Renovating the Knicks’ House
You have been told that your team, the New York Knicks, will get into the playoffs. Are they playing like they should?
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Season: 2008-2009
The Renovation of the Knicks House
You have been told that your team the New York Knicks will get into the playoffs. Are they playing like they should? According to their new president, Donnie Walsh, the Knicks will have a better year than the past ones and they will win more games. To this point, this is happening but not to it’s fullest. However, this year, the rebuilding of the team, with some pain, at least, has begun.
After firing head coach and president Isaiah Thomas, the powers-that-be brought in new president Donnie Walsh. At that point people were just happy to get rid of Thomas. When Walsh hired the league’s best coach, Mike D’Antoni, fans knew this year would be different. The first major player move Walsh made was acquiring Chris Duhon from the Chicago Bulls. In Chicago, Duhon was the back up point guard for Kirk Henrick. But now he is the starting point guard for the Knicks. So far, this year, Duhon has helped the team greatly and he is in the top 10 in the league for assists. (Donnie made this move because current point-guard Stephon Marbury, still thought to be their most valuable and most talented player, displayed problems with their organization.)
Marbury who has been the Knicks’ best player has not played due to issues stemming back to last season. Last year, Marbury was supposed to play in a game in Phoenix when his father suddenly passed away. (He and his father were very close.) Marbury additionally nurtured relationship problems with (then) head coach Isaiah Thomas. These reasons, coupled with ensuing injury, did not result in more minutes. Marbury did not play for the rest of the season, and this cost him many of his fans.
This year was no different for the point guard. He was not playing and was having problems with the new organization. Marbury played in the preseason but did not play in the regular season because he was benched for many games. Finally, when Marbury was asked to play, he refused because his former coach from Phoenix and now Knicks coach D’Antoni did not play “the unfulfilled talent” (unfulfilled for the Knicks, anyway) for the other games. This caused Marbury to be suspended by the NBA for refusing to play. As a result, he was hated by his teammates and was banned from practices and games until further notice. Walsh wanted buy out his contract so this drama would end. But Steph demanded his full year contract instead of his full amount of $21 million. The Knicks wanted him to give back $2 million when Marbury wished to return only $1 million. Although Marbury was not agreeing, the Knicks had a hearing where Marbury did consent to a buyout. (The buyout was private and more information has not been let out.) Later that week, the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, signed Marbury. The Celtics have now gotten stronger and are now capable of winning 2 championships in a row.
Back to the rebuilding process. Earlier in the season, the Knicks traded two top guns and a backup point guard—Jamal Crawford (who averaged 19.6ppg); Zach Randolph (who averaged 20.1ppg); and the young Mardy Collins (who averaged about 5ppg). In the trade, Jamal went to Golden State for Al Harrington. Al, who is a decent player, is not as good as Crawford’s all around game. But Harrington can score a lot of points in a hurry. And that is what the Knicks need. In the second part of the trade, the Knicks traded Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the L.A. Clippers. In return they got former Knick Tim Thomas and they also acquired Cuttino Mobley. Although they don’t put points on the board like Randolph does, Thomas and Mobley are very good outside shooters.
This was not a good trade for the Knicks. During their physicals, Mobley was informed of a heart problem. And, if he continued to play, his life would be in jeopardy. So the Knicks lost out on a solid shooter. The Knicks got one player who only averages 9.6ppg while Zach averaged 20.1ppg. Donnie Walsh asked Commissioner David Stern if the Clippers would give something for the loss of Mobley. The NBA denied this offer because Mobley had this problem before he got traded to the Knicks, meaning the Knicks apparently knew about this and still traded for him.
