The Knicks Fix

I wanna know what the other media guys predicted.

Alan, I think your prediction is spot on. The Knicks did little to improve their defense, which was awful last year. And if Marbury and Crawford play the lion's share of the minutes at guard, the defense will be just as bad. Also, its not discussed enough, but Curry's defense is so bad that the team is better when he is on the bench, despite his scoring ability.

If Isiah is wants to save his job, then Randolph, Lee, Balkman, Richardson, Marbury, Robinson, Collins and Robinson will be the main eight man rotation. If he insists on playing Curry major minutes, he will be gone by the end of the year.

Watch out, Alan -- your realistic view may be too negative for some of your Pollyanna bloggers.

For me, it is a fair assessment. I waver between 9th seed, and 8th, getting knocked out in the 1st round by Boston or Detroit.

If this isn't about injuries it should, without a doubt, be Malik Rose. He has no business getting any minutes on this team as I'm pretty sure Dick Bavetta could beat him in a foot race and avenge his loss to Barkley.

I don't care how upstanding the guy is - if he can't play, he can't play. And he clearly cannot play.

I think you are discounting the Knicks second unit. During the preseason, those guys defended like wildcats and that was without Balkman. If we see that level of defesive intesity during the season the NYK will will more games than people think. Also, with the depth of the Knick bench, you can look for Isiah to bench guys when they don't defend. I know it's chic to 'hate on the Knicks, but us real fans have actually watched the team and there is improvement there. 40 games is selling the team short. Most predictions are for 43-47 wins.

Adam L

Isola was on Mike and the Mad Dog. check thebigpush.info or Knicksdefense.com for the audio stream where Isola predicted 39-41 wins.

we did a poll on our site and the mean prediction was about 46, which is actually my predition plus/minus two, assuming injuries don't kill the team as it did last season.

my bet: whoever will be deactivated won't be a small forward.

correction, isola said 38.

MJ, most predictions (nba annuals, websites, blogs) are that the knicks finish fourth in the atlantic and miss the playoffs, I don't know if 43-47 wins fits that description.

a

I am going to go out on a very thin limb and predict that the Knicks will win the Atlantic Division. There my Dark Horse to make it to the second round in the playoffs...I know it sounds insane, but with most of the media not even seeing them in the playoffs, that should give them motivation to play with the backs against the wall throughout the whole season. Yes, I keep hearing about there defense problems, don't forget, its Isiah head this season as well, so I think he'll pull the hook real quick on anyone who isn't playing defense.

40 wins? That's Wacky!

I think that the knicks will have a winning record at the end of this year and make the playoffs. My personal prediction is 46-36.

The thing is that I don't believe that this teams performance will be a flat line this year. I expect that they will get better as the season moves along. I think that they'll have a minor adjustment period to start, but then settle into a good groove and start to open up and let their talent show more.

This team has much more upside than some of the teams ahead of them. I don't see Wash, Clev or Miami getting any better than what they already have been. Whereas I feel the Knicks still haven't reached their peak yet. They've got players with much more room to grow into their talent.

I think you are right Alan

I declare Crawford's "potential" to be officially over - he is a 7th man.

The Starbury err-a is over

Can't have two knuckleheads in the back court and two no-defenders in the front court.

At least, Mardy must start, with Starbury at the 2 (I'm gaming what Zeke might be capable of doing)

Q gets the benefit of the doubt as the starting 3 for about 10 games. Then it is on to Balkman if Q can't handle the physical part of the game. Only Balkman can make up for the mistakes of the Double No-D front court.

The hook must be quick and savage on Curry, D-Lee is ready to go.

And the moral of the story is: the Starbury gamble came up snake-eyes. Great drafts, great young players, Brown (or any coach) could have built a real basketball culture if not for Starbury's sociopathic tendencies and Zeke's inability to admit the error. I had hopes for Marbury, but he hasn't been able to change.

A team we should be fielding:

Collins
Robinson
Balkman
Randolph
Curry

David Lee 6th man playing 35 a night
Q and Crawford as required
Jeffries as gadget man, Wilson's time will come
Starbury rehabbing tendinitis with John Lucas in Houston

trade Curry with Marbury (a 7 foot spoon full of sugar ought to make the medicine go down) to somebody, for sumpin good and draft picks

Pick up DJ MBenga and another shot blocker

I miss Jeff Van Gundy
He looks so cute on the ESPN commercial and he speaks truth on their broadcasts.

