Showing posts with label New York Knicks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York Knicks. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wednesday Chumpliness

The Grizzlies are expected to talk to former Denver Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe, among other candidates, about taking over the front office. Memphis Commercial Appeal

I have two words for Memphis fans who think Vandeweghe will return them to grace: Kenyon Martin.
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Regardless of whether he retains his job as coach of the Sonics or if owner Clay Bennett decides to replace him, Bob Hill's life will go on.
"I'm not going to die," he said after Tuesday's practice. "I've got a wonderful family that loves me to death. I just had my first grandson yesterday. I've got a beautiful home in Texas. So I'm not going to die. If I'm not back, I'll feel bad because it's the first time I haven't been able to have success." Seattle Times


I guess he's not counting his 36-78 record as coach at Fordham, or his three straight 1st round exits as coach of the Pacers.
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"Yeah, we're going to play hard [against the Hornets] and hope for the best, but we're just going to have to shoot for next year. Can we still get into the playoffs? Yeah, we can. Realistically, will we? No." Los Angeles Times

That's Maggette illustrating perfectly what it's like to be a Clippers fan: painful, pathetic, un-ambitious, and scared of the Golden State Warriors.
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Bryant said he hasn't given any thought to his MVP chances. Orange County Register

Fortunately I have. He has none. Kobe is a great player who deserves an MVP award about as much as I do. To even discuss his name in the same sentence as Dirk, Nash, Bronny or DWade is a joke. In fact, as far as the numbers go on paper, and the teams records, I'm not sure how you'd justify Kobe over 'Melo.

"Winning MVP would be nice, but it would mean much, much more if we had one of the top records in the league," Bryant said. "To win it now would be kind of like an empty award to me." Orange County Register

To us all, my friend. To us all.
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Dolan also revealed that Thomas' sexual harassment trial is scheduled for September. New York Post

Wow I had almost forgotten about that particular noose around Zeke's neck. Make that reason 7,943 on the top 25,000 reasons why Isiah Thomas should be fired. Something else just occurred to me: could the Knicks be tanking to go after a high draft pick? I know what you're saying, "But Cap'n, the Bulls get the Knicks 1st round pick this year." Sure, I know that. And you know that. But are you really that confident that Isiah knows it? I'm honestly only like half kidding. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out Isiah doesn't even realize he's given up maybe the most valuable draft pick since Bronny for Eddy Curry.
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Clyde "The Glide" Drexler may have been voted one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, but he was voted off the stage Tuesday as "Dancing With the Stars" fans eliminated Drexler and partner Elena Grinenko. And after Heather Mills' fall in Monday's competition, she fell to the bottom two in voting. Metromix.com

I guess now he'll only have a career of legendary basketballing, a city full of fans who'd die for him, millions of dollars and his debonair charm and good looks to keep him warm. Poor guy...

James Dolan's Pooch Screwing Clinic: Open For Business

So you're a gazillionaire owner of one of the biggest market pro basketball franchises on the planet. Maybe the biggest. Who cares if your team has the worst roster of overpaid, underachieving layabouts. Or that your insane coach/president is literally throwing stacks of hundred dollar bills into an incinerator on guys like Steve Francis, Malik Rose, Jerome James and Jared Jeffries. Or that with two first round picks in last year's draft, he went after two 2nd rounders. What does it matter that instead of Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins, you could have had Balkman and Marcus Williams, Rajon Rondo or Dan Gibson? Who cares if your coach mortgaged your future on Eddy Curry, and now you don't have a first round pick in one of the deepest drafts in years...
Wait a second. That should all really piss you off. Sure the Knicks are still making gobs of money, but just imagine how much more they'd make if they could make the playoffs, or even be a contender. So with the team performing better than it had in years, with Curry, Marbury and the rest of these salary thieves not embarrassing themselves on the nightly, you take the carrot they've been chasing and stick it in their mouths. It can't be denied; announcing Zeke's extension with plenty of time left to go in the season sent the Knicks on a pathetic slide.
In fact, for all the bravado about an improved team, they're barely better than the humiliation factory they ran last season. Plus, as Adrian Wojnarowski recently pointed out, the extension really means nothing. If they play bad enough, Isiah will get fired whether he has 1 year to go on his contract, or a thousand. Even Isiah knows this. But it seemed like the threat of unemployment had lit a fire under the Knickersuckers to play for the job of the coach they love so. So why take away their only motivation?
They clearly love Isiah, and why not? For all the rampant failure and underachieving that goes on in New York, the maddest I've ever seen any Knicks (including Isiah) get about anything, is when they think another team is running up the score on them. Thomas doesn't hold them to account for their failures, so they don't hold themselves either. Now there's talk of bringing in Rashard Lewis. I hope for his sake he makes the right decision and passes. What the hell do they even really need to go after 'Shard for? The problem isn't a lack of talented players (at literally every position). The problem is the atmosphere of mediocrity.
Just listen to Dolan when asked about the possibility of bringing in Jerry West, one of the most brilliant and unstoppable men in NBA history, both on the court and in the front office:
"I wouldn't say to Isiah, 'Hey, Isiah, Jerry's coming in and you've got to take it,'" Dolan said. "No, I would never do that." (Ken Berger, NewsDay)
Good call, why put the needs of the team, city and fans ahead of your borderline creepy relationship with Isiah Thomas, the man who ruined the Raptors, ruined the Pacers and now has ruined the Knicks. Why do that, when you can run a clinic on how to kill a franchise. That, my friends, is what we call "screwing the pooch."

