Monthly Archives: March 2009
When: 9pm
Where: Salt Lake City
TV: MSG
Starting Lineups
Knicks (29-44)
PG- Chris Duhon
SG- Larry Hughes
SF- Wilson Chandler
PF- Al Harrington
C- David Lee
Jazz (45-27)
PG- Deron Williams
SG- Ronnie Brewer
SF- C.J. Miles
PF- Carlos Boozer
C- M. Okur
The Jazz especially can’t afford many more losses if they hope to emerge from the regular season at the top of a six-team cluster in the West. Just two games in the loss column separate second-place San Antonio and Utah, which is tied with New Orleans for sixth.
Sloan’s team will also likely need to take advantage of its home games. The Jazz’s 31-6 home record is the second best in the conference behind only the Los Angeles Lakers, and they haven’t lost at home since a 106-100 defeat to San Antonio on Jan. 27.New York (29-44) doesn’t seem like an especially likely candidate to end that run, although it plays a similar run-and-gun style to the Suns under former Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni, and it already boasts a win over Utah this season.With departed stars Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph making the main contributions, the Knicks won 107-99 at home Nov. 9, when the Jazz were without Williams. Overall, New York has won seven of nine against Utah, although it has lost its last two in Salt Lake City.The Knicks have dropped seven of their last eight games overall to fall out of contention for the playoffs in the East, and they have just one road win over a winning team all season.They shot just 37.6 percent in a 96-85 loss at Charlotte on Saturday night, their lowest point total since a 96-76 defeat at Houston on Jan. 10.The most interesting development for the Knicks may have been the return of troubled center Eddy Curry, who had played three minutes all season before Saturday’s game. He only played two more against the Bobcats as he works his way back from knee problems and personal issues.”I’m going (to Utah) to win the game,” D’Antoni told the Knicks’ official Web site. “I’ll try to get (Curry) out there as much as I can and hopefully he can improve as we go along. I want to win so I’ll make some decisions good or bad trying to win.”
Other Blog’s Take: Utah Jazz blogspot
“…Quick Quick who leads the league in Double Doubles. I Know I Know it’s Dwight Howard. You are absolutely wrong, it’s David Lee(who I would love to sign) from the New York Knickerbockers. One of the reasons for this is because of the fast paced game the Knicks play.
The Jazz have struggled with fast-paced high-possession teams this year and more recently our two games against the Suns showed a lot of our weaknesses.
Transition Defense, Scoring on the Zone, and Uptempo play.
The Knicks will exploit these weaknesses even more than the suns did the Knicks just don’t have as much talent as the Suns so the probably won’t win. Everything that the suns do was the brain child of now Knick Coach Mike D’Antoni. You can assume that he watched the film from the past two games and will use our weaknesses against us…”
Accuscore Projection: Jazz 115 Knicks 100
According to the In Denver Times Renaldo Balkman, who has played alright for
the Nuggets once he received consistent minutes, feels the Knicks regret trading him.
“…When talking about how New York gave him away last summer for next to nothing, the mild-mannered, long-haired Nuggets forward mostly has been tight-lipped. But he did offer at least one growl as he prepares Tuesday to go against his old team for the second time.
“They already do,’’ said Balkman when asked if he believes the Knicks regret trading him last summer.
The Knicks in July dealt Balkman to the Nuggets for pair of players with nonguaranteed contracts, Taurean Green and Bobby Jones and a 2010 second-round pick. The Knicks, who also threw about $500,000 Denver’s way, then waived Green and Jones.
Balkman, taken No. 20 by the Knicks in the first round of the 2006 draft and with a contract paying him $1.37 million this season, didn’t factor in their future. And with the Knicks deep into the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax, it was a cost-cutting move as they work toward having loads of salary-cap money in 2010…”
I’m happy for Taz that he is getting minutes, and there may be some truth to the Knicks jumping the gun before realizing the Gallinari situation was what it was, but this also sounds like some sour grapes.
Balk was a good player who grabbed the fan’s attention and became a favorite because everyone likes people who hustle when a team is losing by 25. I was always curious why Balk, who was drafted by Isiah Thomas was benched by him a year later. I mean Zeke took so much heat for drafting him, watched him have some success thus justifing his selection and then he benched him. Can someone explain that to me?
It appears to be a bad trade on the surface, and I was sure that they would use the roster space on Ewing Jr. so that didn’t soften the blow in many fan’s eyes.
The fact that Donnie Walsh made it a top priority to trade Balk leads me to believe there was more than meets the eye to that situation. Did Balkman really have a future on this team?
Here are Balkman’s stats to date.
