Knicks Defense

Rumors are starting that the Knicks are trying to make a move before the trade deadline.

Lately I’d say that’s a good idea.

We need someone athletic and competent in the back court.  The combination of Nate, Chris Duhon, and Toney Douglas isn’t getting it done.

We need to try and steal a point guard somehow.

Otherwise our season is over.  Duhon isn’t working out, and Nate can’t provide enough defensive coverage.  He can’t set up a play very well either, unless he takes the shot.

I also think Al Has taken a backseat too much to Lee.  We were at our best when Al got the most shots.  Now it seems like Gallo and Lee take the most shots.

Maybe that needs to change too.

All the Knicks fans I’ve been speaking to lately are losing faith.
We’ve been losing in January, Lee got snubbed from the all-star team, and LeBron isn’t coming.
I still have hope for this year’s playoffs goal.
Was December just a fluke like when the Knicks won games in January with Larry Brown?
I say go back to basics. Sit Nate and play Larry Hughes and tighten up the rotation again.

Test blog from the droid

Danilo Gallinari is going to all-star weekend for the rookie-sophomore game.  I read that he will also help Nate Robinson compete in the dunk contest.  Still no word on the three point contest, but how could Gallo NOT be invited to that, when, the simple fact remains, that there isn’t one single player in the NBA who has made more three point shots this year than Danilo Gallinari.  Dude is camping out at that three point line every trip down the court. 

How many NBA teams besides the Knicks have a 6′11″ 40% volume shooter?  Dirk?  Certainly, though not so much in recent years.    …maybe only one other: Phoenix and some guy they have named Frye.

We chose Gallo’s when MSG offered us our choice of a signed Knick jersey for our season ticket subscription.  Sorry Mr. Wilson.

Right about now is a time when the NBA rumors are starting to pick up (thanks to the trade deadline next month, people want to play Nostradamus and predict player’s new homes). 

One game we lose by 50 points, the very next game, we win by 30.  That doesn’t just sound like the caliber of team we are facing, we have a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed:  we can’t compete with quick teams.  Some times we come out too slow and if Duhon isn’t hitting anything (he hasn’t been lately, I remember looking up at the scoreboard last night at one point in the second half and he had 13 assists and 0 points) the Knicks are dead in the water. 

We need one good point guard who can facilitate and score when needed.  What we have is one facilitator who slumps too often this year in Chris Duhon, and one small two guard in Nate who comes in off the bench and can score almost endlessly.  That’s one spot, yet we’re trying to compensate with two guys.  It is not going to work out in the long haul.

People are writing that we only had a good run in December and the Knicks have reverted to their pre-December form.  Certainly a 50-point blowout to Dallas supports this theory, but I can look to a recent game against the Lakers and see that they did not blow us out; we competed with them for three quarters before the inevitable happened.

Most of these guys won’t be here next year, true, but a hand full will stay.  I don’t think we need to sacrifice the future to get into the playoffs this year though.  We need to make a move in the back court before the trade deadline and I think the Knicks should try to move Nate in order to get some one more team-oriented, yet quicker than Chris Duhon.  Toney Douglas has not learned enough of Mike D’s system to pick up this role at this time.

…Speaking of all-star weekend, remember when David Lee had that monster game in the rookie-sophomore game and won the MVP?  They had players like Chris Paul on that team if I’m not mistaken.  I think Lee has paid his dues and should get invited back this year for the real deal all-star game.  Just bloggin’

We don’t have the talent level of the Los Angeles Lakers.

We have two guys in Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari that are going to be better than most of the players on the Lakers (except for their all star) but we don’t have the depth that the champs have and that is why we lost the ball game.  It was an exciting one to watch and we kept it close throughout.  Moral victories do nothing for me these days though.  8 years under Layden and the other guy and I’m ready to start winning ball games, no excuses.

We need to upgrade our point guard position, obviously.  Duhon is too inconsistent.  He struggles at Madison Square Garden, the world’s most critical arena.

