There isn’t a whole lot left to say. This will be a short pre-game, but before getting into it, I had a chance to speak to Mike from Knickerblogger:

Two player of the weeks awards early in the season, with no sign of letting up. Stoudemire is excelling as the focal point of the Knicks rebuilding. Helps that he’s playing in D’Antoni’s system, but he’s playing a pretty solid all around game. Can you talk about his impact to this team?
I said it earlier in the season, but Amar’e differs from David Lee in that he can affect the game on multiple levels. He can take on more of a scoring burden, and he can block shots. David Lee was great in a few key areas, but Stoudemire provides more ways that he can help the team.

Felton is playing pretty damn good, the guys at Wages of Win him accounting for 13 Knicks wins this season. To put things in perspective, Stoudemire is projected to to contribute 3 for some reason (Landry Fields, my favourite Knick, is slotted for 15). What do you think about that article, is it just numbers, or is there some merit to it?
Hey a ‘u’ in favourite. We don’t get that much down here. Seriously though, with how statistics are currently kept in the NBA, I’d be skeptical of anyone saying they can account for a precise number of wins a player contributes. Each system, be it Hollinger, Berri, or Pelton’s, has their own method of rating players which comes with it’s own strengths and weaknesses. You can gauge a metric by looking at it’s leaders and seeing what type of players that system prefers or dislikes. For my tastes, Berri’s metrics overvalue highly efficient yet low volume scorers, and strong rebounders. I believe earlier this year it had Reggie Evans as one of the top NBA players, which is why it would value Fields and Felton higher than Amar’e.

I expected the Knicks to do well this season (13-9 to start the year); the schedule seemed light (2 wins against the Raptors for example), but a 7 game road winning streak is nothing to shake a stick at. This next stretch of the schedule will go a long way in answering this questions, but how good is this team really?
The next 10 games are going to be tough. They play Eastern Conference rivals Orlando, Boston, Chicago, and Miami twice, in addition to Western brutes Denver and Oklahoma. I don’t see them winning 9 of 10 from that group, and those games will certainly test their mettle.

After showing so much promise, Anthony Randolph has been an absolute bust; what’s the problem.
For lack of a better analogy, he’s like a 10 year old Kevin Garnett. He’s got a great physical body so defense and rebounding comes pretty naturally. However like your pre-teen year old nephew, he’s clueless on offense. He has some tools, but he looks lost out there, unsure what to do. It’s like he’s never been coached before. I wouldn’t write off his NBA career just yet, but it appears that he’s in D’Antoni’s doghouse for now.

What a great draft pick Landry Fields has been. I just recently picked him up in my fantasy league, and he’s been a star for me. What’s this kids upside?
The best comparison I’ve heard is Josh Childress, but I want to say his ceiling is a guard-forward version of Shawn Marion. There are only 5 players in the modern (three point) era who have averaged 8 or more rebounds per 36 minutes: Fat Lever, Jason Kidd, T.R. Dunn, Darrell Walker, and Tyrone Corbin. Right now Landry Fields is at 8.8 reb/36, which would be the third highest. Much like Marion was early on, he’s a weak three point shooter (30.2%), which of course hurts him in D’Antoni’s offense. If he can bring that up to a respectable level or higher, he’ll be an off the ball nightmare for opposing defenses.

Keys to the Game

Perimeter Defense
The Raptors were amazingly poor at defending the Knicks out on the perimeter on Sunday. Some of that has to do with the Knicks playing some pretty good ball, but the fact remains that perimeter defense is a huge concern for us.

Doesn’t even matter that the Raptors play good defense in the paint when it rains down like that. Felton needs to be paid special attention; he penetrated at will (without trying very hard I might add), drew a half-assed double and kicked it out behind the arc for open look-after-look, 29 to be exact. About a third of their shots were very good looks behind the arc, not good.

I have a solution, and if it doesn’t work the Raptors aren’t any worse off; DeRozan and Weems don’t need to leave their men to help defensively (they should crash the boards though, Landry grabbed 10 from the SG spot), it’s not like they help a great deal when they do. If they must leave their man, they should let someone know wtf they are planning so their check doesn’t get a 2 second look while getting set to launch it.

Get Good Shots
As much as they’ve improved this year, the Knicks are still not a defensive team. They don’t have the folks to shut anyone on the Raptors down, which Bayless proved with his 23 off the bench. I understand this incarnation of the Raptors likes a faster pace, but they don’t have great finishers like the Knicks (Amar’e). When you get into an up-and-down game against a D’Antoni team, and you don’t convert opportunities in transition, things get out of control quickly.

Not everything has to be one-and-done; move the ball around, find the guy flashing on the break (hopefully he converts), pick-and-roll/pop some, be smart about it. My biggest qualm with this Young Onez direction is that some fundamental aspects of the game are being overlooked in the name of developing players who may or may not be worthy of the investment. Name me another team that gives carte Blanche to their players to take whatever shot they want, and continue to afford them every chance when they play like crap. I come down hard on Bargnani very regularly, but at least he’s producing.

My finger is pointed right at Kleiza, Weems and DeRozan who are taking and missing gawdawful shots. What the eff happened to all that athleticism????

Sorry, bit of a rant but it’s tough to play a solid game when guys who should be concerned about taking it to the rack off a curl are directing the offense much more than they should.