So the other night I made my way into the media room, where I have to say 
I’ve been treated quite well despite having made a few not-so-nice posts, and I ran into Marc Berman among other beat writers, some who I know better than others.
Now, I’ve been critical of Marc, mostly because of countless Steph articles, but I’ve read him for a long time. My daily routine, as some of yours was at some point I’d imagine was to read the Post and the News every morning. In fact, I would read the Post in the morning on the way into NYC on the train and the News on the way back.
I had never met Marc before and I have to say he is a really nice guy. I think beat writers draw the ire of frustrated fans and take the brunt of plenty of comments, especially now that they have their own blog.
Personal shots at beat writers are lame, however valid arguments are essential. They have always been the direct link between fan and team. That is a special relationship and one that fans seem to forget.
If you want to disagree, go for it. Just do it the right way and they’ll be okay with it as I found out with Marc.
We had a good chat and he asked me if I had saw the “note” that he put on his blog. I didn’t until yesterday:
“…Recently learned that MSG Network’s Tina Cervasio is doing a blog on the road with the Knicks for the team’s website. With MSG Network and SNY always competing, Cervasio must be MSG’s answer to the prolific SNY Knick blogger Tommy Dee…”
I don’t know about prolific, but I have to say that I really enjoy the people who visit this site daily. I wish Tina the best of luck because I really think she does a good job.
Click here to read her blog.
In an article for the NY Post, Marc Berman caught up with Chris Duhon regarding the season. In the interview, Chris Duhon talked about this
team’s need for stability.
According to Berman:
“Duhon’s implication was that this season was sacrificed in the name of clearing cap space for 2010, when the Knicks will have room to sign at least one maximum free agent. Now that they have cap space, Duhon said he hopes Knicks team president Donnie Walsh doesn’t have another trading frenzy next season.
When Duhon chose the Knicks over Orlando last July, he didn’t realize the team was more concerned about 2010. Duhon accepted the Knicks’ offer because he was promised a starting job. In retrospect, he would have been much better off in Orlando, which is competing for a championship. Duhon could have moved into a starting role there after Jameer Nelson went down.”
I am not sure if Berman is making these implications himself or if Duhon actually meant this. After all, there are no incriminating quotes from the guard.
The only two players that the Knicks will try to unload are Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries. Curry, who for all intents and purposes has not played this year, should not create a problem for Duhon. I doubt that Duhon has tried to adjust to the big center. Jeffries has zero offensive sets running through him, so losing him offensively should not be a problem either.
The bottom line is that there appears to be an excuse for Duhon’s late season collapse. As far as I am concerned, an overturned roster was not the sole problem for him. He has looked tired, both mentally and physically, down the stretch. Donnie Walsh never found an adequate backup point guard for Duhon. Duhon was forced to not only lead this team in minutes, but also lead this team into battle against the stars of other teams. Duhon was forced to take on a “star” role on this team for a long time, when in reality, he is not much more than a role player.
If for nothing else, Duhon proved this year that he is a starter in this league. He appears to be the type of glue point guard that I can envision playing on a championship team.
Duhon’s defense, as Myles wrote a couple of days ago, is overrated a bit, but he has a pretty sound knowledge of the game. As he has gotten tired and banged up, he has started to lose his decision making abilities. Recently Duhon has been prone to throwing the ball away carelessly. But when I think of Duhon, I think of the player from the first half.
Would I be open to trading Duhon this summer? Can an Al Harrington and Chris Duhon package net us a Steve Nash if the Suns decide to start blowing up their team? Yes I would be in for something like that. But if Chris Duhon is our starting point guard next year, I will be fine with that, so long as Walsh finds a good backup through FA, the draft, or through a trade.
Davidson guard Stephen Curry told Dan Patrick that he’s leaning towards 
staying in school, saying that it’s a 53% chance he’ll be back at Davidson.
“…Davidson’s Stephen Curry joined the show to discuss his future:
– Curry said he’s 53 percent leaning toward staying at Davidson and 47 percent toward going to the NBA. He had said “50-50″ in a previous interview.
He said that Davidson is trying to get the Southern Conferene tourney moved to Charlotte, and that helps.
– Curry also said the more he watches NCAA Tournament games, the more he wants to be part of that. Not making the Tourney makes him more likely to return.
– Dan asked Curry, who’s a better shooter — him, his father Dell or Michael Jordan? Stephen said that he is the best of those three.
– Curry said he has Louisville-Syracuse in his bracket…”
ESPN’s Mock Draft Machine has Curry to the Knicks at 9.
AP
Frank Isola has the following piece on Donnie Walsh’s first year in New York.
