The Combat Jack Show Thread

[Magic33]

But they haven't had salary cap problems, the issue is they haven't hard anyone to take their money so they give it out to Courtney Lee and Julius Randle

or they trade for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

I'm talking about the draft lottery when I said bad luck dawg.

But they haven't just had bad luck. They've drafted poorly. You scout and bring in players for workouts.

These are some of the first round draft picks, Jordan Hill, Channing Frye, Trevor Ariza, Gallanari, Wilson Chandler, Balkman, Shumpert, Timmy Jr, KP, Franky

In 20 years of draft picks the best players have been David Lee, Gallanari and KP. And they traded all of them away. At least with Gallanari it was used for Melo. KP's trade was supposed to bring cap room for KD. It brought cap room for Wayne Ellington, Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson.

He tore his achilles. I don't understand why there's a particular subset of sports fans who seem to think thats some **** you just scratch off and keep playing...but the Kevin Durant they've been waiting for for 2 years doesn't exist anymore. He may be good again...but he is no longer the best player in the world...and he won't be anywhere near it at 33 with a year off. If they "lost" Free Agency...then they lost it the minute he went down on that Toronto floor and they had no control over that.

Like harlemtothebronx said. If that was a healthy KD that the Knicks struck out on...then sure...have at it. But Knick fans should be glad that it's Brooklyn that gets to conduct the Post-Achilles KD experiment.

The question remains. Who would they be passing over KD for?

Because surely who they picked up this off season won't lead them anywhere.

Players want to play with other stars, not Dennis Smith Jr and Kevin Knox.

KD at 80 or 90% is better than anything the Knicks have had and is still worth max money in today's NBA if D'Angelo Russell and Kemba can make max money. Neither of them is one of the 25 best players in the league.

Kemba didn't even think of coming home to play for the Knicks.

 

[iamdef]

KD at 80 or 90% is better than anything the Knicks have had and is still worth max money in today's NBA if D'Angelo Russell and Kemba can make max money. Neither of them is one of the 25 best players in the league.

This is the same convo I was havin' with my peoples, KD ain't gon be the same after this injury but even a reduced KD is still going to do numbers. Even with a year off, not offering KD max is silly

 

[harlemtothebronx]

You can tell the people who don't follow a team and base their perspective mainly on the general consensus or popular talking point.

It's hilarious how the issue has always been that the Knicks never put themselves in a position to have cap flexibility and young players, but now that they've managed that somehow maintaining flexibility and not signing second tier guys is now the wrong move. As if the as soon as you clear the space, you absolutely must hit on a big name free agent...even if he literally tore his Achilles.

It's like people don't even know what they want to be mad at the Knicks for since nothing really happened, and try to position it as a non-injured KD being passed over for Julius Randle.

It always be those people with the strongest delivery, but don't be saying ****. Mal yelling about something he clearly doesn't understand and playing to to the lowest common denominator crowd.

And for the record, everyone else is creating this narrative now that the Knicks are only doing two year deals because they're already all-in for Giannis, and that hasn't been mentioned by anyone other than speculative media. When that comes around, and he doesn't sign for whatever reason, I expect y'all to do this all again. Create a narrative, then say they failed when they don't follow the narrative the media has been selling to y'all all year.

This is the same convo I was havin' with my peoples, KD ain't gon be the same after this injury but even a reduced KD is still going to do numbers. Even with a year off, not offering KD max is silly

I don't see it, but even if I did I don't see 80% of KD + his adjustment period after losing 1/4 of the contract to recovering from literally the most devastating injury in sports just ain't the gamble I want to take when I don't even have a team who can contend for the playoffs.

I like what they did. Building through the draft until we have a decent lineup who can lure a legit healthy star who fits the team. Y'all would be applauding them if they offered KD a max and signed Kemba to the deal Boston gave him, I'm sure...right?

Kemba didn't even think of coming home to play for the Knicks.

