Monthly Archives: September 2009
Also, our boy Seth came thru with the video…I’m locked and loaded to come through with mine for the rest of the week starting tomorrow. Tell your friends that TKB will have video too.
via Alan Hahn:
“Eddy Curry will miss training camp here for a second straight year. The 7-foot center yesterday had an MRI on his injured right calf muscle and it revealed a torn plantaris muscle. He left camp for Manhattan, where he will have blood drained from the injured area. He is expected to miss three-to-five days.
Catch up with the training camp chatter. Express your concerns before Tommy hits camp. Is Gallo ready to explode onto the scene? All that and more of your calls tonight…
Chat tonight on TKB Radio at 9 pm with Rice Balls and Dee.
Twitter: TommyDeeTKB
AnthonyMSG
(646) 478-5554
Click here to listen to the archive and past shows.
Kudos to our boy Seth from P&T for extracting the stellar info. 
“…Day 1 of training camp is finished, and I just got to watch about an hour of five-on-five scrimmaging. I did a couple interviews which I’ll probably post very early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’ll type up these notes for y’all and tell you what I saw:
Eddy Curry- You’ve probably already read it elsewhere, but Eddy appeared to aggravate his injured right calf while grabbing a rebound. He limped off the floor about ten minutes into scrimmages and didn’t return. He said it’s just a strain and he’s day-to-day.
Danilo Gallinari- Gallo kept moving well in the full-court scrimmages, and continued to show off his offensive repertoire. He wasn’t all that active off the ball, but after a catch he wasn’t just settling for jumpers. There were a couple nice fakes and dribbles for short jumpers, a spinning lefty layup (that rimmed out), and a couple vicious dunks, including one complete facial on Jordan Hill (prompting David Lee to put his thumb to his forehead and yell “The Rooster!”). As for the jump shot, Gallo wasn’t quite as automatic as he’d been in practice. He missed a few early, and angrily ripped the bandage off his right hand following one brick. It’s not like he was shooting poorly, though. Anything less than perfection from the field surprises me when it comes to Gallinari. I did get a chance to see the cut on his hand up close and it ain’t no scratch. more.
Remember, I’ll be up there tomorrow and for the rest of the week. In the meantime, keep checking out Seth as well as the twitter updates from Alan Hahn and Marc Berman.
“…Admitting that he did not properly emphasize defense last season, Mike D’Antoni told the media on Tuesday that he has set a goal for the Knicks to be in the top half of the league on defense.
Last season, the Knicks were last in shot-blocking and gave up the third-most points in the league on the third-highest field goal percentage allowed…”
Dallas was 15th in the NBA in points allowed last season at a shade under 100 ppg (99.8). Not shockingly, Cleveland, LA, Boston and Orlando led the league in point differential. The Knicks were 22nd giving up two more points than they scored.
Now, I’m all for goal setting, I think it’s essential. Let’s face it, if the Knicks give up 102 ppg then that’s a marked improvement, even if it’s outside the top half. And there’s really little reason to believe that the team can hang around giving up 100 points per game. The key is consistency, making adjustments and sticking to assignments. It’s about ball pressure and protecting the basket.
But again, I can’t stress enough what Al Harrington said yesterday to me. Defense is about togetherness.
It’s about brotherhood.
Props to Seth from Posting and Toasting for the camp update:
“After some stretching and a session of “watching film” (no idea what that was), the Knicks took the court and held their first practice of training camp this morning. Here’s what I saw:
- The first thing I noticed? Everybody was up and running. Last year, Danilo Gallinari spent camp on a stationary bike, Jared Jeffries broke his leg, and Eddy Curry was off somewhere losing his lunch. This time it was 20 relatively healthy individuals going full strength. That’s not to be taken for granted.
- Mike D’Antoni keeps things moving. It started with one-on-one full-court dribbling drills, then quickly progressed to three man sets with multiple balls in the air at once. There were no scrimmages (they play games in the evenings), but they did run full-court fast break drills that had everybody gasping for air. Everything finished up with some stretching, then individual attention from the coaches and staff while the reporters moved in.
