Knicks Post Game Notes: Knicks Beat Atlanta...Barely

The New York Knicks almost let this one get away. Fortunately for them, Al Horford did not get the ball off in the “knick” of time.

For those of you who missed the Knicks game against the Atlanta Hawks; shame on you! You know the Knicks play up to their competition, so clearly, after a loss to the lowly New Jersey Nets, the Knicks followed that game up with a win over the high-seeded Atlanta Hawks.

The finish to this game was great. With about 15 seconds or so left in the game and with the Knicks up by 1 point, the Knicks Toney Douglas turned the ball over, and Crawford brought it up court. Crawford drove into the paint, pulled up, found Josh Smith streaking to the basket along the baseline and dished it off. Smith then went up for the dunk, but was rejected by Wilson Chandler. The ball wound up in Al Horford’s hands with about 1.5 seconds left, and Horford fired and made the shot, but he did not get it off on time. Knicks won by 1-point, 99-98.

Here are my Knicks Post Game Notes:

The Money Ball
The Knicks did not disappoint from three-point land tonight. After going 0-for-18 against the Nets the other night, the Knicks went 10 of 15 from 3-point land against the Hawks. One might jump to the conclusion that the Knicks just had better looks from three this time around, but that wasn’t really the case. The shots simply went down this time. It’s the law of averages. You combine the Knicks 0-for-18 with their 10-of-15 three-point shooting from tonight, and you have an overall percentage of 30.3%.

Danilo Shows Up
Danilo Gallinari has just been God awful over the last 7 games, but he finally came out of hibernation to put up 27 points against one of the better defensive teams in the league. Gallinari’s 27 points were primarily fueled from behind the three-point line, where he made 4 of his 5 three-pointers. Of course, as the Hawks adjusted to his hot shooting performance, Gallinari was able to put the ball on the floor a couple of times or post up and take advantage of the size advantage he has over most other perimeter players. Good game from Gallo.

Wilson Chandler—Up and Down
Chandler continued his roller coaster ride of a season, scoring just 5 points on the night. He shot 2 of 8 from the field and just never seemed involved in the offense. Of course, he came up with the big block at the end of the game that won the match for the Knicks, so I guess I’ll cut him slack for that.

Sergio Rodriguez Looked Aggressive
Rodriguez’s numbers weren’t great, as he had just 9 points, 4 assists and 6 turnovers on the night. However, he was very aggressive with the ball and created a lot of opportunities for the Knicks. If he could just take better care of the ball and attack the rim when defenders back off, he can be an asset to the team during this last stretch of games.

Good Overall Defense
At the end of the day, the Knicks won this game because of defense, and not just the block at the end of the game. The Knicks held the Hawks to just 42.5% shooting from the field, and they defended the three-point line well, forcing the Hawks to go 3 for 17 from behind the arc. Most importantly, the Knicks held the Hawks to just 15 assists. That’s important, because it was the result of two things. One, the Knicks were playing good team defense and helped out on any penetration by Joe Johnson or Mike Bibby. And two, the Knicks stopped allowing easy buckets in the paint. While the Knicks size still rendered the Knicks submissive down low, the Knicks opted for hard fouls in transition plays, free plays at the rim. If you ask me, just by defending the paint and allowing no easy baskets, the Knicks allowed this game to stay close, giving themselves a good chance to win the game—which they did.

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The Progression of David Lee

New York Knicks fans, I definitely feel your pain. This season has been an absolute wash. We entered the year hoping to at least be in the playoff race come March, and now we are soundly headed into the NBA Lottery later this summer.

That said, there has been one bright spot. David Lee has been a beast. He’s been the first all-star caliber player the New York Knicks have had since Stephon Marbury first got to the city. Sure, Lee may be leaving us at season’s end, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look back at how Lee has grown as a basketball player, as well as how he has grown on us as fans.

Looking back at Lee’s rookie season, no one thought he would amount to this in such a relatively short period of time. In 2005-2006, Lee was averaging just 5.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.4 field goal attempts per game, while averaging a mere 16.9 minutes per game in the 67 games that he played. At that time, he wasn’t even the most promising big man on the team, with Channing Frye looking like the power forward of the Knicks future.

But the next season came, and all of a sudden David Lee just blossomed. It took some time, but after winning the MVP trophy at the Rookie-Sophomore challenge as a member of the Sophomore team, Lee’s imprint on the team was being stamped. His per 36 numbers went up in points, rebounds and assists. And his free throw and true-shooting percentages went up significantly.

