Yardbarker: New York Knicks

Report: Iverson to Rejoin Sixers on Monday

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:00:08 -0500

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni Following the 11th hour collapse of negotiations between Allen Iverson and the New York Knicks two weeks ago, it’s important to tread carefully when it comes to this story. There are no guarantees. According to ESPN, however, talks between A.I. and his former team went really well yesterday in Dallas, and the Sixers could have Iverson back in uniform next week against the Nuggets in Philly. And what a scene that would be: Two sources close to the situat...

Rental Players Lee and Robinson Could Be Tough for Knicks to Retain

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:30:00 -0500

by Chris TomassonFiled under: KnicksLife in the on-deck circle has its challenges. If the New York Knicks can't find anybody better next season for their front line, they can bring back David Lee. If the Knicks can't find anybody better for their backcourt, they can re-sign Nate Robinson. Meanwhile, the two players on one-year contracts are doing what they can for the Knicks, who will use their $20 million-plus of salary-cap room next summer to look for guys better than Lee and Robins...

Is A Doomsday 2010 Really That Terrible For The Knicks?

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:53:15 -0500

Imagine a “Doomsday Summer Of 2010″ scenario Knicks fans. LeBron resigns with Cleveland, Brandon Jennings has become a megastar, the cap comes in at the lowest expected number, and Eddy Curry/Jared Jeffries are both still wearing orange and blue. All hope is lost and Donnie Walsh is a failure….right? Wrong. Even in a worst case scenario the Knicks still have a lot of hope. While fans and the media will anoint any Non-LeBron team a failure the truth is there are still a ton of ways the Knicks can make it work. So lets say the Knicks can’t make any roster moves between now and next summers free agency. Here’s their commitments (rounded to the nearest million): Eddy Curry (12) Jared Jeffries (7) Danilo Gallinari (3) Jordan Hill (3) Wilson Chandler (2) Toney Douglas (1) =$28 Mill Now since the Knicks only have 6 players under contract the NBA, under the salary cap rules, would add six placeholder players who would make the leauge minimum. In other words roughly $3 million worth of additional salary. Keeping with the worst case scenario theme let’s say the NBA salary cap comes in at $50 million. With the Knicks committed to $31 million in payroll they would be $19 million under the cap. What could the Knicks do with that money? Offer Rudy Gay, a restricted free agent, enough money Memphis can’t afford to match it. Gay is a guy who will re-energize NY. He’s a borderline all-star right now but will thrive in an uptempo offense. He needs to refine his defense to take his game to the next level but at only 23 and already showing signs of taking the leap. Of the players of the 2006 draft class only Rondo, Roy, Aldridge and Bargnani got extensions. If Memphis was prepared to pay Gay big time money wouldn’t they Continue reading Is A Doomsday 2010 Really That Terrible For The Knicks?

Patrick Ewing Wants To Coach The Nets

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:36:59 -0500

The most famous Jamaican to play in the NBA and former New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing says he would “love to coach the Nets”, who just axed Lawrence Frank. I’m still amazed that Ewing is an assistant coach because he doesn’t really say much, but with his experience this might be an idea worth tossing around if you’re the [...]

Orlando Magic News & Notes:

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:57:40 -0500

The Magic defeated the New York Knicks 114-102 on Sunday night. Click here to read my recap and analysis. Click here to see the New York Daily News’ take on the game. The Magic won every game on their three game road trip. Dwight Howard discusses that success on his official blog. We had a really tough stretch [...]

Top 5 Coaching Options For The Nets

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:45:29 -0500

Patrick Ewing hasn’t wore a New York Knicks uniform in about a decade, but he still gets more love than any Knick on the current roster every time he returns home as an assistant coach for the Magic. When he was shown on the Jumbotron during last night’s Knicks/Magic game, the fans gave him a [...]

Preview: Orlando Magic @ New York Knicks

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:02:41 -0500

The Orlando Magic will travel to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, to take on the New York Knicks tonight. Orlando is coming off of their second come-from-behind in a row after beating the Milwaukee Bucks 100-98 on Saturday night. The Knicks come in reeling. They have lost their last four games and are just [...]

Day 32 of 170: Al Harrington Never Quits

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:42:32 -0500

Line of the Night: As usual, the Knicks’ game was full of fantasy goodness, starting with Al Harrington (1.36). Harrington dropped 41 points on the Nuggets off the bench for the Knicks, adding 10 boards, 4 threes, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 38 minutes. It’s amazing that – through 16 games at least – [...]

Robinson Only Wants to Defend Dunk Title Against LeBron

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:30:00 -0500

by Chris TomassonFiled under: Cavaliers, Knicks, FanHouse Exclusive DENVER -- Nate Robinson is willing to defend his NBA dunk title during All-Star Weekend in February under one condition: he wants to face LeBron James. And he vows to win if given that opportunity. "If LeBron is in it, I am,'' Robinson, a 5-foot-9 New York guard said in an interview Friday with FanHouse about the Cleveland star who never has been in a dunk contest in his six previous NBA seasons. "If he'...

NBA = Not Basketball Anymore

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:58:00 -0500

Many folks may catch the bottom line or watch the "exciting" SportsCenter highlights and get the wrong idea. Others will check out the 128-125 Knicks-Nuggets box score and assume this must have been NBA action at its finest. Call me an old-school cynic, but I strenuously object.

