Yeah, I said it. I could care less if the Knicks make the playoffs this year and indeed I kind of hope they don’t.

Here's why:

1) Why bother? This is just so obviously not our year. Amar'e is clearly not going to be back at full strength this year, if he's back at all. Melo is going to stay shooting 40% as he plays through nagging injuries for the rest of the season. Jeremy Lin, to be honest, needs a little more seasoning before he's truly ready for playoff prime time. Baron Davis is…. Baron Davis. And as we recall from last year, watching an inexperienced and injury-ravaged Knicks team get its doors blown off in the first round of the playoffs is... not actually that much fun! Wanna see a decimated Knicks team get disemboweled by the Heat or Bulls? Me neither.

2) Teach ‘em a lesson. Injuries, shminjuries. Honestly, there wouldn’t even be a question of the Knicks not making the playoffs if they hadn’t spent the first 2/3 of the season fucking around, phoning it in against teams like the Bobcats, trying to talent their way out of bad situations and expecting that star power would make up for lackluster effort. I don’t think you can take teams for granted or give up like six games in a row ‘cause you’re grumpy at your coach and still reasonably expect to get what you want in the end because you make the max salary. So if missing the playoffs for the first time in forever is the splash of cold water needed to bring our stars back next year extra pissed off and playing hard, then I’m all for it.

3) Missing the playoffs = Mike Woodson gets fired. I'm sorry, but if Mike Woodson gets an extension on the basis of simply making the playoffs, that would be the worst possible outcome of D'Antoni's firing. Basically, this would seal our fate as a more-hyped version of the Hawks for the next 3-4 years--that is, good enough to be a consistent second round out but not more. Mike Woodson is fine, nice guy and all, and clearly the Knicks play better when they try harder which they were not doing under Pringles, but Woodson is nothing special, and if this team wants to contend I think we need to make a run at a higher-caliber coach this summer. I would rather miss the playoffs, let dudes heal up over the summer, have Dolan through a shitload of money at someone like Rick Carlisle, Nate McMillan (or Phil Jackson...) and start out fresh next year with a good coach and a real training camp.

In sum: if missing the playoffs this year means we can start fresh next season with a fully-healthy, highly-motivated roster that goes through a real training camp with a better head coach, it would be well worth giving up on trying to get the pot o’ shit at the end of the poop rainbow that is this lockout season.

Playoffs?!

This started out as a comment but turned into a fanpost. What's wrong with the Knicks? In essence, we are an injury-ravaged team with a core built around two one-dimensional, high-scoring forwards whose games are not compatible with one another, and who are supported by the worst starting backcourt and thinnest bench in the league, presided over by a coach who is torn between yet again trying to ram square pegs into his effective-if-very-narrow round hole of an offensive scheme, and not having any other feasible idea of how to make these ill-fitting parts work.

So! Let's begin.

First of all, there is nothing "wrong" with Amar'e, this is the same player that dropped 30+ points in ten straight games last fall. He is one of the most unstoppable finishers and paint scorers in the game and he has a pretty nice mid-range J when he's in rhythm. The problem is he's not, I repeat NOT an ISO player; in order to score like a star he needs to be playing within an offense designed to get him the ball in motion heading toward the basket, preferably without another teammate (and his man) clogging up the paint. We are not doing this. Right now Amar'e is either being used as a decoy to draw a defender away while Melo ISOs, or he is being given the ball while defended 20+ feet from the goal and asked to score while Melo is on the bench and the likes of Josh Harrelson, Mike Bibby et al are the only other "shooters" on the floor.

Melo is maybe the most talented pure scorer and one-on-one player in the NBA, but he's also a ball-stopping isolation specialist and occasional chuckaholic being asked to run an offense, initiate ball movement and be responsible for everyone's success. This will never work. While he can make a nice pass now and then, he's just not that player. Even in the best of circumstances, he and Amar'e are fundamentally incompatible: Amar'e needs a crisp offense in which he is the focus and ball-movement is paramount, Melo needs an offense in which he is the focus and he is allowed to isolate and beat his man one-on-one as often as possible.

Because Melo can be effective farther from the basket and without a true playmaking PG to facilitate, by default his style of offense wins out and Amar'e is rendered more or less useless. And because we have no PG whatsoever or anyone capable of organizing an offense and running a play, the offense by default is a series of Melo isolations while everyone else kind of stands around to see what happens. This works okay when Melo is red hot and stinks like a wet fart when he isn't, especially because for whatever reason when Melo has the ball the other four players seem to forget it's necessary to play basketball or do anything aside from watch the Melo show unfold.

In essence, we gutted the team and sacrificed future flexibility in order to pay $40m/year to two players who are not good defenders and don't even play offense all that well in combination with one another. Hurray!

But wait that's not all! What else is wrong?

Let's see, we're paying $12m to a defensive center who has been totally, and I mean completely left out of the offensive playbook (and Amar'e thinks he has it bad!) while being asked to guard *everyone* since Stat and Melo are bad defenders who need to play 36 mins per night and we can't keep anyone out of the paint because our backcourt is totally, pathetically overmatched and straight-up shook.

Because all our cap is tied up in 3 players the rest of the team is a joke--aside from the Toney and Landry issues, nobody on our bench should be more than an 8-9th man on a decent team at least until Shumpert gets back (and who truly knows what he'll bring--hopefully a lot).

