Monthly Archives: January 2009
Frank Isola is quoting a league source saying he didn’t make the team as a reserve.
“…David Lee‘s bid to make his first All-Star team appears to have fallen short. According to a league source, Lee will not be one of the seven reserves named to the Eastern Conference squad which will be officially announced tonight on TNT.
Lee, who may already be the league’s most-improved player, is second in the NBA behind All-Star Dwight Howard in double-doubles…”
That’s a shame, he deserved to be there. I’m wondering who’s actually on the list.
Our boy A.W. at Yahoo on the case
“…The East reserves include two Orlando Magic, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis. East coaches also chose the Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce, Atlanta Hawks’ Joe Johnson, Toronto Raptors’ Chris Bosh, New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris and Indiana Pacers’ Danny Granger…”
Can’t really argue, but still…
Rick Pitino drafted Paul Pierce, does that mean his “stamp” is on the Celts championship?
UPDATE: We’ll start the thing around 6:30, plenty of time for you guys to get a couple cocktails in before tip off. I’m trying to snag tickets to a later game to raffle off, so if any of you are willing to donate we’ll do some raffle and make sure you get your cost back. Any other Knicks goodies are also welcome as our budget is kind of shot. Either way we look forward to having a great time. Sorry young bucks, we’ll get at you later, 21 and over please.
TKB faithful,
Join us on Wednesday Feb. 4th for our second annual TKB Night out in New York City.
Once again, we’ve solidified Butterfield 8 (38th between 5th and Madison) as the venue for what should be a fun night of booze Knicks hoops as Lebron comes to town.
Put it on your calendars or stop by if you are going to or coming from the game.
The SNY cameras will once again be in the building so come out and root the Knicks in and show the world that you were a fan before 2010.
Patrick Ewing Jr. was a big-name acquisition for the Bighorns of the D-League back in December, but he struggled with his shooting early.
Things are now starting to pick up for Ewing, with the former Georgetown Hoya averaging 17.9 points and shooting .520 (78-150) from the field in his last 12 games. This is a marked improvement for Ewing, who shot only .344 and averaged 10.5 points in his first six games as a Bighorn. He made his first start of the season on Saturday, scoring 21 points with seven rebounds and five assists in a win over Bakersfield.
TKB scouted Jr. in person a month or so ago, and his athleticism, as well as his IQ, stand out. As much as I think he’s still a part of the Knicks future, I’m starting to doubt it. But I will still hold out hope.
- Found an awesome NBA site based in Australia called NBAmate.com, which did a very solid piece on the career of Eddy Curry.
“…Your life’s tough? Maybe not now, but it has been? I know mine has been. But for normal people like you and me, when we are down or when the chips aren’t falling the way we want them, we don’t normally have 20-something-year-olds from other countries calling us “fat”, “lazy”, “underachieving” or “the stupid weak prick who plays centre for the Knicks” Instead, we are just like “hey, Rob D’s having a tough week, the Pistons lost to the Knicks AGAIN, perhaps I should knit him a jumper?” or “wow, Jobba must be depressed about the current state of his favourite NBA team, I might go give him a hug…”
They also compared his career to that of P Diddy’s boy MA$E, which I found interesting.
- The NYsportsGUY doesn’t like Jared Jefferies that much and has the Data to prove it. Yup, nothing can sum up a lack of good play quite like a bar chart. (For the record, I think Jefferies as been pretty decent defensively, if you focus totally on his offense, or lack there of, you’ll miss the fact that he does some really good things on defense.
-Howard Beck of the Times believes that the Knicks will sign David Lee and still be major players in 2010 free agency.
“…It is generally understood that the Knicks are conserving salary-cap space for 2010, also known as the Summer of LeBron. Spending tens of millions on David Lee, a restricted free agent in July, would seem to run contrary to that goal. But Knicks officials believe they can retain Lee, and there are forces working in their favor: a poor economy, a deep free-agent class and a small pool of teams with significant cap space. … A Western Conference executive said that Lee would be ‘one of the more sought-after guys’ this summer, because of his youth, his production and his rapid improvement. ‘He’s someone you could make one of your top four players,’ he said. The Knicks think so, too, which is why — contrary to conventional wisdom — they will do everything reasonably possible to keep him. LeBron James needs good teammates, after all…”
Two things:
Big C is the man, check out realknicks.com.
Breen is 100% right.
The Knicks are ballin’ people. Can’t really say it much simpler than that.
Once again a team that came in a touch undermanned couldn’t hang with a team that is coming together.
Playing without Al Horford, a player who is one of the best big forwards in the league, the Hawks couldn’t match the Knicks intensity in the second half and left the World’s Most Famous arena losers.
It’s not the Garden of misery anymore. To steal a line from close friend, the Knicks are protecting their house.
And this is how success starts,with momentum, and the Knicks have it at home and will need it over the next few weeks. But there is serious reason to believe people, don’t be afraid.
Down 8 at the half the Knicks punched the Hawks in the collective beak outscoring them 35-19 in the third quarter and they never thought about looking back.
Led by the trio of Al Harrington, Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson the Knicks bounced back and Richardson’s big 3 pointer with just over 6 minutes left put the Knicks up 66-65 and they never looked back.