Case in point. The Knicks weren't going to offer Kemba the deal that he wanted and he would have got the Knicks the 15th pick and perennial playoff appearances at 6-8 seed for the next four years.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

But they haven't had salary cap problems, the issue is they haven't hard anyone to take their money so they give it out to Courtney Lee and Julius Randle

or they trade for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.



But they haven't just had bad luck. They've drafted poorly. You scout and bring in players for workouts.

These are some of the first round draft picks, Jordan Hill, Channing Frye, Trevor Ariza, Gallanari, Wilson Chandler, Balkman, Shumpert, Timmy Jr, KP, Franky

In 20 years of draft picks the best players have been David Lee, Gallanari and KP. And they traded all of them away. At least with Gallanari it was used for Melo. KP's trade was supposed to bring cap room for KD. It brought cap room for Wayne Ellington, Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson.



The question remains. Who would they be passing over KD for?

Because surely who they picked up this off season won't lead them anywhere.

Players want to play with other stars, not Dennis Smith Jr and Kevin Knox.

KD at 80 or 90% is better than anything the Knicks have had and is still worth max money in today's NBA if D'Angelo Russell and Kemba can make max money. Neither of them is one of the 25 best players in the league.

Kemba didn't even think of coming home to play for the Knicks.

Son I said all of that before.

We know the Knicks front office has been bad for a long time. You just read the last part when I said they had bad luck with the lottery balls.

 

[iamdef]

I don't see it, but even if I did I don't see 80% of KD + his adjustment period after losing 1/4 of the contract to recovering from literally the most devastating injury in sports just ain't the gamble I want to take when I don't even have a team who can contend for the playoffs.

I like what they did. Building through the draft until we have a decent lineup who can lure a legit star who fits the team. Y'all would be applauding them if they offered KD a max and signed Kemba to the deal Boston gave him, I'm sure...right?

I understand what they did with KD being precautious but I can't say that I wouldn't put caution to the wind to get one of the most dominant players in the league even if he's a different athlete after his injury.

I have no dog in the fight with NYK, I expected them to go full force at KD once things were open but I think they played a bit too cautious not picking him up. I get it, just don't think the risk outweighed the reward

 

[VARNELL HILL]

It's wild to me ****** are really running with this "KD at (random percentage) is still better than so and so". It doesn't work like that.

This is not NBA 2K and the ****** rating didn't just drop from a 98 to an 88 .

His body got CHANGED. An Achilles tear is THE WORST injury you can sustain as a basketball player. History proves the odds are against him. For Kevin Durant to return and remain in the upper most elite tier...he would be beating those odds in a way that's never been done before.

He's A piece now. Not THE piece that's going to anchor a contending basketball team.

The real "miss" for New York was losing the lottery and missing out on Zion.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

You can tell the people who don't follow a team and base their perspective mainly on the general consensus or popular talking point.

It's hilarious how the issue has always been that the Knicks never put themselves in a position to have cap flexibility and young players, but now that they've managed that somehow maintaining flexibility and not signing second tier guys is now the wrong move. As if the as soon as you clear the space, you absolutely must hit on a big name free agent...even if he literally tore his Achilles.

It's like people don't even know what they want to be mad at the Knicks for since nothing really happened, and try to position it as a non-injured KD being passed over for Julius Randle.

It always be those people with the strongest delivery, but don't be saying ****. Mal yelling about something he clearly doesn't understand and playing to to the lowest common denominator crowd.

And for the record, everyone else is creating this narrative now that the Knicks are only doing two year deals because they're already all-in for Giannis, and that hasn't been mentioned by anyone other than speculative media. When that comes around, and he doesn't sign for whatever reason, I expect y'all to do this all again. Create a narrative, then say they failed when they don't follow the narrative the media has been selling to y'all all year.

I don't see it, but even if I did I don't see 80% of KD + his adjustment period after losing 1/4 of the contract to recovering from literally the most devastating injury in sports just ain't the gamble I want to take when I don't even have a team who can contend for the playoffs.

