Monthly Archives: July 2008
Watch today’s episode of the Nooner over at TheNoonerBlog.com.
At WasWatching, Steve Lombardi says that Carl Pavano and Phil Hughes will make rehab starts for the Charlestown RiverDogs.
Adam Zagoria at ZagsBlog has full coverage of the Big East media day.
Brian Basset at TheJetsBlog has a look at the what the Jets have done on defense, while Anthony De Rosa at Giants Football Blog has Giants Training Camp coverage.
Toby Hyde at Mets Minor League Blog gives an update on Fernando Martinez, who is ‘coming along’ after his latest injury.
Lastly, at SNY.tv, Ted Berg says, although he looks just like Tom Morello, Raul Ibanez isn’t nearly as ‘awesome.’
Frank Isola notes today that Steve Mills, the man behind the Isiah Thomas hiring, has been demoted.
Steve Mills was responsible for hiring both Isiah Thomas and Anucha Browne Sanders
so it was only a matter of time before Mills would be held accountable for one of the most embarrassing periods in Madison Square Garden history.
Today, Mills was replaced as president of Madison Square Garden sports by Scott O’Neil, who enjoyed a long stint with the NBA. A press release issued by the Garden said that “as part of the reorganization, Steve Mills becomes president, business operations, MSG Sports Teams, reporting to Mr. O’Neil.”
The Garden was held liable for sexually harassing Browne Sanders, a former top executive. Browne Sanders accused the Garden of firing her in retaliation for her complaints about the alleged harassment. The lawsuit alleged that after Browne Sanders’ lawyer told Madison Square Garden of her complaint, Madison Square Garden forced her out of work while it investigated the situation. Madison Square Garden says it fired Browne Sanders because of “an inability to fulfill professional responsibilities.” However, Mills had repeatedly given her glowing evaluations.
The trial caused a rift between Mills and Thomas, who continues to claim that he never sexually harassed Browne Sanders. Privately, Thomas blamed Mills for giving Browne Sanders too much power in the organization.
Ah, “Teflon” Steve Mills not making basketball decisions makes me feel so much better. I never understood why he was devoid of any blame, but he was as guilty as anyone for the organization’s downfall.
Put a check mark in Donnie Walsh’s column.
Breaking News from ESPN:
Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy received a 15-month prison sentence Tuesday for his role in betting on NBA games. Donaghy also must undergo counseling for gambling addiction upon a supervised release.
I am no where near a legal expert, but as long as he never referees a basketball game again I can’t complain. The NBA has the bigger issue to convince the casual fan/conspiracy theorist that its games are not tainted going forward.
Tagged Tim Donaghy |Right when we started TKB a few months ago, I felt it was important to get a feel from t
he fans just how signifcant an impact the Donaghy situation had on both the league and the game.
I’ve concluded that, since sports is the ultimate source of “reality” television, and even though fans do live and die with their teams, it’s really just another source of entertainment.
Last week, I got the chance to chat about it with CNN, and the story aired today.
Donaghy, of course, will be sentenced today.
Just to clarify the specifics of the deal, the Nuggets have the option to swap the 2010 second round pick with the Clippers as per the Marcus Camby deal, meaning the Knicks would get the Clippers pick.
I, for one, was always split on Renaldo Balkman as a player. It’s hard not to root for one of the few
guys that hustled on this team. And yes, he dunked everything. In fact, I would have morning sit downs with friends at work who were proud South Carolina Gamecock alumns who would pick him for their fantasy teams.
And be in last place.
Let’s be realistic here, he was an awful draft pick. I hate the 20/20 hindsight people who say “awe man we could have drafted ______ but our GM was an idiot.” I still get crazy when people say we passed on Karl Malone for Kenny Walker.
The draft is a crapshoot, we know this, but I think I’d rather have Rajon Rondo or Jordan Farmar in the backcourt at this point. Moreover, why on earth didn’t Isiah try and trade up to the mid-teens?
Oh well, that’s history now that Balkman is in Denver.
The point is moot, the idea here is that the guy who drafted Balkman and annointed him the fan’s new favorite, is also the guy who stunted his growth by drafting another small forward a year later. Frankly, I’m not sure any of Isiah Thomas’ bizarre bench decisions were as head scratching as benching Balkman early last year.
In fairness, Balkman is not a power forward, he’s an energy player who hurts a team at the 3 because he can’t shoot and hurts at team at the 4 because at barely over 200lbs, he can’t guard the post. Sure, he made up for it with dunks, lose balls, tips and steals, but that only equals some 10-15 minutes per game, max. A player with those skills has a place on the court in lopsided games and shootouts, which was every Knick game this year, but in tight games, it’s hard to justify them being on the court.
More minutes would have allowed for Balkman’s weaknesses to be exposed, weaknesses that Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari simply don’t have.
From a trade standpoint, ignore the money aspect. Yes, the Knicks save $2 million dollars, but this is about roster flexibility. There are more moves coming, so let’s be patient here.