Last year (2008-2009), however, Lee truly arrived. Lee's per 36 minutes stats were the highest of his career. Those per-36 averages were 16.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He also shot 75% from the free throw line and got to the line 4.2 times per 36 minutes.

Before we get to this season though, I want to point you to a post on Knickerblogger.net, where author Mike Kurylo seems to suggest that Lee has regressed this year, saying:

Perhaps David Lee has become more of a complete player this year, but looking at the results from a team level you have to question the cost. His game has been slowly been pulled away from the basket (his offensive rebounding per minute numbers have dropped every year since 2007) and perhaps in the course of rounding his game out the pendulum has swung too far in that direction. – Mike Kurylo, Knickerblogger.net

Now, I know what you’re saying, he’s not exactly condemning Lee with those words. I thought the same thing, but later in the comment section, Mike says this:

The loss of Robinson, the decline of Lee, and the addition of Eddie House (not a get to the line kinda guy) and the net gain is probably zero or minor at best. And he doesn’t get many misses either (which is sad – because he was really good at this early in his career). ~ Kurylo

Now, that’s definitely a sentiment pointing to a regression in Lee’s game. Unfortunately, I cannot agree with that.

Kurylo point seems to be that Lee has rounded his game out so much that it has actually made him either less productive as a whole or less productive on this particular team. However, either assertion would be wrong.

Lee has not only gotten observationally better, as his nomination to the All-Star game would suggest, but the stats back up the assertion that his game is on the incline—not the decline!

For example, one thing Kurylo points out is that Lee’s game has suffered because he has been taken away from the basket. However, that’s only on the offensive end. Lee is still rebounding at virtually the same clip he was last season. Yes, his per-36 rebounding average is down a full board, but his defensive rebounding percentage is 27.5% compared to last year’s 27.9%. While his offensive rebounding percentage is down 1.5 percentage-points from last year, it hasn’t really affected his ability to produce points efficiently. In most instances, Kurylo would be right in assuming that a big man who develops a shot becomes a little less efficient shooting wise, but that has not happened to Lee. Because of Lee’s great shot selection, Lee's effective field goal percentage is actually slightly higher than last year’s, despite the fact that 48% of Lee’s shots are now jumpers, whereas last year, only 32% of Lee’s shot came from the perimeter.

Most importantly, Lee’s efficiency is the highest it has ever been. He is essentially better across the board, becoming a more efficient scorer, passer and shooter this season. His overall rebounding is down less than a full percentage point, and we still have 20 games left in the 2010 NBA season. So any notion that Lee is hurting this team or that he has regressed has to be coming from a really dark, dark, dark place, because I just don’t see it.

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Big City Good Enough for LeBron James?

The New York Knicks are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight.

In a pre-game article, the Daily News's Frank Isola makes an obvious, yet crippling point about the Knicks pursuit of LeBron James.

The Knicks have Madison Square Garden to offer LeBron James as well the opportunity to possibly play alongside Chris Bosh or even Dwyane Wade.

"This is a very attractive place to play," Tracy McGrady said. "You have the bright lights and big stage every night."

But is it enough? When James likely becomes a free agent on July 1 and weighs his options, what will he really think of the Knicks once he gets past the bright lights and big city? ~ Frank Isola, New York Daily News

Isola goes on to talk about how the Knicks have failed to turn themselves into an attractive option for the future.

However, it's important to point out that the Knicks have just 4 guys on the roster that are going to be there, and the only other guy that the franchise will even want back is David Lee. Thus, good team or not, the Knicks were going to rebuild next year unless they did nothing short of make the Conference Finals. Thus, it really all comes down to exactly what Isola points out above: Is the big city enough to change LeBron's mind?

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If no LeBron James, Could Kobe Bryant be the Knicks Plan B?

Everybody is wondering what the New York Knicks will do this off-season, especially since the odds of LeBron James coming to New York seem to have been cut in half since the Knicks initially appeared to be setting their sights on the 2010 free agent class.

However, there could be a number of other free agent options this summer that aren’t named LeBron James. Those names include Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Paul Pierce, Richard Jefferson and others.

There’s also a name that never gets lumped into the 2010 free agent class, but it’s a name we should all be talking about:

Kobe Bryant.

Is it that unreasonable to think that Kobe Bryant will opt of his current deal with the Los Angeles Lakers to, at the very least, entertain the idea of leaving Los Angeles?

Heck, he did it before; so much so that he actually was wined and dined by the Los Angeles Clippers for a brief period. So it goes without saying that Kobe could opt out if for no other reason than to be pursued and treated like the shining star that he is.

Of course, freedom has its vices.