Zeke is a dead man walking. We'll see what desperate times make of him. He's fond of tales of nothing to lose, let's hope he coaches and substitutes that way. IF......IF, he subs to defend, we are deep and dangerous and can make the playoffs.

Go Knicks.

42 thrilling, never a dull moment, wins.

Seems to me that we’re all in the same ballpark, if you will. Alan at 40. Starburyfan as low as 43. I think they’re going to struggle to get to 42. I hear what MJ is saying, but I’m taking the bench into consideration. My prediction would have been lower without such a strong bench. I predict this team is going to continue to dig big holes for itself in the first quarter, and rely on the bench to get out of it.

There are two ways of looking at the eastern conference this year. It’s been up-graded, certainly. The addition of Zach looked like more of a difference maker before Boston and Orlando kept making moves over the summer. At the same time, the Knicks aren’t the only team that has to come together as a team. Let’s not forget that it take a coupl’a years for teams with talent to learn how to win, then to learn how to win in the play-offs.

There’s a lot of new talent in the east. But I tend to lean to the teams that have been together for a while that also have talent. In crunch time, I’d like Pistons or the Nets, because of their experience, because they know how to win -- together.

Who knows what these comments are going to look like in March, let alone May? I would have picked this Knicks team to have made the playoffs against the eastern conference last year. This year, it’s going to be a lot tougher for them.

Well I guess I may as well not watch. ISiah is fired with no playoffs and we are back in the Phil Jackson sweepstakes.

We will make the playoffs. Oh yes We will.

I think Mark is really Scott Layden.

I have been saying all summer that the best we can do is trade Curry while his value is high and find a big man that can defend, now that we have Zach. Eddy can be dominant down low if the ball is fed appropriately, but does not rebound or block shots, don't pass well out of the double team and is a turnover machine. I had advocated for Jermaine O'Neal which was the league leader in blocks, gets you double double rebounds and almost 20 ppg, but I admit he is too much of an injury liability. Still, if we have a chance to land a superstar caliber player I will package him in the deal. Also Crawford is only valuable coming from the bench. He is too erratic and does not defend. Coming with the second unit to provide scoring punch makes more sense. I hate to see guys like Kobe, Artest, Garnett before, on the market and realizing we don't have the assetts. Alan is about right with 40 wins, I would say the range is 37-43 (and 43 is a stretch)

I think people are forgetting 2 important things.

1. This team was looking at the 8 spot until the injuries hit.

and

2. Balkman and Nate both look like they are taking their games to another level that could see both of them starting in the near future.

The big risk I see is Isiah being stubborn and refusing to start Nate over Crawford.

I think Randolph has been challenged by the media regarding his defense and is going to surprise people. Nate, Balkman and Randolph form a good enough defensive core to make a big difference. Moving Marbury over the SG will also make a big difference and could propel us into one of the better defensive team.

I'm calling the over/under at 48

Easy 4-6 seed in the east and at least the second round of the playoffs.

emac2 said it best, as did Howard Beck in todays times:

"They finished 33-49 last season but were highly competitive for two months before three key players — Crawford, Quentin Richardson and David Lee — were lost to injuries. They are all healthy now, and the Knicks this summer added Zach Randolph, an All-Star talent, to play power forward.

The high-energy bench, featuring Lee, Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman, is the envy of general managers everywhere. While the roster lacks a single, defining franchise player, it is as deep as any in the league. Ten of their top 12 rotation players return from last season, providing a rare bit of continuity."

I say 42+ wins, around the 6 seed in the east. Could be rocky at the start, look for cohesion around Janaury...some really fun nights at the Garden, and some ones you'd rather forget. We will streak into the playoffs, no one will want to face us. Look for 10 highlight real dunks by Renaldo this season

.500 this year, if you ask me. But I'm the worst predictor in the world, so pay me no mind.

And, oh yeah - DFTT. Thank you.

Don ADO-
It's not just you brother; we all think we've got it figured out, but in the end, there are too many variables to really know where the team will finish.

acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/DFTT

I say 42 wins and I think a lot of people are forgetting about a lot of things. With Isiah running the show, the starting lineup is not quite as important as it may be for other teams. Last year, the starters would play the majority of the first half, but Isiah kept his hot players in when it counted in the later third and fourth quarters. We have the depth to overcome injury problems and we have a versatile group of guys so that we can play a variety of different ways. We can play heavy on guards and push the pace with our fast forwards. We can slow it down, installing Lee at the three, having a huge lineup that dominates the boards. We can put in a frantic defensive lineup such as Nate, FJones, Collins, Balkman, and Lee. Contrary to popular belief, we do have several good spotup outside shooters.

