Monthly Archives: February 2009
Yesterday, a New York Appellate Court rejected a lawsuit brought by a number of activist 
groups in Brooklyn in a decision that appears to have cleared the final legal hurdle for the Atlantic Yards project. The lawsuit claimed that Nets owner Bruce Ratner and his Forest City real estate group didn’t adequately judge the environmental impact and terrorism threat that the proposed project would have on the city. Construction will begin for the entire project including the state-of-the-art Barclays’ Arena within the next 3-4 months and is scheduled to be completed for the start of the 2011-12 season.
Now, this begins the snowball effect. Prior to yesterday’s controversial decision I put the odds of LeBron being in a Knicks uniform at 99.9%. Put simply, the Commish would not let him sign elsewhere. The Nets’ moving to Brooklyn was the only wrench that could be thrown into the inevitable.
So, what would draw LeBron to the Nets? His relationship with Jay-Z, the idea of playing with a core of Devin Harris (if he re-signs), Brook Lopez, Vince Carter, and Yi Jianlian, not to mention the fact that their 2010-11 payroll situation is much more flexible than ours, especially with the threat of a hard cap being enacted.
The appeal of the Knicks is his relationship with D’Antoni, an offensive system that every player dreams about, and you hope the attraction of playing in the Garden. Unfortunately the factor that separated the Knicks (the earning potential from advertising in New York) is now neutralized by the Nets’ move.
At the very least, the activist groups were successful in delaying the construction of Atlantic Yards by two years, and the Nets’ lease with the Meadowlands runs out after next season. So, if LeBron does sign with the Nets his arrival in Brooklyn would be delayed one season and it leaves the team with very little options. The state will hold all the leverage in a negotiation process for a lease of the new arena in Newark. Does the state’s sports and exposition authority allow the Nets to sign a 1-year lease in Newark? The Meadowlands? Will they be forced to accept a one-year banishment to Nassau Coliseum? It’s hard to imagine LeBron willing to sacrifice one year playing in Uniondale. (Nothing personal, Long Islanders)
So, this is an incredibly premature question because it all depends on the Cavs’ winning a championship in the next two seasons, but let’s get a gauge of this. Put yourself in LeBron’s shoes and make his decision.
Loading ...
A little off topic, but I did a ton of research on the Atlantic Yards project for a paper and this was a very disappointing decision. We’re obviously not a political blog here but it was just evidence that if you’re wealthy and have friends in high places you can get away with anything. In fact, one judge wrote in his concurring decision that “his hands were tied.” The bottom line is that justice did not prevail.
I took a long break to study for the bar exam but I’m done and it’s good to be back and posting on TKB, I look forward to some banter with the gym rats in the comments section.
According to Newsday during the All-Star break Mike D’Antoni said 40 wins is the goal if the
team wants to make the playoffs.
“…You can call it Knicks Formula 40. It’s not so much a magic elixir as it is a heady goal, one that coach Mike D’Antoni revealed yesterday that he has set for his team.
During the All-Star break, D’Antoni sat down and decided that 40 wins — what it would take to earn a trip to the playoffs — should be a realistic goal. So he started preaching about the power of 40.
“I just thought that 40 is pretty good,” D’Antoni said yesterday. “There’s no reason why we can’t win close to 40.
“It’s tough. We got some hard teams, but we just have to try to play better and win some when we can…”
As we told you the winning percentage of teams that the Knicks play down the stretch is slightly over .500, so 40 wins seems accurate.
You can do your own math with the remaining games, the team needs to go 16-9 to get to 40.
Is that possible with 3 more games left with the Magic?
Thanks to Mark Malusis and his producer Russ Mafes for setting up the interview.
Click here to listen to the Podcast.
Aside from another encouraging loss (sorry JVG, they do in fact exist), last night’s game against the Magic marked the first time that Mike D’Antoni let his pet project Danilo play down the stretch of a competitive game. And the kid succeeded, more or less, in showing off the type of player he may very well (please oh please oh please) soon become.
As has been hammered for months on this site and elsewhere, the kid can shoot. We’ve heard it, we’ve seen it, we know it. He was 3-3, two splashing down from long range, in the final 1:45 (of a tight game). His last three, that brought the game back from the dead with under a minute left, looked like it came out of the hands of a veteran who knows he can score when he needs to when it counts; a trait that one rarely sees in such a young player.
He had energy pouring out of him, but at the same time he looked cool, calm and collected on the offensive end of the floor. Maybe this is where all that “he may be 19, but he’s got game experience” talk that we heard so often last June fits in.
Via the NY Post, as he put it after the game:
“In my career, I was always the one to take those shots, so I’m not scared about taking them. But I’m just thinking about being ready when the ball comes to my hands: That’s my only thought.”
His coach agreed, adding:
“Gallinari I thought was really good going down the stretch…He shows the ability to be unfazed by anything. A couple of shots that he had at the end of the game were sweet.”
