Half way through the season defenders and I won’t lie to you: it has been a tough season for the orange and blue. I want to know how everyone sees this going down, check out this survey and please take the time to be honest about these knicks.

Any doubt since Oden is out, that this young man will be the next rookie of the year? Al Horford may give him a run for his money in the second half of the season, but Kevin Durant is a safe bet to be one of the front runners by the end of this season. I haven’t seen much of his game in the NBA, but I did catch many of his college games last season on ESPN, and they were all phenomenal. He’s a pure scorer and is averaging 20.3p 4.6r and 1.3bl in his rookie campaign thus far. It gets boring to hear Charles Barkley saying every five seconds on TNT how this guy needs to put on weight at 6’9″, 215lbs, but I can only imagine his game would improve once he does.

A lot has been made about the roll the Knicks fans at the garden have had in the team’s recent struggles. The home crowd should cheer for the home team, I believe that, and I’ve never booed any of the games I’ve been to, even when they got blown out up in Boston earlier this year or when they were killing Marbury at this time last season at the Garden. Seems everytime they’d interview Marbury after one of those games, he’d always have the same response: “that’s New York. They’re going to boo if you don’t bring it,” if I can paraphrase last year’s Stephon.

If you want to show the Garden crowd how to really support the home team, check out this link, there are some good deals there on tickets for the Seattle game.

Stephon probably isn’t ready to play yet, but I don’t question by now, he wants to go out there and help the team win some ball games. Randolph shot his way out of his slump last game, so we’ve got one of our two big guys ready to step up and play basketball. Hopefully Eddy Curry isn’t too far behind… Maybe now that Malik Rose has been moved to the IR list, Chandler may actually get some minutes this month. He could be good for the knicks, last time I remember him in a Knicks jersey it was against the Nets in the preseason and there were some encouraging signs he can contribute at the NBA level. Crawford must really try to shift his focus on getting the other players in the starting five going, I’ve seen him do it before, so I know he is capable of finding his rhythm without it being to the detriment of the team.

Kurt Thomas will be back in the Garden, that should be interesting, and the Sonics have other weapons in Chris Wilcox, Earl Watson, WallyWorld, Delonte West, and former Knick guard Gerald Wilkins’ son, Damien, who is putting up solid numbers as a starter for the Sonics in his fourth year in the NBA. Oh, and watch out for the other rookie, Jeff Green, he’s a baller too.

Seattle comes to New York at 5-17, having been blown out by the Bulls 123-96 in the first of a back-to-back on the road.

The New York Knicks (2-7) should be well rested and ready to go when they taken on top-flight point guard Baron Davis and the Golden State Warriors (2-6) tonight at 7:30pm. The Knicks look to stop their current losing streak which is now at six games, but the Warriors won’t go without putting up a fight, having just defeated the Raptors in Toronto. Don’t let the Warriors’ record fool you into thinking this will be an easy win, they’re a western conference playoff team who just got Stephen Jackson back and have now won two in a row after starting the season 0-6. Ellis isn’t shooting as well thus far this season. The knicks need to make sure to box out Andris Biedrins who is a walking double-double not unlike D Lee, only taller.

The keys to victory for the Knicks will be the same throughout the season: good ball rotation (don’t over-dribble, don’t over-rely on freelance scoring) get the ball inside, reduce turnovers, make free-throws (assuming you’re getting to the line), guard the perimeter scorers. The knicks simply must do all of these things if they’re going to turn it around this season. Sink or swim.

NBA.com has an interesting preview article here.

I’ll be unable to watch this one as I will be away from the TV. Hold the fort down as always.

This man is, that’s all. Dwight Howard. If anyone in the NBA could lay a quarter on the top of the backboard, my money would be on Dwight.

My brother Dollar Bilz is a bigtime Magic fan (and he roots for the Knicks as his second favorite team) and he’s given me the scouting report on how Rashard Lewis is doing down in O-town with Mr. Howard. Apparently Lewis has been raining three’s (7-9 against Minnesota) with defenders draped over him, so you know it is going to be interesting to watch a Knicks team that doesn’t like to guard the three point line over the years. Should be another great game, I’m looking forward to seeing more from this souped up knicks team. Rashard is another one of those guys like Zach, hanging out in the relatively small media markets of the northwest, they’re not on everybody’s radar, despite very impressive skills.