Last but not least, having been given the 17th roster of his coaching tenure that is again ill-equipped to succeed in his preferred style of play, our coach seems like he is finally out of steam. Enough excuses, it's a short preseason for everyone, and we're supposed to have two of the best players in the league on our team (who played together last year!). The Knicks are playing like it's a pick-up game amongst dudes who don't even know much less like each other. As some point, when you supposedly have the best talent in the world, that lack of effort and focus is just unprofessional and it falls on the coach.

The only real hope for this team is if Baron Davis comes back, takes the ball out of Melo's hands, and actually runs an offense that features some set plays, pick and roll, off-ball screens, etc. Amar'e becomes effective again, Melo will still get his, Tyson gets a lob or two, and the offense works well enough to mask our defensive mediocrity. Shump comes back and brings scoring and defense off the bench. Toney Douglas takes his rightful seat on the bench and resumes DWTDD. Landry Fields comes back from the dead in the presence of a PG who can actually do more than chuck shots and/or watch Melo chuck shots.

I hate to say it but if B-Diddy isn't the answer this team is proper fucked. Melo as PG is not going to work, and so far it seems like either D'Antoni has no idea what else to do or the team is just tuning him out. Davis by all accounts has been more vocal in timeouts and on the sidelines than even D'Antoni, and he is the kind of strong-willed personality who might fill the desperate need for a coach on the floor. If Boom Dizzle can't get it done I have a strong feeling we will either have a new coach or a different superstar to root for before the season is over because without him the team as presently constructed is too top-heavy with redundant, incompatible pieces to do anything but flounder and disappoint.

If, by the trade deadline, Baron hasn't righted the ship, I'd suggest we throw a hail-mary and trade Melo to NJ for Deron Williams (assuming Dwight hasn't ended up there already somehow). Both teams would be better for it, honestly.

Has this actual video been posted yet? I don't remember it but I could be wrong. In any case I don't care because if you're anything like me there is literally no limit to the number of times you can watch it. It's just 102 seconds of goodness, a mixtape of only the nicest Iman Shumpert highlights from that quasi-summer-league thing that happened in Vegas this summer:

Iman Shumpert Super Athletic Rookie Will Electrify Madison Square Garden!! Impact Mixtape (via Ballislifedotcom)

So not to brag or nothin but I know some fine slam dunkings when I see them and this kid's got the goods. Probably definitely going to be the best dunk artist on the Knicks, which is saying something when you're on a team with Amar'e Stoudemire. I'm so excited! Are you so excited? Which of this eclectic and electric selection are you most jazzed to see in a game?

0:07 - Fast break, tomahawk with the right hand

0:17 - Two handed tomahawk off two feet

0:23 - Full windmill on the fast break

0:31 - Reverse finish off the alley-oop

1:01 - Full on, pull-it-down-to-the-crotch, Dominique Wilkins style two handed reverse

1:04 - LEFT handed windmill, whaaaat

1:10 - Flawless between the legs one-handed windmill off the high bounce

Me, I'm all about 0:37. Kind of a sleeper pick maybe. None of this dunk contest shenanigans, just a simple, incredibly vicious one-handed stuff off a two-footed jump, where he cocks it back just far enough to let it rip with bonafide panty-dropping levels of rudeness. It's pretty much a true fact that Iman is going to yam one right in some poor slob's mug at some point during the season (Chris Bosh? I can really picture Chris Bosh underneath that dunk) and unlike the flashier fast break stuff I want maximum humiliation in that poster which means dunkin' in the halfcourt is what it's all about.

Thoughts?

According to the sidebar on yer right, Amar’e Stoudemire is considering taking his creaky-ass knees talents to China for some “barnstorming” (?) during  this, the summer of our discontent.  These exhibition games are being organized by “super agents,” so you know everyone’s best interests are at heart and this is in no way a craven marketing stunt that risks the health of one of our star players.

Since fan posts need to be a certain number of words, allow me to simply say this: No.  No no no, no, no no no no no.  No.  Aaaaand… no.

Actually, allow me to propose an alternative lockout agenda for Amar’e:

1.     1.  Chillin’ out max

2.     2.  Relaxin’ all cool

Repeat as necessary.  And that is all. 

Friends,

I think we can all agree that this draft is very important.  Our roster has some Major Issues (like medium-term  question marks at everything but our starting forward spots, and immediate need of an extra-extra-large human being who can do basketball stuff better than Jared Jeffries), and we are pretty strapped for cash with which to address these issues.  Maybe/hopefully there will be some cap space or exceptions on the other side of this lockout, but who knows.  We also have no first round draft pick for next year.  Our draft spot this time around at 17 ain't terrible but it's not that great either.  We need to get this one right.  Like Landry Fields, holy-shit-how-did-we-get-such-a-good-player-this-late right.  People say our draft pick has to 'fill a need' and they are correct: we need a game changing player who will help the Knicks take it to the next level for cheap and restock our barren cupboard of trade chips ASAP.

