Knicks Morning News (Saturday, Feb 25 2012)
February 25th, 2012 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
The demand for Lin was so great that the NBA took the unprecedented step of giving him his own press conference prior to Friday night’s Rising Stars Challenge.
Apparently, J.R. Smith forgot to reset his watch when he played in China.The Knicks’ recently signed shooting guard had $1.06 million, or one-third of his total salary, deducted because he missed an unspecified number of practices while playing for Zhejiang Chouzhou.
ORLANDO, Fla. â?? Chris Paul has appreciated Jeremy Lin’s rags-to-riches tale but Paul believes the Knicks are still Carmelo Anthony’s team.
“At the end of the day, Jeremy has played amazing, it’s been three weeks, something like that,” Paul said during the All-Star Game’s media session yesterday…
ORLANDO, Fla. â??Amar’e Stoudemire is not at the All-Star Weekend festivities here, not visiting family in the area in which he was raised.
Stoudemire, while grieving his brother’s death in nearby Lake Wales, Fla. two weeks ago, was bypassed for the All-Star Game in the coaches’ voting for…
ORLANDO, Fla. â?? Thursday night’s clunker in Miami did nothing to quell the mania surrounding Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin in OrLindo.
Lin staged a standing-room-only, 20-minute press conference attended by about 150 journalists last night before the Rising Stars Challenge.
Lin will not be participating in tonight’s slam…
In the New World, you don’t have to wait a few hours â?? or even a few minutes â?? to hear the groans. In the New World, Carmelo Anthony can take a quick dribble and launch a 20-foot jump shot â?? and make it, by the way â?? and no more than 10…
ORLANDO, Fla. â?? After he was acquired by the Nets before last season, 3-point specialist Anthony Morrow walked into the team’s practice facility and saw retired Nets jerseys in the rafters. His eyes settled on the No. 3 of Drazen Petrovic.
“I instantly thought, â??If I get chosen, I’m…
ORLANDO, Fla. â?? Steve Nash, who has been the most frequent comparison for Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, has appreciated the story more than anyone. Even if it could affect the Suns point guard’s free-agent status down the road. Lin could take the $5 million mid-level exception the Knicks planned…
Jeremy Lin may appear to have developed his skills overnight, but he has put in plenty of hard work, particularly over the last two years.
As with Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony before him, this year Dwight Howard is the star player at the center of trade talks during the N.B.A.’s All-Star weekend.
Jeremy Lin has stood up to some of the top teams and players in the N.B.A. But how will the Knicks’ sensation fare against more than 100 members of the news media?
Kyrie Irving kicked off the aerial display with an alley-oop to Paul George. Cleveland’s rookie point guard then showed off his long-range shooting skills.
Jeremy Lin was as comfortable in front of a crowd as he is on the court.
Reggie Miller, one of the greatest clutch scorers in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, headlined the list of 12 finalists for the 2012 class of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday.
Orlando waited 20 years to host All-Star weekend again, and Dwight Howard wants nothing to spoil the party.
The Knicks’ sensation played sparingly in the Rising Stars Challenge.
Dwyane Wade praised the Knicks’ Jeremy Lin after the Heat’s victory on Thursday but spoke about the challenges Lin will face now that he is on everyone’s radar.
ORLANDO — Jeremy Lin and Kemba Walker shared the court together for the first time as NBA players Friday night for the NBA All-Star Rising Stars Challenge.
But they have something more in common than that: They first became household names in New York City; Walker as a blue-chip high school prospect coming out of Rice High School in 2008, and Lin, of course, as a member of the Knicks.
After the game, in which Walker’s Team Shaq lost to Team Chuck, 146-133, the Bobcats’ rookie point guard reflected on his time developing into a Big Apple phenom in the PSAL to what Lin is doing now in the NBA.
NBA All-Stars share their thoughts and comments on Jeremy Lin.
Mike Kurylo is the founder and editor of KnickerBlogger.net. His book on the 2012 Knicks, "We’ll Always Have Linsanity," is on sale now. Follow him on twitter (@KnickerBlogger).
