Category Archives: 2009 Training Camp
Good Stuff Seth. Way to hit the hard topics. By the way, Seth will be joining me on the latest installment of TKB.tv.
Also, get your “DWTDD” T-shirts…what are they? Click here to find out.
Seriously, who cares about predictions? Predictions are only useful if the current group of players that 
is trying to come together for a common goal stays together the whole year, and doesn’t get battered with injuries. This time last year people were saying whatever they were saying about the Knicks, then the entire roster shifted several weeks later. Granted, those predictions still suggested that the Knicks were a 30-ish win team, but what’s so special about that?
If you’re in the habit of reading a prediction from a couple of people who haven’t watched one minute of training camp and maybe a few minutes of a preseason game then head to BDL.
“…Donnie Walsh is the right executive for this team. Mike D’Antoni’s the right coach. And soon enough, they’ll have the right players. Or, at least, they’ll have a chance at them. And it’s just not worth commenting on any of these players because they won’t be Knicks in 12 months time. Danilo Gallinari(notes) will be, and he looks like a stud. Jordan Hill looks solid, for a thin draft at least. Others might come back, but if Knicks fans have any say, they’ll be role players. Even the ones who are brilliant, like Lee. Or explosive, like Robinson.
So take in one more year of nonsense. It might not net you LeBron or Bosh or Wade or even Carlos Boozer(notes).
But whatever happens, another year of taking blows will lead you toward respectability. And though New York’s record won’t be respectable this season, you can respect where they’re going. Even if they step back in 2009-10.
Prediction: 30-52…”
How this team can be worse than last year’s 32 win group is hard to fathom. Did I miss where it says Al Harrington or David Lee are lost for the season due to injury? Did I miss where the Pacers, Nets, Bobcats and Bucks have become unbeatable?
The bottom line is no one knows what will come of this group, but from someone who has actually seen what is going on in camp I can tell you that things are moving in the right direction and that baring a roster shift or injury the team is going to win more than 32 games.
That’s a prediction and not one of hopeless optimism. How many wins exactly? Who knows and who cares. It’s not a stretch to say they can compete for the 8th seed.
I’ve watched a ton of basketball and beg for teams to do the little things, which I am pleasantly surprised to have seen from certain members of this team. But, then again, I’m more concerned with giving fans Xs and Os and solid info than punchlines and forced comedy.
“…Mike D’Antoni said that Nate Robinson‘s inability to control his emotions was a factor in the Knicks’ decision not to sign Robinson to a multi-year contract.
Robinson received a one-year contract just before training camp opened.
“That’s why he [got] a one-year contract,” D’Antoni said of the exuberance that often gets the better of Robinson on the court. “That’s why we won 32 games.”
D’Antoni believes the Knicks would have greater success when Robinson can change his approach to the game.
“As soon as we get it and he gets it, then we’ll win, get in the playoffs and guys will find homes…”
In another interesting note, and one we’ve already told you the coaching staff feels strongly about…
“…One reporter Wednesday tried to embark on a story about how Friday’s preseason game in Boston could be a “statement” game, as if the second game of any preseason could be so and as if MD’A agreeing with that premise would blow the Yankees off the back pages.
D’Antoni, instead, cut him off at the pass, saying, “It’s too early. If this was the last preseason game, we might talk a little bit about the Celtics. … It’s too early to think about your opponent. We’re just worried about our stuff…”
Stuff like getting over screens, taking shots away and continuing to build chemistry…
Via Press Release:
New York Knickers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that forward Warren Carter and guards Ron Howard, Gabe Pruitt and Sun Yue have been waived. The Knicks roster stands at 16 players.
I liked what I saw from Carter, it just seemed that he was a bit of a 3-4 tweener. Yue, Howard and most of all Pruitt were relative non-factors during their time at training camp.
Click here for my interview with Roger Ahl of “All Sports” where I discuss the entire training camp and all the inside scoop from Skidmore.
A ton of emails and several comments are clamoring at me to see the Boston game as some sort of 
test for this Knicks team.
Great.
All fair and are spoke with great passion, but pardon me if I don’t get it.
I understand if certain Knick fans want to bite off more than they can chew and want to satisfy curiosity or doubt against the Celtics, an elite Eastern Conference team. I also fully understand if certain fans don’t think that this 2009 team will be a playoff team and expect to get their doors blow off Friday night.
If you understand something please understand this. TKB is a great forum for discussion and you may take what I report anyway you’d like. That said, I rarely tell anyone how to be a Knick fan because that is not my job.I hope that the information we give here is fruitful, and when I say that there are clear signs early on that this team is pulling together I can only hope that you trust what these eyes are seeing.
