Category Archives: 2008 Training Camp
“Private Marbury reporting for service, SIR!!”
I’m sure it hardly went down like that, but Marc Berman is reporting that (hold on to your hat folks) Stephon Marbury has come to grips with the idea of coming off the bench just shortly after holding firm on his Gary Templeton-esque statement that he will start or depart.
Clearly the refreshing Saratoga Springs water has cleansed Steph of his bitterness, now he is leveraging himself as the ultimate team player.
We’ll see how long this lasts.
“I don’t want to go through any more distractions,” Marbury told The Post. “I want all of us to concentrate on winning and not if I’m going to start or not. I want us to be able to go forward. If the Knicks want me to come off the bench, that’s what I’m going to do. I just want to win a championship in New York because we as New Yorkers deserve a chip.”
You may recall at media day last week Marbury held court in front of a dozen of reporters, including yours truly, and his comments ranged from head-scratching to prophetic. He told reporters he doesn’t need their business advice, “You all are the LAST people I’d ask for business advice” and that all he wants to do is win a championship in NY. But in the same breath he adamantly stated that he’s the starting point guard.
Steph has shown up in camp lighter and ready to rumble. I agree with D’Antoni’s assertion to play him off the ball, but the three? I can’t wait to see this innovation.
Sure it makes sense to hold onto him until Gallinari proves he’s ready for the rotation. That could explain why the sudden shift. However, if Steph doesn’t mesh at the 3, I can’t logically see how having him in the lineup as essentially the 4th guard makes any sense. He’ll be gone next year, so what loyalty does he have to a coach he doesn’t have to look at 8 months from now? I maintain that great teams utilize a 3- guard rotation with the fourth getting spot minutes. Why would Nate or Chris Duhon, the team’s only distributor, settle for 15-20 minutes a game? Take a look at the best guard tandems in the NBA last year. (* Players combined minutes because of mid-season trade)
Hornets MPG
Chris Paul 38
Mo Pete 24
Pargo 19
Bonzi/ 19*
Jackson
Celtics
Rondo 30
Allen 36
Tony Allen 19
House/ 19
Cassell
Pistons
Rip 34
Billups 32
Stuckey 19
Murray/ 16*
Afflalo
Suns
Nash 34
Barbosa 29
Bell 35
Giricek/ 16*
Banks
Maybe we should take Marbury at his word that he’s NY to the bone, a trick that, I myself, have fallen for before.I just have no idea how happy he’ll be being the 4th guard in the rotation.
Maybe this time will be different.
Sorry no sound but the video is pretty solid.
This is a few days old but enjoy anyway. Houston looks to be very content and I really think he’s going to make the roster if he remains healthy. Also, TKB will be covering the second week of camp so stay tuned for daily updates and commentary.
The following piece was submitted by TKB reader Myles Mills. As always we encourage readers to send in their submissions.
The Knicks tip off their new season on Oc
tober 29th, equipped with a new coach, a new style of play, a new general manager, and an array of interesting acquisitions. Chris Duhon, signed to the full mid-level exception this summer, has career averages of 4.7 ppg and 2 apg, but he may be a player to watch during the 2008-2009 season. Duhon has always shot the three with accuracy, but never got a chance to shine in a crowded backcourt including Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes, Sefolosha, and Kirk Hinrick. In Mike D’Antoni’s “run n’ gun” system Duhon might finally get an opportunity to duplicate some of the success he had at Duke, winning a national championship in 2001.
Although his offensive game is war as they come, Patrick Ewing Jr. already has the ability to be a lockdown defender in the NBA. He is long, athletic, and has lateral quickness. He won’t get much playing time, but in the future, he could become the quintessential lock down defender for the Knicks. Allan Houston isn’t close to the player he was when he retired three years ago, but he remembers the days when the Knicks were refutable, and the Garden was roaring every night. Houston is the leader this team needs, and it looks like he can still knock down the open jumpshot, something every player is expected to do in D’Antoni’s offense.