All that being said, the main worry as many reporters have pointed out is interior defense. Isiah copped out to the media the other day, saying that he didnt recall when Eddy or Zach surrendered 30 or more points to his man. This is because a) they don't guard the other teams best post players and b) if their man is hot, they are quickly switched off him. In addition, a big man's job on defense is more complicated than just stopping his man. Help defense is a huge part and we don't have that.

Overall, I'm very excited about this season. I already said we can be a lot of things, but I wonder, what will our identity be at the end of the season? We usually play the Cavs very well and without Varajeo to annoy Eddy, Friday should be no different. My prediction is 99-91 Knicks.

What I find fascinating is that after a summer of such wild expectations . . . at various times bloggers were ranking the Knicks among the most talented teams in the league. And now, even the most optimistic among us can barely project a dozen more wins than last year’s 33-win season. I got a bad feeling.

I was okay with Isiah’s waiting game, but I always believed he was gearing up for one more big move. A 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 that would have solved our roster and rotation problems in one move, by bringing in a premier 3. Q moves to the 2. Jamal, to the bench.

Instead, we’re dumping assets (again!). Asset-management is not one of IT’s strong suits. Maybe he did the right thing by not pulling the trigger on any deals this summer. We’ll never know.

But I can’t help thinking the roster we had all summer was a great, lost opportunity for just the kind of trade this team needed . . . and continues to need. I would have been happy with simply the player we THOUGHT we were getting when we picked up JJ#2. A long, active defensive specialist at the 3. Or, we could have shot for the moon, and gotten Artest – perhaps the best player in the NBA to complement the rest of our front line.

The acronym: DFTT. Don’t feed the trolls. Created by the Fixers to actively ignore comments that are disruptive and ill-informed when a response would only encourage more of the same. The theory being: If you stop feeding a lost dog, it will stop coming round your door. Apparently, I’m told, trolls work the same way.

THE KNICKS ARE NOT GOING TO BE IN THE PLAYOFFS IF CURRY IS THE MAIN OFFENSIVE GUY CURRY CAN'T EVEN FIND HIS WAY IN THE POST CAN'T PASS OUT THE POST.THE ONLY REASON HE AVERAGED 19.5 LAST SEASON WAS THAT HE GOT 20 TOUCHES AN WAS THE MAIN GUY.LETS HOPE STARBURY COMES TO PLAY DRIVE AN DISH THEN FIND HIS OWN WAY TO SWISH.

i'm at 48 after browsing the schedule. in the playoffs (7th). DFTT

If the knicks dont man up (which i think they will) then they wont get far. However, there have been plenty of teams that haven't played defense and have made the playoffs. Isiah keeps talking about Wally Pipp to remind everyone that nobody is safe. Everyone on the bench has thrived for success and now we have an amazing second unit. Yea the knicks have problems but i can't believe everyone is counting them out. No way 8 teams in the eastern conference are better than the knicks. No way.

Starbury-

I actually meant I wonder what the other media guys predicted for LAST year. Alan says he was the closest with 34. I wanna know what the other guys thought about 06-07.

I am thinking around 43-47 wins...like many others!!!

Let's go Knicks!!!

Adam L
Ah. I have no idea. Maybe Alan will tell us. I'm sure if you ask the media guys now what they predicted last year they'll tell you 33 wins.

Willis, I think your wish may be granted soon the way Isiah keeps mentioning Wally Pip. If things to go so hot in the first ten games, I see Isiah making a change in the back court before he does anything else.

The guy wearing the #11 jersey in the preseaon is an impostor.

Good Point by Ray Robinson,

I am counting on Isiah benching who ever needs it. The only one I see Isiah being soft on is Curry. He needs so much encouragement to produce. I wish lambier was on the bench next to Zeke to remind Curry what 7 ft really is.

But I think the backcourt rotation is up for grabs.

don't go so hot, I meant to say.

Ok i think we cant land kobe because we dont have the pieces and/or he doesnt wanna come here. So why cant we get in the action and pick up so better players. Here is my trade proposal that WONT land kobe but will improve the knicks.

Bulls gets: Kobe Bryant

Lakers get: Tyrus Thomas, Chris Duhon, V. Khryapa and Ben Gordon from the bulls. Also they get Malik Rose, Randolph Morris, Nate and Fred Jones from the knicks.

