The Future of the New York Knicks is looking bright

As a New York resident and long time anti-Knick basketball person, I must admit today I am proud to say that the Knicks aren’t that bad anymore.  I know… some of you guys are thinking this guy is crazy!! Well maybe just a little, but the Knicks are looking to be moving up from doormat to a middle-of-the-road team now.  Sure it’s not a huge turnaround but progress is made in baby steps. 

Chris Wilcox brings his 8.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg to NY

In exchange for Malik Rose (1.7 ppg/1.7 rpg/over 8.9 min) and cash consideration, the Knicks boosted thier front court by adding a solid rebounding and low post defender in Chris Wilcox.  By no means is he a superstar, he is infact the opposite, he is just a role player.  But he is a solid role player and he plays hard and he is athletic which fits in perfectly into Mike D’Antoni’s system.  With Wilcox in the picture they can now remove Jeffries from his duties at center and pull him off the bench or utilize him as a perimeter defender (which is why he was brought to NY in the first place). 

From a financial standpoint the Knicks lost about $900,000 in cap space since Rose had a larger contract than Wilcox.  However, Rose was clearly not being used by the Knicks and because the bottom half of the Eastern Conference race for the 8th spot is so tight the addition of Wilcox can help them make that late season push.

Larry Hughes is currently averaging 12.0 ppg/ 3.10 rpg/ 2.0 apg

The move for Larry Hughes is a lot like a bittersweet moment.  The Knicks needed to fill the void at the two guard since the departure of Jamal Crawford, but essentially they got back a similar player in return.  Over his career Hughes has average 31 mpg and shoots 41%.  Although Knicks fans can rejoice because Jerome James has finally left the building, but I’m not so sure it was good move.  Wilson Chandler is having a coming out party this year and to insert Hughes into the lineup over Chandler would hinder his development and possible New York’s longterm plans.  The only way they could utilize Hughes properly is to plug him into the three spot and have him start over Q. Rich who is shooting an abismal 38.5% this year over 28.7 mpg.  The only other plus I see to this is that Larry Hughes was regarded as a top notch perimeter defender and steals leader back when he was in Washington.  However, that was almost 3 years ago and Hughes is clearly slowing down in that department, but yet still relatively effective.

Financially this trade has no real rammifications unless if Jerome James decides to retire in advance, in which it would seem that Chicago has gotten the best of New York once again in these swaps that we constantly have with one another. 

Yet in spite of all my negativity I will say this.  Donnie Walsh has made his plan very clear.  Let D’Antoni pick the supplies he wants to make dinner with, and he’ll go out and get them.  The addition of these two players has added greater athleticism and extended the depth of the bench.  The greatest benefit is that it does not hurt them in the run for 2010 and has created greater excitement for NY basketball fans, in hopes that the Knicks can make the playoffs this year.  The only real question is: why bother making the playoffs when your going to end up playing the Celtics or the Cavs in the first round?

A little bit more than a decade ago Basketball was at it’s peak of popularity.  People questioned how the NBA be so popular and how come football took a backseat to both basketball and baseball.  Critics and fans a like said it was because of the fact that football players wore helmets that masked their faces.  Others said that people wanted to see a skill sport rather than one that required and rewarded strength over talent.

Today the NBA is a shell of what it used to be.  In fact it has been for years.  Since Michael Jordan’s third and final retirement a lot of the luster, excitement, and entertainment has left the industry.  Some may point out that scoring is higher than ever.  Although that may be true, the fact of the matter is that the way that players are scoring points has caused the game to actually slow down dramatically.  Ever since the rule of no hand checking along the perimeter has been in place, faster players like Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo have been abusing the painted area.  Although guard play was what David Stern was hoping to incorporate into the game, it slowed it down due to several of ticky tack fouls being called.

The result was higher scoring, but it was all done at a stand still pace… at the foul line.  Look at Kobe Bryant last night at the Garden for example.  He drops 61 points on the New York Knicks, 20 of which came from the free throw stripe (He went 20/20 at the line).

Another reason comes from over this past summer in which we saw referree Tim Donaghy ruined much of the little credibility the NBA had left.  Do you remember about 5 years ago the Lakers and Spurs were playing in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.  Derek Fisher hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.  From my recollection, they deemed it impossible to even tap a ball in without at least 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock.  Now I’m not a Spurs fan or a Laker hater but anyone who saw that game can see that the clock started late, and they gave Fisher enough time to do a turn-catch-and-shoot.