I like what they did. Building through the draft until we have a decent lineup who can lure a legit healthy star who fits the team. Y'all would be applauding them if they offered KD a max and signed Kemba to the deal Boston gave him, I'm sure...right?



Case in point. The Knicks weren't going to offer Kemba the deal that he wanted and he would have got the Knicks the 15th pick and perennial playoff appearances at 6-8 seed for the next four years.

Getting Kemba woulda been a bad move but if ya'll still had Kris and got Jimmy Butler then a Seth Curry or Quinn Cook on a good deal, Boogie on a one year deal woulda made ya'll respectful.

Kristaps asking to be traded basically sent the message that the Knicks are still a mess.

 

[harlemtothebronx]

You mean the other 7 foot tall dude who tore his Achilles, demanded a trade to Dallas the day after the Knicks and Mavs played, and just signed a max extension with the Mavericks?

People gotta get past the KP trade. They were already having conversations with other teams because it was clear he didn't want to be here since he skipped his exit interview a couple of years ago.

Jimmy Butler meshing with Kemba and KP to win anything worthwhile? That's a middle of the pack team in a wide open Eastern Conference even if KP doesn't force his way to his idol's team.

 

[iamdef]

It's wild to me *****s are really running with this "KD at (random percentage) is still better than so and so". It doesn't work like that.

This is not NBA 2K and the *****s rating didn't just drop from a 98 to an 88 .

His body got CHANGED. An Achilles tear is THE WORST injury you can sustain as a basketball player. History proves the odds are against him. For Kevin Durant to return and remain in the upper most elite tier...he would be beating those odds in a way that's never been done before.

He's A piece now. Not THE piece that's going to anchor a contending basketball team.

The real "miss" for New York was losing the lottery and missing out on Zion.

I think it's reasonable to think in terms of percentages because it makes predictions more tangible
KD going from averaging 30pts to 20pts is easy to read

Understandably so, this isn't a rolled ankle and is a serious injury. I'm excited to see how he comes back

 

[Maximus Meridius]

You mean the other 7 foot tall dude who tore his Achilles, demanded a trade to Dallas the day after the Knicks and Mavs played, and just signed a max extension with the Mavericks?

People gotta get past the KP trade. They were already having conversations with other teams because it was clear he didn't want to be here since he skipped his exit interview a couple of years ago.

Jimmy Butler meshing with Kemba and KP to win anything worthwhile? That's a middle of the pack team in a wide open Eastern Conference even if KP doesn't force his way to his idol's team.

I ain't say sign Jimmy AND Kemba. I was agreeing with you that getting Kemba woulda been a mistake.

I said if Kris was still there sign Jimmy then fill out the roster with Boogie, Seth, or Quinn or Danny Green to good deals. All that went out the window when Kris asked to traded though, it told other players that the Knicks are still being ran by a horrible owner that won't move out the way. I don't even think if KD didn't get injured he woulda went to the Knicks. James Dolan is still ya'll owner and players don't rock with him at all. Kyrie wanted to go to Brooklyn and it seems like he's the one that's leading in this KD/Kyrie friendship. I mean they still coulda signed to the Knicks if they really wanted to be there.

 

[Magic33]

You mean the other 7 foot tall dude who tore his Achilles, demanded a trade to Dallas the day after the Knicks and Mavs played, and just signed a max extension with the Mavericks?

People gotta get past the KP trade. They were already having conversations with other teams because it was clear he didn't want to be here since he skipped his exit interview a couple of years ago.

Jimmy Butler meshing with Kemba and KP to win anything worthwhile? That's a middle of the pack team in a wide open Eastern Conference even if KP doesn't force his way to his idol's team.

He tore his ACL.

and him wanting to be traded had everything to do with the terrible front office and how it's not run like a normal professional basketball team.

 

[Magic33]

It's wild to me *****s are really running with this "KD at (random percentage) is still better than so and so". It doesn't work like that.

