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Players Only! and the 2010 Scapegoat

by Ben Kopelman on November 6th, 2009 at 11:37 am

Via the Daily News:

“Al Harrington called a players-only meeting that lasted 20 minutes following Thursday’s practice. According toLarry Hughes, the discussion centered on “how we want to approach the rest of the season and be a better team than what we’ve shown. It wasn’t based upon (Wednesday’s loss toIndiana), but how we’ve been up and down to start the season.”

I like the initiative, Al.  Let’s hope you guys figured something out in there…

Oh wait!  The report also reads:

“Are the Knicks already starting to implode? It’s a question being raised in light of their 1-4 start and grumbling inside the locker room that the organization, gearing up for the free-agent class of 2010, is giving up on this season.

“According to one player, there is a sense among many Knicks that this season doesn’t mean anything to the organization since management has made it clear that it will look to add an impact player next summer.”

I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t make sense to me.

I understand how annoying it must be to be fielding questions about next summer this early into the season.  I can imagine that it would eventually get under some guys’ skin to have to asnwer the same question over and over again which has nothing to do with the games being played today.

But the notion that because the team is gearing up for a big summer that this season means nothing is so blatantly untrue.  The worse this team is this year, the worse its chances at making a sizable splash next summer.  No matter how you cut it, wins today matter.  Let me repeat that: Wins. Today. Matter.

So, what, players are pissed off because we didn’t get better this offseason? That because of 2010, we held back from making any monster moves? They’re all crying because we didn’t sign Ramon Sessions this summer? I don’t buy that for a second.

It sounds to me like some are displeased with the lack or respect they have recieved from Knicks brass.  A “work now and we’ll talk later” type approach. How novel!  Prove your worth and THEN get paid!

You know one good way to change a GM, coach or city’s perception of you?  One smart way of making yourself part of the solution and not just another part of the problem?

To stop talking, stop dancing, and start playing like YOU care and that YOU want to win.

The 2010 summer is nothing more than a cheap, pathetic scapegoat to use as a defense for shoddy preperation and shoddy play.  Be a professional.  Do your job.  Give me a break…
  • bartnyk

    Whos really gonna be back next year??

    Gallo
    Wilson (maybe if he doesn’t get traded)
    Douglas
    Hill

    Thats it and only 2 of those guys get major mins so who are these “Knicks” that should win to show FA that we have enough. I think its gonna implode we cant beat the Cavs and we lose games we should win so its gonna be a long year for the FANS the players are gonna go out and shoot 30 threes a night and have a good time, whos gonna guard shaq tonight David Lee?

  • bartnyk

    And I have to say AL is laying it on pretty thick right now I hope its genuine and not just because its a contract year for him.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    u gotta remember almost every1 on this team is playing for a new contract
    so there will hardly be any team play

    let’s see how is goes..

  • Mal

    Lebron will leave us at the altar, I hope Plan B is ready to be executed ASAP.

    No one to check Shaq, please dont let Lebron have a career game and fans must treat him like the enemy. We only should shower him with love when/if he becomes a Knick.

    Our team stacking up against the Bulls
    Im going to look at us vs all otehr rosters see if what the one GM says is true about our team looking like an expansion squad

    Duhon < Rose
    Hughes Johnson
    Nate < Kirk H (Kirk can run the point better and play defense, Nate may be a better scorer)
    Tony D < Pargo
    Darko < Brad Miller
    J Hill = J J Snacks (neither play)
    Curry = Gray (neither play)
    Landy < Lindsey Hunter (Landry younger Hunter more game ready and seasoned )

    Well I guess I answered my own question

  • traps9

    Then why are Gallo and Harrington not on your list

  • DanL

    Nice post Ben.

  • Mucha

    “According to one player”? Who’s not able to act like a professional person when the Knicks put millions on the table?

    I don’t think it’s Milicic because the Knicks actually gave him a great opportunity to prove himself. It’s not Al Harrington, he loves the Knicks and he respects Donnie Walsh who drafted him and saved his career.

    It’s either Chris Duhon, Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries.

    I’d say Hughes or Duhon.

