Stop Mike Lupica

How Will Mike D'Antoni Effect The Knicks?

2008-05-12T02:55:10Z

Changes. Not a lot on the way (the Knicks aren't really capable of revamping the entire team), but some more are on the way. First Donnie Walsh, now D'Antoni. The Knicks are putting together the management team that will put together the team. They still need a GM, and with a big name President with tons of experience, and a big name coach with a well regarded system, the GM can be a novice. Kiki Vandeweghe signed on to be Rod Thorn's GM, so look for one of the aforementioned head coach candidates - Mark Jackson, Kenny Smith, et al - to resurface as a possible GM candidate.

Personnel wise? The Knicks who would seem to benefit the most are Renaldo Balkman (someone whom the Suns were reportedly very interested in during the 2006 Draft), Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson (someone whom the Suns drafted), David Lee, and perhaps Jared Jeffries.

Quentin Richardson and Stephon Marbury both played on the Suns under D'Antoni for a bit, but both may be too old or worn down to contribute heavily. In fact, the two things the Knicks will need in order to implement the D'Antoni system are: a point guard with court vision, and high percentage three-point shooting. If those two guys can turn it around, and provide those skills (skills they once possessed), then they might have a role on this team. If not, then the Knicks will go shopping.

If the Knicks get a top-2 pick, Derrick Rose will undoubtedly be drafted, and the first problem is solved. However, the likely reality is this: the Knicks may end up with a #5-7 pick. If that happens, Danilo Gallinari suddenly comes into play much more than anyone (including myself) might have anticipated.

Aside from the obvious Italian connection, Gallinari fits a lot of D'Antoni's Knicks pressing needs: he's international (as D'Antoni's system is), he's a SF (the Knicks were dead last in SF +/- last year), and he's deadly from downtown (40% shooter from behind the arc). No, I don't particularly like him that much, but he will become a very likely option if the Knicks end up with the #5 pick or worse.

If that happens, the point guard situation will likely be resolved via a trade with Toronto. The Raptors have a legitimate problem right now; Jose Calderon has stated, on his website, that he wants to be a starter:

Quiero ser titular y estar en un equipo que aspire a todo. Desde luego no estaré en un equipo en el que yo pueda ser importante pero no haya una estructura sólida o no haya opciones en los 'playoffs'. (poorly written translation, also from the site: "I want to be a starter and be on a team that aspires to everything. I will not be on a team in which I canoot be an important contributor nor if there is not a solid structure or if there are not options to be in the playoffs.")

TJ Ford has also said similar things. The Raptors will now have to choose, especially since Calderon is a restricted free agent. The Knicks can't really offer Calderon a deal (beyond the mid-level exemption, or about $6 million a year for 5 years). The Raptors aren't going to let Jose Calderon go, not when he's a much healthier point guard than TJ Ford, and has more upside (Jose's stats this season as a starter are positively amazing). Look for the Raptors to put Ford on the trading block; the Knicks could offer Jamal Crawford, an aggressive slasher/explosive scorer who would help fill one of the Raptors most pressing needs.

Jamal Crawford may be a decent uptempo player who excels at throwing alley-oops, but I doubt he will be anything more than a sixth man under D'Antoni. Crawford is just too low % for Mike's system.

Other players in danger of being traded: well, if D'Antoni didn't take much of a shining to Shaq, then you have to believe he won't have much patience for Eddy Curry. The Knicks might give him away to anyone who wants him. Possible candidates include the Heat or the Grizzles (with maybe famous draft bust Darko coming back this way). He is tradeable, but the Knicks will have to either rebuild his value by making him an option in the offense, or they will have to accept pennies on the dollars for him (Mark Blount).

Zach Randolph? He's a good fit for the pick and roll system (Isiah: "what's a pick and/or roll?") that will get him open looks from fifteen feet, where he is pretty solid. The problem will be can D'Antoni convince him to shoot without taking ten seconds of dribbling.

Donnie Walsh will check to see if the Bucks have changed their minds about the Michael Redd for Zach Randolph trade that was discussed, and dismissed, last season. Michael Redd's deadly three-point shooting would be ideal for the D'Antoni Knicks. Perhaps if the Knicks trade down a few spots with the Bucks in the draft (if Danilo is still available with the Bucks' pick), that might be enough to entice the Bucks to giving up Redd for Randolph.

Nate Robinson might get a larger role in the system. He's a tenacious defender capable of getting steals, gets up the court quickly, and shoots 40% from behind the arc. By definition he'll be a good fit for the system. Of course, once his value gets high enough, the Knicks might look to trade him.

Don't expect too many changes at first, though. The Knicks have some hard to move contracts, and D'Antoni has to evaluate the players, and how he wants them to implement his system, before he can make any decisions on who should go. These proposed moves will probably take place over the course of a year, maybe more.

Finally, to try to answer the question on most NBA fans' minds: Why did D'Antoni chose the Knicks (over the Bulls, among others)? Besides the money, which was probably reasons number one, two, three, and four:

-The Knicks have such low expectations D'Antoni has at least two to three "free" years before he can be criticized. In contrast, the Bulls, despite being just as bad as the Knicks last season, still have high expectations based on past performances.

-There are more players on the Knicks that D'Antoni is familar with. As mentioned, Q-Rich and Steph played on the Suns; Robinson was drafted, and Balkman was supposedly a draft target.

-The Knicks have unlimited cash. I can't emphasize this enough. The worst thing about those Suns teams was that they could have been even better, had their owner not been so cheap. Yeah, Bill Simmons wrote a nice article about this a few weeks back. But lest anyone accuse me of biting Simmons, I have been writing and complaining for years about the stinginess of the Suns owner. This is something that you have to figure must have eaten at D'Antoni. All that work, all that greatness... and to fall short, mostly because your owner was trying to squeeze every last penny out of the team? I can't imagine Mike would ever want to roll the dice with an owner that exhibited any kind of stinginess again.

So while James Dolan of the Knicks had no problems meeting D'Antoni's terms for being a head coach, the Bulls were trying to get him to sign with them on the cheap. Now, how easy do you think, did that approach make the choice for Mike D'Antoni? The Bulls might have just as well gift wrapped him to the Knicks....

Mike D'Antoni Hired As Knicks Coach, And Nobody Is Excited?

2008-05-12T02:23:47Z

Sometimes I really hate the local media in NYC. Especially the sports media.

I haven't been writing much lately, but I did note (and comment) several times over the past week or two about how obvious it was that certain members of the local media, particularly the Daily News, were clearly pining for Mark Jackson to get hired by Donnie Walsh as the Knicks new head coach. Frank Isola must have written at least one article a day stating that "Mark Jackson was the leading candidate", and that "Mike D'Antoni has no interest in the Knicks, and is only using them to get more money from the Bulls". Why the love for Mark Jackson? Because he's an old school New Yorker, one of the few people that still answers the phone when a guy like Mike Lupica or Frank Isola call for a quote. Mike D'Antoni is an unknown quantity to the local media. And he comes with his own set of "personal" reporters, guys like Jack McCallum, who beat all the local beat writers to the scoop that D'Antoni had agreed to a $24 million, 4-year deal to coach the Knicks.

So what's the result? We get one blatant column in the Sunday Daily News, with Frank Isola ripping Donnie Walsh's "credibility", while calling the hiring "a risk". Any quotes for the article? You can always tell the writer's personal angle by the quote that he ~~makes up~~ uses for the story. What do we get today?:

"I think it's a terrible match," said one rival head coach. "I don't get it. Two of the biggest problems with the Knicks are that they don't practice and they don't play defense."