Lots of people this year like Jimmer Fredette or Kenneth Faried.  These are two nice, feel-good players, the kind of draft picks you could proudly introduce to your Moms so she could pinch them on the cheek.  They stayed in school for four years and broke all manner of records and had really nice tournaments and and they are full of things like "leadership" and "trying really hard."  It's enough to make you forget that both of them are 2-3 inches too short for their skill-sets, and racked up gaudy numbers in college playing largely against pretty mediocre competition.  Me?  I'm good without a  6'2" shooting guard who is too short/slow to guard either backcourt position and can't even remember an offense not built around his chucking, or a 6'7" garbage man who only attempted (not even made, attempted) 13 total jump shots last season and is soon to find out that guarding NBA 3s and 4's is a littttle harder than hanging at the back of the ol' 2-3 zone in the Ohio Valley Conference.  I wish them well and all, in fact I wish them long and happy careers (as role players for some other teams).  This year, we must eschew the safe choices, the future occupants of the 7th/8th/9th spots in NBA rotations, the guys who are only good at one thing, the kind of "big" men teams take because the actual tall guys with promise are long gone.  We gotta roll the dice on someone who could really be a difference-maker.  Someone where in a several years people are all "WTF?  He was only picked 17th?!?"

I nominate Josh Selby!

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Posters, toasters, Ferrari Testarossas,

I just slept off the last of a week-long vacation (word to the wise... never fly through Europe in the winter; their airports wig out over a few measly inches of snow).  Where I was, Knicks games were on at 5:00 AM and internet connections were terrible, also I stupidly forgot to set the DVR before I left, and so I haven't, and probably will not, see the games against Denver, Boston, Miami and Cleveland.  Since things seem a little sleepy round here right now too, will any of you astute Knicks fans fill me in on what it is right now?

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Good afternoon, friends.  The title of this post pretty much says it all.  The Knicks should hire Anthony Mason as a full time assistant coach to work intensively and exclusively with Anthony Randolph.

At one point in the recent Kings game, the broadcast cut over to a shot of some dude on the Sacramento bench, who turned out to be DeMarcus Cousins's former high school coach, currently DeMarcus Cousins's personal coach/babysitter.  It's not a terrible idea: Cousins is hugely talented but young and kind of a knuckhead, and this is someone dedicated to helping him keep his shit together.  Here with the Knicks, as Thelonious notes, the also-young-and-talented Anthony "4 Loko" Randolph has been relegated to the bench for playing like a giant spaz, but unlike previous benchings under bloated, petty tyrant Don Nelson, Randy is taking this one well because D'Antoni is sending him plenty of texts and the lines of communication are Open for Business.  This still kind of bothers me though:

"This is a cakewalk here. I love it,'' Randolph said. "Nellie had his ways but, not to say I didn't enjoy myself out here, but this situation is a lot more easier, there's a lot more dialogue with the coaches.''

It's great that everyone is still besties and everything, but life should not be a cakewalk for young Anthony, benched or not.  The Knicks badly need more frontcourt depth to survive the season, and barring crazy trades or the perfect free agent role player just randomly appearing out of nowhere, it's probably going to have to come from within.  Benching Randolph right now doesn't bother me, as long as there is a real plan going on to work with him, to get him to the point of being able to give a good 20 minutes a night of rebounding and defense and limited mistakes reasonably soon--by, say, the all-star break.  Maybe his own, personal coach would help?  But here's the thing, I read somewhere that Randolph attended four different high schools and had as many different coaches, and then during his one year of college his team's head coach was fired halfway through the season.  And that was all before he met Don Nelson.  Is it any wonder the kid's messed up?  But more importantly, is there any one of those half-dozen random coaches he's had who'd even be worth bringing in?  Probably not.

But you know who would be worth it?  Anthony Mason.  He wants to be an assistant coach for the Knicks.  So far though, the most he's been asked to do is be Eddy Curry's gym buddy, an almost insultingly sisyphean task.  Why bother with Curry?  Why not Randolph?  Mase would be the perfect coach for AR4: A lefty like Randolph, Anthony the elder was of course known for being an unrelenting and brutal defensive enforcer, as well a guy who also blossomed during and post-Don Nelson (ironically) into a phenomenal point-forward as well.  Through hard work and high basketball IQ, Mase carved out a niche on offense by taking his AST% from the high single digits (about where Randolph is right now at 8%) to the high teens and a peak of 21% (i.e. David Lee, Ronny Turiaf, Sabonis, mid-career Odom-level "holy crap you're a good passer for a big guy" territory).

Anthony Randolph is a phenomenal rebounder and shot-blocker, and has flashed good ball-handling skills and the ability to make a nifty pass.  A big man that complements Amar'e will be one who cleans the glass, brings it on defense and knows how to score efficiently without the ball in his hands and be an offensive facilitator, not a poor-shooting ball-stopper (basically, be more like Ronny Turiaf).   Considering that Randolph is exponentially taller, faster and more athletic than Anthony Mason ever was, wouldn't you like to one day see him play with even half of Mason's heart and smarts? So why isn't Anthony Mason imparting/beating some sense into Anthony Randolph right now, I askyou ?  If Randy is going to ride pine for a while, I would feel better about it with the knowledge that his alarm clock is a call from Mase telling him to get his skinny ass to the gym.

