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I feel the main problem I see with Rodriguez is his stamina and his rushed shot selection. We all know that he is not logging in 35 plus minutes. However, the reason why he looks good in the beginning of games is because he is not tried. As the game progresses he gets tired and starts not completing baskets as well as turning the ball over trying to players that are not ready for the pass. I guess running up the court top speed with the rest of the team trying to play catch up will make a player tired. Not to mention he does not play good man-to-man defense. On the other hand, Rodriguez does play the passing lanes well (unlike Chris Duhon who does not push the ball or get steals). Both Rodriguez and Duhon can play the pick and roll. The problem is most teams have learned to adjust to both players. Apparently the word is out that both Rodriguez and Duhon have a better chance at hitting the lottery than hitting an outside shot.
If Sergio Rodriguez wants to return to the Knicks next year he has to play his game and play under control. Currently he is shooting 44% from the field and 27% from behind the arc. Unfortunately he does not know his own strengths and weakness. When he is in the game he should focus on his strongest area, i.e. his passing. Yet for some reason Rodriguez tries to shoot 3 point shots that miserably turn into bricks.
That being said I like his passing game. His passes sometimes are a work of art. He also pushes the ball well. However, his shot selections and turns kill his chance of improving. At this point I still see him as an upgrade over Duhon who stops the offense from flowing whenever he enters the game. With only a few games left it might be too late for Sergio to make his case to Coach Mike D’Antoni. We will see if he returns next season.
I agree with most of these points. I think an extremely slow release really hinder Sergio from ever becoming a threatening outside shooter. His on ball defense is way below average, probably even worse than Duhon's. Regular minutes would only benefit Sergio as he still has an upside unlike Duhon who despite an above average basketball IQ has zero athleticism and has reached his potential in this league. I have mentioned a few times that Duhon very well, may have played his last games in this league already. I like Sergio's ball-push ability and I do like his passing, I still am trying to figure out what type of style is best for him. It's clear that he watched Jason Williams growing up by that doesn't mean very much. I'd like to see some more of Sergio these last 11 games of the season, more so to evaluate him as a pint guard in D'Antoni's system.
Found a little breakdown of Knicks mistakes from the Rockets game this past Sunday, check out NBAplaybook.com for further details, really cool site.
Against the Rockets (and some former Knicks), the Knicks ran out to a pretty big lead, but the Rockets were able to climb back in it. Part of it was because the Rockets are a pretty good team, but the Knicks helped out big time. The Knicks made a couple of mental errors that lead to easy baskets for the Rockets:Poor Outlet Passing
On two separate occasions, the Knicks turned the ball over in the backcourt. The first comes after a Rockets three pointer:
This is because Trevor Ariza is hanging around and it should have been noticed by either guy (or at least 1). This is something that a lot of teams do to get the ball out of the PGs hands, but it rarely turns into a steal. However, Giddens grabs the ball out of the net and just tosses to where Duhon is without looking. For his part, Duhon floats away from the basketball as it comes to him instead of meeting the ball and ensuring the catch. The Rockets went from being down 14 to being down 9 after this. This was a huge 5 point swing in this game as the Knicks went from pulling away to trying to hang on to the lead.
"....For years, the knock on European players was that they were soft. It probably started around the time Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were ganging up on Toni Kukoc.The stereotype, regardless of how unfair it is, still exists today and in some ways Danilo Gallinari uses it to his advantage. The worst thing an opposing player can do is underestimate the Knicks' second-year forward from Milan because the only thing soft about Gallinari is his jump shot.
"I just thought he was a guy that just shoots the ball," Tracy McGrady said. "That's it. He'll stay outside and shoot. But he can play."
Gallinari made a believer out of McGrady and Denver's Carmelo Anthony after the 6-foot-10 forward scored 17 of his team-high 28 points in the third quarter of Tuesday's win over the Nuggets. Gallinari asked to guard Anthony, and in the decisive third quarter, the two players traded shots and words in a classic duel that had the Garden buzzing.
"That was like, '(forget) everybody else, it's me and you,' " McGrady said. "I haven't seen (Hedo) Turkoglu and Dirk (Nowitzki) do that. They play within the team concept. That was 'get me the ball and everybody move out of the way.' I was enjoying it."
Gallinari has always been one of the Knicks' more physically and mentally tough players. He'll play through pain, he's not afraid to take big shots and he won't back down from a challenge. In December, after the Clippers' Baron Davis hit Gallinari with an elbow, Gallinari returned the favor after grabbing a rebound. Davis looked stunned.
"I know I've always been tested because I'm young," he said. "That's okay."
Gallinari, who was limited to just 28 games as a rookie due to a back injury that eventually required surgery, has been inconsistent this season. Three weeks ago, Mike D'Antoni criticized Gallinari for his lackluster play, but recently he's been one of the Knicks' most consistent players.