After watching the Knicks heat game again it’s very easy to see how hard the heat were playing and how many mistakes Lin/the Knicks were making…I feel even better abou the team…one move that should be considered is starting smith because if we had a catch and shoot player on the court in the first few mins it would have cut down on some of the issues
Great article on the 1970 Knicks!
Exactly my point, the heat are not void of error or amazingly better than us. I rewatched the game too and Ruruland has pointed out a timeline in the previous threads about our errors. The things that stand out to me, are the defensive rebounding, they have to focus on securing the ball, the Heat got so many steals off the Knicks defensive rebounds, and the court vision, not just by Lin but also Amare, Fields and even Chandler. They missed each other wide open it was a bit of an eyesore. And the coaching was also a problem as well, not adjusting or making a variety in the pnr concerned me, yeah I understand Amare was slipping the pick too quickly but as the Coach you either need to tell him or make Melo the screener. How hard is this? Plus after watching I also noticed how much the heats offense in the halfcourt sucked and it really sucked. Most of the points came off steals, broken plays where we failed to secure the ball and fast breaks. If only MDA would pay some attention to detail we would beat that team. I mean how can you not stress to Chandler that Bosh is left handed and the guy keeps overplaying his right hand. AT least Spoelstra is detail oriented enough to make Chalmers/ Cole overplay Lin’s right hand and force him left. I’m sorry but the Coach is the last tier of coaches.
I don’t where you can find half court defensive ratings. But my count the Heat scored less than a point per possession when they had to take the ball out of the net. Key to beating them is taking advantage of their overaggresiveness, slowing the game down as much as possible and working the shot clock
Also about the best coaches in the league right now, I think Pop is the best. I mean the guy just keeps reinventing his offense for his players year after year. I remember when Richard Jefferson first went to the Spurs and couldn’t fit it, the next season he came back with a story about how Pops and his coaches reinvented his role in the offense. Coaches like Pops, McMillan, Karl and maybe Rivers work with the tools they have. They keep reinventing offenses and roles to fit their players skillset unlike someone we all know. I mean look at the players Karl got from the trade, Dantoni would still be sitting at .500 or a little above as he was before the trade last year with those players and that even includes when he had Harrington. Karl was at point the 2 seed in the WC with those guys but domtoni needs specific players to work with. He will still be tottally useless if he had a starting 5 of Wall, Wade, Melo, Bosh and say Bynum all because they wouldn’t fit his system or because the pg doesn’t have the court vision of Steve Nash. It’s important to look at the role coaching has played with successful teams. I mean look at the history of the players Dantoni has had and look all the success they’ve had after they left. Instead of blaming trades why don’t we look at the elephant in the room or is it because we think his brand of basketball is fun.
CP3 on Linsanity and I agree. http://t.co/XdADE9iU
At this point, this team is definitely still ‘Melo’s. No matter how much I love Lin, I would say that the offense needs to be centered around pick-and-rolls between Lin and whomever and getting ‘Melo in a good position to score.
Make shots come off from those two focuses. Do what Orlando does and run a pick-and-roll just to get the screener good position down on the low block. Run ‘Melo and Lin off more screens, let the defense have to react to you. Stop just relying on Lin and ‘Melo to create something every time. Play Amar’e at the center spot more like last year with Novak at the four to space the floor and let Amar’e go to work on the high/low post like last year. yada yada
This team’s offense has the chance to really BE something… Good pick-and-roll players and a great isolation player make up the recipe to a great halfcourt offense.
GZ,
So, is your argument that we were the better team on paper but the Heat were better coached than us? That if only we had not made some very correctable mistakes, we would have beaten them?
The Heat are 19-3 in their last 22 games. Most of those games have not been close. The Knicks are 8-3 in their last 11, so they would have to win 11 straight just to match the Heat’s last 22.
The point spread for this game was double digits, if I recall.