Here is a Mase mix, just because:

90s - Anthony Mason MIX by MISIEK (via TheKingMisiek)

Morning, miscreants.  Although I'm just your average high-volume/low-efficiency blog commenter, I've been retroactively awarded a five year, $60mm contract to recap a Knicks game this one time in the absence of your heady and reliable veteran Seth Rosenthal, who picked a terrible time to miss a Knicks game this season. 

via graphics8.nytimes.com

Last night's win over the David Lee-less Warriors was the kind of game that's been a long time coming: finally, this young, athletic squad popped the clutch and straight-up ran one of the other fastest teams in the league right out of their own house in dramatic fashion.  There were highs and lows, hot shooting and, uh, really hot shooting, running, gunning, dishing, swishing, puking, praying, and winning, ya biatches.  A certain Knicks PG served up a sensual array of clutch circus shots, beautiful passes and outright larceny on defense, inspiring the kind of forbidden feelings so eloquently expressed by commenter zlander in the game thread.  Pause that as long as you need to, then read on to re-live the glory.

Don't a two-game win streak make you wanna jump, jump?

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As it becomes more and more clear that the 2010 New York Knicks, lovable as they may be, have a long way to go before they can be considered "good", a few questions come to mind.  Why does Amar'e Stoudemire continue to go one-on-four half a dozen times every game?  Is the pick-and-roll *really* that complicated that professional players in the best league in the world cannot wrap their brains around it, or at least show some indication that they're getting there?  Why do our least efficient scorers take the vast majority of our shots?  Why do the wheels of our defense completely fall off without Ronny Turiaf on the floor?  Why do we only play 36 minutes of basketball, etc. etc.  But what I'm wondering right now is... what the fuck happened to Anthony Randolph?

We've seen the highlights, and the odd Warriors game here and there.  We saw the numbers, which suggested that with enough playing time and the right coach we could have a young star on our hands.  We heard the warnings, about the extreme highs and lows of his play.  We heard the coaching staff drool over his upside and generational talent, while acknowledging that he was a work in progress--but a big part of the Knicks' plan going forward.  And so far?

A whole twelve minutes per game (six less than even his rookie season).  A frigid 6 of 25 from the field, total.  A general sense of floating around and simply not getting it, a few spectacularly bone-headed plays, and a leash so short that D'Antoni might as well be out there grabbing him by the scruff of his neck.  The most level-headed of Knicks beat writers (low bar, but whatevs) twats that Randolph straight up sucks at basketball and should maybe be ritually sacrificed, for reals.  Yikes!

So what gives?  Why is he struggling?  What's the plan for him anyway?  Here are some random thoughts/conspiracy theories:

Not enough playing time:

He’s a young’n who has been jerked around by his head coach for his entire pro career, and it shows.  Whenever he screws up he looks over at the bench, like an abused puppy that instinctively flinches whenever someone raises a hand.  Here in NY, he is clearly pressing, trying too hard to be the budding superstar that some of us hoped he would become.  So what do we do?  Take him out immediately whenever he screws up, of course!  Young players need the opportunity to play through mistakes.  Give him guidance, give him a small, clearly defined role, and grin and bear it while he figures things out.  It’s not like everyone else is playing perfect ball, so why limit Randolph to two five-minute stretches per game (if he’s lucky)?

No defined role: 

What is he supposed to do out there, when he does play?  His offensive repertoire is obviously much more raw than anticipated, but he does demonstrate decent passing, tremendous rebounding and a lot of blocks per minute.  His role should be made idiot-proof: play defense, sprint down the floor in transition, clean the glass, and try to get out of the way during set plays on offense.  This would seem simple, but either he’s being told to do this and not listening, or he’s not being told to do this.  My money is on the latter, because look at who he plays with!  Last night for example, he was part of the following line-up to start the 4th quarter:

PG: Douglas  SG: Mason Jr.  SF: Chandler  PF: Randolph  C: Mozgov

That line-up has the collective basketball IQ of a cinderblock.  TD is a scorer who cannot run an offense, Mason Jr. cannot play basketball, Chandler looks mostly for his own shot, and Mozgov is very raw as well.  I ask you, who is the best passer/facilitator of the five?  The answer is “none of the above.”  This is not a line-up conducive to success, particularly Randolph’s success.  He should be out there deferring to Amar’e, getting the ball from Felton on the break, and playing defense, period.  He should not be encouraged to do his Kevin Durant on PCP impression because there is huge leadership vacuum on the floor for the five minutes he’s out there.

Maybe he is just really, really, really dumb:

Could it be that for all his freakish athleticism and skill at rebounding/blocking shots/handling the ball, he is so monumentally stupid that even simple basketball tasks and strategies are beyond him?  We were warned by Warriors fans that he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I really hope it’s not that bad.  Pringles is known for not micro-managing his players, but it may be that Randolph really needs his instructions spelled out for him (and then pantomimed for him, and then written down and safety-pinned to his uniform).  Then again, the list of players who have consistently demonstrated excellent basketball IQ this year is the following:

1. Landry Fields

(Honorable mention: Ronny Turiaf)

That’s… pretty much it.  Is Randolph SO stupid that he out-stupids everyone else on the roster, who have all chipped in to fulfill our seasonal quota of face-palm moments in record time?  Or is he, for some reason, getting a raw-er deal than most?

Maybe this is all part of the master plan:

Unlikely, but I like to hold out hope that Walsh and D’Antoni love him so, so, so much that they’ve decided to bury him on the bench to nuke his trade value, so that Denver won’t even want him once we (inevitably?) let them pick over our roster in exchange for Carmelo Anthony.  Fat chance, I know, but…  stranger things have happened, I guess?