Gallinari's development is crucial for several reasons. He's one of the few Knicks under contract for next season, and his presence could either hurt or help the team recruit a significant free agent this summer. In November, when the Cavs made their one and only visit to the Garden this season, a LeBron James confidant pointed at Gallinari and said "LeBron wants to see how this kid does this year."
After the game, LeBron approached Gallinari to offer encouragement and advised him to make sure he stretches his back before every game. Jordan was never that chummy with Kukoc.
Andrew Feingold from Hot Stove New York with another guest post; this one regarding the future of Wilson Chandler. NYKBeat comments at the bottom.
It has been a difficult year for Wilson Chandler on and off the court. His grandfather passed away a few weeks ago and he has missed the last four games due to a left groin injury. The Knicks are considering shutting him down for the rest of the season.
Chandler is a very talented player but also a very attractive trading piece. He is turning 23-years old in May and will be making $2.1 million next season and has a qualifying offer for $3 million the year after. If the Knicks sign two big free agents within the next two years I think it makes Chandler expendable.Meaning his role would change and I do not see him attempting 13 shots a game.
What could Chandler be traded for? New York does not have a first round pick in this year’s or 2012 NBA Draft. However, we have seen the Knicks buy a late first round pick from another franchise.
The third year forward is averaging career highs in points (15.3), field goal percentage (47.9) and minutes per game (35). He has overcame a slow start when he averaged 11.5 points and shot 40.5% in November.
The player who has benefited the most from Chandler’s absence is Danilo Gallinari. In his past three games Gallo has scored 25, 26, and 28 points. He has made 27 free throws and 10 three-pointers over this span. He has shown the ability to take over a game and make clutch shots. Before the game against the Nuggets the second year player asked if he can guard All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony. Gallo wants to become a better defender and his style of play and personality have won over Knick fans. He will be turning 22 years old over the summer.
Toney Douglas is another player who has seen his production rise. The rookie has started the past 6 games and has scored at least 20+ points in four of them. Douglas turned 24 years old last week and is playing like the starting point guard for next season.
It is very unlikely Chandler will be traded because of his age and salary but I feel the Knicks do not miss him if he is off the team. However, the young nucleus of Gallo, Douglas, and Douglas going into next season should only get better.
Any idea of trading Wilson makes me cringe, but this one certainly makes the most sense out of any that I've heard recently. If it so happens that the free agents we bring in will seemingly hinder Chandler's minutes and production then maybe moving him while his stock is still high is the right thing to do. I do worry about Wilson's health. The ankle that was surgically repaired this off season cause him to have a slow start in November as Andrew pointed out. Let's just see what happens this July.
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"We didn't hit this number until about August 15 of last year, which was a record year," said MSG Sports president Scott O'Neil. "We are on fire."
"There's certainly anticipation of adding two superstars to New York," O'Neil said. "I think there's also a sense of, most of us remember the 90s when you couldn't get a ticket to a Knicks game."
Thanks to NBAplaybook.com for this cool look at Monday's win and the final play. It's a frame by frame break down of the Wilson Chandler block that saved the Knicks vs Atlanta. Interesting rotations on this one, I hope this was discussed as a proper approach to winning by the Knicks' coaching staff. One thing that was never mentioned really is that Crawford really made a great feed to Smith under the hoop.
The title of this post isn’t a joke, as one would assume. The Knicks were up by 1 with the ball and about 20 seconds left, but they turned it over. The Hawks were now breaking down the court with the chance for a win. How did the Knicks stop them? Let’s look:
As Crawford brings it upcourt he uses a smooth behind the back move to put Toney Douglas on his hip, Crawford gets himself into the lane. Al Harrington (Al Horford’s man) steps up to greet him in the paint. Also arrowed is Wilson Chandler, the man who ends up making the block to save the game.
Jamal Crawford makes a jump stop, and as David Lee starts to focus on him, Josh Smith actually makes a terrific backdoor cut. However, the most important movement off of the ball is coming from Wilson Chandler. Notice how he came down all the way into the paint, leaving his man and getting ready to rotate over.
Smith makes the catch and gets ready to take off for the dunk. As this happens, Wilson Chandler loads up to challenge the dunk attempt.
Wilson Chandler meets Josh Smith at the top of his dunk attempt and gets the block. Now, his physical ability is what allowed him to get the block, but Chandler used his basketball IQ to get himself in position to let his physical tools take over.
Sidelined since December 17th, here is what Eddy had to say, "Feeling pretty good. Just go out there [tonight] and see what I can do," Curry said after practice yesterday. "[I'm] a little bit nervous. I haven't played in so long. But I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
Curry is averaging just 3.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 8.9 minutes this season, and it's pretty much an unknown what he can offer now. When D'Antoni was asked yesterday what his expectation was on what Curry could give the Knicks and also how much he would look to play him, the coach replied, "No idea and no idea."
