Things Not So Melo In New York.

It was literally blood, sweat and glory at Madison Square Garden Monday night. The only problem was the glory wasn’t for that of the home team New York Knicks.

The 35-35 Knickerbockers squared off against the 50-19 Boston Celtics and dropped their sixth out of seven last games. The Knicks are now 7-9 with the addition of Carmelo Anthony. We all expected it take time for this new unit to gel under the Mike D’Antoni system, but some are already ready to push panic button. After scoring 9 points the night before in the first quarter against the ninth place Milwaukee Bucks, and being outscored on their home court 33-17 in the fourth quarter against the Celtics my finger too is hovering over that red button.

You just don’t know which Knicks team is going to show up day in and day out. Will it be the team that has beaten Atlanta and Miami on the road, and has defeated Utah and New Orleans at home? Or will it be the team that has lost to Cleveland, Indiana(twice) and Milwaukee this month alone?

Newly acquired point guard Chauncey Billups stated after the loss against Boston that “experience is the best teacher.” The only experience I’ve seen this team gain since the February 24th trade deadline is that New York native Carmelo Anthony has no problem calling out teammates and showing his frustration on the court. That was eminent during the Bucks game.

If the playoffs were to start today the Knickerbockers would take on the Chicago Bulls and MVP potential winner Derick Rose. The Knicks have yet to face the Bulls since acquiring Anthony, but will get their chance on April 12th at the Garden.

If the Knicks were potentially to finish under .500 or lose in the first round of the playoffs this could be the last we see of Mike D’Antoni. The Knicks till have twelve games to gain some experience, but for D’Antoni sake let’s hope come April the real Knicks show up.

The Bright Lights Are On For The Knicks

I think i can still feel the vibrations from the Garden Sunday afternoon after Carmelo Anthony's offensive foul call to lock up a 129-125 Knicks win. That now makes eight straight for the Knickerbockers and thirteen out of their last fourteen. A lot of critics aren't impressed with the Knicks recent success as they only impressive teams beaten during their streak would have to be the Hornets and the Nuggets. But we can't fault the Knicks for doing what your suppose to do and that is beat the bad teams.

The Knicks now have a chance to prove the naysayers that they are a team that is in it for the long haul. With two nationally televised games on ESPN against the Celtics and Heat this week the bright lights are on. The Knicks square off against the C's on Wednesday and the Heat on Friday. As a Knicks fan all you can ask for is to not lose both.

Amare Stoudemire who is playing at an MVP level talked about how the rival between the Celtics and Knicks could be renewed with exciting basketball being played now in New York. To me the Heat game is much more important as the Heat are on a winning streak of their own, winning their last eight straight, but also because Lebron chose Miami over New York in the off-season. While its nowhere near the as big as the Lebron vs Cleveland beef the Knicks and especially Amare should have a chip on their shoulder Friday night.

Lebron chose not the play with Amare in New York and if you remember the Cavaliers choose not to deal J.J. Hickson and others to bring Amare to Cleveland to play with Lebron. Since the whole San Antonio Spurs team cant win the MVP award Stoudemire has a legitimate chance and has to be in the conversation. He has scored thirty plus points in eight straight games and is making everyone around him better. Raymond Felton is playing at an all-star level coming off his season high 17ast against the Nuggets and Laundry Fields just received Rookie Of The Month.

I'm not buying into the Heat vs Knicks as the most anticipated game of the Knicks season, but it will be one to watch. The most important aspect of this season would take course off the court if the Knicks bring in Brooklyn native Carmelo Anthony. Some agrue don't mess with team chemistry this is a player who is dying for a NBA championship. Is he worth Laundry Fields, Wilson Chandler and other pieces I don't think so not if theres a chance of getting him in the offseason.

Regardless the Knicks have to worry about what they can control and that's their brutal schedule ahead. They'll face the Heat twice, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Orlando, Spurs, Lakers, and Portland over the next eleven games. The stage is set and as long as Amare has a better performance than Mark Sanchez the Knicks should be fine.