The trade deadline is next month.  The free agency this summer is rich with two guard and small forwards.  Maybe Walsh can swing a deal now to improve the team?

The next quote President Obama should use in one of his speeches should be the Issac Newton quote about “standing on the shoulders of giants.” Dr. King did so much good for our country, it is only right that we should honor his memory with today’s national holiday.

Word is Nate will return to the dunk contest but I don’t see him winning it a third time in a row. How many times did guys like Dominique and Jordan win it? He’s not better than either of them.

My gut tells me Walsh will make a move before the trade deadline. Maybe it will involve the disgruntled Larry Hughes, but I hope it doesn’t. I think he’s a valued commodity on this team.

Oh yeah, Marbury has signed to play in China. Good luck with that, China.

Let’s see if Jordan Hill gets some more daylight today at the MLK game. He needs it.

I don’t know how the refs decided to go to the instant replay on that out-of-bounds play but DID NOT go to the instant replay when Gallinari hit that corner pocket three. Obviously it was under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, obviously Gallinari felt he was behind as he spoke to the refs on numerous occasions about the shot that should have been a three. it wouldn’t have made a difference, but it shows that the refs are inconsistent. if the refs want to rebuild their reputation as being fair and not gamblers or corrupt nike officials, they must be consistent when the call a basketball game, otherwise they’re reinforcing the stereotype of the biased NBA ref.

I think Lee messed up the comeback. Without Lee, we’re not in the game to begin with, but Lee forced a jumper at the top of the key, we could have gotten a better shot than that one.

nice to see jordan hill get some daylight and make something with the time he was given. d’antoni said he’ll play next game.

they interviewed Larry Hughes after the game, he was very pissed off and I’d imagine right now that he hates Mike D’Antoni. It was obvious.

the rotation should be:
PG Duhon
SG Chandler
C Lee
SF Gallinari
PF Jeffries

Backup guard: Hughes
Backup forward: Al Harrington
Backup center: Jonathan Bender

That’s it. No Nate. He disrupts team flow with chronic turnovers and bad decision making. If you need some baskets, play him sparingly in a freelance type setting and he’ll get his own shot, but as you saw the last several games, his quickness serves to no advantage defensively and the turnovers can be costly despite the offense he brings to the table.

Just bloggin’

The following was taken from hoopshype.com

>>>

Hi again people,

It’s been a busy week for me in Barcelona. Like in the NBA, we don’t take any breaks here for Christmas.

Had practice on Christmas Day… We had an important game against Real Madrid days later and we also practiced on New Year’s Day, so no rest for me. But it worked out perfect because we had two wins!

We’re on a roll right now. We have a good chemistry and we continue to build on that. My coach Xavi Pascual is doing a great job. We trust him, we go out and do the job he wants us to do. In this team, you have to sacrifice your minutes sometimes. All the great teams. They have to do it.

NBA CALL

I was very surprised to hear this week that the Knicks have inquired about my situation with FC Barcelona. Or maybe not so much. I go way back with the Knicks. On draft day, they traded for me. I had a great experience being there with Latrell Sprewell, Glen Rice, Chris Childs, Larry Johnson…

Maybe I was closer to Spree and Childs, although Johnson was like a big brother to me. I actually I had Christmas dinner with him and his family. That was a big learning experience thing for me. You know, I was in the NBA, I was alone and Larry Johnson helped me out. He actually bought me 20 suits because coach Jeff Van Gundy said I needed to wear suits at games. I wasn’t playing at the time. Coach said I was a rookie and I had to wait my turn. I had guys like Sprewell, who I spent time with playing PlayStation, playing Madden and NBA Live… Marcus Camby joined too.

I had a good time there. For them to inquire about me, it’s not the same as another team doing it. If another team does that, they don’t know me as well as the Knicks. Some of people at the front office that traded to get me, they’re still there. Of course I would have liked to get some playing time. I could never showcase my game, but you know, I understand that I was only 22 and Sprewell and Rice were playing in front of me. Those guys were making like $15 million a year. I just did my work everyday. I got to gym early, I left the gym late.