Not to pick on Isola, let's see how the rest of the local media did. Peter Vecsey took the usual Post route, which is to say the same thing as the News, but with more hyperbole. DONNIE WALSH BLEW IT. A picture of D'Antoni, with the caption "Bad choice". Thoughts from Vecsey?:

I'm stunned and baffled by the decision.

Any quotes from "rival head coaches"?

"Not only are the Knicks known to shoot themselves in the foot, they often crouch down to get a better aim," zaps column contributor Brian McGunigle.

Who? Whatever... I could keep breaking on these local beat writers/fools, but now there is someone else to do it! Check out this great post from The Palpable Masses, for the some Fire Joe Morgan style riffing on Isola.

We do all realize that the Knicks just signed one of the two most successful coaches in the NBA over the past four seasons, right? The other, Avery Johnson, has won over 70% of his games as head coach, and is the only other person available that should be considered a better candidate than D'Antoni. I personally would have preferred AJ, but Mike D'Antoni is no scrub. And as much as I liked Mark Jackson as a player, and as an announcer... when did he become the second coming of Red Auberach?

For that matter, we do realize we are talking about a guy who, as a Hall of Fame point guard, was notorious for his shabby defense?!? Was Mark Jackson really going to teach Jamal Crawford how to defend better?

Do you see how the media manipulates the discussion? Most people, most Knick fans, aren't excited that the Knicks just signed a top coach to lead their team. Not just a top coach with a winning record - check that, a stunning record over the past four years, including 232 regular season wins - but the coach and architect of the most exciting system in the NBA! Yeah, man are we unlucky or what?

This is why nobody likes NYers.

But, of course, the local media credits the entire Suns success to Steve Nash, a great point guard who plays no defense. Jamal Crawford is no Steve Nash; Stephon Marbury is no Steve Nash. But neither of them will be any worse on the defensive end than Nash is. If the Suns could win without playing defense, maybe D'Antoni really is the perfect coach for the Knicks. After all, it's not like the Knicks offense last season was effective, or efficient; they also ran almost no plays, and had no cohesive system. Those are problems that are just as important to fix as the defense (which isn't as bad as advertised - guys like Robinson, Chandler, Balkman, and Jeffries aren't terrible, and the Knicks would sometimes be able to put together good runs of defense and rebounding when they had the right personnel on the court).

Let's talk about what Mike D'Antoni brings to the table....
**********************

All Types of Crazy Earth Stuff Going On In Chile...

2008-05-07T17:06:45Z

You might have heard about that volcano that erupted down there in Chile, spewer lava and ash, and all that dirty stuff from deep in the bowels of Planet Earth, onto my Patagonian neighbor. Well, did you know that the volcano is also responsible for a rash of "dirty thunderstorms," according to this National Geographic article. That's when lightning comes from the volcano to the sky.

Peep the ill photos attached to that article. A commenter on this sci-fi site took one of the photos, and turned it into one of those motivational posters:

DJM: "Yeah, I have no idea what is going on down there. Dirty thunderstorms?"
SML: "What's next? Ball lightning?"

Ball lightning, ya'll - it's when a round sphere of bright lightning appears at ground level, darting across a surface (and sometimes through a surface). It's kind of like Ryu tossing a Hadouken, only replace "Ryu" with "Mother Nature":

Ball lightning is still a highly debated phenomenon among scientist; they haven't formulated an exact explanation for it, or even proven that it really occurs. It has been discussed since the 17th century, when during a severe thunderstorm in a church in England a ball of fire materialized, swept through the aisles, and killed 4 people. It injured another 60 people, and almost destroyed the church, burning or smashing walls and windows.

Another famous story is the one involving the Russian Ben Franklin, Georg (leave off the last "e" for savings) Richmann. A professor in St. Petersburg, he was conducting an experiment during a thunderstorm (always a safe idea), and had an engraver there to "capture the event for posterity". Instead, what he captured was a ball of lightning appear on the ground, head towards Richmann, and smack him in the forehead. The result was red spot on the now-dead Richmann's head, his shoes got blown apart, and his clothes got burned.

There are other accounts throughout history, but no one has been able to confirm ball lightning, or give a scientific explanation for it. However, scientist have recently started theorizing that it may be related to vaporized silicon (from the lightning striking silicon deposits in the ground), and have conducted experiments to try to recreate the phenomenon in a lab. This site here has several video files of the experiments. Click on that last video ("Supplementary Video 6") to see what might possibly be a small version of ball lightning, as created by Doctor Ken and Doctor Ryu.

Last tangent of the day: I went to the Yankee game last night with some friends. One of them brought up a Mortal Combat character by the name of Kano. He asked me if I remember him.

"Kano? No. Is he the one that was Sub-Zero's twin?"
"No, that's Scorpion."
"Was he in the movie?"
"I didn't see it. Now, he was a crazy white guy."
"The one with the six arms?"
"No, that was a boss. This was a regular character."
"Let's see... I remember Raiden. Lui Kang. Sonya. Scorpion and Sub-Zero ("get over here"). Was Kano the dude with claws and the flamenco dance?"
"No, that's Vega from Street Fighter II..."

And so it went for a bit. My friend gave up. Later on, when talking to another friend young/old enough to have been into Mortal Kombat, he tried again.

"Kano. Come on, you have to remember Kano?"
"Was he Scorpion's twin brother."
"Noooo..."
"What was his special moves?"
"He would throw himself at an opponent"

I chime in: "Ohhh, yeah. The little hairy Brazilian dude."
"No, that's Blanka, man. You're back in Street Fighter II again."

We then argued about whether E.Honda, Zangief, or Dhalsim was the least used character. I personally liked Dhalsim. Yoga fireball is my ish. But having checked out the character list today, trying to refresh my memory of Kano (still got nothing), I have to say... it's very arguable who is more forgettable: Balrog from SFII, or Kano from Mortal Kombat. Maybe I'm just old.

Kobe Bryant vs. Chris Paul MVP Debate

2008-05-07T16:45:47Z

There is a nice little discussion, lead by Modi, going on over at Sports On My Mind on this topic. Modi makes a compelling case for Paul, while being surprised that a) the margin of victory was so large and b) LeBron James and Kevin Garnett didn't garner more support.

I left my lengthy comments over there (it's practically a post), but I am:

a) also surprised it was such a large margin of victory, since I figured it to be neck and neck
b) not surprised Kobe won, as I listed four factors which won him the award (1. he was owed an MVP 2. CP3 has years to get his own MVP 3. the Lakers won the conference, not the Hornets 4. Kobe plays in a bigger market with more reach than Paul)
c) shocked that KG got as much support as he did - that really illustrates the power and reach (and bias) of the Boston media right there. 16 first-place votes for KG?!? In a season in which LeBron and Paul both had absolutely historical statistical seasons, and Kobe won the toughest Conference ever?!?
d) not surprised LeBron didn't get more votes, since LeBron's team only won 45 games. In the Eastern Conference! It's an unwritten rule that the winner of the MVP award has to be from a 50-win team.
Not agreeing with it, just stating it.

And finally, for the funniest take on the Kobe MVP winning, see this post from the genius that is The Blowtorch:
I shrunk it down in size, so you can't read it in it's entirety... if you want to read the whole thing, go check out the original, over at The Blowtorch.

Knicks Talking to D'Antoni, and other news....

2008-05-05T22:00:42Z

We'll hit you up with a Knicks update tomorrow, particularly with our thoughts on the coaching carousel. Now that's it's stopped for a bit - Flip Saunders and Doc Rivers almost fell off the ride there - we can evaluate who is really available. Incredibly, George Karl hasn't been fired yet. That's very surprising to me. It also bodes poorly for Carmelo Anthony and crew... if they aren't firing the coach, then you know what that usually means. Some heads is getting traded.

