“I just think the future of the team, being able to play alongside Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and the young talent that we have, I feel like puts us in contention over the next four or five years.” – Tyson Chandler

“Tyson brings a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm to the basketball in court, and I think he will do the same thing that he did in Dallas here in New York. We got what everybody wanted what New York to get, which was a big man. Tyson has established himself as a dominant force on the defensive end.” – Anthony

“We got a lot better, real quick.” – D’ Antoni

Those are all the quotes from some of the important pieces of the New York Knicks. Don’t get it twisted, I’m not here to say the Knicks suck or aren’t going

to make the playoffs but just here to break down whats going on. First of all, who is to blame, the Knicks or everyone else who thought they had already won a ring? When the Knicks first signed Tyson, everyone had stamped the Knicks as one of the teams to win the East and be a good contender for the championship. The Knicks are currently in a 5 game losing streak and are looking like a train wreck. Who’s fault is it? What’s happening? How can an accumulation of talent be so “ugh”?

Of course, i am not counting out the Knicks out of anything just yet. I still believe in the team. Am i biased and blinded by loyalty? Maybe. But that still doesn’t change the fact i believe. Now, the Knicks as a team, was poorly built.

The first mistake was to let GM Donnie Walsh go. He was the light at the end of the tunnel for this franchise. He knew something that we all didn’t know. He didn’t want to trade valuable pieces, just to get Carmelo Anthony.

The second thing that was poorly done was to bring in people for the wrong reasons. The people who wanted to come here didn’t want to come for the reason of winning. Amare got to New York because no one was giving him a MAX contract. Tyson Chandler would’ve gone to another team if the Knicks didn’t up the ante for him. Carmelo on the other hand is a special case. He came because he wanted to come home. I don’t believe that. Of all the three “stars” i think he wanted to genuinely win… but at home.

The third mistake was leaving Mike D’antoni as head coach. “I love Mic D’antoni but…” Charles Barkley voice. …But he cant get it done. I don’t think players believe in his system. I almost think he doesn’t believe in his system. To be fair, D’antoni hasn’t had a full team for more than a season in all his years in New York. Everytime you blink to long, the Knicks are a new team. This has a grave affect on chemistry and trying to know what everyone is about.

The problem’s the Knicks are facing is {drum roll}.. offense. Who would think a team that includes the likes of Carmelo and Amare are lacking serious offense. Well, ill tell you. But before i go into that, in reading an exert from one of my favorite basketball gossip sources http://bleacherreport.com, they mentioned something that really made some sense to me. The knicks only run three plays.

i) Isolation for Melo

ii) Amare catch and dribble to the basket

iii) Pass around the arc, hoping for an open shot to form itself, and when it doesn’t, try and drive through four defenders to the basket.

There are a few problems to this. Lets start with Iso for Melo. Hands down, Melo is one of the top scorers (not shooters) in the league. With a season as condensed as the one we are having now, there is no way Melo can be as effective as he wants because of fatigue. When Knicks are down, most plays end up with Melo shooting the ball and other have figured this out. This causes double team and other type of defensive tactics. This rules out iso on Melo.

Amare catch and dribble to the basket. Amare is an explosive offensive player WHEN HE GETS THE BALL IN PICK AN ROLL. He has shown he could get his own shot w/o the pick and roll but its not always effective. Why? Because Amare has no handle. Amare is also a selfish player. Once he gets the ball, he doesn’t pass, he holds the ball below him and 6/10 times, the ball gets stolen. Another problem is that Amare gets the ball so far away from the paint, he has to “dribble” to the basket, which he is not good at and causes a turnover.

Pass around the arc, hoping for an open shot to form itself, and when it doesn’t, try and drive through four defenders to the basket. With the Knicks lacking offensive players, this play is dead on arrival. Whats the point in passing the ball around when everyone is shooting at low FG percentages. The latter, which annoys me the most, is driving through multiple players. I don’t even think i need to explain this for you to know how this is terrible. Forcing a 1 on 3 would most likely end up with the 3 winning.

talking about this is quite depressing right? It gets worse.

Other Problems

Why would you get a point guard in Mike Bibby if he is not the PG that is to distribute the ball? “When” Bibby is in the game, why is Melo the one bringing the ball up?

Why can’t we play zone defense? Knicks are one of worst defensive teams when it comes to opponent FG %-age form inside and outside the arc. Why? Because, the Knicks play man-2-man and are not quick, verbal nor aggressive enough to keep up with their opponent. This leaves people open for high percentage shots.

