Knicks Morning News (2016.10.25)

Jeff Hornacek, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose discuss the coming season and the Knicks season opener in Cleveland.

New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis is embracing raised expectations heading into his second professional season.

Joakim Noah hasn’t shown too much rust in the New York Knicks’ preseason schedule so far, but he will need to recover from his hamstring injury fast as the regular season quickly approaches.

CLEVELAND — You should see what it looks like here, in this city that not so long ago was bereft of sporting hope, drowning in decades of despair. You should hear how optimistic the locals sound, how rich is their swagger, how deep is their confidence. It’s actually disconcerting. And more than a little contagious….

When trying to assess the 2016-17 NBA landscape, a pointed observation from one of mankind’s late, great philosophers immediately surfaces. “Everybody pulls for David,” Wilt Chamberlain once said. “Nobody roots for Goliath.” This season’s NBA Goliath is Golden State. The Warriors were as beloved as Mother Teresa a few years back. Fun to watch with…

CLEVELAND — Carmelo Anthony will watch bittersweetly as his buddies LeBron James and ex-Knick teammates, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert receive their championship rings Tuesday night. He hopes one day he’ll be in the same position of receiving jewelry now that he has Derrick Rose on his side. The Rose Era dawns in a special…

Three strikes, you’re out. Knicks president Phil Jackson has an 0-2 count on him as his club starts its third full season under the Zen Master’s faulty presidency Tuesday night at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. After another major roster reconstruction and hiring a new, inventive coach in Jeff Hornacek, Jackson may have gotten it right…

The Knicks medical staff isn’t just worried about Derrick Rose’s knees. On the eve of Rose’s Knicks debut, doctors were more concerned about his conditioning and stress levels following a two-plus-week civil sexual assault trial. Rose said he was advised by the Knicks’ medical director, Lisa Callahan, not to overexert himself in the beginning stages…

Cleaning out his locker in the middle of April the last three years had Carmelo Anthony in a foul mood.

Kristaps Porzingis’ smile is big and wide as he thinks about his rookie season and the way he silenced so many who thought he was a long-term project based on his appearance.

CLEVELAND — After the Cavaliers’ NBA championship banner gets raised to the rafters Tuesday night, the Knicks will unveil a team with 10 new players, a new coach and a former MVP who is out to show he’s still an elite player who can carry a team to the playoffs.

1. CAVALIERS: The reigning NBA champs remain the class of the conference and should rule the East again as long as LeBron James is healthy and leading them.

LeBron James helped the Cavaliers make history last year, twice. But that doesn’t mean the best player of his generation is going to exhale.

Health concerns, Phil’s future, Derrick Rose and more

Like most NBA observers, ESPN analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson believe the Knicks will be much improved this season and have a good chance of making the playoffs – with one important caveat, of course.

Derrick Rose begins his Knicks career with confidence that he’ll regain MVP form, but also under orders to monitor his stress hormones.

It feels like a cruel punishment to have Carmelo Anthony present for Cleveland’s championship ring ceremony.

Tuesday’s Knicks News: New-look roster gets top test against Cavs

Rose: Regaining elite PG status ‘a matter of time’

The 2016-17 N.B.A. season kicks off on Tuesday with games between the Knicks and the Cavaliers, the Jazz and the Trail Blazers and the Spurs and the Warriors.

The beauty of the pass-first style that Golden State rode to a 73-9 record last season is that it looks deceptively unscripted. But that’s not the case.

In a whirlwind off-season, Kevin Durant moved to the Warriors, and Dwyane Wade went to the Bulls. The Cavaliers look the same, and they’re thankful for that.