Via ESPN

The Nuggets and new vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, just introduced Tuesday to the local media, are not close to announcing a Carmelo Anthony trade.

Sorry to disappoint again: Anthony isn’t even on the market.

Not yet, anyway…The Nuggets can do nothing to prevent the future of Anthony – along with Chris Paul and Deron Williams (“I have a feeling he’s next for all these trade stories,” one Western Conference team official said of D-Will) – from becoming the new season’s sidebar obsession to the actual basketball. But they can tell teams that call about Anthony that they’re not ready to discuss potential Melo trade scenarios.

Let the CP3-D-Will debate begin…

Via Slam

If your head is spinning, think of it this way. If an NFL team has a free agent whom they don’t feel confident they can re-sign to a long-term deal, they hold the card of applying the franchise tag and either retaining the player’s services for another year — albeit at a high price — or receiving two first rounders, depending on how the scenario develops.

Given the power exerted by NBA players during this summer’s free agency period, and the power plays Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony have attempted on their current teams, the franchise tag would seem to be an appealing option for owners if they want to keep a star player from leaving via free agency. One former general manager agrees.

“The franchise tag would be a huge hit for the owners,” said Steve Kerr, who returned to TNT’s broadcast booth as its lead game analyst after three years as general manager of the Phoenix Suns. “One of the biggest issues they’re trying to accomplish with this next CBA is cutting down the length of guaranteed contracts and getting rid of dead money — when a guy signs a $100 million deal and he gets injured.”

Or basically the Eddy Curry situation…Look, it’s a good idea and we know football is a different animal but most players, particularly stars, hate the franchise tag. It causes great friction. But that’s because NFL players need guaranteed money in lump sums. I believe it could be good for the league, but I don’t know if the players would ever sign for it.

Without getting into the argument of whether or not a Mike D’Antoni coached team is capable of defending, let’s keep one thing in mind.  Every team in the NBA plays defense.  It is a fundamental part of the game.  How well teams play defense is another story and something I am willing to discuss in this article.

Last season, the Knicks did not play defense well as a team.  However, before Jared Jeffries was dealt, the team did have some success with him defending at the top of a zone.  His length and quickness helped to contain the opposition. 

With a potential starting line-up of Ray Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph, Amare Stoudemire, and Ronnie Turiaf, the Knicks figure to have more length than any other team in the league.  With that length, the Knicks can find themselves either facing matchup problems or creating matchup nightmares for the opposition depending on how they play.  Even though Danilo Gallinari receives a worse reputation than he deserves for his defensive abilities, I am not sure how well he will be able to defend shorter, quicker shooting guards.  Every time down the floor, I would expect the opposing guards to attack Gallo and force him to tire out and potentially get into foul trouble.

Despite preferring man-to-man defense, I am beginning to believe that if the starting line-up is consistent with the one mentioned above, then perhaps a zone defensive scheme would work better.  I am envisioning the Knicks running a 1-3-1 zone scheme, with Ray Felton harassing the ball-handler at the top of the key, Gallo and Randolph on the wings, Amare in the middle, and Turiaf quarterbacking the zone from underneath the hoop.  Felton’s quickness and defensive ability should be able to slow / stop penetration from the opposing point guard, thus forcing him to kick it to one of his wings.  At that point, I believe that Gallo’s and Randolph’s length will allow them to get out on those wings quickly, thus contesting jump-shooters.  With Turiaf’s ability to block shots and to put a body on players once shots go up, I think he would be a good fit in the back of the 1-3-1 (that is not even mentioning his motor mouth while he is on the floor.  Those who have played zone before understand the need for good rotation and for communication amongst the five teammates).  Then once Wilson Chandler (potentially the 6^th man) checks in for Turiaf, he would shift to the wing and force Randolph underneath the hoop.

(more…)

Via NBA.com

This happens. This is sports. Everyone declines, even the greats, unless they leave before their feet touches the ground. Just like taxes and a Mark Cuban rant toward a referee, it’s inevitable. And it usually doesn’t happen suddenly; most of us can see it coming, for a variety of reasons: age, competition or a change in team dynamics.

That said, here are 10 players who appear most vulnerable to a slide in 2010-11, and why:

Amar’e Stoudemire (Knicks): He lost Steve Nash and he gained a potentially hostile crowd. Those are the hazards facing Stoudemire in his new digs. The Nash factor is very real; Stoudemire owes a bunch of his highlights to a point guard who excelled in the pick-and-roll and knew how to deliver the ball. As for the New York atmosphere, it might get gruesome should the Knicks falter and/or their new big man fail to meet the steep expectations. If you recall, Stoudemire was a bit touchy last spring when he was called out in the postseason. Therefore, is he too sensitive to deal with media that’s triple the size of what he saw in Phoenix, and twice as skeptical?

I guess we’ll see. He looked pretty good in the playoffs just a few months back…

Via Hoopsworld

As I covered in my chat yesterday, and as ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting today, NBA teams that have called about Carmelo are not finding a very receptive Nuggets team, and most of the conversations have ended before they have started.

The Nuggets are hoping to meet with Carmelo personally in the coming days. Teams that have gotten the Nuggets to talk about it say until Denver gets a sense of where things really are they are proceeding as though Carmelo will be in camp and that he will be a Nugget for the foreseeable future.

It’s funny how the message changes when there is actually someone to talk with.

