Via CBSsports

“…A new name that has crept into the discussion is Marcus Camby, he’s a rebounding machine and can of course play defense and block shots. CBS Sports reports that the Knicks and the Denver Nuggets are interested in the services of Camby. The Knicks only interest would be Camby’s expiring contract. The Nuggets on the other hand seem to be looking to bolster their front line, in order to stop the likes of A’mare Stoudimire, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol come playoff time…”

Every time Camby’s name comes up it is met with the idea that the owner is still here. Reports always concluded that he wanted Camby out of here.

We’ll see. Obviously, I’d think he’d prefer Denver.

The following was submitted by Saverio Mastrianni, as always if you have a contribution please send to theknicksblog@gmail.com.

I feel as if people are underappreciating Mike D’Antoni’s abilities in his slightly under two year tenure as Knicks head coach.

That may seem counter-intuitiveat first, and if you take it on a literal level, it is.  Yet, he was not brought here to make the playoffs these past two years. He has tried in vain, to the chagrin of the faithful who want to see the future grow before our very eyes. Brilliant or inept, the plan has always been to build a viable contender in 2010.  To lure topflight free agents to the Mecca of Basketball based on the appeal of the franchise, the city, and the most popular coach in basketball.  I’m unsure if the latter is quantifiable and true, but I know that if I was an NBA player, I’d rather play for D’Antoni than anyone else.  Maybe Jerry Sloan, Popovichand Phil reach players on a different, more complete level (better defensive coaches, have systems with more proven success….and more proven players, but I digress.)

D’Antoni, whether you want to believe this or not, treats these players like adults and expects them to prepare themselves.  He is not overbearing and overly meticulous. He does not demand perfection or everyone to approach the game like Michael Jordan because not every player can.  He asks players to play their games to the best of their abilities, which is an important point. Jackson never got one ounce more effort from Jordan because of “zen,” the fact is MJ would rip the board out of his hands and draw up a play during timeouts. Pat Riley never once had to ask Patrick Ewing to sweat before the game or stay two hours after practice. Does Mike Brown say to Lebron, “You need to be extra great tonight” then pat himself on the back for a great coaching decision?

This team needs an extension from the coach. One that needs to win just as badly.

Where does this characterization come from?  I read Seven Seconds or Less.  His post-game speeches are brief; when he talks to the media, he may throw a player under the bus, but it is in a jocular manner.  He is simply honest, but not brutally honest like Larry Brown as Knicks coach.  As an adult, you can take an honest assessment of your play.  If not, frankly, you’re not championship material.

It takes a special breed of player, a special team, to overcome the league’s other twenty-nine franchises and become the league’s indisputable alpha dog.  It takes hard, strenuous work that many players simply would rather spend doing a litany of other things.  Certain players simply are not wired to be champions.

I hate to say it, and no disrespect to our players, I truly believe they are playing hard and trying to win… but we do not have a quality team.  Our best player is Al Harrington.  A night or two a week he can be the best player on the court on a topflight team. We need him to excel on a night-to-night basis to succeed.  He simply is not surrounded with the proper talent.  He doesn’t have somebody who has his back on defense, besides Jared Jeffries, who is not a post presence.  What he does have is a plethora of young players with plenty of upside which they are just realizing, and marginally talented players who are trying to do too much.

Look at Chris Duhon, a decent player, who can’t lose his spot in the starting lineup no matter how he plays because he is our only “true point guard”.  David Lee is our only viable big with a complete offensive game.   He should not be the focal point of an offense, but he is ours.  Rightfully so might I add, unless you want the offense to run through Danilo Gallinari.  Which I cannot argue against, I simply think Lee is a tougher matchup for most NBA big men than Gallinari is for most NBA wing players at this point in their careers.

We have two players that play good defense, Wilson Chandler and Jared Jeffries.  How can anyone expect adequate play from the team?  The Suns played pretty good defense with Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash on the floor.  I know The Matrix and Raja Bell were tremendous defensive presences, but excuse me for assuming game planning and strategy implemented by D’Antoni and his staff had something to do with that. During their miraculous run with D’Antoni, Tim Thomas played some of the best ball of his career off the scrapheap, after the Bulls asked him not to show up. D’Antoni transformed Boris Diaw into the starting center on a very good playoff team after languishing on the bench on an atrocious Hawks team. The Suns brought Eddie House’s talents to a national light after being an underappreciated journeyman throughout his career.  The team was mocked when Raja Bell was given a multi-year deal.

I don’t need to comment on this.

As for our current crop of Knickerbockers.  They are a mishmash collection of players ill suited to play in seven seconds or less.  So, they don’t.  He is not running his system anymore.  It took him time to realize it was simply useless to attempt to run with these players, but in time he did.  Maybe he was too reliant on his system, but when something gets you as far as that system got D’Antoni, you’re bound to be blinded by its beauty.  If you don’t think it can win in this league, I can’t argue.  What I must point out, however, is that if Joe Johnson did not break his face, if Amare Stoudemire did not hurt his knee, and if the powers that be did not suspend Amare and Boris… those are three completely different series’. Cheating refs anyone?

He should have talked to Hughes about his role.  That is also a two way street.  Larry could have asked him behind the scenes about the situation.  He didn’t need to call his style a joke to the media.  Both people are in the wrong, it is unfair to place blame on just one side. The way he handled Marbury is debatable.  What it boils down to, in my eyes, is that he coached him in Phoenix.  When the team traded Crawford and Randolph, he asked Steph to let bygones be bygones and be our starting two guard.  We all know how this turned out.  I wonder how the weather is in China this time of year.