Knicks get: Noah from the Bulls and Lamar Odom from the Lakers.

The numbers works i checked. I think all three teams would benefit from a trade like this. The Bulls would get to pair Kobe with Deng and still have Nocioni and Hienrick to go along with them. The Lakers would get rid of the head case and save MILLIONS of dolars and will get under the cap next year, and they will have quite a few young talent to work with such as Ben Gordon, Nate, Tyrus Thomas and Duhon (not bad i think). The knicks would have upgraded their starting lineup with the addition of Odom ( he would step in as the starting SF) and the bench would also get upgraded with the addition of Noah and Q Rich. Just think the second unit would have two David Lees lol (Noah and Lee). Knicks starting lineup would be:
PG: Marbury/ Collins/Crawford
SG: Crawford/Q/Odom/Chandler
SF: Odom/Balkman/Q/Chandler
PF: Zach/Lee/Noah
C : Curry/Noah/Lee
What do u guys think??

BTW i am predicting 45-50 wins this year. The main concerns of most critics are that the knicks dont have any chemistry and Zach and Curry wont be able to play together. I think they are wrong, and that Curry and Zach will play well together. More than half the players are coming back how do they not have chemistry?? 45- 50 wins this year i said it you can write that down!

Trane -

Dumping assets?

Like end of the second round draft choioces?

Like Butler?

Who are you thinking would have made a difference

LIVES’ Initial Prediction For The Reshaped East Final Standings

I’m not really a prediction kind of guy. I like analyzing facts, which is why I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time on trade speculation and coveting OPP. I like to write about what I know or think I know. I don’t know what the future will hold or is likely to hold in this regard. Key injuries, Kobe’s ultimate destination and referees’ side bets could change everything. Nevertheless, if the teams stayed exactly the way they are now I believe the final standings shortly after tax day 2008 will be as follows:

1. Detroit Pistons
2. New Jersey Nets
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Miami Heat
5. Chicago Bulls
6. New York Knicks
7. Cleveland Cavaliers
8. Orlando Magic
______________________________
9. Washington Wizards
10. Boston Celtics
11. Philadelphia 76ers
12. Charlotte Bobcats
13. Atlanta Hawks
14. Milwaukee Bucks
15. Indiana Pacers

Even with the quality of roster changes in the East, the class of the Conference remains the all-star team of theDetroit Pistons. The only thing that separates them from the O’Brien Trophy are the Spurs, a competent coach and some heart. The embarrassment of last year and a new contract for Chauncey should have resolved most of those issues. Few can put their finger on what’s wrong with the talent-laden New Jersey Nets, but the team lacks chemistry and consistent effort. Defensively they are an enigma to us and themselves. This team wins as much as Jason Kidd desires to win and Vince Carter plays near the rim for longer than a dunk and a pose. When on all cylinders and with an inside presence, they are very hard to beat, but overall they play like a seventh seed. The Toronto Raptors are a defenseless wonder, but are young, intense and shoot well. They will continue to win regular season games under Sam Mitchell, the development of Bosh, and the Ever Ready battery play of Jose Calderon and TJ Ford. Aged players and Shaq’s apparent strategy to play half a season and be in shape for the major trophy push at the end of the season keeps the Miami Heat from being the second best regular season team in the East, but the team is still the cream of the Southeast..

The Chicago Bulls are not a championship team with Ben Wallace in the middle. With no serious upgrade in the center of their front court, they remain a middle of the road squad also built for regular season wins. They should be a tough matchup for most teams all season long however. The New York Knicks will be one of the pleasant surprises with the deepest bench and hardest offense to stop in the conference. Zach Randolph and a young group of Knicks will make it very uncomfortable for the naysayer and a little defense will carry this team a long way including deep into the post-season. LeBron came into his own last year, although the Cleveland Cavaliers were clearly not a championship quality team. The organization is on an upward swing and the team plays harder more consistently then most teams in the East. Without a true point guard and no real roster improvements, they are still an incomplete project built for regular season wins. The Orlando Magic have a nice inside-outside look with Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard, and Hedo Turkoglu, but Jameer Nelson needs to be in top shape and in control of the game to beat out Boston and Washington for this last spot.