Mike D'Antoni has gotten permission, supposedly, to talk with the Knicks and Bulls about coaching those teams. It seems high unlikely he would pick the Knicks over the Bulls, or better yet, the Raptors (Sam Mitchell, come and get your Dolan bucks), but who knows. Money + props for turning garbage into something + a team that is actually not too far removed from the Suns (meaning, okay, the Knicks don't play defense, either) might just equal D'Antoni, Knicks head coach.

Don't bet on it, though.

And while I would love to start the "Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks" ball rolling, it ain't happening. The only pickup I've read that might make sense "Jamal Crawford for TJ Ford". Why? The Raptors have two point guards; they need to roll with Jose Calderon, who is cheaper and puts up absolutely incredible numbers (how many 10 assist to 1 turnover games did he have as a starter?). Ford has a long contract, one that matches Crawford's in length. The Knicks don't need Crawford, they need a point guard.

The problem? One, the Knicks will likely look to acquire a point guard via the draft. The Raptors would like to get rid of Ford because he's not a healthy player. The Knicks already have more uninsureable, unhealthy young players than anyone in the NBA (Eddy Curry, Quentin Richardson). The Knicks need defense (OJ Mayo again comes to mind), and TJ Ford is too short to be a decent defender.

I'll have to think on this for a bit longer.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T17:24:27Z

What's up, everybody? It's been two weeks since I posted over here... I've been busy trying to get the new site (Sports On My Mind) off to a good start. I did a few posts over there on the NBA playoffs, specifically stuff on the Hawks-Celtics series, which went the full seven games, and was (as predicted) the most exciting series of the first round.

Now I'm back, and I'll be dropping posts daily. Yes, I missed Cobra & his crew, D-Fan, TUP, and Arin. We're going to continue to focus on the Knicks here, plus other NYC-centric stuff. That includes, but is not limited to: the Jets, Yankees, hip-hop/soul, NYC posts, photo posts, and little NYC adventures. In other words, ain't nothing changed. I'll also be linking to anything I post of note over at SOMM.

And with that, let's talk about this Cinco de Mayo holiday. Most people know by now (I hope) that it is not really a Mexican holiday; it's celebrated in the US, but pretty much ignored in Mexico. If it is celebrated it is only in the state of Pueblo, which is actually, from what I've read, where most NYC Mexicans come from. I believe something like 80%+ of Mexicans in NYC are from Pueblo.

Here's DJM's daily humor e-mail on the topic:

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Cinco de Mayo (or, "57 Varieties") is a Mexican holiday commemorating their beatdown of the French in 1862. Oh, come on, Mexico: if everybody celebrated anniversaries of beating the French, the whole calendar would be marked GLOBAL CELEBRATION - BEAT FRENCH - REMEMBER TO PICK UP CONDIMENTS ON WAY HOME - OUT OF MAYO. Or something. I don't design calendars. I just purchase them in bulk.

The victory came in the Battle of Pueblo, which was one of the largest battles of the period known as "The French Intervention" (later a movie starring Gene Hackman) or as "The Maximilian Affair" (one of Robert Ludlum's lesser works). The Mexican government had stopped paying interest payments to Spain, Britain, and France because they were some sort of cranky. The three foreign powers decided to get on ships to go get summathat money, figuring that the United States was too busy fighting itself to notice or much care. Eventually, Spain and England got bored and went home (presumably to fight France), but the French forces stayed and ruled Mexico awhile, until the US put itself back together and started doing intimidating border exercises and the Mexican resistance won a series of battles, and finally the French were like "Zut!" and got out of there.

So always remember: Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as the day when Mexico got itself invaded and occupied for defaulting on credit. Hooray!

**********
Now, let's remix that second paragraph, Method Man style:

The victory came in the Battle of Pueblo, also known as the Duel of the Iron Mic, was one of the largest battles of the period known as "The Maximilian Affair". Maximilli-on, Maximilli-on! The Mexican government stopped pledging allegiance to the French, in favor of hip-hop. The Mexicans won when they hit the French with an ill-speaking heat-seeking Scud missile.

After crushing the French like a Nestle, the French were like "all in together now" and got out of there.

Stack that cheese, flying guillotines, whatever man.
*************
Indeed, SML's home.

Why Bissinger Had A Point.

2008-05-01T12:44:05Z

I come not to bury Bissinger, nor to praise him. I come to say, however, that he did have a point.

(at this time I'd like to make it fully clear that this is Canadian DJM, not SML. angry letters should go this way.)

Bissinger made it rather difficult to excavate, because his tiny nugget of point was buried deep, deep in a mountain of slouchy, blowhard bullshit. As Leitch said, he immolated. There is no denying this. He was swinging wildly, like an angry child. Which is a shame, because if Costas Now had booked an actual grownup instead of an angry four-year-old, a necessary and overdue conversation might have taken place. We could have had our Jon Stewart on Crossfire moment, only this time we're the asshat in the bowtie.

Bissinger's mistakes are legion, and we could spend a day attempting to list them all without coming close to completion. Here's an abridgment: he was profane and juvenile while accusing someone else of being profane and juvenile, he acted like a fucking idiot, and he had no idea what he was talking about. I think that's a fairly succinct summary. Normally, at this point, I'd say "what a tool" and move on, but I happen to agree with the point he was trying so, so, so poorly to make, so I'm gonna give a shot at making it better.

Blaming blogs for being mean-spirited is like blaming port-a-potties for being full of shit. Like: sure, but you're reversing cause and effect, here. Blogs aren't the reason there's negativity in the world, negativity is the reason *some* blogs exist. Hell, this site's moniker is an imperative against a writer, you know?

Bissinger also made the mistake of arguing that all blogs are equal, vile, and equally vile. As long as Free Darko exists, anybody who claims that "all sports blogs are _________" is lying or ignorant.

And somehow expecting Leitch to speak for all bloggers is ludicrous, unfair, and just... stunning in its lack of understanding. The people attacking "bloggers" have not yet realized that a synonym for "bloggers" is "people." We're not some underclass coming out of hiding in the caves or, Lord help us, our mothers' basements. My mother doesn't even have a basement.

Enough covering my own ass, though. Let's get to it: Leitch isn't exactly blameless here, either.

I mostly enjoy Deadspin. I read it everyday. I have it on my RSS feed. I comment over there, from time to time. But I'm also not going to pretend that it's above reproach. It's not a watchdog site, or a news site; it is an opinion site and it *is* a gossip site. I think mocking Deadspin for posting pictures of Matt Leinart drinking from a beer bong is totally, completely, 100% warranted. That's some childish bullshit, and Leitch is smart enough to know that it's childish bullshit. His defense of it was fourfold, and each of the defenses he offered is ridiculous.

1. "It's funny!"
Why is it funny? Seriously, why is it funny? It's only funny because it's embarrassing. Leitch knows this. He's not posting pictures of Leinart working for charity, or playing with his kids, or going to the library. Leinart gets his picture posted when he's doing embarrassing shit. It's only funny because his image is being captured in moments when he'd probably prefer not to be photographed. Which brings us to Number 2:

2. They post them on their Facebook pages.
Oh, Will. We want to agree with you. We really do, but you have to know that this is horseshit. Perhaps some of the embarrassing pictures you post are from the offender's own Facebook pages, but the Leinart pictures, which were the ones under discussion, were from TheDirty.com. You either know this or really ought to know this, because your site made a follow-up post which was entirely about where you got the pictures. You're posting pictures from paparazzi sites designed to embarrass. Man up and admit this.

3. They're real people!
The fuck is this, US Weekly? Of course they're real people. NOBODY is debating this. I don't even know what this argument is supposed to mean. It's OK to publicly embarrass athletes because it would be OK to publicly embarrass anybody? What?