With Kobe being on the market, who knows what other teams will offer him. Sure, the money will never be what the Lakers can give him, but what about the power? Kobe can demand a lot of things from the Lakers, but the Lakers are a strong franchise, with a strong head coach and a strong front office. As a result, Kobe isn’t orchestrating trades, he can’t demand offensive changes and he isn’t in control of the overall direction of the team, because at the end of the day, the Lakers franchise is bigger than Kobe Bryant.

So what if a franchise offered Kobe more than just a roster spot?

What if the New York Knicks could offer Kobe Bryant the ability to be part player, part general manager, and part coach?

The player part is obvious. But with the Knicks cap situation being what it is, what if the New York Knicks gave Kobe Bryant the option of picking who his sidekick would be. What if they told Kobe, hey, we have all the salary cap space in the world, go convince your best basketball colleague to come here and play with you in the Garden…?

Could Kobe turn that down?

Let’s take it to another step. What if the New York Knicks also told Kobe, we know you’ve been under Phil Jackson’s thumb for some time now, how about you pick the coach of the future? Granted, that might mean parting ways with Coach Mike D’Antoni, but if the Knicks have the choice between Kobe Bryant for the next 3 or 4 years and Coach D’Antoni, is that really even a choice? Besides, word on the street is that Kobe has a great relationship with D’Antoni from their days on the USA Olympic team in Beijing. Perhaps D’Antoni wouldn’t be a martyr in this scenario, after all.

Of course, something has to happen for Kobe Bryant to eschew his relationship with the Lakers and move to New York City. In fact, maybe more than one thing has to happen.

For starters, the Lakers could not repeat as Champions this year. There’s nothing Kobe Bryant wants more than to three-peat like his idol Michael Jordan. So if he won his second title in a row during these NBA playoffs, then he’s not going anywhere, no matter what.

Secondly, the Lakers would probably have to lose handedly, and in the Finals. Which of course means the Lakers would have to make Finals (and I’m not sure that they are going to fly by the Dallas Mavericks). Why do they have to make the Finals? Well, I think losing in the West wouldn’t be as personally devastating to Kobe. But losing to LeBron James in the Finals? That would hurt. That would be the final nail in the coffin on Kobe’s reign as the best player in the NBA. No longer would Kobe vs. LeBron be a debate, it would be a historical case now settled in the court of public opinion. And should that be the case, perhaps Kobe would like to take on a new challenge, by returning the Knicks to prominence and battling with LeBron James who knows how many times a year in the Eastern Conference.

Lastly, the Lakers would need to fall apart. Even a playoff loss alone might not send Kobe to New York, but a dismantling of the team, or the onset of a dismantling, could cause Kobe to exercise his right to enter free agency.

The Lakers stand to lose Derek Fisher at the end of this season and are likely to resign him due to age. That puts the Lakers in desperate need of a point guard, and while Shannon Brown is an option, he’s not a certified one.

Also, Jordan Farmar, perhaps the best point guard the Lakers have, also hits free agency this summer, and the Lakers are unlikely to be able to afford him.

What about Phil Jackson’s status with the team? He very well could retire at the end of season. Who’s to say Kobe will want to be under the thumb of someone he didn’t pick? And it’s quite possible that the Lakers won’t be able to land a top guy, because let’s face it; there aren’t very many big names on the market, right now.

And most importantly, Pau Gasol’s contract is up at the end of the 2011 season. Should the Lakers not be able to extend his deal, maybe Kobe will see the writing on the wall.

Look, that’s a lot that has to happen, but I don’t think it’s all that farfetched. All it will take is a Finals loss for most of this stuff to trigger, and that’s quite possible if the Cavaliers, Magic or Celtics get their stuff together before the NBA Playoffs start.

Obviously, the New York Knicks brass and fans want the much younger LeBron James on their squad. But if that doesn’t work out, Kobe Bryant is one hell of a Plan B.

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Nate Robinson Plays Tonight....For the Other Team

Nate Robinson is scheduled to play the New York Knicks in the Garden today…the Boston Garden that is.
Robinson, the long-time favorite of the New York Knicks fan base, was traded to the Boston Celtics last week. This was a trade that was in the making for a very long time. Robinson fell out of favor with Mike D’Antoni early on this season, despite being one of the most productive players for the coach over the last two years.

Because Robinson was such a fan favorite, many New Yorkers are upset with the trade. Thankfully for the Knicks organization and President Donnie Walsh, the acquisition of Tracy McGrady and the team’s impending cap space greatly overshadowed any resentment the fans felt when Robinson was sent to the Boston Celtics.

