by Stop Mike Lupica on April 14 at 9:43AM
Basketball:
Here's some good news for Knicks fans: not only did the Knicks lose, to end their three game winning streak which had all but eliminated them from a top-two spot in the draft lottery, but the Minnesota T-Wolves picked up win #21 by beating the Grizzlies (22 wins), meaning the 23-win Knicks, currently tied with the 23-win Clippers, aren't yet out of the race to end up with a top three or four spot in the lottery drawing. Just saying, if you care about these things.
Impressive to see the T-Wolves drop 43 points on the Grizzlies in the first quarter of that game, by the way. That says a lot about Memphis' current state - you could wonder whether they are taking another stab at the tanking game, but the real story to me is this: all year long the Grizzlies have shown us what the (old version) Suns would be like with the same defense, but without the same efficiency on offense. I guess the Suns Euro-style system is really great, you know, as long as you can anchor the team with an All-NBA point guard (Nash), and All-NBA PF (Amare), and an All-NBA SF (Marion).
Of course the new Suns have Shaq instead of Marion, and it does seem to be working better. To answer MC Bias' question from over the weekend: Yes, Gordon Giricek has looked great for the Suns in small bursts off the bench, as most SG/SF do in that role (see the Polish Rifleman, Eric Piatkowski). But I doubt he will play much in the playoffs, especially if Grant Hill can stay healthy. The Suns don't do deep benches, especially in the playoffs.
The Suns do technical fouls, though. At least they do since Shaq got there. As evidence of their new "toughness", one could point to this stat (courtesy of the talented Ira Winderman, of the Miami Sun-Sentinel): in the 53 games this season before the Shaq trade, the Suns had been called for a total of 14 technical fouls; since the Shaq trade, in 22 games, the Suns have been whistled for 26 technical fouls. Shaq himself is only responsible for a half-dozen of those, so yes, the Suns are a bit more animated than they used to be.
The Suns lost Friday night to the Rockets, who are once again streaking, but much quieter this time. They had won 7 out of 9 until their loss to a desperate Denver team last night. With that win, the Nuggets stay a half game ahead of the Warriors for the right to play the Lakers (or maybe the Hornets) in the first round. Our hopes: the Warriors would make a much more fun match up against the Lakers.
More potential good news for Knicks fans that probably won't come to fruition: The Heat are once again looking for a center, according to Pat Riley. Some of the names mentioned in that article include Eddy Curry, previously rumored to be potentially of interest to the Heat:
Notable veteran big men who could be available via trade include Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal (has an opt-out clause, but is due $44 million over the next two years), Denver's Nene, Sacramento's Brad Miller and New York's Eddy Curry. But all come with hefty multiyear deals. And the Heat wants salary-cap space in 2009, potentially to pursue Clippers 6-8 power forward/center Elton Brand, who will be a free agent then if he doesn't opt out this summer.
The Heat could be scary if they made that move (more realistic than trying to sign Brand) - imagine this lineup: Marcus Banks or a free agent PG, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Michael Beasley, Eddy Curry. Isn't Gilbert Arenas possibly available this offseason?
If the Knicks are in pure "dump salary" mode - a possibility, if new President Donnie Walsh was really serious about getting under the cap in three years - then a Curry for Mark Blount trade might work for the Knicks. No, the Knicks wouldn't be getting much back in return for their investment in Curry, and no, I'm not in favor of this outright. But if the plan really is to get under the cap, then dumping high-salary players with long contracts will probably require taking back 25 cents for the dollar. Maybe Smush Parker can round off the trade, giving the Knicks a terrible stopgap at point guard for a season. Hey, if you are going to rebuild for real, that means more than one year of tanking. Why not take a page out of the Sonics book, and drop as much salary as possible, and try to net top-3 picks in back to back drafts? Of course, the Knicks' 2010 pick belongs to the Jazz, so tanking for too long isn't a great plan, either....
Other b-ball notes: The Spurs look good right now, but Ginobili's "groin sprain" worries me a bit - since they looking at a 50/50 chance of playing either Phoenix (with home court advantage for the Spurs) or Utah (home court to the Jazz) in the first round, the Spurs need a healthy Manu pronto. My guess is that this will become a big story in their playoff run, one which could be shorter than Spurs fans have become accustomed to....
I guess there are playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, too. The Pistons and Celtics are actually the best bets to win the NBA title this season, as the Western Conference gauntlet - a long regular season where nobody gets any rest, followed by some tough first round series, and it only gets more daunting from there - that gauntlet will likely leave the Western Conference winner (our bet: if things stay the way they are, the Jazz will lose to the Lakers in the 2nd round, and Phoenix will beat the Hornets, setting up a high-ratings Laker-Suns final in which Shaq's crew will battle Kobe, and with Bynum unlikely and Pau Gasol looking hurt, our money all of sudden shifts to the Suns winning the West) exhausted. Like trying to make sense of that last sentence. So yes, the title will probably go to the Eastern Conference champ.
And the team that won the Eastern Conference last year - the Cavs - we haven't forgotten about them, but they are taking it easy down the stretch. Their 3-6 record over the last 9 games has to all but eliminate LeBron James from MVP talk. You can't win an MVP when your team finishes with only 45 wins. Ask Kobe....
