Barkley calls the Knicks out
words like disgrace and worst defensive team ever seem to get just thrown around these days.
Knickerblogger continues every Knicks fan’s favorite obsession, trying to figure out if this Carmelo thing is working.
The Denver Nuggets post-Carmelo move up the power rankings only because analysts tend to put an overemphasis on actually winning.
Is Andy Rautins getting any better by not playing?
The Knicks are not winning the title this year. It is a fact, not a shocker and no fan will be disappointed when the Knicks do not win it. The Knicks are unlikely to go far in the playoffs and most fans will likely be happy if they can just push the first round to 7 games. The bar will be much higher next year when we have a full year of Carmelo and Amare plus possibly a few good pick-ups in the off-season. Knicks fans may not expect to win it next year but they do expect to at least go far in the playoffs.
So, how will the Knicks go from a good team to a great team. They will need to work on their chemistry. They will also need to develop the players around them. They will need a solid bench that can really help them compete the way Big Baby Davis makes the Celtics better or Jason Terry makes the Mavs better. They will also obviously need to get better on defense (but we will not focus on that now).
Where am I going with this? Well the Knicks are not going anywhere this year and unless things fall apart greatly they will at least make the playoffs. Why not use the rest of the season to find out what we have on the bench? Why not give Rautins, Derek Brown and Balkman some playing time? I am not saying these guys deserve to start or that we should give Carmelo a night off but why not run a larger rotation. Why not give them 10 minutes a night a see if they can earn more minutes especially on nights when their starters suck like last night against the Pacers. Not every game is a must win where your starters need to play 40 minutes when you know you are not going to win it all anyway.
Why not have a longer term approach? Andy Rautins is not getting much better by sitting out for a year. No one would argue Landry Fields would have been better off riding the bench all year. Roger Mason is not playing better lately because he sat on his butt for the first 60 games of the year. Why not give some playing times to guys that could be good role players next year and in the future. Let’s see if some of these players deserve a roster spot next year. If Derek Brown is not good enough to get a look this year, why would he suddenly be good enough next year and why even waste a roster spot on him.
I understand these players practice and D’Antoni sees them there. The players do learn a lot in practice (at least on the offensive side) but it is hard to believe that just practicing without a chance to compete in real games will really develop these players into valuable pieces for the future.
Who’s Better?
Raymond Felton has stated that the Nuggets are a better team than the Knicks.
It’s a very interesting experiment because Denver is pretty much the Knicks plus a big man and another PG, AKA our plan B if we didn’t get Carmelo. It’s only been 11 games since the trade but it’s been hard to argue for the Knicks so far. The Nuggets are 7-2 since the trade and one of those losses was a 1 point loss in overtime.
So what do you think?
Why Coach D'Antoni will never lead us to the promised land.
Knicks Announce Lack of Interest in the 5th Seed With Tonight's Performance
The Knicks looked freakin awful today. They came out slow and unemotional and never looked back. The Knicks shot contested shot after contested shot while Indiana was wide open for half their shots. They showed today what all Knicks fans know, when this team’s shot is off they can’t do anything to make up for it on the other end of the court.
- While Danny Granger sat tonight, Tyler “Kareem” Hansbrough dominated.
- Roy “Bill Russell” Hibbert turned Amare into his bitch as he basically shut him down on the inside.
- There were no positives on the Knicks side. Carmelo did not score his first points in the second half until 3:30 to go in the game. T.Douglas shot 1-12 including missing his first 9 from the field. As a team they shot 7-30 from 3 point land which means they should have stopped shooting 3 pointers at some point.
- Billups return reminded us that he is old and not our future at point guard.
- There were times when Jared Jeffries and Turiaf where on the floor at the same time. This should never happen. They are literally anti-offense. You can’t have two guys on the floor that are this bad at offense at the same time. Turiaf would get the ball, the defense would leave him completely alone and he refused to even shoot. Watching Jeffiries you wonder if he even hits his lay-ups during pre-game warm ups.
- It seemed like every time the Knicks went down the floor they had to work so hard for each basket. Every time they went inside they were contested. They needed to open the floor up with say mid-range jumpers. When the inside is not there Amare should start shooting jumpers because he is pretty good at that and why D’antoni doesn’t tell him this is a mystery.
- When the Knicks look so sluggish why not put a high energy guy like Derek Brown in or even see what Rautins can do.
- Chris Paul is not the answer for this team. They need a more balanced attack and probably a new coach. Strangling your ability to balance out the roster with another max contact makes no sense. Miami is doing it unsuccessfully and no one in their right mind would argue Carmelo, Amare +Deron or Paul is better than Lebron, Wade & Bosh.
- On a side note, The Celtics are better than the Bucks.