Parity, it doesn’t exist.  Even today with both conferences looking more and more similar record wise.  The fact of the matter is that only two or three teams from each conference have a legitimate chance in winning the title.  That doesn’t seem so bad right?  Well these are the same teams every year for about a 2 to 3 year period.  San Antonio, Cleveland, Detriot (Not so much this year), and Phoenix (they too have fallen off) prior to last year’s finals were doned to be in the Conference Finals at the minimum.

Rewards for individual achievements for a team based game.  It is a given that you cannot win 1 on 5.  Yet there is the MVP award.  This wouldn’t be so bad except the MVP voting makes no sense.  The Best player on the Best Team?  Then why didn’t KG win it last year like he should have?  Or is it the best overall player, Then why did Dirk Nowitzki win the MVP (I’m a huge Dirk fan)?  The voting system makes no sense and the MVPs each year seem to baffle the true fans.  Nash should have won when Dirk won.  Shaq should have won when Nash won his first MVP.  Kidd should have won, when Duncan won his second MVP.

Empathy.  The fans don’t see themselves in the players.  Most of these players are arrogant and selfish and only desire money.  For the few times a year we get to play ball with our buddies and friends we play with team work, desire to win, and above all else because we love it.  Players these days care only about the dollar in a sport that has lost its ability to create a team first mentality.  Look at Gilbert Arenas he signed for $111 million over six years only to not even step on the court once this year.  He claimed to be a heroic icon by saving his team millions, while in actuality has crippled them financially and doesn’t even play.

Some say there is a race element involved in it as well but I don’t believe it.  Most football players are black(except at quarterback and on the O-line).  Most baseball players are hispanic (at least a majority of the most famous ones).  Yet these sports are the two most watched and profitable in the nation.  The fact of the matter is that basketball has become slow due to rule changes (hand checking on the perimeter, no-charge zone, zone defenses(No more illegal defense)).  People don’t like the players (Kobe – accused of rape, Shaq – adultry, Jamal Tinsley & Ron Artest – do I really have to list this?, the Palace at Auburn Hills, over paid players, focus on race (Yao and Yi to reach to Asian Markets)).  This league has lost its depth, and more importantly it has lost its passion and its beauty.  If you don’t believe me then think back to when the Heat played the Nuggets this past year and the hype was that Dick Vitale was going be commenting the game….Not the game itself.

Let the show begin!!

MVP

1. Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz

He has no D-Will by his side.  So the other four starters are: Andre Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Ronnie Brewer, and Paul Millsap.  Now unless if you follow basketball religiously I’m sure at best you’ll only know one or two of the other starters.  He is shooting 60.3% from the field so far, averaging 20.8/9.8/2.6 on roughly 33 minutes a night and the Jazz are 5-0.  Not only are they undefeated but the have the most wins in the league right now!

2. Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

I’ll say it right now, I don’t like the Hawks.  I never have, I didn’t even like them when Dominique was there, but thats because I’m was a Bulls fan.  But you cannot overlook at this team is the only undefeated team in the East.  You cannot overlook that they beat four legitament teams.  Does this mean the Hawks are real? Absolutely not, check it out my other article here: http://sportsroids.com/2008/11/07/nba-are-the-atlanta-hawks-a-playoff-contender/.  And, Joe Johnson is leading the way right now and putting up sick numbers, about 25 ppg. while shooting 55.4% from the field and hitting 42.1% from three.  If he keeps this up and the Hawks keep winning, I may need to write an apology letter.

3. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

The thing about Kobe is that hes a great player.  But I still remember when he was brought up on rape charges and the fact that he drove Shaq and Phil out of L.A.  I mean this guy gets as much publicity from the NBA as Peyton does to the NFL and for all the wrong reasons.  But enough of me rambling.  Here why he is at number 3.  His team is undefeated.  He is leading the way in scoring (24.8 ppg), assists (3.5 apg) and steals (1.75 spg).  However, I can’t move him up any higher because he is shooting at 44.6% from the field and a terrible 28.6% from three.  That aspect of his game is very un-Kobe like. 

