SB Nation - Joe Crawford

...And the Rest (of the returning or allocated players)

Jon L — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:21:54 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Welcome back, Dontell Jefferson. I hope we don't see you for very long. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

I tried finding a picture of the Professor and Mary Ann from the Gilligan's Island credits to go with the headline, but Google Images has failed me. With apologies to all of these teams for not giving them individual treatment either through a story or fanshot, I just don't think I can finish covering all of the teams plus write about other stuff by tomorrow's draft. There's too many of them. So consider this a roundup of the notable (but not all) returning and allocated players that D-League teams will be enjoying, at least in the beginning of the season. Except for Maine, Dakota, Bakersfield and Fort Wayne. Oh, and I'm also not including Springfield, since their most notable players at this point are Marcus Taylor and Kentrell Gransberry, and we covered those guys around the expansion draft. All of the players listed fall into the "returning" category unless otherwise noted.

Even without those four teams this is pretty long (surprise! I wrote something that's too long), so you can read it all after the jump.

Albuquerque Thunderbirds - Antoine Agudio, Keith McLeod, Kevin Pittsnogle (allocation)

McLeod and Pittsnogle both are familiar names, though for different reasons. McLeod is a classic 'tweener, not in terms of position but in terms of NBA vs. the D-League. He's spent the first few years of his career in the NBA, including starting 79 games for the Utah Jazz over two seasons, but he spent last year in Albuquerque and also has played in Europe and the CBA. He also has a B.S. in computer science, so he's a smart guy, and given that he's 30 years old (or will be tomorrow - happy birthday Keith!) I wonder if he's not going to hang around for a few more years as an entry into coaching. Pittsnogle is more known for his college exploits though that was what, four years ago now? Since then he's played in the D-League (for Austin and Albuquerque), the CBA and in France. Last I heard he was coaching high school basketball and out of shape (due in part to a thyroid condition), so it will be interesting to see how he looks when the season starts. Agudio isn't that familiar of a name, but he's an excellent shooter (he made around 43 percent of his threes last year), and not much else.

Austin Toros - Dwayne Jones, Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson, Curtis Jerrells (allocation)

So that's where Dwayne Jones went. I've talked about him on this site probably more than his talent warrants, because although he's a very good post defender and rebounder, there's not much else to his game at this point. Not that he hasn't been working hard on it, and his free-throw shooting improved steadily over the course of last season, but he's still pretty limited offensively. So's Johnson, for that matter, who can occasionally get hot shooting threes, but more often than not has 1-6 nights. Also, he may be one of the few people who has a great nickname but an even better real name. He almost never turns the ball over, though, which is typically what you want in a point guard (although he also doesn't pick up many assists, which is the other thing you want in a point guard). Jerrells will, I assume, take the backup PG spot now that Stanley Burrell is playing in Europe, but the distribution of minutes between him and Johnson will be something to watch as the season goes along. He was one of San Antonio's last preseason cuts, and in the limited action I saw he was decent, and the Spurs may want to get in enough work to improve his game. Of course, there's one guy missing from the list (I didn't exclude him, he's just not on the list), and that's Marcus Williams. My hope and assumption is that either the team didn't think he would be cut before it submitted its list, or they have to wait until they're at the top of the player pool before he joins the D-League. I suppose it's also possible that he's still exploring the overseas option, as he'd do great over there, but I hope not.

Erie BayHawks - Ivan Harris, Jarvis Gunter, Jackie Manuel, Oliver Lafayette, Rob Kurz (allocation)

I've talked about Kurz a lot recently between Summer League and the preseason, but to review he's a 6'9" three-point shooter who doesn't offer much else. That also sounds a bit like Harris, doesn't it? Harris was second in three-point percentage among forwards last season and sixth overall in the league. Gunter was a backup to Erik Daniels last season, but with Daniels currently in the Ukraine, Gunter should take on a larger role. He's an athletic rebounder, but doesn't have great hands and hasn't shown much scoring ability thus far. Jackie Manuel, on the other hand, may have his role reduced a little bit with Kurz around. Manuel's a decent rebounder for a small forward, but doesn't have much of an outside shot. I'm not a huge fan of Lafayette, as he's not a very efficient scorer, but he put up a triple-double last year so there's that. This team made the playoffs last year, but they'll need to replace the production of Maureece Rice and Erik Daniels, who while inefficient still offered the team something as a point-center.

Idaho Stampede - Lanny Smith, Roberto Bergerson

Both of these guys should do well in Bob MacKinnon's offense, though Smith probably needs to up his three-point shooting percentages a bit. He's not really a shooter, more of a distributor/defender, but Colorado's point guards spent a decent amount of time playing off the ball last year. Bergerson could be a bench version of Billy Thomas, in that he's a streak-shooting veteran. He made around 70 percent of his threes last April, though that was far above his season average.

Iowa Energy - Anthony Tolliver, Curtis Stinson

I don't expect Tolliver to be in Iowa for very long, as he's had some NBA looks recently, and it talented enough to make all of his shots in a Summer League game. Expect him to be an early scoring leader, though. Stinson is a solid all-around point guard and a good rebounder for his position, though turnovers were a big problem for him during Summer League. He was invited to the Bulls' training camp but only spent a few days there before being waived, so he didn't really get a chance to show NBA teams that he's not as turnover-prone as he seemed in Vegas (he's not). Jeff Trepagnier and Mark Tyndale are also here, but I didn't really feel like talking about them, which should be understandable.