Walsh’s inactivity this summer has been frowned upon by many, but with the Knicks surging youth movement, top flight talent may not need to be acquired. The Knicks have abundant home-grown talent, and under the tutelage of Mike D’Antoni, the youth of this team are expected to make major strides. Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, David Lee, and Danilo Gallinari are allowing Knicks fans to be more optimistic than they have in years.
Wilson Chandler started getting minutes at the right time, when Donnie Walsh was sitting in the stands. His season averages of 7.3 ppg and 3.6 rpg are impressive, but it’s a string of games he put together towards the end of the season that showed glimpses of the future. Wilson Chandler showed up to play in Orlando on April 6th, and when right at Rashard Lewis. Chandler finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 0 turnovers. The Knicks defeated the Magic 98-94. Two nights later, Chandler had his best performance of the year. Against a persistent Detroit Piston defense, Chandler had 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist, and shot 8/9 from the field. Chandler followed this outstanding performance up with 12 and 6 against Charlotte and 18, 8 and a block against the Hawks. I was convinced.
Donnie Walsh recently said, “Nate could be the most unique player in this league…I’ve never seen a guy his size with his talent and athletic ability.” Nate Robinson will take on the role of Leandro Barbosa this year, and he should have a career year. His three point shooting has improved every year, and he drives to the basket fearlessly. If Nate can pressure the ball 94 feet, he will be force to be reckoned with in this league. Nate Robinson’s game best fits Mike D’Antoni’s fast-paced offense.
David Lee rebounds, hustles, and is a natural leader. Selected 30th overall in the 2005 draft, Lee is the ultimate steal. With a jumpshot, he is an all-star. Jamal Magloire made it averaging 14 and 11, and with a midrange game, David lee has potential to exceed even those numbers. David Lee wants to be a Knick when things turn around, so expect a contract extension, with Lee getting paid around 8 million a year, and worth every penny.
Danilo Gallinari is raw, but filled with potential. He led 30-year-olds, at the age of 19, in a league in which Derrick Rose couldn’t survive. He has great touch, and size, but defense is and will be his Achilles’ heal. He lacks the lateral quickness needed to guard NBA small or power forwards. Yet, at 19, the Knicks have years to harness Gallinari’s potential and turn him into a great NBA player.
All four of these players are 25 or under, and have yet to enter their primes. Finally, they have a coach to help them take their games to the next level. Knicks fans recognize that a youth movement is here, and there is reason to be excited.
Editor’s Note: Our thanks to TKB reader Sean Cronin for informing us that the Daily News, not Vecsey, scooped incorrectly about the Fratello hiring. Our apologies.
And our league source has not confirmed the reported Tinsley-to-Denver deal for Atkins and Hunter.
So I almost spilled my coffee on the train this morning reading Peter Vecsey’s column in today’s Post 
where the Man of Misery took a swipe at Newsday’s coverage of the Marbury and Randolph situations over the past few weeks.
“How can Marbury possibly still be an active member of the Knicks? Unless my short-term memory, too, is a shambles, I swear I read a couple weeks ago in Newsday, that the Knicks were days away from outright releasing him or agreeing to a buyout of this season’s $21.9 million guarantee.
How could several sources that the author claimed confirmed the report all be mistaken?Weeks prior to that exclusive, Newsday broke another story; within days, readers were notified, Randolph and a trade-maximum $3M to defray 1/18 of his $48M, 3-year obligation, would be dispatched to the Grizzlies for Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric. The holdup, we were told, was the inclusion of a New York number one pick in exchange for either point guard Kyle Lowry or Javaris Crittenton.
How can Randolph possibly be jacking up jumpers for Mike D’Antoni as he did for Isiah Thomas . . . when sources confirmed to the author Zach would be in Graceland by that weekend?”
Granted, both players are still here, despite my own notion that they would be gone, and who better to point that out than the master of inaccuracy himself? But before I get into his pedigree, as if I need to, smart basketball fans have tuned Vescey out for a while making him almost completely irrelevant, I mean I’m still waiting for Ron Harper to become a Knick, and for Fratello to coach them. The bottom line is that these two players are not in the Knicks’ future plans. Marbury will not be on the team next year and in order for the Knicks to get under the cap Randolph needs to be shown the door. You don’t need “sources” to tell you that.
