Knicks Injury Updates

In the midst of Williams vs Williams middleweight bout(Knicks vs Hawks) Marvin rolled onto Amare's right knee, twisting it awkwardly. The knee didn't keep him out of the game completely but it did raise some cause for concern during yesterdays practice.

Via NYPost.com

Coach D'Antoni addressed Amare's knee and status for tonight's game to the media:

"He said he felt he's better than he thought it would be," D'Antoni said. "He rattled it when he got hit. I would say he's probable."

"I'm optimistic," D'Antoni said. "I asked him if he can go [tonight], he said 'Yeah, I think so.' "

Read more: HERE

Melo could be a Knick by the end of this week?

While the Knicks were snapping out of there six game losing streak versus the Wizards, a source at MSG yesterday informed me that the Knicks may have a deal in place for Carmelo Anthony as early as "this friday". All of the details of trade were not disclosed but the source did confirm to me that "Denver is already driving up the price", which may drag the process out for a few days longer than expected.. The source also indicated that the "Nuggets are looking for two first rounders", which may be difficult for the Knicks to acquire unless a third team can get involved.

Check out some pics from last nights game:

Knicks(Spike Lee) vs Lakers (Jack Nicholson)

Spike Lee or Jack Nicholson, who's the bigger fan?

Jack has been a loyal court side season ticket holder for more than three decades, he was featured as NBA.com's #1 in Top Celebrity Lakers fan in 2007. Mr. Nicholson has been involved with this team since before the Showtime Lakers of Magic, Worthy, and Kareem. He's respected by everyone in the Lakers Organization,
"He's been a good friend of mine ... for years," Pat Riley said, "and it's borne out of basketball more than anything else. He's simply a fanatic and has been ever since I started my career with the Lakers in 1970.
"He's a real fan. He's not one of these actors that all of a sudden get front row seats and then they're gone. He's for real. He cares."


Every real Knicks fan out there already knows Spike Lee is the biggest Knicks supporter ever. He's been attending games since the championship teams of the 70's, and has worked his way from regular MSG visits, to upper level season tickets, to what we now consider the celebrity row or "Spike Seats" at the Garden. Jay-Z has a famous rhyme mentioning Spike and his seats at the Garden("Next to Spike and comparing left to right").Even  ESPN featured the director in a 30 for 30 documentary discussing the impact of Spike and the Knicks vs Reggie Miller. This season he's been traveing on the road with the team like local beat writer, or aspiring blogger(myself).


The new look Knicks play the reigning champion Lakers tonight but the real match up to look out for is Spike vs Jack...

The Landry Man

Say his name 5 x in a mirror and he appears.

Well, not quite. But I bet Landry Fields has done his fair share of giving opposing teams some nightmares. While living out what other rookies would consider a dream.

He is the starting 2 guard for the New York Knicks. Our New York Knicks. A winning New York Knicks. Landry had the luxury of not being part of the team for the last ten years so he probably cannot put it into proper perspective as to what playing winning basketball means in New York for its players and us, the fans.

When you look at the box score night and night out you might see something like 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. Not ground shaking numbers. Possibly not even Rookie Of The Month numbers. An award he has one more than once during this young season.

Be careful though, statistics do not always tell the whole story. There is no statistic for intangibles. The utility worker in this league usually will not wow you with statistical numbers but they always leave their stamp on the game. The impact they bring. The key rebound, the great defensive play, the deflected pass, the art of drawing charges, crucial baskets from unlikely heros.

Those things are what Landry Fields brings to the table night in and night out. You know what you can expect from him. And just like our expectations from him when we drafted him with the 39th pick, he often exceeds them.

Coach Donnie Walsh was told he was "going to have a hard time keeping Landry Fields off the court". That might be an understatement. As much as Amar'e, Raymond Felton and the emergence of Wilson Chandler are responsible for this new found success of the Knicks. Landry deserves his fair share of credit as well.

I refer to him as the "Veteran Rookie" for his poise on the court. His basketball IQ is obviously off the charts. Going to Stanford did not hurt either. He rarely ever makes what I would consider a "rookie play" such as bad shots, botched play, or appears lost on defense. Pretty impressive for any player in this league, never mind a rookie.