This is not NBA 2K and the *****s rating didn't just drop from a 98 to an 88 .

His body got CHANGED. An Achilles tear is THE WORST injury you can sustain as a basketball player. History proves the odds are against him. For Kevin Durant to return and remain in the upper most elite tier...he would be beating those odds in a way that's never been done before.

He's A piece now. Not THE piece that's going to anchor a contending basketball team.

The real "miss" for New York was losing the lottery and missing out on Zion.

An achilles isn't necessarily the worst injury. It's just that it's rare and not common like an ACL One thing he tore his right achilles which isn't as bad as his strong leg that he pushes off and jumps off of.

Back surgery and foot surgery can be career ending.

There is no comparison to KD with an achilles. Rudy Gay and Dominique are the closest ones and they were all more dependent on athleticism. Dominique while no longer being the human highlight film was still putting up 20+ for several years. You could argue that Rudy Gay is actually better now, because it caused him to develop a jumper.

 

[Hahahaha]

We don't know if the Knicks offered the max or lost out and claimed they didn't. Dolan is a sore loser and a *****. KD's injury ****ed it all up though.

KP won't be missed. Injury prone diva that wanted out. I won't miss him.

 

[tay1]

***** said KD is 'a piece'. As if he's recovered from his injury and played already

 

[harlemtothebronx]

I'm more curious how the decisions made this free agency amounted to one of the worst free agency failures of all-time.

I'm not arguing with anyone about Dolan. Dolan is garbage. My point is only that all the talk about it being such a huge failure this Summer is exaggerated. Trust that no one is trying to defend the ownership, just want someone to own and defend the point that the Knicks had a horrible free agency without just saying 'you have to get somebody!' or 'you have to offer KD a max'.

 

[VARNELL HILL]

An achilles isn't necessarily the worst injury. It's just that it's rare and not common like an ACL One thing he tore his right achilles which isn't as bad as his strong leg that he pushes off and jumps off of.

Back surgery and foot surgery can be career ending.

There is no comparison to KD with an achilles. Rudy Gay and Dominique are the closest ones and they were all more dependent on athleticism. Dominique while no longer being the human highlight film was still putting up 20+ for several years. You could argue that Rudy Gay is actually better now, because it caused him to develop a jumper.

It's the worst injury in basketball. That's not my opinion. That is a fact. And even if you want to argue semantics...it's WITHOUT question a tier 1 catastrophic injury. Back, foot, whatever...tearing your achilles is a severe injury period. You are virtually guaranteed to take a gigantic step backwards. Especially at 31 years old.

According to a 2013 medical study that identified 18 players who suffered major Achilles injuries over a 23-year span (1988-2011), seven players never returned to the league. Players who returned missed an average of 56 games and saw their PER decline in their first and second seasons back. A 2015 CBS Sports article found that among 14 players who returned from Achilles injuries since 1992, they averaged fewer minutes while both their field goal and three-point percentages dropped, on average. There are very few complete success stories.

Rudy Gay is a decent role player...and was already on a decline at 30 before he tore his. Not exactly a comparable situation. Sure he improved his jump shot...but better overall? Not even close...and he wasn't that great to begin with.

If the silver lining in KD's injury is that Dominique was the ONE guy that came back at high level (for 2 seasons)...do you like those odds after seeing what's happened to everyone else that's suffered that injury? I'm not saying it's impossible...i'm saying it's unlikely.

More importantly...it's completely ridiculous to not understand why a franchise who's been burned putting the franchise in the hands of damaged stars would hesitate on signing another one. Especially pairing him with another oft-injured head case of a star. Unless Kawhi would have came w/ KD...they dodged a bullet. I was banking on them doing something stupid like signing Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker...and to my surprise they didn't. Sign short term deals to reach the salary floor, develop your talent thru the draft (which is where you WANT your stars to come from)...and try again. It's a process.

 

[Magic33]

Nah, people saying the Lakers failed is an exaggeration.