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

D12 is average 4.2 blocks per game (1st in the league) and is averaging 13.2 rebounds per game.  He is the anchor of this Orlando Defense and nobody in the game right now alters more shots in the paint or changes a team’s attack plan than Howard.  If they had better perimeter defenders than Orlando would probably be undefeated, but they aren’t bad considering they are number 10 in allowing the least points per game.

2. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

I know, Bynum is back and healthy.  The Lakers frontline is huge.  I know all this and so do you.  But did you know the Lakers are number one in allowing the least points per game at 85.  And its common sense in Basketball, if you can keep your guy infront of you then you don’t need any help from your teammates.  Thats exactly what Kobe does.  He guards the best perimeter player on the opposing team every night and shuts him down.  He also relieves the stress of having to always step out on Bynum and Gasol to help contain players.  Oh yeah I almost forgot, he is basically averaging two steals a game.

3. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

I know this sounds crazy but Defensive Player of the Year doesn’t have to entitle the best defensive player on the best defensive team.  But D-Wade is solid.  He has good timing which leads to 1.6 blocks per game which is pretty darn good for a guard.  He is currently averaging 3 steals per game.  Not to mention D-wade, much like Kobe is their designated perimeter stopper.  To top that all off the Miami Heat are number eight in least points allowed.  Not bad for the team that was the NBA doormat last year.

Lets rewind the clocks back two years ago.  The Atlanta Hawks were dubbed as one of the worst franchises ever in professional sports.  They had the longest playoff drought in the NBA, spanning back to the 1998-1999 lockout season.  For those of you that don’t remember this team featured a young Dikembe Mutombo and Semi-All Star in Steve Smith.  The Hawks showed signs of promise as they started off the year 4-1 and were atop the Eastern Conference standings during the infancy of the 2006-2007 season.  Joe Johnson had completed one full year in Atlanta under the tutilage of Mike Woodson.  The end result? A 30-52 record, finished last in their division, and amongst the worst of the NBA.

Last Year the started the season at 3-10.  People had written off this team from the start with good reason I ight add.  They finished the season at 37-45 and had snatched the 8th seed for their first playoff birth in 9 years.   Of course this is not impressive by any means because this is the Eastern Conference we are talking about, where if you won 3 games in a row you could catapult from the 12 spot to the 7 spot.  No as far as I’m concerned they were just as pathetic as they were before.  But! When the playoffs came around, this was a different team.  They pushed the Celtics to a crazy 7 games and almost created a huge upset.  We as fanatics all talked about how this team was going to be good next year, and now next year has come around.

The Hawks have started off 3-0 and have beaten Orlando, Philly, and New Orleans, respectively.  All three of those teams were playoff teams last year, with Orlando and New Orleans being division winners.  There are whispers in the wind of the Hawks being legit this year.  I am here to tell you otherwise.  The Hawks are still a bad team.  After years of poor management of the Coaches and Personnel, poor draft decisions (Not picking Chris Paul or Deron Williams when they had the chance), barely squeaking into the playoffs last year, this team is far from being much better than what they were last year.  Teams like Atlanta are young and inexperienced, and live off of the hype of the beginning of the season.  This is when coaches can reach them because they are eager to win and to learn.  But as the season progresses and the players face the strain of traveling and going through the physical depreciation of their bodies, the true colors of the Hawks will show. 

Think about this, Joe Johnson left the Suns to be the “man” on a bad team.  In which he isn’t even the franchise player, Josh Smith is.  Speaking of Josh Smith, you think he wants to play in Atlanta?  After how he was treated this offseason because the Hawks didn’t want to shell out money to keep a young and athletic shot blocker and scorer.  We all know as regular people, who have regular jobs or go to school.  We follow the lead of our bosses or teachers.  This Atlanta management team is a great example of how to not treat your players or managers.  This group of players in Atlanta need more time to develop and need better coaches to help them develop.  Despite Joe Johnson having a career year so far (28/5.7/3.7) the other parts of the Atlanta core (Mike Bibby and Josh Smith) are playing rather poorly.  The loss of Josh Childress has placed more pressure on Marvin Williams, who has not risen to the occassion (6.5/6/0.5).  I guarentee that this team will place out of the playoffs this year or at most the 8th seed again. 

But, who knows, miracles can happen.  After all Obama did become president.