Anyway, I would like to know what you all think is wrong with the kid and what can be done about it.  I still think his talent is tantalizing, and he’s shown flashes of it despite so far generally playing like he spends his time on the bench huffing paint.  In the (very small sample size) of minutes he’s had as a Knickerbocker, he’s averaged 12.6 reb/36, 2.7 blocks/36 and has a rebound percentage of 19% all of which are good for tops on the team and right around his prodigious career averages to date.  There has to be a way he can be a major contributor, but HOW?

There’s just something about his combination of youth, skill, comical proportions, sad face and middle name of “Erwin” that makes me really want Anthony Randolph to succeed.  How can we get this train back on the rails?

So according to Mike Prada's admittedly completely unscientific and not-indicative-of-actual-future-success "watchability" rankings, the Knicks have shot up alllll the way to  no. 3 (from no. 22 last year), behind only Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook's OKC Justice League and the Miami Legion of Doom.  At the no. 4 spot are Steve Nash and the Little Collection of Spare Parts that Could, whose fortunes are contrasted directly with the Knickerbockers.  Behold:

THE MIRROR IMAGES

4. Phoenix Suns (LY: 1)

3. New York Knicks (LY: 22)

Two teams cut from a similar cloth, hoping chemistry and style of play makes up for some pretty glaring holes on their rosters. The intriguing part? The fact that Amare Stoudemire went from one location to the other.

From a pure NBA storyline standpoint, I don't think the Amare move is getting enough play. For years and years, people nitpicked at Stoudemire's game by saying his production was enhanced by Steve Nash. Now, instead of getting passes from Nash, he's getting passes from Raymond Felton, who people like even though he can't drive, can't finish once he drives and is an inconsistent shooter (check his three-point shooting stats over his career. The outlier is easy to spot). There's no better way for Amare to silence his doubters than to be just as good under these circumstances (and I think he will be great this year).

On the other side, the Suns look like they're giving Amare's spot in the lineup to Hedo Turkoglu, which is a pretty big diss in its own right. Turkoglu was really bad in Toronto last year, and he's 31. He doesn't rebound and he doesn't play well off others, two things you need to do with Steve Nash on your team. Turkoglu, honestly, could be the anti-Amare. And yet, the Suns still traded for him. They don't care that their starting lineup has one guy who can rebound, or that their bench is Goran Dragic and a bunch of swingmen. They will replace Amare with spare parts, dammit, and they'll push on.

In other words, this is the year we'll finally get some clarity on the biggest question with the Seven Seconds Or Less Suns: was it Nash who was the engine, or was it Mike D'Antoni and Amare that provided Nash with the perfect surrounding for his skills? That question alone makes both of these teams intriguing. Throw in two fun centers (Robin Lopez and the Russian guy, Timothy Mozgov, who won the starting job in New York), two up-tempo teams with shooters and two coaches who like to run, and they're worth watching even if both are mediocre.

Some good points!  Has Amar'e Stoudemire looked like the kind of guy who is going to turn back into a pumpkin now that Steve Nash isn't around?  No.  So far he has looked like an absolute monster, scoring at will to the tune of 30, 40 points a night without even breaking a sweat.  In the otherwise completely alarmist turd Mark Berman dropped this morning, Stat is quoted as saying:

"This year is going to be the starting point of my prime."

Kinda looks that way, don't it?  So yeah, that's going to be sweet.  And if talent-wise, Raymond Felton is to Steve Nash what Hedo is to Amar'e, I'm more or less okay with that.  I would definitely want Raymond over Turk on my team if given the choice between the two, since only one of those players is prone to injuries and petulance and is clearly on the downside of his career, and it ain't the guy wearing blue and orange. 

So anyway, on top of, oh, I don't know, the most dominant paint scorer in the entire NBA just entering his prime, this year we have two pitbull/pinball hybrids who will be buzzing around the backcourt wreaking havoc and pushing the tempo, a collection of young, long, hyper-athletic, immense potential 2-way playing wings with skill sets that run pretty much the entire spectrum, and the United Colors of Bennetton Big Men Who Simply Must Break You. 

We may not be world beaters right away, but win (hopefully) or lose, this team--as it stands right now--is going to be magnetic, and not repulsive, to yer eyeballs.   Please keep that in mind as they struggle to find an identity and maybe go 3-7 over the first 10 games and CAN THE SEASON FUCKING START ALREADY?!

Sorry that this is 100% ripped from theknicksblog.com but...

I have a source who played at a major D-1 level who worked out informally with the Knicks recently in Greenburgh. The Knicks invited many local players to work out with current players on the roster.  He said, “Gallo destroyed everyone. He’s quickly rising to another level.”

On Amar’e:

“He’s in amazing shape. People scoff that the Knicks got him because of the 5th year. Who cares. The guy is a pro and is ready to prove he can win in NY. Physically he’s so impressive and he’s clearly taken on a leadership role that younger players are following.”

Hat tip to Tommy Dee of course.  Can the season just start now?  No?  How about... now?

So this doozy of a 2010-11 preview did not make it into the round-up, perhaps because the (allegedly Canadian) writer chose to start off with "In a way, failure was almost inevitable..." and proceeded from there to take a dump on your hopes and dreams; basically saying that Amar'e is an overpaid non-franchise player, the Knicks have nothing left to trade for anybody ever, and that ultimately:

"For all their positioning, the Knicks are only slightly better today than they were on the court over the last two years. They replaced David Lee with Stoudemire, Chris Duhon with Raymond Felton and overwhelming hope with a disaffecting reality."