4. Braylon Edwards, so by extension all athletes, have no complaints, because they are not hounded by photographers like Hollywood stars.
Man, this is a preposterous argument to make. The ends are the same regardless of the means. I can't even tell what the argument is here. Is it "You only have a right to complain about being publicly embarrassed if photographers make it difficult for you to go outside"? Is that it? Because humiliating shit is humiliating shit regardless of the source.

And Leitch's disingenuous claims that he's not encouraging paparazzi or that he wouldn't go through somebody's garbage are riding a razor thin line of believability. Sure, Will's not running out to snap photographs of athletes at parties: but posting those pictures makes him just as bad.

Sure, Bissinger and Costas and pretty much everybody else makes the horrible mistake of conflating what's in posts with what's in comments. But Will pretending that he's blameless for the comments is absurd. He's an editor. You know what they do? They edit. The reason that vitriol is present in the Deadspin comments is not because Will doesn't have any say in what goes on in there (which is the attitude he sort of takes) but that the vitriolic comments are Deadspin's biggest draw. There's money in that hate. He should be honest about this.

And his implication that the problems with Deadspin are *only* in the comments is at best a glaring example of sophistry. Are the comments over there mean? Yes. Are they funny? Yes. Was it in *posts* that we got humiliating pictures of athletes, humiliating video tape of Berman, humiliating uncorroborated stories of Berman's pickup attempts, humiliating answering machine messages left by SportsCenter anchors, and on and on and on? Oh, absolutely. Part of Deadspin's game -- a large part -- is public embarrassment.

I'm not even asking him to apologize for that aspect of his blog. I don't care for it, but whatever. My problem here is Leitch seems to think that spreading that shit makes him different from the people who capture it or report it in the first place. I, for one, wholeheartedly disagree, but I think it's a debate worth having. Unlike the one we got the other night.

So here's my hope: the next time somebody asks Leitch to defend blogs, he say something like "I don't speak for all blogs. I speak for my blog, which is often juvenile and deals with certain aspects of public humiliation because I think they're funny, newsworthy, and our business." Or something. And then we can have the debate over whether pictures of quarterbacks at birthday parties or at clubs are funny, newsworthy, and any of our goddamn business.

Bissinger is a total idiot. He's also not totally wrong.

SML Is On The Move...

2008-04-21T13:32:04Z

Not really, but sort of. After living on my own for a couple of years now, with some help from part time roommate DJM and a couple of no-shows (ahem, Barnesgasm and The Marathon Man, among others), I've decided to buy my own place with three other guys who were also tired of "living" alone.

Seriously, bad metaphors aside, come to our blog warming over at Sports On My Mind. It's a collaboration between four writers with similar goals - to make you think out of the box, so to speak. We have D-Wil from the original SOMM; Modi from Cosellout (the grown up, scholarly version of SML!); and MC Bias. The site has a beautiful, professional layout, and we're hoping to get some guest writers to do pen a feature here and there to add to the "out of the box" goals.

I've posted a few posts there already - here is my Western Conference playoff preview; here is my recap on the Rockets-Jazz Game 1, and here is my live blog of last night's Celtics-Hawks Game 1.

You can find all my posts over there by clicking here.

So what's going to happen with SML.com? Well, that's still to be determined. Me and DJM still have a few ideas we want to throw around. I will also continue to post stuff over here that may not work as well over there, whether because of concept and scope, or just because it's technically easier over... stuff like my photo essay posts, for example, may not work nearly as well over there, given the layout. I'm not yet sure if that site really needs two Knicks fans; I am leaning towards revamping this site, and turning into even more of a Knicks-oriented site, with another Knicks writer or two, plus some new features. Again, all are just ideas that are being tossed around in my head right now.

In the meanwhile, I will update this site whenever I throw up a post over there, and I will have a few new posts for this site only (Knicks or NYC-sports related) later this week.

Come check out the new site: www.sportsonmymind.com.

Writer's Note: We just remembered today is The Boston Marathon, so we should be more supportive of our own Marathon Man. He'll hopefully have a great race today (I believe the goal is 2:30), and have some good stories to tell....

Your Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

2008-04-17T04:55:36Z

Boston-Atlanta: The Best First Round Playoff Series

Kevin G would be more than glad to take your hand, and lead you to the promised land.
Me wanna walk like a champion, talk like a champion.

If David Robinson was The Admiral, then KG is The Major. Or The Drill Sargent. Some ish like that. He rules the team with the harsh discipline of a Soviet-style dictator. With the Cult of Personality that the Boston (propaganda machine) media is building around their Beloved Ruler Kevin Garnett, he's The Turkmenbashi of the effing NBA, minus the rotating gold statue in front of the Fleet Center that perpetually points towards the sun (though no doubt Bill Simmons and crew will push for it if the Celts win the title this year).

What's the one thing that men of discipline fear the most? Chaos. Enter the only team the Celtics wanted to avoid in the first round - the entropic Hawks. These are not the '08 Warriors. The Warriors, despite being marketed as some unbelievable force of athlete ability, were a smart, savvy bunch of players, lead by guys like Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson who understand what winning requires. They hit three-pointers in between creating and finishing fast breaks.

When the 3-Mile Island Hawks, in comparison, finish a fast break it feels like a minor disaster was just averted. Most forwards in the league know to pass the ball back to the point and fill a lane. Here comes a Josh or a Williams leading another break. What the eff is they thinking?!?

Osh Smith chucked up 100 3-point attempts this season. He successfully hit them at the rate of a Canadian quarter. I suppose that constitutes progress, relative to the 152 attempts he took from downtown last season, at a similar 25% clip. Yes, J-Smoove can be the quite the human asthma breathe taker when he's a shot slapping, giant slayer, and not the trigger happy, brick layer. Still, it's hard to ignore that the Hawks lack the discipline to even slightly coerce Osh to resist the allure of 3-point siren's call.

A quick check of players who attempted that many three-pointers this season yields only a handful who shot below 30%: T-Mac at .297 Kevin Durant at .286 Ray Felton at .284. Once again, for effect: Osh shot 25.5%. And that's the lowest out of more than 100 players that attempted 100 or more 3-pointers!

Josh Childress, the only NBA player who could start for the Flint City Tropics. Yeah, ABAing is cool, but that type of retro is easy, man. You want props for bring back some old school flava? Rock the Bobby Brown flat top, holmes. Or, better yet, the Kid "eraserhead" hairdo.
I Want To Believe
Memo to Boston fans: Sam Cassell is your soul controller. Your fate is now in his hands. Soon you will be grateful that he ended up on the Celtics, or you'll be blaming him on some Buckner ish. Whatever the result, the metaphoric die has been cast. The thing about KG is this: he ain't the one to take the big shot in the fourth quarter. This is fact. Back in Minnesota in 2004, in the fourth quarter during the playoffs, who do you think was taking the shots, the ones KG wouldn't? Sam I Am.

What, you thought he was brought to Boston to back up Rondo?!?

Ain't sh*t changed but the number on the calendar. And so, like four years ago, when KG is in a tight game, the fate of the Celtics will come down to whether or not the big balls dance occurs. Remember two things Celtics fans: Better to rest it on Cassell than the alternative - to have no one to take the big shot down the stretch. One time last season in Minnesota, during the fourth quarter of a close, but meaningless, game, Kevin Garnett's inner fire burned so brightly it actually physically manifested. The resulting inferno required thousands of firefighters to control, and laid waste to 15% of California.

Oh, and two: Cassell, even way past his prime, is still a higher % than Josh Smith shooting a three-pointer.

Philly-Detroit: Like Watching Prince Suffocate Iggy?

I'm worth a million in prizes,
Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk.

What the eff? Can you pick a more unexciting first round series? Yes, the 76ers are exciting. They were 22-11 down the stretch. They have the defense to stand mano a mano con El Pistoles.