GIVE THE FRIGGING BALL TO CALDERON AND RUN AROUND UNTIL YOU GET THE BALL BACK. THE GUY LIKES TO PASS, AND DOES A BETTER JOB AT IT THAN YOU DO.

Ok, I’m good now.

Get to the Line, and Convert
11-22 on Sunday was just ridiculous, I pulled out handfuls of my hair watching that. The Knicks don’t have that last line of defense at the rim. Sure, they have a couple guys who can swat the ball into the crowd, but Amir and Bargnani do a better job of defending the paint. I guess the key to getting to the line is attacking the rim, and last game the Raptors took 36 shots from outside 16 feet, only converting 13. On the flip side, they went 25-51 from inside 15 feet, with Amir, Jerryd and Bargnani accounting for 28 of those attempts (hitting 19 of them) [source]. I’m no statophile, but my rudimentary statistical analysis leads me to believe that the Raptors do better when the ball gets closer to the rim, and only a few players are making that effort.

The Line

The Knicks are a 6-7 point favourite, depending on the book, with an over/under of 220.5, so expect a fast paced game.

My post here is a bit negative, but I think the Raptors win this one. Not because they do anything well, but because the Knicks have already won the first two games, so Toronto is due. It’s also been a while where everyone hits their shots that we all forget about the problems this team has.

They run incessantly, they hustle, they play hard, there is a bigger commitment to defense, the bench is deeper; that’s the good news…the bad news is that this team is full of 2nd tier role players and lack an all-star caliber player who can put all the pieces together and lead them to .500 and beyond. I’ll take it though because they have been playing a real infectious brand of ball that I can’t ever recall seeing played by a Raptor team. Let the rebuilding begin…

The Knicks got first; my second favourite team in the league (I was a sucker for the bruising Knicks teams of the 90s). The two teams just played in Montreal, where the Raptors handled the Knicks, weathering a furious comeback in the 4th that fell short. The Raptors defense shined, forcing the Knicks into 26 turnovers, and keeping them to 69 field goal attempts.

I checked in with Mike Kurlyo, of Knickerblogger fame to get his take on the Knicks, some of the players and Carmelo Anthony:

The Knicks had a really busy offseason; what are the teams expectations? What are your expectations?
The team expects to make the playoffs this year. New York has gone 6 seasons without a playoff game, and they’ve sacrificed the last two seasons for this year. For the Knicks, not making the playoffs would indicate failure. I guess my expectations are about the same.

Raymond Felton has given the Raptors problems over the last couple seasons, averaging 17pts, 5rebs 5ast over that span. I thought he was a good signing for this team, and he seems to have the tools to be a nice fit. How is he meshing with Stoudemire in D’antoni’s offense?
The relationship between Felton and Stoudemire has been slow to develop. However I think the notion that Stoudemire relies on his PG is overblown. Amar’e isnt a pick & roll leech that requires someone else in order to score. He’s a 5 time All Star who can work the post and shoot from outside. As for Felton, the big question is: Which player will the Knicks receive this year? Last year he had career highs in shooting percentage (including three point percentage), but the rest of his career he’s been sub-par. And this preseason, Raymond hasn’t looked comfortable in the offense. If October is any indication of what’s to come, Amar’e is going to excel offensively while Felton is going to struggle.

D’Antoni is very high on Mozgov, what can you tell us about him, and how does he matchup against Bargnani?
Mozgov has been surprisingly impressive in some areas, and head scratching raw in others. For his size, he’s quite agile and can run the floor. He has a nice touch from outside, and I don’t have a good sense of how strong he is around the hoop. He’s looked competent at times, but has blown a few gimmies in the paint. Additionally he’s a foul machine that’s still learning how to defend in the NBA, his rebounding is suspect, he turns the ball over too frequently, and he could take a course in setting picks. Specifically against Bargnani, he’d obviously be susceptible to the long ball, as he defends better in the paint. However Bargnani doesn’t defend well either, so Mozgov will probably have some easy opportunities of his own.

Anthony Randolph was a (the?) key piece in the David Lee trade; what is his upside? What would classify as a successful season from the kid?
Randolph is already a fantastic rebounder, defender, and shot blocker. On the other hand he’s clueless on offense, especially in regards to shot selection. As often with many young and improperly trained athletes, he doesn’t have good instincts with regards to what constitutes a good or bad attempt. If he improves his shooting efficiency to league average, he’d be an All Star, without a doubt. This year, a successful season from Randolph would be for him to play 24 to 30 minutes a game. That would mean he’s entrenched in the rotation and getting much needed experience. Oh and don’t sleep on Azubuike, who will likely be the SG starter once he’s healthy.

Andy Rautins has a lot of fans here in Toronto, what are your thoughts on him?
Not sure what to make of him. He’s a guy that obviously lives from downtown, which meshes with D’Antoni’s style of play. He’s made some nice passes, but he’s also looked overwhelmed at times. I’m not expecting much from him this year, as I think he still has a lot to adjust to the NBA game. On a side note, he was a nice guy to interview, and we had a laugh over my ancient iPod/recording device.

I can’t let you go without getting your take on Carmelo Anthony…go!
I’ve answered this question so many times, I can do it in limerick form.
There was an All Star in Denver,
To move to New York, he wished for.
‘Melo didn’t rebound,
Defend or astound,
And wasn’t worth Gallo, Randolph, and Chandler.