I know, right?!  And somebody hold me back, because:

"Some players need all kinds of statistical analytics to point out their relative value on the NBA landscape. For some, though, a simple narrative suffices. Felton was the starting point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that just made their first-ever post-season appearance. Despite not having any viable replacement, though, the Bobcats made little to no effort to retain Felton's services this summer as a free agent. They essentially opted to have no tested option at the point rather than re-employ Felton at the position. That tells you everything you need to know about Ray Felton."

Grr!  Of course, all you *actually* need to know about Raymond Felton is that he's very fast, is a lock to score 12-14 points a night even if he's not a great shooter, he plays very good defense, and can really pass the rock and run an offense.  His career 31.1 AST% is either right up there with or better than many established PGs considered better than him (Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Andre Miller, Mike Bibby, Aaron Brooks, Tony Parker), and better than so many of the young studs everyone covets (Stephen Curry, Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, Jonny Flynn).  The Bobcats didn't try to resign him because apparently they decided one playoff appearance was quite enough and that it was time to let their starting PG and Center go.  Who knows what that's about.  Raymond Felton will do just fine, thanks, so fuck off.

Also, this:

"The talk that Gallinari is somehow an NBA star in the making has never really fit in with the "reality" that most use to observe the NBA. Gallo is a quality three-point shooter (38%), especially since he's more than willing to jack a three whenever the shot comes available (6.0 attempts per game), but as an all-around force he has yet to really make a mark in the league. Last year, he and Wilson Chandler were given any and every opportunity to emerge as deadly forces on a bad team, yet neither one was able to be much more than above average at any point in the season. Keep in mind, too, that as Gallo's minutes increased, his per-minute production dipped. Maybe having a full season under his belt will allow him to show more than he's shown so far as a pro, but as of yet he's really just a solid pro, not a superstar in the making."

Yeah, 15 ppg and 2nd in the NBA in 3s made is definitely nothing to write home about for a 6'10" 21-year old in basically his rookie season... wait, what? 

Despite all that and more, we're left with this take-away:

"New York was a 29-win outfit last year, and while they may be able to post an 11-13 win improvement to nab an eighth seed in the post-season, is that really worth the decade of misery that this fan base has endured?"

Well the misery's over, ya biatch!  And if even you think our "terrible" PG, "overrated" SF and "overpaid" PF can take us to 42 wins and the playoffs, I think it's time to get ready for an excellent season.

I know, I know, I know.  If you want to Homer-Simpson-facepalm me for mentioning That Guy, go right ahead.  Anyone who isn’t sick of hearing about him at this point must be some sort of masochist, or his agent.  

But, I have to vent a little, as I lost my appetite while trying to eat lunch today over the “news” that a certain whiny baby is losing patience with our New York Knicks, and that we had better get a third team involved ASAP or he’ll… do something.  Probably something Very Upsetting, like agree to a sign-and-trade with the Timberwolves or convert to Sufism and move to a remote Asian mountain range to write poetry in total solitude (my money’s on the latter, but who really gives a shit).

Why does it even matter?  I think even the most optimistic Knicks fan can agree that this team is a work in progress.  This summer’s roster shuffling has been amazing, about as good as we could have hoped for after the previous That Guy took his talents to some oceanfront strip mall of a town South Beach.  Pretty much everyone on this site expects to see some playoff basketball in the Garden next spring, and that’s going to be epically sweet.  At the same time, nobody is delusional enough to believe that our roster as currently constructed is going to be getting past teams like Miami, Orlando, Boston, the Lakers etc. to claim the ultimate prize anytime soon.  And at the end of the day, that’s what everyone wants, right?  That’s why it’s so tempting to lust after the latest shiny object who we think might put us over the top (regardless of the fact that, by many advanced metrics, That Guy will barely be an improvement over Danilo Gallinari, who aside from being much cheaper is already a New York Knickerbocker and a pretty damn awesome one at that).     

And so we are in an awkward position.  It’s September, and there is literally nothing else to do but speculate, rumor-monger and play daydream GM while waiting to actually, finally, see some basketball played.  We’re excited about the team, but we crave more firepower.  We want more All-Star caliber players, but it pains us to think of letting go of The Cock (obligatory pause).  If everyone could just be patient, perhaps in a year we could really have it all, but now That Guy seems to be of the mindset that our Knicks need to shove every young, talented, inexpensive player on our roster out the door as soon as possible for the privilege of (over)paying him $22mm/year so that he, Amar’e and the Knicks City Dancers can try in vain to outgun Miami for the next five years.  And that, my friends, is Lame.

Because That Guy?  Is not the only one out there who might be a good fit on this squad; not the only player we could add to make this team a contender.  And if Donnie Walsh has shown us anything, it’s that the man can be a deal-making ninja, getting spurned by the original That Guy 1.0 and five minutes later casually robbing the Golden State Warriors to the tune of some solid rotation players and potential all-stars for a player who was not sticking around anyway.  Clearly, the man knows his Plan Bs.  And you have to assume he has an ace or two up his sleeve in the event that That Guy decides it’s more important to get paid right now, regardless of his destination.