Los Angeles D-Fenders - Ryan Forehan-Kelly, Joe Crawford, Earl Barron, Longar Longar, Gabe Pruitt (allocation)

Until given a reason to do otherwise, this season I'm going to stop pretending that this team is directly affiliated with the Lakers, because other than the uniforms you really wouldn't know it based on how the Lakers participate in the relationship. Crawford's a case in point, in that he could've been the Laker's future backup PG, except they sent him down to the D-Fenders and then forgot about him. It's true that the Shannon Brown (which is how everyone needs to start referring to the Adam Morrison deal) has worked out reasonably well, but they didn't even consider the in-house option. Crawford spent a few games with the Knicks last year, where he didn't shoot the ball particularly well before being released. Forehan-Kelly is a pretty good all-around player who's not great at any one particular thing but good at many things (actually, he's very good at shooting threes). "I can't be out of Earl, I'm the" Earl Barron has spent some time in the NBA, and is an okay rebounder and shotblocker, but he was injured for part of last season and will need to show this year that he's recovered. Longar Longar has had his moments, though I'm generally not a huge fan of slow guys with bad hands. Pruitt is an okay shooter, making 36 percent of his threes last year in the D-League, and he doesn't pick up that many turnovers. Don't be surprised to see him and Crawford playing a lot of minutes alongside each other. No Sun Yue either. WHERE IS MY SUN YUE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Rio Grande Valley Vipers - Cliff Clinkscales, Stanley Asumnu, Marcus Hubbard, Kurl Looby, Julian Sensley, Garrett Temple (allocation)

I need to Basically this team is returning a lot of players from what was an abysmal squad last year. The individual talent is there, as Clinkscales is a solid point guard and Looby started growing into a dominating force in the paint, so perhaps new coach Chris Finch can pull it all together. He's said that he prefers an up-tempo, three-point shooting style of play. Marcus Hubbard is probably salivating at that prospect, as he fancies himself a three-point shooter, even though he's not very good at it. Neither are any of the other guys I listed, come to think of it, except maybe Sensley. They all can handle the up-tempo bit, though. This should be an interesting personnel-coach match to watch. I'd also expect to see at least one player assigned from Houston this year, although Chase Budinger has looked better than I expected coming off their bench.

Reno Bighorns - Rod Benson, Russell Robinson, David Noel, Daryl "Majic" Dorsey

Both Benson and Robinson should - repeat, should - get NBA looks at some point this season. The return of boom tho can only mean good things, both on the court and off. He's a very good rebounder and shotblocker, very athletic, and has been working on his shot. If NBA teams lighten up a little bit, he's one of the best big men in the league. Robinson performed well running Orlando's offense during Summer League but was a little shakier playing for Cleveland this preseason. He's a pretty good scorer and distributor, and could see some continued NBA attention. Noel's a solid all-around wing player who can defend, score, shoot threes and distribute the ball a little. Dorsey is a pretty decent PG who's very quick and is does a good job of getting to the basket. This is a pretty good core.

Sioux Falls Skyforce - Keith Brumbaugh, David Bailey, Greg Stiemsma, Joe Krabbenhoft (allocation)

Krabbenhoft's already been covered, so moving on. Bailey's a relatively efficient scorer and good three-point shooter, and he does a decent job of distributing the ball. He also gets a fair amount of rebounds for his position/size. Brumbaugh is also a pretty efficient scorer (moreso than Bailey) and shoots well from the outside. He's 6'10 but doesn't play inside much, and he also can run into foul problems. Stiemsma was actually drafted by a Korean team, but that appears not to have worked out. His per-minute numbers were decent last year, but he averaged only 14 minutes a game. So the real production wasn't what it probably could have been. This team might struggle early on to replace some of Kasib Powell's points and rebounds.

Tulsa 66ers - Keith Clark, Moses Ehambe, Steven Hill, Larry Owens (allocation)

Clark was draft-eligible after last season, except he didn't really play well enough for anyone to draft him. He's talented, certainly, but at some point he got it into his head that he could make three-pointers, when he really can't. He's a decent rebounder and can score a little bit, but he's not very efficient, and watching him last year one got the impression that he was still relying on his athleticism rather than using any kind of technique or putting up smart shots. Ehambe, on the other hand, can make three-pointers, 41.5 percent of them last season, in fact. That's really the extent of his game, as he shot worse on two-pointers than he did threes, and he didn't provide a ton in the way of rebounds, assists or steals. Hill averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes last season before running into some injury problems. He's from Branson, Mo., so expect a lot of Branson, Mo., jokes this season. Larry Owens has spent the bulk of his career thus far in Europe, but got some looks from New Orleans in Summer League and the preseason, He's a power forward who shoots a lot of threes but doesn't rebound much. Sometimes his threes go in, and sometimes they don't, as in last year's EuroChallenge when he shot 18-110 from behind the arc. I know I've referenced that stat before, but it's pretty amazing to look it. Although if you spend too much time staring at it you'll probably turn into stone.

Utah Flash - Dontell Jefferson, Bennet Davis, Andre Ingram, Gavin Grant, James Lang, Carlos Wheeler, Luke Nevill (allocation), Lee Cummard (allocation)

Last team, I promise. This team returns a lot players, and given that they made the D-League Finals we should probably expect them to do well early on. Especially since Jefferson is back. I really have no idea why the Bobcats cut him, since he's a lockdown defender, has proven he can score in the D-League, and Charlotte is pretty terrible. But whatever, I'm sure GM (or whatever his title is) Michael Jordan knows what he's doing. If you're interested in learning more about Dontell Jefferson, why not read this interview? Picking up Luke Nevill was a decent move, as he can probably challenge Lang for whatever spot in the rotation Lang has. Ingram's a pretty good three-point shooter, as is former BYU guard Lee Cummard. Cummard's also a decent rebounder for a shooting guard. Bennet Davis can block shots and be athletic but not much else, but it'll be interesting to see if he brought anything back with him from the Nets' training camp.

Waive Goodbye, Part 3

Jon L — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:15:16 -0000

by Chris Young - AP

Pops! (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

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We wrap up our look at which players got waived last week and which made their respective teams with the Divisions Atlantic and Southwest. Really, I promise those are the correct divisions. I know some of these cuts happened a while ago, but I think that seeing them all as a group helps give a broader perspective as to which teams around the league are filling out the end of their benches with cheap talent (and it is talent). Here's part 1, and here's part 2 (and ignore the whole "Derrick Byars made the Bulls" thing. It happened, then it didn't happen.) Part 3 is here:

Boston Celtics

Who got cut: Mike Sweetney

Who got kept: No one.

Well, not no one, but their third-string guards are going to be recent draft picks Lester Hudson and the J.R. Giddens Rebounding Machine. Mike Sweetney is trying, he really is, and he's mostly fine on the offensive end. His conditioning is awful, though, which means he gets hurt and that he's several steps too slow on defense when he makes it onto the court. There's been some suggestion that he could try working his way back into shape in the D-League, and it will be interesting to see what he does from here. J.R. Giddens will likely see some D-League action himself, as his shooting is still really bad. I'm guessing Lester Hudson will as well. After all, the Celtics have a team in their own backyard, and they can't make Danny's son look bad by withholding their NBA talent.