But nobody ever argued that Dino couldn’t become a scorer in this league. It was his defense, hustle and rebounding, particularly down the stretch, that was truly encouraging. Continuing, D’Antoni added:
“He’s a better defensive player than most give him credit for…He took a charge, he knows when to foul. He’s a very smart basketball player. He’ll make good plays. The more he plays, the better he’ll get. He’s good.”
A lot of his minutes came at the expense of David “Double Double” Lee uncharacteristically riding the pine late, but regardless it panned out to be his first legit chance to show off why he was a lottery talent. He’s still undeniably – at times incredibly – raw, but as a particularly young kid, it’s hard to complain with his effort tonight.
Of the handful of times he has seen real minutes this year, I have found myself shaking my head at the rookie more often than not, the same way I do when I watch Nate run roughshod on the floor. He is still a boy in a man’s game, and has looked the part during the bulk of his time thus far.
But the fact of the matter is, the kid has got serious potential, as we saw albeit briefly) tonight, and if he can bulk up a bit, he could be a real outside threat when this team gets a player who can drive to the hoop and consistently command double teams…
For you nocturnal Gym Rats, those who hang out long after the gym floor is swept and after the lights go out, yours truly will be a 
guest on Mark “Moose” Malusis’ overnight show tonight on WFAN.
From someone who spent many a night calling “Captain Midnight” Steve Somers , to appear as a guest on WFAN is pretty special.
I will post the podcast, but it sounds as if I will be on following the 2:20 update.
Good piece by Chris Sheridan on today’s “Daily Dime” where he talks about the futures of 
David Lee, Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari in NY.
“…Two strips of black Velcro were all that remained in the place where Stephon Marbury‘s nameplate used to hang, and David Lee’s ancient Gucci bag and blue Nikes were already overflowing past the top barrier of Lee’s locker and invading Marbury’s former personal space.
“I don’t see any nameplate over that locker,” Lee said his own defense before mentioning that the Gucci bag was so old, it was once a gift from Maurice Taylor.
Lee is one of the few New York players remaining who can remember back to the days of Taylor and his ilk, legion upon legion of lamentable, forgettable former Knicks, who maintained their own small slivers of space in that very same locker room.
And for years here in New York, probably since the day Marbury arrived, it has always been so much about who didn’t fit into that locker room rather than who did. Who had the big expiring contract that was bound to be moved? Who was the likeliest buyout candidate? Who was going to become the next Ime Udoka or Trevor Ariza, players the franchise quit on prematurely?
Well, on this particular Wednesday that ended with a 114-109 loss to the Orlando Magic in which the Knicks continued to fight back despite trailing almost the entire 48 minutes, there was a sense of a new beginning — a time to finally, thankfully put the Marbury chapter in the history books and start looking toward the future, toward who is going to be a keeper when this franchise gets to the pivotal summer of 2010 and tries to lure LeBron James to the building, a night to start identifying who will end up as players the Knicks will want to keep, salary-cap space permitting.
The names of Lee (10 points and 10 rebounds for his 21st consecutive double-double) Nate Robinson (32 points off the bench, his fifth 30-plus game in the last seven) and Wilson Chandler (27 points, six 3-pointers) were mentioned in that vein, and coach Mike D’Antoni was quick to include Danilo Gallinari, whose two 3-pointers in the final two minutes got the Knicks’ deficit, which had been as high as 13, down to two.
“I wouldn’t just limit it to those three, but they are three guys with really good futures. They’re getting better, and that’s encouraging,” D’Antoni said.
Lee and Robinson will be restricted free agents this summer, while Chandler and Gallinari will still be on their rookie contracts when the 2010-11 season arrives. New York’s ability to keep both Lee and Robinson will be impacted by what kind of offers they will draw on a very tight leaguewide financial market, and whether Eddy Curry and/or Jared Jeffries can be traded to clear cap space.
“I thought Gallinari tonight was real big down the stretch; he’s a better defensive player than most people give him credit. They try to iso him and go at him, and he’s not bad. He’s really surprised me there. So if we can get him physically stronger, which we will, he’s another guy that will have a bright future. So the nucleus is young and pretty good, but again, I’m trying to get to the playoffs, and tonight set us back a little bit.”
Maybe so, depending on your definition of a setback. But on a day when the Knicks could look forward without having the distraction of Marbury in their side mirror, it was a night when all you needed to see were those two pieces of black Velcro, along with those two pieces of Lee’s encroaching garments, to realize that this was a night to begin thinking about which Knicks will end up being what Marbury was not — a keeper…”
How the four of them last here, I have no idea. Gallinari has showed great promise and Chandler has been stellar at times, and invisible others. Nate as we know has been great, and Lee, is well, Lee.
If you ask me, again, I think Nate is part of a sign and trade. Walsh will field offers for Lee but in the end I believe he stays despite the fact that he is not a back to the basket post player in the 4th quarter and as we’ve seen, big games are won and lost in the half court.
But I believe at some point that Walsh will have to choose between Chandler and Gallinari and use one of them to secure a defensive-minded big. When? I wouldn’t say any time soon.
“…Stephon Marbury, who was finally released by the Knicks on Tuesday, is expected to sign for the veteran’s minimum with the Celtics once he clears waivers.
