Landry who? Brewer is worth every penny

[yankstheknicks]

By Jared Zwerling | ESPNNewYork.com


On Knicks media day Oct. 1, Carmelo Anthony called Ronnie Brewer "the biggest under-the-radar pickup."

Fifteen games into the season, with the Knicks now at 11-4 Brewer is not only proving Anthony right, but he could arguably be the biggest financial steal of the entire NBA offseason.

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Bradley Beal and Ronnie BrewerAP Photo/Henny Ray AbramsDefensive ace Ronnie Brewer puts pressure on Bradley Beal.
On Friday night, in a blowout 108-87 win over the Wizards, the Knicks' starting shooting guard only needed 20 minutes to put his stamp on the game.

Brewer finished with 12 points, three assists, three steals and no turnovers. On the very first Wizards' possession, Brewer's defense on Bradley Beal forced a turnover, and then on the Knicks' trip down the court, Brewer snuck backdoor for the layup.

Better yet, Brewer was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc on Friday night. Remember when former Knicks starting shooting guard Landry Fields used to clank 3-pointer after 3-pointer last season? Now, the team has another consistent threat from downtown.

Brewer never shot better than 27.5 percent from long range in his six-year career. But this season? He's at a whopping 41.2 percent, connecting on one per game.

"When Brewer's knocking down that shot, it makes it easier for everybody else," Anthony said postgame. "Brewer has been shooting the ball extremely well."

Steve Novak called Brewer's shooting a "bonus."

"He's a great defender; you can put him on anybody," Novak said after the game. "He's a slasher, he opens stuff up for guys that you don't even notice. But when he's making shots too, it's like, 'You know, we'll take all that.'"

Brewer told ESPNNewYork.com recently that he has benefited from working with Knicks shooting coach Dave Hopla.

"He allows you to get your rhythm, your confidence back in your shot," he said. "And, to me, basketball's all about confidence and rhythm, and whenever you get your rhythm and get your confidence, the sky's the limit."

During the summer, when Brewer was weighing offers from multiple teams, he recognized the Knicks had the right pieces where he could become a "glue guy," especially feeding off of Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.

"They're going to have a lot of isolations," Brewer said at the time, "and they're going to need to have guys who can move without the basketball, get open and knock down shots, or get to the basket and make plays. So to me, that was the best fit for me."

The Knicks were also smart about not matching Fields' $20 million offer sheet from the Raptors, and instead going after Brewer. That's $5 million per year for Fields, a guy who has tanked in Toronto and has missed the last 12 games with a wrist injury, versus just over $1 million for Brewer, one of the best role players in the league.

Every star player needs a guy like Brewer playing alongside him. Anthony knows it.

You can follow Jared Zwerling on Twitter.


the worst thing about this is... i said he wouldn't matter...how wrong i was..

[HYFR]

Dude is money with that corner three. It ain't pretty but ill take that all day

[TeamMelo15]

He's having a career year shooting behind the arc. That was the one attribute about Brewer that most users stated they felt reluctant in our signing of him. Oh how things change when he's knocking shots down left and right across the board.

[Kashmir13579]

Yes, Fields <<<<<<<<<<< Brewer. I'm still trying to figure out how we got Brewer for this cheap. The question is, which one can we keep beyond this year, JR or Ronnie? Probably not both. Maybe neither. In Grunwald we trust.

That said, his 3pt% will probably even out.

[JEDean89]

man between him jr and shumps we are paying like 4 mill a year. easily the most underpayed wing trio in the nba atm. brewer has risen to the occasion and you can tell he is working hard this year. he just compliments our roster so well and is the embodiment of what this team stands for. no one expected the knicks to be shooting this well from deep but i don't think it is a coincidence that just about everyone's %'s are up. i mean, brewer is shooting 40%, Melo 44%, kidd 50%, felton 40%, novak is about even at 43%, smith 48%. these are absurd numbers to have on one team especially considering that only novak is really considered a great 3 point shooter. Hoopla is really earning his paycheck but credit dribble penetration, great ball movement and terrific spacing yielding good looks for our players. I think a lot of people, including myself, looked at Ronnie Brewer as Landry Fields 2.0. I still love Fields but he has a long way to go if he wants to play like Brewer is this season. 3 pt shooting is what you surround superstar talent with. Watch Amare come back and start draining 3's Chris Bosh style (he has the potential to do it) and then have Shumps come back as the new Allen Houston. This team and eaten up and chewed back out the toughest schedule in the NBA to start the season and it continues this month when we play BKN, CHIC and LAL all twice on top of the Heat, Denver and Houston.

[flimflamman]

Amare hitting threes
? I HOPE SO? Shump the nee Houston, I hope the new Sprewell.