As long as the Washington Wizards put Caron Butler, Antwan Jamison and Gilbert Arenas on the floor, the team has a chance to win by outshooting the opponent, but don’t expect any defensive resistance from this big three. Twan is the leader but Arenas is the quirky young star still a mindset away from understanding the team concept. I’m not buying the Boston Celtics’ (and NBA’s) marketing plan, because Paul Pierce, Ray Allen nor Kevin Garnett can engineer the offense from the point for 38-40 minutes. Rondo will have his hands full and lack of depth and middle presence on defense will keep Boston out of playoffs, unless a major injury hurts one of the aforementioned teams. AI is still with the Philadelphia 76ers, just not the one who can carry a franchise on his back for 82 games. I expect them to be competitive but not enough to be more than a spoiler. The Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers are all lottery bound. The first 82 games are a lengthy pre-season/training camp for Yi Jianlian as he learns to handle the rigors of the NBA season, his international celebrity status and the steep learning curve in developing an offensive game. The Atlanta Hawks is loaded with individual talent too young and experienced to provide the leadership and chemistry needed to win a playoff spot. The Indiana Pacers are professionals and are expected to act like professionals as they pile up losses for Larry Bird. One day Emeka Okafor of the Charlotte Bobcats will get some help inside and he will be a beast (although injury prone). But for now his talents will be featured slightly more than sightings of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster.

WARNING: Don’t be surprised if my following previews do not reflect this prognostication. I am only wedded to these predictions if they come true..

NEXT: REVISED ACRONYM DICTIONARY

Emac2 – it seems like every year around this time the Knicks are dumping assets. Yes, that includes a very promising second round pick this year, and Butler a while back, but those are only minor examples. I consider Hardarway’s incredibly valuable contract effectively dumped. Similarly with Davis. Then there were the contracts bought out when they were close to expiring: Rose, Taylor and there were a few more. Those are franchise assets. Massively valuable to other GMs. Not well handled. Which is to say we had the potential to receive much greater value in return. (Hardaway’s contract becomes the most problematic example, because it forces a much more detailed examination of the Zach trade. Sitting at the draft last summer, with Stevie Francis on the roster, I believe the trade Isiah made was a steal for the Knicks. That contract plus Frye? Highway robbery. But that’s not the whole story. It really cost us Hardaway’s contract, Ariza, and a number 8 pick. Maybe that trade also gets made, maybe it doesn’t. But it ain’t highway robbery anymore when presented in that light.)

Lives – I put Detroit and New Jersey at the top of the east just a few hours ago. I completely agree with you. I do, however, have one question for you. This isn’t the first time I’ve read today that the Bulls can’t win it all with Wallace in the middle. I might tend to agree with that in the abstract if it weren’t for one nagging point. His ring. How do you reconcile that seeming contradiction? Age? Make-up of the team?

Contradiction, Trane? It would be hard to argue that the 2007-2008 Bulls are anything close to being the 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons.

But, I'll make it simple for you. Can you say RASHEED WALLACE?

Okay, Lives -- so you're saying that the two teams are sufficiently different that this Bulls team isn't going to win it all with Wallace in the middle. I don't disagree with that. I don't see them coming out of the east, and even if they get hot at the right time, there are 3 or 4 teams in the west that would beat them. Just making sure you weren't saying that a team can't win with BW at center. But I agree that this Bulls team isn't going to win it all. They could definitely use another Wallace or even a Weber would help. You're right --

Is anybody else thinking Denver could make a lot of noise this year? They feel like such a sleeper, yet I feel silly saying it because they have so much talent. But nobody talks about them.

Trane - I don't think anyone will argue that the Ariza - Francis trade was a good one and while some will blame that on Zeke I am easily able to write that off as part of the cost of hiring Brown.

As far as the Randolph trade not being a steal in light of where Francis and Frye came from I have to disagree. I don't think anyone should expect 100% accurate evaluations in personnel and I don't think any GM is 100%. We traded a #8, an expiring contract and a second round pick for a young all star power forward. That is still an excellent deal. There is no doubt it isn't as good as looking at it in light of a failed number 8 and Francis but it is still a worthwhile move. Sure an A- is worse than an A+ but there is no way this is a mishandling of assets and in fact is a remarable recovery from Browns "mistake"

As far as buyouts, I agree with them if we don't have a good deal available. They are the best way to get payroll down.

I disagree that Nichols is "very promising" a good summer league is nice but really isn't indicative of anything and I think it is clear that he didn't show much in spring training practices. The only question during spring was if he was the 14th or 15th best player on the team. Combine that with being an end of the second round pick and I think it is easy to say he is a borderline NBA player at best.

Butler of course is out of the league.

A lot of these players become fan favorites because of their long shot stories but in reality none of them have proven to be better than the people we have kept.