The Heat are winning because they have two great and several very good players all playing at a very high level against all comers. They really didn’t change their usual game plan in playing the Knicks. They lost in a very tough finals last year and are now playing better than they at any time last year.
The Knicks have a ways to go if they want to compete with the Heat, and even if they have the personnel to do it, you don’t just throw a team together and knock off teams playing at that level. I seriously doubt that any coach in NBA history makes that game more competitive than it was. While they played very well, it wasn’t like the Heat couldn’t have played even better if the Knicks had pushed them.
There really isn’t much to analyze here. We lost to a better team on the road. I actually think it was a good loss to go into the break with. Lots of weaknesses were exposed, and we know where the bar is set if we want to get to the finals.
Lebron and Wade are super-uber competitive monsters on a mission with a good supporting cast. They look like linebackers and their intensity is off the charts.
Unless the NBA starts a strict drug testing program, they’re going to be tough to beat.
Following up on that thought, am I the only one that noticed that Wade and Kobe suddenly look like behemoths a la Barry Bonds? They used to look like gazelles.
If those guys aren’t juicing, grass isn’t green.
I guess Wilt, Kareem and Shaq were juicing too…look at them in their 30′s compared to their 20′s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJ_jTi9ino&feature=g-all-u&context=G2271d96FAAAAAAAAAAA
Good video detailing how the Knicks attempted to adjust and how the Heat stifled the Knicks.
Yeah, and Barry Bonds looked like Micky Mantle.
Wade Kobe Lebron look like Cro-Magron men. Those other guys were just strong and lean. Shaq is strong and thick. Not the same look.
But just keep your eyes closed and make believe it’s normal.
Great video there were alotta small mistakes that u can’t make against good teams
In general, I try really hard not to judge folks on how they look. But if a brilliant authority on all things under the sun such as yourself says it’s true, then it must be.
No! We lost ‘cuz they cheated!!
(backs away slowly)
Based on your reasoning, Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and the rest were all playing by the rules. We’d never want to actually make an opinion on what we were witnessing.
Tell me, do you think the NFL players aren’t using performing enhancing drugs?
Guys like you are the first to say it was obvious once it becomes common knowledge. Remember, don’t use your brain, just listen to what they tell you, then jump on the bandwagon.
They look like some of the other athletic freaks in the NBA: Amar’e Stoudemire, Andre Igoudala, Dwight Howard, etc. Is everyone doping, or are LeBron and Wade (who have been the best or among the best and most atheltic players in the NBA for years) just on better drugs?
Would I be surprised to find out that pretty much any athlete was using PEDs? Of course not. Any one of them could be (hell, Ryan Braun was surely on no one’s list, and he tested positive). But “anyone could be on them” is a far cry from “Player X and Player Y are on them.” Unless you can demonstrate that you can’t have a body like Lebron’s without using PEDs (and you can’t), then what’s the point of casting aspersions against them based on nothing more than “their bodies are really, really good”?
I felt the same way with Bonds and the like – if you had proof, come with it (and people did). Here, there is nothing.
You don’t get it, Brian, if hoolahoop said it, it must be true. If you don’t believe me, just ask him.
Absolutely, any of these guys can be juicing.
Of course I don’t have proof on particular players. But when you see guys’ bodies transform into Chromagnaman, c’mon. How that doesn’t raise suspicion, eludes me. I guess people just don’t want to believe it.
Probably, a lot of guys are. I point to them because their bodies have the most obvious “doped” look. Kobe, too. Kobe and Wade, in particular, had thin, streamlined frames. All of a sudden, they look like middle line backers.
I’m not saying for sure they are. Of course I have no proof, but I think you’d have to be blind to not be aware of the strong possibility.
Hopefully turning this thread to a more productive topic, here are my thoughts on the Knicks’ next ten games. I would set par at 5-5, with wins against Cleveland (home), @ Boston, @ Milwaukee, Portland, and Indiana and losses against @ Dallas, @ San Antonio, Philadelphia, @ Chicago and @ Indiana. I think we should maintain an even keel if the Knicks go anywhere from 3-7 to 6-4.
