Yeah, MaMo blew off his commitment to the Spurs offer. Kinda naughty.
Worked out well for NYK. But SAS let Bertans go in order to have a roster spot for MaMo. Oops.
MaMo did a lot of 1-on-1, ballstopping and gunning. It's just that he did it at a high level, and our offense needed help, so it wasn't that noticeable how much he was going for numbers. There were games where his defense was pretty desultory, just grabbing guys going for layups.
Portis was another 1-year contract guy who hunted his own shot/points, also willing to take a rebound from a teammate. Chucked a lot, didn't play team ball.
Players know that they get paid primarily based on scoring. Scoring and minutes are probably what effect a players next contract the most.
Otherwise playing a role on a winning team helps a fair amount too, but that's not a factor for our Knickerbockers. After that, having some big crazy Tony Delk night, or exposing one team badly (so that they want that player to fill that hole on their roster -- teams often too impressed by guys who they see in person kill their team).
Burks is on a 1-year deal. His 6th team in 3 years. Age 29, he's looking to secure a long-term contract.
Last few years he gets up a lot of shots. On a team without many shooters, he's gonna be gunning in NYC. Elf doesn't shoot much, nor Franc, RJB only some, Mitch a lob/putback guy, Randle shoots but is looking to pass more this year, ObiT a rook and team guy. Knox can be withdrawn.
Burks is going to shoot a lot with at least one eye on his numbers. Most players convince themselves that the more they score the better it is for the team.
Not saying he's going to go totally rogue -- he doesn't have that clout -- but he's going to launch. If he shoots at a high clip, it'll be a help. But a career 36% 3-point shooter, not much of a passer. Expect Burks to be more of a one-man team than team player. And if his shot goes south, Rivers is there to take minutes from him. Steady Reg Bullox too. We'll see.
And every coach, except maybe Fizdale, preaches team.
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Agree that ObiT seems like a team guy.
Knox went 6-7 on 3's but had 1 board and 1 assist.
Gotta contribute whether the shot is falling or not.
I'd like to see Knox pick up one foul a game going hard for rebounds.
Well, not at inopportune times. Need to see smart aggression.