Marc and Jay talk about Melo’s new contract, Lebron leaving the Heat, all the other free agency moves, the state of the eastern conference, laughing at the Nets, and much more
carmelo anthony
Episode 258: Free Agency
Marc and Jay debate where Melo will end up and debate how much he loves money, we talk about all the free agency moves so far, summer league, and much more
The Melo Situation
Written by Nicholas McGowan
The Melo Situation
The countdown of when we as Knicks fans and the world for that matter, will know the future of Carmelo Anthony has started. Melo has the option to opt in for another year in New York and then make up his mind next summer or he can opt out, choose a new team, or opt out in order to solidly a max contract with the Knicks. We as fans hope that if he does opt out, that it is because he will sign the max deal. Yet with the sudden shoulder injury this might further Melo’s thinking in one way or the other, it may make him lean towards locking up a max contract or it might drive him in the opposite direction. He may try now to win as soon as possible knowing that he will still get tens of millions of dollars guaranteed even though it may be 30 million less than what the Knicks can offer. Melo might have also learned that he needs another superstar, someone who can carry the load so that he does not take such a toll on his body for another season. Both of those seem to be the better option than a max deal, and while it depends on Melo’s priorities, (30 million or a legitimate chance at one or more titles), most would choose the titles. Not saying that I would pass up 30 million but if you were Melo and have already made as much as he has, winning would be the one knock against me. Let’s take a look at the possible championship scenarios for Melo.
Beginning with the Knicks, there is a real possibility that they can compete for championship, not next year but in two years. In two years the Knicks have cap space and a first round draft pick that will probability end up be a lottery pick. Going into the 2015-2016 season we would only have J.R. Smith, Raymond Felton, Hardaway Jr, Shumpert, and Pablo Prigioni on our roster. Now lets say Melo decides to resign, add Melo to that roster, add another superstar player or two to that mix. Then add on top of that a top 14 draft pick, this would make us a frontrunner for the title, we would be able to come close to beating the Heat (assuming their current roster does not change drastically) or perhaps even beat them if we add the right free agents. In the already weak Eastern Conference, we would be the second best team. I would put us ahead of both Indiana and Chicago because we have the superior superstar talent. The Nets at this point would have lost Garnett and Pierce and would not be the team they are today. By looking the 2015 free agents there are tons of options that would make us better than the Heat. Those free agents include:
Mini Hoop Video Tribute to Carmelo Anthony
Our boy Thomas reenacts the opening moments of every Knicks game:
2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 24
| The Knicks beat Brooklyn last week, getting our hopes up just enough so that the losses to the Wizards and Heat hurt as much as possible. This is the 2nd to last rankings of the year and last one before the Knicks are officially eliminated. For those still paying attention the Knicks need to go 4-0 and the Hawks need to go 2-4. Possible but not bloody likely. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Smith, J.R. | Against Miami JR made a franchise record 10 3’s and took and all time NBA record 22 attempts as well as an NBA record 14 attempts in a half. He has also hit an NBA record 24 3’s in 3 games while shooting efficiently. My one complaint during all this is the end of the Miami game where JR though he was invincible and took 26 foot fadaway 3’s with LeBron in his face. | 2 |
| 2 | Stoudemire, Amar’e | For the first time since joining the Knicks it looks like Amare will be fully healthy for the playoffs….. | 5 |
| 3 | Anthony, Carmelo | Melo is injured, his arm is numb and as a result he can’t shoot. A normal coach would sit him for a few games so he heals and comes back 100%. In the Knicks world he plays 40 minutes and Melo takes 17. I bumped him down a little because of the 17 shots, not because of the injury. He could have played a facilitator role. | 1 |
| 4 | Shumpert, Iman | His offense hasn’t really been there but his defense has looked really good. Woodson might not appreciate defense but I do. | 6 |
| 5 | Chandler, Tyson | Great call not selling high on Chandler. I really look forward to albatross Tyson next season. Still playing OK, but all signs point to a huge regression next season. | 4 |
