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

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.

True to Boston form, the Celtics shafted the Raptors yet again; this time by losing to the Bulls after taking a 1 point lead into the 4th. It’s literally come down to the last game of the year for the Raptors, sort of:

• If the Raptors win, and the Bulls lose, Toronto’s in
• If the Raptors win, and the Bulls win, Toronto’s out
• If the Raptors lose, and the Bulls lose, Toronto’s out
• If the Raptors lose, and the Bulls win, Toronto’s out

You look back over the course of the season, and start to cringe at some of the losses the Raptors had that weren’t taken seriously at the time: Washington, Indiana (twice), Philadelphia, Sacramento, and Golden State (twice). You win any of those 7 games, and this thing is over. So when we were crying bloody murder after these losses, there was a method to the madness (and not just our pride being hurt).

The fact of the matter is the Raptors don’t deserve to make the playoffs. When you look back on the season, they always came short when the pressure was on, and only got to 5th in the east by taking advantage of a weak schedule. When the chips were stacked against them, they rarely stepped up. And even after dogging so much of the season, they are literally one game from making the playoffs. It’s amazing and upsetting at the same time.

Tonight we get the Knicks, a team that the Raptors have owned over the last three seasons, going 8-3 over that span. At the best of times, the Knicks are a shell of a team, on this last game of the season though, I’m expecting a bit more. Al Harrington and Tracy McGrady (questionable) will probably miss the game, meaning the Knicks should be better off – no one to take ill-advised 3′s while the offense is setting up.

David Lee has been a Raptor killer with Bosh in the lineup, averaging 25.7pts and 16.7rebs. Without Bosh, it will be a task by committee. Turkoglu has stepped up his rebounding as of late, and I fully expect Amir to return to his rebounding ways now that Detroit has been dispatched; which only leaves Bargnani.

If he drops 30, I don’t think I will care how many boards he grabs, but he needs to drop 30, end of discussion. If not, the Knicks have this guy called Earl Barron, who seems to be grabbing a great deal of rebounds (11.7) since joining the team, and who could sway things to the Knicks favour if he goes unnoticed and unchecked. That’s about all there is to be worried about, they have a couple youngin’s who can ball, but Duhon is leading the charge, forgive me if I’m not worried.

On the Bulls side of things, they’re in Charlotte to face a Bobcats team that is 31-9 at home. Larry Brown said that they owe it to basketball to compete hard and not roll over for the Bulls. How long that lasts remains to be seen considering the Bobcats have nothing to gain or lose with this game in terms of playoff position (it’s always better to win than lose in the grand scheme of things though). You have to figure D’Antoni is in the same boat as Brown.

Really, that’s all there is to it. The Raptors have to win this game, and they need to get dirty to do it, since the Knicks have nothing else going on but to c*ck-block us from getting into the playoffs.

From here on out, every game is a must win. Triano talked about not panicking recently, and I agree to a certain point. When your franchise player is out of the lineup, and you lose 4-in-a-row because the rest of the team isn’t that good, you just hope Bosh gets better quick and gets back fast enough to assure us of a playoff spot.  Now that he’s back, and we’re in the stretch run, these girls need to pull up their skirts and get down to business.

With the resurgent Milwaukee Bucks a half game behind us for 5th, things are tighter in the East than you might expect. The difference between the 5th spot (where the Raptors currently are) and the 9th spot (where the Bobcats are trying not to fall apart from) is only three games. Considering we just dropped 4 in a row, whatever cushion we had just evaporated and the certainty of a playoff spot we had a week ago has been reduced to a dog fight.

Over the last four games, the Raptors have just been terrible, they:

• have lost by an average margin of 16.2 points
• have given up an average of 115.5 ppg
• allowed their opponents to shoot 47.1% from the field
• turned the ball over 61 times, which has lead to 80 points

Oh…and no one has stepped up to fill in for Bosh. I mean, Jack has done a pretty good job of steadying the ship, but Turkoglu is playing just a bit better than usual, and Bargnani doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be #1; and you can’t really expect much from the rest.

