His defensive killer instinct is a must for this teams future...if I'm Phil I sign him now to the min for the next 4 years. Kid looks like a young tony Allen with a better shot...he is the ultimate glue guy...we have to start thinking of the future and the future looks great in KP,baker,kuz,Willy all future starters?
If we can trade melo and or rose although I wouldn't mind rose here for the long haul as a vet player .
KP, oquinn
Willy,1st round pick
Kuz, Thomas
Baker,Lee
Rose,Jennings or first round pick
And a plethora of first round picks for melo
Like Kuz as a stretch 4 next to KP. Like Willy as a backup 5.
But I'm with you gotta give Kuz, Baker and Willy more minutes.
Ideally we draft trade or sign a 3 that is extremely athletic that can defend and switch spots with kuz.
I'm also ok with Rose if he stays for 20$M a year or less for 3 years or less.
What are we to do with Noah ?
Baker and Lee are perfect 2 guards for us . Lee is great for the bench, he seems to come in with a lot more energy off the bench.
fitzfarm wrote:What are we to do with Noah ? Baker and Lee are perfect 2 guards for us . Lee is great for the bench, he seems to come in with a lot more energy off the bench.
I think Lee can get a 6th man coming in as a shooter with a green light. Jamal Crawford, type of player. He isn't agressive playing with Rose, Melo and KP with them Baker make to much sense as a facilitator.
It sucks also that we lost Randle trying to win with this group. We were the a legit top 4-5 team 14 games ago so you can't blame management.
Baker should remain the starter for the rest of the year.
Vmart wrote:fitzfarm wrote:What are we to do with Noah ? Baker and Lee are perfect 2 guards for us . Lee is great for the bench, he seems to come in with a lot more energy off the bench.
I think Lee can get a 6th man coming in as a shooter with a green light. Jamal Crawford, type of player. He isn't agressive playing with Rose, Melo and KP with them Baker make to much sense as a facilitator.
Lee isn't that type of player.... he's averaging 9pts per game... that's who he is. We might need to trade him too. He came here thinking like eveyone else thought...that the team would win. He's more of a complimentary piece. Now he's a veteran on a young team. He probably could get us something decent in return.
EnySpree wrote:Vmart wrote:fitzfarm wrote:What are we to do with Noah ? Baker and Lee are perfect 2 guards for us . Lee is great for the bench, he seems to come in with a lot more energy off the bench.
I think Lee can get a 6th man coming in as a shooter with a green light. Jamal Crawford, type of player. He isn't agressive playing with Rose, Melo and KP with them Baker make to much sense as a facilitator.
Lee isn't that type of player.... he's averaging 9pts per game... that's who he is. We might need to trade him too. He came here thinking like eveyone else thought...that the team would win. He's more of a complimentary piece. Now he's a veteran on a young team. He probably could get us something decent in return.
He does have a reasonable contract and there are teams that could use him. Based on his instagram he seems like he would be ok with a trade at this point.
I only saw him in that fourth quarter a few games back; I was very impressed. How's he been doing since?
fitzfarm wrote:What are we to do with Noah ? Baker and Lee are perfect 2 guards for us . Lee is great for the bench, he seems to come in with a lot more energy off the bench.
Noah is destined to come off the bench for this team at some point and if that comes sooner than Phil anticipated then so be it. LET YOUTH BE SERVED! 
Be realistic, I think he is a good back up pg. Don't we always overrate players in Knicks jersey?
I think Ron Baker is a combo guard. He's more shooting guard than point though. Kid still has potential to be a better scorer
Baker has a chance to be a solid role player. Maybe a starter next to a star PG. I really like him though. He can shoot and defend so he's helpful. I see kuz as a 6th man type. As a fill in starter he's not bad as a stretch 4 next to KP, but his advanced age for a rookie somewhat limits his upside. But he's a solid rotation player nonetheless. Willy I see in a Enis Kanter type role, a guy who can really fill it up off the bench. But he has the upside to be more. All great pieces around porzingis though.
I like Baker .. but Baker is a rookie needing much more playing-time experience to feel relax in a lineup. Baker has good instinct/reflex on the court but he's missing the experience .. Hardaway scored a easy 20 points plus gave out 4 dimes on Baker n Rose effortless defense.
If Baker is our starter for a long time, we will not be making the playoffs for a long time. He's a nice role player, but that's it.
crzymdups wrote:If Baker is our starter for a long time, we will not be making the playoffs for a long time. He's a nice role player, but that's it.
Can't say that for sure. Being a starting SG can really be simple. If he can get 10-12 ppg, shoot around 40% from 3, and play consistently good defense, he can probably be an nba starter. Seems like he can do those things. He can provide secondary playmaking as a bonus. He might be just a bench role player but he is more than capable of being a quality starter.
Kemet wrote:I like Baker .. but Baker is a rookie needing much more playing-time experience to feel relax in a lineup. Baker has good instinct/reflex on the court but he's missing the experience .. Hardaway scored a easy 20 points plus gave out 4 dimes on Baker n Rose effortless defense.