Lack of a proper PG is killing the hell out of us. I respect Melo’s passing game, but he can’t run a team, because he is just better playing off the ball. For Mic D’antoni’s system to work, you need a good PG.

I think the Knicks problems are deeper than meets the eye. They are on a 5 game losing streak and have lost tragic games to teams they should beat with just the talent level they have e.g Phoenix, Milwaukee, a depleted Memphis, Toronto, Charlotte & Golden State. The problem could range from riffles in the locker room to lack of respect towards the front office. Whatever it is.. they need to fix it and QUICK because this team has quickly turned into the laughing stock of the NBA.

My Novice Solutions

I say novice, because i don’t know what the real problem is and to be honest, im just a blogger that thinks he has immense knowledge about the game. Haha.. of curse i do.

i) Trade Amare for a PG such as Rajon Rondo. Why? Because not only does it release ALOT!!!! of cap room, it get’s you a great point guard and space for improvement. Even if you can’t get Rondo, get a Steve Nash or a Mo Williams.

ii) Fire Mike D’antoni and replace him with Ass. Coach Mike Woodson. I do believe they added him to the coaching staff just for this cause.

iii) Beat them! Ok I’m kidding. But ass whoopings always shaped me up when i was a kid, it could have the same affect on the players. Just a thought

When all is said and done.. this is still a team with a lot of talent. this losing streak is just shadowing the real potential of this potentially great team. Once they get out of this funk,watch out NBA. With the likes and energy of Iman Shumpert, the leadership of Tyson Chandler, the falling out of the funk of the core two in Melo and Amare and the stepping up of the bench, and probably a good season for Baron Davis, we do have something to look forward to.

Hey! Believe it or not right now, it could be worse. You could be a Boston Celtics fan.

“Stay Ballin’ My Friends”

You would think the day that Miss Lindsay Lohan’s playboy cover was released would make headlines. You would be wrong. You would think that the day Albert Pujols left his beloved team of St. Louis to the LA Angels for 3 million dollars extra would make headlines. You would be wrong. You may also think the day that the owners and players finally ratify the 10 yr CBA deal so we officially have an NBA season. Once again my friend, you would be wrong. Today comes with not a wave but a tsunami of rumors from Tyson Chandler and Jamal Crawford to our popular Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

Let’s start of with my favorite, The New York Knickerbockers. Several sources say the Knicks have practically wrapped up the deal to obtain Ex-Dallas Mavericks  center Tyson Chandler. This brought about a plethora of other rumors about the likes of Amar’e Stoudemire being traded and Chauncey Billups and Ronny Turiaf getting axed.  What’s my thought on this? Well, as much as i would’ve loved for them to wait and try and nab a Marc Gasol, this signing would give the Knicks what they have been starving for since the exit of Patrick Ewing. Amar’e being traded is a post of its own. I would just briefly say; there is no loyalty in sports. Whether its the players or the owners, the only important thing is the money they make. THE ONLY LOYAL THING ABOUT SPORTS ARE “TRUE FANS”. I say true fans, because there are a lot of fans who are just there to jump bandwagons. Amar’e was the first to come to NY with a the mind to revitalize the Titanic of the NBA. He also did it because no one would give him as much money as NY. Now the rumor is that Amar’e would be in a trade package for Chris Paul. Chris Paul is my favorite player and there is nothing I would want more than my favorite player in my favorite team. But is it worth it to trade Amar’e. I have been asking myself that until something that came up that I will talk about next.

Next, Chris Paul. After the whole Chandler rumor popped up, it seemed like CP3 would be ending up with the Knicks in a trade with Amar’e. This was crushed by news that a 3 team trade was in the works that would land the point guard with The Lakers. This trade would have Pau Gasol as a Houston Rocket and new Orleans would get Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and a 2012 1st round pick which was gotten from non other than the NY Knicks. New Orleans would also get Lamar Odom. The only important team to talk about here are the Lakers. The Lakers wouldn’t be that much better with the addition of Chris Paul and the subtraction of bigs is a killer. Kobe has won multiple championships without a great PG but with Bigs i.e. Shaq and Gasol.  But this deal was halted by the NBA due to the urge of Dan Gilbert. <– Click. This topic is another post on his own. It did come as quite a shock to everyone and a relief to some that David Stern put a halt on this deal.

