Good Riddance
by xcdudesquad on Feb 20, 2010 2:20 PM EST
Email
PrintThe trade deadline couldn't have come at a worse time for me. Investing 90% of my energy on the Olympic Hockey tournament I haven't had as much time to weigh in on all the of trades the Knicks made. I know I don't frequent Posting and Toasting as much as I should, but I originally was thinking about writing a Eulogy for Nate Robinson, but I really don't like him. Actually I hated Nate and never thought he should have been resigned this off season. Well I didn't get my way, but I am thrilled he is gone, so I've decided to write a thank you letter to Donnie Walsh. Enjoy!
Dear Donnie,
I know you were brought in here to pretty much be a savior. That is a tough job to be. It seems only one man, Jesus, has satisfied a large amount (but certainly not everyone) in that department. Now I'm not saying you are Jesus, but the expectations have been there sometimes. But I digress. Basically this letter is designed to thank you for having the balls to trade total abomination epic clusterfuck fan favorite Nate Robinson. The reason why I am thanking you is because you got a decent return (I mean who really though you'd fleece the Boston Celtics that much for a 1st rounder) for a player who really isn't that good. The reason I am thanking you is because its tough to defy the fans sometimes. In the curious case of Nate Robinson, Nate dazzled the NYC fans with his shortness, energy, and Nate Being Nate. The main problem was Nate Being Nate meant his basketball IQ drops from above average to that of a 7 year old Pee Wee player when the game is on the line. Fans, including myself at first, wanted Nate to succeed. We really did, but we wizened up when Larry Brown (yeah he coached the Knicks remember? Most of us hid those memories trust me) started benching him. Nate went plenty of games without seeing any action, but the fans attributed it to being a rookie. Later is the Isiah years approached (man this is a trip down dark years lane) Nate kept working towards cracking the starting lineup but never could. He'd cause the fans to forget his horrid defensive play, and inablility to pass the ball as a PG (something they kind of need to do) because of highlights. Those highlights included winning the dunk competition 3 times (which apparently means you are good at being a PG), blocking Yao Ming (which was awesome, but no reflection on Nates play), and randomly showing he could score 40 points (without PASSING THE BALL WHEN HE NEEDED TOO). Despite that, Mr. Walsh, you realized that you needed to make this team better. You traded a young, too raw, and still valuable (that beats me but hey the deal went through) Nate Robinson to the Celtics ending his time in New York. Love him, hate him, abhor him to death, thank you Donnie Walsh for getting this headcase out of New York.
With eternal Gratitude,
Aaron
26 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
fuck mike breen
This is why I wish mike breen wasn’t the announcer at knick games ever, because he began the verbal ass raping of nate robinson ever since the first time he saw Nate dunk. His words of disdain and mockery slowly turned nate robinson into a terrible basketball player in the eyes of most everyone who watched a game on TV.
I only ask one thing of Nate haters. The next time you see raisin head harrington bobble the ball 3 times before hrowing it off the glass, or duduhon barely walking past the 3 point line with 10 seconds left on the shot clock before passing it backwards…just ask yourself…what would they say if Nate did that? at least he was a good basketball player, we only have a few of those
werd. we liked nate cuz him and lee along with crawford were the only ones even trying a few years ago.
go ahead and crucify the fans who loved these guys for taking our minds off of those pr disasters =>> larry brown stephon marbury anucha sanders isiah thomas
by karamjitm9090 on Feb 20, 2010 4:27 PM EST up reply actions
for real
the standard’s for success with regard to nate are much higher than they are for duhon.
just think…. duhon gets 12 points and 6 assists… he had a good game. nate needs to get 18 and 6 just to gain that same acceptance.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
He traded Nate for none of those reasons
he traded Nate because D’Antoni wasn’t getting along with him and because he wanted to let Nate who has been an absolute class act this year get a chance to contend and not just play a “try out new players” season in New York.