To be fair to baker he only played 21 minutes vs hardaway and really gave him problems... when rose or Lee was on hardaway he filled up his stat sheet.... baker is the ultimate glue guy more so then Lee, look at what he did at witchata state ... he was a huge part of there undefeated season... the kid is a winner and helps everyone on the floor. He always find a way to effect the game positively for his team, the ball always ends up in his hands on big defensive possessions, and it's not luck he always is in the right place at the right time it's his hard work and knowledge of the game that gives him that ability . Look a Undrafted rookie out played Lee big time and in only 21 minutes he scored 12 pts 44% shooting and 4-7 from downtown, two huge steals and great off the ball movement. If he can average 12 pts and 2 steals a game he is a better starter then Lee add in all the points he stops from going into the hoop and he is the perfect 2 guard to put next to rose .
As you can tell I'm very high on baker ! The guy is a rookie outplaying most of his draft class !
fitzfarm wrote:Kemet wrote:I like Baker .. but Baker is a rookie needing much more playing-time experience to feel relax in a lineup. Baker has good instinct/reflex on the court but he's missing the experience .. Hardaway scored a easy 20 points plus gave out 4 dimes on Baker n Rose effortless defense.
To be fair to baker he only played 21 minutes vs hardaway and really gave him problems... when rose or Lee was on hardaway he filled up his stat sheet.... baker is the ultimate glue guy more so then Lee, look at what he did at witchata state ... he was a huge part of there undefeated season... the kid is a winner and helps everyone on the floor. He always find a way to effect the game positively for his team, the ball always ends up in his hands on big defensive possessions, and it's not luck he always is in the right place at the right time it's his hard work and knowledge of the game that gives him that ability . Look a Undrafted rookie out played Lee big time and in only 21 minutes he scored 12 pts 44% shooting and 4-7 from downtown, two huge steals and great off the ball movement. If he can average 12 pts and 2 steals a game he is a better starter then Lee add in all the points he stops from going into the hoop and he is the perfect 2 guard to put next to rose .
As you can tell I'm very high on baker ! The guy is a rookie outplaying most of his draft class !
No need to apologize for being enthusiastic about one of our young players. Man if we can't celebrate some good signs from another of our younger players then what's it all for? These kinds of games are valuable in the development of young players. They've got to learn how to handle tight NBA games and Baker will be more ready to contribute when KP comes back. It's all Good IMO.
sure. why not! at this point go for it. in the beginning of the season, i stated that i doubted baker gets significant playing time because hed be too low on the depth chart. but if he did that means something went TERRIBLY wrong. where here we are
Players who work hard and are effective should play. Baker should play.
Lee should be insulted at how bad he has been lately esp on the D end. He should be so embarrassed that he works hard to get his spot back.
Same for anyone else too. Kuz deserves to start as well.
Since Melo is planning on retiring a Knick, I would just move forward with building the team for next year around KP/Melo.
Fast forward a little.
Porzingis
Melo
Kuz
Holiday
Baker
Kuz, Holiday and Baker all can shoot the 3, and play hard. Let Melo play point forward as a 4 man,
At worst, you're putting players in positions they need to be in longterm. Melo should move to 4, and KP is probably a 5 in the longrun anyway. KP would get beaten up inside a little, have foul trouble. You'd have some bad games from him, because of foul trouble. Many great games as well, and he would learn how to play the 5.
If Melo isn't going anywhere, you must move him to 4, and make him a point forward and let KP be the 5. Get players in at 3, 2 and 1 who can handle the ball a little, shoot the 3, and defend hard.
What it means for Rose, Noah, Lee is that they're bench guys. If they pout, so be it. Not like we are winning with them starting anyway.
My rotation would be
Porzingis/O'Quinn/Noah
Melo/Hernangomez
Kuz/Lee
Holiday/Rose
Baker/Jennings
Don't care if Rose/Lee/Noah pout. We've gone from 14-10 to 18-24. 4-14 in last 18. Eff the vets if they can't see they're not getting the job done as starters. Let new players develop around KP/Melo. Maybe you learn some things about next season.
I think you could easily get a taker for Lee, and Rose/Jennings are expiring contracts anyway.
nyknickzingis wrote:Since Melo is planning on retiring a Knick, I would just move forward with building the team for next year around KP/Melo.
Fast forward a little.Porzingis
Melo
Kuz
Holiday
Baker
Kuz, Holiday and Baker all can shoot the 3, and play hard. Let Melo play point forward as a 4 man,
At worst, you're putting players in positions they need to be in longterm. Melo should move to 4, and KP is probably a 5 in the longrun anyway. KP would get beaten up inside a little, have foul trouble. You'd have some bad games from him, because of foul trouble. Many great games as well, and he would learn how to play the 5.
If Melo isn't going anywhere, you must move him to 4, and make him a point forward and let KP be the 5. Get players in at 3, 2 and 1 who can handle the ball a little, shoot the 3, and defend hard.
What it means for Rose, Noah, Lee is that they're bench guys. If they pout, so be it. Not like we are winning with them starting anyway.
My rotation would be
Porzingis/O'Quinn/Noah
Melo/Hernangomez
Kuz/Lee
Holiday/Rose
Baker/Jennings
Don't care if Rose/Lee/Noah pout. We've gone from 14-10 to 18-24. 4-14 in last 18. Eff the vets if they can't see they're not getting the job done as starters. Let new players develop around KP/Melo. Maybe you learn some things about next season.
I think you could easily get a taker for Lee, and Rose/Jennings are expiring contracts anyway.
My thoughts exactly. We would also be adding our 1st round pick to the mix, and probably a quality free agent, maybe someone like PJ Tucker. Get rid of Rose though.
