Bill Walker's play with the Knicks...(merged)

[P2]

O Gerald Green, where art thou?

[ACF]

O Gerald Green, where art thou?

[indeedproceed]

He's in Russia playing on the same team as James Gist

[snively]

Just watched some of the Knicks-Mavs game.  Walker is terrible defensively.  Completely lost, undisciplined and not especially energetic.  His jumper is money though.

[Andy Jick]

my comparison to gerald was meant as a joke...more to do with folklore than anything.  i don't think the two will have the same path in life, as i believe walker might have a long-term future in the nba.

i think a potential fairer comparison could be ryan gomes.  a guy who was suddenly found that languished as an 11th or 12th man on the bench.

would i want gomes back?  not really...  just as much as i wouldn't want walker back.  i like what nate robinson provides this team...THAT is why danny made this deal, and it's looking like a good one to me...

i hope walker does well...but i don't miss him.  i honestly doubt i ever will.

[Cman]

I wonder how many games the following lineup would win:
Lester Hudson, Gerald Green, Bill Walker, Michael Sweetney, Kevin Pittsnogle Leon Powe, with two Wills off the bench (Bynum and Salomon).

Edit -- Silly me, forgot Powe!

[Meadowlark_Scal]

So if Doc had played Walker, told him to shoot whenever he wanted regardless of whether it was in the offensive flow or not and didn't have to play a stitch of defense we could have had Billy Walker playing like a scoring machine as well

...

...

I would rather have a guy know how to play in a system and play defense thank you

I've always hated this argument, because we sign vets and no matter how effective (or ineffective for that matter), Doc gives them playing time. He usually doesn't give the rooks the same benefit, even if they seem to many outside observers as worthy of the chance. This was more glaring last year, when we were hurting with injuries in the wing positions and Doc kept overplaying Ray and Pierce needlessly, when he could've easily given Walker a bit of playing time consistently. And yet, from the first day Marbury and Moore were available, he gave them vast playing time.

This is right on the point ( a TP for that matter..!) If you can see the lanes, slash, shoot and finish...you can play defense...right?!! I mean defense is experience and desire, know the lanes..ect, D'antoni won't make anyone play D there, so after a while no one would.....Yup, Doc dropped that one, could have added some explosiveness and energy along with Rondo and TA, could have had a young, fast attack unit to run up the score and tire out the other team...! Good thing doc didn't see that....!

[MBz]

Say what you want about his defense, but we were looking for a perimeter scorer off the bench.  There is no denying that he could have helped us this year during injuries.  Also, I can't imagine Michael Finley can play better defense then Walker.  Finley may know how to play defense, but he just doesn't have the ability to do so anymore.  We have an old team, no reason why Walker shouldn't have gotten a chance to play.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

I was agreeing with that....Finley can't guard anyone under 33 years old.....Walker could guard Kobe, anyone that can slash, move and shoot like Walker could give other teams problems, that would open up all kinds of opportunities for the rest of our team...! Maybe guard Lebron too...he had the athletic ability, unlike most of the guys we have now....

[angryguy77]

O Gerald Green, where art thou?

I would be carefull if I were you. This guy doesn't like it when his people are made fun of...

[Andy Jick]

I was agreeing with that....Finley can't guard anyone under 33 years old.....Walker could guard Kobe, anyone that can slash, move and shoot like Walker could give other teams problems, that would open up all kinds of opportunities for the rest of our team...! Maybe guard Lebron too...he had the athletic ability, unlike most of the guys we have now....

you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that would want bill walker on the floor in crucial games against the lakers or cavs guarding kobe or lebron...  sounds like a neat thought on paper, but nothing you want happening in a game 7...

[More Banners]

(This is the Bill Walker Fan Thread, right?)

Knicks record when Billy scores 20+:  2-2
Billy < 20:  2-5

Clearly, the offensive wizardry of future all-star Bill Walker is the key to any success the Knicks have this year.  He is their building block for the future.

[clover]

I was agreeing with that....Finley can't guard anyone under 33 years old.....Walker could guard Kobe, anyone that can slash, move and shoot like Walker could give other teams problems, that would open up all kinds of opportunities for the rest of our team...! Maybe guard Lebron too...he had the athletic ability, unlike most of the guys we have now....

you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that would want bill walker on the floor in crucial games against the lakers or cavs guarding kobe or lebron...  sounds like a neat thought on paper, but nothing you want happening in a game 7...

Could be--if only he'd been fed some time and Paul and Ray had been feed some rest since he got healthy.

[PLamb]

So if Doc had played Walker, told him to shoot whenever he wanted regardless of whether it was in the offensive flow or not and didn't have to play a stitch of defense we could have had Billy Walker playing like a scoring machine as well

...

...

I would rather have a guy know how to play in a system and play defense thank you

I've always hated this argument, because we sign vets and no matter how effective (or ineffective for that matter), Doc gives them playing time. He usually doesn't give the rooks the same benefit, even if they seem to many outside observers as worthy of the chance. This was more glaring last year, when we were hurting with injuries in the wing positions and Doc kept overplaying Ray and Pierce needlessly, when he could've easily given Walker a bit of playing time consistently. And yet, from the first day Marbury and Moore were available, he gave them vast playing time.

This is right on the point ( a TP for that matter..!) If you can see the lanes, slash, shoot and finish...you can play defense...right?!! I mean defense is experience and desire, know the lanes..ect, D'antoni won't make anyone play D there, so after a while no one would.....Yup, Doc dropped that one, could have added some explosiveness and energy along with Rondo and TA, could have had a young, fast attack unit to run up the score and tire out the other team...! Good thing doc didn't see that....!

If you have the opportunity to review the 3 minutes Bill Walker played against the Los Angeles Clippers this year, do so and then you will see just how clueless some of the stuff you say in this post sounds

Physical ability or the ability to score and soar above the rim have nothing to do with playing defense

Some of the greatest offensive players to play the game were just pathetic defensively

Why?

because defense is a mind set and has little to do with physical ability though, admittedly, if you have the mindset and the physicality then you can be an even better defender

Perfect example is Scal

Little to no great athleticism but a very good defender

Bill Walker, tons of physical ability, horrible on defense

Why, his mindset which in over one and a half years here never changed

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

I was agreeing with that....Finley can't guard anyone under 33 years old.....Walker could guard Kobe, anyone that can slash, move and shoot like Walker could give other teams problems, that would open up all kinds of opportunities for the rest of our team...! Maybe guard Lebron too...he had the athletic ability, unlike most of the guys we have now....

you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that would want bill walker on the floor in crucial games against the lakers or cavs guarding kobe or lebron...  sounds like a neat thought on paper, but nothing you want happening in a game 7...

Could be--if only he'd been fed some time and Paul and Ray had been feed some rest since he got healthy.

So, just a little time and he's going from being lost defensivly to being a shutdown defender on the two best scorers in the league?

You, and this is to Andy Jick's post, can't just claim this guy was the player to automatically become the on-ball defender who could hang with the two best scorers. I mean, really?