yea i saw an interview with donnie basketball
i think he honestly wanted to do right by nate. nate’s gonna get his extra mil bonus now, so right off, that’s cool. and nate didn’t manage to live up to d’antoni’s hopes/standards. but i don’t think for a second that they disliked each other.
and obviously the time had to come to make final decisions. we decided to get a guy (house) who is familiar with the way coach has wanted to play, and maybe he is a cheap player for next season. and nate is in a contract year. he deserves playing time. and toney douglas needs time without hughes and robinson breathign down his neck.
i don’t feel good about losing nate, but i gotta contend that it was the right move for the team and for nate. and i don’t think feelings were involved.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
definitely did right by Nate
similar to the Steph situation actually (well…damn near a clone).
I can’t see why exactly anyone would want to see Nate gone so much.
He may have fell out of favor, but its not like he was the primary cause of the Knicks problems. That would probably be those POS coaches in Charlotte and Florida International.
by FreeBradshaw on Feb 20, 2010 4:46 PM EST up reply actions
on steph
i completely agree there too. that whole situation was a mess before donnie got hired, so when people give him the business for that- it’s crazy to me.
honestly- the whole franchise was a mess for just over half a decade, and since donnie wlash came in, there has not been a single situation that has gotten out of hand.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
its all about cleaning the slate.
and the way the Curry thing’s playing out, that could be a big asset next year for a part they don’t get this offseason.
I dunno if there’s any C’s or PG’s out there that could come here in FA (Nate?) but with Curry’s contract next year and all around the league there being long term deals that no one wants, maybe they role with Curry’s expiring next year?
I’m sure the Knicks wouldn’t care at all if they get a bunch of good players, but are missing a piece.
Money’s never the issue with them (its how they spend)
by FreeBradshaw on Feb 20, 2010 5:01 PM EST up reply actions
if it's ok to be fair to isaiah for a second...
his whole idea was to have as much money on the ledger as possible- the logic being that if need be he would be able to match high salaried contracts in trades. it proved to be completely foolish.
HOWEVER- foolish as it came to be, it was not necessarily foolish by design. but it was foolishly executed.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
I don’t care how much of a class act he was, ok I’ll rephrase that. While Nate was a class act this season, there is a reason why he has been benched by every coach that he played for. He’s just not cut for the NBA. There’s a reason why he started the most games in his rookie season, maybe he’s just not that good?
He's 100x better than you
And according to John Hollinger’s PER rating, he’s been our second best player these past couple of seasons, and has been an above average player every year he’s been in the NBA.
I can’t wait for our first game against Boston so you can eat those words.
I'm sure Nate will light us up in that game
But I basically agree with xcdudesquad, not in my hatred of Nate, because I think he isn’t a terrible basketball player. He played hard for us. But to me, Nate Robinson will have flashes of greatness but will never be a great player because he is just missing something, not in physical talent, but in the way he plays basketball. Something is maddening about Nate… and I’m glad to be rid of the conundrum. I think it was time to move on.
That said, in a winning program like the Celtics’, he may prove to be an asset to them if they can figure out a way to use him in the right way.
i think you're wrong and i'll tell you why
he just hasn’t landed in the perfect situation yet. a guy as talented as him, there is no way to label him a terrbile player. note that you can’t call him a bust. like let’s say… mardy collins. because he has proven to be consistently valuable. he just hasn’t had the right mix of things working for him.
look at jamal crawford, everybody shitted on him for years, announcers and sportscaster guys and reporters, they all lambasted him for being terrible, now he is lauded for being possibly the best sixth man in the game, and everyone is fawning over him. he found the right mix. he was put in a position to succeed.
nate has never been put in a position to succeed.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
and on top of all things-
winning changes everything.
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
I actually agree with you
I think Nate can find the right situation and contribute, like Crawford (who I always liked, btw). But I don’t think he’ll ever be a point guard. Part of the problem here is that there never was an ideal point guard.. plus D’antoni doesn’t like to play small at the 2. So it was always a conundrum here. And that wasn’t just D’antoni.