I agree with your feeling that we should have been able to do more with our expiring deals. I've come to the conclusion that between the vengeful Brown mafia and the PR beating any team would get for aquiring a Knicks player, we have been unable to get reasonable value for our expiring deals and I agree that if you can't get a big talent with a big contract you are better of letting it come off the cap.

If we ever want to have cap room we have to let a lot of these big deals expire. I don't fault the team for slowly working in that direction.

Alan, I think 40 is a fair assessment. I also think it could be a stretch. This team lacks defensive intensity, offensive continuity, and most of all HEART. Many people are saying that this team may take until January to hit it's stride, but that may be too late to recover. The key to this season is November's 15 games. They have:

Road games against:
Cleveland, Suns, Clipps, Sac, Nuggs, Detroit, and Boston.

Home games against:
Minn, Denver, Orlando, Miami, Bulls, Utah, Mil

So realistically, The season has a chance to go horribly wrong (something like: 5-10 or 4-11), or give the team the confidence to really become a solid team this year 8-7).

34 wins.

Obviously missing the playoffs. Isiah is fired immediately following the end of the season. Curry re-injures the shoulder and must have season-ending surgery. CASKs blame failure of team on injuries once again.

Leading scorer: Z-Bo at 22.4 PPG.
Wilson "I'd prefer Tyson" Chandler: 1.4 PPG.

I hope none of my predictions come to fruition.

KOBE TO NY:

KOBE BRYANT
BRIAN COOK

4

ZACH RANDOLPH
JAMAL CRAWFORD
RONALDO BALKMAN

MAKING OUR STARTING 5

CURRY
LEE
Q
KOBE
STEPH

I WANT IT DONE

KNICKS NEED CAVALIER ATTITUDE TO START THE SEASON

Just our luck. The Knicks begin the 2007-2008 season against the Eastern Conference Champions. Surely, one would think this is not the way for a 33-49 team to start a winning season, but I am here to tell you that the Knicks could easily win their first game of the season which would be an auspicious signal of things to come.

The Cavaliers may have a Championship attitude after being pummeled by the Spurs in the Championship last season, but that beating was further proof that the Cavaliers are not Championship material. They were not very good last year and did nothing to improve during the off-season.

The inaugural beating they received from Dallas a couple of days ago should not be taken lightly or overblown. It was one game and did not reflect the type of effort usually exerted by the Cavaliers. It did reveal that the Cavs had a horrible training camp, they miss key players in Snow, Varejao and Pavlovic and that sometimes James will be lethargic in the beginning of the season, like he was last year before being encouraged by his boy Wade, because of all his commercial activity, travel and work with Team USA.

If the Knicks truly have a championship attitude and can translate that into consistent hard effort on the court this game would be a good steal and excellent way to show that 2006 Cavalier-like attitude. I am expecting a mark in the Knicks win column as a result of hard work and defensive pressure on the guards, despite an improved effort by James, Gooden and Illy.

LAST SEASON

Last Season the Cavs won the three game match up 2-1, but the Knicks won the most recent game between the teams 97-93 on March 28th at MSG. In that game, Curry scored 25 points and went 11-14 from the line. LeBron shot 6 for 20 as the Knicks were fighting to keep their payoff hopes alive without the services of David Lee, Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford. It must be noted though, that the March match-up was the second of a back-to-back for the Cavaliers.

In the March 23 game, the Cavs blew the Knicks out by 22. James scored 21 while Hughes and Illy scored 16 each. For the Knicks, Curry was the high rebounder with 9. Very unusual but he scored 27 points, while the Knicks were without Crawford and Richardson.

It is also instructive to note that last year when the Cavs played Zbo’s Trailblazers on January 17th, Zach earned is 22d double-double while winning 94-76. Zbo dominated the Cavs bigs inside scoring 26 points and getting 12 rebounds while the defense focused on stopping LeBron who scored 23 points. In their previous match-up in November, LeBron led the Cavs to a victory over Portland with 32 points.

OVERVIEW

Last year, Lebron James got off to a slow start because of his participation in the Summer Games. This past summer should not have been as exhausting since he had Kobe, Kidd and Carmelo on the team taking off a lot of pressure. Still by mid-season LeBron may experience some fatigue. Expect LeBron to put forth a much better effort in this game, slashing to the basket and forcing the defense on its heels, if Illy doesn’t start off hitting those short range jumpers and gets into foul trouble trying to guard Curry or Randolph.

