Monthly Archives: February 2010
Not much to say, but play by play thoughts should go here…
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…k-i-s-s-i-n-g?
Via Frank Isola:
“Tracy McGrady’s ringing endorsement of David Lee will serve Lee well during his big free agent summer.
“Lee could use McGrady’s quote as a recommendation with the resume: “I love playing with him,” T-Mac said of Lee. “He’s a very smart basketball player. He sets good screens. He knows when to set a good screen, he knows when to slip. He has great hands for a big guy. I really enjoy playing with him.”
Can you say: “ringing endorsement?”
I’m not sure how much TMac’s words will turn into dollars for David, but it surely can’t hurt Lee’s case.
It’s always good to be known as a good teamate and a smart player, but I am not sure how much clout McGrady has around the league these days for his comments to really have any effect…
When Larry Johnson came to the Knicks in 1996, he was a shell of his former self. Gone were the days of Grandmama and the roars that followed thunderous dunks.Heck, 
I’m not even sure he had his infamous gold tooth when he finally appeared on Broadway.
We had a great chat with Jeff Van Gundy last night and we talked about Johnson, whom Van Gundy has always called “the greatest teammate he’s ever coached.”
To me, LJ may have have been the greatest and most dominant college player I’d ever seen. Seriously, Barkley 2.0. Like Sir Charles, the word “tweener” never applied. He was faster than you and stronger than you. And also like Chuck, he had to learn to be an all-around player once his nagging back injury limited him as his NBA career wore on. But LJ proved in college he could blend in with teammates and put ego aside and that went with him, and allowed him to flourish in the league.
He had a well publicized rift in Charlotte with Alonzo Mourning, but LJ put aside his ego for the betterment of his team in New York and that earned him a ton of respect from his coach and the fans.
Plenty of stars, and yes LJ was a star, can’t do that. They can’t put ego aside and help defend. Or sit in the gym and polish post moves, or a shooting stroke hour after hour.
LJ did.
Tracy McGrady is in a similar position and his career is at the crossroads. Can he be relevant and show flashes, and defer most nights? Can he defend at a playoff level and make open 3s?
Can he be a star who learned to reinvent himself and have the respect that LJ did in this town?
We’ll have to see, but if he can this is the place to do it and be remembered for it.
Thanks again to Eric Snow of NBA.tv for coming on TKB Radio and here’s the information for his upcoming appearances in NYC.
“…On March 2nd Eric is doing a book signing at the NBA Store on 5th Avenue
(btwn 52nd & 53rd)in NYC from 1pm-2pm.Later that night (7pm-9pm), he is at the Lincoln Center’s Avery Hall at the
Lincoln Center Plaza where he appears on a panel with Hip Hop Star, Common,
Grammy Award Winning Artist John Legend, and others as part of a Men of
Color discussion sponsored by Teach For America…”
Tune in to TKB Radio tonight at 8 PM to talk Knicks with Anthony “Rice Balls” 
Donahue and Tommy Dee as we welcome NBA.tv’s Eric Snow and former Knicks head coach and current ESPN/ABC broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy.
Call in to be a part of the show
(646) 478-5554
Twitter: AnthonyMSG
Check out DX to see where these players are currently ranked…
So Ian Matthew Kobernick is a senior at Vanderbilt and knows the SEC. The Knicks have 2 picks in the 2nd round and may manage to buy their way into the late 1st.
Here are his thoughts on some prospects and as an aside, if you know you’re conference well, and want to give a scout’s take on possible late-first/2nd rounders for the Knicks, send them to theknicksblog@gmail.com.
The following is a list of three players from the SEC that the Knicks will have their eyes on (I have excluded prospects from Kentucky because John Wall, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins are all projected to be lottery picks or return to school). Let’s be clear, none of these guys will help us entice a certain you know who. Yet one of the biggest problems for the Cavs last year was that they didn’t even have a big man to bring off the bench to defend the Lewis-Turkoglu combo for 15-20 minutes. Role players win championships too, and finding the right pieces in the draft is the start for this organization.
1) Jarvis Varnado – Sr. – Mississippi St. – PF – 6”9 230
NBA Comparison- Marcus Camby
Scouting Report: Obviously Varnado does not have the hype that Camby had back in 1996 when he came out of UMASS, but what he does on the floor, specifically defensively, is very similar to Camby’s style. Despite Mississippi St.’s mediocre play, 4-3 in a very weak SEC West, Varnado brings it every night. Last night against a Vanderbilt team with multiple big men to throw at him (including AJ Ogilvy who many scouts rate higher than Varnado) he efficiently put together a 12 point 14 rebound 9 block performance. The 9 blocks is nothing out of the ordinary for Varnado. He’s 2nd in the NCAA in blocks at 5.2 a night, is the SEC’s all-time leading shot blocker, and has a very realistic chance of becoming the NCAA’s all-time career leading shot blocker by the time he leaves Starkville, MS. Varnado’s shot blocking ability alone should ensure that Varnado will at least be able to fill out a 12-man roster and make an impact on the floor. Varnado has also done a remarkable job in improving his rebounding ability, increasing his total every year to the point where he is now ranked 6th in the country in rebounding at 11.2 a night.