So while Blake Griffin may be at home polishing a well deserved Rookie Of The Year Award for dunking on everyone who is bold enough to stand in his way. He also will be watching another Rookie perform in the post-season like he's done it before.

Thats Landry Fields... The Veteran Rookie.


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Donnie Walsh Will Re-Sign Wilson Chandler

via NYPost.com

"Wilson's a restricted free agent and I'm going to sign him," Walsh said yesterday. "He's a helluva player."

Chris Luchey, Chandler's agent, said he and Walsh were close to a pact before David Stern made alarming remarks in late October about cap shrinkage.
"We have a great, open working relationship with Donnie," Luchey told The Post. "We did feel like we were close to having a deal done early on. We thought we were in the same ballpark on what his value was before the commissioner came out with strong statements. That kind of startled Donnie and got him to backpedal."
"So we agreed we can play it out, knowing it could backfire in them having to spend more money if his value goes up," he said. "His value has definitely risen since Oct. 31. But my belief is Donnie wants to retain him, even if another spectacular free agent -- not naming names -- comes up."

Thank the Basketball Gods that Donnie is in control, I think Knicks fans really under-appreciate the work this General Manager has done since he's taken over. He's showing us that even at his age you can still learn more, last year's free agency hoopla showed everyone that anything can happen so taking chances is not the answer. Wilson Chandler is not one of those chances, he's definitely a sure thing!
 

 

Read more: HERE

Knicks Monthly Review: December

Was December really that bad? These last few games definitely leaves a bad taste in our mouths, but a closer look at this month tells a different story.

I believe the majority of Knicks fans would have been very satisfied, if on November 30th they heard that the Knicks would go 8-5 in December. Some of the losses just sting way to much. Losses to the Heat will stick in our brains for a good while(or until 1/27 when the Knicks play the Heat again). But there were some quality wins in there as well, a shootout with Denver, the OKC blowout, and the Christmas block party win over the Bulls.

Even in defeat we learned a great deal about this Knicks team. The Boston game was the NBA's best game this season. Not to mention a controversial one at that, with the game clocks displaying a more tenth's of a second than we were awarded. In the two Florida losses(HEAT, MAGIC) the Knicks showed much heart and courage to rally back against two great teams.

December Schedule :

12/3 Win vs. Hornets 100 to 92 


12/5 Win vs Raptors 116 to 99


12/6 Win vs Timberwolves 124 to 114


12/8 Win vs Raptors 113 to 110


12/10 Win vs Wizards 101 to 95


12/12 Win vs Nuggets 129 to 125


12/15 Loss vs Celtics 116 to 118


12/17 Loss vs Heat  91 to 113


12/18 Loss vs Cavs 102 to 109


12/22Win vs Thunder 112 to 98


12/25 Win vs Bulls 103 to 95


12/28 Loss vs Heat 98 to 106


12/30 Loss vs Magic 103 to 112

Happy New Years Knicks Faithfuls!

Randolph To The Rescue

After losing three straight games its hard not to notice every small detail to the reasons why we're losing,  but one that I believe has gone unnoticed is the lack of playing time for Anthony Randolph. Boston we didn't necessarily need him, Miami we needed some sort of spark in the second half, and in Cleveland Amare looked tired and in pain.

The Knicks are looking to acquire some outside help in the back court (Telfair), but the problems don't stop there. Amare is becoming spent, Turiaf still recovering while playing, andh Mozgov's slow learning it may be time to get Randolph some steady minutes in these next few games. According to reports he has been doing and saying all of the right things, he's has way to much talent to just spend his days on the DNP list every night. The emergence of Shawne Williams play has halted others playing time but we showed in the last few games that we need another force down low besides Ronny.

Yesterday's game(Cleveland 12/19) the Knicks had 4 of the 5 starters played 40 minutes or more, versus Boston the same this cannot continue, Chandler needs a break, Amare, etc. A total of 102 minutes for AR  thus far for his talents is unacceptable.

Day in the Life of a Knicks Blogger: Melo in Harlem's House of Hoops

Carmelo Anthony in House Of Hoops/Article and Video and more after the Jump

Knicks vs Wizards-Sizing Up Tonight's Competition

Read the Article After The Jump