Injury Report

Toronto
Joey Dorsey: Serving a suspension
Leandro Barbosa: Wrist Injury – Will be in the lineup

New York
Anthony Randolph: Sprained Ankle – Status not known
Timofey Mozgov: Hip – Status not known
Wilson Chandler: Calf – Not playing

Match-ups

PG – Jack vs Felton
Felton pretty much had his way with Calderon and Jack last season, and in 26min on Friday, put up 12pts 4rebs 5ast. Jack did a solid job of keeping Felton out of the lane (1-2 in the paint), and will need to maintain that streak tonight.

On the offensive end, Jack needs to give us a bit more; 2-5 from the field in 24min isn’t enough scoring, even though he chipped in 3rebs 5ast 4stl. Jack brings that bull-dog mentality that Calderon doesn’t; he puts his head down and gets into the paint. If he can get into the paint, he can create some space for Bargnani and Kleiza on the perimeter.
Edge: Draw

SG – DeRozan vs Fields
I love what I see in DeRozan’s shot-chart, a concentration of shot attempts in the paint:

Doesn’t matter that he was 4-9 from the field and 3-5 from the line, what matters is he got into the paint at will, and put pressure on the defense. If this keeps up, he will give teams a lot of headaches, and make up for the 8-10 free throws a game Bosh used to give us. Last season, DeMar averaged 17.7pts against the Knicks, he likes going at this team.
Edge: DeRozan

SF – Kleiza vs Gallinari
We didn’t get to see Gallinari on Friday, but the kid elevated his game last season; especially against the Raptors where he averaged 19.8pts. Gallinari is going to score, but I’d like to see him take contested shots on the perimeter, Kleiza wont need to come over for the double on Amar’e (DeMar or Jack have that), which should keep him at home defensively. What I like about Kleiza is how diverse his shot selection is:

Inside-outside-weakside-strongside, he takes what the offense gives him, and makes something out of it. Danilo hasn’t been 100% during the pre-season, so I’m looking to Kleiza to take it to him from the tip.
Edge: Kleiza

PF – Evans vs Stoudemire
This is more a case of limiting the damage. While Evans started slow out the gate Friday, he got himself back into the game, and lifted the team with his energy and rebounding. If that’s all he does, he can be an asset for this team; but the moment he shoots the ball…lets just say that a missed shot by Evans out-weighs a grabbed rebound. Last games shot chart is a joke, Stoudemire did what he wanted:

I seriously don’t think we can expect any more than what we got last game. Amar’e is a polished offensive player who can get his shot whenever he wants, and the Raptors have no one to man-him-up and get him out of his comfort zone.
Edge: Stoudemire

C – Bargnani vs Mozgov
Riddle me this, which Bargnani are we going to get? The biggest question left unanswered from the pre-season is how will Bargnani do without Bosh creating space for him? As far as Mozgov goes, Bargnani had the best of him on Friday: limited Timofey to 4 points and 2 field goals. Defensively, the only thing we could have asked of him was a few more rebounds.

Offensively, 6-13 from the field isn’t bad, but he almost missed as many shots from the perimeter, as he took in the paint.
Edge: Bargnani

Prediction

Vegas has the Raptors as 2 point favourites with an over/under of 211. Like I said earlier, during the pre-season, we saw the Raptors beat the teams they should have, this is one of those games that is very gettable. I gotta go Raptors: home opener, the crowd will be nuts and they’ve already beaten them.

You can follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. If you’ve got something to say, air it out during the live chat (which were killer during the pre-season).

Photo Credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson

Q. How did the Knicks do this off-season? Talk about drafts, trades and free agent signings as well as ownership/management changes.

Kevin McElroy: The answer to this question is necessarily relative to expectations. By any normal measure, this was the Knicks best summer since the mid-90’s. Their failed pursuit for LeWyane Bosh aside, the Knicks brought in Amare Stoudemire, a five-time all-star with three top-ten scoring seasons who also happens to be the active career leader in true shooting percentage. While concerns about the riskiness of the acquisition (especially those relating to Stoudemire’s injury history) are understandable, the rarity with which players of Stoudemire’s caliber can be had without forfeiting any tradeable assets makes the signing a worthwhile gamble. The David Lee trade — in which the Knicks gave up a player that they had already made redundant and received two valuable role players and a freakish athlete with world-class upside in return — was the best player for player(s) swap the Knicks have made since they brought in Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby; if Anthony Randolph develops, it will go down as even better than those trades.

I worry about Raymond Felton eating up valuable cap space, but I get the feeling that his signing was about keeping Amare happy enough to keep telling his buddies how great things were in New York — Felton’s contract should be moveable if he becomes the final obstacle to bringing in another star. I hated the Knicks’ play-it-safe strategy on draft night, but based upon the summers that Landry Fields and Lance Stephenson have had, my opinion on the matter has softened. Fields will hang around for 10 years and be a useful role player for the Knicks in the near term.

Q. Who came out the bigger winner AND loser in the Atlantic Division?

KM: I’ll exclude the Knicks from the conversation here since I’ve already discussed their offseason. I think the Celtics are the winners by default, mostly because they were the only Atlantic Division team good enough to focus their off-season on filling their remaining needs rather than blindly overhauling the team and hoping it would work out. I’m not crazy about their Shaquisition for the same reason I wasn’t crazy about it when he was Shaquired by Phoenix or Cleveland, but at the veteran minimum it’s a low risk move and they can always tell him to go away if he becomes a problem.