What we have got a glimpse of the last 6 games is what life will be like if Bosh walks this summer (not a sign and trade). If the franchise ups-and-leaves, we will have almost enough cap space to replace him with anyone other than the likes of a Drew Gooden or someone along those lines. I get nauseous just thinking about it.

The Knicks are just all kinds of awful. They are  3-10 since February (including a 9 game losing streak) with 2 of their 3 wins coming against the Wizards. It’s a sadder sight than Arsenalist at a Justin Bieber concert hopping, clapping and swooning. However, they are coming off a hard fought win against the Pistons where D’Antoni used a tight 7-man rotation.

If the same lineup is used tonight against the Raptors, things will get interesting.

Starters
G, Tracy McGrady [6-8, 223]
OG, Bill Walker [6-6, 230]
SF, Danilo Gallinari [6-10, 225]
PF, Al Harrington [6-9, 250]
C, David Lee [6-9, 250]

Bench
PG, Sergio Rodriguez [6-3, 176]
OG/PG, Eddie House [6-1, 180]

I don’t know a whole lot about Bill Walker, but the rest of this lineup is very athletic and matches up very well with an injury plagued Raptors (Calderon and Turkoglu are listed as day-to-day). The only thing that worries me is McGrady at the point, who has been playing pretty good in the 7 games he’s been a Knick (four of which he has scored more than 15 points). Jack will have his hands full, as McGrady can shoot over him at will and post him up.

I like Banks/Weems off the bench against Rodriguez and House, but I suspect Wilson Chandler will get plenty of burn since he likes to light the Raptors up. Poor Eddie, guy got shafted large with this exile.

While I hope Turkoglu and Calderon are fine and will be ready for the playoffs, I like that Wright and Banks will be getting plenty of burn in their stead. Banks has don’e nothing but ball when given the opportunity, but Wright especially, given how it is expected for his minutes to increase heading into the playoffs.

I’m mostly hoping Al Harrington treats us to cocky moments like this in a Raptor win:

After getting the shaft during the Olympic semi-finals, Raptor Fan Fridays is back tonight at the Sport Centre Cafe.

We got screwed by the schedule this week. The Raptors have had 3 full days off since that loss to the Pacers, and I couldn’t think of a better game than against our Atlantic rivals. Full disclosure: I’ve been a Knicks fan since Ewing, McDaniels, Smith, Starks, and Oakley were running rampant. Epic games they would have against the Bulls. Sadly, the Knicks have been a massive disappointment to say the least, but the wheels are in motion, and they are back on the track to respectability.

The Raptors are 2-2 since Calderon has returned to the lineup, and some folks have gone so far as to say that they miss Banks and think he’s a better fit than Jose. While I concede that the Raptors had a great stretch without Jose, long term, this team needs him (or someone he would yield in a trade) in order to have a chance at making any noise. Forgive me if I don’t like our chances in the playoffs with Banks as our backup point guard.

2010 has seen the Knicks come out strong, going 4-2 with an impressive/gritty 112-108 OT win over the Hawks. Yeah, the team that has been eating our lunch all year. Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me as much as it probably should. The Knicks have been stacked with talent for years now, just not enough of the other good stuff to make them a team, but they are coming up. Don’t look now, but they are 2.5 games behind the Raptors in the standings.

I checked in with Curts Skeeter Jr. to get his take on the Knicks and this game, and he had some interesting things to say:

Q: How have your boys been playing of late?
A: The Knicks are on track to make a quality push for a major playoff run. Mike Dantoni has proved that he can coach defense as well as offense. This was evident in our last win where the Knicks needed a quality stop against the 76ers (a contested Rodney Carney three), and the Knicks got the stop and a 93-92 win. David Lee in my opinion should be an all-star.

Q: Tell us about Gallinari.
A: Gallinari is a Larry Bird clone as a shooter, but his overall game could use a lil more polish which will come with confidence.  His first year contributions were limited due to his back (only played 18 games), so technically this is his first lap around the league, and he may still hit the rookie wall at some point.