Dallas Mavericks

Who got cut: Jake Voskuhl

Who got kept: No one.

What, you want me to talk about Jake Voskuhl? The Mavericks also rid themselves of Nate Jawai, who hadn't been there all that long, but I suspect that was more of a cap move than anything. D-League-wise, ESPN's Marc Stein things that rookie Rodrigue Beaubois could see some time in Alberquerque, as minutes could be hard to come by for him in Dallas. Beaubois is definitely talented, and he had an intriguing Summer League, so he could be fun to watch for the Thunderbirds.

Houston Rockets

Who got cut: Will Conroy, Romel Beck, Garrett Temple

Who got kept: Pops Mensah-Bonsu

The Rockets had to waive Brent Barry in order to keep Pops, so that's something. It's a shame Conroy couldn't stick around, as he played very well in Summer League and decently when he got preseason minutes, but the (ridiculous?) upside is that he hopefully showed other teams around the league that he can run an offense and is ready to play in the NBA. It's great that Mensah-Bonsu made the team, obviously, but it shouldn't really be that much of a surprise. A power forward/center somewhere between 6'6" and 6'9" who rebounds the hell out of the ball? Sounds like the Rockets to me. Add to that the fact that the team doesn't really know what it's going to get from new center David Andersen either, and you can see why they might want some extra frontcourt help behind Scola, Hayes and Landry. Mensah-Bonsu's offense will be up and down, but as Rockets fans are finding out, that's going to be true for a lot of their players. I'd definitely expect to see Jermaine Taylor and hopefully (for his and the team's sake) Chase Budinger in Rio Grande Valley at some point later this season.

Memphis Grizzlies

Who got cut: Mike Taylor, Thomas Gardner, Leon Rodgers

Who got kept: No one.

Again, it's not really "no one," as Trey Gilder is still around after signing a partially-guaranteed contract back in August. Mike Taylor has proven that he can play in the NBA, provided he can keep his turnovers to a minimum. It will be interesting to see what he does, as other players with less NBA experience have already said they're fed up with trying to make it out of the D-League and are heading to Europe. Taylor probably could lead the Euroleague in scoring, but he'd also be perhaps the number one call-up candidate should come back to the D-League, based on his NBA experience and ability.

New Jersey Nets

Who got cut: Bennet Davis, Will Blalock, Brian Hamilton

Who got kept: No one.

I didn't really expect any of these guys to stick around. Blalock and Hamilton are headed back overseas, I suspect, while Davis would do well to go back to the D-League and either develop an offensive game or become a top-notch post defender to go with his elite shot-blocking ability.

New Orleans Hornets

Who got cut: Earl Barron, Larry Owens

Who got kept: No one.

The Hornets are one of those teams that clearly don't care about the D-League, so I'm not really sure what to write here. Pass? Incomplete? Not qualified? Earl Barron has a D-League pedigree, sure, but even given his time with the Miami Heat this was pretty clearly not going to work out for him unless Hilton Armstrong went down with an injury. I'm guessing Barron goes the overseas route, but seeing him in the D-League would be a pleasant surprise.

New York Knicks

Who got cut: Warren Carter, Sun Yue, Ron Howard, Gabe Pruitt

Who got kept: Marcus Landry

Plus, don't forget the team also cut partially-guaranteed guys Chris Hunter and Joe Crawford. This team is all about winning on the cheap, right? And yet they cut several good, cheap players. But hey, have fun with that whole Jared Jeffries thing. Carter is probably going back to Europe, though I think coming to the D-League might be worth his time, because as I've noted several times before he has a David Lee-ish game. Ron Howard may come back to the D-League, though I'm less certain about Sun or Hunter. I wouldn't be surprised if Sun entered the draft, as he's become a semi-prominent example of a Chinese basketball product aiming for the NBA, and to give up on that while he's so young could be somewhat embarrassing. It also would give the D-League someone to market with so many players headed overseas this year. If he does enter the draft, it will be interesting to see both where he ends up and in what round, as the league considers him somewhat of a star, and while NBA stars can play pretty much anywhere, I'm not sure the same is true for the D-League. A crazy thought popped just into my head: would the Spurs/Toros be interested in giving him the Marcus Williams Treatment? Sun's offense isn't nearly at the level that Williams's is and was, but the Toros essentially created an NBA point guard where there wasn't one, which is what Sun Yue is. Or isn't.

Philadelphia 76ers

Who got cut: Stromile Swift, Sean Singletary, Rashad Jones-Jennings, Brandon Bowman, Dionte Christmas

Who got kept: No one.

So the 76ers apparently were comfortable with their roster as it stood. How's that working out? Yeah, yeah, they already had a lot of guaranteed contracts, and it's not like Sean Singletary is the bee's knees, but this is yet another team that doesn't really care about the D-League, or where their end-of-bench guys come from. Singletary could benefit from some D-League time, but a lot of European teams don't really care whether their point guards can distribute the ball as long as they can score, so that's likely where he's headed. Christmas could stay in the U.S., if for no other reason than to be on hand if the 76ers decide they want to sign him to a 10-day and then not play him.

San Antonio Spurs

Who got cut: Marcus Williams, Curtis Jerrells, Dwayne Jones, Jack McClinton

Who got kept: Malik Hairston

San Antonio went with Keith Bogans over Marcus Williams, even though Bogans played pretty poorly in the preseason while Williams barely played. I say that Williams was waived instead of Bogans and not Malik Hairston because Hairston played so well in both Summer League and the preseason that I would've beeen pretty shocked to see him gone. McClinton, Jones and Jerrells have already signed overseas, and Williams is another guy who it will be interesting to watch, because he'd be at the front of the call-up list should be come back to the D-League. He'd probably also be a first-round D-League draft pick and maybe the first player taken overall. As much as we praise him here at RU, Williams does still have some work to do as a point guard, mainly getting his turnovers down. And, if he tries to hang around the Spurs universe he'll have to become a better-than-passable defender. But the fact that he's gone from a gunning wing to a high-scoring, (mostly efficient), high-assist point guard in the span of less than a year is a testament to Williams's talent and how hard he's willing to work to improve his chances, which speaks well to his basketball future.