Remember, we reported before Newsday, that a first round pick was involved, and it was. I stand by that. I’m assuming Vecsey’s “Memphis source” may be Chris Wallace himself, or some yahoo at a Memphis juke-joint. Wallace’s agenda was to fleece Walsh, in an attempt to replace Pau Gasol, whom the Grizz gave to the Fakers. Walsh was not going to be duped.
I’ve been at this journalism thing for a while, and I’m new to this beat thing with the Knicks, but I’ve learned a lot in a short period of time. I think the two best qualities a writer can possess is logic and good sources. What I’ve learned is that if you have a solid source, you have to go with it, because if your instincts are right and you don’t go with it you’ve missed a great chance. If it’s wrong or things change, which they often do several times a week, you live with it. It’s part of the game.
I think Newsday did a great job this summer, and the fans did too, and this is coming from someone who, until last year, never read the thing.
But they don’t need me to defend them, my beef is purely with Vecsey. Here’s a guy whose smug humor is a nice niche, especially for the Post, of which reading is part of my daily routine. Vecsey’s trash-talking today would make his former coach at Archbishop Molloy, Jack Curran, cringe. Especially based on his what he’s done. At this point, based on Newsday’s coverage, Vecsey’s column is the equivalent of getting the better of the player guarding you in a game, and then having them talk smack after finally scoring in the 4th quarter of a game your team’s winning by 20.
Vecsey has often been accused of writing fiction, as well as just simply not paying attention. Just this past April he wrote that he expected Sam Mitchell to be fired by the Raptors because a “whispering campaign” said Mitchell was:
“not a hard worker or on top of the league’s current events. A few months ago, before the Raptors were to play the Lakers, he addressed the team by telling them, “We’ll worry about the guy who got 81 in a second, but first I want to talk about Andrew Bynum and how he killed us last time.” A hush engulfed the locker room. “Hey, coach,” Chris Bosh interrupted. “Bynum’s been out for weeks with an injury.”
But according to those in the room, said incident never took place. Imagine that.
Vecsey also lambasted Jeff Van Gundy for something he never said on a telecast about Rafer Alston. The story had a lot of legs, including an interview with Alston’s mother, who was miffed at the piece.
Except Vescey got the whole thing wrong, if you had watched the telecast, that is.
“IN Jeff Van Gundy’s studied opinion, Rafer Alston was identified during last Sunday’s ABC telecast as being near peerless at the point this season, second only to Chris Paul.
No disrespect to my Queens homie who’s enjoying his most productive and poised extensive stretch of success since being branded Skip To My Lou, but was Van Gundy serious or delirious?
In all likelihood, neither; like many in the media Van Gundy no doubt was trying to draw attention to himself by stating something demi- controversial.”
WRONG! Actually Peter, what Van Gundy said was that “Alston is playing like a top 5 NBA point guard,” meaning that he was performing at an elite level during a stretch that saw the Rockets win 19 straight games. Never did he say Skip was “second to Chris Paul” or “better” than the NBA’s elite. Van Gundy wondered this aloud to Mike Breen and Mark Jackson, who were surprised at the coach’s notion.
“What’s a point guard’s job? To help your team win… who’s doing that better than Rafer Alston right now? Of course he’s not better than Chris Paul or Deron Williams, but he’s PLAYING on that level right now.”
Clearly, Vecsey was mistaken, and has been plenty of times in his career. Again, it’s part of the game.
Finally, and for good measure, should Allan Houston make the team, it will be the biggest comeback since Mr. Vecsey’s hairline.
Word out of Saratoga is that Jared Jefferies, who had looked pretty impressive and comfortable in
D’Antoni’s system, suffered a fractured fibia during today’s workouts and will be out 2 months at the most.
This is a significant setback for someone the Knicks hope can improve his value. I think Jefferies has the chance to be a valuable piece to a contender, and whose contract isn’t brutal. I think moving the contract is essential in the team’s plans to get under the cap in 2010.