Q: Keys to beating the Raptors?
A: The Knicks need to speed up the pace, and get to free throw line.  David Lee has to make the Raptor defenders work in the paint and the wings have to make hard cuts to catch the defender off guard.

Q: Any other thoughts on this game?
A: I respectfully think that the Knicks have passed the Raptors talent wise, but have not gotten over the mental edge that Toronto has over us.  This is a big game and I think the Knicks top tier players have to impose their will. If Chandler and Gallinari have good games the win will put us over the top for the next few years.  Keys to winning is confidence and accepting and learning how to deal with success and not accepting mediocrity.

Clearly he hasn’t heard Jack Armstrong and his claims that the Raptors are a top 5 team, talent wise, in the East. I still laugh at that. Sorry, I do. The Raptors have some nice pieces, but there is a reason we’re 19-20. Talent alone in the NBA gets you nothing, just ask Darko Milicic.

So Curts brings up a few good points, namely Gallinari and Lee, both of whom scare the crap out of me. Chances are we’re going to see Bosh on Lee and Bargnani on Gallinari. If our recent history is any indicator, Gallinari is going to have a lot of open looks from beyond the arc. The guy averages 6.6 3pt attempts a game, converting 2.6 of them. The clean looks he is going to get when his check (Bargnani probably) is sent to double whomever, well, it wont be pretty. I just…I just don’t know…Danilo is going to have 32 tonight, I can feel it. Lee on the other hand has owned Bosh over the last few seasons. He gets in the paint, hits that hook, hits his jumpers, grabs every single freaking rebound…man I wish the Raptors had him. Bosh has been playing harder/better/faster/stronger than previous years, so Lee has his work cut out for him.

I also have the bad feeling that when Triano goes small-ball crap-ball with Jack/Calderon/Turkoglu, Chandler is going to have a field day with whoever ends up on him. Neither Jack or Calderon have shown they can cover a solid two-guard when paired with the other this season. Although the Knicks have some nice players, they have no one on this team who warrants a double team. The Raptors need to stay at home with Lee, Gallinari and Harrington, and limit the number of times Chandler or Robinson shake free from their defender. No layups, no excuses. If the Knicks are going to beat us tonight, they should have to do it from the perimeter.

D’Antoni has been playing about 8 deep, over the last few games with the starters playing heavy minutes. This could bode well for the Raptors who haven’t played since Monday. Belinelli/Weems/Wright should get some good burn while Triano figures out what he is doing out there. I like Belinelli and Weems in this kind of game. They will get good looks running back and forth. Wright, not so much, but if he can be a pest, and keep Chandler off center for a few minutes, then I might look past the few bad shots he will heave.

I was worried about this game during the podcast, but after the loss to the Pacers, I am beyond worried. With Dallas and Cleveland up next, the Raptors have to get this one. If the Raptors keep Lee and Jeffries off the glass, take away everything from inside 10 feet away, and slow the pace down, they should take this. That’s easier said then done, but the Knicks don’t have a real presence in the paint. The gamblers have the Knicks at 2.5 point favourites at home, at least we can be happy that the experts think it will be close. I’m betting against the line, but still think the Knicks take it 100-98, this one will come down to the last shot, win or lose.

Don’t forget to join us tonight for Raptor Fan Fridays at the Sports Centre Cafe on St. Clair, we had a great time last week. Some nice folks work there

2) What will the Raptors record be over the next 8 games? (I got them 5-3 – splitting with New York, Hawks will lay down a pounding and the Bulls will want revenge at home)

3) Why the love-fest for Triano? In your heart-of-hearts, do you really think this is the right guy to take this team to the next level? Considering there are lots of available cats out there, wouldn’t you rather see someone with real NBA credentials coaching this team next season? Aren’t you sick of having rookie head coaches leading us to mediocrity?