But the Pistons this year are very different from last year. Last year's team had a "bench" of Antonio McDyess, Chris Webber, Lindsay Hunter, and Jason Maxiell. The result was 40+ minute per game averages, against the Cavs in the playoffs, for the Fantastic Four of Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton. That many minutes, especially for a team that expends energy on defense, in a long series, is going to wear a team down fast.

This year's bench? Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, even Walter Herrmann and Juan Dixon are viable options. This year's Pistons go "bang bang", your guns go "ow pow".

By the way: what exactly is the 76ers offensive game plan going to be, after Prince's long arms shut down Iggy?

Don't Stop Believing:

You're riding high in April, shot down in May
I've been up and down and over and out and I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face I pick myself up and get back in the race.
yeah, that's Philly.

But if there's nothing shaking come this here July
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball aaaand die.
-Old Philly/Jersey adage passed down through the generations

Oh, man. I'm sorry 76er fans. I was a believer; then I saw her face, and now there's a trace of doubt in my mind. I thought good times were coming soon for the 76ers, I really did.

Then Bill Simmons pointed out, without even knowing it, that Andre Miller is 32 years old.

Hold the f*ck up. Wha?!?

32 years old?

Around here headz don't act their age/ you might be another dead boy on the back page.

When Miller's contract expires next year, he'll be a 33-year old point guard? And the 76ers management, having made up their minds that he is an integral part of their future ("no trade!"), seem to have failed to mention that he has a limited future. Yes, go ahead and sign a 33-year old point to an extension, for big raise no doubt (at least a decent raise over his $10 million a year contract, right?).

And say, another 3-4 years, all with his skills declining? Does that, combined with Iggy's inevitable $15 million a year, 5-year extension, seem like a team that can compete for the title? Because with Sammy Dalembert's own big contract on board, it is going to be hard to add any more players to the squad after this offseason. Spend that free'd up Webber's Millions this offseason well, Philly. Because after that, this will be your team for the next three to four seasons.

Seriously, Miller's been in the league what, only 9 years? Was he the 25-year old rookie or something?!?

Orlando-Toronto: Most Meaningless First Round Series

If you still doubt this is the year of the Pistons, please note that should Your Detroit Pistons get past the 76ers, the winner of this series is their second round opponent. Meanwhile the Celtics get to take on LeBron in the second round, after chasing Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Al Horford and the Joshes in the first round. Just in case you were wondering why, while the Celtics pressed on to win 60+ games, the Pistons have been marinating since December, just content to take that second seed without pushing for the home court advantage too much. And you wonder why Aaron Afflado has been playing big minutes for the past month?!?

Fool Joe Dumars once, shame on Joe. Fool him twice, you are God.

And Dwight Howard is Black Zeus. That's what we've been calling him, until he put on the cape and turned into Superman. Now we'll going to pass that nickname on to Greg Oden, who probably remembers what it was like to rain thunderbolts down on people back in the days from atop Olympus.

The Raptors
Want to be me, you're just an imitation copy.

The Suns run-n-gun Euro system worked so well, several teams have tried to bite their style. The Grizzlies proved that giving up that many points on defense, without possessing the offensive efficiency that having three All-NBA players (Nash, Amare, Marion) in your lineup provides, leads to being on the short-end of more than a few 130-103 blowouts.

The Raptors? They just reminded the U.S. why we don't actually play or televise Eurobasketball here. It's great to see teams and players running up and down the floor, shooting jumpers at will. But when other teams actually play, um, what's that word?... defense?... we'll, it's not nearly as much fun to watch. And f*ck Spain... the Raptors need more Argentines if they really want to be taken seriously. Go see if Pepe Sanchez has anything left in the tank. Take a flyer on Pablo Prigioni, the Euroleague assist leader last year. Clone Manu.

Cleveland-Washington: The Most Explosive Series: Arenas vs. LeBron

This series will produce more 40-point efforts than any other in the playoffs this year. Can you think of any other player, save for Kobe if he decides to throw the team on his back just for old time's sake, besides LeBron and Gilbert who is more likely than them to drop a 40 point game?

Okay, fine... I'll give you Amare. But while he could drop 40, he's not more likely than LeBron or Gilbert to pull it off.

There is nothing to say about Gilbert Arenas right now. There is only watching, and hoping, left.

I say Jah shall execute judgment and justice. And none shall escape of get mercy.
Basketball Selassie liveth everytime.

After a fight with brother Esau, LeBron had to take flight. He left Beersheba in a hurry. While on the road he had a vision. Or maybe it was just a dream. In it, LeBron dreamed of a ladder, one that went all the way up into the sky. It was a magnificent ladder that men could climb and descend as they wished, leading to the kingdom of heaven.

Only many years later would LeBron come to realize that he, in fact, was the ladder.

Western Conference Preview will be posted tomorrow.

Rebuilding, not Reviewing, The Titanic...

2008-04-15T15:16:36Z

First off, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you guys about this NY Mag profile of Isiah Thomas' Knicks, which is called "The Knicks Are Absolutely, Positively the Worst Team in the History of Professional Sports". I wanted to wait until I could fully read the 7-page article before commenting on it - it wouldn't be fair to write about it otherwise. Especially since the title made me very weary that we were in for another hyperbolic diatribe from a writer with an agenda.

Contrary to it's title (I would strongly argue against labeling this Knicks team "the worst team in... history" - clearly the writer is another newbie to the sports scene, and has apparently never seen a team through a rough patch, like the Yankees in the early 90's. I would also point out that the Miami Heat were even bigger disappointments this season), though, it was a pretty well written article that was surprisingly balanced at times.

It correctly pointed out two of the team's three major flaws:

They ranked dead last among 30 teams in assists, and averaged the fewest blocked shots in the stat’s 35-year history—in short, they neither shared nor cared.

Indeed, the three things the Knicks need to fix soon, if this team wants to do better than another 25-win season: a true point guard who can distribute the ball, a shot-blocking defender, and thirdly, a decent starting small forward (the Knicks' SFs, as a group, were last by almost every measure of quality).

The article did a good job of pointing out the issues that undermined the team this season - from Isiah Thomas attempting to bench Marbury after five game (the irony being that Zeke's undoing would come from somehow simultaneously losing his protege and the rest of the team), to the media that hates Isiah and the Knicks, and has no reason to be nice to them (see the specific parts that deal with the media, Frank Isola, Alan Hahn, and Marc Berman), to the lack of coaching that lead to this most damning portion of the magazine piece:

On my way out, I found a copy of the Rockets’ internal scouting report. It told all you needed to know about why these Knicks were doomed to disappoint:

Stephon Marbury: “Tends to go into or under every pick and will leave his feet on shot fakes.”

Zach Randolph: “Doesn’t work on the defensive end of the floor … slow in transition defense.”

Eddy Curry: “Gets lost on defensive rotations … labors to get back. He seems to only play hard on the offensive end of the floor.”

Jamal Crawford: “He allows dribble penetration + doesn’t expend a lot of energy on defense.”

The article does attempt to sum up everything that went wrong on the season, and ties it together a little too neatly. This team quit on its coach - how else do you explain a 33-win team that failed to improve despite lacking aging veterans, having no major personnel losses, and the only change was the addition of two good players - Wilson Chandler and Zach Randolph?

Anyway, the explanation and blame for the season that is practically over misses the point for Knick fans right now. We get it... the Knicks really sucked. Isiah Thomas sucked. Donnie Walsh has a mess to cleanup, doesn't he? Oh, and the media that covers the Knicks hates their guts. Cool.

Now someone answer this question: How do the Knicks get better? I assume that whatever benefits the removal of Isiah Thomas ("bring me his head on a platter") will yield will not instantly turn around the franchise, and make them a contender, right? So how does one go about doing it?