Marbury, a two-time All-Star, is expected to clear waivers on Friday morning.
He will reportedly sign for the prorated veteran minimum of $1.3 million to join the defending-champions.
“I’m blessed to be able to move on with my career,” said Marbury via e-mail. “I’m excited about the new beginning…”
But, apparently, the Lakers had zero interest.
Phil Jackson was asked if the Lakers had any desire to pursue Stephon Marbury.
“There’s no desire on our part,” Jackson said. “We’re interested in the fact that here’s a player in his prime years that’s not playing and deserves a chance to play, but for us, it doesn’t work.”
All you need to know about this game is that: the Knicks were a step slow all night; they have no answer for Dwight (not that anyone does when he goes 8-9 from the line), Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox need to train extra hard to get in the rotation; Gallo played well but needs to push up and make people beat him off the dribble and…
…the Knicks won’t challenge the better teams in the East until they execute down the stretch and take teams out of their comfort level.
See, the playoffs is all about EXECUTION. It becomes a half court game. Stan Van Gundy knows it and I think D’Antoni does as well.
But we’ll see. It’s upsetting because the Knicks were fresh and the Magic were on the second of a back-to-back. In fairness to Dino, he showed some onions tonight, no?
That said, the Magic are going to be a real problem for someone come playoff time. They have good shooters, Howard and are extremely well coached.
The Knicks return to action Friday against the 76ers.
I remember sitting in the second row at MSG, just days after a Patrick 
Ewing Jr. was waived. There was a lanky young man talking to Knicks officials and shaking hands with anyone who would have him. You don’t realize how young he is until you see the baggy clothes draped from his body.
Yep, it was Jr. in a sweat suit with his I-Pod earphones dangling just hanging around in the Garden.
To me that was a sure sign that Marbury was about to be waived and Jr. would resume his career in the same building as his dad.
Now, some 4 months later there are roster spots. The vacancies that weren’t available for the kid. Gone is Marbury and Anthony Roberson, who took the kid’s spot to begin with. Gone, too, is Malik Rose.
There is a vacancy for a project big man, and for a combo guard. Why not for the kid who just may be the easiest PR decision in the team’s history?
Of course we know Donnie Walsh doesn’t operate from a PR standpoint, but he knows good business.
So with his dad in town, a man who has to be unhappy about having his own door to MSG apparently shut in his face, I wonder if the relationship can be reconnected by Walsh again letting his son play here.
And I wonder if that will happen soon.
I mean can you imagine the two of them celebrating together on the Knicks bench in a few years?
The last time we speculated the Knicks’ playoff run, and asking for a 3-4 
clip, the best the team could do was 1-6.
But now with some deadline moves, and some momentum at home, the Knicks are poised to make a move for the 8th seed.
The problem is, there are a few other teams that won’t go away.
It would appear for the fifth time this decade a team with an under .500 record will make the playoffs. Right now the 8th seed belongs to the resilient Milwaukee Bucks at 28-31, two games ahead in the win column over the Bulls.
Two teams that are well-worth keeping an eye on are the Pistons and 76ers, both of whom have had their struggled but would need for the bottom to drop out (throw Miami in that group as well) in order to miss the playoffs. I can see the 76ers fading, but I still like their group Despite a 2-9 stretch, I believe the Pistons have too much firepower even if they have more issues than a presidential debate.
This leaves the Bucks, Bulls (25-31), Nets (25-32), Pacers (24-35), Raptors? and the Knicks fighting for the 8th spot.
So it’s clear the Knicks have their work cut out for them. Let’s break down each team’s remaining schedule and see what we can come up with.’
Bucks- The Bucks are 6-6 since losing Redd and of their 23 games remaining the Bucks opponents have a winning percentage of .533%.
Bulls- They have a real direct line here if Vinny Del Negro can keep things together. They graded at the deadline and have 8 games against teams on the outside looking in for the 8th seed. Of their 26 remaining games the Bulls opponents have a winning percentage of .481%.
Pacers- Have the talent but do they have the time? As we said, the Knicks and Bulls have 3 games in hand.
Knicks- The iron surrounding Krytpo-Nate is that Superman may dissolve the Knicks’ playoff hopes as NY and Orlando will battle 4 times down the stretch. The winning percentage of the teams remaining is .511% and the team will play the Nets, Raptors, Bucks and Bulls a total of 7 times down the stretch.
So as the games dwindle down a little more we can gain more clarity on predicted finishes. But this is clear. A team like the Sixers, Pistons or Heat can plummet making things even more interesting, but as it stands right now, the Knicks, Bulls, Pacers, Nets, Bucks and maybe Raptors will be in a dog fight coming down the stretch.
Nets- The Nets have a 5-road trip, including a trip to NY at the end of a West Coast swing, that will be a major obstacle. The winning percentage of their remaining opponents is .542%.
Right now, as I see it, the Bulls have the inside path and the Knicks need a win tonight against the Magic, whom they will see 3 more times.
← Older postsNewer posts →