For starters, I’d like to revisit a couple of ideas that I have been writing about for the last month and change over at raptorstalk.com In particular, I’d like to share with you my thoughts on the firing of Sam Mitchell, which seem even more true today than they did on December 4th when I first wrote this piece.

…is Colangelo the right guy to right this ship.

http://www.raptorstalk.com/2008/12/04/you-are-running-out-of-chips-mr-colangelo/

You are running out of chips Mr. Colangelo OR Why Firing Sam Mitchell only buys the Raptors more time to make less moves.

I give Rob Babcock credit, he may have been a horrible GM, but at least he had the “cahones” to admit he made a mistake AND then set about fixing the problem immediately. One disaster ridden season after hiring Kevin O’Neil as the Raps head coach, Babcock fired him and admitted he hired the wrong guy. Less than 6 months later after he was proven wrong again in hiring Sam Mitchell (whom he hired to be “tough on Carter” and was rumored to have fought Carter in the dressing room). He sent Vince Carter to New Jersey in a trade that still makes Raptors fans cringe. The trade may not have been great, but at least Babcock was trying to fix his mistakes. He traded Rafer Alston to Houston for Mike James only 1 year into a 5 year contract, and even apologized publicly for drafting Rafael Araujo. Mr. Colangelo its time for you to own up. Ya, that’s right, I said it.

You see, the real reason the Raps have their hands tied at the moment is because Colangelo is having trouble admitting that everything he touches isn’t gold. Yes, in part, his trading away of TJ last spring was an admission that he made a mistake in acquiring him in a swap with the Bucks two years back for Charlie Villanueva – but not really. Actually, Colangelo’s hand was forced and his response came much too late. Had Colangelo been more active and humble, he would have dealt TJ as soon as it was apparent that Calderon could play at an all star level OR dealt Calderon as soon as TJ returned. After all, look what NJ got for J-Kidd last year at the trade deadline – yup, that’s right, Devin Harris + picks! Instead, Colangelo was continually cocky in addressing the media about the issue by insisting that their “2 guard rotation” was the envy of the league.

He allowed the controversy to not only emerge, but grow, and fester, until it ultimately divided and destroyed this team’s chance of making any type of run in the playoffs. And then, come the summertime, teams knew that Colangelo had to move one of the PGs and the only choices on the market for fair value included players like JO and Gerard Wallace. Now don’t get me wrong, I like the JO deal and I have endorsed it from day one, but in tying up 21 million this year and 23 million next year in JO, Colangelo has tied his hands to making other moves, especially because he felt compelled to include a #1 pick in the deal when there were at least 5 potential swingmen on the board at #17 who may have been able to help the Raps this season.

Colangelo’s second biggest mistake (and another one that up until today he was unwilling to move on) was the 4 year extension he gave Sam Mitchell. Yes, it was not Colangelo who brought Mitchell to Toronto BUT it was Colangelo who gave him a contract extension. He didn’t need to re-sign Mitchell. Remember, when Colangelo took over in January if 2006, Mitchell was coaching a team that ended the 05-06 season 27 and 55 that’s almost 30 games under .500. But at the time it appeared that he held onto Sam Mitchell to hold as a scapegoat so that if the roster did not look stronger in his first year of GM he could simply fire Mitchell and move on. And boy did that plan backfire. Instead, Mitchell led the Raptors in 2006-2007 to a 47 win season and even won Coach of the Year BUT and here’s the BUT – his contract had expired and even though Sam was the reigning COY, no one would have balked if Colangelo had come forward and said that he wanted his “own guy” in there.

Instead he re-signed Sam to a 4 year contract and at that point Mitchell became Colangelo’s guy and he was committed to him – even when the team started off 2007-08 poorly (1-4), or when Bargnani appeared to take a step back in his second year, or when they got embarrassed at the hands of Orlando in a first round match-up they should have won a year after being exploited by NJ. Time and time again, Colangelo stood back and let “the process” play out as he backed his guy and as top notch coaches like Stan Van Gundy, Larry Brown, Jim O’Brien, Scott Skiles, and even Mike Dantoni took their services elsewhere.