Toronto Raptors

Who got cut: No one.

Who got kept: No one.

Okay, this is who should get the pass/incomplete/not qualified. They didn't sign any waiver fodder, so they didn't have to cut any waiver fodder. All is not lost, however, as Sonny Weems seems to have landed solidly in Toronto after being traded twice this offseason. He's begun the season on the inactive list, where I suspect he'll see a fair amount of time, but still.

Crawford and Hunter Waived

Seth — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:55:15 -0000

The official NY Knicks Twitter just posted the following:

Donnie Walsh announced today that G Joe Crawford & F Chris Hunter have been waived. The roster now stands at 14 players.

This was bound to happen, but it's a bit of a bummer. As far as I know, Walsh only had to dump one player. I go apeshit for Joe Crawford's game and wasn't opposed to Chris Hunter as a utility big man, so I'm pretty disappointed. These things happen, though. Good luck to Joe and Chris. Marcus Landry, the Wisconsin product and younger brother of Carl, remains the lone undrafted rookie to stick with the team. I expect good things from him.

More later, fellas and females.

Training Camp Notes: Day 1, Evening Session

Seth — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:48:33 -0000

More photos » by Mike Groll - AP

2 months ago: New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni talks to his players during NBA basketball training camp in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

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Day 1 of training camp is finished, and I just got to watch about an hour of five-on-five scrimmaging. I did a couple interviews which I'll probably post very early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll type up these notes for y'all and tell you what I saw:

Eddy Curry- You've probably already read it elsewhere, but Eddy appeared to aggravate his injured right calf while grabbing a rebound. He limped off the floor about ten minutes into scrimmages and didn't return. He said it's just a strain and he's day-to-day.

Danilo Gallinari- Gallo kept moving well in the full-court scrimmages, and continued to show off his offensive repertoire. He wasn't all that active off the ball, but after a catch he wasn't just settling for jumpers. There were a couple nice fakes and dribbles for short jumpers, a spinning lefty layup (that rimmed out), and a couple vicious dunks, including one complete facial on Jordan Hill (prompting David Lee to put his thumb to his forehead and yell "The Rooster!"). As for the jump shot, Gallo wasn't quite as automatic as he'd been in practice. He missed a few early, and angrily ripped the bandage off his right hand following one brick. It's not like he was shooting poorly, though. Anything less than perfection from the field surprises me when it comes to Gallinari. I did get a chance to see the cut on his hand up close and it ain't no scratch.

Alan Hahn mentioned to me earlier that he envisions Gallinari as more of a shooting guard than a forward, and he might very well be on to something. On defense, Gallo spent a lot of time guarding the likes of Joe Crawford, and on offense he pretty much chilled outside the arc and waited for a pass. Sounds like a two-guard to me.

More player notes after the jump...

Wilson Chandler- Chandler, meanwhile, seems to be fancying himself more and more a forward. He caught plenty of passes at the perimeter, but didn't just hoist up threes. Wil attacked the basket at times, swung the ball at others, and shot when he was open. That's a good sign from someone who's been accused of being a bit of a chucker.

Larry Hughes: Speaking of which, Hughes forced more than a couple threes and just couldn't connect. He was also a little lazy with his passes. But hey, go get 'em tomorrow, Larry.

Jordan Hill- Hill's game looks very much like it did in summer league (duh). He runs the floor well and generally knows what to do with the ball. It's when he goes up to shoot that problems emerge. His takeoff is slow, indirect, and sort of feeble, and he got his shot armpit-blocked more than once. The flipside of it is that he'll probably draw a lot of fouls.

Toney Douglas- Toney's shot looked much nicer than it did in Vegas. He swished a couple threes, and tried out that righty floater as well. He obviously wasn't handling the ball nearly as much as he did this summer, but looked steady and confident when doing so. Toney also stuffed a Gallinari jumper, which would be awesome if it weren't blasphemy.

Al Harrington- Al looked his best this evening. His jumpers were falling, but he didn't rely solely on that. Instead, when faced with a mismatch, he would bully his defender right down to the rim. Sun Yue, for instance, just didn't have a chance.

Sun Yue- Give Sun credit, though, for being pretty goddamn silky with the ball His form looked solid, and his handles completely defy his size. I'd guess that one of the reasons he hasn't made it quite yet (besides the aforementioned weight disadvantage) is that his English isn't great, and he keeps pretty much to himself throughout these things. At first glance, though, I'd say he's got a shot.

Joe Crawford- I'd be able to tell you more about Joe Crawford's performance if I hadn't been admiring his beard (which is now cut short) the whole time. Might have to solicit some grooming tips.

Jared Jeffries- I'm not gonna jump to conclusions, but let's just say a whole pod of seals died this evening.

David Lee- At this point, we pretty much know what to expect from Lee. He does appear to be making a more concerted effort to block shots, though. I also saw him nail 4 of 5 threes in practice.

Nate Robinson- Nate is, as you'd expect, the most animated and energetic player on the floor. He talks to everybody, including teammates, refs, and himself. That said, I didn't get many notes on Nate's play. I'll key in on him next time around.

Chris Duhon- Same deal. Threw a couple nice passes off the pick-and-roll, but I didn't get much else.

Darko Milicic- Darko set a lot of picks, but wasn't getting his touches when he rolled. It was frustrating for both of us, because we both wanna know if that jumper's gonna fall in a game setting. For his part, Darko took it in stride and didn't shred any clothing.

Lots to do. Get at me in the comments, on Twitter, via email, or by carrier pigeon if you've got questions for the players or general curiosities to share.

Position Battle: Tussle For The Two-Spot

Seth — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:52:56 -0000

Barring some unexpected eleventh hour dealing, the core Knicks roster is set for training camp. David Lee and Nate Robinson will be re-signed, with the only new additions being those acquired on draft night. Last year was one of constant change, though, and the frequent roster moves demanded that Mike D'Antoni shape rotations on the fly. Training camp in Saratoga could be the coach's first real chance to groom relatively new players in his system and fully assess their worth without the distraction of games. It'll also be his first chance to run camp with rookies and new acquisitions, as well as a pair of Knicks- Danilo Gallinari and Eddy Curry- who were either too hurt or too nauseated to train last time around. If D'Antoni approaches camp with a blank slate, we could see some dramatic redistribution of minutes.