As for the biggest losers, the Nets’ mind-bendingly bizarre assortment of free agent signings gets the nod even in a division where Toronto lost their franchise leader in scoring and rebounding just as he was entering his prime. Better build that arena, Brooklyn, or Johan Petro will be plying his trade elsewhere!

Q. Last season we saw a dog fight from 5-9 in the East for a playoff appearance (the Raptors dropped from 5th to 9th rapidly at the tail-end of the season). What are your predictions for this upcoming season? Who are your dark horses to watch out for?

KM: Obviously the Heat jump out of that dog fight and into the top 3, arguably the top 1. I think this will be another season in which the Eastern Conference can be separated into pretty well-defined tiers. The Tier 1 teams — Miami, Orlando, Boston — seem fairly insurmountable at the top of the pyramid, although if the Celtics all get old at the same time, they could feasibly drop into Tier 2. For now, Tier 2 is Atlanta, Chicago, and probably Milwaukee, all of whom should qualify for the postseason comfortably and will be primarily concerned with finishing 5th or better and thus avoiding the Tier 1 teams in the first round. Tier 3 is where it gets a bit hairy: Charlotte has to be viewed as the 7th best team going into the year, but New York has much greater upside and is the only team outside of Tiers 1 and 2 with a chance to vault into the top 6 if everything goes right.

If things implode for the Knicks — and, let’s face it, why shouldn’t they — The Pacers, Sixers, and Cavs are all in the picture for one of the last two playoff spots. One more quick point that nobody is talking about: I will not be surprised if strength of schedule becomes a decisive factor in the Eastern Conference this year. The Bobcats have to play a whopping 15 games against the Heat, Magic, and Hawks, while the Knicks and Sixers will play each other five times and have 10 games each against the Nets and Raps. Could be enough to bump the Bobcats down to ninth in a tight East.

Q. Is what happened in Miami bad for the league? On the one hand, players are taking control of their own futures (as best as possible); but on the other, the rich just seem to get richer.

KM: I swore a lifelong oath of hatred against the Miami Heat the day that Pat Riley hopped the fence back in 1995, but the answer to this question is still “no.” In the long-term, this has to be viewed as good for the league, and not just because it will allow us to see something we’ve never seen before (which it will) and give other fan bases a unifying enemy (which it also will). The reason I’m glad it happened, and happened when it did, is that it has placed everything from cap rules to player tampering to the merits of “Superteams” at the forefront of the conversation, just before a watershed CBA renegotiation. This is the best way for basketball fans and writers to have any kind of a voice about the future of the league. Maybe I’m dreaming on that but, at a time when the NBA seems desperate to drum up demand for its product, it will have an unprecedented opportunity to gauge public opinion on nearly every issue that is likely to come up this summer. We may all be thanking LeWyane Bosh before this is over.

(Was that convincing? No? Darn it. I really hate the Heat.)

Q. Do you share the view that playing in Toronto is similar to playing in Europe, and not very appealing to American born players? What’s your take on the Raptors and Toronto as a destination for the NBA elite?

KM: I think there are five or six “destination cities” in the League right now — LA, Miami, New York, Chicago, maybe one or two of the Texas cities — and I don’t think Toronto is one of them. But I think it’s still a long way up from playing in Europe and doubt the Canadian border has much of a practical effect on players’ decisions. Most NBA cities become appealing destinations if and only if their resident teams employ players and executives that are appealing to NBA free agents, which the post-Bosh Raptors probably don’t. The problem is that Toronto’s previous attempts at building around a franchise player were based upon guys whose personalities were not conducive to being the first major building block on a team in a non-destination city. It only takes one super-talented, super-loyal star — think Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard — to attract top players to a place that once seemed to be on the NBA periphery. The problem, of course, is finding that guy. Clearly, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh didn’t fit the description.

Q. What’s your take on Bryan Colangelo and the job he’s done for the Raptors? Could he have held on to Bosh had he made other choices? Did he make a huge mistake by not trading him earlier? What about the type of team he is trying to build in Toronto?

KM: I think Bosh was always leaving — he’s a very good second option alongside an elite scoring wing with good court vision; now he gets to play with two of them. It’s interesting to think about how things would have played out for Toronto if Bosh and T-Mac had come along at about the same time — they would have complemented each other brilliantly, maybe well enough that they both would have wanted to stay. As for Colangelo, I think he was probably doomed from the start. His mandate was to focus singularly on the retention of a player who was 1) probably always going to leave and 2) probably not good enough to be the best player on a great team anyway. To the extent that this strategy has failed (in the departure of Bosh) or set the franchise back (due to the shortsightedness of some of Toronto’s acquisitions), that failure is more associated with the flaws of the mandate (which fall at the feet of ownership) than with any flaws in execution (which would fall at the feet of Colangelo). That said, Toronto clearly needs to dive head-first into overhaul mode and that necessarily involves a conversation regarding whether Colangelo remains the right man for what is now a very different job.

Through the 90s, the Knicks were my favourite team, and if you liked a tough, bruising team oozing with heart, then they were the team for you. When the Raptors and Knicks were battling in the playoffs, I was never more torn; ultimately I cheered the Raptors, but had the Knicks got through….

While they don’t have great talent to surround LeBron and Bosh (for sake of argument), the team does provide the lure of being a God in New York if someone can deliver a championship. For the record, regardless of what they offer, I’m against any deal with the Knicks since they are a division rival. The last time we did that, we got BURNED in the playoffs; not looking for a repeat.