  • Bob

    the KNICK brass put together a team that sucks and now tells them to go out and win one for the gipper what a joke,it seems like THIS team is just being ignored by its own mgmt.they dont give a crap how bad this team is playing right now,they dont even care to fix it,and they surely dont give a spit about the fans who are spending their money on this years team.there is so much that is morally wrong about what the knicks are doing this year.Donnie Walsh isnt even answering his phone until july

  • Ben Kopelman

    SO WHAT tho

    do your job. quit hiding behind this mask of 2010…just work hard and try and win, whether its for the city of new york or for your own 2010 contract, i dont care.

    but dont act like you arent trying hard bc the team doesnt love you enough.

    nobody cares. do your job.

  • jcmoney

    Yeah, you lost me when with Hill = JJ. Hill is a lottery pick who needs time to develop. JJ is going to be out of the league when his contract is up.

  • HaS

    I predicted this would happen. I wish they would prove me wrong. Just once. I’m sick of this.

    When the GM and the coach are constantly referring to players as “expiring contracts” and mentioned as dead weight that needs to be moved before 2010, coupled with the fact that it doesn’t take an accountant (although I’m sure agents can do some light number crunching for their clients) to see that there is no money here for anyone not named LeBron and in fact their rights need to be renounced in order to make such a move, you shouldn’t expect anything less than exactly what seems to be happening.

    “But the notion that because the team is gearing up for a big summer that this season means nothing is so blatantly untrue. The worse this team is this year, the worse its chances at making a sizable splash next summer.”

    You say it right in this sentence unbeknownst to you I imagine, but I’ll point it out to you: “The worse THIS TEAM is this year, the worse IT’S CHANCES at making a sizable splash this summer” What happens to this team won’t matter to a player that knows deep down that they won’t be a PART OF IT.

    And if “nobody cares.” why should they?

  • MrFurious

    I think it’s less that the Knicks Brass put this team together as this is what is left of a team that’s being completely dismantled. We took what we could get in trading Randolph and Crawford. Just barely resigned Nate and Lee. I don’t blame management for biting the bullet to some extent, it had to be done or you just extend mediocrity for 3 or 4 more years. After a decade of ineptitude, I’m OK with this route for now.

    Regarding any player whining about how they are perceived or if they feel slighted by management. I mean this with all seriousness and venom I can muster. Fuck them. They are paid to be professionals as anyone who has a job knows…but even worse than that, these guys are paid a fortune to play a game. A damn game! I cannot conceive how absolutely selfish and ignorant one has to be to whine in a situation of such exquisite privilege. They need only to look at the news, read the paper, or look outside or their tricked out Hummers to see whats happening to real people with and without jobs. So cry me a river middling NBA players, you get your respect by playing hard and honoring your contract everything else is self indulgent horseshit perpetrated by over-privileged whiners.

    Regarding the moral implications of the Knicks tanking these two years to actually begin building a team. I don’t what you could realistically do differently. The team was saddled with horrible long term contracts with little or no trade value. Draft picks have been traded. Cap maxed out. I suppose you can nit pick some individual roster moves but there really isn’t much they could do to dramatically improve this roster unless all- stars start signing for the league minimum. I would turn your statement back on you…Is it not unethical (immoral isn’t really the right word here) to take a fat paycheck and basically not try to compete this early in the season while using 2010 free agency as an excuse?

  • jcmoney

    How is anyone so surprised at this? This is what we were talking about all last year as the main downfall of the 2010 plan – how do you get your players to care until then when they all know they probably wont be here next year? The only incentive is the next contract, and that really only makes players want to dominate the ball and boost their stats.

    This is exactly what everyone knew was going to happen, how can you act so surprised? It’s not that they didn’t get Sessions or Kidd or Hill even, it’s not about adding a certain piece. It’s that every move is made with the hope we are making a free agency splash in 2010, yet our GM still says “Yeah our strategy is to clear cap space until 2010, but we dont have a draft pick this year so we are trying to win this year too!” But the reality is, the team is not trying to win this year, we are trying to win next year and the year after. It’s easy for a GM to say “we are trying to win this year” but it’s hard for players to believe it when this year is being treated as a joke.

    It’s not the players fault. I blame it on management and coaching. This is pretty much the exact same team we had last year, why is this season such a mess? It’s not like D’Antoni had to spend nights figuring out how to fit new players into the lineup. Its the same team. Hill and TD dont play, Darko hardly gets minutes. The only difference is a healthy Gallo. Why does or team not play like we did in the begining of last year even? Why does there seem to be no system or plan?