Amar'e Won't Be The Only NYK Star In L.A. All Star Weekend

Landry Fields will be joined on the rookie team by Clippers forward Blake Griffin,the Wizards John Wall,Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, New Jersey Nets forward Derrick Favors,Minnesota Timberwolves guard Wesley Johnson, Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe, and San Antonio Spurs guard Gary Neal.

They face the NBA’s Sophomore class of Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans, San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson, Philadelphia 76ers guard Jrue Holiday, Oklahoma City Thunder forward/center Serge Ibaka, Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, and Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews.

RUMOR UPDATE Amar'e will be on the rookie's bench,while Carmelo will be on the sideline of the sophomore's. Interesting

VIA bleacherreport.com

Mike D'Antoni Band-Aids New York Knicks' Center Problem by Starting Ronny Turiaf

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Allow me to invoke my inner Rick Pitino here to convey the Knicks' tenuous center dilemma at the moment.
Willis Reed is not walking through that door. Patrick Ewing is not walking through that door. Marcus Camby is not walking through that door.
Amar'e Stoudemire walked through that door and proudly declared the Knicks back, but to call him a combo power forward/center is silly because I'm not sure how many centers like to face-up their defender 15 feet from the basket and drive to the hole. I'm also not sure how many centers are as allergic to defense as Amar'e, but that's a different story.
The Knicks' saving grace down low, and perhaps overall, is 6'8" Ronny Turiaf, who serves as the perfect complement to Stoudemire. Turiaf patrols the starting power forward spot these days, moving Stoudemire to the "center" position. This partnership is proving to work wonders as they each fill each other's gaps.
Turiaf is top-20 in the Eastern Conference with a plus-minus of 56 on a list filled with All-Stars. He is the ultimate team player, masking his deficiencies on the offensive end by playing aggressive and timely defense, while making all the little plays playoff contending teams need to make.
The Knicks are a 6-5 team with Turiaf in the lineup, but the injury-prone big man was hurt for three games, all Knickerbocker losses. With Turiaf out and Stoudemire battling foul trouble in one of those losses against Minnesota, Kevin Love torched the Knicks for 31 points and 31 rebounds in a maestro performance that hadn't been emulated since Moses Malone sprung for 32 and 38 in 1982.
When Turiaf returned from injury, he immediately began making all the little plays again, helping the Knicks to a three-game winning streak on the West Coast. He sprung for seven points, eight assists and three blocks in a 125-119 win at Golden State in 35 minutes of play. His court time was peculiar because he had played for over 30 minutes only once prior to this night.
Herein lies a problem, however. The Knicks' saving grace has never played a full season or averaged more than 22 minutes per game through an entire season. So how do the Knicks rectify this situation and find a Plan B when Turiaf is not on the court?

Read the entire article HERE

Knicks Honeymoon is Over

via bleacherreport.com

After my embarrassing predictions from my last post I’ll quickly get my prediction for tonight’s game out of the way: Minnesota 104 New York 92.
Not only do I predict a New York loss but I can give you a solid game summary before the game takes place.  The T’Wolves will jump out to an early 16-6 lead and build up an 18 point lead by halftime.  The Knicks will claw their way back and cut it down to four before they go ice cold the final three minutes and lose to one of the worst teams in the league.
Just for the record this isn’t an attempt at a reverse jinx, this is my true belief after watching this team play the last three games (Fun fact: Knicks castoff Darko Milic will have his best game of the season).
The honeymoon's over folks, I don’t care that we’re the fourth youngest team in the league, I don’t care that up until last game we’ve been starting two rookies and I don’t care that 85 percent of this roster is new.
We’ve been dismal for the last decade and I honestly can’t take it anymore.  We have a so-called offensive “genius” in Mike D’Antoni who’s making $6 million a year, a new star power forward in Amar’e Stoudemire making $100 million and we have an underachieving sixth overall pick from the 2008 draft that refuses to do anything but shoot pull-back three-pointers.
Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns were one of the most fun teams to watch in the NBA.  Mike D’Antoni’s New York Knicks are one of the worst teams to watch in the league.  I know Phoenix is more talented but I have yet to see this team run an offense scheme that is at all productive.  The only reason they put up a decent ppg average is because they put up about 20 more shots per night then most teams and shoot around 30 three pointers a night.  It’s comical.

There is plenty of talent on this roster; the blame at some point has to fall on the coach.
Every now and then Raymond Felton will penetrate the lane but other then that rare occasion you’d be more likely to see Barry Bonds turn down some steroids then to see a Knick player attack the basket with authority.  When your three offensive plays consist of swinging the ball around the perimeter and hope somebody makes a contested three point shot; isolating Amar’e 25 feet away from the hoop and wait for a turnover (I’ll get to that later), and attempting to run a pick n' roll, you're not going to win many games.
I never played professional basketball but when I was 10 I did learn that picking away from the ball and sharing the ball tends to be pretty effective.   Mike D’Antoni even went as far as to make this quote.
“He needs to cut sometimes. But he’s cutting all the time. You have to understand when it is to cut and when you don’t,” D’Antoni said yesterday. “Because otherwise you cut right into Amar’e [Stoudemire] and you mess Amar’e up.”