Last night I found myself back in the apartment post-Thanksgiving extravaganza with very little to do. It was a weird feeling. Don't get me wrong, weird and good. Friday night. Already two days off and we haven't crossed over into weekend territory. No doubt a hundred times better than a Monday. Still, something about it made it seem alternate universe. Hence, why for some strange reason I found myself watching nearly the entire Knicks-Nuggets game.

My viewing of an entire NBA regular season game, much less a Knicks game, is a very, very rare occurence these days. What I saw was disturbing. In short, this was a brand of basketball that was almost completely foreign. Not to get all "back in the day" here, but what was going on at the Pepsi Center was ugly to watch, no matter how close or palatable it looked on the scoreboard. Maybe this is just perception and was skewed because this was the Knicks and Nuggets (and their respective brands of basketball), but the game lacked any flow. There were no pretty fast breaks, no brilliantly-executed sets, very few nifty two-man games. Nary a pick and roll.

I guess for folks who enjoy one-on-one basketball it doesn't get much better. Melo is a bonafide mega scoring star and Al Harrington has some pretty unique talents in terms of putting the ball in the hoop as well. Add folks like Larry Hughes, Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith who've never met a shot they didn't like, and it was a get-out-of-my-way-I'll-create-myself-a-shot extravaganza.

However, if basketball was taught to you as any sort of a team sport...if passing the ball a few times in the hopes of improving the percentage shot attempted was part of the fundamentals you learned...should ball movement and defense be an element of what can make professional basketball potetry in motion...this game was a clinic in how not to play the game.

Is there a point to this rant? I'm not sure. I do know one thing. It's confirmd I can continue my hiatus from the Knicks for a few more years. Now, if you'll excuse me there appears to be a game of pigskin being played on Smurf Turf which I shall return my attention.

Knicks Sticking With Struggling Duhon

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:00:35 -0500

Everyone else on the planet knows that Chris Duhon is terrible, but the Knicks (especially his coach, Mike D’Antoni) are still in denial: “Eventually a slump becomes a standard. Perhaps Chris Duhon’s strong first half last season was the exception rather than the rule. If that’s the case, what he’s shown in most of the calendar year of 2009 - especially in these first 15 games of the season - should be cause for concern for the Knicks, whose anemic offense has h...

The Top 5 Turkeys of the NBA Season

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:45:00 -0500

It's Thanksgiving and that means it's time for unoriginal columns/blogs like this one. 5. Nate Robinson - Aside from their lack of defense, Nate's three-point heave at the other team's basket perfectly captures the dysfunction that is the Knicks. 4. Joey Crawford - This notorious referee made this list the night he slapped Doc Rivers and Kendrick Perkins with technical fouls for non-verbal gestures during the 4th quarter of a close game with Indy. I can't tell you how...

Preview: Knicks at Kings

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:00:27 -0500

by Mike Groll - AP View full size photo » That's low, Al Harrington. Real fricking low. THE OPPONENT This is going to blow your fricking mind: the Knicks defense is better than the Knicks offense. That is more of a commentary on the dreadful shooting the Knicks have given the world this season. New York ranks 22nd in effective field goal percentage, and 24th in three-point shooting. This is particularly problematic b...

An Angry Message For The Sports Fella, From The Star Of TV's Brooklyn Bridge

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:15:55 -0500

Not long ago, Knicks fan Danny Lanzetta, the child lead in one of those pleasant 1990s-era CBS shows, sent Bill Simmons an e-mail debunking his Ewing Theory. Simmons ignored him. So Danny did the next best thing: He e-mailed us. And why not? Since we're now apparently a detective agency and a recruiting service, I see no reason why we can't also serve as Bill Simmons' spam filter. Here's Danny's e-mail to us: Hello Folks: I know you guys are usually big fans of Bill Simmo...

Bad season is the capper for Mike D'Antoni's New York Knicks

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Team is biding its time (and losing a lot) until summer, when it hopes to lure LeBron James and another free agent -- only its salary-cap room isn't as 'maximum' as it thought. At least coach still has a sense of humor. There is a time for the New York Knicks -- at least in theory -- but this isn't it.

Nate Robinson, Getting His Terrible Teams Mixed Up

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:45:00 -0500

As if the 85-point lead the YES Network spotted them wasn't enough, the Nets also received help from an unlikely source: Nate Robinson shooting at the wrong basket. (I only say "unlikely" because the shot actually went in.) As time expired in the first quarter, the Knicks inbounded the ball with half a second left. Nate Robinson, rather than quietly hand the ball to an official, or even chuck a desperation heave 80 feet down the court, decided to show what a good three-point sho...

No, Nate Robinson, Mike D'Antoni Will Not Love Your Shot on Your Own Basket

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:19:52 -0500

The New York Knicks won today! They beat the Nets, which I believe is about the same level of competition as Montana junior varsity hoops, but it's still a win. Nate Robinson must have known that win was coming. Why else would he take a shot -- and make it -- on his own basket as time expired in the first quarter? Certainly, it wasn't a deliberate attempt to provoke Mike D'Antoni into the sort of mustachioed rage that would be YouTube gold. Right? The period ended with a liv...

Video: Nate Robinson shoots on wrong basket, D'Antoni snaps

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:10:12 -0500

Funny moment from Saturday's Anti-NBA Finals game: 0.5 seconds left in the first quarter. Knicks inbound the ball to guard Nate Robinson(notes). The New York guard, for whatever reason, turns and purposely heaves a 30-foot shot at the Nets' basket. Goes in. Cue mustache rage.Now, as you can see, the shot came just after the buzzer, but Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni was absolutely livid. He even stormed a few feet onto the court and started yelling at Nate. Nate's classic response...