This opens the door for guys like Danilo Gallinari, should he be able to come back relatively soon, but also for Patrick Ewing Jr., who has struggled but can be an impact defender right away.
It also means more minutes for Wilson Chandler, who the team hopes can be a 25-30 minute player.
Loading ...Offensively, it does make some sense to start David Lee at the 5, as he can set screens and post up. But his post up game is not 
necessiarly his strong point. If he can prove he can bang down that mid-range jumper then D’Antoni can move Zbo to the blocks or Curry, if he ever practices, and allow Lee to float around the foul line. He can set screens and get a running start to finish at the hoop with both hands, which he does as well as anyone in the league.
The guard situation is tricky, being that if Marbury is here he has to play. He’s a better player than Duhon, but he’s proven that he can’t share the backcourt with Crawford. They are an awful defensive pair. There’s something to be said about that as Marbury couldn’t share a backcourt with Steve Francis, come to think of it, besides Kerry Kittles can anyone name a two-guard who actually had a shred of success playing with Steph?
I’d start Duhon and Crawford and move Steph off the ball, but where does that leave Nate? Four-man backcourt rotations rarely work, especially since the three are sure to see 30 plus minutes. It’s, again, why I just don’t believe Steph will be here in the beginning of November. They have no decison to make on him after this year, and they have a huge decision to make with Nate moving forward.
Wilson Chandler should start, but my gut is he’ll start with Q at the 3 and I think that’s a mistake. I’ve fiddled with the idea of giving Q some minutes at the 2, letting him post up smaller guards, but for the above reason, Q will be utilized at the 3. Chandler will get a heavy workload, but expect him to come off the bench to start, unless he has a dominant camp.
Alan Hahn has an update:
Here’s what we know about Danilo Gallinari‘s back: it was a bulging disc, which irritated nerves around the area and caused that shooting pain Gallo mentioned. The disc has since receded and he is feeling better, but it is a situation where you have to allow the inflamed area to recover and the back to be strengthened. The Knicks expect him to be ready to go soon, but the bigger concern isn’t about his back but his conditioning. Gallinari has not been allowed to run for a few months now. But I can tell you this from watching some of the drills on the side of the court after practice: this kid can shoot it.
Hoopsworld is reporting that Knicks rookie Danilo Gallinari may be suffering from a bulging disk and has received two cortizone shots this off season.
Suffering from a bulging disk is a nagging situation unless Gallinari settles for surgery, which will keep him out for a while.
I spoke with Gallinari at Media Day and he was clear on the fact that he hadn’t been doing much, if any, conditioning with the exception of some “light bike” and that he had “no timetable” for his return.
Gallinari rode the stationary bike on the sideline during the first day of training camp in Saratoga.
In other injury news, Eddy Curry is out with a bacterial infection and may miss the entire week, according to the NY Post.
David Lee knows what he has to do.
When I asked him what his feelings were, being one of the most productive players per minute in the NBA yet still having to sit behind guys that make more money, he was very clear.
“Those guys (Curry and Randolph) are veterans and I should be behind them. I was a late lottery pick. I came in here knowing Channing (Frye) was a lottery pick and was going to get the first crack (at the starting role). I just have to keep working hard night after night.”
Don’t let him fool you, he wants to start. He’s a winner and that’s a winner’s mentality. Tiger Woods has always had respect for Jack Nicklaus records, but knew in his heart he could win 50 majors. He’s being a good teammate, and quickly morphing into a leadership role in his 4th year.
Lee has plenty in his favor. We’ve heard that Donnie Walsh has settled on the idea of giving Lee a much-deserved extension, but he’ll have every opportunity to earn it. He will see plenty of minutes and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins a starting forward spot out of the gate. He’s comfortable in this system, remember he played in Billy Donovan’s 40 minute pressing style at Florida.
He’s also ready to show fans how hard he’s worked on his jumper this off season.
“I think fans will be surprised, ” he told me. “It’s a confidence thing, and I’ve found it.”
If that’s the case, Lee won’t find himself on the bench very often, and he may find himself on the All-Star team.
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