[Dankster]

The best part about this is Ronnie still hasn't exhibited his full athleticism yet. He used to be very athletic, he's known for putback dunks and he's able to execute the alley-oop play proficiently. Once his athleticism is back, it's really going to open things up for the other players as I'll expect him to slash more frequently.

His corner 3 has been such a nice surprise to see as well. He was probably our best offseason acquisition aside from retaining JR on the cheap.

It's really funny to think that WHite, Smith and Brewer all combined are making less than Landry Fields is.

What's just as funny is Kidd, Felton and Prigs combined makes less than Lin. I can't stop marveling at that fact.

At this juncture in the season, I'd imagine Glen Grunwald is running away with the GM of the year award. He committed highway robbery with the offseason pickups he made. Awesome job.

[flimflamman]

Would love to keep him but if we cant should we trade him for a pick ? Or how about Brewer and Novak for W Chandler ?

[Dankster]

^^I think it's way too early to talk about how to retain these guys, but if we were to make any trades, I'd hope they'd try to give up only players that don't receive rotation minutes (i.e. Camby, Kurt.)

I love camby, the guy was a starting center in this league up until this year. As many have stated here, it makes no sense he's not seeing any playing time considering he's led the league in rebounding rate per 36 min for the last 3 years. The guy can literally shore up our biggest weakness- defensive rebounding- yet we don't utilize him at all.

If for some reason it's because he's in the doghouse, than I think it'd be wise to package him + filler for someone that can get minutes on this team. Many teams would love to have him on their roster, and I'd imagine he could start for over half the teams in this league. A Starting center is a valuable asset to have as far as trading pieces go.

I will say though I hope it's just a stamina/conditioning issue with him and that eventually he'll start to see the 22-25 minutes he's used to seeing. He's a very essential piece to what we're doing here, and I'm utterly baffled as to why his minutes haven't been slowly augmenting.

[yankeesown69]

Yes, Fields <<<<<<<<<<< Brewer. I'm still trying to figure out how we got Brewer for this cheap. The question is, which one can we keep beyond this year, JR or Ronnie? Probably not both. Maybe neither. In Grunwald we trust.

That said, his 3pt% will probably even out.

I thought we own JRs bird rights so that shouldnt be a problem. Brew on the other hand would have to play for cheap again

[Shawn2timer]

Yes, Fields <<<<<<<<<<< Brewer. I'm still trying to figure out how we got Brewer for this cheap. The question is, which one can we keep beyond this year, JR or Ronnie? Probably not both. Maybe neither. In Grunwald we trust.

That said, his 3pt% will probably even out.

Don't see why we wouldn't sign both if we have a great year. It's not like we're in danger of getting under the cap anytime soon. Keep brew at a 2 yr deal so it all aligns. JR would cost a lot more

[torocan]

Brewer is playing very well and has been a very positive contribution.

That said, I find it really hard to be quite so critical of Fields due to the medical information that was revealed earlier this season.

Landry underwent what the team announced as “ulnar nerve transposition surgery,” but we can just call it elbow surgery, on his right arm, which just happens to be his shooting arm. Fields is out indefinitely and will be reassessed in two weeks.

http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog...-and-anderson/

As for why Fields needed that surgery and what it meant, it was essentially to treat what is called a "nerve compression".

Ulnar nerve entrapment occurs when the ulnar nerve in the arm becomes compressed or irritated. The ulnar nerve is one of the three main nerves in your arm. It travels from your neck down into your hand, and can be constricted in several places along the way. Depending upon where it occurs, this pressure on the nerve can cause numbness or pain in your elbow, hand, wrist, or fingers.

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00069

Essentially, what was happening to Fields is that in his shooting arm, he would attempt to use his shooting arm and the nerve along his arm would compress at the elbow, this would trigger a reflexive response (like a doctor hitting your knee) that would cause his hand to involuntarily grip or claw towards the end of this stroke.

Also, general compression in the nerve can cause numbness and tingling in the arm, but more importantly can affect the ability to perform fine motor movements with the arm and hand (like snapping a ball off the wrist accurately).

Ulnar nerve entrapment can give symptoms of "falling asleep" in the ring finger and little finger, especially when your elbow is bent. In some cases, it may be harder to move your fingers in and out, or to manipulate objects.

Weakening of the grip and difficulty with finger coordination (such as typing or playing an instrument) may occur. These symptoms are usually seen in more severe cases of nerve compression.

In an interview with the National Post, Landry spoke about his surgery.

“When something is wrong you, you figure pain is involved,” Fields said, adding that the issue was causing him no discomfort. “So that’s why I was thinking, ‘Is this mental?’ I’m actually fortunate and glad that it was a problem because if this had continued to go and nobody could explain it that would really mess me up mentally.”