A few early impressions from particular players:
- Danilo Gallinari did nothing to quell my rabid excitement over his development. His back looked like it wasn’t a problem, as he was running the court with abandon and did fine moving laterally in a defensive stance. If there’s one thing that surprised me about Danilo’s demeanor, it’s how fiery he gets. He probably hit around 50 of the 60-odd jumpers I saw him take on the day, but was visibly angry after each rim-out. He just doesn’t expect to miss. In fact, the only shots that seemed to make Gallo uncomfortable were the ones that came after a lefty dribble. Anyway, the stroke is still very much there and the intensity is a bonus.
Did I mention that Danilo was doing this all with a bandaged right hand? He apparently cut himself in practice the other day. Nothing major. Still, a guy with tape on his hand shouldn’t be burying fade-away threes at will.
Did I mention that I’m really excited about Danilo Gallinari?
- Seriously, though, it’s worth noting that when the roster was divided in half between veterans and newbies, Gallo joined the vet squad.
- Eddy Curry‘s calf was wrapped pretty tight, but he managed to keep up in what may have been his first full-court workout in months. Eddy also looked much quicker off his feet, especially compared to the couple of games he played in last season, when I wasn’t sure he could still dunk.
- Al Harrington and Jared Jeffries were unquestionably the vocal leaders throughout practice. Jared did his part explaining drills to the youngsters and newcomers, while Al was constantly barking orders and encouragement during drills.
- Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas were on the far court most of the time, so I didn’t see much of them. It takes time to get familiar and comfortable in practice, but I’ll say from my first impression that Pretty Toney looks more confident than Hill does. I’ll have my eye on those two in scrimmages.
- David Lee and Darko Milicic both got extra reps in at the free throw line, and each looked generally solid stepping out to 15 feet or so. Watching both of them run the floor like champs is indicative of how flexible Mike D’Antoni’s frontcourt options will be this season.
- Darko isn’t the smiliest of fellows.
- Nate Robinson threw down a two-handed dunk between drills, then caught the ball between his ankles while still hanging on the rim. That’s halfway to being dunk contest material right there.
- A packed roster doesn’t bode well for the non-guaranteed signees, but I’d say from limited exposure that Warren Carter looked like the pick of the litter this morning.
- Sun Yue spent a while after practice shooting short jumpers with a medicine ball. This might do something to explain my irrational fear of Sun Yue.”
Being at camp has to be a lot of fun. Tommy will be making the trek to camp later this week.
Anyway, based on videos I’ve seen, reports I’ve read, Tommy’s comments yesterday, and Seth’s remarks today, perhaps Darko Milicic just does not have a vibrant, warm personality. It’s possible, and there is noting wrong with that. I hope that he is just stone cold on the court towards opponents.
Say what you will about Jared Jeffries, he is a team player and he is a glue guy that can help keep this team playing hard during the rough patches of the season. Imagine he had more talent? Perhaps even a jumper?
If Gallo is 100%, then the rest of the league better watch out for him.
It is good to hear Curry is practicing and hopefully trying his hardest. Even if he is still a bit slow, hard work and dedication can change that. Eddy has to continue to try his hardest and has to continue to hustle. That combination will lead to results for the big man. No doubt.
(audio for the players is a little low so turn it up.)
Check out my other appearances on BAC.
Follow my training camp updates on Twitter.
So it’s “the Season Before The Summer” and, like Hahn, what I gathered from today is that the team has less of a cloud over it, and they have the confidence to make a serious run at the playoffs. The air in the gym seemed much lighter.That said, there were several things that stood out.
Having spoke to Darko Milicic, I wasn’t overly excited that he can make much of an impact and I hope I’m wrong. He talked a lot about confidence, or lack thereof, and didn’t show much passion to grab a hold of what could be his last chance in the NBA.
Fittingly, there was Al Harrington on the opposite side of the gym, already sweating (ok, not so much but he was pumped) and talking about how important leadership and togetherness is. Will the players, most of whom may not be here next year, come together for a common goal? That is a huge question that needs to be answered.
I mean there is not much pedigree here in terms of players with much NBA team success, and that’s troubling. How quickly they come together is essential to team success.
Interesting note out of LA that Marcus Camby could be shipped should the Clippers struggle early. I know I’ve beaten the hell out of this thought, but it’s a situation worth keeping an eye on particularly if Darko doesn’t work.