Baring ridiculous catastrophic Mets-like injuries, the Celtics are the best team in the East and maybe the NBA, so can someone explain why on earth I need to care about a preseason game against them?
They are a 60-plus win team. Sure, it would be great if the Knicks compete, but here’s what the coaches are worried about:
Continuing the defensive energy and hoping that offensive-minded players get rewarded for defensive efforts.
Period.
It’s an 82 game schedule and if the team can cement the little things that they showed yesterday they have a chance to win their share of games agains the league’s non-elite.
Sure, it would be great if they can continue to do those things in a few days and it should give them, and fans, some confidence, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves shall we?
One day at a time…
I know that the Toney Douglas audio was difficult to hear. I asked him first, what he took out of this week and he mentioned that the veterans are really doing a great job of helping him understand the game on the fly to make sure that his positives outweigh the negatives. Secondly, I asked him if playing for Leonard Hamilton, who coached the Wizards for a brief time, has helped him adjust to the NBA game from a system standpoint. He basically responding by saying that Florida State had a similar up-tempo style that ran a lot of pick and rolls, so yes it’s similar and allows him to be more comfortable.
Coach D’Antoni unveiled tomorrow’s starting lineup, choosing to start and reward the veterans. He was quick to tell us that he’s more concerned with who finishes than who starts, and hopes the players are as well.
PG- Chris Duhon
SG- Larry Hughes
SF- Al Harrington
PF- David Lee
C- Jared Jeffries
I’m not psyched about this group from a defensive rebounding standpoint, but they did show solid flashes of offensive cohesion. You should see Nate and Douglas playing together and minutes from Chandler, Darko and Gallo as D’Antoni mentioned “9 or 10″ playing. That could mean Jordan Hill, who impressed me very much today, is on the outside looking in, but we’ll see.
Video from today will be up later.
Shout out to Gym Rat Alex who stopped me in the bleachers to say he dug the site. And have to say a huge thank you to the Knicks PR people who allowed for great access.
And of course a big thanks to Tom and Joanne Stanton for their warmth and hospitality. Mrs. Stanton makes the best pork chops in Saratoga hands down.
Day 4 Knicks training camp with Tommy Dee from Big Apple Channel on Vimeo.
The energy was awesome and regardless of what people think about this being a lost season I’m here to say that these guys are ready to compete and ready to win.
How many wins? Who knows.
But the effort is there and the quality of basketball was evident. So much so that I can’t wait to see them play Sunday.
Larry Hughes wants to play. He showed glimpses of how he can contribute. Darko Milicic was finishing around the hoop. Al Harrington was screaming at refs to call charges. Nate Robinson was getting after Chris Duhon and C-Du responded by burying jumpshots from the race track.
Good times.
Watch on Sunday when Jared Jeffries is in the game and after the team makes a basket how he “shows” on the first inbound pass. I really like that. Pushing up on makes is something, as a coach, that I always stressed. When I asked Coach D’Antoni, he simply stated that Jared does many good things and that’s one of them. I’ve been saying for a while that if Jared was a $3 million dollar player on the Spurs, everyone would laud his positive attributes. But on a bad team in NY he’s better off wearing #11 with “Thomas” on the back in stitching.
The best five, offensively, in terms of flow was Darko, Lee, Will, Hughes and C-Du. I’m very interested to see if that continues. They have obvious synergy, but it could be just tonight. That’s why coaches watch tape.
Bottom line was that the coach loved the effort, and frankly so did I.
Video to follow.
For more notes, head to P&T…
In speaking with Donnie Walsh Friday morning, the Knicks president answered a very simple question of mine with a very simple answer.
The answer?
“The coach.”
The question?
“From your experience, how can you keep a young player from having issues developing like Milicic?”
The bottom line for young players like Jordan Hill and even Danilo Gallinari, to a degree, is that they have to be instilled with confidence even when they make mistakes. Hill, the first-round pick out of Arizona, doesn’t seem to have the inside track for any rotation minutes, but the team is relying heavily on Gallinari to produce all over the floor.
“It’s good to have a coach who let’s you play your game,” said Gallinari, who also noted that no young players want to have to look over their shoulders if they make a mistake.
That was the issue in Detroit for Milicic, who is still affected by the way he was handled. Admittedly, Milicic did not ask to be the second overall pick in a loaded draft, but often times teams reach for players with talent, something the big man clearly has.
But, according to Walsh, the key to a young players development is his coach, yet another reason why Walsh made sure to bring D’Antoni to New York. More.
← Older postsNewer posts →
