Who Knicks Fans Will Be Watching As They Play Out the String

Chandler got booed at the end of a game recently, the New Orleans game. The fans started off booing the decision to replace Nate from the game but kept on Chandler’s case for the rest of the game (Chandler was the sub for Nate). I think Zeke’s comments probably were an attempt to avoid a repeat for the youngster.

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“We have Randolph Morris and Wilson Chandler; we’ll give them an opportunity,” Thomas said. “They’ve definitely earned their minutes. This will be a good opportunity to see what they can do.”[/quote]

[quote]The 6-11 forward has become such a forgotten man that Knicks fans are beginning to think that Morris is his middle name and Inactive is his last name. Morris has been placed on the inactive list 40 times this season and has recorded 17 DNPs.

“I think he should be playing,” says Orlando’s Dwight Howard. “I don’t want to get into a discrepancy with the Knicks, but I love playing against him and he brings out the best in me. I’d love to see him on the floor, not just against me but just period. It’s his dream to play in the NBA. I know he wants to get out there and show everybody what he’s got.”

“I think he can play in the NBA,” Howard said of Morris. “That’s why he’s here. Me and my teammates talk about it all the time, me and him going at it. They want to see him play in the league. Hopefully he can get a chance to play sooner or later so somebody can see his potential.”[/quote]

A little unusual to see that, Dwight clearly thinks Randolph Morris should be playing. There’s the conspiracy theory that Isiah doesn’t want to play him much to avoid losing him in free agency this summer. Be interesting to see if Isiah follows through and plays him much down the stretch.

[quote] “He just needed opportunity. We’re pretty loaded in the frontcourt. We just haven’t had enough opportunity to work Randolph in, but with Eddy being out this’ll give him an opportunity,” said Thomas, who watched with arms folded as Chandler and Randolph worked after practice with Mark Aguirre.

“I talk to he and Wilson. They’d come every day, work extremely hard. I told them at some point their time will come and hard work does pay off so keep working – and their opportunity is here.” [/quote]

I’m more interested in seeing Randolph Morris getting more minutes than Chandler. Morris looked solid against the Hornets and an interesting option for next season. Chandler has shown what he has to offer already, this offseason will be very important to him because he needs to add a couple of things to his game. But Morris … not sure what he is about him.

[quote]Meanwhile, Thomas failed to take advantage of the D-League, where both players [Chandler and Morris] could have faced live action on a consistent basis rather than serve as practice dummies and sit idle during games.

“I just like the practice time and what they get here, and the hands-on we get to have here,” Thomas said recently. “They get to learn our system more, the way that we want to play. I just think the on-court time they get playing against the pros we have here is better for them. There are times and opportunities when you can send a player down to the D-League, but most of the time you want to keep a player in your system doing the things you do every day so you know when you need them, you can put them in a game.”

I agree with Isiah, I think they benefit more from being around the team and learning about the league.