| 6 | Prigioni, Pablo | He played a few decent games before getting shredded by Miami. Still, he does basketball things like passing the ball, which is a nice and rare commodity on this team. | 3 |
| 7 | Felton, Raymond | It didn’t happen this week, but maybe next week we can see Felton lead the team in assists. That would be a cool thing for our starting PG to do. Still, props for not letting an opposing guard have a career high for two straight weeks! | 9 |
| 8 | Hardaway Jr., Tim | It would be really cool if multiple Knicks played well in the same game. On the same night JR went off from 3 point land THJ went 0-7 with a +/- of -26. Ick. | 7 |
| 9 | Aldrich, Cole | And now we get to the 6 players who don’t play for reasons only Woodson knows. I’ll rank these guys in order of how I think they would have done if they did play. Cole would have gotten a lot of rebounds and played decent defense. | 8 |
| 10 | Murry, Toure’ | Hopefully Jackson is aware of the things Murry does on the non-offensive side of the court aka playing defense because Woodson sure doesn’t. | 11 |
| 11 | Shannon Brown | Brown got 2 steals in 6 minutes this week. That’s 12 steals per 36 minutes! Sign this guy to an extension! | 10 |
| 12 | Jeremy Tyler | Did Tyler really regress or did Woodson forget he was on the team? Both are just as likely to have happened. | 12 |
| 13 | Martin, Kenyon | Keep getting dem checks. | 13 |
| 14 | Bargnani, Andrea | I’m not even mad at Bargs anymore, but I will be all over again once I find out who Toronto drafts with the Knicks picks. Guaranteed to be an all star. | 14 |
Knicks vs Wizards – 4-4-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
The Washington Wizards quickly doubled up on the New York Knicks Friday night, leading 18-9 mid-way into the first quarter. After a much needed timeout, the Knicks responded with a 10-2 run to take the lead on a Carmelo Anthony jumper, up 20-19 with 2:43 remaining in the first quarter. Basketball is a game of runs, and after a Washington timeout, they would answer with a run of their own, ending the first quarter on a 7-2, to take a 27-21 lead.
New York’s started off the second quarter on a 15-4 run, playing suffocating defense, holding Washington scoreless for four minutes during the stretch. This gave New York a 36-31 lead with 5:31 left in the second quarter. The Knicks would continue to apply defensive pressure in the quarter, forcing the Wizards to 28.6% shooting in the period. New York outscored Washington 22-12 in the second quarter, leading by 43-39 at the half. J.R. Smith was huge for the Knicks, scoring 19 points in the first half, connecting on five money ball.
The Knicks and the Wizards would go back and forth in the third quarter, exchanging baskets. Amare Stoudemire at one points scored 12 straight points for New York, including a vicious slam dunk on Marcin Gortat to give the Knicks a 60-55 lead. Washington would regain the lead with John Wall aggressively attacking the paint on consecutive possessions, drawing free throws on the first possession, then getting into the lane for a dunk to help regain the lead for the Wizards 62-60. New York would answer, regaining the lead on J.R. Smith’s seventh three of the game. Then J.R. Smith would hit a fade away jumper to that was basically a buzzer beater for the third quarter, giving the Knicks a 67-64 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Knicks vs. Nets – 4-2-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
Early on in the first quarter it was a battle of tag teams between the duos of J.R. Smith and Amare Stoudemire, and the combination of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. Smith and Stoudemire combined to score the first 16 points for New York, with each scoring eight points to help keep pace with the Brooklyn Nets, tying the game up at 16-16, eight minutes into the game. Deron Williams answered with a driving layup, giving him nine points in the opening quarter, who was one-half of the Net’s tag team attack, with Joe Johnson scoring seven points to compliment his backcourt-mate.
You don’t have to be an expert oddsmaker to understand the Knicks chances of winning these days. For example, one look at these official lines for NBA betting tell that story. But we could all tell that the Knicks, Shumpert in particular, wanted this one. With both teams exchanging punches, Knicks tagged in Iman Shumpert. Shumpert came off the bench, giving the Knicks a huge spark with his defensive intensity. Shumpert stole the ball twice within the last 17.9 seconds of the first quarter, leading to a Carmelo Anthony dunk, and then a Tim Hardaway Jr. buzzer beating three, giving the Knicks a 29-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. This run bridged into the second quarter, where it was extended to a 20-2 run, giving New York a 39-22 lead with 8:29 left in the first half.