Mike Dougherty reports Eddy Curry has been re-examined and will practice with the team as soon as tomorrow.

This is great news for Knicks fans because it gives the team a chance to develop a rotation with chemistry, particularly what to do with ZBo and Curry in the game.

Zbo showed an ability to pass the ball in the Maccabi game on Thursday, look for an offense that will see more touches with him on the high post, with Curry the first option on the right block from 5 feet deep.

Eddy Curry may be the key player to this team because he needs to keep his scoring up while improving defensively. With Lee and Randolph in the lineup he may not need to get double-digit rebounds (how many teams have two, let alone three double-digit rebounders?) but Curry absolutely needs to be more of a defensive presence if the Knicks are to win. Curry came in to camp 20lbs lighter than his weight last year, which is a good sign in terms of his ability to leave the ground quicker and also in terms of second efforts in the paint.

Preseason game two has come and gone, and the Knicks are now 2-0. It was admittedly a tough game to watch, but I’m encouraged by some of what I saw and look forward to seeing this Knicks team again as they continue to learn how to play together.

Early on the Knicks looked nervous, Stephon and Quentin missed some easy buckets I’d like to think they’d make once they get into regular season rhythem.

Mardy’s got no hops yet coming off surgery, yet he did some great stuff including a spin move in the paint that dazzled. He had a few looks at the basket where it seemed he had no lift. I know from the Wheelchair Charity game last year that Mardy can throw it down, so I hope with more time he can redevelop his leaping ability. His defense was still very good, and he picked somebody’s pocket out there and pushed the ball on the break. That’s what I like to see from Mardy Collins.

Fred Jones played solid defense and challenged/altered some shots in the paint. I’d hate to think of what would happen if it were against a more athletic NBA player, Fred might get dunked on some times, but nobody said good defensive players don’t ever get dunked on–ask Mutumbo about that.

Nate looked like a real distributor out there. I’m liking what I’m seeing this year. His jumper looked good too–lookout AH7.

We’ve heard that Nate and Fred would be picking up their man at 3/4 court, yet I didn’t see much full court press tonight; I suppose we didn’t need it once New York took the lead.

Physically, Fizer looked like Boozer out there. He put on some weight while he’s been overseas.

I noticed they played Mardy at the Small Forward position some tonight, with Fred Jones and Nate Robinson in the back court. Very interesting lineup choice. There was some good chemistry between Nate and Fred, looks like that second unit is going to be a terror.

But what stood out most in my mind was Zach Randolph’s performance. He didn’t hit too many from the perimeter as he did in the first preseason game, but instead he showed great ability to score the ball with his lefty shot. Early on ZBO and Stephon played some promising two-man game, something to look forward to this season. All the rumors that ZBO doesn’t pass the ball once he gets it seem to be false, because I saw Zach passing to everybody out there, he just didn’t get any assists out of it.

Jared Jeffries had a nice dunk on the break, but he and Mardy still seem to be passing up open shots, I hope they develop the confidence and skill to take–and make–that shot this season.

The rookies: Chandler is very athletic, he has a shot too. Too bad Jared Jordan, Demetris Nichols and Randolph Morris played limited minutes, I’d like to see more from them in the next game.

Overall they looked rusty, but I like the team passing and I’m more than impressed that New York only had 11 turnovers for the game.

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I’m a lefty myself so it is nice to see such great lefties on this team like ZBO and DLee.

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I tried to get tickets to this game, the cheapest they had today at the Garden Box Office was $250. I couldn’t bring myself to pay that much for a game that doesn’t matter, even if it is for chairty. Outside MSG they were selling Maccabi jerseys and everything was very pro Maccabi Elite, I did not see much Knicks stuff at the merchandise tables. Suffice to say the crowd wasn’t a knicks crowd, they were still cheering for Israel despite being down by 20 in the fourth quarter.

Articles like these are exactly the kind that motivated me to start knicksdefense.com. I don’t even have time right now to fully dissect this garbage, trying to make the post office downtown, but I will say that nosebleeds still cost $10, not $50 as this bozo implies.

“Will things go better this year? Thomas sent up-and-comer Channing Frye to the Portland Trailblazers (with Steve Francis) for Zach Randolph. He’s a perfect fit with the Knicks’ new mentality: anything goes, and nobody wins.”