"I'm just looking at it as an opportunity to go out there and get some games in and try to go into the summer with some kind of momentum," he said. "It's all about me just trying to get some kind of rhythm."
If I had the chance to break down his game in front of him, it might go like this, "I love your game man, offensively you're one of the most talented big men in the league. Conversely, you are one of the worst defensive players in the league."
NEW YORK -- The inquisition of Joe Johnson began at about 6:20 p.m. ET, lasted approximately 10 minutes and yielded the following nugget:
If a certain someone, like maybe this certain guy in Cleveland, accepted a max offer from the Knicks and wanted Johnson as a sidekick, Johnson would be willing to sign for less than the maximum.
"I'll sacrifice," Johnson said.
Those words will carry some weight as we head toward July 1, 2010, because there aren't a whole lot of max-level free agents out there who are willing to go on the record saying they'll sacrifice money if it translates into success on the court.
But Johnson went ahead and said it Monday, and given the fact that he turned down a five-year max contract extension from the Atlanta Hawks last summer, that statement ranks as an eyebrow-raiser.
"If you really want to win, if that's your main goal, then you'll sacrifice," said Johnson, whose Atlanta Hawks lost ground atop the Eastern Conference playoff race by losing 99-98 to the New York Knicks on Monday night after Al Horford's apparent game-ending and game-winning putback was taken off the scoreboard after a video review showed it came too late.
So as gratifying as the result was for the home crowd (which went nuts after the video-review reversal was announced), the focus backstage -- as has been the case for the better part of the past two years -- was again on the future and the possibility that Johnson could end up in New York, either as LeBron James' sidekick or as part of a secondary plan if the Knicks strike out on Plan A and fail to land LeBron.
Team president Donnie Walsh is not giving any hints as to what his Plan B might be, but if James stays in Cleveland or goes to Miami, or if Dwyane Wade stays in Miami or goes to Chicago, the Knicks will be turning to Plan C or Plan D. That's likely where Johnson would fit in, perhaps as a sidekick to Chris Bosh -- who the Knicks can pursue by offering David Lee to Toronto as part of a sign-and-trade deal -- or as a sidekick to Lee if he stays in New York.
LeBron will be the alpha free-agent domino, and no one can say for sure how long he'll take to make his decision. But the thinking among league executives and agents is that if James makes a commitment to the Knicks, he'll do so only if he is secure in the knowledge that the player(s) he wants as his running mate is coming, too.
"I'm sure there's going to be a lot of conversations between players when the season's over with, whether it's trying to team up together or seeing what guys have got going, or where they're looking at," Johnson said. "I'm sure that's going to happen, definitely."
Staying with the Hawks also is an option Johnson is considering, and the primary reason he turned down that max extension last summer is because he stands to make $30 million to $45 million more over the long term if he signs a max deal in 2010 and commits to Atlanta for another six years.
But if the Big Three decide to remain in Cleveland, Miami and Toronto, Johnson has the fallback of being arguably the top free agent available, aside perhaps from Amare Stoudemire.
Chicago, Miami, New York, the L.A. Clippers, New Jersey and Minnesota will all have max cap room, and they'll be determined to spend on the best available talent. And the player who fits that bill may just happen to be the soft-spoken 6-foot-8, 28-year-old, four-time All-Star with roots in Little Rock, Ark.
"I can't base my decision on what LeBron does, but I'm not going to really worry about that 'til July, man," Johnson said. "We got something special going right here, so we're going to ride this wave and see how far we take it. It's important that I'm happy and that I'm in a situation that I feel is best for me. You never know what is going to happen."
Truthfully, even with Johnson speaking fondly of Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni from their time together in Phoenix, that is the cold, hard reality of the situation. James is the key piece in this season's free-agent puzzle, and until people know what LeBron is doing, everyone is playing a guessing game.
So when Johnson says he doesn't know what'll happen, he's being genuine.
The only thing Johnson can say with certainty is that he does not want to walk into a rebuilding situation resembling what awaited him in Atlanta upon his arrival in 2005, after he signed his first mega-contract and went from the Suns to the Hawks in a sign-and-trade deal that fractured Atlanta's ownership group.
"I cannot go back. I can't backtrack," Johnson said. "With basketball, I've been playing the game pretty much my whole life. I could care less where I was at, I'm going to give you the best I've got."
OK, Joe. Then what would be the best-case scenario?
"My number one choice? I don't really know," Johnson said. "I do not know what LeBron's going to do."
