True Q To Italy

Let's go with a brief blast from the Knicks' not-too-distant past for this morning.

RealGM reports that Heat big man Earl Barron is moving to Italy, but that's really secondary to the report in this twisted head of mine:

Barron will be joined by former NBA player Qyntel Woods, who also made the jump to Fortitudo Bologna.

Good to see the man once nicknamed the True Q by a few renegades at Madison Square Garden turn up somewhere.

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It is a mark of how astoundingly bad the 2005-06 New York Knicks were that Qyntel Woods was one of the bright spots of the season in the Sizable Apple.  Even for a Knicks hater who thoroughly enjoyed watching the team suffer through 59 losses and all manner of internal discord, watching Woods play was a breath of fresh air. 

Unlike most of his teammates, the man with the checkered past from his Jail Blazer days worked hard at both ends of the floor and seemed to be making the effort for every second on the court.  He lived up to his rep as someone who could jump out of the gym with a few thunderous fast-break dunks, and he did his best to cause trouble defensively.  He didn't shoot the ball all that well and had trouble getting much run early on, but by the end of the season, Woods had earned himself 16 starts and an average of 20.7 minutes in his 49 games played.  It was perfect for Knicks detractors in that he was enough of a hustler to enjoy his play but not good enough to make any significant difference with regard to the Knicks' fate. 

He had dropped off the NBA map since then, but there remains some odd interest here.  Happy to see Woods getting an opportunity overseas.