The shooting guard position promises to be one spot worth some attention. Last year, after Larry Hughes was acquired, Hughes and Quentin Richardson pretty much split minutes at the two. Richardson left for a summer tour, though, and Hughes tended to disappoint, so don't be surprised if this spot's up for grabs in a couple of weeks. Let's have a look at the candidates to get minutes. The cast of characters, after the jump...

The Frontrunner:

Larry Hughes- If D'Antoni is more content than we thought, this should be the choice. Hughes brings active hands to the defensive end and passes well enough to help Chris Duhon run the offense. That said, we're all familiar with Larry's propensity to chuck. Even accounting for occasional streaks of accuracy, Hughes' eFG% of .460 puts him in the company of such virtuosos as Jared Jeffries and Zach Randolph. In an offense that all but accommodates volume shooting, I think we'd all prefer a better success rate. If Hughes is the principal two-guard, expect competent defense, but avert your eyes when he's setting up that line-drive release.

The Borrowers

Wilson Chandler- A number of additional players aren't true shooting guards, but could be utilized creatively in the D'Antoni system. Chandler is one such player. He measures up as a small forward, but there's long been talk of playing Wil as a two. He's got the right combination of size and footspeed to stick with even elite opposing guards, but like Hughes, struggles to score efficiently (.480 eFG%). Unlike Hughes, though, Chandler's still a work in progress. If he's devoted enough of his summer to honing his stroke, Wil's physical attributes could make him a monster of a two-guard.

Danilo Gallinari- Gallinari will compete with Chandler for the starting 3 spot, but could also serve as a shooting guard. He's the best pure shooter on the team, but his size lends itself to frontcourt play. Gallo played occasional minutes at the two-spot last year, but it seemed more like a ploy to keep the rookie from getting muscled around with his injured back. If Gallo's healthy and in shape, he'll likely be more serviceable as a forward.

Nate Robinson: Nate's misfit size and potpourri of talents make him the ideal sixth man, but you never know with D'Antoniball.

The New Guys

Morris Almond- We haven't gotten official word that Almond's been invited to training camp, but he better be. The 24 year-old showed a pure shooting stroke and more in the Summer League, and might not be as much of a longshot as he seems. He's got prototypical two-guard size, and enough offensive talent to have Mike D'Antoni smitten by September's end. If Mo Nuts shows the same commitment to defense that he did in Vegas, he's my dark horse to take the starting two-guard role.

Joe Crawford- Crawford's another one whose performance in Vegas demanded attention. Joe has range, but prefers to bull his way to the rim. If he can translate that same strength into tough defense, then like Almond, Crawford has a real shot to make a believer out of D'Antoni.

Toney Douglas- On draft night, I would've expected Douglas to compete at shooting guard. Given his usage and fine play in Summer League, though, I think we're all expecting Pretty Toney to apprentice with Chris Duhon as a point guard.

Odds are D'Antoni sits tight with Hughes as his primary shooting guard, but you never know. Who's your pick to start and get the brunt of the minutes at the two? There will be a separate post/poll for the small forwards, so keep that vacancy in mind as you choose. Are you satisfied with Hughes? Would you rather play someone else out of position? Might there be a diamond in the rough? Pick one and make your case in the comments.

Poll

Who's your candidate to start and get the brunt of the minutes as the Knicks' shooting guard?

Larry Hughes

149 votes

Wilson Chandler

398 votes

Danilo Gallinari

72 votes

Nate Robinson

64 votes

Morris Almond

87 votes

Joe Crawford

11 votes

Toney Douglas

28 votes

809 votes | Poll has closed

New York Welcomes Stackhouse, Giant Matzo Ball

Seth — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:10:47 -0000

First of all, the next available member of the NBA's 32+ club will meet with the Knicks today. Jerry Stackhouse is 34 and was recently traded to the Grizzlies only to be subsequently waived. Just as you'd expect, Donnie Walsh came calling. Marc Berman of the Post has the report:

Stackhouse, 34, played just 10 games last season with Dallas because of injuries. Coach Mike D'Antoni appears to have no use for Larry Hughes, and the starting shooting guard position is in the hands of Wilson Chandler.

The Knicks need backcourt depth, and they still seem to be looking for cheaper options beyond unsigned Nate Robinson, whom the Knicks consider a shooting guard.

Stackhouse, available for a one-year deal at the veteran's minimum, was once a glorious outside shooter, with a career average at 18.4 ppg. D'Antoni said he feels the Knicks need more size in the backcourt. They're also considering Von Wafer, the young Rockets' shooting guard.

I have no feeling about this. At some point I'll probably just write up a Mad-Lib called "The Knicks Work Out a Veteran Free Agent!", and just leave blanks for AGE, NAME OF 1990'S STAR, and EXPLETIVE. Anyway, I agree that the Knicks need backcourt depth, but I'd offer that Morris Almond and Joe Crawford are my two leading candidates to provide said depth. They're just as low risk, but have significantly higher ceilings. Picture a dollhouse sitting in the Sistine Chapel. Li'l ceiling visual for y'all. Anyway, on to bigger things.

What bigger things, you ask? How about 200 pounds of pure deliciousness!? From the same article:

To promote the Knicks-Maccabi Tel Aviv exhibition, a Guinness-record-setting 200-pound, 3-foot high matzoh ball will be wheeled to a Lower East Side deli this morning. The ball contains 1,000 eggs, 80 pounds of margarine and will be available for serving at 10 a.m. at Noah's Ark Deli on Grand Street.

Now THAT's news. Somebody who lives in the city should definitely get over there, snap some pictures, and grab some of that monolithic matzo ball. Email me a piece, too. Don't ask how. Just figure it out.

P.S. Anybody else suspect that Donnie Walsh engineered a plan to unveil the secretly-signed Ramon Sessions from inside the matzo ball? I picture Knicks fans digging in until Sessions finally jumps out wearing a Knicks jersey and holding a basketball. It's like one of those big stripper cakes, only for the Semitic Knick-fan crowd. I hope they cooked the matzo ball before they dropped Ramon in there.