Super sleuth Adam Zagoria pulled a great quote from Larry Hughes who had this to say 
about luring Lebron, whom he played with in Cleveland.
“…Larry Hughes said the Knicks, who last year finished 32-50 and missed the playoffs, had to show significant signs of improvement this season in order to attract a player of LeBron’s stature.
“You gotta win,” Hughes said.
“Not necessarily have to make the playoffs, but you have to win. You have to be consistent in winning. And being consistent in winning, a lot of times usually gets you to the playoffs…”
Significant improvement, to me, means anywhere between 38 and 41 wins and that should be enough to get the Knicks into the playoffs. Again, the biggest challenge is to get all the players playing for each other, for this city and then more wins should follow. If that happens then things should take care of themselves.
Also, check out Marc Berman’s blog, as he got Mike D’Antoni to talk about where he envisions the rookies Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill fitting in this season.
“…We see flashes of him (Hill) being really good,” D’Antoni said. “To project he’ll be better than…we have a lot of guys. We hope he continues his progress but again he’s a question mark. Looking at the roster, he’s got to be better than those guys.”
There were high hopes Douglas would earn the backup PG position. But with D’Antoni looking to go with a big lineup and Robinson capable of manning the PG position, he may not make the top 9. “He didn’t look good in the summer league, I think,” D’Antoni said, adding, “But the last three weeks he’s looked terrific (in voluntary scrimmages). But he’s another question mark.”
In listening to Harrington talk glowingly about Douglas and his ability to “get after it” I wouldn’t be surprised if Douglas is a factor this season. Hill will take longer to develop with not many minutes available.
And so it begins…
Obviously, without question, the air surrounding this team was much easier to breathe 
with you know who not being here. Last season, all eyes were focused on Marbury and it really showed and weighed on the other players. This year the atmosphere is completely different.
David Lee and Nate Robinson want to be here and want to win, and if they need any assurances as to why the bigger teams didn’t come calling this off season, economy aside, Al Harrington is sure to set the straight- in a good way.
“I averaged 19 a game in Atlanta in my contract year and Ben Wallace got paid before me and alot more,” Harrington told me. “Ben got W’s. That’s what it’s all about in this league.”
Without question, but it’s also about togetherness, another thing that Harrington will be sure to stress to his teammates.
“.We won 48 games in Golden State and we did EVERYTHING together. Everything. same thing in Indiana whether it was dinner at Austin Croshere’s house or Jermaine’s (O’Neal). I don’t even know everyone’s mother’s name on this team. If you have a brotherhood, that’s going to help you make that extra rotation and make a stop defensively.”
And that’s important considering that the team is going to be able to score with anyone else in the league.If Harrington can create the environment of togetherness, then the team can improve it’s communication on defense, which, to me, was the team’s biggest weakness.
Notes:
Wilson Chandler seemed a little apprehensive about the possibility of playing the two guard, a notion that the coaching staff seemed high on over the summer.
“I’ve never played there before, so we’ll see what happens. I just go out and play hard and wherever they put me is fine with me.”
Chandler is leery of guarding the two position, but he shouldn’t be, he has the ability to defended and beat faster players to the backboard should the get past him.
Danilo Gallinari‘s experience last season has given him even more confidence coming into this season. I mentioned to him two games in particular when he looked quite strong, even if it was just 80%.
“My body is healthy and that’s important because this is what I do. Last year, I knew I could play but my body didn’t respond the way I would have liked.”
And his message to fans?
“Let’s get it started.”
Got the chance to chat with Darko Milicic who feels that confidence is the key to his resurgence, especially his jumpshot. The organization told him that he has a chance, but they were clear that it was up to him.
And finally Eddy Curry. What can I say? He looked good, admitted that he needs to get in NBA shape, and is already barking about a sore hamstring. He has to be able to get out of the gates.
We will have full video coverage coming.
Remember to follow updates live on Twitter at TommyDeeTKB.
On the eve of training camp…
Let’s chat tonight on TKB Radio at 9 pm with Rice Balls and Dee.
Twitter: TommyDeeTKB
AnthonyMSG
(646) 478-5554
Click here to listen to the archive and past shows.
← Older posts
