo and Amare max money for early playoff exits with no help from the draft. At least now, when we exit the playoffs early we have some help from our draft picks
I like the pick, but sorry for the pessimism on the team - I still hate the Melo trade.
SupremeCommander@ 6/24/2011 6:05 AM
I'm more excited about this pick than our first. Seems he could be Jeff Foster, but who knows. He didn't play much outside his senior year but filled in fantastically for Kanter when he was asked to play
CrushAlot@ 6/24/2011 6:11 AM
I was hoping the Knicks would take a shot at Greg Smith here. This pick reminds a lot of the Rautins pick. I think you go upside in the second round and I don't think Harrellson is an upside pick. I think his ceiling is Aaron Gray but Gray was a much better college player. This was a puzzling draft. It seemed like Isiah drafted in round 1 and Layden in round 2.