The preseason for the Cavaliers was an absolute disaster as they went 1-6 without holdouts Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic .

The Knicks play Cleveland again December 19th, and March 5th.

The Knicks are still attempting to sharpen their identity of a power team with finesse-speed capabilities. Both Curry and Zbo play well against the Cavs from the inside and the Knicks have not yet demonstrated that the tandem works simultaneously. But this is a good game to try and put pressure on a team that does not have the same depth as the Knicks.

COACH

Mike Brown, the second youngest coach in the league, will eventually be one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NBA if he hangs around King James long enough. Like Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich, one of his mentors, his fortunes are currently inextricably bound to a superstar who has already helped his resume considerably. In two years his regular season record is 100-64 (.610), and his playoff record is 19-14 (.576). Last year he coached the Eastern Conference champs and eventual pin cushion to the Champion San Antonio Spurs.

After playing ball, as a noted defensive specialist, for 13 years, Brown began his coaching career with the Denver Nuggets in 1992 as a video coordinator, before he was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, under Gregg Popovich, for three years, including the 2003 Championship year and associate head coach (huh?) Under Rick Carlisle for two years in Indiana.

Brown emphasizes defensive and an inside-out game. He attempts to control the pace of the game by subbing his guards. With the “emergence” of Gibson, Brown uses a four guard rotation. Brown will miss the savvy of Eric Snow. Although the Cavs are not a fastbreak team, they are an uptempo team that likes to shoot early in the clock, beginning from

PROBABLE STARTING LINE-UP

Cleveland’s starting line-up will probably be as follows:

Daniel Gibson G
Larry Hughes G
LeBron James F
Drew Gooden F
Zydrunas Ilgauskas C

In the first game against Dallas, Brown used an 11-man rotation, which included eight players in double figures. However, he did not play recently re-signed guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic who missed the entire pre-season.

The Cavaliers are not at full strength since Pavlovic missed the entire pre-season, Varejao is out due to a negotiation battle with Danny Ferry, and Eric Snow is expected to be out until at least November 15, 2007 with a left knee tear that will require surgery and have him out for 4-6 weeks. Without Snow, the Knicks can bring some nice pressure to bear on the guards.

The Cavs rotation seems unsettled and probably is after that dismal lack of effort against the Mavericks in the season home opener.

Last year Brown’s most used units were
1. Snow-Hughes-James-Gooden-Ilgauskas
2. Hughes-Pavlovic-James-Gooden-Ilgauskas
3. Gibson-Hughes-James-Gooden-Ilgauskas

Cleveland refuses to acknowledge that it’s biggest problem is Larry Hughes at point. Wrong spot. He is skilled, but not the best decision-maker at the point position.

WHAT TO EXPECT

This section is the hardest to write because this is the first game of the season for the Knicks and it is hard to guess how the team will respond since the games now count on the “Shiny Stuff Quest.” But there are some things that are more likely to happen than not:

– Expect the Cavs to try to establish an inside game through Ilgauskas, mirroring the efforts by the Knicks on the other end.

– Expect Ilgauskas to hit his shots from 10-15 feet with a weak defensive hand waving in his face. He will have trouble on the defensive end however and should be sitting from foul trouble halfway into the first quarter unless Curry gets called first for using his hands to guard Ilgauskas.

– Expect LeBron to force the action early by driving to the basket. His teams best bet for winning is to keep the defense on its heels. Balkman will collect his fouls against LeBron. Qrich will slow LeBron down and force him to shoot jumpers and Chandler might get some PT while the others get some blow. LeBron needs to play 38 minutes for the Cavs to win.

– Expect quite a rebounding battle between Drew Gooden and David Lee and Zach Randolph.

– Randolph will be unstoppable. The Knicks best unit will include Marbury, Robinson, Lee, Balkman and Zbo. They will run the Cavs down if out there long enough.

– Expect defensive effort from Curry and quick fouls.

– Expect Crawford to slash to the basket early and often. If he starts taking pull-up jumpers, he will be creating a warm spot about the size of a butt on the bench.

– Look for improved perimeter defense from the Knicks which will spell doom for Cleveland. Still expect Donyell Marshall to pop a couple of tres (1 for 3 against Dallas) from the corner as Knicks help defense breaks down. The only other real tre threat (besides LeBron) is Damon Jones who went 2-4 from the arc against Dallas.

– Knicks by four.