If These Knicks Could Tweet

Seth — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:28:05 -0000

Twitter has ruled the summer of '09. This offseason has already seen some prominent transactions and noteworthy media stories, but it seems that even the least plugged-in of basketball fans have migrated to the social networking site for their NBA fix. And while sportswriter feeds are popular, it's been the players themselves that have made the platform worthwhile. Stars and role players alike use Twitter as an outlet to promote their various enterprises, react to events around the league, and communicate with fans. It's remarkably entertaining and often endearing, partially because of the "Stars! They're just like us!" aspect, but mostly because a lot of these guys are flat-out hilarious. Such unfiltered access to our favorite athletes keeps the offseason interesting, and should be a real boon to league PR. Twitter is, in fact, "public relations" at its very essence.

Which brings me to the Knicks. For a team with its share of characters, the Knicks are frustratingly underrepresented on Twitter. Joe Crawford tweets only on occasion. Nate Robinson's feed comes and goes. Since his run of UStream fame, Eddy Curry hasn't posted much outside of what appears to be an argument with his sister. Wilson Chandler was at odds with a fake account in his name, and seems to have disappeared entirely. In fact, the best we've got might be Allan Houston, who's supposed to be too old for this game. And let's not forget Twitter's finest, whose internet antics would probably stop James Dolan's heart if he was still in NY. So, some Knicks make appearances on Twitter, but the all-around effort is too spotty and half-assed to command any attention.

I'm not sure if the dearth of Knick tweeters is just bad luck, or perhaps the result of organizational pressure. In either case, I think most of us would agree that some Twitter presence is needed. To the players: We want to know what you're up to. There's no basketball to watch and we're bored. To the organization: The idea of unfiltered player access is probably scary in the wake of the Isiah era, but most of these guys are perfectly innocent and plenty hilarious. What better way to broadcast that than through Twitter? Grab your laptops and Blackberries, Knicks. Make yourselves heard. Please.

After the jump, some imaginary mock-ups of what we're missing:

ToneyDouglas Just woke up. Doing what Toney Douglas do. (3 minutes ago)

AirSENEgal 140 characters? Horsefeathers! Any thinker worth his salt would feel totally shackled by 140 measly characters. My eloquence will not be lim (8 minutes ago)

Mr_Al_Harrington What up tweeps? Y'all know where a player can find some nunchucks? (30 minutes ago)

DLee42 Lady's coming over. She better not forget the lotions, bro. (38 minutes ago)

larryhughes0 Watching Return To Me for the third night in a row. Vintage Duchovny. (About 2 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Naptime. (about 3 hours ago)

IL_GALLO Just beat my papa in badminton. PUMP IT UP! (about 3 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Doing what Toney Douglas do. (about 4 hours ago)

JaredJeffries I am away from my computer right now. (about 4 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Doing what Toney Douglas do. (about 6 hours ago)

ToneyDouglas Doing what Toney Douglas do. (about 7 hours ago)

TheRealChrisDuhon I'm SINGLE and SEXY! Plz check out my new pics! http://twitpic.com/asdf (about 10 hours ago)

Yes, Chris Duhon is a spambot.

SummerBulls 90, SummerKnicks 84

Seth — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:23:39 -0000

A sloppy fourth quarter allowed the Chicago Bulls' Summer League team to muster a late comeback and drop the Knicks to 0-4 in Summer League play. Though the collapse was worthy of some attention (and I'll give it some), a couple of SummerKnicks posted their best individual efforts so far. Player breakdowns, after the jump...

Jordan Hill- Ok, so maybe it wasn't "a couple" players. It was really just Hill who had his best game. I had to get you to click through somehow. Hill didn't get any stronger or more athletic over night, but he at least looked more at ease with the balll and made a more focused effort on defense. With his back to the basket, the rookie showed a relatively fluid array of drop steps and turnaround jumpers. There were also a couple of powerful finishes because of good spacing and a well-caught pass. Perhaps most relevant were Hill's 2 blocked shots, which were both the last line of defense against slashing Bulls. He also got called for 9 fouls, but at least 1 of those fouls was bullshit. Meanwhile, Hill's got quick hands, and gets plenty of deflections on the defensive end. Only thing is he treats rebounds the same way. I'm sure someone on the Knicks coaching staff has told him to grab boards with two hands, and I'd like to co-sign that.

In conclusion, I've decided that the best adjective to describe Jordan Hill is "noodly". I'd call him "Noodle" but we've already got dudes nicknamed "Cock" and "Nuts" on the team, and people might look at us funny. Not that they don't already.

Toney Douglas- Toney's shot was falling for the first time in Vegas. He hit a couple midrange J's and stepped out for a long 2 from the top of the arc. He also did what Toney Douglas do on defense, and that's hustle his ass off. Not only can he stay in front of his man, but he's got a gift for picking pockets.

All that said, Douglas faced his first major challenge against a Bulls defense that opted to pressure him the length of the court. For the most part, he did a good enough job of breaking the press and starting the offense, but there were a few lapses in his point guard play. One relatively innocuous error was to repeatedly pull a step-back dribble at exactly halfcourt. He only got called for it once, but stricter refs could've whistled three or four halfcourt violations. More troubling was his uncharacteristically deferential play down the stretch. The Bulls were mounting a massive comeback, but instead of grabbing the reins, Douglas would simply bring the ball up, hand it off, and get out of the way. Perhaps the best example of this was when the Knicks were down 3 points with less than a minute remaining. Toney walked the ball up far too casually, then passed it off to Joe Crawford, who was moseying past halfcourt. The refs whistled an 8-second violation- an embarrassing end to an embarrassing collapse. I know that Toney's trying to cement his status as a point guard, but I would've liked to see him respond to the pressure by attacking the rim. More than 7 shot attempts and 0 free throw attempts might've spearheaded a Knick win.

Meanwhile, Harry Douglas, receiver for the Falcons and brother of Toney, was interviewed by Tina Cervasio. That's just a cool-ass family.

The other SummerKnicks were solid, but did little of note. Nikoloz Tskitishvili's jumper wasn't falling (0-4 from three), but he displayed a guard-like ability to put the ball on the floor and finish at the rim. 9 free throw attempts for a 7-footer who never posts up is impressive. Skita also tallied 2 blocked shots, including an aerial punishment of Anthony Roberson in the second quarter. That's for missing all your shots in New York, ANTHONY.