I think he’ll find better success in Boston, as a sparkplug off the bench for a better team with a really good point guard. I wish him the best. I still don’t think he’ll ever become as indispensible as Crawford has become for Atlanta. I could totally be wrong about that though.
Its hard to find pure anythings these days
the game has changed. The league has Centers who shoot 3s rather than post down low, 7’0" guys aren’t necessarily centers, many SFs play more like PGs, and many PGs play like SGs. Shit some teams have their Gs rebound better than their frontline, and the frontline shots better than the guards!! Athleticism and diversity have come to the forefront.
We knew how to use Nate Robinson. We just didn’t have enough talent elsewhere to keep attention away from him. He is a true sparkplug/energy player. He is an excellent player and when defense rules in the playoffs, you still need the type of guy who can get past ANYONE and score. It seems like the NBA has a lot of guys who can do that, but there aren’t as many as we think. Nate is a pure scorer and his ability brings with it a wave of resurgence from his teammates. We saw it a lot last year when he was the only player on court who gave a damn when we were down heavily.
He brings a terrific option to Boston. We knew how to use Nate… but when he is easily the best (and sometimes only) scorer on the team, its harder for him to sneak up on anyone. when Nate is on the floor in Boston, likely Paul Pierce or Ray Allen is still lurking…. they cant be ignored…
"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."
by Chris Child's Fist on Feb 22, 2010 11:11 AM EST up reply actions
by first game against boston...
do you mean teusday??
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
Nate is basically J.R. Smith.
He plays more with his balls than his brains. He shoots with no conscience. He can go off offensively and light up the scoreboard, and he energizes the crowd. That being said, J.R. Smith plays for a team that has a franchise player (Carmelo) and an elite point guard (Chauncy Billups).
If Nate was on a good contending team like that, his mistakes would be no where near as glaring. He spent his career playing with guys who either sucked, or were ball hogs. Nate will get more love on a better team, where he has much less responsibility.
by StarksMiddleFinger on Feb 21, 2010 6:46 PM EST reply actions
this is so true
makes me want to tear my hair out.
everyone creaming their pants over free agency, and can’t see nate as a valuable option. meanwhile two teams that pushed hard (pause) to get him were the champion lakers, and the one year removed champion celtics. coincidence????
twitter.com/aighttho
http://aightthen.tumblr.com/
exactly.
which……is WHY, should the Knicks so happen to assemple the greatest force of NBA players known to man next season, Nate should be a part of it.
Most def, the Knicks need to look to bring Nate back. I hope he didn’t take all this as a big kick in the balls and comes back.
by FreeBradshaw on Feb 21, 2010 11:43 PM EST up reply actions
You guys said this much better than I did. I tried to add a little humor and I get delcared the biggest idiot on P&T and get told to suck some dicks. Basically Nate had no basketball sense. He’s great raw energy, but nothing the Knicks had could hold him down, mature him, or use him in a way that would be effective. Once he got to NYC the show had to be about him, and Nate, I’m sorry, but you just aren’t good enough for that. In a low pressure, out of the playoff picture, situation he was great as a 6th man. On a deeper team obviously he’ll get overshadowed.
My biggest problem I had with nate, was not that he wasn’t good (he has talent), its just he doesn’t know how to use it in the right way. He probably (in my opinion at least) will never find that right mix. Again this post was supposed to add some humor (and go over the top) but it wasn’t that well received.
Oh
"I got a team that even Hakeem couldn't dream!"
#88 ya'll
by FreeBradshaw on Feb 22, 2010 7:38 PM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Roy Hibbert tap-dances to Maine
- Grizzlies Valentine’s Day cards are the key to love
- Kevin Love would like the NBA to take the MLB’s approach on All-Star games
- Kobe Bryant fires a few hilarious salvos at Jeremy Lin
- Brandon Jennings states the obvious regarding his 2014 free agency, everyone goes nuts
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
