Welcome back to the season. Let's give you the reset:
Games Remaining (GR): 30 (14 home, 16 road)
Games out of a playoff spot (GB): 7.5
Teams ahead (TA): 6, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Indiana, Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Yolanda Vega's New York Lottery situation: Fifth-worst record (1. Miami, 2. Minnesota, 3. Seattle, 4. Memphis).
This week: Tuesday, @Wizards (25-27); Wednesday, @Sixers (23-30); Friday-Sunday home-and-home with Raptors (28-23).
Also this week: Trade deadline day is Thursday. Be very afraid.
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Remember last week, when Isiah Thomas countered our questions about making trades to get younger and going with his younger players? I believe his reply was, "We're already young. I don't think we can get any younger."
Then he turned to a PR staffer for acknowledgement of this fact he attempted to present.
"We're the fourth-youngest team in the league."
According to a database of the opening night rosters, Thomas is wrong again.
With an average age of 26.22 years, the Knicks are the 10th youngest team in the NBA. The youngest team is the Portland Trail Blazers, at 24.07 years, followed by Seattle (25.38), Golden State (25.42), Atlanta (25.51), Utah (25.61), Chicago (25.72), Philadelphia (25.73) and Memphis (25.87).
Four of those teams -- Golden State, Atlanta, Utah and Philadelphia -- are in legitimate contention for a playoff spot. Technically I should count Chicago, too, because they are just a game-and-a-half behind Philly for the final spot in the East. Portland was in the mix until recently. They're four out, which is almost buried in the wild, wild West.
Obviously some of these numbers have changed slightly. Atlanta added 29-year-old Mike Bibby and Golden State added 34-year-old Chris Webber. But they don't skew the numbers enough to change the argument.
And when we talk about the Knicks "youth," you have to consider NBA experience, because they have many players who were early entries to the NBA draft. Curry, for example, came right out of high school. With this in mind, the Knicks actually rank 14th in the NBA in average season experience with 4.80 years, which means there are 16 NBA teams with less.
Out of those 16 teams with less NBA experience, eight of them -- Atlanta, Golden State, Lakers, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Toronto, Utah and Washington -- are contending for a playoff spot.
Moving on...
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Love the comments and the draft debates. Keep it poppin.
As for Mr. Anonymous' suggestion to deal Ken Berger and myself for David Aldridge: clearly you subscribe to the Isiah Thomas way of thinking: trade youth for a high-priced veteran who probably wouldn't want to be here (DA has a great situation in Philly and with his TV gigs, etc.). If you can't bring legit humor to the table, at least bring some intelligence.
You were put in the pit for a reason.
It rubs the lotion on it's skin....
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Heading to practice then making the four-hour drive to D.C. We'll catch up there, Fixers.
Comments (16)
Four hour drive on the way down to D.C.? Yeah, on a non-holiday weekend. Good luck on 95, Alan. LOL. I DO NOT miss that drive anymore, that's for sure.
I still ask this - if the Knicks need a true PG, why not inquire about Brevin Knight? Sure, he can't shoot, but he's an excellent passer and ballhandler, he's a veteran presence, etc. Someone to hold the fort down and really give some veteran leadership from the "1" spot as we try and march into the playoffs (stop laughing). :)
Seriously though.
As for the big names like Artest - uh, no. Being here in Sacto, trust me, we don't want that guy on the N.Y. squad, trust me. I live probably 20 minutes from Ron Ron, and I know his neighbors. He got into some big trouble around here for allegedly hitting his live-in..."friend" and allegedly starving his dogs.
Not a class act, we all know he has a screw loose, and for any of my fellow Fixers that are still smarting over that Frederic Weis pick and lamenting we didn't get Ron Artest, he isn't worth the headache. He's be in trouble within a week back in N.Y.
The way to rebuilding is getting a solid PG, and a solid post presence. Bring in Brevin Knight would hold down the fort the rest of this season. We then draft a PG (why are you down on O.J. Mayo, Alan - I haven't followed his season, but I remember hearing how he's this tremendous LeBron-like talent at the PG position), have him learn from Knight for one more season.
Find a way to dump Z-Bo, install Lee full time at the "4" (we'll need his rebounding) and work from there.
The key is that PG spot. And Knight would help this year and next.
Alan,
Is there anyway to measure the stupidest team in the NBA?