After the first trade made in the season, the Knicks were involved in a second trade on February 19 at 3:00 pm (the trade deadline day). The Knicks traded recently traded Tim Thomas, Anthony Roberson, and Jerome James to the Chicago Bulls for shooting guard Larry Hughes. Also, the Knicks traded forward Malik Rose to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Chris Wilcox. Both players have been playing well and hopefully they can make an impact on the Knicks. The Knicks now have 3 roster spots open if they want to sign some free agents. And that is exactly what they did. The Knicks signed center Cheikh Samb from the L.A. Clippers and Demetris Nichols to 10-day contracts, later to be released. Then the Knicks signed Courtney Sims, rookie Joe Crawford, Mouhamed Sene, and another rookie in Chris Hunter for the rest of the season. If the winds blow right, they can help us, too. Otherwise they will be released. There is also a slight chance that the Knicks will sign Patrick Ewing Jr. (son of Patrick Ewing) who had played in the pre-season. The Knicks have a chance to sign him again and he will bring energy, height, and strength to the Knicks. But there is no guarantee.
Another reason why the Knicks aren’t winning is because of injuries. Players here get injured in bunches, and the rest of the Knicks have to play twice as hard to win games (which isn’t happening anyway). The typical Knicks’ player should be more careful and healthier. For example, Danilo Gallinari (the Knicks’ first round draft pick) was injured with a back injury that he suffered in the summer league. For the first 4 months of the regular season, Gallinari experienced his first, non-official coaching job—by cheering his teammates on from the bench. Thankfully, he is playing now, serving 7-8 ppg. But unfortunately, his lower back became sore again and he has gone to Italy to see a specialist on the problem. Also, Eddy Curry, Knicks’ starting center hasn’t played a whole lot this season. But, he has come back, giving the Knicks an extra body down low. The Knicks will need a full and healthy team throughout their campaign to get in the playoffs in the coming years.
2010 is a big year for the NBA. All-Stars like Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade will be unrestricted free agents. The Knicks have had their eye on these players and this is the reason they want to be under the salary cap. So let’s hope that they will get some of these young jewels. Also, for the Knicks, Nate Robinson and David Lee are free agents as well. But it is unlikely that they will sign somewhere else.
The Knicks, this season, have been doing better than last year. But it seems they will fall short of the playoffs once again as they will not make it this year. But the Knicks will hopefully look forward to a high draft pick in the 2009 Draft.
As D’Antoni’s young Knicks face the rest of the NBA, he will need more from his players more than ever, for the coming years.
Knicks Final 2008-2009 Record: 32-50
Knicks Final 2008-2009 Roster
No. Player Pos Ht Wt DOB Exp College
21 Chandler, Wilson
GF 6-8 220 5/10/87 1 DePaul
5 Crawford, Joe
F 6-5 207 6/17/86 R Kentucky
34 Curry, Eddy
C 6-11 285 12/5/82 7 Thornwood HS (IL)
1 Duhon, Chris
PG 6-1 185 8/31/82 4 Duke
8 Gallinari, Danilo
SF 6-10 225 8/8/88 R Italy
7 Harrington, Al
FC 6-9 245 2/17/80 10 St. Patrick’s HS (Elizabeth, NJ)
0 Hughes, Larry
GF 6-5 184 1/23/79 10 Saint Louis
31 Hunter, Chris
F 6-11 240 6/9/84 R Michigan
20 Jeffries, Jared
GF 6-11 240 11/25/81 6 Indiana
42 Lee, David
FC 6-9 240 4/29/83 3 Florida
32 Mobley, Cuttino
SG 6-4 215 9/1/75 10 Rhode Island
23 Richardson, Quentin
GF 6-6 235 4/13/80 8 DePaul
4 Robinson, Nate
G 5-9 180 5/31/84 3 Washington
18 Sene, Mouhamed
C 6-11 230 5/12/86 2 Senegal
44 Courtney Sims C 6-11 245 10/21/1983 1 Michigan
9 Wilcox, Chris FC 6-10 235 9/3/82 6 Maryland
Head Coach: Mike D’Antoni
Knicks stat chart/roster taken from nyknicks.com