Still, there’s no doubt that the announcers of tonight’s game are going to spend a great deal of time talking about Robinson and spinning the trade in favor of the Knicks.

The real question is do the fans buy it?

We all know Robinson’s contract is up at the end of the year and the Knicks had no intention of resigning him, especially when they might not even be able to bring David Lee back. Thus, at the end of the day, most reasonable fans understand why the Knicks had to go out and get what they could for Nate, as opposed to giving him up for nothing this summer.

But I ask you, do you still wish Nate Robinson was wearing blue and orange tonight instead of green and white?

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New York Knicks Salary Cap: By the Numbers

Well, with all of the trade stuff that has gone down over the past couple of days—Nate Robinson going to Boston and Tracy McGrady coming to New York—many of you have no doubt been trying to wrap your head around all of this salary-cap-space-crap everyone keeps talking about.

Well, to break it down for you, I found a couple of posts on the internet that are talking pure dollars and cents when it comes to the New York Knicks and what they are trying to accomplish with their salary cap issues before the start of the free agency period on July 1st, 2010.

From “Off the Dribble:”

Write down this figure: $21,571,737.
Put it on a Post-It note, stick it to the edge of your computer monitor, and leave it there until after the season is over. You’ll be referring back to it later. It’s the Knicks’ magic number.

It represents the Knicks’ committed player salaries going into this summer’s free agent market. Subtract $21,571,737 from whatever amount the salary cap comes in at (and at this point $53 million is a reasonable estimate), and you’ll end up with the amount of cap space GM Donnie Walsh has to spend on free agents. With a $53 million cap, that would give him $31,428,263 in spending power. - Off the Dribble/NYTimes.com

From ESPN’s TrueHoop:

New York Knicks: $18.64 million in 2010-11 payroll
No team in the league has been more aggressive about ridding themselves of contracts that extend past June, a process that continued Thursday when the Knicks unloaded Jared Jeffries in a three-team deal with Houston and Sacramento. That leaves Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas and Eddy Curry ($11.28 million player option) as the only figures on the books headed into the summer, totaling less than $18 million for those four players. Add eight minimum roster charges (the Knicks don't have a first-round pick) and you get a hair over $21.5 million, leaving New York with just enough money to extend two max contracts. They'd have to completely gut their roster to sign two max guys, and would have little to no chance to retain David Lee, whose rights they'd have to renounce. – TrueHoop.com/ESPN.com

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Curry Not Dealt, But There's Still A Way to Rid of Him

With the New York Knicks having landed Tracy McGrady and his expiring contract, the prospect of trading Eddy Curry is now gone.

However, a few months ago, the New York Times basketball blog tackled the idea of getting rid of Eddy Curry at the end of this season and at no expense to next year's cap space.

If Curry is willing to give up his option for next season, Walsh would likely give him a buyout in a heartbeat, rushing to get it done before Curry has a chance to change his mind.
Even a buyout would be tricky to accomplish. A buyout is a form of waiver, and Curry’s contract has a clause that says an unexercised option is automatically invoked should he be waived — it is a standard clause inserted into contracts that contain options. So if the Knicks and Curry reach agreement on a buyout, then half his buyout amount would be charged to the Knicks’ cap starting next summer.

In order to have Curry completely off the books, they could mutually amend his contract to eliminate the option completely. If they do this and then the Knicks waive Curry, his entire buyout amount would be charged to the Knicks’ cap this season. None of his salary would count against their cap next summer. ~ NYTimes.com

The piece then goes on to point out that eliminating Curry's option would limit the Knicks to buying Curry out at a price congruent with the remainder of his 2009-2010 salary. That means Curry would be out of the $11+ million he would make next season.

Thus, the only way the Knicks can buy Curry out and not have it count against the cap is if Curry REALLY, REALLY wants a chance to revive his career and sign with a team that would give him a chance to play, but wouldn't pay him nearly the $11 million he would have to voluntarily give up to make that happen.

I don't know about you, but it's unlikely that Curry would agree to a buyout that wouldn't hurt the Knicks cap, even though such a move would be in the best interest of his playing time. All you have to do is remember Stephon Marbury, who was in a much better position to be a contributor for another team, and even he went into his final season to earn every dime he could out of his contract.

Thus, don't expect Curry to be helping the Knicks out with their long-term plans. He will likely choose to sit out all of next season, possibly eliminating any chance of a viable basketball career revival, and he'll have to watch the likes of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James or Chris Bosh resuscitate the very franchise he was once tapped to revive himself.

How sad.

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