HAHA! “Up and coming” Channing and franchise for Zbo is a bad deal according to this clown. Whatever.

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It is worse than I initially thought. It is actually an entire issue devoted to Knicks bashing.

Probably not the last one to come, either. There is a website called Bleacher Report where literally anyone can write a sports article and be published by them. It is actually a sweet deal for the owners of the site, grant these writers access to the site so they can get free content. They get the rights to the articles, make profit off the banners and even have final editing rights before publishing. Here is such an article, a preview article on the knicks by a guy named Harris Beringer. Already sounds like a fantasy league guy to me. Below is my response. Unfortunately, you have to register to post your reply, so this guy may never know just how off I find his article to be.

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I have to admit, this is absolutely the worst preview article I’ve ever read in my life.

there is no attempt to be unbiased, you could have effectively made the same case by editing down your article to “the knicks suck,” –i would have respected you more for it.

You dismiss Zach Randolph’s contributions to the team because of David Lee’s stats and what Randolph Morris did in summer league against rookie competition? Zach Randoph has been putting up 20 and 10 against the best power forwards in the league (previously found in the western conference) for years and Randolph Morris hasn’t even played 21 minutes in a single game yet, discussion over. David Lee still can’t shoot, Zach Randolph has incredible range for a big man, not to mention an array of moves in the paint. yes, 6’9″, 255lbs IS a big man. Karl Malone was a big man, Carlos Boozer is a big man, Zach Randolph is a big man. when you dominate all other power forwards in the league, you have earned the title big man.

Stephon Marbury’s game has statistically declined, which probably would matter to a fantasy basketball fan with no true concept of the game, but matters very little when the team is shifting it’s offense from the perimeter to the paint. you could have easily compared his numbers last year to the older Chauncey Billups, but instead focused strictly on the negative.

your synopsis of Crawford: “dump the ball to curry,” easier said than done pal. you make it sound like you could go out there and do it yourself. when the entire league knows you are trying to get the ball to one guy on the post, and a certain player has a knack for doing just that, you shouldn’t so easily dismiss the chemistry they have.

On Q getting hurt this season: well, you may have a point there, but I’ve never heard of any writer saying, “well, he’ll probably get hurt and miss a lot of time,” something is wrong with the way you phrase that. people may think it, but it is usually less negatively said.

eddy curry: again, you focused on the negative. you didn’t mention that his offensive game on the low block was unstoppable, which is true. it is also true that he can’t play a lick of defense, but if you are going to talk about the coin, why not present both sides of the matter?

“Rookies Wilson Chandler and Demetris Nichols may be assigned to the NBDL.” Shows how little you know about the knicks. they never share their players with the D league. I’d bet the farm they never play D league for one minute as knicks property.

Mardy Collins never punched a player in his life, that was Carmelo Anthony. You have the facts mixed up. Is that all you know about Mardy Collins? He did average 14p 6r 6a 2st per game over the last month of the regular season, in case you didn’t know.

A recent article by SI reports that Jermaine O’Neal wants to be traded to either the Lakers to play with Kobe, or the Nets to play with Jason Kidd.

The Nets?

Imagine an Atlantic Division where you have Chris Bosh in Toronto, Kevin Garnett in Boston, Zach Randolph in New York and Jermaine O’Neal in New Jersey, all playing each other every other night? We’re 3/4 already there. In terms of power, the East could be the new West, because those are some dominant players beating each other up on a regular basis!

And I like Zach Randolph amongst those guys, because the man is in his prime, not on the decline, not still on the rise (of the other three, make what connections you will). Randolph might not be the best defender of the bunch, but he is a top tier rebounder and probably THE BEST scorer of the bunch. The combination of his power, lateral quickness and deadly lefty jump shot make him a unique power forward in this league.

I know that both the Lakers and Nets would like to have Jemaine O’Neal, but right now, I’m doubting LA will get it done, because they foolishly think Andrew Bynum is worth more in the future than either Jermaine O’Neal or Jason Kidd is currently. If I were the Lakers, I would give up on Bynum and go after Jason Kidd to keep Kobe happy, but this guy Mitch Kupchak is proving to be an idiot of Scott Layden magnitude, so, good luck with that.