Look, the offense is much worse even though the players are mostly the same. The defense appears to be much improved but that's largely because Tyson is one of the best in the game.

It's no wonder the one change that coincided with the the Knicks drop from mediocre to bad. Mike Woodson. He is a terrible coach in every way. Well-coached teams know exactly what to do against the Knicks because they're so predictable. Check the Knicks' wins this season. Pretty much a who's who of the worst coaches in the NBA.

Look, it even says so here:

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/218746/Rivals_Believe_Knicks_Defense_Too_Predictable

I don't think he's coming back any time soon.

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"Williams has grown to enjoy living in New York and he is excited about the off-the-court business opportunities the city provides, so if Howard doesn't join him with the Nets, he would love to remain in New York and play for the Knicks, sources said. While no trade talks have taken place between the clubs, the Knicks could theoretically offer either Carmelo Anthony or Amare Stoudemire, thus giving the Nets a superstar to lead them to Brooklyn. "

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7484258/new-jersey-nets-deron-williams-list-teams-go-to

I don't think the Knicks are ready to play basketball, and their offense has fallen apart. Everyone is hating Toney, but he was not this bad in the past. He has no one to pass to, pressure is up, so he is very tentative. He and Landry look like they've lost all confidence in their ability to play basketball. Chandler also is feeling too much pressure be a shotblocking presence, so he's blocking shots instead of playing his usual D. And of course the other Knicks let their guys run right past them so Chandler has to step up.

The entire bench is either not ready yet or totally washed up.

Amar'e seriously looks worse than ever and this was my biggest fear from the end of last season. If Amar'e hadn't retired this summer the Knicks would still have two big weapons, they'd have more shot opportunities, they wouldn't be falling behind and giving up.

The Knicks offense right now are Melo trying to carry the team, and Balkman at his best. Everyone else stands around and does nothing. Oversimplifying the problem, but that's about it. They might as well get Novak more corner shots and let Jordan show some more, maybe as the first guy off the bench. Send Amar'e over to Germany to get the Kobe/A-Rod treatment. He'll be fine in 2 months.

Should be noted that he's led his team to a 13-0 record in the much improved Chinese CBA. Beijing doesn't have the talent or especially the budget of other teams in the league, but you can't argue with the results.

All indications are he's turned himself into a real leader and a very efficient player.

Maybe the lightbulb finally came on? You can't ever really rule that out when it comes to these ridiculously talented guys. Sometimes its a mental thing, and he seems to be in a very good place right now.

From Truehoop http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/34373/stephon-marbury-changed-man

The good news: The Nets are totally screwed so there's some easy wins. I can't imagine Dwight Howard wanting to go to a team with just Deron Williams and a bunch of 9th men.

The bad news: It looks like Memphis and Denver will still be forces to be reckoned with. It seems the Knicks overpaid, but that's what often is required to get a guy away from a championship team. Damn the Golden State Warriors for driving up the prices on centers. $11 million for DeAndre Jordan too? Come on.

Who plans to get season tickets? I read they'll go on sale tomorrow.

I know prices supposedly went up a lot, but the Knicks should have a great team and the Garden is getting a big makeover.

This is so cool: http://www.msgtransformation.com/Transformation.aspx

I don't know how they fit all the changes into the Garden. To anyone who's been there lately, is it currently better than it was?

I was thinking about how guys like Jared Jeffries and Big Baby are more valuable than conventional stats indicate because they draw a lot of charges. Then I thought about how it should be in a stat called Possession Changers. It would be charges taken + blocks that do not give the ball back to the other team + steals. Anyone think it's a good idea? If the first two parts of the stat are available anywhere, please let me know.

Yeah, I know that college performance is what matters most. But there are some thoughts that some guys might be too slow, or too weak for the NBA. This is where the combine can help.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6384752

Adelman has left the Rockets. He is one of the best coaches in the NBA. He has gotten the most out of his players for years, and overachieved frequently. The Rockets were significantly better than the Knicks this year, despite no stars and a 6'6" center. He was 2nd for coach of the year 4 times.

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This is an argument that the Knicks can improve with more time playing together, and that they don't need a center any more than they need a tall/defensive forward.

The Knicks most used lineup this season was:

http://www.82games.com/1011/1011NYK2.HTM

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A few of the more observant people here saw that STAT's not played too well lately. He hasn't had the same bounce in his step. Some think he's injured, and maybe he is. After the game last night, he and D'Antoni both admitted he's been tired.