Finally, Dwight Howard. The original plan was to get his luggage’s ready to go to Lakers after the acquisition of Paul. But no. That never happened. So what next. Well, reports are saying that Howard’s first choice is NJ. Other people believe the same fate will happen to him as did Chris Paul. I think not. First of all, the Nets are far from a star studded team and the NJ is not a big market, Yet. Now, this deal makes no sense to me from a Howard point of view. He wants to go to a team that he could win a championship with. If he is going to play with Deron Williams in NJ, they will have to trade away key pieces such as..as..as wait.. what exactly do the Nets have.  Lopez? draft picks? That’s their future right there.  So why would Dwight Howard go to a team where they have nothing and leave a team where at least he has something. As Rebecca Black said ♫  It’s Friday, Friday, Friday ♫ and its the first day of free agency and training camp, lets see how it goes.

SIDE NOTES: Other deals that are meant to be done around the leagues are.

Jamal Crawford — > Chicago Bulls

Caron Butler — > LA Clippers

Shane Battier — > Miami heats

Eddy Curry — > Miami heats

Mike Dunleavy — > Milwaukee Bucks

Tayshaun Prince — > Extension with Detroit Piston

Keyon Dooling — > Boston Celtics

Shannon Brown — > Phoenix Suns

Finally!!!! I have something to talk about. Its kind of sad that i wrote like a novel on the nba lockout the day before they reached the tentative deal. But i would’ve bored you guys anyways. Screw that though, the NBA is back and we are all happy as hell.

So, in a few minutes i would be seeing the schedule online to know its real. Speaking of knowing its real, I still have one thing bugging. There is still a slim possibility that there might not be an NBA season. Word on the streets is that the deal and all the B-List issues have been resolved. Next step is to go for a vote between the NBA and the NBPA. This is where to get scared. If both sides don’t get the necessary vote to pass the deal, we are back to square one. OH BOY, lets cross our fingers.

Back to the schedule. I’ve seen a few of the schedules and i am predicting so many injuries.  With teams having up to 3 sets of back-to-back-to-back and some teams having up to 3 sets of 4 games in five nights, it is hard not to think so.

With the NBA lockout almost unlocked, bigger and better things are coming to The Front Court blog site. With more polls, more vlogs and just more.

Now that we have all caught up, i want to ask the question. “WHO THE HELL ISNT EXCITED ABOUT THE FINALS”. But first, lets step into my little time machine.

I know, it’s really convenient. Well give me a second to press this button and change the date to 2006 during the NBA Finals and viola {Wierd electric and mechanical noises –> Flashing lights —> metaphorical vortex –> Another flashing light –> somehow falling on our butts and dry even though we used a hot tub time machines}

Thats all besides the point, lets get down to the nitty gritty and talk about the Miami revolution.. if you still don’t get the history reference.. just forget about it. Anyways, let’s start with game 1 &2 when the mavericks looked dominant. Now, the heat didn’t look like the team you would’ve picked to do any damage and that is how it looked for these two games. Also,  Dallas did beat the heats twice that season by an average 24.5 pts a game.

In Dallas’ home, at the American Airlines arena was where the first two games of a seven game series started. Although the heated started sizzling.. America’s team dominated the first two games. Little did they know, the heats had wade up their sleeves.

Now going back from our little trip from to the past {Get in hot tub –> lights, sounds, action, camera..vortex.. thud etc etc etc}

Both teams took their talents and revamped them. If my memory serves me right, both teams only have two members each from the ’06 matchup. Dallas with Dirk and Terry, while Miami has Wade and Haslem. Although Miami has a studded super-powered team, with some even saying they have the two best players in the NBA, Dallas has the better overall team from top to 12th. I wouldn’t to quick to jump in the bandwagon because the Heats Bench has come up with a few decent showings during the playoffs. Dallas beat miami twice again, but not as bad as the 06′.

If History repeats itself (meaning the Americans beat the British twice), Miami should once again come out victorious. But hey, we know our history not to repeat it, but to change it. WE COULD ONLY WAIT! Game 1 starts Tuesday at 9:00pm on ABC.. Dont miss it.

“Stay Ballin’ My Friends”

The Knicks are now 7-6 after the blockbuster trade to bring Melo and Billups to the Knicks. Some of the most disappointing had to go to two towards the Cavz and 2 back to back to the Pacers. The Knicks aare currently at the 6th position, half a game in front of the 7th seeded sixers and three and a half games behind the Hawks.