Finally: I told ya before - Vince Carter is a big volleyball fan and former player. Here's some minor evidence:
MOV01888.MPG
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Here's some good news for Knicks fans: not only did the Knicks lose, to end their three game winning streak which had all but eliminated them from a top-two spot in the draft lottery, but the Minnesota T-Wolves picked up win #21 by beating the Grizzlies (22 wins), meaning the 23-win Knicks, currently tied with the 23-win Clippers, aren't yet out of the race to end up with a top three or four spot in the lottery drawing. Just saying, if you care about these things.
Impressive to see the T-Wolves drop 43 points on the Grizzlies in the first quarter of that game, by the way. That says a lot about Memphis' current state - you could wonder whether they are taking another stab at the tanking game, but the real story to me is this: all year long the Grizzlies have shown us what the (old version) Suns would be like with the same defense, but without the same efficiency on offense. I guess the Suns Euro-style system is really great, you know, as long as you can anchor the team with an All-NBA point guard (Nash), and All-NBA PF (Amare), and an All-NBA SF (Marion). Of course the new Suns have Shaq instead of Marion, and it does seem to be working better. To answer MC Bias' question from over the weekend: Yes, Gordon Giricek has looked great for the Suns in small bursts off the bench, as most SG/SF do in that role (see the Polish Rifleman, Eric Piatkowski). But I doubt he will play much in the playoffs, especially if Grant Hill can stay healthy. The Suns don't do deep benches, especially in the playoffs.
The Suns do technical fouls, though. At least they do since Shaq got there. As evidence of their new "toughness", one could point to this stat (courtesy of the talented Ira Winderman, of the Miami Sun-Sentinel): in the 53 games this season before the Shaq trade, the Suns had been called for a total of 14 technical fouls; since the Shaq trade, in 22 games, the Suns have been whistled for 26 technical fouls. Shaq himself is only responsible for a half-dozen of those, so yes, the Suns are a bit more animated than they used to be.
The Suns lost Friday night to the Rockets, who are once again streaking, but much quieter this time. They had won 7 out of 9 until their loss to a desperate Denver team last night. With that win, the Nuggets stay a half game ahead of the Warriors for the right to play the Lakers (or maybe the Hornets) in the first round. Our hopes: the Warriors would make a much more fun match up against the Lakers.
More potential good news for Knicks fans that probably won't come to fruition: The Heat are once again looking for a center, according to Pat Riley. Some of the names mentioned in that article include Eddy Curry, previously rumored to be potentially of interest to the Heat:
Notable veteran big men who could be available via trade include Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal (has an opt-out clause, but is due $44 million over the next two years), Denver's Nene, Sacramento's Brad Miller and New York's Eddy Curry. But all come with hefty multiyear deals. And the Heat wants salary-cap space in 2009, potentially to pursue Clippers 6-8 power forward/center Elton Brand, who will be a free agent then if he doesn't opt out this summer.
The Heat could be scary if they made that move (more realistic than trying to sign Brand) - imagine this lineup: Marcus Banks or a free agent PG, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Michael Beasley, Eddy Curry. Isn't Gilbert Arenas possibly available this offseason?
If the Knicks are in pure "dump salary" mode - a possibility, if new President Donnie Walsh was really serious about getting under the cap in three years - then a Curry for Mark Blount trade might work for the Knicks. No, the Knicks wouldn't be getting much back in return for their investment in Curry, and no, I'm not in favor of this outright. But if the plan really is to get under the cap, then dumping high-salary players with long contracts will probably require taking back 25 cents for the dollar. Maybe Smush Parker can round off the trade, giving the Knicks a terrible stopgap at point guard for a season. Hey, if you are going to rebuild for real, that means more than one year of tanking. Why not take a page out of the Sonics book, and drop as much salary as possible, and try to net top-3 picks in back to back drafts? Of course, the Knicks' 2010 pick belongs to the Jazz, so tanking for too long isn't a great plan, either....Other b-ball notes: The Spurs look good right now, but Ginobili's "groin sprain" worries me a bit - since they looking at a 50/50 chance of playing either Phoenix (with home court advantage for the Spurs) or Utah (home court to the Jazz) in the first round, the Spurs need a healthy Manu pronto. My guess is that this will become a big story in their playoff run, one which could be shorter than Spurs fans have become accustomed to....
I guess there are playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, too. The Pistons and Celtics are actually the best bets to win the NBA title this season, as the Western Conference gauntlet - a long regular season where nobody gets any rest, followed by some tough first round series, and it only gets more daunting from there - that gauntlet will likely leave the Western Conference winner (our bet: if things stay the way they are, the Jazz will lose to the Lakers in the 2nd round, and Phoenix will beat the Hornets, setting up a high-ratings Laker-Suns final in which Shaq's crew will battle Kobe, and with Bynum unlikely and Pau Gasol looking hurt, our money all of sudden shifts to the Suns winning the West) exhausted. Like trying to make sense of that last sentence. So yes, the title will probably go to the Eastern Conference champ.
And the team that won the Eastern Conference last year - the Cavs - we haven't forgotten about them, but they are taking it easy down the stretch. Their 3-6 record over the last 9 games has to all but eliminate LeBron James from MVP talk. You can't win an MVP when your team finishes with only 45 wins. Ask Kobe....
Finally: I told ya before - Vince Carter is a big volleyball fan and former player. Here's some minor evidence:
MOV01888.MPG
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