Put Some Hornacek On Our Game: 2016 New York Knicks Offseason Thread

Derek Lee

Derek Lee

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Justin Bieber Was Baptized In Tyson Chandler's Bathtub
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BY MAURICE PEEBLES

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Image via USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas
One of the world's biggest pop stars found salvation in the Upper West Side bathtub of former Knicks center Tyson Chandler.

According to an article in the January 2016 issue of GQ, the rebirth of Justin Bieber happened last year in the unlikeliest of places. GQ writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner tells the story of Bieber living with Pastor Carl Lentz, one of the leading figures at Hillsong, an international mega-church that caters to celebrities like Kevin Durant, Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez, and, yes, Justin Bieber.

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Image via USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas
At one point, Bieber is said to have been sobbing and "ravaged by feelings of loss." He and Pastor Carl prayed together until Bieber asked to be baptized—which apparently was easier said than done.

The two traveled to a Manhattan hotel where Hillsong rents pools for baptisms, but by that time the paparazzi had found out and there was already a crowd of hundreds. Pastor Carl called a friend who had a pool, but by the time they arrived there was a crowd there, too. So, finally, Pastor Carl called his boy.

Carl has many boys, but in this case his boy was Tyson Chandler, who was then on the New York Knicks. It was 2 a.m. by now. The Knicks had beaten the Miami Heat earlier that night.

Tyson Chandler—who now plays for the Phoenix Suns—offered his building's pool for JB's baptism, but the pool was closed. Out of options, Chandler decided to offer up his tub, which was surely large enough since the former All-Star is listed at 7'1".

Looking back at the Knicks schedule, the date of this incident would've had to be January 9, 2014, as that was the last time the Knicks beat the Heat in New York. Which is interesting, since Chandler didn't play in that game due to an upper respiratory infection.

A crying and freshly-baptized Justin Bieber hugging a celebrity Pastor in a sick Tyson Chandler's bathroom? Not an image we'll forget any time soon.
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Link: Justin Bieber Was Baptized In Tyson Chandler's Bathtub :russ:
 
K

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Youhadasparkwhenustarted

Youhadasparkwhenustarted

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Squirrel from Meteor Man said:
Jose Calderon
AA
Winslow
Porzingis
willie Cauley stein

this is what you people are clamoring for? When would this team ever be good? Not even Ben Simmons would make them a playoff team with this lineup.
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Why mention Jose or AA like they would even be on the team in a few years if Melo is traded? The move is obviously taking one step back in hopes those players take 2 forward, this isn't to make them a playoff team now. Yeah, banking on potential isn't a sure thing, but the same applies to trying to build out of free agency. This year it's looking like Whiteside or bust, and if that happens we go into next year, with the same average team, with Melo one year worse, and with the Melo era potentially having nothing to show for it.

Whether Melo stays or goes, I'm content to see how things play out, because I actually think the team has a shot at Whiteside ( he seems more concerned about touches than anything, other than money obviously, and he can get both here) and next year's free agency is loaded; but I'm willing to bet that more than likely that no big free agents come, the team stays average until Melo's contract ends, and he's declined to the point where he's not a star anymore. When that happens the team would be forced to go through a rebuild, which is why I think a trade is the better idea; get the ball rolling on the rebuild, and get some new talent on the team to develop along KP, and hopefully make the rebuild go quicker. But trying to predict that far ahead requires a lot of foresight and guesswork, so it's hard to definitively say what the right move is now. Which is why I'm just gonna enjoy the game, and Melo for the player he is, and worry too much about how things will go.
 
K-ZOE

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I.V. said:
I think yall wasted a lot of pages on the 'trade Melo' debate. The facts are the Knicks organization and Melo are married to each other. And Melo has an iron clad pre-nup in the form of a NTC. Where does this championship or bust mentality come from?

It's not championship or bust, it's "build the best possible team"

(I agree. And I think that can be done with Melo here. It's Phil's job to figure it out. After all he's the one who gave Melo a NTC. Surely he has a plan. Melo is a piece at this point. It's about complimenting KP now.)

The reality is we don't become contenders any quicker by trading him now for young unproven assets than we do if he plays out his contract here.

False, if you keep him and his contract, you are invested in a fading asset and player, and then have to start over when he's gone. If you trade him now for picks and a piece, then you jumpstart that process, and have a stronger team over the next five years.