Rebuilding, as Shoals has pointed out, can be classified in various different ways. Right now, Walsh is floating the idea of fiscal fidelity, with the intention of getting under the cap by 2010, as his preferred method of rebuilding. Shoals might classify this as "nihilistic", which, as he pointed out, "ironically...accomplish(es) the least". Razing the team, and the payroll, might accomplish a great deal of nothing, much as all of Isiah Thomas' trading did.

Simmons, on the hand, would note that the getting under the salary cap has a purpose, if you are the Knicks:

"In my opinion, cap room only truly matters for the five destination teams (the Lakers, Knicks, Suns, Heat and Magic). Every time those teams create cap space, somebody big will want to sign with them. It's a built-in advantage exclusive to them." [1]

The problem is that "somebody big" wanting to sign with the Knicks doesn't necessarily equate with winning. You have to sign "somebody big" that can change the franchise, that can carry the franchise. Other teams have to settle for re-signing the best player they've drafted over the past four or five seasons, and building around that player, in the hopes that said player will be a real franchise player (an MVP). Take Indiana with Jermaine O'Neal, or Portland with Zach Randolph previously, or Memphis with Pau Gasol previously.

In each of those situations, the player was their star, and they had to sign them to contracts that would eventually handicap the franchise's ability to make moves. In two of the three cases, those players have already been traded, essentially dumped, for almost nothing in return, just so those franchises could get out from under their contracts. And you know Indy would love to dump O'Neal if they could, too.

So here's what the Knicks have to look forward to, if the scenario Walsh is selling to the media (and the fans) is actually the plan:

The Knicks will have to dump salary weight for 25 cents on the dollar to get under the cap by 2010. Fans, are you really ready for Eddy Curry being traded to Heat for Mark Blount and Smush Parker? Make sure to boo him in 2010, when Curry is a good looking starting center on a 50+ win Heat team that is a legit contender, alongside Michael Beasley, Shawn Marion, Dwyane Wade, and a point guard to be named later (perhaps one Gilbert Arenas?), while we are watching Blount backing up Jerome James, and impatiently waiting for their contracts to expire.

Also, fans are you really ready for the Zach Randolph, Jared Jeffries and the #5 pick to Indiana for Jermaine O'Neal and the #14 pick (DJ Augustin) trade? I like the "tough smurf" point guard as much as the next guy, but when Augustin is getting posted up by bigger points (like Rondo), and the only people to back him up are the front line of perma-hobbled Jermaine O'Neal, Jerome James, David Lee, Randolph Morris and Mark Blount... are we going to be okay with that?

Are we cool with tanking not only 2009, but 2010, too, even though the Jazz will use our #1 pick to draft or acquire the missing piece to their team? Because without any talent to build around, and without trying to acquire any talent, we'll be starring at a team that will be hard pressed to top last year's 33 wins.

And how attractive do you think this Knick team will be in 2010 to free agents, presuming we let the expiring contracts of Malik Rose, Stephon Marbury, Jermaine O'Neal, Mark Blount, Jerome James, and Quentin Richardson expire? The Knicks roster will be their 2008 #1 pick (DJ Augustin under the proposed scenario), Jamal Crawford, Renaldo Balkman/Wilson Chandler, David Lee, Randolph Morris and a maybe a decent pick or two from the 2009 draft. Think LeBron is going to drop everything to sign with those Knicks? Or do you think maybe he'll stick with Plan A - sign with the Brooklyn Nets, or Plan B - re-sign with the Cleveland Cavs?

But don't give up hope... there's always Plan B for the Knick in 2010... they can try Chris Paul....

Note [1]: If you click on the Simmons mailbag, make sure to read Simmon's response to a reader's question, in which he breaks down the Donnie Walsh mystique by pointing out his role in the Indiana's own current salary cap mess.

The Lost Weekend

2008-04-15T14:51:07Z

I'll have a few NBA-related posts coming up, but for now let's play "Hey, check out what SML randomly found on YouTube". Today's clip: a 4:33 take from the Academy Award Best Picture winning 1945 movie "The Lost Weekend". The movie is about an alcoholic writer (played by Ray Milland) on a weekend bender:

I'm not sure, but I think Milland's alcohol addiction in this scene is a metaphor for something... maybe drug addiction? Or maybe I take it that alcohol was a powerful hallucinogen in the 40's? Was Absinthe legal?

Yes, that scene was both cheesy and hammy. Never the less, "The Lost Weekend" is a iconoclastic movie - for example, it pioneered the special effect of "guy walking down the street as neon signs pass by him" to represent time lapsing during a drunken binge. And, of course, some of the scenes and story elements from this movie were spoofed in an episode of The Simpsons, in the form of Barney Gumble's short film "Pukahontas":

Don't cry for me, I'm already dead....

Ron Artest: I want these mutha-effing snakes off the mutha-effing garden...

2008-04-14T16:57:53Z

Oh come on now... who hasn't read this great Wall Street Journal piece on athlete entourages yet? I was reading the WSJ as I do on the weekends, and saw a piece on athlete entourages, a topic I have written about a few times before, and got excited.

Of course, I'm not the only one. Almost everyone has read it, most noting this line, from the mind of the great Ron Artest:

Ron Artest, small forward for the Sacramento Kings, recently asked his publicist and executive assistant to set up a summer basketball camp in Beijing and find the best kidney-tumor specialist in the world for his 4-year-old daughter, Diamond. Mr. Artest's personal assistant, who grew up with him in the projects but is paid by Mr. Artest's management company, fields late-night requests for organic cookies, is developing Mr. Artest's line of athletic wear and was asked recently to remove what Mr. Artest thought were giant snake eggs in his backyard. They turned out to be mushrooms.

Yes, we at SML got a good laugh at picturing Artest's boys from the QB stomping some freaking mushrooms in his backyard. In Artest's defense, us urban people aren't good at outdoors stuff. Some things NYC-raised children are generally not good at:

-We usually don't get our driver's license until our mid to late 20's.
-We usually don't swim. Again, it's a generalization, but... no one's ever swum their way out the projects, right?
-Bike-riding is usually a tough one, too. Depends on the borough - Manhattanites may not know how to ride bikes. I myself never rode a bike as a kid, though, as an adult (or whatever you want to call 19-year old SML, back in 1998) I went ahead and brought a motorcycle anyway. I wanted a Ninja, but settled on a black FZR (the predecessor of the Honda YZF).

And we don't do the outdoors very well. I wouldn't be surprised if, as DJM put it, these guys thought the 'shrooms were Giant Snake eggs, as opposed to giant Snake eggs - um, meaning they thought some Serpentor-sized creature was going to come out of them eggs.

And while we wait for the inevitable photoshop of Ron Artest, looking like Samuel L. Jackson, with his boys wrestling with killer snakes, let's go on a SML ramble for a bit...

All you guys over the weekend, particularly my NY heads - The Last Poet, Greek Prof, Dominican Biz, etc. - you guys should check out my boy BK Ernesto's blog. It's call Clinton Hill Chill, and it's about the point of view of an old time Brooklyn head raised in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill area, and his history of the neighborhood and the changes going on right now, in terms of gentrification and stuff.

