McGrady to Start for Knicks Tonight

Newly acquired guard, Tracy McGrady, gets the nod at shooting guard tonight for the Knicks according to Newsday. McGrady has played in six games this season with the Houston Rockets and averaged 7:35 minutes and 3.2 points per game. 

McGrady is healthy and Mike D’Antoni sees no reason not to immediately insert him into the starting rotation.

Chris Duhon starts at point guard and Sergio Rodriguez will start on the bench behind him. 

Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and David Lee will most likely round out the starting five for tonight’s game against the Thunder. Alan Hahn of Newsday points out that at 6′10″, Gallinari is the Knicks tallest starter. By losing Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries, the Knicks lose interior size on their roster.

D’Antoni Will Start Nate Robinson over Chris Duhon at Point Guard

The Knicks are making a “trade” or sorts, but it’s taking place right inside their roster. Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni will start Nate Robinson at point guard over Chris Duhon. Duhon has struggled mightily this season and Nate’s spark when on the floor can’t be missed. D’Antoni informed reporters of the switch during the post-game media session after their 107-85 win over the Wizards Wednesday night. 

About starting Robinson over Duhon D’Antoni said, “I don’t have a reason not to. I like what we saw. Hopefully it will stay that way.”

Robinson played the entire second half for the Knicks at point guard. He had 23 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds in the game. 

The decision is a no-brainer. Robinson adds spunk to the Knicks and Duhon doesn’t add much of anything, at least lately. Duhon’s not getting the job done and D’Antoni has seen his point guard’s struggles become the teams’ struggles. 

On a side note, castoff Larry Hughes saw time on the hardwood in the Knicks win Wednesday night. He scored 11 points. He saw the floor two times in all of January.

Bobcats End Knicks’ Four-Game Win Streak

The New York Knicks are going to look back to their loss tonight to the Bobcats and kick themselves. The Bobcats, led by Stephen Jackson, beat the Knicks 94-87 and snapped the Knicks’ four-game win streak. The Knicks led through three quarters and looked good in the process but collapsed in the fourth quarter and were outscored 28-13 in the period.

Each of the Knicks starters scored in double figures but nobody made any big baskets in the fourth quarter when they needed it the most. Knick turnovers also aided in the Bobcats’ come from behind win. Their defense also fell apart in the last quarter and the Bobcats’ defense got stingier late in the game. 

The game was a let down. When Chris Duhon leads the Knicks in scoring with 18 points, that’s not a good sign. Al Harrington only shot 4-13 from the floor and 1-7 from downtown and totaled 11 points. Danilo Gallinari was 2-7 and 0-5 from beyond the arc and had five points coming off the bench.

The Knicks can get back on track Thursday when they play the Bulls in Chicago. They follow that game up with the Clippers at the Garden on Friday. 

On a side note, only eight Knick players saw minutes in the loss to the Bobcats.

Knicks Win Four Straight

Who are these guys? The Knicks are turning their season around right in front of our eyes and have expanded their win streak to four tonight. The Knicks beat the Hornets 113-96 and scored the game’s final 18 points. Chris Duhon was hot down the stretch from beyond the arc and ended the game with 22 points and 9 assists. Al Harrington led all scorers with 28 points. 

Down by one point, 96-95, with under five minutes left in the game, the Knicks stepped up their game. They ended the game on an 18-0 run and remained hot during this cold December month. 

David Lee had a double-double and Nate Robinson did not play again.

How long can this winning streak last? The Knicks have a good chance at extending it at least three more games. In their next few games they play the Bobcats, Bulls and Clippers. D’Antoni’s team is hitting shots, playing better defense, and have improved tremendously since the beginning of the season. They don’t look like the same team that began the season 1-9, a franchise worst.

Knicks Roster Will Look Drastically Different Next Season

Of the Knicks’ current roster, only Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Toney Douglas, and Jordan Hill are locks to be on the team next year. Nate Robinson, Eddy Curry (player option), Chris Duhon, Al Harrington, Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries (early termination option), David Lee, Darko Milicic, Marcus Landry and Cuttino Mobley will be unrestricted free agents while Marcus Landry will be a restricted free agent after this season.