Chris Sheridan's article from ESPN.com
“…Trade Eddy Curry to Charlotte
The Bobcats are another team with an awful contract they might like to rid themselves of, that being Desagana Diop’s monstrous deal that extends to the 2012-2013 season. For a team always worried about its finances, saving approximately $7,000,000 in each of the next two seasons would certainly be attractive for taking on such an albatross. A swap of Curry ($11,276,863) for Diop ($6,478,600) and D.J. Augustin ($2,540,400) just works under CBA rules, and would yield the Knicks $2,731,467 in cap savings, while adding a young point guard with a skill set very well suited for D’Antoni’s system. The Knicks could send the Bobcats $3,000,000 in cash to offset the extra salary they add this season, and free up future salary allowing them to sign Raymond Felton to a long-term deal.
While D.J. Augustin has fallen out of favor and has reportedly been on the trade market, if the Knicks are unable to pry him away in such a deal, the Bobcats could replace him with Gerald Henderson and Alexis Ajinca, two more of their recent first round picks that have quickly fallen out of favor. Regardless, there are quite a few options to make such a deal work, and it would appear to be in both teams’ best interest to make something happen here…”
DJ Augustin would definitely be a welcomed face on the Knicks. He's a skilled point guard with exceptional shooting skills and quickness despite being undersized. Not sure what happened to Diop, he was effective off the bench for Dallas, but hasn't really found his niche in Charlotte under Larry Brown. As far as Eddy fitting in down in Charlotte; I don't really see him being a positive presence on any NBA team ever again.
Tonight it's the Pistons at home against the New York Knicks. Knicks lead the season series 2-1, winning their most recent meeting with Detroit 99-91 at home. Last night Detroit lost to the Celtics by five, so they will be coming off a back to back, while the Knicks have been off since Monday. The Knicks are favorites for this game, but don't bet on it. The Knicks have yet to play Detroit at full strength and at full strength the Pistons present match up problems for the Knicks.
The Knicks have lost six straight at home and should look to end that horrid streak against a struggling Pistons team.
Michigan native Wilson chandler is expected to miss his second straight game for personal reasons.
"A lot of teams would love to have him and the Knicks are one of them," Harrington told The Post in the visiting locker room at Quicken Loans Arena Monday night.
"But if he's as loyal as he says, I would think it's very hard for him to leave, especially because he's home.
"If it was a different city, maybe not as much a connection, but at the end of the day, he generates every single thing for this whole state. It would be tough for him to make that decision to leave."
WHO IS THE DIRTIEST PLAYER IN THE NBA?
Reggie Evans, Raptors F 21%
Ron Artest, Lakers F 13%
Andres Nocioni, Kings F 6%
Anderson Varejao, Cavs C 5%
Kobe Bryant, Lakers G 4%
FAST FACTS
Only Varejao (85th, 5.2 fouls) and Nocioni (89th, 5.1) are among the top 100 in fouls per 48 minutes. Evans has been injured and doesn't have enough playing time to qualify.... Three of the top six vote-getters, including Hawks center Zaza Pachulia (4%), have played internationally.... The NBA's leading fouler, Wizards forward-center Fabricio Oberto (9.1 per 48 minutes), received zero votes.
Based on a survey of 173 NBA players
Not sure if I can really call him less selfish; I attribute his newly found all star status to him being on a better team and playing a long side a very legitimate center for the first time in his career in Marc Gasol. His shot attempts are up from his Knicks days by 1.4 but his field goal percentage is up as well. In 69 games as a Knick he shot 45% from the field and thus far this season after 59 games, he is shooting 49%; 49% for a guy averaging 20 points per game is remarkable.“If they get LeBron (it was worth it),” Randolph says. “If they don’t get him, I wonder. I don’t know.”- Zach Randolph
The Knicks traded Randolph in November 2008 to the Clippers for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley. The Knicks were not looking for any premium players back just for another team to take his long and expensive contract. Donnie Walsh has worked very hard to get the Knicks under the cap but he could have waited and deal Zebo or even Jamal Crawford this year for more talent or draft picks.
Randolph is blossoming for his new team (Memphis Grizzlies) averaging 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds (second highest of his career) and is shooting 49.5 % from the field (second highest of his career). His shooting percentage has gone up because his three point attempts have gone down. He has attempted only 30 this season (59 games) compared to the 104 in 80 games with the Knicks. More importantly he leads the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (4.4) and the 28 year old was named to his first All-Star game this season. The team is 30-29 and 3.5 games out from the 8th seed.
Zebo lit up the Knicks over the weekend scoring 31 points with 25 rebounds (10 offensive). He has become a less selfish player and one can say has been a good influence on center Marc Gasol. He has had troubles in the past and his reputation has been challenged but this season has been a re-birth. The Knicks really miss his size and toughness in the paint.
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