As NYC-raised people, we've both talked about gentrification and how it effects our neighborhoods, in great detail over the past year. Usually over many drinks, too. We get animated about these things, as NYCers do! It's not that we don't appreciate the urban economic realities... it's just something to see the swiftness of gentrification . The three steps generally happen like this:

1. Encroachment. Simply means you start seeing young gentrifying people getting off on the subway at stops they never used to get off at, or walking down the streets in places they never used to walk down. Oddly enough, the only place in Manhattan that isn't gentrified to this stage yet is the neighborhood I lived in for four years, before moving to Queens - East Harlem. I still ride the 6-train, and yes, on occasion you see gentrifying peeps going past the 96th Street stop, but it is still rare. And East Harlem is still mostly Latino (Mexican having replaced PR and Dominicans as the primary Latino group in this neighborhood) and black. Certainly it is the least gentrified neighborhood in Manhattan, which is shocking considering how more "dangerous" neighborhoods like Washington Heights, Inwood and Central Harlem ("real" Harlem) have become favorites of the New Hoboken crowd.

Case in point: A friend of mine (originally from the suburbs of DC) brought an apartment up in Inwood three years ago. This same guy, five or six years ago, was looking for an apartment to rent. I was living on 116th Street and 1st, in a brownstone. I had my own floor in a four-story walkup. $700 a month for about 1200 square feet, with 14 foot ceilings. I used to jump rope in my bedroom - that's how much space I had. The second-floor apartment was available for $800/mth. The landlord woman, who lived on the first floor, was always looking for people to recommend her potential tenants, since she wanted only people she could trust to live in a building in which there are only four apartments, right? I told this dude to look at the apartment, which he loved. But he was shook of the neighborhood. This same guy ended up buying a place in Inwood three years later?!? Beats me. Maybe it's like my Greek friend (not the Professor, another one) told me in college: "White people really do dislike Mexicans. They can tolerate Blacks, Puerto Ricans, even Dominicans... but they won't live around Mexicans". Not saying he's right... just saying I can't explain it!

Anyway, this is the step that Uptown is now at.

2. Gentrification.
This step is the one where those business that have serviced people in the neighborhood - "poor" people if you want to label them that, but honestly, that's not always the case - gets replaced with more "friendly" businesses that service the new, more affluent, arrivals and their tastes.

The bodega you went to as a kid? Now a vegetable-selling grocery store.
The nail salons, 99 cents stores, and barbershops? Now the nail salons are run by different people, the barbershops are hair salons, and the 99 cents stores are small neighborhood coffee shops. Any trace of the old neighborhood is met with disdain, and there are attempts to get rid of those old "eye soars" that have no meaning to these newcomers.

This is the step that Brooklyn is now at.

3. Corporationism.
And now those small, neighborhood coffee shops is a Starbuck, and the grocery-store is a Whole Foods. And now the gentrification crowd is complaining about gentrification (see Downtown Brooklyn, and the new Nets arena), and complaining about how the new hi-rise housing towers are destroying the beauty of the neighborhood, and how the greedy businesses don't care about the "poor" people in the neighborhood. The trot out the few remaining poor people who survived stage two to put a face on the neighborhood. The same face that, well, these gentrifiers weren't exactly proud off in stage two!

The newcomers now facing the same fate they bestowed upon the original inhabitants of the neighborhood - being priced out.

This is the step the L.E.S., Alphabet City, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen (all of which were "poor" and even "dangerous" neighborhoods just 10-12 years ago), plus Downtown Brooklyn, are at now.

Okay, that's my rant of the day. Go check out Clinton Hill Chill, which is far more diplomatic and better written than SML in these topics, plus also has great posts up on the history of that neighborhood, including pictures from back in the day....

Weekend Recap: Basketball Notes

2008-04-14T13:43:34Z

Basketball:

Here's some good news for Knicks fans: not only did the Knicks lose, to end their three game winning streak which had all but eliminated them from a top-two spot in the draft lottery, but the Minnesota T-Wolves picked up win #21 by beating the Grizzlies (22 wins), meaning the 23-win Knicks, currently tied with the 23-win Clippers, aren't yet out of the race to end up with a top three or four spot in the lottery drawing. Just saying, if you care about these things.

Impressive to see the T-Wolves drop 43 points on the Grizzlies in the first quarter of that game, by the way. That says a lot about Memphis' current state - you could wonder whether they are taking another stab at the tanking game, but the real story to me is this: all year long the Grizzlies have shown us what the (old version) Suns would be like with the same defense, but without the same efficiency on offense. I guess the Suns Euro-style system is really great, you know, as long as you can anchor the team with an All-NBA point guard (Nash), and All-NBA PF (Amare), and an All-NBA SF (Marion).

Of course the new Suns have Shaq instead of Marion, and it does seem to be working better. To answer MC Bias' question from over the weekend: Yes, Gordon Giricek has looked great for the Suns in small bursts off the bench, as most SG/SF do in that role (see the Polish Rifleman, Eric Piatkowski). But I doubt he will play much in the playoffs, especially if Grant Hill can stay healthy. The Suns don't do deep benches, especially in the playoffs.

The Suns do technical fouls, though. At least they do since Shaq got there. As evidence of their new "toughness", one could point to this stat (courtesy of the talented Ira Winderman, of the Miami Sun-Sentinel): in the 53 games this season before the Shaq trade, the Suns had been called for a total of 14 technical fouls; since the Shaq trade, in 22 games, the Suns have been whistled for 26 technical fouls. Shaq himself is only responsible for a half-dozen of those, so yes, the Suns are a bit more animated than they used to be.

The Suns lost Friday night to the Rockets, who are once again streaking, but much quieter this time. They had won 7 out of 9 until their loss to a desperate Denver team last night. With that win, the Nuggets stay a half game ahead of the Warriors for the right to play the Lakers (or maybe the Hornets) in the first round. Our hopes: the Warriors would make a much more fun match up against the Lakers.

More potential good news for Knicks fans that probably won't come to fruition: The Heat are once again looking for a center, according to Pat Riley. Some of the names mentioned in that article include Eddy Curry, previously rumored to be potentially of interest to the Heat:

Notable veteran big men who could be available via trade include Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal (has an opt-out clause, but is due $44 million over the next two years), Denver's Nene, Sacramento's Brad Miller and New York's Eddy Curry. But all come with hefty multiyear deals. And the Heat wants salary-cap space in 2009, potentially to pursue Clippers 6-8 power forward/center Elton Brand, who will be a free agent then if he doesn't opt out this summer.

The Heat could be scary if they made that move (more realistic than trying to sign Brand) - imagine this lineup: Marcus Banks or a free agent PG, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Michael Beasley, Eddy Curry. Isn't Gilbert Arenas possibly available this offseason?

If the Knicks are in pure "dump salary" mode - a possibility, if new President Donnie Walsh was really serious about getting under the cap in three years - then a Curry for Mark Blount trade might work for the Knicks. No, the Knicks wouldn't be getting much back in return for their investment in Curry, and no, I'm not in favor of this outright. But if the plan really is to get under the cap, then dumping high-salary players with long contracts will probably require taking back 25 cents for the dollar. Maybe Smush Parker can round off the trade, giving the Knicks a terrible stopgap at point guard for a season. Hey, if you are going to rebuild for real, that means more than one year of tanking. Why not take a page out of the Sonics book, and drop as much salary as possible, and try to net top-3 picks in back to back drafts? Of course, the Knicks' 2010 pick belongs to the Jazz, so tanking for too long isn't a great plan, either....

Other b-ball notes: The Spurs look good right now, but Ginobili's "groin sprain" worries me a bit - since they looking at a 50/50 chance of playing either Phoenix (with home court advantage for the Spurs) or Utah (home court to the Jazz) in the first round, the Spurs need a healthy Manu pronto. My guess is that this will become a big story in their playoff run, one which could be shorter than Spurs fans have become accustomed to....