Donnie Walsh hopes to stock and reload the roster and obtain at least one NBA superstar. The Knicks players who are in their final year of their contracts know they probably don’t fit into Donnie’s plans. They know the organization is eyeing superstars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, to name a few. The point is that the current Knicks will be free agents too and looking to sign contracts themselves. They need to play well in New York this season to get paid by another team next season. Players like Al Harrington, Larry Hughes, David Lee and Nate Robinson won’t get great attention because of the glaring star-power in the free agent class but they’ll be expected to make an impact on the teams that sign them. A poor showing in 2009-2010 will hurt their chances of signing good contracts.

It behooves the current Knicks to play well and win games. It behooves the organization because they don’t have a first round pick and want to show potential free agents there is a good, young group of players to build around. Most of the current Knicks know they aren’t in the team’s future plans, but they are playing for themselves right now as much as they are playing for the team. The team just isn’t that good.

Chandler, Gallinari, and Douglas could be a good trio Donnie Walsh can build around. Hill hasn’t played enough to get a feel of how he’ll be. The roster will be completely overhauled before next season and an entire city is hoping Donnie Walsh can put together a playoff caliber team.

What has Donnie Walsh Really Done So Far?

Donnie Walsh was supposed to be brought into the Knicks organization as a savior.  He was supposed to cleanup Isiah’s mess and turn the team into winners.  He was brought in to appease Knicks fans and give the franchise hope.  Lets take a look at what he has done in the one year and four months that he has been the president of basketball operations of the team.  

Walsh’s first area of business was hiring a new head coach and he lured in ex-Sun’s coach Mike D’Antoni and his explosive seven seconds or less offense.  This was Donnie’s first move and it was a great one.  D’Antoni comes with a pretty good resume and playoff experience.  

This is to the extent in which Walsh has proved he is worth all the hype.  Since then, he has done minimal to improve the Knicks.  I know he has been able to let go of some dead weight and regain some financial flexibility but he hasn’t improved the talent on the team.  You can say he is positioning the team to make a splash in next year’s free agency but what if he isn’t able to land an elite player in 2010?  Then what?  All of this dumping of salary is great but if the Knicks don’t use the money on superstars, then they are going to be stuck as a mediocre team because those elite free agents will turn teams into contenders. 

The players that Walsh was able to acquire so far are guys like Chris Duhon, Darko Milicic, and Larry Hughes.  There’s no elite talent there.  He drafted decent players (Gallinari and Hill), but no elite players (yet anyway).  Walsh hasn’t done anything extraordinary and I believe the job he has done so far could have been done by other guys.  It’s what he does next summer that will show us if he really is the great basketball savior we all expected.   

Donnie Walsh has a lot of work to do and this summer has been terrible  Other than the draft, he has done nothing to improve the talent on the team.  He has tried.  He put out some offers to veterans but nothing has panned out.  Hopefully Donnie can put a team on the court that will play well in 2009-10 and hopefully he can land a superstar in free agency next summer.

Knicks Should Go Hard After Sessions

The Knicks weren’t able to get a point guard in this year’s draft and still are looking to upgrade at the position.  They  didn’t land Jason Kidd, currently have an offer out to Andre Miller and remain in talks with Milwaukee’s Ramon Sessions.  The Knicks’ offered Miller a one year deal worth the $5.8 million mid-level exception.  The Knicks’ have a limited number of options at point guard.  They can stick with what they have (Chris Duhon), or get Miller or Sessions. 

Right now Ramon Sessions makes the most sense.  He is young (23 years old), has a bigger upside than Duhon and Miller, and can sign a multi-year deal that would give the Knicks security at the position when recruiting for 2010.  Sessions also doesn’t have many options either.  The Knicks need to take their offer to Miller off the table and offer Sessions a four or five year deal.  Andre Miller for one year makes no sense for this franchise because they don’t have a team that is going to compete for a championship next season.  Why not get a guy that will learn the system this season, then if the Knicks land a star in 2010 he will have a year of experience and the team will be ready to realistically contend sooner.