(This would be true and fukked up if we didn't have Porzingis right now. They will build around him going forward and he has the potential to be an elite player by the time Melo retires. The Knicks are in good position at the moment cap wise to my knowledge. And it's my understanding that the cap goes up next season which will make Melo's contract a bargain.)

And at the end of the day the owner of the team we root for is in the business of making money. He's not trading a draw like Melo to build a young team that could challenge for the playoffs. In a couple years.

In a couple of years, Melo will be 34 and nobody will want him.

(Well yall been talking about trading him this year. I'd be in favor of trading a 34 year old Melo this year too. However, he's 31 so I say keep him. Plus he has a NTC so that deads the convo for me.)


But if you tweak and build around the young potential franchise player you just drafted along with your all star draw that's in his prime, you may have something on your hands.

The window on melo's career is already shutting. And this team isn't very good, "tweaking" wont' change that. They will have to scrape just to have a shot at making the playoffs.

(As constructed. I'm hoping for adjustments. As long as they're better than last year I will watch regardless. :manny: )

You'd still have to tinker with the lineup with the scraps you get for Melo, so why not keep him and address the PG position? Or find a playmaker to use in the triangle?
Address the coaching situation. This is the 1st time in NY or in the NBA I've heard of the GM or team president having so much influence on what the coach runs on offense.

Riley.

RC Buford aint telling Popovich what he gotta run. Dave Checketts wasn't telling JVG what to run.

Those guys aren't better basketball minds than their coach. Fisher is here because Phil can't physically handle the day-to-day of coaching. He is a proxy. And honestly, a shytty coach from what I've seen.

(I said Fisher was shytty. And Phil needs a chair. A scooter. Something.)

Oh yeah earlier I said Melo's in his prime. I'm sure that needs to be addressed.

It sure does.

He is indeed coming of knee surgery. But he's only 31 coming off surgery for a wear and tear procedure, not a career threatening injury.

He has been in the NBA since he was 19... he has a TON of minutes on his legs, and has been more injury prone over the last 3 years than at any other point in his career.

(:manny: And I think he still has a few solid years of Bullyball in em...)

He never has or will play above the rim.

You should go back and watch clips from his first 6-7 years in the league.

(And he hasn't been that player since he's been in NY. Yet he adjusted his game to remain one of the leagues top scorers. A trend ignored by his naysayers. :jbhmm: )

But he will establish a rhythm. His timing will return. Hopefully he will understand when to take heat checks,

He has never understood this.

( Like I said in the part you left off. :jawalrus: )

His new improved defensive #s should satisfy the stat/efficiency whores

No, because 1) anybody that cares about stats understands sample size, and 2) his defense doesn't have anything to do with his inefficient offense.

(He's not getting traded. Not this year.)

The fact is we've seen this script before in NY basketball with Ewing.

Ewing was traded at the end of his contract, and it set the team back because they took on longer deals and did not get enough future value in talent or picks. Melo would have to be traded for young players and/or picks.

Different team, different time, different GM

(My point is some fans hated him when he was here. But to hear some ppl talk these days, it was a love fest when PE was in NY. The same fans looking to ship Melo out now will be crying for somebody to crack 17 points when he's gone and reminiscing when Melo used to black out.)
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storyteller

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I.V. said:
I think shumpert was a clean bill of health and some actual coaching away from being slightly below that level, yes. An elite wing defender, with a good outside stroke, and the ability to get to, and finish at the hoop.


But my point was really that you can't use him as a 'reality check' because he had a bunch of major injuries that derailed his career.

I get what you're saying though... you don't want to trade Melo for "stronger Danny Green" - which is totally fair.


I don't KNOW that we should trade melo, or that we could -- I just think the conversation about WHY we WOULD do it needs to be realistic. Melo does NOT star in this team's future. He can't. That's just math. So if you're plan is to just hold on to him until his contract is up, and then figure it out. Well, cool. But sitting on a declining commodity is at best a bad plan.
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I see you, I think the Melo trade talk is premature just based on the fact that I expect his shooting to improve which will improve the team and raise his value. So my thought process is wait for his legs to make a decision about trading or keeping him, there's 2 months to the deadline and a bunch of teams with cap space that'll be looking for any star they sell to their fans in the off season. So I'm inclined to wait for the offseason to get a better evaluation of how far from contention we are and what players we could benefit from the most. Basically, Melo's value will increase in short order whether through his play or through demand from teams that miss on target FA's. So you sit on the commodity for the time being and make a decision to sell or build on it after the season when value will potentially be higher.
 
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