I have to say I’m thankful the Knicks have Walsh’s basketball mind. It gives me hope moving forward. He knows the game as well as anyone.
I get a kick out of people who want to knock him in his first year. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it was effective and I absolutely guarantee that next year’s roster will look completely different.
Mr. Walsh and I talked about O.J. Mayo, a player I’m not sold on, over the winter and by the end of the conversation he had convinced me that Mayo was going to be a star in this league. He just has this convincing manner to him, as Isola puts it, ” as if he knows something that everyone else doesn’t.”
“…Donnie Walsh, though, is different. He is impervious to the madness surrounding him. Whether the Knicks are winning, losing and losing some more, the man who has staked his reputation on rebuilding the once-proud franchise is poker-face calm.
Occasionally, he’ll turn to his constant companion, younger brother Jimmy, and whisper a quick thought. But mostly, the Knicks president sits 10 rows up at center court with his arms folded, watching and thinking. It’s as if he knows something that everyone else doesn’t.
“You will not find a more focused executive anywhere,” says NBA Commissioner David Stern. “He’s always thinking about basketball and his team and ways to get better.”
Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver and Walsh ate dinner at a Manhattan restaurant just hours after Walsh was introduced as Knicks president and savior last April. The NBA’s two highest ranking officials were thrilled that Walsh, raised in Riverdale, had postponed retirement to return home. He didn’t need the Knicks. The Knicks needed him.
The team Walsh inherited had just completed their seventh straight losing season. The best player Walsh drafted when he ran the Indiana Pacers, Reggie Miller, had called the Knicks “a league-wide joke” and that was the day before they lost to the Boston Celtics by 45 points on national television.
Miller was obviously selling the Knicks short. As awful as they were on the court, their conduct off of it included an embarrassing sexual harassment trial featuring Isiah Thomas and screaming headlines about the star point guard, Stephon Marbury, having an extra-marital affair with an intern in a truck. The Knicks weren’t just bad, they had become hard to like. The Knicks needed Walsh more than they needed him
“That is why he was hired,” Stern said over the telephone. “This is the guy you want…”more.
Join me tomorrow at 9 pm EST as we talk about the future of the Knicks. 
The last few chats that we’ve held have been really strong, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.
I’ve been doing alot of digging and look forward to talking to you guys about the rest of the season, how Coach D’Antoni has done, who the team may draft and any other questions that you have.
Unless you are me and you are going to the Boston College Women’s NIT
Quarterfinal game against Georgetown, you have to check out the UNC/ Oklahoma game today at 5. The Michigan State/ Louisville game will be good as well, but the late game is going to be an absolute battle.
Blake Griffin is a virtual lock to win the player of the year award this year and Tyler Hansbrough has been seemingly the player of the last four years. Both forwards are pure competitors, leaving everything out on the floor. It is hard to find two all-American players that play with more passion and with more heart than the two forwards playing today.
Hansbrough has been a beacon of college hoops ever since he set foot onto the scene. Despite critics knocking the fluidity of his game and his size, Hansbrough has been one of the most productive players ever to play the college game, having become the ACC’s all time leading scorer earlier this season.
Ever since I saw the Sooners play earlier this year in November or December, I had them pegged as a final four team. Tony Crocker and Blake Griffin, to me, form one of the best guard/ forward combos in the league. They have the ability to rally their team to success. But I like Hansbrough a lot. I am not sure about his NBA prospects, but this is not the NBA. Not yet. Hansbrough is one of the NCAA’s best, regardless of what his basketball future forecasts. I want Oklahoma to win it, but I would like to see Hansbrough win a national title. In my opinion, he has earned it more than any other player in this tourney.
So at 5 o’clock, check out Blake Griffin against Tyler Hansbrough. The former will be the first pick in this year’s draft. The latter might not even see the first round. But today has nothing to do with the draft or the NBA. Today there will be good old college hoops. Enjoy it.
**And let’s go BC Women’s hoops. It is a major buzz kill that the two games are at the same time, but I have to support the girls. Let me know how the OK/ UNC game goes. Thanks.**
Not sure if anyone watched this game with the Elite Eight games, but the Knicks dropped yet another game tonight against the playoff hunting Bobcats. I have said it before, but the Bobcats did a good job of remaking their roster to fit the needs of Larry Brown. That team looks like a true Larry Brown team. I like Gerald Wallace’s game. He plays hard and can fill up multiple columns on a stat sheet.
How about Eddy Curry, recording three fouls without even recording 3 minutes played?
As for the Knicks, this team has rarely had any success shooting under 40% from the field. They just did not have it tonight out there. The loss does not bother me as much as does the overall poor shooting. Now is the time for execution. Oh well.
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