Fields said that during training camp, he started to notice his right hand clasping when he went up to take a shot. It was involuntary, and he could do nothing to stop it.

Raptors team officials diagnosed it as a weakness in the area, but could not get more specific. New York City specialist Dr. Andrew Weiland was able to zero in on this particular nerve. According to Fields, Weiland moved the nerve above the bone, which should eliminate the problem.

While there is no way to retroactively prove this, it is possible that the nerve issue was a big part in Fields’ free-throw percentage dropping from 77% in 2010-11 to 56% last year.

“From [training camp] until a week ago I’ve just been trying to play through it, just been trying to work around it,” Fields said. “But I realized with game situations and practice when I have time to really focus on it, it just kind of does it on it’s own. Finally after the Dallas game I went to the trainers and said, ‘Hey something’s really wrong with my hand and we’ve got to get it figured out.’

“I figured I’ll work around this, I’ll get extra shots up. When that didn’t working I started thinking okay something’s wrong here. I know I’m not that bad right now.”

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/...after-surgery/

This condition can be intermittent for long periods of time and not create pain, so it is easy to miss in terms of a diagnosis until it becomes serious. The effects can be as minor as tingling and random reduction in motor function and co-ordination with the associated limb and hand.

It is quite possible that Landry could have been suffering this condition all last year without he or the team physicians noticing it. It's also quite possible that this condition was degenerating, IE, the compression was continuing to worsen until he finally noticed it this year during the training camp.

It is impossible to know whether last year was truly because Landry sucked, or he was being physically impaired without anyone (including him) knowing. It will be interesting to see what happens when he returns to play post-surgery.

[RonE Coleman]

Brewer is playing very well and has been a very positive contribution.

That said, I find it really hard to be quite so critical of Fields due to the medical information that was revealed earlier this season.



http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog...-and-anderson/

As for why Fields needed that surgery and what it meant, it was essentially to treat what is called a "nerve compression".



http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00069

Essentially, what was happening to Fields is that in his shooting arm, he would attempt to use his shooting arm and the nerve along his arm would compress at the elbow, this would trigger a reflexive response (like a doctor hitting your knee) that would cause his hand to involuntarily grip or claw towards the end of this stroke.

Also, general compression in the nerve can cause numbness and tingling in the arm, but more importantly can affect the ability to perform fine motor movements with the arm and hand (like snapping a ball off the wrist accurately).



In an interview with the National Post, Landry spoke about his surgery.



http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/...after-surgery/

This condition can be intermittent for long periods of time and not create pain, so it is easy to miss in terms of a diagnosis until it becomes serious. The effects can be as minor as tingling and random reduction in motor function and co-ordination with the associated limb and hand.

It is quite possible that Landry could have been suffering this condition all last year without he or the team physicians noticing it. It's also quite possible that this condition was degenerating, IE, the compression was continuing to worsen until he finally noticed it this year during the training camp.

It is impossible to know whether last year was truly because Landry sucked, or he was being physically impaired without anyone (including him) knowing. It will be interesting to see what happens when he returns to play post-surgery.

Couldnt even read your full post. Please stop, Fields is AWFUL. Should not be in the NBA

[Mr Grim]

Couldnt even read your full post. Please stop, Fields is AWFUL. Should not be in the NBA

So if you didnt read the post, whats the point of replying other than to be a dick? Better yet, what was the point of even clicking on it since you hate Fields so much.

How about you please stop posting. Your posts are AWFUL.

God forbid someone posts something to start up a conversation

[Backstabber]

This could certainly be a defense for Landry's poor play, but nothing came out about this last year. A chronic ailment like ulnar nerve impingment, certainly could have caused poor performance last year, but I think we would have heard something about it, and it would have been disclosed during a physical. Besides, if Landry had this going on, and still got the payday then he duped the Rapters. Landry seems like a stand up guy, and I don't think he intentionally tried to dupe any team.

Fields said that during training camp, he started to notice his right hand clasping when he went up to take a shot. It was involuntary, and he could do nothing to stop it.

This condition can be intermittent for long periods of time and not create pain, so it is easy to miss in terms of a diagnosis until it becomes serious. The effects can be as minor as tingling and random reduction in motor function and co-ordination with the associated limb and hand.

Like you have stated the condition may not have pain, but in my experience, always cause other symptoms which are extremely alarming to a patient, especially a professional athlete. Landry's words, previous behavior (stand up guy), and everything we know from prior to his exit to Toronto, argue that the wrist problem is Acute not chronic. The facts also argue that this has nothing to do with his previous poor play with NY.

Landry got the payday, just like Amare, and countless other players. Now regardless of the reason, he's not producing (like last year when he didn't produce). At any rate, I'm happy we went out and got Brewer, who has exceed what Landry gave us for the last year and a half over 15 games, for a cheaper price.