The two shooting guards played their games ably. Morris Almond got a little out of hand, with a few mindless heaves and an offensive foul or two in transition, but hey, that's why we love him. Joe Crawford was comparatively quiet, but went 2-3 from downtown and finished with 10 points and the prestigious "Beard of the Game" award for his fourth straight outing. No, Nikoloz, that landing strip isn't gonna get any love.

Behind the booth, Gus and Clyde were at their absolute best. They interviewed Glen Grunwald (boring) and Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton (enlightening), but really made the evening with their irrelevant banter. At one point, the two were discussing the five-day camp that Clyde leads at the end of the month. Gus asked him if he plays one-on-one against the campers, and he replied "Yeah, I'm undefeated in the 10-12 age group. My reputation overwhelms them". Who's cool enough to get away with saying that? Clyde is. That's who.

Perhaps the best exchange between Gus and Clyde was when MSG showed a shot of a baby sitting quietly in his cradle in the crowd. The following exchange occured (this is from memory, so it may be a bit off):

Gus: "We've got some rookies in the building! What a cute kid."

Clyde: "He's not quite ready to play these rookies yet."

Gus: "Look at those feet!"

Clyde: "Cool-looking dude, too!"

(At this point, the baby began to cry)

Gus: "Uh-oh!"

Clyde: "Oh wait! Losing his cool!"

The only thing that could have made it better would've been a "rocking and shocking!" or "pacifying and electrifying!" on Clyde's part.

And that's what I've got. The final Vegas game is today at 4 p.m. eastern. I should be able to catch at least part of the action, but I'm signed up to eat dinner with my grandparents this evening, and you know those kids eat early. So, if anybody wants to do a recap in my stead, send me an email or let me know in the comments. I should have a game thread up in time. Enjoy your Sundays.

SummerPistons 96, SummerKnicks, 73

Seth — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:08:38 -0000

The Knicks' Summer League squad got torched in Vegas last night. DaJuan Summers and Austin Daye were more than the Knick youngsters could handle, and Detroit controlled the action from very early on. Summer League's just an audition for the real thing, though. Let's take a look at which Knicks made waves on Day 2. What we saw wasn't all that different from Day 1, so I'll be brief.

Toney Douglas- We know from testament and footage alike that Toney can shoot the ball. He's got a weird, pushy form, though, that looks pretty ugly when it's not connecting. And it hasn't been. After shooting 2-13 on Tuesday, Toney was 1-6 from last night. Part of it is that his jumpers have often been forced and out of rhythm. Whether that's a case of the jitters or a product of unfamiliar teammates I'm not sure. Based on what we've seen, though, Toney's stroke should return.

Ghostface's passing continued to impress yesterday, and he made a few more of the "homerun" passes I was clamoring for in the first game. He still prefers to get a step on his own man, then kick out to the perimeter (much to the delight of Mr. Tskitishvili), but he hit a couple cutters and threw a nice alley-oop to Jordan Hill as well. The Knicks have good passers, though. What we're really looking for is someone with the verve to lead a team from the point guard spot. If these two games are any indicator, Douglas is as good a candidate as any. On one intriguing possession, some Knick was dawdling at the top of the key. Toney looked his way and demanded the ball with an unmistakable thug clap. After receiving the ball, he guided Jordan Hill through a screen-and-roll and fed him with a beautiful pass underneath. Hill missed the finish, but Toney made it clear that he's not afraid to play point guard like a boss amongst the summer league youngsters. He's the king of the sandbox, but can he command a team of veterans? I certainly hope so.

Jordan Hill- Hill's still got to get his legs under him and go up strong more often, but he at least looked a little more assertive in this one. Hill cans jumpers with confidence out to 18 feet, but he's not so bold under the rim. He fades and bends far too much. On one particularly telling play, Hill went up to defend a slashing DaJuan Summers, but didn't really commit himself. Summers punished him by making the basket and muscling Hill to the floor, drawing the foul. Hill's got to play bigger, but to be fair, Summers is a goddamn beast. The man is enormous.

If Hill ever does become an Amare Stoudemire-type, he'll reach that point from another direction. Stoudemire was a high-flying bruiser who learned the arts of tact and finesse. Hill's already got good touch, a clear head, and the manners of a gentleman. He needs an injection of brute force- the mentality and muscle with which Amare was blessed. Just like with Douglas, the video shows flashes of the player we'd like to see.

Joe Crawford and Morris Almond- One of these guys is going to get real minutes at the two-spot. Crawford once again showed a number of skills, canning some outside shots, charging the rim like an ox, and really getting after loose balls. Almond, meanwhile, pulls from absolutely anywhere, and usually doesn't miss. One's a pure shooter, the other's sturdier and more complete. I'd be happy with either one understudying or even replacing Larry Hughes as D'Antoni's preferred shooting guard.

Mouhamed Sene- I'm pretty sure Sene would try to swat a newborn baby if you tossed it high enough.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili- All I'm saying is if Skita's jersey said "Gallinari" on the back, we would be going bonkers right now.

Yaroslav Korolev- Korolev's not going to get a training camp invite, but I just want him to know that we appreciate him. Keep at it, Yaroslav.

Rashaad Singleton- This guy hasn't actually played a minute yet, but I see no reason why a 22 year-old seven-footer who broke the bench press record at the combine shouldn't get to spin a little. He'd either dominate the opposition or do something funny like pop a basketball. Strong people are always entertaining.

Other notes:

- "I've been counting more sheep than cards"- Walt Frazier, setting the bar for old-man-in-Vegas jokes.

- Chris Duhon's charity golf thing looked like a success. He rounded up some New York celebs and generated some funds for his hometown of Slidell, Louisiana, which is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Incidentally, I was watching UFC with some bros last night, and one of the fighters was from Slidell. I mentioned that that was also Chris Duhon's hometown, and got uniformly glared at. FML, I guess.

- Oh also, I've never played or watched golf in my life, but I can tell you without a doubt that Chris Duhon's golf swing is horrendous. He completely whiffed one drive.