So what do you think it is?  Let’s assume for the time being that That Guy is 100% off the table.  He’s off in a cave doing his poetry thing. 

Let’s also set a few other conditions:

• No faded, past their prime ring-chasing vets (unless you can make a reallllly good case).
• Nobody who uses Leon Rose or "World Wide Wes" as their mouth-pieces to demand they get whatever they want, when they want it.
• No trading Gallo or Randolph.  

With that being said, I present for your consideration, my personal Plan B:  

At the deadline, trade Eddy Curry, Wilson Chandler, and Ronny Turiaf to Philadelphia 76ers for Andre Iguoudala and Andres Nocioni.

We get: an All-Star caliber SG who is young (26), a phenomenal athlete, one of the NBA’s best in transition, an elite defender and passer at his position, and a very good slashing scorer who would benefit immensely for playing for Mike D’Antoni on a team where he could be option 2 or 3 rather than asked to put the team on his back every single night.  At $12/mm per year he isn’t cheap, but at that price he is a much better value than That Guy would be at $22mm/per.  We also get Andres Nocioni, whose contract expires in 2012.

We lose: a versatile SF who is pretty good at many things but not truly great at any one thing, and who is an RFA next summer.  We also lose a PF/C with a ton of heart, a hard-nosed defensive style and an all around great attitude.  We also lose Eddy Curry, if you can consider that a loss.

They get: An inexpensive, young SF more suited to play next to Evan Turner.  They also get some much needed depth at the center position and dump a boatload of salary, which they will need to pay Elton Brand’s exorbitant salary for the next ten million years.

They lose: An All-Star caliber SG who is now more or less redundant, thanks to the much cheaper stud SG they just drafted.  Also, Andres Nocioni.

The result?

The Knicks would be even more athletic and dangerous in transition, if you can believe that. Our defense would be much improved with an elite defender like Iggy dogging the opposition’s best wing.  We would fill our biggest hole at SG with a player whose game complements Gallinari’s, Felton’s and Stoudemire’s very, very well.  And, with Nocioni’s contract coming off the books in 2012 we would still have a fair amount of cap space to play with going forward.

Roster:

Felton/Douglas

Iguoudala/Azubuike/Mason Jr./Walker

Gallinari/Randolph/Azubuike/Nocioni/Fields

Stoudemire/Randolph

Randolph/Mozgov/Stoudemire (perhaps not in that order)

That’s two surefire All-Stars (Amar’e, Iggy), two potential ones (Gallo, Randolph), and many very good rotation players (Felton, Douglas, Azubuike, Nocioni I guess and Mozgov, hopefully).  I’d go into battle with that team any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So, am I insane? Can you do better?  Just remember, That Guy can be a Knick within the next year for a reasonable price, if he wants.  The path is clear.  If he doesn’t want to take it, then fuck him.  There are other delicious fish in the sea.

It's true folks, he's finally on the trading block!  It's the Denver Nugget we've all been waiting for... J.R SWISH!  Ha, no.  But!  While he may be no Antoine Walker when it comes to awesome possible late-offseason additions to the roster, JR Smith and his $6 million 2011-expiring contract are up for grabs.  Is JR Smith a bad motherfucker?  Yes.  Would he be a good addition to our roster?  Probably... not.  But it's late August, so... jump?

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I get what Seth is saying.  I mean, who knows, right?  The odds that a potentially game-changing, franchise-lifting talent joined the Knicks roster during Free Agentocalypse 2K10 without an hour-long tv special or even a solo press conference are small, you would think.  Anthony Randolph is young and no doubt going to do some dumb shit next year on the court, and we will shake our heads. 

But it's it's the end of July!  It's not time to think about the (possibly many) times Anthony Randolph is going to try to pull some crazy shit only for the ball to end up in the third row.  It's time to reflect on what a beast Shawn Marion was playing for Mike D'Antoni, and how think about how sick it would have been if he were five inches taller and had a 7'4" wingspan. 

Oh wait, is that on our team now?  Is my hard-on showing?  I don't give a shit!  Is it because his 20 year old numbers are statistically similar to, let's see, 20 year old Shawn Kemp, Chris Bosh, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and our very own Amar'e? 

Is it because of this?

Over the past six months, he has added 20 pounds of muscle by training with Kyle Meadows, a Dallas-based strength and conditioning coach.

"I need to be able to bang down there with those guys," Mr. Randolph said.

The emphasis has been on high-intensity, basketball-specific movements that are designed to make Mr. Randolph more explosive. For example, he might do a set of power lifts in the weight room and then head directly to the court to dunk a medicine ball five straight times.

"He's feeling pretty good about himself," Mr. Meadows said. "You'll never see him with his shirt on. He's really enjoying the delts and pecs and things."

Or maybe this?

Q. What’s your mind-set now?

A. It’s all on me right now. If I don’t succeed, it’s my fault. It’s not on anybody else. Coach is going to give me an opportunity to show what I can do and if I don’t capitalize on it, it’s nobody’s fault but mine.

...

Q. You were injured a good portion of last year. How much are you itching to get back to 100 percent and playing again? How are your workouts with the assistant coach Dan D’Antoni?

 

A. I’m ready. I told Dan this morning after workouts I wished the season started tomorrow. I’m ready to play. I’m ready to get out there. I feel I’ve added some things in my game. I feel like my shot is a thousand times better. I’m just ready to get out there and show everybody all the hard work I’ve put in since April 15, since the last game of the season.

