Knicks Morning News (Tuesday, Dec 20 2011)
December 20th, 2011 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
Baron Davis may be from Los Angeles, but he has spent his career dreaming of playing in New York.
â??As a rookie when you first go to the Garden, everybodyâ??s telling you how magical it is,â? Davis said yesterday after signing with the Knicks. â??This is a place I…
In addition to possibly giving the Knicks a massive upgrade at point guard, Baron Davis could allow them to add a much-needed backup forward, as well.
Because the Knicks were able to sign Davis for the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 million, they still can use their $2.5…
LOS ANGELES â?? Is it just me, or is the NBA preseason flying by?
How about those Knicks! Just enough salary room to recruit peripheral players and they rake in two championship caliber chips â?? Tyson Chandler and Baron Davis. They now have four imposing pieces … three whose celestial bodies are exceptionally…
San Antonio Spurs forward Antonio McDyess – a one-time oft-injured centerpiece of the New York Knicks – announced his retirement.
Mike D’Antoni was calling the Knicks a championship contender before the club signed Baron Davis. And judging from Davisâ?? past, the point guard has the ability to do one of two things: enhance the Knicksâ?? prospects in the East or compromise the entire plan.
The excitement surrounding Baron Davis’s arrival — on a one-year, $1.4 million contract — was necessarily muted, every proclamation qualified by an “if” or a “when” or an “I don’t know.”
David Diamante, the new public address announcer for the Nets, cuts an unusual figure with waist-length dreadlocks, and has an unconventional background too.
The Sacramento Kings voided forward-center Chuck Hayes’s $21.3 million, four-year contract, saying he failed a team physical that forced his release.
Chris Paul had 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in his Los Angeles Clippers debut and Chauncey Billups made an equally impressive first impression with his new club, scoring 23 points in a 114-95 victory over the Lakers on Monday night.
Wesley Matthews scored 17 points in 23 minutes as the Portland Trail Blazers built an early lead and bea the Utah Jazz 110-90 in the teams’ preseason opener Monday night.
An interview with Chris Mullin, who made plenty of basketball news this year despite the N.B.A. lockout.
After one preseason game, did Toney Douglas already lose the starting point guard role? Douglas did not look comfortable in Saturday's win over the Nets.
The New York Knicks have signed point guard Baron Davis, adding another piece to their backcourt.
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).
I’m upset I missed the LA game last night; apparently these new Clips look great. It also seems like Chauncey is out for blood, and I think switching to the SG position should help him spread the floor and prevent that end-season dropoff we’ve seen for the past two years. Very, very scary team.
@1 – I think the key for the Clips is going to be the development of DeAndre Jordan. When matches up against Bynum last night, you could see he’s still got some work to do.
Speaking of the Clips, the Knicks look to be intent on signing another of their castoffs in Steve Novak. Three point sharpshooter.
Really excited for this basketball season – so many new faces in new places. The Western Conference is totally up for grabs – traditional powers like the Lakers and Spurs look like they’re on their way down. Dallas is doing an amazing job of trying to rebuild on the go but probably don’t have enough to repeat. The Nuggs, Thunder, and Clips look strong, and teams such as Portland and Memphis probably aren’t being talked about enough. Those are your playoff teams right there but I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these teams are the #1 seed (except maybe Portland).
In the East – call me a homer but if Baron Davis can come back within 4 weeks like some people think he can, allowing TD to go to the bench where he’s a huge asset, I think we will challenge for the 2 or 3 seed. Our major missing piece is someone to back up STAT, but for the most part my guess is that when STAT is out, TD and Melo will always be out there to give 2 guys who can really score the ball, and we’ll see Melo in the post more.
I really haven’t been this jacked up for a season opener since the days of the giants – Ewing/Starks/Oakley/Mason/Ward etc.
Meanwhile – I read this the other day and couldn’t believe it’s true – the Knicks haven’t had a single draft pick stay on their roster for 5 years or more since Charlie Ward was drafted 17 years ago. No wonder we have sucked big time. Say what you will about Isiah, but our draft history was seriously awful before he came along, and Donnie+team seems to have finally righted the ship.
http://www.nba.com/knicks/history/draft.html
The Wages of Wins Journal: How Carmelo and Amare may con the voters for another year
I have no idea if the link works but it is out there today.