D'Antoni said that Amar'e's been tired but didn't mention any solutions, as usual. Amar'e said he realized he was tired in the first quarter but decided to just play through it. Maybe he shouldn't have taken all those shots when he knew he didn't have it.

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Hey, look, an article that uses actual numbers to show exactly what all Melo critics have said for months or years. Without Melo, the Nuggets have been the best defensive team in the NBA. That's despite playing former Knicks significant minutes. The same Knicks who Melo lovers have said are role players and poor defenders. That's despite not having many practices to build chemistry. That's even with Ty Lawson as the PG, a guy who was considered too small to defend at the NBA level, but who the Knicks could have and should have drafted. I strongly supported drafting him, but Donnie got a big corpse called Jordan Hill instead.

On offense, Danilo Gallinari has outplayed Carmelo Anthony. Anyone who watches basketball and understands that games are won by substance, not flash, knew that a Melo-Danilo swap wasn't too lopsided in terms of talent. Then when you consider the Knicks sent over Wilson Chandler, an actual center, and their starting point guard, and paid Carmelo max money to bring down the team, how does anyone still consider it good?

Oh yeah, Knicks are relevant again.  Relevant as a joke for Letterman.

Of course some people will say I should just stop saying I'm a Knicks fan if I think the team made bad moves. Is that how you decide what team to support? You only support teams who make good moves? Yeah, what a fan.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=haberstroh_tom&id=6249783

I think it's pretty obvious.

Fab Melo and Isaiah Thomas.

But in all seriousness, I'm glad the Knicks are projected to get Jimmer. Maybe he can be their Stephen Curry. At worst, he's a huge upgrade over Andy Rautins.

In the second round, John Leuer, Rick Jackson, and Keith Benson. The Knicks might as well buy two extra picks. And seriously, forget about Jared Jeffries.

And maybe consider signing Robert Swift. He's getting 20-20 games with the Tokyo Apache. He looks like this now: http://www.tokyoapache.com/en/team-2010/roster/robert-swift/ and apparently he's part Japanese.

1) What does it say on Sheldon Williams' jersey? She. Williams? Is he S. Williams and Shawne just Williams?

2) Have NBA 2k11 rosters been updated yet? Are the Knicks any better there after this trade? I figure their ranking would be better but maybe they'd be harder to play as without Gallinari's 3 point shooting.

3) Is the Go NY, Go NY, Go video no longer playing at MSG since half the players were traded? What about the video asking you to get louder where a few players try to raise the volume needle?

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The package doesn't actually say the word Snuggie, so I don't know how it compares to any others, but now I look like Laundry Fields in my spare time. I was disappointed to learn there's no back. You just slip it on your front. It's about 6 feet long, so it will cover your feet unless you're as tall as Landry. Should you buy one? Find out after the jump-

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I saw that Anthony Randolph only had 3 minutes in last night's win over the Bulls, which makes some sense considering his poor preseason and injury. However, he's supposed to a great young player with a lot of upside, and he figures to get 20-30 minutes a game. Looking through how the minutes were divided last night, there don't appear to be any available minutes.

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Ryan Wittman, the star of the Cornell basketball team, signed an NBA summer league deal.

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Now that Kerr left the GM spot in Phoenix, people are talking again about how Phoenix didn't have the defense to win it all, and how the D'Antoni/Gentry system just can't win because of lack of defense. Some comments here and on ESPN even say it's a fact that defense wins championships. That really annoys me because it's completely false.

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With the 6th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks selected Danilo Gallinari, a 6′10″ forward with a sweet stroke, questionable defensive ability, limited assists, and a health issue. Some experts clamored for Eric Gordon, the 6′3″ guard with a sweet stroke, questionable defensive ability, limited assists, and a health issue. Danilo was 225 pounds and too thin to defend other forwards. Eric was 225 pounds and too heavy to defend other guards.

I know most of you guys are gaga over rooster, but are any of you regretting the draft pick?

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He's a free agent, only 24, and played well for Minnesota in 2007-2008, and for Sacramento the last half of 2008-2009. He only had half of a bad season, but he's been hurt, so that may be the reason. He's shown much better shooting ability than any other Knicks SG option, and he gets a good number of steals (1.5 per 36 minutes).

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