I guess there are playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, too. The Pistons and Celtics are actually the best bets to win the NBA title this season, as the Western Conference gauntlet - a long regular season where nobody gets any rest, followed by some tough first round series, and it only gets more daunting from there - that gauntlet will likely leave the Western Conference winner (our bet: if things stay the way they are, the Jazz will lose to the Lakers in the 2nd round, and Phoenix will beat the Hornets, setting up a high-ratings Laker-Suns final in which Shaq's crew will battle Kobe, and with Bynum unlikely and Pau Gasol looking hurt, our money all of sudden shifts to the Suns winning the West) exhausted. Like trying to make sense of that last sentence. So yes, the title will probably go to the Eastern Conference champ.

And the team that won the Eastern Conference last year - the Cavs - we haven't forgotten about them, but they are taking it easy down the stretch. Their 3-6 record over the last 9 games has to all but eliminate LeBron James from MVP talk. You can't win an MVP when your team finishes with only 45 wins. Ask Kobe....

Finally: I told ya before - Vince Carter is a big volleyball fan and former player. Here's some minor evidence:
MOV01888.MPG

Random Observations From the Past Week

2008-04-09T15:36:07Z

I was watching the Mets home opener against the Phillies yesterday afternoon. At one point the SNY crew found Governer Patterson sitting in field-level seats, ~~watching~~ listening to the game, and asked him "What's the most surprising thing about being governor?". His response? With a bit of that Patterson humor he has, he said: "Well, just being the governor has been the most surprising thing!"

The Utah Jazz look pretty unstoppable right now in the Western Conference. They beat the Spurs earlier this week, and Deron Williams is the only guard in the league that can absolutely lock up Chris Paul. I don't know if he can do it for a seven-game series, but I do think there is no team the Hornets want to avoid more than the Jazz. I would currently rank the Western Conference, in order of chances of winning, as such: Jazz, Hornets, Spurs, Suns, Lakers.

Chris B. Young of the Arizona Diamondbacks is my favorite fantasy baseball player right now. After hitting .237 last year as a rookie, with 32 homers and 27 stolen bases, plus only 68 RBI's (and 85 runs), he's got four home runs so far this season. With 2 SBs, 6 RBIs, and a .212 batting average. On the plus side, he's also got 8 BBs to go with 12 Ks and 9 runs. He might be producing one of the all-time great stats lines ever this year: a 40/40 season (30/30 seems very much in reach), with a .220 BA and a Mark Bellhorn-like 100 BB/150 K line. Oh, and probably 100 Runs, but only about 70 RBIs.

Nothing connected to above, but I also have Chris Young from San Diego (the 6'10 pitcher) on my fantasy team, and am trying really hard to get Delmon Young, so I can claim to have the Young-est fantasy team ever.

Found this on Flickr yesterday: It's the NYC Subway Map for White People:

]]> larger version, click here.

It's pretty accurate, if you limit it to pretty much the hipster/gentrifyers (new crowd). The only stop in the Bronx is Yankee Stadium - take it from someone who rode 4-train to the ends of the earth for four years... white people live in the Bronx, but not new white people - they are rare up there. Queens is pretty much Astoria and Forest Hills (and JFK). Brooklyn is Coney Island, the Greenpoint/Williamsburgh portion of North Brooklyn, and the area I like to call "New Hoboken" (the Prospect Park, Park Slope area up to Downtown and DUMBO).

Manhattan doesn't extend past 86th Street. As someone who lived uptown in East Harlem for four years - yep, very accurate.

Now the update: White people have started expanding Uptown, on the west side of course (no touching "real" Harlem, or East Harlem), past Columbia, into the Heights and Inwood. I guess New Hoboken was too pricey, so we can rename the Heights "New Jersey City". Or perhaps "South Westchester". I don't know....

Scott Skiles To Coach The Knicks?

2008-04-09T14:35:52Z

Love the rumor mill around the Knicks. The latest reports have former Bulls coach Scott Skiles as a potential replacement for Isiah Thomas as Knicks head coach, according to the NY Daily News:

According to a source close to the former Chicago Bulls coach, Skiles already has been contacted by several teams and is eager to return to work.

But Skiles and former Knick Mark Jackson have emerged as the top candidates to replace Isiah Thomas once Walsh makes the much-anticipated change.

So who are these sources close to the former coach?

According to a source, Skiles is reluctant to negotiate with any club that still has a coach in place. His adviser, Keith Glass, declined to comment but said that Skiles was adamant about not campaigning for a job through the media. "In other words, no comment," Glass said before hanging up.

Come on, Knick fans, you must know the name Keith Glass, right? Sound familiar? He's the former agent for one Jackie Butler. A Jackie Butler who got a lot of playing time for the Knicks under Larry Brown, and parleyed that into a nice fat contract with the Spurs (thanks again to Larry Brown's connections with Spurs coach Greg Poppavich). Keith Glass has a long history with Larry Brown - he was an assistant of Larry Brown's at UCLA. He's also the son of Joe Glass, who is Larry Brown's long time agent and... surrogate father, according to Brown.

Point being: my guess is that despite Glass "adamant" claim to not be campaigning for Skiles through the media, someone is. Larry Brown and Joe Glass know the NYC media better than almost anyone else in the NBA, including David Stern.

My personal opinion: I didn't like Skiles as a coach in Chicago, and don't think too much of him as a coach in NYC. He'll be great in that he'll focus on teaching the Knicks to play hard, and play defense, but much like Larry Brown himself, he'll wear out his welcome quickly, as most Knick players will phase him out.

And while we are on the topic of Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown... I noticed that yesterday was the Pistons 50th Anniversary celebration. Isiah gave a rousing speech before the game yesterday in Detroit, delighting the Pistons fans in attendance. What's interesting is to note who was missing from the Detroit championship teams (the Bad Boys plus the 2005 team): two big names. One, Isiah sent a very direct message to:

"One person is missing here tonight... Worm, wherever you are, you've got to come home..."

Yep, Dennis Rodman still gets love from Isiah and the Pistons organization.

And the second person missing? Hint: Gets no love from Isiah, nor the Pistons organization:

No reason was given for why Larry Brown wasn't there, but I have a few suspicions.

If you ask me to tell you who I blame for the Knicks current mess, I would have to say Isiah falls forth on my list, behind the douche above (#3, for contributing heavily to the negative press that suffocates the Knicks), Scott Layden (#2, for laying the mess that begot the mess), and, of course James Dolan (#1, for creating the negative press with his media policy, generally meddling at the wrong times, then being hands off at the wrong times, and for his poor overall management of MSG, top down. Oh, and for firing David Checketts, and forcing the trade of Marcus Camby, among other things).

From today's NY Post, on former Pistons coach Chuck Daly's comments on Isiah Thomas:

Daly believes the New York media/fan reaction to Isiah has gone overboard. “I know you’re supposed to win but where do you draw the line on criticism and stuff and when is enough, enough,’’ Daly said. “This guy is the toughest guy I know to survive everything that’s been thrown at him.’’…

I know most Knicks fans hate Isiah, but I do hope he finds his redemption somewhere. And I do hope that, should the Knicks ever go on to win a championship in 20 years, that the organization will be classy enough to not trot out Isiah Thomas just so the fans can say "You're forgiven", after insulting the man for over 20 years, like Boston did yesterday with Bill Buckner....
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A few quick Knick related links:

Upside and Motor took a look at some of the Knicks photos this year from games, to put together a compilation on one of the worst seasons we'll see as Knick fans. Good job by the them to dig up these photos, especially since I had no idea the Knicks had so many guys on the bench. I guess now we know why Wilson Chandler is finally starting.
If you can stand the music (I generally turn off my sound when I go to Barnesgasm's site), this post by Son of Dippin' on Stephon Marbury is really well written. Barnesgasm does a great job of breaking down the biggest shortcoming of Marbury's career - his inability to separate his public basketball persona from his personal home persona.
And while we are at it, go check out Barnesgasm's recap of last night's Knicks-Pistons game at Posting & Toasting. Splendid work.