Balkman was not a difference maker, if you understand the game you know that Gallinari and Chandler have higher ceilings and deserve to play more. At the end of the day, if this sets up another deal it’s the right move.
Rating: B
Alan Hahn prepares the Knicks for the possibility of Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry in the front court. It appears the list of teams interested are dwindling. Those that remain want to send guaranteed money back to the Knicks. Fortunately it appears Donnie Walsh is going the patience route with Randolph till a better deal is offered.
The interesting part of this piece by Alan is how it exposes the issues of the Isiah era once again. Rather than looking long term Isiah was more concerned with politics and public perception. I don’t see how Randolph will fit with this up-tempo team, but perhaps D’Antoni can make it work. I still believe a team, just like the Knicks did, will look more at the stats and jump at the opportunity to secure Randolph.
Tagged Eddy Curry, zach randolph |When looking up Bobby Jones stats I found it interesting that he played for 5 teams last season. I am not sure but this seems like it might be a record. If Jones ever suits up for the Knicks (and that is unlikely) that would make 7 teams in just the start of his third season. Wouldn’t you love to have those frequent flier miles?
My calculation says that Jones played for 17% of the league’s teams last season. Hey its July and just days before the trading deadline what else you want to talk about?
Kudos to Ken Berger for having a finger on the pulse of the Balkman deal. That said, we’ve known all along that Walsh was going to make moves:
So we ask
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First off, I want to say that I feel as though the jury is still out on the Renaldo Balkman deal. I am happy that Walsh received a 2nd rounder in the deal and did not simply take back two players who are going to be waived. It is ironic that the Knicks took Balkman before the Nets took Marcus Williams and Williams was just traded for a 1st rounder, especially considering that Williams has not done much more than Balkman in their short stints in the league. That said, fans must realize that this will not be Walsh’s only move. Of the 16 players he had under contract, Balkman would not be the one who he would simply just give away. He has a plan, and I am excited to see him execute it. Let’s see Walsh find a gem with that 2nd rounder and have Taurean Green come to camp and earn a new contract to play behind Duhon. Ok, maybe not.
In other news, the Pistons have signed Kwame Brown and the Clippers have signed guard Ricky Davis. I like both moves because both teams seemed to have cheaply filled holes with potentially above-average players (especially in the Clippers case). Does this affect the Pistons’ apparent pursuit of Josh Smith? Probably not.
And last but certainly not least, I want to address another player who seems poised to head back overseas to continue his career. According to a link on HoopsHype.com, Nenad Kristic is mulling an offer from a Russian squad that would pay him roughly what would be $10 million in terms of US currency for two years. Now I am not sure how well he is progressing from his ACL injury, but even after he came back last season, he was able to average over 6 ppg and 4 rpg. Kwame Brown could not even do that and he recieved a 2 year 8 million dollar deal from Detroit. Before his injury, Krisitc was developing into a promising young center in this league, averaging 16.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and nearly 1 bpg. Now even if he can’t block shots anymore and he can only grab 5 rpg and not 7, I think that it would absolutely be worth the Knicks’ while to figure out a way to sign and trade for this guy, especially if he will take a two year deal. He might not be the type of backup center the Knicks need, but he has (had?) too much potential to simply ignore. The Nets don’t need him due to their glut of big men. The Knicks do not have that glut. Long story short… Donnie try and bring Krisitc to New York.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KNICKS ACQUIRE 2010 SECOND-ROUND DRAFT CHOICE
New York trades Balkman; Acquire Green & Jones
NEW YORK, July 28, 2008 – The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that a 2010 second-round draft choice, guard Taurean Green and guard/forward Bobby Jones have been acquired from Denver for forward Renaldo Balkman and cash considerations. The draft pick will be the more favorable selection between the Nuggets and Clippers, resulting from a previous trade.
Green, 6-0, 177-pounds, averaged 1.6 points and 4.4 minutes in 17 games last season for both Portland and Denver. Originally drafted by the Trail Blazers after his junior season at the University of Florida in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Green was acquired by the Nuggets on Feb. 21 in exchange for guard Von Wafer. In addition the Fort Lauderdale, FL-native appeared in eight total games in the NBA Development League with the Idaho Stampede and Colorado 14ers.
Jones, 6-7, 215-pounds, averaged 3.8 points and 11.3 minutes in 47 games last season for San Antonio, Miami, Houston, Memphis and Denver. In addition, the Compton, CA-native appeared in fives games in the NBA Development League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Originally drafted by Minnesota out of the University of Washington in the second round (37th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, Jones was traded to Philadelphia and appeared in 44 games for the 76ers last season.
Balkman, 6-8, 208-pounds, averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 65 games for New York last season. Originally drafted by the Knicks after his junior season at the University of South Carolina in the first round (20th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, the Staten Island-native finishes his career in blue and orange having played in 133 career games, averaging 4.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 15.2 minutes over two seasons.
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