Episode 45: Fan Appreciation
Today we talk about the potential strike and the actual footbal strike, how to improve the NBA, technical fouls, and the games against the Memphis Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks Download Episode 45
Dolan: Thank you Knicks fans for remaining so loyal while we have fielded lousy teams for almost a decade…NOW SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!
HOW I WOULD MAKE THE NBA BETTER!!!!
Building on Jay’s post I would like to discuss the ways I would make the NBA better if I were Lord Overlord Master of the NBA (I believe that is the title on David Stern’s business card). Besides making it so technical fouls are only called in extreme situations, I would do the following:
- No more free throws! Free throws suck and they are boring. It would be like stopping baseball every five minutes for batting practice. Instead, we borrow from the NHL hockey penalty box. You get a foul and you sit for a 1 minute while your team plays shorthanded. How awesome would it be for there to be consistently 4 vs 5 or even 3 vs 5 situations.
- Building on that, no more touch fouls or and 1’s. If you make the shot you were not fouled. If you were touched but you should have made the shot then no penalty, deal with it.
- Half Court shots are now worth 4 points. Just imagine how much more awesomely frustrating D’Antoni’s offense would be. Also, watching a team try to go for 4 point shots for the win would be where Amazing Happens. I am open to discussing 5 points for a shot from inside the arc of the other team.
- The two teams with the worst record in the NBA will play a 7 game toilet bowl series at the end of the season. The winning team will get the #1 pick in the NBA draft. The losing team must compete next season in the NBA Developmental League, switching places with the D-League champion from the previous season. The only way a franchise gets back into the NBA is to win the title in the D-League. I would also be open to switching in a team from the Euro-league.
- If you flop you get fined. Flopping sucks. It is ridiculous to watch. Every time the opposing player breathes on Derek Fisher and he goes crashing to the floor it is an insult to everyone who watches and plays the game. The NBA will review every flop that happens in a game and if it is determined to be a true flop they will be fined. For every three official flop fines you will be suspended for a game.
- Donald Sterling is no longer the owner of the LA Clippers. The team will be auctioned off to the highest bidder with Sterling getting the fair market value for his team. Sterling will then no longer be allowed to attend a Clipper game. He is the worst owner in the NBA. He makes James Dolan look like a genius. He cannot be allowed to destroy Blake Griffin’s career and kill the last and best hope for Clipper fans.
- Lebron James must be forced to only speak to the media through special prime-time broadcasts on ESPN.
- Aerosmith’s song Cryin’ shall become the official theme song of the Miami Heat and will be played before all of their games until they win a title.
- If your team is down by 40 points, the game ends. This will give teams something to gun for during blowouts.
- The All-Star game is eliminated. It is a completely pointless and just boring affair to watch. The All-Star teams will still be named but the All-Star weekend will simply consists of a ton of fun to watch skills competitions. Further, the dunk contest will be expanded to include 15 players and everyone gets 2 dunks…AND everyone goes at the same time.
Technical Fouls
I know it seems like convenient timing for this post, coming the day after Amare received his 16th technical of the season, but if you’ve listened to the podcast I’ve been against the new rules on technical fouls since the beginning. And for those of you who haven’t heard, Amare’s 16th technical got recinded so he won’t be suspended for the next game against the Pacers.
Basketball is an emotional sport. I think it’s also a big part of why people enjoy going to games. I don’t know about you but I love when players get really into the game, getting excited after making a big play, letting an opponent know when they have their number. Can’t do much of either nowadays. I don’t know what the NBA is trying to acheive here. I’d much rather deal with some complaining than watch a bunch of free throws. Nobody likes free throws. It’s the equivalent of watching a pitcher and catcher disagree on a call 12 times in a row, or a time out before a field goal in football, or a hockey game. People also go to the game to see the stars. To have a star in perfect health not be able to play isn’t fair to anyone who paid a good amount for tickets to the game. Side note – Dwight Howard sat out due to suspension for technicals and his team lost by four points. There’s going to be some hard feelings if Orlando finishes the season one game behind Miami or Atlanta.
I’m not saying do away with technicals altogether, but the trend of giving out technicals for almost anything has to stop. I watched the Dallas game. Amare didn’t know why he got a T, I couldn’t tell why even after watching the replay 4 times, even the announcers, McHale and Harlan had no answers. I’ve seen technicals given out for laughing (Hickson), staring (Villanueva), as well as little things like putting your palms up after a call (I’ve seen that about a dozen times). As if this wasn’t ridiculous enough, the calls aren’t even consistant. I’ve seen LeBron run alongside a ref yelling “are you kidding me?” over and over and not get a tech.
Respect for the game goes both ways. Turning players into emotionless robots isn’t respect for the game either. There’s a reason why everyone loved basketball so much more in the 80’s. Let the players play.
The New York Knicks Podcast 