BOTTOM LINE

Tonight’s Game favors the Knicks despite the Vegas line. Although they may start the season just as out of sync as the Cavs, constant hustle, control of pace, and pressure on the guards should make this a relatively easy win.

While LeBron will come out with a vengeance he should be slowed down a bit by a combination of Quentin Richardson and Renaldo Balkman. Equally important is that he will be forced to play some defense and not allowed to rest. Although, he can expect a couple of easy scoring opportunities off the break because Zbo and Curry fumble the ball in the post, man on man pressure defense beginning at half court should eliminate the Cleveland fast break for the most part.

Expect Zbo to have an excellent night if Curry does not. Drew Gooden will need to be out on the floor most of the game like LeBron.

(More to write, but no more time)

LGK

Cleveland has become a much better defensive team which is one of the reasons they will reach the playoffs again. However, whether Cleveland can handle the Knicks offense is questionable if the Knicks play like they did in the Boston exhibition at the Garden.

Emac2 - I think you’re right. I think, to some degree, we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. I’ve always felt that laying Francis off on Brown is too easy an excuse. I don’t believe Isiah was placating Brown to the point of making bad blockbuster deals in February at his insistence . . . then turning around completely and firing the same man just a few months later. The buck stops on the President’s desk. Either IT knew it was a bad deal and was placating his coach (which I don’t believe, but would have been a mistake, if true) . . . or he agreed it was a good deal. Either way, not smart.

Moreover, my opinion is that you’re underestimating the trade value of some of these contracts. That’s really the bottom line here. That’s where our opinions differ the most. But that’s why I feel there has been value that was squandered. Also, if you’d rate the larger Zach trade as an A- . . . where were you when I was trying to pass calculus? I could have used such a generous grader.

Look – I think we’ve identified a lot of the same issues, and just rate them a little differently. Nichols obviously hadn’t yet proven himself. But there was a ton of potential there. I would have rather Zeke gambled on him living up to that potential, rather than having an injured James on the roster, doing nobody any good, all year . . . I feel that’s a better use of that slot. AND it’s a second round pick that’s kissed off. Assets add up.

At the same time, I think it’s possible to make too much of cap room. I haven’t read a lot on this subject, but it occurs to me that you’ve got to go in one of two directions. You can try to get under the cap in the hopes of grabbing a hot free agent. And, certainly, for those teams, a lot of the contracts we’ve wasted are pure gold. OR . . . you say, screw it . . . and especially if you’ve got an owner like Dolan . . . you just keep spending. I’m not convinced Isiah made the wrong choice by spending his ass off, once he realized what kind of owner Dolan was. Besides, it wasn’t realistic that he could get under the cap for YEARS. He was never going to rebuild this team that way. So in that sense, I think he made a savvy choice by how profligately he spent Dolan’s money.

Lives – I didn’t want to piggy-back this comment on another one. I wanted to express my appreciation for that pre-game preview. And I wanted it to stand alone. Enormously valuable. There are huge holes in my knowledge of the league, and an articulate, organized run-down like that is just what I’m interested in reading before a game.

Five stars. Keep up the good work. And thanks . . .

I admit I have been really surprised we haven't been able to turn expiring deals into something but I don't think zeke would have passed ona good deal if one was available. Maybe it is Dolan, maybe it is the other owners but do you think Zeke would have siad no because he prefers to waste assets or didn't know better?

I think Randolph is is better than Ray Allen and I view our #8, second round pick and expiring deal and very comparable to what Boston paid. A ready to go all star for a high draft choice is also a much better fit for our needs. I haven't looked at what kinds of players have been had for #8 picks and expiring contracts but I would be surprised if there were many young double double players had for that price. That is where the A- comes from. In fact, only the comparison with the actual trade put the grade that low.

I'm glad zeke didn't worry about what he traded for Nichols when deciding the final roster. I also don't blame him for the trade. He made the move because Nichols agreed to go overseas and wouldn't have made the deal if he didn't. I guess his mistake was trusting him and then letting him play in the summer league where he got a big head.

I'll agree the Francis deal is something we will never know about for sure and leave that one as an agree to disagree.

the fact is no coach could do a better job than Thomas. every player on the roster he drafted or signed or traded for. they respect him and will play harder for him than any one else. like it or not do not try to change coaches,unless you want more trouble and chaos. give him a chance. if you are a true knick fan you should realize we are better of with thomas. he was not responsible for trading ewing, giving houston an astronomal contract,or drafting the french flop on the first round, also nichols was drafted after 55 players were drafted he is not some one special, a lot of gms passed on him.