I spoke to Dan L. from The Knicks Fan Blog about the state of the Knicks, and got some interesting tidbits from him:

Sam Holako: There isn’t much to talk about the Knicks during the regular season since the last couple years has all been about making a run at two max free-agents this summer. Where do you realistically put the Knicks chances of landing LeBron this summer? A sign and trade with the Cavs will prove difficult (what kind of deal do you put together for the MVP?). Also talk about the LeBrostimistic graph you have on your site, I love that thing.

Dan L.: I think it’s impossible to say what the Knicks’ chances are to get LeBron without being part of the “inner circle”. But I think the Knicks have a couple of things working in their favor. One is obviously that the Cavs got spanked so hard by the Celtics. They clearly aren’t a championship caliber team and they’re also ham-strung by salary commitments with the likes of Jamison, Gibson, Varejao, and Mo Williams. They won’t be signing any meaningful free agents.

It is hard to see the Knicks and Cavs pulling off a sign and trade, but it could happen if LeBron told them he’s going to the Knicks anyway and unless they deal they won’t get anything in return. For example the Knicks can offer the Cavs a massive salary cap exception and future picks for LeBron. With that exception the Cavs could hypothetically trade for Elton Brand and the second pick (Evan Turner). Maybe they could even convince the Knicks to part with Wilson Chandler. Mo Williams, Turner, Chandler, Jamison, Brand. I could think of worse teams.

Ha. The LeBroptimism meter right now is at 0 because honestly, I just don’t have any kind of bearing of what LeBron is going to do. He and his team have done a masterful job of keeping everyone in the dark, and there are a lot of teams that have positioned themselves to get LeBron. I think the only realistic options for LeBron if he leaves are the Knicks and Bulls because I’d be shocked if he went somewhere that didn’t have a major media presence. I’d add the Nets to the mix but I think their young talent is vastly overstated. The Knicks’ young talent was better than 12 wins. Also LeBron won’t want to play in Newark, I don’t think.

If I was being completely honest with my own gut, I’d put that LeBroptimism meter somewhat higher than 0.

SH: That would be Step 1; Step 2 would be find a running mate for him. Chris Bosh recently put the Knicks on his wishlist. Make me an offer for him.

DL: he only offer really is David Lee. Not sure what Raptors fans think about Lee but you could do much worse. He’s a terrific rebounder (though he doesn’t get the tough ones) and due to his terrific work ethic he transformed himself into one of the best shooting bigs in the league. He’s also an elite finisher. He can get his shot off in the paint and make it with such frequency that it never ceases to amaze me. You’ll be losing out by trading Bosh but maybe not by as much as you’d think.

The downside for the Raptors is that their biggest weakness is also Lee’s, in that he couldn’t guard a lamp post. A lot of that has to do with the fact that he’s a PF and the Knicks had him at center all year. Still, I’d think that the Raptors want to address their D this summer, and Lee isn’t going to do that.

Financially, Lee is going to make less than Bosh because under the collective bargaining agreement, his max is about $13.5 million. The Raptors would therefore get a trade exception in the deal of about $4 million.

Another option the Raptors could consider is adding Calderon or Turk to the mix and taking back Eddy Curry. This would get the Raptors out from under the cap predicament they put themselves in by next year.

It’s all dependent on what Lee wants though. If he just wants money and the Raptors offer him his max I think he would agree to go to Toronto because he would get bigger raises in a sign and trade. If other factors are more important to him, like staying in the New York area, and the money is similar, I could see him signing with the Nets.

SH: Not sure how Raptor fans would feel about paying Lee $13.5; even though double-double machines are hard to come by, I was thinking a 5yr/$50mill deal. A front court of Bargnani and Lee would be the worse defensive unit in the league, potentially, but Lee is one of the better players we could hope for in a sign-and-trade.

Interesting you bring up a Calderon/Turkoglu swap for Curry. What is Curry’s status? Can he be looked too to play 20minutes a night? He’s still pretty young, and has great size/athleticism (well he did). I’m assuming with the financial problems he’s said to be having, that he will at least be motivated to play harder for the next contract.

DL: I’d think that Lee is going to get more than $10 million on the market this summer. But I guess that remains to be seen.

You’re right about the raptors defense. They’d have to slide Bargs over to the 3 and find a way to get a defensive 5.

That’s not Eddy Curry, even if healthy. The potential Curry deal would be solely a salary dump for the Raptors. Knicks fans have been waiting for the old Curry to come back for over 2 years. The fact is that he’s played only a handful of games in each of the last two seasons and just doesn’t seem interested in playing basketball.

You’re right that Curry SHOULD be motivated in a contract year. But I’d be shocked if he had the desire to. And even if he did, I’d be doubly shocked if he stayed healthy.

SH: I want to examine something you said about Calderon or Turkoglu for Curry. Even if the Knicks somehow manage to get LeBron and Bosh, they would still need to have people around them to you know, play basketball at an NBA level. In the worse case scenario that they don’t land anyone in the summer to line up beside those two, what will this team look like?

DL: Honestly I think that’s an issue that the national media has drummed up in their echo chamber because they are biased against New York (true New York perspective here, huh?).

The team WILL have players on it. Obviously Turkoglu or Calderon could be one of those other players. If not, the Knicks should try to move Curry for another team’s expensive mistake, like Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton or Corey Maggette.