As we said yesterday, Denver isn’t in a rush to trade Melo. What is clear is that at this point the Nuggets don’t feel the need to get 10 cents on a dollar for a world-class player seeing that he;s not itching to extend anywhere else. If he were traded to NY, it would be different. Bottom line is this. If Melo decides that he wants to extend elsewhere than NY or Denver then he will be traded to another city. If he doesn’t, the Knicks may end up getting Melo at some point during the season without having to give away too much.

Via NY Post

The coaching staff will tell you nobody has worked harder than Douglas this offseason. The second-year Florida State product has done two-a-days at their Westchester compound since the beginning of May — save for a two-week break in July.

Douglas, the Knicks’ most tenacious defender, said one of the reasons he has worked so hard is he wants to be a leader this season. There were none during last season’s 29-53 campaign.

“I had an OK rookie year, but this year I want to be more vocal and be one of the leaders on the court,” Douglas said. “At the same time, you can’t be a leader if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain. If people are slacking, I’ll tell them. If I’m slacking, I want them to tell me.”

We’ve talked about at length how leadership was an issue in the locker room last year. No one is a bigger fan of what Douglas brings to the table than I am. I know the coach wants him to see the floor more and learn how to be a traditional point, but as far as I’m concerned the guy possesses all the great qualities in a young rotation guard. Defensively, he’s a pest on the ball and is tremendous in the passing lanes. How many steal/layups did he have when he started getting regular minutes last year? He fights over screens and can rebound. Offensively, he can knock down shots in catch and shoot opportunities, he can get past his man and hit mid range and he can move the ball when not looking to score. And he’s very adept at the pick and roll. Aside from defense, I wouldn’t say he’s great at anything yet, but he’s a complete player who I’m looking for to have a really strong sophomore campaign.

And it looks like he’s putting the work in to make that happen. Add that to the list of great qualities.

Via NY Post:

According to Douglas, newcomer Kelanna Azubuike is not yet working at Westchester and still is doing offcourt rehab after missing most of last season with a torn tendon in his left knee. It’s looking more doubtful the shooting guard will be 100 percent when training camp opens on Sept. 25.

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Listen live as Anthony Rice Balls carries you through the 10 PM hour tonight.  Plenty to talk about including the World Championships, the shaping of the Knicks roster, and essentially anything else on your mind.

Tonight, Anthony will have recently signed Patrick Ewing Jr. as a guest to talk about his chances of making this Knicks roster, his experiences over the last couple of years, and more.

Don’t miss out, and don’t forget to give Anthony a ring to share your thoughts.

Via ESPN

“I think I’m going to convince him to be a Nugget,” Ujiri said, smiling. “No, I don’t know, I can’t make a judgment on that. Like I said, it’s a process and until he tells me that … we want him back, the city wants him back, ownership wants him back.”

There have been hints that Anthony might be thinking about moving on: his mansion in the Denver area is on the market and at his New York wedding to TV personality LaLa Vazquez this summer, there was that now famous toast by New Orleans point guard Chris Paul about reuniting with Melo in Gotham to form a super-team along with Amare Stoudemire to counter the Miami Heat‘s terrific trio.

To me, there is no more obvious reason that the Nuggets and Melo will eventually part ways than the candidates for the formerly vacant GM position. We mentioned David Griffin’s experience with dealing with an unhappy superstar, however he took his name out of the running. Ujiri is fresh off a similar situation with Chris Bosh in Toronto. Again, there will be no rush to deal Melo and the longer this drags, the better off for the Knicks.

The following is a guest piece from avid TKB reader and huge Knicks fan, Zachary Story.

Mozgov is For Real

I mean yes it was against Ivory Coast, the 41st ranked country according to the FIBA World Rankings (http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/rankMen.asp), but Timofey Mozgov “The Russian Yao”, put up one of the better games i have seen in this FIBA World Championship.. Putting up 19 points, 5 boards, 1 block, and shooting 8-10 form the field in only 21 minutes, carrying Russia to a 72-66 win over Cote Ivorie, in what was a very close game right up to the end..

From the videos that I have seen which Tommy has posted, you get a good feel for how Mozgov controls the paint and alters players shots, with his large frame and athleticism .. But today I got a real feel for his skills as a scorer, as he was relied upon heavily down the stretch. Regardless of the fact that it was a fairly decrepit Ivory Coast squad, it was still a pressure-packed game with Russia fighting to stay alive in this World Championship… Hopefully Russia gets a chance to square off against the Americans in this tournament, so we can see how he plays amongst the world’s best…

TommyDeeTKB

Tommy Dee

@TommyDeeTKB: Another source says: "don't expect a melo trade anytime soon. This may go all season."

Sep 1, 2010 @ 01:50 AM from web

Again, I maintain based on strong information that Melo will not sign an extension with any other team than the Knicks…He’s confident that he’ll get paid CBA or not. Right or wrong that seems to be his stance at this point in time.

Via Toronto Sun (Via KnicksTweets)

the second game, however, the New York Knicks second round pick was limping noticably in the first half and never really got rolling.Head coach Leo Rautins admitted after the game, he probably should not have played him in the second half.

When the Canadian team took the floor for warmups prior to the France game, Rautins was in jeans and looking extremely dejected at the thought of not playing.

Without Rautins, the load on point guard Jermaine Anderson becomes even bigger. Anderson, who has played almost his entire National team career without a true backup, will have to log big minutes and be an offensive force against France if Canada is to have a chance in the game.

It’s been a tough first summer for the Knicks first pick in the 2nd round.