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Just another way to stay connected to the Knicks. I don't get any info quicker than the average fan, but I may be a little bit more obsessed than the average fan, lol. Have the blog fan page on your timeline and cut the middle man. I post whatever I find immediately as long as I pay my phone bill and have 4G service. Join in the conversation with the 5 other fans that frequent the page. At least you won't have to fight hundreds of posters to get your point across. Go Knicks, Like David Lee used to say.

Early look at the East

Everyone's top 5 teams in the East are the Heat, Indiana, Chicago, Brooklyn and our beloved Knicks. The teams in my opinion are still very close. That's why we play the games.


Miami:
Haslem, Lebron, Bosh, Chalmers, Wade
Key reserves: Ray Allen, Battier, Cole, Birdman


Bulls:
Boozer, Deng, Noah, Rose, Butler
Key reserves: Taj Gibson, Dunlevy, Hinrich


Indiana:
West, Granger, Hibbert, Hill, George
Key reserves: Stevenson, Copeland, Watson


Brooklyn:
Kg, PP, Lopez, Deron, Joe
Key reserves: ak-47, Jason terry, Evans, Blatche


Knicks:
Melo, Nani, Tyson, Felton, Shump
Key reserves: amare, MWP, jr smith, priggy


Health will play a big part in all this....
The knicks if healthy and clicking coming out of training camp we should be damn good. Same ifs on every other team.


Biggest headaches will come from teams like these below. Any of these teams could surprise all of us....


Wizards:
Nene, Webster, ok4, Wall, Bradley beal
Key reserves: seraphin, ariza, maynor, and their youth


Cleveland:
Earl Clark, Gee, Bynum, Irving, waiters
Key reserves: zeller, Tristan, jarred jack, varejao, cj miles


Detroit:
Josh smith, singler, Monroe, knight, chancey
Key reserves: Drummond, will Bynum, stuckey, jerebko (plus all the pieces to make a rondo deal happen)


Charlotte:
Mc Roberts, MKG, al Jefferson, kemba, (resigned Gerald Henderson?)
Key reserves: sessions, Gordon, Cody zeller


This will probably be the eastern conference playoff picture next season. Gonna be a lot of fun games. A lot of high level teams. Tons of wild cards.

Flip the script: Knicks up, T-town down

It takes two to tango. The knicks made a trade with Toronto but the argument over the trade is negative only on the knicks end. What about Toronto? You can say Toronto got a first rounder and two second rounders for a guy they were going to amnesty anyway. If that's fair to say then excuse me while I relieve myself on the rest of this blog.

Toronto gave up on a former #1 overall pick after two injury plagued seasons. Its not like the guy was a complete bust. The dude averaged 17pts while being Chris Bosh sidekick his last year in Toronto. He followed that up with 21 and 19 points per game in consecutive years after Bosh went to Miami. Last season he was hurt and ended up averaging 12 points per game in less minutes. How do you just give up on a talent that easy and for nothing? He's making half as much as Amare, who is untradable and a poster child for the amnesty clause. You can still get good value for Bargnani. So argument says Toronto found a sucker in the Knicks by getting a 2016 first rounder that can be switched with Denver due to  a previous trade, and two second round picks. What's the hoopla? They traded a guy they were rumored to amnesty? So they traded him for two horrible contracts just to get one first rounder, who is probably a high  school senior right now or some European kid playing in an under 18 league somewhere. In other words, its a meaningless pick at this point until the day of that draft. The knicks pick will fall somewhere between 21-30. The knicks lucked out picking Shumpert in that range, but Shump tore his acl in his rookie year, and spent half of his second year rehabbing. Lucky us. This years pick was Tim Hardaway Jr and aside from the knicks staff, everyone else call this kid a d-league prospect. So where is the value with that pick? The second rounders? Teams sell them every year. If the knicks want one they could buy one. Also who needs a second round pick when first round talent can go undrafted like CJ Leslie?

Enough with the draft pick talk. Let's talk about the fact that the knicks got rid of two mistake contracts of Steve Novak and Marcus Camby! Novak is  a 3pt specialist that got paid like a everyday rotation/starter in this league. People argue that a similar player to Novak would be Kyle Korver. Korver is more than a 3 pt specialist. Dude has a solid build, is an adequate defender and can put the ball on the floor and shoot on the curl play or off screens. He's also averaged double figures in scoring more than once in his career. Novak can do and has done none of the above! He was exposed by Miami in the playoffs and the rest of the league followed suit and made Novak completely useless in an nba game. Dude has 3 years left in his contract at 4 million per. Toronto has Rudy Gay and another over paid player in Landry Fields ahead of him on the depth chart. Marcus Camby's contract is virtually identical to Novak except he is going to be 41 when his contract is over! Not to mention he can't stay healthy. Explain to me what the hell is Toronto doing up there?

The bright side of this trade is currently shining on the knicks side. Bargnani has already proven he can play winning basketball along side a perennial all star in Chris Bosh. He fits well between Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler in the front court. The knicks finished the season last year playing Carmelo, Shumpert, Tyson, Prigioni, and Felton as the starters. You mean to tell me the knicks didn't get better with a new probable starting line up of Carmelo, Bargnani, Tyson, Felton and Shumpert? Gtfoh! in my James Gandolfini voice (rest in peace Tony).

Fuggetabout it! Knicks kool aid is in the fridge everyone, help your self.

Nani in the city, Shump' no "rook"

The Knicks started this off season with a full circle revamp of the team that started the season last year. ¿Que? You say? Rasheed Wallace entered the start of last season as the stretch 4 that perfectly balanced the front court. Melo essentially was allowed to score inside and out, while Chandler lurked for opportunities with the pick and roll and clean up dunks. When you talk about stretch 4, Andrea Bargnani is the poster boy for that term. He's not a elite post defender like Sheed, but he brings offensive talent similar to what he did in the past. Rebounding is about the same as well because historically Rasheed was never a big rebounder. Bargnani will give you 5 a game. With coaching and playing with better talent around him, maybe he can improve in that category for the Knicks. Bargnani, Melo, and Chandler up front is very good especially considering A'mare in the equation off the bench. The knicks have Alot of question marks concerning health with all four players. If they can play a considerable part of the season together, the knicks will be very good next year.

Enter Shumpert. "Rook" is no more. The kid is a three year nba veteran. He showed flashes in the playoffs but he needs to shine this year and take in the role that Jason Kidd had at the start of last year. He's got to hit the open 3 and help Raymond Felton lead the team. Shump will play point guard in summer league so he must take that experience into the year because Felton can't do it by himself. Felton's biggest knock is his self hate. He gets too down on himself and allows the referees to get into his head. That in turn corrupts the team. In a recent video posted to the "bleacher report" site, Shump talked about doing a better job of policing themselves. That's the point guards job. If the knicks can't get a guy in here to do that, someone has to do it in house. Shump should take that into his own hands. If he wants to win like he says he needs to take that leadership role.

Of the bench, the knicks look competitive. A'mare whether he likes it or not will be in minutes restriction the rest of his career. He's still highly talented and will do well as a sixth man. Tim Hardaway Junior well contribute right away. Kid can shoot, he's poised and athletic. Cj Leslie will factor in behind Melo as well. With the talent available in free agency the knicks will definitely find suitable subs at the back up center and pg spots.

As the Bargnani trade suggests, anything can happen in this league  via trade. The knicks could very well tack on two rotation players with Tyson contact. There's a market for Felton and Shump a well. Stay tuned as they say and stay classy. Never estimate the power of positivity.