But let’s look at who is on the team right now. Danilo Gallinari played essentially his rookie year last year since he missed most of his first season with a back injury. He only finished second in the NBA in three pointers made. Folks in the national media have called him a “one-trick pony” but those of us who watch the Knicks every game know that he’s much more than that. Even the most negative tabloid beat writers like the New York Post’s Marc Berman jumped on the Gallinari bandwagon by the end of the year. He’s a terrific passer, and has a great basketball IQ, and most surprisingly, was probably the Knicks best defender last year other than Jarred Jeffries, both on the ball and in help.

Wilson Chandler is another player that most people who don’t follow the Knicks tend to ignore. It’s because he’s very quiet and unassuming. My opinion is that he doesn’t have star potential like Gallinari does, but there are observers who disagree. At the very least though he plays D, has a great mid-range game, and is a superb finisher.

Toney Douglas inexplicably failed to get off of Mike D’Antoni’s bench for most of the year but when D’Antoni finally let him play the Knicks what I like to say resembled a young Gary Payton. Douglas is very disruptive on the defensive end, is a very good shooter from distance, and LOVES the ball at the end of games. He’s very clutch.

These were 3 very young and/or inexperienced players but all of them have a world of potential. Importantly, they’re all very good fits with LeBron. Gallinari will can countless open jumpers off LeBron drives, and Wilson will get plenty of open looks slashing off of those same drives. Douglas will also knock down open shots and defend the perimeter, but more importantly, both he and Gallinari will take the pressure off LeBron at the end of games, which seems to be an issue for the King. It’s a good starting 5.

Aside from those 3 the Knicks have Bill Walker, who, after the trade deadline really came into his own for the Knicks. He has great range and shoots a high percentage. He’s also extremely athletic and can jump out of the gym. Finally, where Chandler doesn’t really read the defense, instead focusing on just making one on one moves to get open, Walker knows where to be on the court to space the floor and get open looks for himself both inside and out.

The Knicks also have 2 second round draft picks.

Finally, if the Knicks are able to land the big stars, look for some veteran players to sign on for cheap for a chance at the title. For example, PJ Brown signed with Boston for the minimum to win a ring. Same with Michael Finley.

I expect the Knicks to be able to round out their roster in a similar way.

SH: I’m actually pretty high on Chandler. I’ve seen quite a few Knicks games, and the kid is nice (Gallinari too). If LeBosh doesn’t pan out for the Knicks, would a Joe Johnson/Boozer/Stoudemire combination satisfy Knicks fans? The team obviously wouldn’t be a championship contender (the best they could hope for is the Hawks), but they would be in the high 40s in terms of wins and MAYBE a second round appearance.

DL: hose guys obviously represent the second tier of free agents. They’d improve the Knicks vastly but I wouldn’t be too thrilled about it. That’s particularly true because I assume those guys would be getting the max (or something close) and I don’t think they’re worth it.

It’s not the first choice and there are some fans who go by the mantra “LeBron or bust”. Not me though. I think Donnie Walsh had to take his best shot at building a dynasty. It might not work out that way but the idea was the right idea. Either way the Knicks will be much improved, even if they don’t get LeBron.

Since I have nothing better to do than think up scenarios, I’ve previously written that there are other options available besides just free agents. The Knicks could look at Tony Parker, for example. A trade of Chandler, Curry and Douglas for Parker, RJ and McDyess would make some sense if the Knicks also landed Amare. Parker, RJ (who plays better in an open system), Gallinari, McDyess, Amare, with enough flexibility to sign Melo in ’11.

Another example is a trade of Curry for Biedrins or Maggette and Anthony Randolph, while re-signing Lee and signing Joe Johnson. You’d have Tony Douglas, Johnson, Gallinari, Lee and Randolph/Biedrins. Not too shabby in my opinion, and a team that can grow better over the next few years. Not a title contender though, and you’d lose your ’11 flexibility, which I’d like to see the Knicks keep if they lose out on the big names.

On paper we win this, but on paper we should’ve also won against Philadelphia and Sacramento. It’s a matchup of the third and fourth highest scoring teams, and the worst and third-worst defensive teams. The Warriors have 17 wins on the season and have lost six straight by an average of 10.2 points. I wish their recent poor run would fill me with some sort of confidence heading into this one but no such luck. Wait, maybe this will: Our 10-26 record against teams over .500 might make you question whether we can handle good teams, but there’s no doubt about whether we can kick the crap out of the minnows: we’re a whopping 22-5 against teams under .500.

This back-to-back thing, we’re 4-10 in them and the wins have come against New York, New Jersey, Washington and Chicago. The only road win has come against New Jersey so with all due respect to the Raptors, tomorrow night in Portland is a write-off. I hope Triano sees this as the gettable game and goes all out instead of holding back for Portland or Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The Warriors have been hit by injuries and have lost Andris Biedrins, Kelenna Azubuike, Raja Bell, Anthony Randolph and Brandan Wright for the season. Even that doesn’t fill me with confidence because you just know one of their scrubs will be eyeing this game as a chance to get some points on the board. My pick for who that scrub will be is C.J Watson, profiled here by our TrueHoop colleagues or of course, the great rookie Stephen Curry. Even though the Warriors are clearly a rather pathetic injury-riddled squad, the oddsmakers seem to have little faith in the Raptors making them only a 1.5 point favorite. I really am torn which way this game will go. Also of note, this will be Monta Ellis’ second game back after missing the previous six due to a back injury.