It's this, isn't it:

Anthony Randolph Dunks on Yao... TWICE (via orangino)

Yep, that'll do.

See, we have a very fast new point guard who loves to penetrate and dish, run the break and throw alley oops.  Perfect.  We have the most dangerous scoring PF in the league combined with at least four 40% three point shooters, so this kid will not be seeing many double teams.  Even better.  And now we have this beautiful freak of nature, and a coach who will be more than happy to create some kind of crazy hybrid position that only he can play and that nobody can guard.  Fan-fucking-tastic. 

Anthony Randolph is going to wreck people, and I refuse not to believe that right now.  In December, when maybe he's making mistakes and D'Antoni wants to pull his mustache off and we're all Gah, what are you, like 21?!, we'll all just have to take a deep breath, take a moment to think back on how it felt when Al Harrington was bricking his fifth three of the night, and then fast forward to all the times Anthony Randolph is going to make Chris Bosh cry over the next few years.  It's summer!  Just believe.

I have to admit, I had a hard time falling asleep last night because of the Chris Paul trade rumors.  The thought of CP3 and Amar’e Stoudamire running the pick and roll in Madison Square Garden this season… well, need I say more?  But the more I run through all the trade scenarios and look at our current roster, the more I hope that Donnie Walsh exercises some real patience and restraint this summer unless we can put together a no-brainer deal on our terms.  After almost a decade of wretched and capped-out Knicks teams, I would really, really like to see this new crew get some run before we blow the roster up again for the sake of a marquee name—even CP3. 

I know, I know, but hear me out.  The following are optimistic, but not unreasonable, next season stat lines for our current crew assuming people stay healthy, grow as players and gel as a team:

Felton: 16ppg, 8apg

No, he isn’t Chris Paul or Steve Nash, but he is perfectly capable distributor who can penetrate, run the pick and roll and excels at fast break situations.  His defense is also solid.  He is going to LOVE playing for D’Antoni, and with a p&r partner (Stat), a sniper on the wings (Gallo) and a greyhound to run with (Randolph) I don’t think those numbers are out of the question at all, especially if he can approximate his shooting %s from last year.

Gallo: 19ppg, 5rpg, 3 apg

The Cock will grow this season (pause).  If he could put up 15ppg in (basically) his rookie year, he should flourish with all the open looks he’ll have courtesy of Stat’s inside game and Felton’s penetration.  If he stays healthy, be more assertive and not just spot up, there’s no reason he can’t approach 20 ppg this year.

Randolph: 15ppg, 8rpg, 2bpg

I see a potential sixth man of the year in this kid.  Youth, health, maturity are all question marks, but he is D’Antoni’s wet dream and I hope he sees 30+ minutes per game off the bench this year.  His per-36 numbers from his first two years were around 18 and 11 or something obscene like that.  My numbers assume no progress toward a more consistent mid-range jumper, but if he develops that too… look out.

Amar’e: 22ppg, 9rpg

Amar’s is Amar’e.  It’s not like he’s some chump that Steve Nash magically turned into an All-NBA player.  While he might miss Nash (just like Nash will miss him… something nobody ever seems to mention), Felton is a perfectly adequate PG and they should be just fine playing together.  Most importantly, I think, is that Amar’e is too strong-willed a person to just fall flat after making himself the face of the new Knicks.  The guy got dissed all summer for not being Chris Bosh.  He’s going to come out with a chip on his shoulder, wanting to prove that he’s the best PF in the East.

That is a young, talented, cheap, exciting team—and I’m not even taking into account the contributions of TD, Chandler, Azubuike, Turiaf, Timo, Walker, Fields and Rautins.   And it’s got plenty of room for more additions down the line.  Maybe someone whose name rhymes with Sharmelo Blanthony?  So…

• Do you blow that up now in return for CP3?  Do you take on Emeka Okafor, a thoroughly mediocre C with the worst contract in the NBA (yes, worse that Joe Johnson IMO—JJ is at least an all-star) and kiss your dreams of Carmelo goodbye?  Because Okafor is essentially your 3rd max player, especially in the post-2011 CBA world where max deals and salary caps will almost certainly get smaller.  And not even Khan is going to take Okafor off our hands.  Is Paul, Stoudamire and Okafor a core that can contend with LeBron, Wade and Bosh?  

• If somehow the Hornets are willing to give up Paul without including Okafor, it’s going to involve getting a lot of young, cheap talent back.  Are we ready to give up both Randolph and Gallo (who, in my scenario above, would account for 34ppg and 13rpg next year, at a total salary of $5mm at only 21 years old) when we have already upgraded at PG this offseason?

• Do you roll the dice that Chris Paul is going to come back strong from major knee surgery (don’t compare him to Amar’e… his knee problems were four years ago) without having, you know, seen him play at all since his injury?

I don’t have good answers to any of these questions, which leads me to believe that patience would be our best virtue right now.  New Orleans is in the driver’s seat at the moment on any potential Paul deal, and we just got done gutting our old roster for a chance at a fresh start.  Tantalizing as he may be, I would rather the Knicks wait to see what we’re working with—at least until the trading deadline or Carmelo signs his extension, whichever comes first—before betting the farm all over again on pricey new acquisitions.