- Donnie Walsh sat in the booth with Clyde and Breen for a few minutes, and was remarkably candid throughout. Breen kept lobbing him compliments about Toney Douglas, but Walsh would repeatedly revert to criticizing Toney's poor shooting of late. He made a point, too, of Jordan Hill's need to add muscle and get in shape. We also learned that Walsh tried to trade for Morris Almond last year, which certainly suggests that Mo Nuts will, at the very least, get a Saratoga invite.

- I'd like to take this opportunity to once again pitch my TV gameshow "Walsh or Diesel?" in which contestants are played a clip of either Donnie Walsh or Vin Diesel talking, and have to guess which one it is.

- It's really amusing how completely bored the hundreds of the kids in the crowd are at Summer League. The camera kept panning across rows and rows of children slapping each other, playing Gameboys (or whatever it is that kids play these days), or straight-up napping. What, Warren Carter isn't good enough for you guys? Brats.

- Watching the Senegalese Mouhamed Sene and the Georgian Nikoloz Tskitishvili both try and reject the same shot gave me the idea for a straight-to-video film series called Intercontinental Block Party. It's clips of foreign guys playing defense set to dance music from around the world. Email me to reserve a copy.

The SummerKnicks are in action again on Friday, when they'll face Tyreke Evans and the SummerKings. SummerKings would be a good name for a boy band.

NBA Summer League Day Five Recap - Spurs Win

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:23:37 -0000

Because of the way the schedule was set up today, I only watched three games. Yes, I know, it is very disappointing that I didn't catch a fourth, which I am sure you have grown accustomed to.

Our beloved Spurs played the night cap and eeked out a 78-76 victory.

Yours truly got a big laugh out of Ian Mahinmi after the game. Ian Interview Game Two

[Update]: A very nice recap of the game and evaluation of Ian by Timothy Varner at 48MoH.

Game One - Knicks vs Grizzlies

The Grizz whipped up on the Knicks in the fourth quarter to take this one 90-86.

Memphis Grizzlies

DeMarre Carroll - I love me some DeMarre Carroll. 9 points and 4 rebounds will get you a yawn from most people. I like everything he does on the court. He hustles. He rebounds. He handles the ball intelligently. Give him a couple years to work on his shot and he will be a top-tier role player on a team.
Hamed Haddadi - The big Iranian is only 24 and he is WAY better than Thabeet right now. He's got really nice, and VERY large hands. Good court vision. He had a very slick pass to Darrell Arthur that spoke volumes for his coordination. He caught a pass in the paint while cutting across the lane and executed a nice little scoop pass just as he caught the ball to Arthur who was cutting in from the wing. It was gorgeous. He also had 2 blocks and 5 boards in 12 minutes.
Darrell Arthur - He's got a really nice jumper and excellent moves within in 15 feet. He was impossible for them to stop.
Hasheem Thabeet - I still don't like what I see from him. His defensive game is decent, but his hands are terrible. Kwame Brown terrible. Enough said.

New York Knicks

Morris Almond - Great shooter. End of story.
Jordan Hill - I wasn't really paying attention to him. He didn't stand out to me, but his numbers where decent. 13 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Joe Crawford - He wowed us with a couple plays.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili - The big man can shoot. 3 of 5 from downtown. 12 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Game Two - Bulls vs Warriors

This was my fourth look at the Warriors. More of the same.

Golden State Warriors

Anthony Randolph - This was his show. He put up 42. Yes, 42. He was 13-22 from the field and 16-21 from the line. This was his first game in which he didn't have a double-double as he only came up with 3 rebounds. The funny part is that me and another guy were joking about what kinds of questions we could ask him. Like, "Anthony, you only had 3 rebounds. Do you think that kind of performance is going to help you get playing time?" Hahahaha. Anyway, we are coming up with all kinds of asinine questions we could ask him, and you know what, in his post game interview he brings up his 3 rebounds as something to work on. I can't believe he's only played one year. His offensive game is ridiculous. He's still fairly poor on the defensive end, but crikey the man can score.
Stephen Curry - He's shooting 31% in four games. On 70 shots. Yes, 70 shots. He's got a better handle than I thought he would but I think he's going to have a hard time when the games aren't called so tightly.

Chicago Bulls

James Augustine - I fairly certain he played in the Spanish ACB League with Unicaja last year. He has a complete game. He showed great body control and ball skills. He went 10-11 from the field and pulled down 7 rebounds in 34 minutes.
James Johnson - The rookie from Wake Forest has some potential. He went for 21 and 8. I want to watch him a little more closely.
Taj Gibson - The rookie from USC was very active. He ended with 14 points and 12 rebounds in just under 30 minutes.
DeMarcus Nelson - 4-12 from the field.
Anthony Roberson - 3-13 from the field.
Bench - The Bulls bench went 0-11 from the field.

Game Three - Spurs vs Nuggets

The Spurs turnovers and fouls kept the Nuggets in this game. We held them to 34% shooting and out rebounded them by 10.

Denver Nuggets

Coby Karl - He made a LOT of shots. He missed one. He had 19 points and, in general, was very good.
Ronald Dupree - 13 points.

San Antonio Spurs

Ian Mahinmi - The inauspicious triple double. Or is it triple bumble? He did look good for long stretches. All in all, I'm very pleased with this performance after Sunday's. Plus, I made him GOL. Or was that LOL?
James Gist - I'm not sure if he played poorly or played well and just didn't have stats.
Malik Hairston - I am really starting to like his composure and presence. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Only 2 rebounds in 31 minutes though. I would like to see other contributions in the stat sheet. I do think, however, that he played good defense.
Jack McClinton - Another 0-2 in only 11 minutes. He did have the Spurs only 4 assists in the first quarter. I'm not sure what is going on with him, but he still has 6 more missed to go to get into George Hill Land.
George Hill - The Spurs were terrible again with him not on the floor. He did miss a free throw. 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers.
Stephane Lasme - He was very active around the basket. While I don't think he has a shot to make the Spurs, I think he is doing a good job of getting himself a contract overseas.
Romel Beck - The guy can shoot. He doesn't make good decisions with the ball though. He'll probably be overseas as well.
Donnell Taylor - He was my favorite bench player tonight. He had 6 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes. He is still struggling at the point, but he's getting better.
Squeaky - His only dent in the stat sheet was 2 turnovers.

Day Five is in the books. Tomorrow, we get back to the full 4 game schedule for ATS. I enjoyed my short day, now back to the grind.