Top players don't even consider meeting with the Knicks.

And they over paid every last player they did sign. Because nobody would go there on a vet minimum even if playing time was available.

Who was beating down Taj Gibson's door?

 

[harlemtothebronx]

Top players don't even consider meeting with the Knicks.

I'm willing to believe that after KD went down, the front office backed off the idea of Kyrie and KD (because Kyrie already tried and failed to lead a young team with more talent in Boston). I also think it was clear that Kawhi had his heart set on one of the LA teams.

What free agents that were still available after that point would actually improve the team to more than mediocrity.

Nah, people saying the Lakers failed is an exaggeration.

Top players don't even consider meeting with the Knicks.

And they over paid every last player they did sign. Because nobody would go there on a vet minimum even if playing time was available.

Who was beating down Taj Gibson's door?

No one, which is why he agreed to a 1+1 deal.

Part of maintaining flexibility is overpaying players for deals that can be cleared after a year. It's also looking past role players who clearly command more money and years. You do see that, right?

Is it still overpaying if the second year is a team option, and all of the pieces signed other than Julius Randle are spare parts/stopgap pieces to fill and add structure to the roster while not taking time away from players who are expected to be here longterm.

But again, saying they overpaid is another talking point that just makes it obvious that you're working with limited information.

 

[Magic33]

It's the worst injury in basketball. That's not my opinion. That is a fact. And even if you want to argue semantics...it's WITHOUT question a tier 1 catastrophic injury. Back, foot, whatever...tearing your achilles is a severe injury period. You are virtually guaranteed to take a gigantic step backwards. Especially at 31 years old.


Rudy Gay is a decent role player...and was already on a decline at 30 before he tore his. Not exactly a comparable situation. Sure he improved his jump shot...but better overall? Not even close...and he wasn't that great to begin with.

If the silver lining in KD's injury is that Dominique was the ONE guy that came back at high level (for 2 seasons)...do you like those odds after seeing what's happened to everyone else that's suffered that injury? I'm not saying it's impossible...i'm saying it's unlikely.

More importantly...it's completely ridiculous to not understand why a franchise who's been burned putting the franchise in the hands of damaged stars would hesitate on signing another one. Especially pairing him with another oft-injured head case of a star. Unless Kawhi would have came w/ KD...they dodged a bullet. I was banking on them doing stupid like signing Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker...and to my surprise they didn't. Sign short term deals to reach the salary floor, develop your talent thru the draft (which is where you WANT your stars to come from)...and try again. It's a process

No it isn't a fact.

Most of those players who had the injury like Isiah Thomas, Chauncey and Shaq were on their last legs anyway. Why? Because most of the players who had it were old. Kobe was 34 and had 17 years on him.

Rudy Gay was headed out of the league like Josh Smith prior to his achilles injury.

So you can't compare KD's achilles injury to another player, because nobody as young, as skilled or as good ever got one.

It seems to be occurring more common now so you can look at players like Cousins, John Wall or KD before you determine it's the worst injury for a NBA player.

 

[iamdef]

To go back to the "What is a stream worth" question as I listen to Joe's Saturday pod, another bit of valuable info these streaming sites get is how often people actively search for an artists' album and the albums people just happen to come across either through the new releases or through the "Similar Artist" list.

As an artist I would assume knowing the percentage of people who are looking and searching for your album compared to those who tripped over it looking for something else has to be worth a lot when determining your reach and iimpact on the masses

 

[Magic33]

Shady pulled up on Joe

I finally heard that story.

Massaging his back.



Seeing someone who has beef with you, but you not remembering it

 

[harlemtothebronx]

'Ohhh, I probably did say that.'

 

[a blinkin]

What’s the story on Em pulling up

 

[kingfoamnyc]

VARNELL HILL and harlemtothebronx running circles around y'all in this basketball discussion. Move on folks

 

[iamdef]

VARNELL HILL and harlemtothebronx running circles around y'all in this basketball discussion. Move on folks

.....we did