bornaknick1 wrote:He's a below average 2 guard and a decent rotation player at best. He has shown little to no improvement since his rookie year and has regressed as a shooter. His ball-handling is terrible and defensively has been as bad as everyone on this team. Going 0'fer on the stat sheet in 20 plus minutes of play is inexcusable for a NBA player, never mind a starter. Trade rumors don't create terrible play on that level.
Fact is he was overhyped by most Knick fans for a) having a cool haircut b) having a cool personality c) being athletic. He showed some flashes in his rookie year but its clear he won't show much more than that. Definitely not untradeable as one of our few viable assets.
Almost every Knicks rookie (since the Layden era), that I can remember, has regressed in their 2nd/3rd year with the team. It happened to Sweetney, Balkman, Collins, Ariza, Frye, Fields, etc. Lee & Robinson were one of the few that continued to improve or at least maintained.
I thought Shumpert had the work ethic and the right attitude to keep improving, but I think knee(s), trade rumors, lack of Chandler, overall low team effort due to losing, and little to no work done on his game in the off-season (possible due to knee surgery) have all combine in the perfect storm of mediocrity we are seeing. This is/was Shumperts show-and-prove year that should define the trajectory of his NBA career and he has disappointed. He has shown no discernible improvement in any of his weaknesses, and his strengths (defense, high energy/effort, & spot-up 3-point shooting) haven't even been good/consistent. His draft profile said he was an inconsistent shooter and his 40% career NBA FG% is evidence of that. There shouldn't be anything more than mild disappointment from NY fans about his shooting.
I say bench Udrih and start Shumpert at PG. Make him take a more active part of the game, and not just go through the motions waiting to be traded.
