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Duhon To Regain Starting Job

Not only is Chris Duhon set to regain his starting role after the Nate Robinson experiment went nowhere, but Coach Mike D’Antoni is also going to seek more frequent advice from Duhon during games [via NYPost]:

Duhon said the coach wants him in particular to be in his ear — a clear sign how much D’Antoni trusts Duhon’s judgment.

“If I’m not even in the game, just watching it from his point of view, trying to make adjustments, helping him out,” Duhon said. “Being kind of another assistant coach out there, try this, try that. We need more interaction with him so he can have a better feel. He can’t see everything.”

I imagine this conversation may take place this Tuesday against the Kings:

D’Antoni: Hey Chris, c’mere a minute.

Duhon: What can I do for you coach?

D’Antoni: We’re struggling right now, the Kings are running us off the floor. Any suggestions?

Duhon: Hmm…It looks like we need better point guard play. Our starting point guard is 0-8 from the field, has been trying to force passes into traffic, can’t finish and doesn’t even try to anymore, and is taking ill-advised 25 foot threes at random times.

D’Antoni: Thanks Chris.

Result: Same as before.

***

Not to keep taking shots at our favorite publication but facts are facts. Today Marc Berman wrote:

Players have complained publicly and privately D’Antoni doesn’t communicate enough individually to guys and define their roles — with Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry, Robinson, Al Harrington and Darko Milicic headlining the list.

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Nate To Regain Starting Job

Chris Duhon has continued to play completely lifeless basketball, so Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni will replace him in the starting lineup with Nate Robinson, who, for the most part, has played effectively over the last several weeks, including last night.

This is surely a move many of Robinson’s fans will welcome, and at this point, with the Knicks ten games under .500 and fading, I have no reason to oppose it. I’m sure Chris Duhon is a good guy, but almost any option is better than him the way he’s played.

Nate started 11 games last year and is about to regain that role. Though he averaged 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5 assists in those games, the Knicks went 3-8. Here’s hoping things turn out better this time. It’s not like they’ve been better with Duhon lately.

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Walsh Says Again Knicks Won’t Make A BAD Deadline Deal

[UPDATE: I mistakenly attributed they NYPOST blog entry referenced below to Marc Berman. In fact, Brian Lewis wrote the post. An unfortunate bit of irony in a post about someone else's lack of reading comprehension skills. I regret the error.]

Marc Berman Brian Lewis caught up to Donnie Walsh today and somehow came away with the impression that the Knicks’ GM has ruled out a deadline deal. This based on Donnie’s comments:

I’ve said this a lot, and it’s always the same: It’s you’re always looking to see if there’s something that can make you a better team. You’re not going I [sic] make a trade that’s a bad trade because there’s some idea that you should make a trade. Any time there’s a good trade you look into it.

I’d like to conduct a little experiment. I’m going to reprint that quote below but darken certain words. Tell me if it’s possible to agree with Berman’s Lewis’ interpretation:

I’ve said this a lot, and it’s always the same: It’s you’re always looking to see if there’s something that can make you a better team. You’re not going I [sic] make a trade that’s a bad trade because there’s some idea that you should make a trade. Any time there’s a good trade you look into it.

Yet Berman Lewis blogged: …”president Donnie Walsh reiterated that he won’t make any deals.” I’m no Supreme Court Justice or literary scholar, but I definitely think Donnie was saying he would make a trade. In fact, Donnie said he’s “always” looking to make a trade, if “there’s something that can make you a better team.”

He continued, “You’re not going I [sic] make a trade that’s a bad trade because there’s some idea that you should make a trade.” If you ask me he’s rejecting the notion that he should just make a trade, any trade, as long as it’s a trade. Who thinks like that anyway? Oh right, Berman the Post does.

But Berman The Post isn’t the GM. Donnie is. And according to my perhaps sophomoric interpretation, Donnie actually would make a trade at “[a]ny time”, as long as the trade is a “good trade”.

Sorry if I had to unrouse the rabble here a little but there will be plenty of time for our favorite publication to incite the impulsive masses if the Knicks don’t wind up making a deadline deal, even though they could have made a bad one.