I can’t say I don’t wish we still had Jamal and Zach.  They were our best players.  Still, I understand the need to rid the team of their contracts.  Without a recession, we would have an estimated fourteen million dollars extra in cap room this year.  We may have room to get LeBron and Bosh as it is by renouncing everyone else (hate to say it, but sign me up for that), it would likely have been a foregone conclusion without a recession.

The past few years have been very complex.  It is simply unjustifiable to say Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni are idiots who need removal to take this team to the promised land. What I do know, is that our Coach is going to be one of the main reasons we lure a topflight free agent if the stars align. LeBron is not going to stay in Cleveland because he can’t win with D’Antoni.  If nobody comes, it’s because they don’t think we have enough talent.  Which, to me, would be a ludicrous assessment.  Gallo, Wil, Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill epitomize what a nucleus of a good, young team is.  If you put  The King (fingers crossed) with those players, you undoubtedly have the start of a dynasty.

Either way, with the ability to be flexible and this coach, the team is STILL moving in the right direction.

Words we all wished had passed this team over, I’m sure.

But the reality of the situation is that as the All-Star break approaches, this is where we sit.  Smack dab in the middle of what has extended into a 6-year rebuilding project,  there is a single underlying choice that this team needs to confront.

The NY Times‘ Howard Beck has a good article that sums up the Knicks and the crossroads that the team and its management is at:

“The Knicks’ present is gloomy, their future uncertain, and their short- and long-term goals in clear conflict. Call it an unfortunate but necessary side effect of rebuilding.

“But there are 32 games to play first, and priorities to clarify: Do the Knicks want to make the playoffs at any cost? Or will they focus on developing their young core of Gallinari, Chandler, Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas? It is an internal debate that has been brewing for two years.

Beck does a great job with this article, and I encourage you all to read it in its entirety.

The issue at hand is nothing new to us Knicks faithful.  We have been wrought with this internal conflict for a couple years now, and only because the Summer of Dreams is slowly becoming a reality must we revisit it with such an honest dialogue.

But it is a question worth repeating.

What do the Knicks do at this juncture.  Do we “play for next year” or do we continue to give our slowly fading playoff hopes as much support as possible, no matter who it might come from…

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Knicks Mecca has some interesting trade possibilites.

Great link to an apparent NBA commercial starring Danilo Gallinari (finger point to AD1 for the link)

Despite “winning” back his job, it is clear that Duhon is not the answer to the Knicks woes at the point.  With the deadline looming, Donnie Walsh will work the phones for a second option at the very least.

As for Nate, most people on this site agree that he is at his best as a scorer off the pine.  He was not overly effective setting up the offense against Cleveland.  Actually, on multiple occasions, Nate killed possessions by dribbling for too long and running out the shot clock.  He is not the answer to the Knicks’ PG woes either.

Acie Law remains on the market, and while I would not mind giving him a shot, I have not been overly impressed with him since the Hawks drafted him a couple of years ago.  Perhaps he just needs a fair chance to prove himself, but who knows.

Via Hoopsworld-

“…Acie Law and his camp have been given permission from the Charlotte Bobcats to talk to teams and try to find a situation that makes sense for the point guard. The New York Knicks have shown the most interest in Law and his expiring contract. The Indiana Pacers have also had some conversations with Law and could be a potential suitor if New York doesn’t work out. Law still has a lot of potential and many believe he could still be a great point guard if put in the right situation…”

The Law situation, from what I understand, is part of several moves the Knicks are monitoring. I can’t gather any information linking Charlotte to Jared Jeffries, but Law would be a fit if the Knicks can move Nate Robinson or Chris Duhon, the latter an unrealistic possibility.

“…Eddy Curry vowed to be healthy enough to play again this season even though the veteran center is convinced Mike D’Antoni won’t give him a chance to get on the court.

“Odds are I’m not going to play,” he said. “For my own sanity I would like to come back.”

Curry, who had arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 18, has appeared in just seven games this season and 10 over the last two years. Curry also revealed that he intends to exercise his $11.27 million player option for the 2010-11 season…”

Okay so let me get this straight. You know you’re not going to play, but you’re going to take every cent of the money you are earned instead of agreeing to a  very expensive and reasonable buyout and having another opportunity elsewhere?

Sweet.

That’s the effort you’re looking for.

That was a tremendous game to watch from a fan standpoint as the Knicks gave everything they had and came up short at the end of the game.

In the first half, it appeared as if the Cavs were going to score 200 points with Lebron getting 100.

Seriously, I’ve never seen a team score easier in the early stages of the game. Then Lebron rips off 24.

In the second half the Knicks, behind Nate Robinson and Al Harrington, made a huge push as Wilson Chandler, David Lee and Danilo Gallinari sat and watched.

The combination of Robinson, Chris Duhon, Jordan Hill, Harrington and Jared Jeffries really clicked tonight.

Hill, to me, had his most impressive performance as a Knick finishing with 8 points on 4 of 5 shooting, and looked good in the pick and roll and offered up impressive jump hooks, in 19 minutes. He didn’t record a rebound, but played very strong post defense and did a decent job keeping Lebron in front of him.

Like to see more and more of him as the season goes on.

The Knicks have now lost 11 of their last 15 games.