The problem, however, is that Varnado does not have many of the traits scouts deem necessary in order to be a successful big man in today’s game. For all of his brilliant work on the glass and in sending shots away, he is small for an NBA Center (where he would ideally play on this Knicks squad). While Varnado can use his athleticism on the offensive end to finish at the rim, he is still extremely raw. His jump shot is still a work in progress and he lacks any true go-to low post moves. In fact, through 7 games of SEC play Varnado does not even rank in the top 30 of the conference in scoring.
Knicks take: I know what your thinking, oh great, another raw big man for the Knicks to draft. And thanks, his lack of offensive game should do wonders in D’Antoni’s system. The problem is that by no means are we looking at Ben Wallace Jr. Varnado has improved his scoring every year and shoots at an efficient clip (57% from the field, 63% from the line). Most importantly however, he brings DEFENSE. Unfortunately, I have been watching too many uncontested shots, poor rotations, and lack of hustle over the past few years that I have forgotten exactly what the term truly means. He may struggle with his post game and offensive repertoire, but that can be improved through coaching and a strong work ethic, something Varnado has been praised for, and is evident through his steady improvement from year to year. We have been searching for shot-blocking for years and Varnado might be the answer. He would fit very well with the current Knicks squad, as he would allow both Lee and Harrington to play the 4 and focus on offense where their true strengths lie.
2) Devan Downey – Sr. – South Carolina – PG – 5”9 170:
NBA comparison: Aaron Brooks, Nate Robinson
Quick, flashy, undersized explosive scorer. More of a combo guard than a point, and at 5”9 he is not scaring to many NBA SGs. Nate Robinson Jr, or maybe an Aaron Brooks.
Knicks take: They need a PG, but with the recent trade for Sergio Rodriguez, not sure if they’ll go after one late.
3) AJ Ogilvy – Jr. – Vanderbilt – C – 6”11 250
NBA Comparison: Darko Milicic
AJ has what you would expect out of a foreign big man. He has size and strength and can muscle up buckets against weaker defenders. However, what has made Ogilvy an All-SEC performer is his shooting stroke. By no means a 3-point bomber (he has not attempted any this year) Ogilvy can hit the open jumper out to 18 feet and he has built a nice career out of that. Additionally, he uses his deft shooting stroke to capitalize at the line—73% is not too shabby for a 6”11 center. His post game could use some refinement but on a team without a true low post threat other than himself, he has made it work in his time at Vanderbilt.
All right, for those of you that have watched Ogilvy, you know what is coming now…plain and simple, the man has got to grow a pair. As a Vandy undergraduate, it is difficult for me to watch such talent go to waste. Night in and night out Ogilvy gets thrown around by opponents who have far less skill or talent, and more often than not a good defender can take him out of his game. In Vanderbilt’s wins this year he averages just a tad under 15 ppg. In their losses, he is barely in double figures at 10.3 ppg. What is truly shell shocking is that Ogilvy has digressed in almost every relevant statistical category every season in his time at Vanderbilt, a problem that should trigger some concern.
Knicks take: While I think Ogilvy can clearly become a viable prospect if he improves his senior season, he is by no means worth the investment of a draft choice, let alone the lofty lottery potential people threw around at the beginning of the season. If we are keeping Lee, then we need big men that can bang and play tough D—that is a given. But even if we are not keeping Lee, I don’t see how Ogilvy fits on this team next year. The toughness and defensive intensity you would want out of your center position is simply not there, an issue that should raise flags for Donnie Walsh.
Others to consider:
Terrico White – So. – Mississippi – SG – 6”5 200: Very talented scorer but could use some more time in school to refine his game. With another year and improvement in his jump shot could be a first rounder and a fit at the 2 for the Knicks.
Jeffrey Taylor – So. – Vanderbilt – SF – 6”6 200: All the skills to be a starting NBA SG except he needs to work on his jumper. Projected by many as a top five pick. Two years from now he would fit in nicely alongside Gallo and a quality PG in a couple of years.
Shedding salary isn’t as fun as winning games. Taking measurable steps backwards in the name of hypothetical steps forward is tiresome and unfulfilling.
But, if ever there was a time to feel good about being bad, it is now.
ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski has what us Knicks fans might call, a logical, sound, thoughtful and legitimate proposal for just how good this team could be next fall.
We just need the superstars to align:
“From a pure salary standpoint, there’s no reason James, Wade and Bosh should bolt. If they max out with their teams, they’ll get six-year deals with 10.5 percent annual salary increases. If they move, they’ll get only five-year deals at a lower annual increase rate of 8 percent. LeBron could leave $30 million on the table if he ditches the Cavs.
“I’d ditch them. If you’re really serious about creating a brand and a basketball legacy, do something that’s never been done before. Don’t max out; min out.
“Depending on the final salary-cap numbers, the Knicks could have about $33 million to spend on free agents in the summer. Under normal circumstances, that’s enough to offer, say, James a max deal and then fill in the roster holes with whatever is left over.
“But if James, Wade and Bosh truly want to make history, they could do the unthinkable and split the Knicks’ $33 million three ways. It would cost them salary money, but can you imagine how much they’d make on the back end if they started reeling in NBA titles? In New York?
“Whatever they’d lose on their paycheck stubs, they’d make up in endorsements.”
This article is a good read, and while it is written with at least a tinge of fantasy, the logic Wojo applies is perfectly sound.
Sorta.
I don’t think the issue for these guys is the money, as much as it is the spotlight. Not to say that big names can’t join forces in the name of winning rings (see: 2008 Celtics), but less attention and less money are two very different considerations.
All these guys would surely benefit from the national exposure of playing in New York and winning in New York. And it is fair to say that Bosh would enjoy a boost in his marketable value playing alongside either James or Wade.
But would LeBron or Wade gain more or less by sharing the spotlight in a single city? Would having two MVP candidates sharing the same floor be better or worse for their endorsement deals and jersey sales?
Now: is this going to happen as Wojo outlines it? No.
Should it? Maybe.
And it’s that oh-so-small ray of hope that makes this terribly improbable scenario so compelling…
Plenty of you have taken the time to knock Mike D’Antoni’s play calling at the end of games. And while it’s hard to disagree that the coach hasn’t pulled out many victories from the jaws of defeat based on his play calling, let’s keep some things in perspective.
If you want to get on the coach for “calling” a play for McGrady to shoot a 3 when the team could have gotten a quick 2, fine. That’s very fair.
But McGrady, if he were healthy, would have attacked Perkins instead of settling for a pull up three in my opinion. Great players get fouled in those situations at the very least, which shows you that McGrady still isn’t right, obviously. Either way the coach got the ball in his hands and got a perfect top of key look and he missed.
Jason Richardson’s situation was a basic (and I mean 1st grade basic) isolation play where he used the break down dribble to get in the lane and finish. The Knicks don’t have a break down dribbler who can finish, again, until McGrady becomes 100%. Who’s the guy who can create his own shot in the half court with the confidence to take the big shot when it’s on the line? They don’t have one yet. Jamal Crawford was that player and he missed his fair share. Still, he had the stones to create then take the shot with the bounce. I would have liked to have seen Jamal take it to the rack and get fouled more, myself.
And Kobe, well, let’s put it this way. D’Antoni has run that free up shooter play for Gallo all the time this year and many times it’s worked, yet if he misses at the end of a game it’s somehow a bad play call. Gallo had a similar look the other night against the Bulls and missed.
Kobe makes Phil Jackson look like a genius because he can make an off angle 3 from 3 feet behind the arc. That’s a “good look” for him. Sure it is, he’s Kobe Bryant. Derek Fisher and Toni Kukoc have made Jax look good too. If you want to say those are bad examples because of the little amount of time that was left, fine, then look at the shot Tim Duncan made right before the Fisher shot.
I mean, I would like to see the coach do a better job at last second play calling about as much as I’d like to see one of our players make a shot.
38 to 23 and 149 to 115…
The difference in rebounding totals in the team’s last three games.
There was the lopsided effort against the Bucks where they were +26, mainly because the Knicks didn’t make any shots, but, overall, the Knicks are in obvious need of help on the glass.
I say sign Dwayne Jones, although Mike D’Antoni didn’t sound as if that would be an option as he stated that it’s hard for a D-Leaguer to crack the rotation.
Really? A D-Leaguer pulling down 16 rpg and a ridiculous 6 offensive per game? No, he’s not a pick and roll specialist, but I think he can figure that out.
The team should have won the Thunder game for various reasons. McGrady had a chance to basically ice the W from the stripe and came up empty.
But the team gave up 16 offensive rebounds.
16.
That’s, well, 16 more possibilities to score and generally those are easier shots because most of the times they are short put backs, or kick outs to wide open shooters. High percentage shots.
Same with the Bucks game. (more…)
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