The most overpaid?
The least deserving to be playing in the Mecca of basketball?
Please have your staff look into those statistics and get back to me.
1. Steph - buy out and let contract expire after next season. (Useless to us now.)
2. Trade Curry to Miami for Jason Williams and his expiring contract. Include cash or 2nd-rounders from either side and it should work. (Obviously wants out of this place. And Isiah basically said that it's a faster league now, and Curry can't keep up.)
3. Trade Zach & Fred Jones to Chicago for Ben Wallace and Nichols. (Chi-town needs a low post scorer. We need some defense and outside shooting. Plus Big Ben's contract expires the as Lebron, Wade, Bosh are all free agents...)
4. Trade one of Balkman/Nate (and cash/2nd rounders) to Memphis for Kyle Lowry. (Kid is a solid tough-nosed pg. Memphis could use either Balkman or Nate going forward. Nate's more of a 2-guard than Lowry. And any team could use a Balkman-type player.
5. Play Lee 35 minutes a game. Let him do his thing. Rotate Morris/Wallace at the center spot.
There's obviously a lot more dead weight on this team, but it would take days to really evaluate this whole team and what the best deals would be. Q really needs to go. I wanna hold on to Malik, because I feel like as the Knicks get younger, he would be a great person to mentor them. Basic plan....shed payroll, get some good young players in the draft, and make the team attractive for the summer of 2010 (especially LeBron!)
Big Knicks trade about to go down.
Basically the Knicks will get Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest in a 3-team deal for Lee, Marbury, Randolph, and Jeffries.
No joke.
Where'd you hear that, Jimmy?
yes where did you hear that?
That would be an interesting trade. STill doesn't help the PG situation. And is Jermaine even healthy?
Uh, there's nothing interesting about that trade. If it happens, I quit. I'm done. I will no longer watch this pathetic excuse for a franchise adding overpaid losers with long contracts while refusing to do the right thing and rebuild. Knicks are a disgrace.
It might fall apart yet, but an inside source that I have told me it looks like it could easily happen. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.
I hope not. I want lee around for years. Lets just focus on the draft, or get Luke Ridnour, get Luke and we'll be good enough for the rest of the season.
Get rid of Q
Get rid of zbo
Get rid of Jerome
Get rid of Jared
That should be our goal...deal with steph later, hes better then all of them combined
David Aldridge has experience, talent, and a passion for his work.
Berger and Hahn have rabbis and connections to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Swap Berger to Plano for the copiers and Obit editor.
Nix Hahn outright. Besides, a customer in Aisle 12 needs 10 gallons of off-white paint. Get busy, Alan. Do what comes naturally and matches your intellectual skills or blatant lack thereof.
Anonymous,
If I may ask, why are you insulting our host?
If you don't care for what he has to say, there must be other blogs that you may agree with more.
Just be considerate of the other people here and maybe limit it to b-ball, and not personal character assasinations.
It would be greatly appreciated.
ScottD - It appears Anon has confused "embarrassingly unfunny" and "moronic repetitiveness" with "comment worth sharing." It is depressing and a little disturbing that someone would choose to pass their time that way.
Alan - Isiah says the Knicks are too young (when they aren't), he says they're too big and slow (ignoring the number of times he'd defended his roster modes as making them younger and more athletic) - this after blaming fans, etc. Does he actually delude himself into believing this stuff (is he that divorced from reality) or is he at the point where feels he can just say anything since nothing can get him fired? He is as incomprehensible as our anonymous sociopath. What is he like in person (Isiah, not the anonymous sociopath)?
Hahn,
You really ought to change your byline to Bill E. Rubin.
Humor, Hahn, humor.
i like the artest and oneal deal. those are two that actually want to play here. we wouldnt see the kind of lazy efforts that got us into this hole in the first place. draft a point guard and we'd be money next year
Gentlemen – I urge you to just ignore Anonymous. You only encourage him by responding. If he were only “moronic” and “unfunny” that would almost be okay. It’s racist and offensive that makes me glad he’s been banned by this blog and every other Knicks blog, and is forced to “sneak” in using Anonymous. He should remind us all that this really is a city filled with sad, lonely people. It makes me a little nervous, however. I can’t help wondering where Rupert Pupkin ends, and Travis Bickle begins.