That year, although I was not playing, just watching those great players play, really helped my game. Playing with them at practice, I learned a lot. They were so talented, so smart. It was such a veteran team. The year before they got to the Finals and lost to the Spurs.

Knowing that they have expressed interest is a different feeling. If it was some other team, I wouldn’t really have any feelings about it. But it’s New York. And I never really got the chance to play there. Playing for a great college team at Cincinnati, being an All-American… And all of a sudden, I don’t play. You can’t understand that. It’s not that I couldn’t play. I just never got the chance. I got encouraging words: “Wait your turn, your time will come.”

Well, it has come. It didn’t come in the NBA, but it has come and I’m very happy where I am at right now. As far as the Knicks inquiring about me, I’m here in Spain playing for FC Barcelona and it’s my focus. Everything else is business. That’s why I have agents. Inquiring about me is one thing. Actually having me on their team… That’s not easy. But you never know.

MY TWO FAMILIES

I’m used to being without my family during Christmas. Actually I think it’s my fifth year in a row without them. My family will be here in Spain next month – first time in Europe!

Meanwhile, I have to say that the team is like a family. We had a team dinner the other day, which is nice. Players, managers, coaching staff… We had Secret Santa and we all had a great time with the presents we bought! I got one bottle of Moët & Chandon, which is a very nice present. I’m saving it for special occasions, though. That’s all I can say! I cannot tell which present I bought, but I’m positive the teammate who got it really liked it.

The fact that it’s Christmas time doesn’t matter when it comes to remembering my brother, murdered when I was young. It’s an everyday thing. I don’t have any sad feelings about that situation. Obviously I struggled with it when I was a kid, but I overcame that situation and it made me who I am. It shaped my life. There’s two ways to go when bad situations happen to you… You can go down or you can go up. It motivated me to do everything the right way. It motivated me to stay on the basketball court, staying in the classroom and do my studies.

When somebody is close to you, somebody who cares about you, plays basketball with you, it’s a difficult thing. My family is strong, they’ve been through a lot. We stuck together in that situation. Whatever I imagine, I can do it. That’s my thing. Wherever my career takes me – NBA, Spain, or somewhere else – I’ll continue to do it. Never had an ego about it. It’s not so much exactly about the ACB, the NBA, the Euroleague… It’s my League, it’s where I am at.

MY TAKE ON ARENAS

Everybody has an opinion on carrying a gun. For me, it’s a very sensitive subject. I mean, my brother was a victim of gun violence. But if people feel they need to carry a gun and they got a legal permit to carry one, then they should carry a gun. That said, bringing guns in a locker room… Come on.

Arenas made that decision. Now there could be consequences. It’s up to the grand jury to decide his fate.

About the gambling thing, well, I know very well that kind of game.. Back in NYC, it’s called In-Between. It’s a game where money goes away very, very fast. When guys played it on a two-hour flight, I liked to watch it, not playing it. It happens: you play, you lose, big debts, and then there’s guys that don’t want to pay, or they pay late.

Nobody knows what happened exactly. Only Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. This next week maybe we will know what really happened. I don’t like speculation because I’ve been in situations where people talked a lot about me. Last year, they speculated about this passport issue I had. At the end, none of the things they said in the newspapers were true. And that’s why Arenas said he’s gonna sue the New York Post. In the States, you cannot write bad things about people if you don’t have the facts. Here in Europe, people write things all the time, and people then think everything is true. I never had anything to do with the passport issue. You can’t write false information about people!

Happy New Year everybody!

For all intensive purposes, the rockets, the team that squeaked by the knicks last night, just gave the lakers a run for their money, right down to the last minute of the fourth quarter.

The true litmus test for these knicks will be how they respond to last night’s loss when they face the oklahoma city thunder.

Landry’s playing? Free Jordan Hill!

Just bloggin’