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Knicks Active In Trade Discussions

According to Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee, who polled sources from around the league, the Knicks have been among the most active teams in trade talks. Unsurprisingly, the Knicks, according to Amick, are primarily looking to trade Jared Jeffries.

Everyone knows the importance trading Jeffries has to the Knicks’ offseason. As an added benefit though, by accomplishing a trade, management would satiate Marc Berman’s mindless demands for a shake-up to preserve the season, as if anything management could do at the deadline, including a T-Mac trade, would help the Knicks make the playoffs this year.

The season is pretty much over for the Knicks [1, 2, 3], and the right move for the team to make would be a cap slashing move to open up more space this summer. That could be a McGrady trade, but it makes little sense to just rearrange the deck-chairs because Berman says so, with an exclamation point.

Just a reminder that the last major move Berman advocated for the Knicks with an exclamation point was to sign Iverson. He called Knicks’ management “Turkeys!”. About six or seven weeks later, he recanted. I’d like to see him admit when he’s wrong more often, but that might require double the amount of space than the Post currently allots him.

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Stick A Fork In The Knicks’ Season

The Knicks season ended tonight, for all intents and purposes, with a lackluster 106-96 defeat at the hands of the lowly Washington Wizards.

The team played mostly lifeless basketball (save for a few positives) and the Knicks were absolutely manhandled on the boards, losing the rebounding battle 59-40 while surrendering a whopping 24 offensive rebounds. All those rebounds earned the Wizards 13 more FGAs than the Knicks, and they put all those extra shots to good use. Worse still, the Knicks coupled the shoddy boardwork with some of their worst three point field goal defense of the season as the Wizards shot 11-21 from behind the arc, including a particularly brutal stretch late in the third during which Mike Miller drained two threes in a row prompting D’Antoni to call a timeout to correct the issue. But immediately following the TO, Miller came right back and canned another 3 ball, basically kicking the Knicks in the nuts. From a practical standpoint, the Knicks season came to an end right about the moment that Miller’s third three splashed through the net. They kept fighting, a hallmark of this team, but weren’t able to mount a serious challenge.

Notes:

* Another great outing from David Lee. It was apparent that he didn’t have that little extra something tonight, but Lee personifies the Knicks’ never-say-die mentality. During the last five minutes of the third quarter (the stretch that included Miller’s three crushing three-pointers) Lee scored all of the Knicks’ points. They were still down 13 points at the end of the period, but Lee’s fortitude kept things closer than they ought to have been.

* Gallo chipped in with a solid floor game tonight, snagging 10 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. But he only scored 11 points on a night when the team desperately needed offense from him (with Al Harrington out) and shot the ball poorly (4-12, 3-10 from 3). That’s pretty much the story of Gallo’s season. One night you get the great scoring, another night you get the good floor game. Rare is the night when he gives you both at the same time. He has all the tools, though. Just needs to put them together all at once.

* I loved the way Jordan Hill played tonight. The quality of his contribution was obscured by the fact that he shot the ball poorly (just 2-9) but he gave the Knicks great energy, especially in the second quarter and finished +9  in a game the Knicks lost by 10 points. Hill’s an athletic big and he flashes some nice skills. And on top of that, he’s active, always around the ball trying to make things happen. Guys like this aren’t easy to find. With the season effectively over, it’s time to give Jordan some heavy rotation minutes and see what he can really do.

* I almost forgot to mention that Nate Robinson played very well tonight. He’s played much more controlled, unselfish basketball since he returned from his exile, rim-hanging notwithstanding.

* I was paying close attention to Randy Foye tonight because he could well be a person of interest for the Knicks during 2010 free agency. I’ve advocated for Foye before and tonight I once again liked what I saw. Foye is a sturdy, physical guard who protects the ball and knocks down open shots. He’s not a natural PG, though. Yes, he’s a solid ball-handler and he does have some ability to collapse the defense and make kick-out passes to open shooters. But he didn’t show much in his (limited) chances to run the screen and roll and he doesn’t exhibit great court vision or instincts for how to run a team.

If the Knicks add a player like LBJ or Joe Johnson during the summer, Foye could be a perfect compliment in that “Mo Williams” role as a secondary ball-handler and spot up shooter. But if the team is unable to sign a playmaking wing of that ilk, I think they’d be better served adding a purer point guard like Raymond Felton.