Really Mike?  You want the only player in your starting lineup that seems to have a high basketball IQ to dumb down his play just to help the others around him?  It’s not that hard. The Knicks of the early 90’s had five offensive plays tops but they seemed to do just fine.
There’s also the whole point that D’Antoni has a history with Amar’e and should know  how he can be effective.  Amar’e isn’t Dirk; he isn’t going to beat you off the dribble.  Giving him the ball 25 feet from the basket is only going to lead to turnovers and an offensive genius should know that.  Whatever happened to a good old fashion low-post move?

New York Knicks Should Trade for Chris Paul, Not Carmelo Anthony

via BleacherReport.com


If it were to happen right now, the Knicks would be trading Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph, Toney Douglas and THE Eddy Curry (with his huge expiring contract) for Carmelo Anthony. As a Knicks fan this trade is hard to even look at. I understand that Carmelo is an elite player in the league, but the Knicks are giving away their three most promising players and the huge expiring contract of Curry.
I look at this trade and think, "Why can't Carmelo just hold out so he can play with a better team next year?" I mean a team of Felton, Carmelo, Gallinari, Amar'e and Mozgov with Randolph, Douglas and Turiaf coming off the bench looks like a contender in the East to me. The reason I don't think it will happen and why the Knicks will trade for Carmelo during the year is that in the offseason, max contracts are going to go way down in value because of the potential lockout and Carmelo is not going to want to take less money than the other "cool kids" on the Heat.
This is why he will most likely be traded during the year. As a Knicks fan though, I think if we're going to have to give up all the players I mentioned before in a trade, I think it has to be for Chris Paul. I know talks with the Hornets haven't opened up since CP3 said he was happy in N.O., but he is just a way better fit for our team than Carmelo is. I know this team lacks a second scorer and Carmelo would fill that role, but having two players on your team who are primary scorers creates chemistry issues and the Heat will find that out soon with LeBron and Wade.
Chris Paul would bring a pure playmaker to New York, and not just a playmaker, but the best playmaker in the league when healthy. The image in my head I get from thinking about a potential Chris Paul "penetrate and lob up for an Amar'e dunk" only parallels what Jonah Hill said when he saw Aldous Snow perform in Forgetting Sarah Marshall ("It just went from six to midnight").

Read the rest HERE

BR The NBA's Top Players Destined For a Breakout This Season

via Bleacherreport.com

Anthony Randolph (PF/C, NYK)

The 6’11″ 21-year-old was a top name on this list just one season ago, but after playing just 33 regular season games and averaging a mere 22.7 MPG (due to Don Nelson) the athletic power forward is getting the chance to make up for lost time in the New York Knicks' run-and-gun system.

Randolph has extreme upside, and has the arsenal to average a double-double on a nightly basis along with over a steal and block per game.

If Randolph can log starters minutes on a consistent basis, the young gun is capable of posting eye-popping statistics.

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Carmelo Anthony Trade Rumors: How the LA Clippers Lineup Would Look With Melo

via Bleacherreport.com

The Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, flying along for much of the past month, has ostensibly slowed to a halt.
Although there might be ongoing discussions between the Denver Nuggets and potential trade partners, rumors are spreading neither fast nor furiously; in fact, the Melo-drama has recently been overshadowed by other preseason developments, such as Dwyane Wade's hamstring injury and the Lakers' loss to FC Barcelona.
The Anthony quandary hasn't been forgotten, but it has certainly taken a backseat. I'm sure both Carmelo and the Nuggets like it that way.
Sorry, guys, but here I am to get that rumor mill spinning again—what about the Clippers?
Los Angeles has previously been mentioned as a potential destination for the superstar small forward who a) has always been conscious of what LeBron is up to, and b) just got married to a woman in the entertainment industry.
Would either team make the move? Who knows. Denver doesn't seem all that eager to ship Carmelo off unless the price is more than right, and Clipper owner Donald Sterling never seems all that eager to pursue blockbuster trades.
Still, I would like to delve into this possibility a little deeper and see what the Clippers lineup would look like with Carmelo.
The Trade

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

After scrutinizing both franchises' rosters and taking into account contracts and personnel, there appears to be only one viable trade scenario that doesn't include multiple teams—there are too many multiple team scenarios to discuss reasonably.
In exchange for Carmelo, the Denver Nuggets would receive Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and several draft picks. This package includes an all-star center in his prime, a young athletic swing man with high upside and the requisite future picks is definitely fair compensation for a player likely to leave in the offseason.
Why is this the only trade possibility? It's doubtful the Clippers would give up their future stars in Eric Gordon or Blake Griffin.
No way the Nuggets would take Baron Davis, and Los Angeles doesn't have anyone else of value; additionally, Kaman's big contract allows the trade to match up financially.
Lastly, if you're wondering whether Kaman and Nene could coexist, Nene is athletic and versatile enough to slide over to power forward.

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2010 NBA Preseason: 10 Things We Learned About the New York Knicks So Far

 via Bleacherreport.com

With the NBA preseason in full swing, this is the best time for teams to work out their issues and come together as a team for the start of the season.

The Knicks started their first two games in Europe, but are finally back stateside to finish off the remaining slate of games before the October 27th opening night tip-off.

While most Knicks fans are cautiously optimistic for the upcoming season, there are still plenty of things they need to work on to be ready for the NBA season. However, they have all showed some promise as a unit.

Article HERE