I’m sure this will be an up-and-down no-defense game but as with any NBA game, it’ll come down to playing fourth quarter defense (or in our case, third quarter defense). After a fairly solid first half, we gave up 43 in the third quarter, the Warriors did something similar against Portland. They led them 96-83 heading into the fourth but scored just nine points in the final quarter. They shot 3-14 shots and had six turnovers in the fourth, completely blowing their solid play of three quarters (shot 53%). RaptorTalk did some analysis of our third-quarter struggles and concluded that Jay Triano’s talk at halftime does us no good.

This will be Marco Belinelli’s first game back in Golden State so I’m looking forward to seeing him in the first half tonight. If I don’t, Triano doesn’t know what he’s doing. We’ll need to maybe even see if he can use his length to cover Curry as I’m sure PG defense is going to be a high-priority after Beno Udrih’s impersonation of an in-prime Isiaiah Thomas. We cannot expect Calderon and Jack to cover these types of guards, if they would’ve been able to do it they would’ve done it by now. It’s time to start getting creative defending this position and perhaps even throw Marcus Banks out there who I recall as someone wanting to play defense.

Tom Liston was busy flogging dead horses on Friday night and trying to come up with a starting lineup that would fix our issues. He concludes that replacing Wright with DeRozan makes the starting lineup better defensively, yeah, no kidding? Other than Bosh’s offense and Jack’s desire to get to the rim, there’s hardly a consistent element on this team and even though Wright might have a couple good games (after doing nothing for the last 8 – 16/56, 29% + countless blown coverages) by getting the nod as a starter, there is simply no way he’ll maintain that level of play for more than 4 or 5 games and we’ll be having this same discussion two weeks from now.

DeRozan should not have played the entire third quarter against Sacramento, as much as I like him his defense has been disappointing and he should’ve been yanked after failing to fight through the pick set on him in the first minute. However, to state that taking him out of the starting lineup is going to mend some of our problems is a fallacy, the first quarter has been DeRozan’s strongest, he gets about 50% of his points in the first and is very attack-minded, something you need to be early in games. I hardly care though, take him out or leave him in, players like him are red-herrings when it comes to identifying problems.

There’s an article in the Star today which is talking about how the Raptors have been plagued by injury. Really? Losing 96 man-games is now considered being ‘plagued’? Especially when Reggie Evans accounts for 51 of them which the article fails to mention. From what I recall, the only significant injury we’ve had is to Chris Bosh recently and to Jose Calderon a while back. Injury cannot be used as an excuse this season.

Taking a quick reluctant peek at the standings we find that the Raptors are now in 8th spot after wins by Miami and Charlotte. The good news is that we’re three ahead of Chicago in the loss column who, like us, also blew a back-to-back road assignment (Miami and Orlando). They’ve lost 7-straight and have road dates with Memphis and Dallas before returning home to face Cleveland. Chuck Swirsky must be pulling his hair out. If the Raptors current slide continues, we have every chance of making the playoffs only because Chicago is playing awful basketball. Question becomes what does making the playoffs really mean if it’s going to happen like that? BTW, there is no chance for another team to come and steal that 8th spot as Detroit in 10th is a full 10 games back of the Raptors.

Finally, March Madness is around the corner and we’re having a pool. Get the info here, create the bracket and prepare to have your ass kicked.

GSW tonight, let’s do this now. Love the late-night games.

Some of the comments your readers had after our first set of questions were great and I feel they deserve a proper response. I wish I could respond to everyone but you have such a great following on Raptors Republic that I think I’d be writing until well after the draft

Keep in mind I was trying to issue a relatively short answer to a specific question regarding the Raptors drafting a SG or SF at the #9 spot in the draft. Perhaps I should have started the conversation by saying the first thing that needs to be done is a compilation of the pre-draft assets the Raps have to work with this year. For example, the Portland Trail Blazers have these tools to work with: 5 draft picks (24, 32, 38, 55, and 56), approximately $6.5 Million under the salary cap (which is a number that won’t be exact until the NBA calculates the exact cap figure based on this year’s revenue), a $3 Million Trade Exception (from a trade at the deadline), plus they own the rights to a couple young guys playing in Europe right now.

Secondly, the Raptors need to decide what they’ll do in Free-Agency, how much money they have to work with and who they’ll try to resign off their current roster. Finally, a decision should be made (and probably has been) as to the direction of the team. One of your readers commented that he wanted to take DeMar DeRozan because in the long run he’d be the best player and one argument I had made was to trade down and take a more mature player who could contribute now (Sam Young, Terrance Williams, Gerald Henderson). There are a few things to consider here, first, rookie contracts usually only last 3-4 years so to wait for a guy to come along means the direction you are taking is ‘player development and cost saving’ in that you most likely won’t spend a lot in free agency trying to make a run for the playoffs. If you are like the Blazers coming off 50 plus wins, you are seeing your window of opportunity now and thus feel spending money gives you a chance to win. Aiming for the achievement of your goals now rather than player development for future success. Veteran FA’s worth any considerable value are not going to sign with a club that is developing a young roster. Look at Memphis and Oklahoma City, young talent that is not winning regularly versus the Boston Celtics who went out and got veteran FA’s by working the cap and draft picks to come up with assets to win now.