And this is why the timing of the firing seems strange. After all, if he didn’t fire Mitchell after the embarrassing loss to Boston on home court that saw the team fall one game under .500 and to 12th in the East only days after Carter humiliated this team in overtime against NJ, then why would you fire him in the middle of a west coast road trip less than ¼ of the way into this season? With an almost certain loss coming Friday night in Utah and the potential of up to 8 more losses before a truly winnable game on Dec 19th against Oklahoma., why wouldn’t you wait until after December when the schedule gets lighter and you could use the coach as a scapegoat for the teams play in December?

The potential reasoning for the firing may be that the 40 point loss in Denver was more than any respectable fan could take, especially when the coach’s response to it on the FAN 590 radio station this morning was very nonchalant when talking about the disgusting effort his team put up in allowing the Nuggets to shoot 60% – a feat that has been accomplished more than once this season against the Raps. Maybe bloggers on this site were right when they mentioned how Mitchell had lost the confidence of Bosh and the dressing room or perhaps the chance to get his hands on Eddie Jordan or PJ Carlesimo who were both recently fired appeared too lucrative to pass up?

But more likely than not, it appears that once again Colangelo’s hand was forced and against his own better judgment he had to publicly come forward and again admit that he was wrong. Lets face it, if he didn’t have to, Colangelo would not have fired Sam Mitchell. How else do you explain how Mitchell has lasted this long?

You see Colangelo had to fire Mitchell because he needed to make some changes here and everyone knows that, but unfortunately there is no real wiggle room for him to make any player movement. This is a roster that has some serious holes in it due to Colangelo mistakes. He miscalculated the importance of guys like Garbajosa and Delfino by letting them both walk and then not replacing either players’ grit, basketball IQ, defensive toughness, and versatility to play more than one position. And with no real trading partners out there and with the team too close to the cap to even pick up a player at the veterans minimum, the coach became the only viable choice for change.

When I started thinking about who this team could trade to get better, the list is very short, in fact its really only two names: Bosh and Bargnani. You see, AP and Joey Graham may be expiring contracts but they only total close to 7.5 million dollars, which isn’t enough to bring back a player of any significance (that is of course assuming that you could get an NBA GM drunk one night at a league party and then get him to play a game of Kevin McHale and trade you valuable players for garbage). While Kapono would be liked by many teams, he has 3 more years after this season at 6 million a year at a time when most teams are very hesitant to take on any contracts past 2010 unless they are players of real substance (and Kapono is a good 6th man but not a real power player).

Calderon could be a valuable trading chip but there are 2 problems here: first, is that it would require Colangelo admitting that he was wrong, which we know he is loathe to do..BUT the bigger problem is that he has a BYC contract, which means that if they were to trade him in the first year of his new contract they could only take back half of what he makes in contracts from another team – and that means he only has a trading value of 3.5 million and that just wont get it done. And since, Colangelo may get shot if he trades Bosh the only chip that remains is trading Bargnani…ouch! Think about how tough that would that be – to admit that taking Bargnani was the wrong choice with the #1 overall pick.

You see that’s what firing Mitchell was really all about. The team needed change and Bryan Colangelo only had two choices: fire Mitchell or deal Bargnani. And while firing Mitchell doesn’t solve any of the roster issues or make the players here any better, it does buy BC time, time to sit back and hope that “the really big 3” can get it going every night. Time to hope that JO can stay healthy. Time to hope that Joey Graham’s secret twin brother decides to show up every night (that is the third twin who no one knows about who has all the talent but suffers from an anxiety disorder so he only shows up for 1-2 games at a time whenever Joey or Stephen are in jeopardy of losing their jobs). But most importantly, time to hope that there is another answer to admitting that he was wrong because apparently BC doesn’t like to do that, even when it costs his team wins and chances to win a NBA title. Just ask Joe Johnson.