I know Mike does a great job but this should have been the first story posted in morning news. It’s easily one of the five most important stories of the year.
http://www.denverstiffs.com/2012/2/24/2820327/tomasson-j-r-smith-never-received-a-call-from-the-nuggets
Smith said it eventually came down to the Knicks, Clippers and Lakers for his services. He signed with New York for the remainder of this season for a prorated $2.38 million amount and has a player option next season for $2.5 million. Smith on Thursday appeared in just his fourth game for the Knicks. But he already is expecting to pick up his player option for next season.
“That’s my plan” Smith said, “If everything keeps going well, God willing I will be (with the Knicks)”
Smith has averaged 11.3 points in the four games since reuniting with former Nuggets’ teammate Carmelo Anthony.
“Everything is going good,’’ Smith said. “I don’t want to say it’s been an easy transition but it’s been a fitting transition (joining the Knicks). From (the up-tempo) style of play. I’m used to that. Just to be able to get to know the guys is probably going to be the toughest part of how they want to play. But everything is going good.’’
from their Twitter exchanges, it seems like Smith and Shump Shump are already getting tight. hopefully that will be a good thing, but yeah, having Smith around for another year would be HUGE, especially given how weak the SGs in the league are overall.
If the Knicks can keep (1) Lin, (2) Fields, (3) JR Smith, (4) Shumpert, (5) Melo, (6) Amar’e, (7) Chandler and (8) Jorts, that is a hell of a rotation for next year. Would the Knicks also have early Bird rights for Jared Jeffries. I can’t imagine that BD or Novak will come back, since other teams will be able to give them a piece of the MLE (which the Knicks will have to use on Lin).
I think if the Knicks can get ____ back in shape at all, it would make sense to send him out for a future pick, because there is not going to be any room in the guard rotation for quite a while.
No way. This is like the uber-hot girl (who’s also way above your league) that one night your friends suddenly bring around. Yeah she’s looking at you while she’s dancing, and being extra talkative when you guys are picking up drinks- but c’mon, she’s being nice. Ya’ll are all hanging out for the rest of the night, so why not make it pleasant? Right now, JR is not going to come and say, “well, the Knicks are sweet but they don’t have what I’m worth”. If he did take 2.5 mil to sign with us, + Grunwald, + Jeremy Lin… I don’t know, they wouldn’t be the Knicks.
The Knicks will have Early Bird rights for Jeffries. I don’t see him getting anything past the vet minimum, though. But yeah, they can re-sign him for up to the MLE without using an exception. And yeah, Davis you figure has to be gone. Then again, if Smith is willing to come back for the $2.5 million, who the heck knows what anyone will sign for?
I’d love to see a lineup of Smith, Shump, Melo, Jeffries and Chandler for a few minutes. Could see some amazing defense-to-offense.
Luckily, the fact that Baron’s numbers will be bad due to coming back from back injury may keep interest quite low (along with questions of health, though I can see him exploding in playoffs)
BD has already made it quite clear he wants to play in NY/ MSG. He could have signed in Miami. He has a chance to win a championship here and I’d imagine he’d sign again for Vet min.
Guy I’m worried about is Novak. If somehow the Knicks don’t have to use full MLE on Lin then they’ll have a shot. He’s as one-dimensional a player as there is who probably isn’t as good in any other system. Hopefully he sees that.
These guys see the opportunity to win a championship in NY. If they can wait another year they’ll get paid.
That’s a very Simmons-esque take.
There’s definitely a chance it’s true. But don’t think JR didn’t understand that missing practices in China wouldn’t cost him a fortune.
He’s a different kind of cat. He’s all about the show and playing in front of great crowds in big games. He’ll be playing in a system ideally suited for his talents with a chance at a chip. He’s never played with a coach that liked him, where he was accepted by everyone.
He’s playing as complete, under-control and unselfish game as I’ve seen him play. He’s not playing for numbers.