*Quick plug: I’ve recently joined the twitter community, so please check me out over there as well.

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EPIC POLL – Week 2

Time for Week 2 of our EPIC POLL. You can vote below, or as always, by selecting the EPIC POLL link in the sidebar or the Polls page link above.

Are you satisfied with the direction of the Knicks?

  • Yes (66%, 29 Votes)
  • No (34%, 15 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' frontcourt?

  • Yes (47%, 21 Votes)
  • No (53%, 24 Votes)

Total Voters: 45

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' backcourt?

  • Yes (2%, 1 Votes)
  • No (98%, 43 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' starting lineup?

  • Yes (19%, 9 Votes)
  • No (81%, 38 Votes)

Total Voters: 47

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' depth?

  • Yes (18%, 8 Votes)
  • No (82%, 36 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' point guards?

  • Yes (4%, 2 Votes)
  • No (96%, 45 Votes)

Total Voters: 47

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' shooting guards?

  • Yes (14%, 6 Votes)
  • No (86%, 38 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' small forwards?

  • Yes (81%, 34 Votes)
  • No (19%, 8 Votes)

Total Voters: 42

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' power forwards?

  • Yes (63%, 26 Votes)
  • No (37%, 15 Votes)

Total Voters: 41

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Are you satisfied with the Knicks' centers?

  • Yes (40%, 18 Votes)
  • No (60%, 27 Votes)

Total Voters: 45

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Are you satisfied with...(check box if "Yes")

  • Chris Duhon (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Wilson Chandler (89%, 47 Votes)
  • Danilo Gallinari (92%, 49 Votes)
  • Jared Jeffries (43%, 23 Votes)
  • David Lee (96%, 51 Votes)
  • Nate Robinson (28%, 15 Votes)
  • Larry Hughes (6%, 3 Votes)
  • Al Harrington (26%, 14 Votes)
  • Jonathan Bender (17%, 9 Votes)
  • Jordan Hill (47%, 25 Votes)
  • Toney Douglas (43%, 23 Votes)
  • Marcus Landry (15%, 8 Votes)
  • Darko Milicic (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Eddy Curry (4%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 53

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Are you satisfied with Mike D'Antoni?

  • Yes (74%, 35 Votes)
  • No (26%, 12 Votes)

Total Voters: 47

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Are you satisfied with Donnie Walsh?

  • Yes (73%, 33 Votes)
  • No (27%, 12 Votes)

Total Voters: 45

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Which media coverage is the best (pick 3)?

  • Newsday - Hahn, Barker, etc. (72%, 28 Votes)
  • Daily News - Isola (36%, 14 Votes)
  • NY Post - Berman et al. (33%, 13 Votes)
  • NY Times - Beck, Abrams (41%, 16 Votes)
  • The Record (NorthJersey.com) - Adamek (18%, 7 Votes)

Total Voters: 39

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A Bit More Love For David Lee

This comes via Marc Stein’s Weekend Dime:

Eastern Conference scout on whom he sees as the league’s most improved player

“David Lee is going to make a lot of money in free agency. He’s a point forward now. He gets a lot of hockey assists … he makes the pass that leads to a pass that leads to a basket. They’re running a lot of offense through him. You can’t just relax on him because he’s shooting jumpers confidently. He’s responsible for their [improvement]. He didn’t have this much responsibility before. I’m sure he’s disappointed that he didn’t make it [as an All-Star in the East], but he’s going to make himself some cash this summer.”

There just aren’t many (are there any?) big men around the league that bear more responsibilities at the offensive end for their team than David Lee does. The fact that he can initiate sets from the three point circle makes him a such a weapon. If the Knicks acquire a dynamic perimeter player, the possibilities for D’Antoni on offense could be endless.

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Lee > Bosh

No need for Chris Bosh this summer, because the Knicks have David Lee.

The loss was mostly attributable to an injury suffered by Jared Jeffries, some truly horrible (and stupid) minutes from Al Harrington (on a balky knee, mind you), and a handful of inane plays (which I won’t delve into here, but if you’re interested you can check out Dan’s twitter page). However, final score notwithstanding, David Lee thoroughly outplayed Chris Bosh.  Last night he was the better shooter, finisher, rebounder, passer and defender. (Yes, I said defender too. Watching Gallo blow by Bosh twice on straight up drives was a sight to behold.)