Knicks Finding A Home Away From Home.

Just a week and a half ago Mike D'Antoni and his troops were 3-7 and scratching their heads while the Garden faithfuls started the chant "just get to .500!" Now in a blink of an eye the Knickerbockers are 9-9 and the fans prayers have been answered.

What's been impressive about the Knicks march to mediocrity is that they have a five game road winning streak the longest since the 2000-2001 season. They're 6-1 in their last seven games and square off tomorrow against their crosstown rival NJ Nets.

The scrappy play of first round draft pick Landry Fields and the elevating play of PG Ramond Felton has been the key to the latest Knicks success. Felton has already eclipsed the amount of doubles -doubles in eight-teen games than he had all last season playing for Larry Brown in Charlotte.

While Fields isn't a big scorer his play on the boards offensively and defensively has given the Knicks second chance opportunities and limited opponents second chances. In the home and home match-up against the Bobcats Fields had 17rebounds in both games combine which lead the team. The loss against the Hawks at home he lead with 11rebounds and in the double overtime thriller against the Pistons Sunday afternoon he had 11 boards only four behind Amare. He's no David Lee, but hustle is something you just can't teach.

Knicks fans got to have a Happy Holiday with a five game winning streak right before Thanksgiving, let's see how things stand come Christmas.

Wild, Wild West

Where do we go from here? Those have to be the thoughts in Head Coach Mike D'Antoni's head after the Knickerbockers dropped a 104-96 loss at home to the Houston Rockets Sunday afternoon. The west coast swing hasn't been kind to the Knicks as they dropped three straight to Golden State Minnesota and Houston.

As David Lee made his return to the Garden Wednesday evening his nickname of Mr. "Double Double" seems to be intact as he finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds leading the Warriors to a 122-117 victory. But the Knicks get a break right? Tough back-to-back games as the played the Bucks in Milwaukee the night before as Brandon Jennings(who the Knicks passed on) lead the way with 19 pts for Milwaukee. That's a tough loss to get over when you get outscored 41-19 in the first quarter, so fair enough the Knicks get a pass.

What happened Friday night at Minnesota can receive no pass. First to lose to a team coming off a 1-6 record in their last seven games, and then to be outscored 61-38 is just icing on top of the cake. The Knicks let 6'10 Kevin Love accomplish a feat that hasn't been done in 28 years. A franchise record 31 points and 31 rebounds in regulation. The best part is Love only had 9 rebounds half-way through the third quarter. The only thing Knicks fans could fathom after this remarkable feat is "how does Amare not do this every night?"

It just goes to show what a lack of effort on the boards this team brings to table. Even though it was only a margin of one the Knicks were again out rebounded by Rockets on Sunday. They committed five less turnovers, but shot 3-18 from behind the arch.

Things aren't going to get any easier for awhile as the Knickerbockers square off against Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night in Denver. One thing for sure is that for a brief moment Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is smiling as the Nets are on top of Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings.

Knicks Take One Step Forward, Two Steps Back.

Who would have thought even with the absence of Carlos Boozer the New York Knicks would come out and grab a dominate win on the road against an eastern conference rival in the Chicago Bulls?


A lot of credit has to be given to head coach Mike D'Antoni for having his team ready to play last Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago. Even though they were outscored in the second half, the Knicks grabbed an easy 120-112 victory over Chicago.

The Knickerbockers then flew back to New York for a home game against the Washington Wizards Friday evening. With the highly anticipated Broadway lights debut for #1 draft pick John Wall, the Knicks didn't let Wall "dougie" his way to a victory in front of the Garden faithfuls. With a 19 point, 10 rebound effort from Toney Douglas, the Knicks danced out of New York with a 112-92 victory.

The only logical explanation to what happened next Sunday afternoon at the Garden, is that somehow Stephon Marbury and Jerome James suited up for the Knicks as they fell 106-96 to the 1-5 Philadelphia 76ers. Maybe I'm being a little tough on the team, but to be a playoff contender those are the games you can't lose at home. A game the Knicks lead by nine in the third quarter slipped away as the Sixers went on an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter lead by Jrue Holiday. Holiday the second year player from UCLA finished with 19 pts and 8 ast.

