Knicks at Wizards

Just a few remaining thoughts on all-star weekend, which was very entertaining throughout.

Nate Robinson would do well in that three-point shootout. I believe Nate is the best three point shooter on the Knicks. I don’t know who controls it, but when Kobe went out with injury, they could have reached out to a team without a representative at all-star weekend. Instead they went with Dirk, who has been in the competition before, and was already there for the all-star game. It would be interesting to know how many NBA teams did not have any representatives this past weekend, besides the Knicks–and out of those omitted teams, which franchise is more important than New York’s? In any case, if it is exciting to see a short player in the dunk contest, when was the last time a player of Nate’s stature was a contestant in the three-point shootout?

LeBron James is quickly closing in on Kobe Bryant as the best basketball player in the NBA. The dunk he had toward the end of the second half where he powered through the lane was on three or four western conference all-stars. When was the last time you saw somebody dunk on four all-stars? He’s just a very powerful all-around player and yet he’s still humble enough to say on a regular basis that Kobe is still the best player in the league.

Senior VP of basketball operations Glen Grunwald was in New Orleans with Knicks owner Jim Dolan for the all-star festivities. Why was Glen there and not Isiah? In any case, Glen was sure to inform the press while he was in New Orleans that all Knicks players are on the market, a stark contrast from Isiah’s previous stances, which have ranged from “David Lee and Renaldo Balkman are off limits” to “everybody is off limits,” to a report that the only players Isiah likes on the Knicks are Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and David Lee.

There is a rumor going around that Kenny Smith is being considered for Knicks GM position, should it ever become available. I don’t see it happening, because everybody knows Kenny Smith’s personality through the great show Inside the NBA, and Knicks fans know Kenny even more through the games he calls through MSG. For Jim Dolan to hire someone who is already that familiar, it would be obvious to everyone how much of a pain in the ass Dolan’s media policies are, because you wouldn’t see the usual enthusiastic Kenny, you’d see the cautious, constantly looking over his shoulder Kenny, with the MSG PR representative glued to his hip at all times except for when he is down the road from the Knicks practice facility.

Orange and Blue mentioned he was not able to read the article I posted earlier on the possibility of Eddy Curry going to Miami. Sorry about that O&B. When I read the article, they didn’t require any registration. It basically said that Riley is very uncomfortable coaching a team without a big man, since he’s always had one. The author thinks Riles isn’t going to wait very long to secure one now that Shaq is gone in the trade for Shawn Marion. Since Riley loves a motivational challenge, and the Knicks are letting everyone know that Randolph and Curry are being shopped, the author speculated that Riley may go after Curry with some expiring contracts to offer in return.

For any of the Force MD’s who are attending the game tonight in D.C., enjoy the game. We’ll be looking for you on the screen in the living room.