Amar’e Stoudemire To Make Guest Appearance at House of Hoops NYC 34th Street

Amare Stoudemire is scheduled to make guest appearance at the newly opened Foot Locker House of Hoops on 34th street in NYC. Will they have his Nike Nike Huarache Trainers on display? Maybe.

Check out Carmelo Anthony's appearance at the House of Hoops in Harlem back in December.

Assist from @Camelkash

Herb Grows in the Garden

Most Knicks have came to the conclusion that Mike D'Antoni is not the coach for this team anymore. With nine games left in the regular season and most likely and first round match-up with either the Celtics, Heat, or Bulls Coach D'Antoni's tenure in NYC should be coming to a early end. Technically he has another year left on is original 4 year 24 million dollar deal, but in recent years we've seen James Dolan eat conrtacts with more money and years than that.

The general feeling is that the Knicks need a defensive minded coach to lead this team to elite status. While this maybe true, most blogs,fans, writers,and experts believe that person should be a veteran or big name New York guy i.e Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson etc. I think most including Donnie Walsh are overlooking a great candidate in there own backyard, Herb Williams.

Herb joined the Knicks’ staff as an assistant coach on Dec. 29, 2001. Since then he's lasted within the organization through many coaching changes, Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkens, Larry Brown, Isiah Thomas, and Mike D'Antoni. He's picked up a little bit of everything from each of the guys, as well as a short stint at head coaching going 17-27 during the remainder of the 2004-05 season. Herb has earned the respect of his colleagues as well as the players. He comes from the hard nose, gritty, rugged defensive 90's Knicks teams.

Promoting Herb to the head coach wouldn't be a popular one but it may be the right one. A growing trend in the NBA with successful teams is building from within with young coaches. Monty Williams(Hornets), Larry Drew(Hawks), Tyrone Corbin(Jazz), Lionel Hollins(Grizzlies) etc. The Lakers and Phil Jackson are contemplating handing over the job to Brian Shaw as well. Knicks fans demand a coach that can get the best out the team and Mike D'Antoni seems to be too stubborn to adapt to his new team make-up. We may be jumping the gun somewhat with D'Antoni's coaching of this team but like everything else in New York good results are expected quickly.

MDA may still be able to salvage his future in New York with a playoff series win, but that outcome seems extremely far fetched with the teams recent play. Maybe its time for the big guy sitting next to him to stand up and take over. We'll see...

Andy and Landry Show: Speed Dating

Was it bad luck or was someone having some fun with Landry because all of his dates were a bit nutty...

A Month in Review of the Melo Trade

 

On February 21, 2011, the New York Knicks traded for superstar Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter. The Knicks also got Corey Brewer from the Timberwolves, but bought out his contract a few games later (so no need to mention him anymore). The Nuggets received Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks' 2014 first round pick, two second-round picks the Knicks received from the Golden State Warriors in the David Lee sign-and-trade, and $3 million. Since then, the Knicks are 7-9 and the Nuggets are 10-4. That’s not what anyone expected to happen.

The Knicks got off to hot start with the new look with a 6-3 record in their first nine games. Since then, they’ve dropped six of seven including two to the Pacers, one to Detroit, and one to Milwaukee. They also lost to the Celtics in pathetic fashion. What’s been a constant in all these games. 

Chauncey Billups has been lost on the court. Four games after the trade, Billups was knocked out for six games with knee and quad injuries. Toney Douglas played the point during those games and the Knicks went 4-2. Let’s compare their stats since Billups has returned. In the last six games, Billups has 28 assists, 22 turnovers, and 95 points, averaging around 31 minutes. Douglas has 34 assists, 8 turnovers, and 81 points, averaging around 28 minutes. Douglas has been far more efficient, so Mike D’Antoni has to realize this and start Douglas while Billups gains more chemistry in practice until he can step up and truly lead the Knicks. It’s not all his fault though, just a big factor on the offensive end.

 The other reason is the team is lacking defensive presence. The Knicks will play defense if Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony lead by example and play it. So far, that’s only happened in three games, against the Heat, Hawks, and Hornets. Not in the other 13 games, all those other teams scored at least 96 points.

How about the Nuggets? I personally have only seen highlights of their games since the trade. They’ve lost national presence when they lost Anthony, but they shouldn’t care about that with a 10-4 record since the trade. Looking at their roster, they have amazing depth now. Aaron Afflalo, Tyson Chandler, Nene, Ty Lawson, and Kenyon Martin have started most of their games with Danilo Gallinari, J.R. Smith, Al Harrington, and Raymond Felton coming off the bench. All four of those guys on the bench could break off to make another team and compete to be a playoff team. Ty Lawson has managed the transition to starting point guard with ease since Billups left, averaging around 8 assists and 35 minutes.

Nuggets coach George Karl was forced to play his offense through Carmelo Anthony since the Nuggets drafted him, but that’s not how he wanted to do it. He has nine guys who could start on his team. All I can say is, Karl is a coaching wizard for making this work so quickly.

 
The trade gives New York a bigger upside in the long run. When free agency starts, Donnie Walsh (or whomever is GM) can have their picking and choosing to new fits for this team. Also, a summer of training camp will give this team for more chemistry and schemes the Knicks can use to outscore their opponents on any given night.

@abadlani91

Knicks Top 5 Possible Center's Next Season

Even Ray Charles could see that the Knicks are lacking size in the front court, the addition of Jared Jeffries was nice and Ronny Turiaf is a poor mans Oakley but neither have legitimate size down low.

Melo Thinks Next Month Not Next Year

Via ESPNNEWYORK

"I believe, we believe that something will get turned around quickly," Anthony said when asked if the Knicks, losers of six of seven, can jell in the 12 games remaining in the regular season. "We have a little bit under a month to get this thing right to get ready for the playoffs. And right now, we're just figuring it out on the go. As long as we figure it out by the time the playoffs come, I'm not really too concerned about what's going on right now and how it's going on."



"Losing games can be a little bit frustrating at times but that happens, especially when you're trying to get things right and you're trying to get things on the same page."