I don’t think he’s trying so hard to fit in so that he can get a payday. He wants to be in a situation where he’s loved and can play in huge games with a great crowd. He’ll get paid in a year anyway.
There’s no better place to ring chase than NY. There’s all sort of precedent for guys taking pay cuts to have that shot.
Baron has said that the only reason he’s still playing is to have a chance for a ring.
Smith and Melo can be a totally devastating duo on offense, guys that combine for 15-20 points in a matter of a few minutes.
It’s so crazy to think the Knicks are sitting where they are and you’ve yet to see Melo, Amar’e, JR and Baron get going yet. There will be times when those four guys just blow teams off the court.
If BD shows he still has anything in the tank, I have to think that teams that have a real shot at a championship will break off a piece of the MLE for him.
What teams are those? He’s already chosen the Knicks over Miami. You think he’d prefer playing in OKC, Dallas, San Antonio….. you think he’s a fit in Chicago?
We’ll see I guess.
Next time, Miami will be offering more money than NY. But I could easily see the Lakers making an offer. Given BD’s deep ties to LA (he is trying to make it as a film producer), I would not begrudge him the move.
I wouldn’t either.
I assume you’re talking Lakers.
Man I hear you ruru, but JR in, what is it 3 games, is playing idk i would think career levels (eye test). You bring up some very valid points though… Now BD I think makes a lot of sense for him to come back next year. NY has all the things he says he wants right now, I don’t see why would it change next year.
This might seem a bit superflous and tangential to the thread but I’d thought I’d post some of the great games Melo and Smith have combined to dominate, which we’ve yet to come close to seeing.
2007: Combined numbers date opp.
22/44, 65 pts 11/21/06 Chi
25/39, 61 pts, 11ass 11/24/06 GSW
24/45 69pts 12/08/06 MIA
( all games pre suspension and Iverson trade)
2008 Combined numbers date opp.
18/30 61 pts 11/12/07 Cle
15/26 56 pts 11/30/07 LA
21/39 59pts 1/15/08 ATL
21/32 63 pts 2/12/08 MIA
22/45 67pts 2/22/08 CHI
19/32 50 pts 3/05/08 Phx
17/30 50 pts 3/24/08 Memph
18/32 55pts 3/29/08 GSW
19/32 49pts 4/10/08 GSW
playoff 15/32 57 pts 4/23/09 LAL
playoff 17/34 53 pts 4/21/09 LAL
2009 Combined numbers date opp
21/34 56pts 11/27/08 NOR
19/36 48pts 12/15/08 DAL
21/43 54 pts 17 asts 2/04/09 OKC
21/39 60pts 3/20/09 WAS
27/41 67 pts 3/27/09 DAL
18/34 52 pts 4/04/09 LAL
20/40 66 pts 12 ast 4/13/09 SAC
Playoff 20/37 64 pts 4/29/09 NOH
playoff 22/39 60 pts 5/11/09 DAL
2010+’11 combined numbers date opp
18/36 55pts 11/13/09 LAL
23/32 61pts 11/07/09 TOR
18/37 69pts 12/16/09 HOU
23/44 65 pts 12/23/09 ATL
JR is playing very under control. He hasn’t had anything close to one of his patented take over games, but he’s played excellent defense virtually every minute on the floor and I’m not sure if he’s taken a poor shot yet.
If he does all of those things on a consistent basis he’s a top-30 player, and you’ll understand what I mean when you finally see him dominate. He’s always had the complete game talent, always played with good energy on defense, but rarely did he play a full game where he had so few mistakes.
…………………..
Combined numbers date opp.
20/36 52 pts 12/25/09 POR
20/38 62 pts 2/25/10 GSW
19/33 52 pts 3/7/10 POR
23/38 54 pts 3/13/10 MEMPH
26/51 62 pts 3/15/10 HOU
17/37 54 pts 3/24/10 BOS
20/39 57 pts 4/08/10 LAL
playoffs 24/39 62 pts 4/17/10 UTAH
18/34/ 49pts 1/13/11 MIA