Knicks · Derrick Williams Will... (page 1)

A. demonstrate why he was the number two pick and take advantage of a fresh start

B. languish in mediocrity, never embracing a work ethic worthy of Charies Oakley

C. be released after training camp

He has a staff of professionals. Phil knew what he was doing when he signed him so it is obviously A.

Might tease us with potential while appearing occasionally on the court, but his poor defense might keep these occasions few and far between. Looks like another John Wallace to me.

B. He doesn't play D or rebound and his jumper is erratic

Light it once in a while to make posters here believe he's valuable but in reality be a complete failure.

Find a place due to our system. There is a reason Phil is bringing in good to great finishers.
As for his defense, well, let's just say I'm glad we have good to great defense around him!

A

I'm hoping for C, but I'm afraid it will be B. This signing was a mistake.

People really have to dig deeper into what skills each player brings to the table which may be enhanced playing in this system. When I was talking about Shved a lot of people didn't really see it but Phil did because he's looking at things differently than you would for a typical team. Combo guard is kind of a negative word in most systems but in this system its the preferred type. A prototypical PG may not work quite as well in this system because it doesn't need a ball dominant guard. Also a standard SG or SF isn't quite right either. You want combo guards with size that can create and also pass effectively but still able to catch and shoot. You want a SF that is like a guard in that he can also put it on the floor and get to the basket and pass.

Then you have a guy like D Will that is kind of a tweener. He's out of place in a lot of systems. The hope is that in this system his particular strengths could be put to good use. This is after all a ball and player movement system. You really don't want or need a lot of dribbling or holding the ball and posturing. You want player movement and letting the flow of the offense take you into scoring opportunities. DWill specializes in finishing those kind of plays. Curls, back cuts, slashing, fast breaks, put backs, alleyoops, finding the open space and finishing, hitting the corner 3. All stuff he can do without having the ball but rather catch and shoot or finish.

The money they gave him was a little surprising, considering Scola got 3MM and Gerald Green got virtually nothing. Would have rather gone after those two guys to bolster the bench and slot Scola in as the starter.

Troubling when you can finish that easily and barely grab a rebound.

Dude certainly is a great finisher. If he can muster the energy to crash the boards, he will be a legit contributor. Too bad that's unlikely. I expect he will be our new JR Smith, but hope I am wrong.

Anthony Randolph 2.0

So the only time he gets rebounds is on wide open put back dunks. Doesn't look promising.
Sure hope the NYC nightlife isn't going to contribute to the documented lack of work ethic.

Maybe Lance Thomas beats him into a new attitude in camp?

mreinman wrote:Anthony Randolph 2.0

It's funny but AR might have been saved if he had come up in the Triangle. I think it might have focused him and highlighted his talent. It's weird with the Triangle. It's such a different style of play that guys you wouldn't expect to be good are surprisingly good in this style of ball. I could be wrong but I think Phil has a plan for DWill. That of course doesn't excuse his lack of effort on the boards and D. That's not going to be acceptable. Regardless of any success he might have on O he needs to improve his effort level on the other end.

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:Anthony Randolph 2.0

It's funny but AR might have been saved if he had come up in the Triangle. I think it might have focused him and highlighted his talent. It's weird with the Triangle. It's such a different style of play that guys you wouldn't expect to be good are surprisingly good in this style of ball. I could be wrong but I think Phil has a plan for DWill. That of course doesn't excuse his lack of effort on the boards and D. That's not going to be acceptable. Regardless of any success he might have on O he needs to improve his effort level on the other end.

the triangle may make some look better but many a whole lot worse.

He will be an expensive THJ

Regardless of what we think of him the Knicks overpaid.
Classic Knicks bidding against themselves. Who were they competing with?

Panos wrote:Regardless of what we think of him the Knicks overpaid.
Classic Knicks bidding against themselves. Who were they competing with?

There was reported interest in him from other teams. I agree though. If his deal was one year with a team option it would make a lot more sense.

mreinman wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:Anthony Randolph 2.0

It's funny but AR might have been saved if he had come up in the Triangle. I think it might have focused him and highlighted his talent. It's weird with the Triangle. It's such a different style of play that guys you wouldn't expect to be good are surprisingly good in this style of ball. I could be wrong but I think Phil has a plan for DWill. That of course doesn't excuse his lack of effort on the boards and D. That's not going to be acceptable. Regardless of any success he might have on O he needs to improve his effort level on the other end.

the triangle may make some look better but many a whole lot worse.

The triangle isn't a magic elixir for making bad players great. That's not how it works. The point i'm making is that there are certain types of players that will do better in this style of basketball than they might in other styles or systems. Obviously some players will falter in this style of ball. We know that all too well. Generally really good players will do well. Players that have well rounded skills and BB IQ will usually do well.

On the whole we had low BB IQ players who weren't right for this system or resistant to it. We hope that things will be better this year and that the new additions will take to the system well. We do know that Phil was targeting players who he feels have the right mix of talent and BB IQ to do well in this system. We may need time to see how they all adapt to the system once they learn it and have time to work on the footwork and timing in the system. It may not be an immediate success. It's not that kind of process.

KP
Jerian
RoLo
Afflalo
DWill
O'Queens

It will be interesting to see how these players adapt to the system. Which guys will do well and who ends up not being able to adapt and thrive. I think Phil did a good job of trying to find players who have skills that should mesh well with this style of play. Still there are no guarantees.

DWill is the one that people are most skeptical of. I can see what he's liking about him tho. Perhaps having a clear role with less "just winging it" aspect to his game will help him. He does a great job of finding the open spaces on offense and can get off his shots, layups and dunks in traffic which is a good thing given this isn't a 4 out 1 in style of ball. There are going to be bodies around him. That doesn't seem to bother him at all. He attacks just as aggressively in traffic, but he also can attack early before things get clogged up with bodies. He finds lanes to get all the way to to rim and finish strong.

I think he'll be similar to Al Harrington here. Some moments of brilliance. Some moments of painful awfulness.

I hope he can pull it together, but I'm not really banking on it.

Luckily, I don't think the Knicks need to bank on it either. I think it's a pretty low risk move.

crzymdups wrote:I think he'll be similar to Al Harrington here. Some moments of brilliance. Some moments of painful awfulness.

I hope he can pull it together, but I'm not really banking on it.

Luckily, I don't think the Knicks need to bank on it either. I think it's a pretty low risk move.

not low risk really when that money could have been spend on a couple of non tools.