In all honesty the Hawks were simply outclassed, which is a testament to how Mike D’Antoni’s team is playing lately. They just know they can close games out lately.
And it’s really inspiring to see.
Nate Robinson was a blur off the bench, sparking the Knicks with 24 points and, to be fair, as I said in an earlier post, regardless of what happens to Nate in the future, he is a major piece to this playoff puzzle.
Ho-Hum Lee had 17 and 16 and Duhon added 16 and 11. Double doubles anyone?
Richardson added an efficient 14 and Harrington finished with 16. The very impressive Marvin Williams (former Tar Heel and restricted FA at season’s end) led the Hawks with 28.
The Knicks return to action Saturday against the Pacers in Indy.
BE SURE TO TUNE IN AT 9:30 to “THE YBR” presented by theknicksblog. The official radio home for Knicks Bloggers
Listen LIVE!!
_____________________________________________________
When: 7:30 P.M. 
Where: MSG
Watch: MSG
Starting Lineups:
Hawks (26-18)
PG- Mike Bibby
SG- Joe Johnson
SF- Marvin Williams
PF- Josh Smith
C- Zaza Pachulia
Rest of rotation: Flip Murray, Mo Evans
Knicks (19-25)
PG: Chris Duhon
SG: Quentin Richardson
SF: Al Harrington
PF: Jared Jeffries
C: David Lee
Rest of Rotation: Nate Robinson, Tim Thomas, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari
Injuries:
Hawks: OUT: Al Horford
Knicks: OUT: Eddy Curry
GAME NOTES
Playoff talk has begun (on this site anyway), but it will only continue if the Knicks prove that they can beat the teams ahead of them. Without Al Horford, the Knicks have a good opportunity to pull out a win tonight in the Garden.
Mike Bibby can really kill an opposing team. Absolutely kill them. If Joe Johnson kills the Knicks tonight, that is one thing. But the team cannot let Bibby explode. Jared Jeffries will have his hands full tonight as he will likely have to defend one of the Hawks’ star guards. Chris Duhon will get the other. Keep them under control and the Knicks have a legit shot tonight.
The Eastern Conference, outside of the top 3 or 4 teams, is not that strong. The Knicks are one 3 or 4 game winning streak (going forward) away from getting closer to the 6th and 7th seeds than they are to being hovering around the 8th seed. Excuse my confidence, but I think this team has that type of stretch in them.
So long as Nate keeps playing well and Al and Chandler show some more consistency, this team has the chance to keep trudging up the ladder.
Other blog’s take: Hawks Basketblog
We are two weeks away from All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, and I think I speak for most Hawks fans when I say I am more excited for this year than any year in the past decade or so. To the victor go the spoils, as the saying goes, and with the Hawks perched in 4th place in the East right now, I am hopeful to see as many as three Atlanta players participating in the various events throughout the weekend.
The first domino fell into place today, as Al Horford was named to the Sophomore Squad for Friday night’s T-Mobile Rookie Challenge. No big surprise there, as Horford was an easy choice last year, finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting (he wuz robbed I tells ya!), and generally has performed at the same level if not better in his second tour of duty. With his targeted return of Feb. 4, he should be back in plenty of time to be fully ready to showcase his skills at the league’s midseason classic.
Reserve squads for the East and West All-Star teams will be announced tomorrow night on TNT, and every prediction I’ve seen so far has Joe Johnson making the trip. While I think you can make a case for Mike Bibby on the team as well, I don’t expect to hear his name called tomorrow. Still, we are very hopeful he’ll be included in the mix for the 3-point shootout, the contestants of which will be announced on Feb. 4.
Congrats again to Big Al for the honor, which will make him the first Hawks player to participate in the event as both a Rookie and a Sophomore.
Nate shows of his “chicken noodle soup dance.”
Light feet.
Finger point to Mhirsch…
There will be another Knick enjoying all-star weekend along with Nate Robinson. Wilson Chandler was selected to the 9th annual NBA’s Rookie Challenge, more commonly known as the Rookies vs. Sophomores game.
There is no doubt among Knicks fans that the 6-foot-8 forward deserved this honor. Despite his inconsistency, which can be attributed to his career-high minutes this season, he is still 4th in scoring among NBA “sophomores,” averaging 14 points and 5 rebounds per game. His impact on the Knicks, also cannot be underestimated. In wins this season, Chandler averages 16 points, and 5.5 rebounds along with a 507% field goal percentage.
The 23rd pick of the 2007 NBA Draft has proven to be a steal. He has shown near-elite athleticism to compliment his reliable defense and aggressiveness on offense. He leads the Knickerbockers in field goal attempts (562) and has given us sneak peaks of how exceptional he can become.
Some of his highlights for the season have been:
- November 12th: 11-12, 27 points, 7 rebounds (despite having the flu) in a 132-103 win over Memphis.
- December 10th: 10-12, 24 points, 8 rebounds in a 121-109 win over New Jersey.
- January 4th: 9-19, 31 points, 8 rebounds while also helping to hold Kevin Garnett to six points, in an 100-88 win over the Celtics.
- And even yesterday, 18 points, 7 rebounds on 6-10 shooting versus Houston.
Congrats to Wilson for this well-deserved honor!
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