Shumpert continued to put his imprints on the game, when he grabbed an offensive rebound, taking the ball back out to size up Mirza Teletovic, where he then put the moves on Teletovic, going behind the back on him for a reverse layup! This gave New York a 45-30 lead with 6:16 remaining in the quarter. A minute later Shumpert would disrupt Marcus Thornton’s pass to the post, collecting his fourth steal in the first half, and then running out for an and-one opportunity. Continue reading
Knicks @ Celtics – 3-12-14 – Game Recap
Written by William Lee
New York matched their longest winning streak all season, collecting their fifth straight win Wednesday night defeating Boston 116-92.
An extremely thin frontline, got thinner Wednesday night, as Tyson Chandler did not play due to personal reasons for a second consecutive game, and Amare Stoudemire sat out to recover, who has been playing tremendous basketball both on offense and defense. Without Chandler and Stoudemire, Cole Aldrich stepped into the starting lineup. To the Knicks credit, every player stepped up to the challenge, especially Aldrich and Earl Clark, who saw meaningful minutes due the decimated frontcourt. Aldrich collected a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with three blocks for a +19 +/-. While Earl Clark didn’t have an impressive stat line, his impact overall was felt, stepping into the rotation, giving excellent back up minutes (particularly in the second quarter when Anthony was resting), proven with the best +/- of anyone, +22.
The Knicks scored 68 points in the first half, which were the most points scored in a half by New York. New York put on a three-point shooting clinic in the first half, connecting on 9-of-10 from beyond the arc. Both Carmelo Anthony and Tim Hardaway Jr. connected on three-threes. Anthony started off strong, as per usual, with 13 points in the first quarter. J.R Smith got off to a hot start as well, scoring nine of his 13 points in the first quarter, helping build a 36-24 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
Tim Hardaway Jr. provided a huge lift off the bench, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the second quarter. New York was unconscious on offense Wednesday night, scoring at a 60.5% clip in the first half, leading 68-48 at the half. The Celtics defense looked like they were imitating the Knicks’ defense, constantly switching out bigs onto New York’s perimeter players, which forced mismatches in favor of the offense. This is scenario that played out for most of the first half, if the double didn’t come, Anthony easily scored on crossover dribble pull ups, and if the double came, the ball swung around the perimeter for a wide open three. New York handed out 15 assists on Continue reading
2013/14 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 17
| Only one game this week. This is a good thing because I had such a bad taste in my mouth from the Sacramento game it took me all week to get it out. It would be great if more than 1 or two people on this team played well in the same week, it’s hard to rank 13 sucky players. | |||
| Rank | Player | Comments | Last weeks Rank |
| 1 | Anthony, Carmelo | Carmelo had another poor shooting night, but what do you expect when he ends up playing 48 minutes? Does Woodson not realize Melo always has amazing 1st quarters but then Woodson’s minute management grinds him into a pulp by the end of the game? Melo also gets the #1 spot for grabbing a bunch of boards and also looking like the only starter who is actually trying in games. | 2 |
| 2 | Chandler, Tyson | Chandler looks like he’s checked out on Woodson. He looks like he’s pissed at all his teammates. He looks like he’s giving about 65% effort on defense. Despite all that he had a double double and outplayed everyone on the roster except Melo. | 3 |
| 3 | Prigioni, Pablo | He’s the Knicks best PG, but only if you go by facts, stats, and any other available metric out there. Good thing he plays half as many minutes as Felton. | 4 |
| 4 | Jeremy Tyler | Tyler only played 12 minutes but was able to grab 5 boards. You have to wonder if playing Tyler 5 more minutes would have given Melo the energy to hit 1 or two extra shots at the end of the game. | 1 |
| 5 | Stoudemire, Amar’e | Another super efficient offensive game from Amare. A little too many turnover (6) and the usual bad defense and the usual loss when he plays. Continue reading | |
Episode 240: Talking Knicks with Netw3rk
Marc, Jay and Netw3rk talk about the odds of Melo staying, the shady inner workings of the Knicks, the need for a PG who isn’t yawning during critical moments, pieces the Knicks need, why they want to have 6 power forwards and much more
The New York Knicks Podcast 