5 posts tagged “knicks”

I was at at bar last night watching the Cowboys/Packers game last night.  Around halftime I glanced over at the other TV to check the Knicks/Celtics score and was amazed to see the Knicks had not scored 40 points yet at the 3rd quarter was about to come to a close.  The Knicks managed to leave the Boston Garden with their third worst loss in franchise history.  No one respects Isiah Thomas, and it clearly showed on the court last night.  The players do not seem motivated to win, let alone play.  I even dropped Stephon Marbury in one of my fantasy leagues after he did not travel with the team and started to come off the bench, thanks to an argument with Isiah. 

On thanksgiving, the back page of all the New York newspapers had a picture of Isiah calling him a turkey.  With daily "Fire Isiah" chants and an $11M sexual harassment lawsuit, it is clearly time for Isiah to go.  It is time for Jim Dolan to get over his crush of Isiah and realize that is it time to panic.  i agree with Reggie Miller's comments that the K nicks are a league wide joke, and living in NY it just is not that funny.

Stephon Marbury was quoted in Newsday saying, “We don’t say anything about people shooting deers and shooting other animals. You know what I mean? From what I hear, dog-fighting is a sport. It’s just behind closed doors and I think it’s tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down. I think he’s one of the superb athletes and he’s a good human being. I think he fell into a bad situation.”

Its okay to support a fellow athlete during hard times, but you do not have to subject yourself to acerbating comments like the one above.  Dogs are not wild animals that can be killed for game.  I do not see how he can make such a simple rationalization and not actually think about the words coming out of his mouth.  From what I hear, Marbury is an idiot.  He is probably exploiting Chinese children laborers to make his $15 basketball shoes.  The Knicks have enough problems, and do not need any unnecessary off the court problems.  Can't wait to see how Zach Randolf fits on this squad.  On a positive note, I am looking forward to the upcoming season and think the Knicks will make the playoffs.

The Knicks have been the worst franchise in the NBA as far as handling their draft picks.  David Stern gave them Patrick Ewing in 1985 and the team was still unable to put any rings on their fingers.  The Knicks are clearly in a rebuilding stage and continue to make questionable picks.  This year will not be any different.  Chad Ford of ESPN currently has the Knicks selected Wilson Chandler, a 6' 8 Forward from DePaul.  As a sophomore last year, Wilson average 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.  According to Jay Bilas, Wilson will be a better NBA player than a college player.  You can read the Newsday Article Knicks Eyeing Draft Sleeper Chandler for more on the story.

Another project would be the less publicized freshman from Ohio State Daequan Cook, who averaged nearly 10 point per game coming off the bench for the Buckeyes.  Early in the season he was posting 20 point games but fell off towards the end of the season.  He was still a dependable three point shooter and has great potential.  If he stayed in college he would be a lock

for the first round next year.  However, I do not think the Knicks really need another guard at the moment.

Other options that the Knick may have are Sean Williams, the problematic Center who was kicked of the Boston College Team, Derrick Byars, a 6' 7 SG/SF from Vanderbilt, and Morris Almond a 6' 6 SG from Rice Unviersity that the Knicks rated higher than Cook on their official website.

The Knicks only have one pick this season.  I am going to say that pick will be Daequan Cook (I said Wilson before, but I am not listening to the rumors).  If Derrick Byars is still on the board I would not mind the Knicks adding him to the roster.  But if Isiah Thomas wants to make the fans in NY even more upset he will draft someone like Josh McRoberts, Glen Davis, Aaron Gray, Aaron Afflalo, Alando Tucker, or a white kid from Marist named Jared Jordan ( I do not care that he led the nation in assits last year, let him go undrafted.)

2007 Knicks NBA Draft Central

The NBA Lottery was more than exciting last night.  Bill Simmons has been praying to the Basketball Gods all year for Boston to get the number 1 or 2 pick to rejuvenate the franchise.  However, the ping pong balls did not show Boston's number last night and the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Supersonics ended up with the number one and two picks.  Another big winner was Atlanta in the three spot, who would have had to give that pick to the Phoenix Suns if they fell out of the top three positions.  This draft has so much potential and talent in it, but the first two picks almost guarantee a franchise player. 

Here is my first NBA mock draft for the lottery teams.

1) Portland - Greg Oden

2) Seattle - Kevin Durant
3) Atlanta - Mike Conley Jr.
4) Memphis - Brandon Wright
5) Boston - Yi Jianlin
6) Milwakee - Corey Brewer
7) Minnesota -  Jeff Green
8) Charlotte - Al Horford
9) Chicago - Julian Wright
10) Sacramento - Spencer Hawes
11) Atlanta - Joakim Noah
12) Philadelphia -  Al Thorton
13) Charollote - Thaddeus Young
14) LA Clippers - Javaris Crittenton

Immediately after the lottery I began to process the draft and told my roommate that Atlanta would take Conley.  I thought I was being original until I read this morning that Chad Ford and others agree with me.  However, it is possible that they will trade down and can still get Mike Conley Jr. with the 11 pick or at another spot if they make a trade.  NBA fans in the Pacific Northwest should enjoy watching the two best young men this league has seen in awhile.  Yet all the fans in Boston are crying that they did not get one of the top two picks and ended with the 5 pick.  The draft is stacked this year and teams should be happy with most players they draft.  Fans in New England should stick the the NFL, because Boston is not going to be a championship team for quite some time.

Above I have the 1985 lottery where the Knicks received the first pick after the lottery was fixed.  You can clearly see that the Knicks envelope was folded and Commissioner David Stern had some fancy hand word picking out the "lucky" winner.  Now I am happy that the individuals at KPMG did not do their job and watch this process like they should have because the Knicks ended up with Patrick Ewing.  Then again, cheaters never win and the Knicks were not able to reap the benefits, and Patrick Ewing remains one of the best players to never win a championship.