Finally, another reader mentioned the idea of trading up. I also mentioned this with respect to James Harden if he is your guy. I don’t have any problems with this either IF you feel strongly that Harden is your guy and you have the ability (assets) to make it happen such as multiple 2nd Rd. picks to unload. There have been considerable rumors that 2, 3, 4 could move because after Blake Griffin it is somewhat wide open. Perhaps the Raps see that window and make a move. However, until we know what assets the Raptors have to work with and the direction they want to take the franchise then it’s going to be difficult to get a good gauge on what they will do.

A few random notes from the combine and recent team workouts:

• One Raptor fan liked Tyreke Evans for his length and thus his ‘potential defensive ability’, which is outstanding. But potential is a scary word sometimes and it should be noted that he had the slowest feet in the agility test which is a good measurable for defensive potential as well. Can you see now why I’m not a huge fan of these ‘combine stats’?
• A lot has been made of DeRozan’s superior athleticism but if you look at those infamous ‘combine stats’ you’ll see that he has one great mark when compared to the Small Forwards, his max vertical leap (with steps = 38.5″ the same as Chase Budinger). However, because he has short arms he falls to 9th of 11 SF’s in jump reach nearly 5 inches below James Johnson or Damion James. Worse yet, the only player he beat in the footwork and speed tests was 6’11 Austin Daye. And if he had been compared to the SG group, DeRozan would have been dead last in both categories out of 16 guys. His 11.88 agility score would have been .3 tenths of a second slower than 15 other SG’s and 1.4 seconds slower than the fastest SG. Short arms and slow feet, who will he be guarding? Just some food for thought.
• Sam Young participated in a recent NBA group workout and dominated according to sources.
• Another guy I mentioned in the last post was Ohio State big man BJ Mullens. Apparently both he and Austin Daye (Gonzaga) looked great in ‘camp drills’ in Chicago because they didn’t have to play 5-on-5, but both have struggled in workouts against physical defense. Mullens just played in Minnesota and was abused by Luke Neville (an Aussie from the University of Utah) who many say won’t be drafted. And yet Mullens is coming out of school early and a projected lottery pick? On a positive note, the 7’1 260 big man did post a ‘quicker’ time than DeRozan in the agility drill.

Q. Are there any differences from scouting via Video/TV as opposed to live?
A. Pro’s and con’s to both I’m sure. In live situations you definitely get a good feel for the guy physically, what his body is like, his true height and so forth. You can also see his attitude and leadership abilities up close. How he reacts to calls, opposing fans, his coaches, and his teammates. On film, such as Synergy Video, you can see so much footage that you can really get a feel for what the guy does best, what his favorite moves are, and also what some of his weaknesses are because you could potentially watch every shot he took this season. One thing you always have to be careful of, especially in a combine style workout or a closed workout session is falling in love with a prospect based on that one day. See him live as much as possible and then study as much video as you can.

Q. Who will be available at 9? Who will be the best available player at 9?
A. It’s still too early to tell at this point but I think there will be some good players available at this spot. Keep in mind, last year some guys made very late surges into the lottery such as Russell Westbrook climbing to the 4th spot (OKC), Joe Alexander went 8th (Bucks), and Jason Thompson from Rider 12th (Kings). Anthony Randolph went 14th to the Warriors after being rumored in the top 5 then slipping on some boards to late-first. The point being, decisions are still being made and there are a lot of young guys on the draft board as well as the possibility of guys returning to school. We’ll also learn more about the international guys after the upcoming Euro Camp in Treviso, Italy. Remember that Danilo Gallinari shot up to 6th last year to the NY Knicks. This is something we’ll cover more in the coming weeks.

Q. Is Blake Griffin more a Beasley or Duncan?
A. I don’t think he’s like either one to be honest. He’s 2 inches and 12 pounds bigger than Beasley but not as long or skilled (at least now) as Tim Duncan. He is a true Power Forward in the ‘power’ sense. He is strong, explosive, aggressive, and very quick for his size. He is much more athletic than Duncan but will he develop the head for the game that Duncan has? Beasley is more of a face-up guy and I think Griffin will be a solid post-up option as well as a good pick & roll guy and he can run the floor well also. I’m not putting him in the Hall of Fame just yet but he does have some Karl Malone like features.

Hijo de puta!

Q. Who is the next best player in the Draft?
A. The million dollar question, literally. Again, based on results or potential? I like Ricky Rubio and James Harden a lot. I get why people like Hasheem Thabeet with his obvious size and length, but I’m not a huge fan. So if you are the Memphis Grizzlies and you have Mike Conley and OJ Mayo, do you pick Rubio or Harden or trade down? Perhaps they like Thabeet and go that route. I’m a proponent of picking a guy if you feel strongly about him at that spot, if not, trade down and stockpile players and picks. This may the year to do just that.

Q. Who’s your favorite (sentimental) player in the Draft?
A. As you know, I like international players and REALLY like what the Colangelo’s did in Phoenix bringing in Mike D’Antoni, Steve Nash, and that style of play. So needless to say I’m a Rubio fan and look forward to seeing how that situation plays out. You’ve probably read some of the latest rumblings that he’s willing to stay another year in Spain if he’s not a top 3 pick and I think a lot of that is the negotiations taking place with his Agent and Club (Joventut).

From a basketball standpoint I like his leadership skills for such a young guy, he’s very competitive, has good hand skills and vision and is better athletically than he gets credit for. He is a very good defender and has long arms. He does need to work on his shooting and range, but that should develop with time. A lot of guys from that Spanish team have come to the NBA and done well so I see no reason why he wouldn’t do the same.

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