As always, standing in the key, I’m the Dr. I’ve got my feet planted and I’m planning on taking a charge!

phdsteve

Pat Riley is starting to sound more and more like he’s open to the idea of trading the #2 pick. Over the last few days the Miami media is imploring him to not even entertain the idea but Riley is bent on improving his team by acquiring “as many good players as we can”. Hmm, we got some “good” players on our team, feed him TJ Ford and his long lost love Jason Kapono and we’re suddenly on the table. Just a thought.

We’re all in general agreement that the SG position needs to be upgraded and Anthony Parker’s role/minutes reduced. Josh Howard has fallen out of favor with the Dallas Mavericks and is there to be had. Of the 15 trade proposals listed in the article the Raptors are nowhere to be found and with good reason – we have nothing they’d want. Howard’s a very good scorer and would lift some of the pressure from Bosh but he’s the last guy Colangelo would look at character-wise. Not going to happen, lets move along.

I love the parting shot taken by Jerry Reinsdorf at Mike D’Antoni. He’s saying D’Antoni got scared out of coaching the Bulls because Reinsdorf wanted the team to play defense and D’Antoni openly acknowledged that he tries to outscore teams and defense comes secondary to him. In the interview D’Antoni once again blamed the fact that his teams don’t play defense entirely on the personnel even though Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw are all capable players. I just don’t like that guy and it shows.

Sam Smith’s mouthing off again and recommending Chicago trade Hinrich et al for expiring contracts to make a run at Dwayne Wade at the end of the 2009-10 season. I don’t know if you can build on those hopes especially when Wade’s got a 17M option for the 2010-11 season. Factor in Wade’s injury problems and you got Sam Smith coming up with a low-percentage plan that further reduces his reputation closer to mine.

Reports out of Houston say that the Rockets are looking to trade up in the draft to the teens (13-19) and there are teams willing to give their pick up or “trade out of the draft altogether” because of salary reasons. Apparently, the $1.8 million salary scale for those picks is too much for some GMs to bear. Strikes a little odd to me considering how deep the draft is.

Spurs are down but not out. They’re too good to go down in 4 or 5, I wouldn’t be surprised if this series ends up 2-2 and goes 7. Home-court advantage has been huge this post-season and although the Pistons bucked that trend, the Spurs’ experience and talent is too much to discount. Plus, you can’t expect Ginobili and Parker to play like crap for the entire series.

Shameless plug for my Euro 2008 soccer pool – $16 through PayPal. All the money goes to payouts, I make zilch – top 4 win prizes. While supplies last!

Till tomorrow.

Imagine my shock when the Knicks sweeped up Mike D’Antoni in hopes of ailing their overpriced slow-footed roster, I think Peter Vescey’s piece the following day summed up everybody’s feelings – that is everybody who believes that adding an expensive coach to an undisciplined and expensive roster can’t possibly work. We’ll finally get to see whether Phoenix’s success was because of D’Antoni or Nash/Stoudamire running the pick ‘n roll to near perfection. One thing is for sure, he’s blaming the lack of defense in Phoenix entirely on the players. I don’t like this guy one bit, I’d actually have Mitchell over him because he at least brings out some defense out of his players, D’Antoni delegates it to the players entirely. Sure, we would probably up our scoring but does it really matter since our chances of success in the playoffs would be exactly the same? And remember Colangelo stating that Mitchell was here to stay? Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun Times is calling bullshit on that because apparently Colangelo tried to contact D’Antoni.

Now I don’t know if Doug Smith has any sources when he says the Raptors are interested in Boki Nachbar but he does satisfy the main criteria for Raptors recruitment – European. I’d say no thanks to Nachbar because he’s not what this team needs, for the 584th time BC we need a rebounder and a scorer, not another 3-pt shooter that’s allergic to the paint. Anyway, it’s probably just something Doug dreamed up while scratching his ass on a Tuesday morning.

I’m still recovering from the trip so forgive me if I’m posting links that are few days old but if you haven’t seen the Charles Barkley is a Dumbass clip, its comedy at its finest.

Later.