What bothers Knicks fans so much about this loss is that the Sixers best player Andre Iguodala didn't play. Taking away a human highlight reel that averages 13 points and 5 rebounds per game should have made the Knicks a shoo-in for winner. But just like life, with the Knicks nothing is ever that easy.

Knicks Fans Already Looking Forward To Next Year?

As the New York Knickerbockers set to kick-off their 2010-2011 season of optimism, their motto has to be, "lets just make the playoffs." The Knicks start their journey to the final eight on the road against the Toronto Raptors Wednesday, October 27 that 7pm.

While most Knick fans and Amare Stodemire didn't get their wish of Lebron James in a Knick uniform, the trade talks of Denver's Carmelo Anthony still limber as the Knicks prepare for the seasons tip-off. The Knicks number one fan Spike Lee seems to have the inside scoop as he told the post Anthony has reached out to him and wants to be a Knick 100%.

For now Knicks have to worry about the players who are on the team, including new faces such as Kelenna Azubuike, Raymond Felton, Andy Rautins, Landry Fields and others. In the D'Antoni system it would seem a great idea to bring in perimeter shooters such as Fields and Rautins, but with great perimeter shooting comes a lack of a defensive presence.

With the Knicks projected to win somewhere between 30-40 games it's still all about the future. The front office has exercised it's options on forwards Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph and guard Tony Dougals. Both Gallinari and Randolph are four year options, while Douglas is a third year. Gallinari seems to be the Knicks biggest bargaining chip as his name has been mentioned in all trade talks, but Donnie Walsh seems to have big expectations for the second year pro out of Italy and has kept him around. Danilo average 15.1pgs last season shooting 38% from behind the perimeter.


While Amare Stodemire's health will be the biggest concern this year, as last season was the first time in his career he played and started 82 of 82 games the biggest bright spot when its all said and done is that Eddie Curry's outstanding contract will finally come off the books.

All The Baby, All The Way!

     The morning of the Basketball Hall Of Fame Enshrinement started off as just another day and would end with basketball immortality. Eddie Doucette kicked off the event as the Master of Ceremony, welcoming all in attendance. With some of the greatest players and coaches to ever play or teach the game being honored, there was no better way for them to be recognized then by Doucette, one of the greatest voices to ever grab a microphone. For twenty-four hours Springfield, Massachusetts was the most popular city in the country. The 2010 Hall Of Fame class included Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Cynthia Cooper, high school coach Bob Hurley, Lakers owner Jerry Buss, Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson, Maciel Pereria and two men’s Olympic teams including the 1960 team and the 1992 Dream Team.
     At the morning press conference, a few honorees got to speak and express how much being inducted to the Hall of Fame really meant to them. As the “Mailman” Karl Malone took the podium he thanked his family for “letting him play a game all his life”. We sometimes as fans and media forget that basketball is just a game. He also thanked those who put their lives on the line everyday and whose jobs are a lot tougher than bringing a city a NBA championship.
     Jerry West, who wasn’t a member of the 1992 Dream Team, but felt the 1960 should have been called the “Nightmare Team”, expressed how winning a gold medal for his country meant more to him then winning an NBA championship. Charles Barkley, who has never won an NBA title, agreed that his medal in ‘92 was better than an NBA championship. “There is no feeling that compares to the chills down my spine during the playing of the national anthem before every game” Barkley stated.
     Donna Johnson, who spoke on behalf of her late husband Dennis Johnson (September 18, 1954-February 22, 2007), was at a loss for words as tears flowed down her face. The memories of Dennis will live on in the Hall, as well as in his family’s hearts and in the spirits of true basketball fans.
     As the honorees walked the down aisle heads held high and given their decked out Sean John blazers, Cynthia Cooper the first WNBA player to be inducted summed up her career and the event in one simple phrase “all the way baby, all the way.”