And I think Lee believes he’s the better player too. You could see from his body language last night that he doesn’t think much of Bosh.

The only thing Bosh has over Lee is the support of the NBA’s marketing machine. If anyone over at the league office is paying any attention,  that ought to be due to change pretty soon.

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If Jeffries Is Out, So Are Knicks’ Hopes For Season And Off-Season (And A Note On Nate’s Tech)

Jared Jeffries isn’t exactly Willis Reed, but he’s clearly the captain of the Knicks’ defense. And after he hyperextended his knee, it was clear that the defense struggled at times in his absence, inside and out (he might have been on Turkoglu instead of Harrington who inexplicably basically hand-checked the saavy Turk, who rose up into the contact for a shooting foul from beyond the arc with 1:39 left in the game).

And so the Knicks’ chances of making the playoffs will fade into oblivion if Jeffries isn’t around to make heady and unheralded plays.

But the team’s odds at the playoffs were already minuscule before Jeffries’ joined Nate, Wilson, and Al in the triage. And if Donnie is smart he probably realized this. And he was probably looking to trade Jeffries to a contender who could use him down the stretch and in the playoffs in exchange for an expiring contract. Not going to happen anymore. At least not straight up.

The result is it will be much harder to clear away his contract for a big run at free agents this summer. Their options have narrowed. The Knicks can now either package Jeffries with Nate or some other asset as the price to extract that asset (good luck), or they can buy out Jeffries this summer and save $2 million.

Hopefully Jeffries MRI will show that he’s fine, but if not, the Knicks’ potential for success both this season and in the summer have taken a major hit.

[Update: According to Tommy Dee and Bandwagon Knicks' twitter, Mike D'Antoni told ESPN radio that Jeffries has a bruise and is day to day. Phew.]

***
Last night Nate got a technical for hanging on the rim. I thought it was an idiotic play by Nate, just like I thought Al was an idiot for doing it twice last year against the Clippers and costing the Knicks both games.

For those of you who follow me and/or Tommy Dee on Twitter, you probably noticed that Tommy and I have, shall we say, differing opinions on who to blame for that tech. Not to put words in his mouth, but Tommy thinks the taunting tech for hanging on the rim is a stupid rule and that at any rate, it isn’t consistently enforced, since stars get away with it all the time. If stars get away with it all the time, then lesser players shouldn’t be called for it either.

To me, whether it’s consistently called, or whether it’s a dumb rule, isn’t really the issue. The issue is that it is a rule on the books and if you break it, you risk the penalty. I came up with some analogies on Twitter last night that Tommy didn’t like but here’s one more: Jay-walking is a law on the books. Yes, it’s a stupid rule, and yes, almost nobody get’s a ticket for it (at least in New York), but let’s say you did get a ticket for it. If you go in front of the judge and say, “Come on, guy. Nobody else got a ticket for it, and it’s a stupid rule anyway, buddy, and the cop is a freaking a-hole for giving me a ticket for it, guy”, you’d get thrown out of court, and you’d have to pay the fine. I suspect most people wouldn’t even try that argument in court and would just pay the damn fine because they know they got caught jay-walking.

Nate broke the rule against hanging on the rim. Stupid rule? Yes. Affects the game to do it? No. Inconsistently called? Yes. A rule nonetheless with a potential penalty for breaking it that can cost you a point and maybe the game? You bet.

Until they change the rule, I think it’s on the players not to break it.

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LeBron WILL Come To New York This Summer

As part of his commitment to Team USA.

According to Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com, Team USA will hold training camp in the Big Apple. So LeBron, Dywane Wade and Chris Bosh will all be spending a big part of their summer in NYC.

Is it just a coincidence that the most intense free agent recruitment period in history will be centered in New York instead of Las Vegas, where it has traditionally been? I don’t know, but if LeBron wants to buy a house and move his stuff and get his life in order in New York, it’d be a whole lot easier if he was here anyway.

Will any of Team USA’s free agent stars be in New York after the summer? Here’s to hoping.

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