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Micheal Ray Richardson

My first instinct is to make fun of his (supposedly) purposefully misspelled name. But then I keep thinking about D-W-Y-A-N-E Wade and I feel like I might be opening a can of worms that might splash guys I actually like. So let's table the discussion on how you spell Michael.
Micheal Ray Richardson, for those who don't remember, had solid career per game averages of 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2.6 steals. He was the first guy in league history to lead the league in assists and steals, in his second season, with 10.1 dimes and 3.2 steals per game (that stat seems weird to me, wouldn't you think that would've happened earlier?). Then he got bounced from the league for teaching skiing classes on his upper lip, if you know what I mean. You don't? He was a coke head. At any rate, he's finally found a way to make people not immediately associate his name with drugs:

"I've got big-time lawyers," Richardson said. "I've got big-time Jew lawyers."

When told by the reporters that the comment could be offensive to people because it plays to the stereotype that Jews are crafty and shrewd, he responded with:

"Are you kidding me? They are. They've got the best security system in the world. Have you ever been to an airport in Tel Aviv? They're real crafty. Listen, they are hated all over the world, so they've got to be crafty. They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean? Which I think is great. I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people."



Now they'll call him Micheal Ray the Bigot, instead of Micheal Yay Richardson, or Coke Slope Richardson, or Powder, or even Micheal Ray the Potential Nobel Prize Winner.
As a Jew, let me just say I'm so glad he didn't mean it as a "knock." And let me also say that I am indeed crafty. And I am indeed hated all over the planet. But I'm sure all black people don't want to be associated with Richardson, and so, I imagine, most Jews don't want to be associated with me. How many times do idiots like Richardson and Reggie White need to say absolutely ridiculous things like this before people realize that prefacing a racial stereotype as a compliment does not make people of that race receptive? Stuff like this pisses me off enough to call my handlers at the international Jewish conspiracy (the IJC) and make some heads roll. In fact, starting right now, I'm letting all you pale faces know that me and my chosen peeps will be firing all non Jews from our media outlets, law firms, banks, movie studios and delis. Good luck suing someone, making a movie, watching the news, opening a checking account or scoring a roast beef on rye, chumps. We're about to exhibit our craftiness.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Oh Sweet Lord... Y'Know, Wait Just a Second...

It is unlikely that Francis will return next season. The Knicks reneged on a buyout agreement with Francis after Jamal Crawford suffered a season-ending ankle injury. A Cavs source said that the team was made aware of Francis' pending buyout and had internal discussions about acquiring him. New York Daily News

Initially I thought, "Oh great, the Cavs are gonna shell out for some overpaid bum." But then I thought about it. This might not be so bad. If the Knicks buy out Franchise's contract, he'll still bring home something in the region of 30 million over the next 2 seasons from New York. Which means he'll be inclined to accept a bargain basement vet's minimum to play with Bronny. What's more, I think it's safe to assume getting bought out and released by one of the sorrier teams in the league might be the motivation Francis needs to recapture that old fire. He's not that old, and when he wants to he has exhibited that he can still play.
I also think Francis would be motivated to sign a one year deal for the vet's minimum to raise his dollar to sign another fat contract with some poor sucker next year. If Stevie recaptures some of that spark, make no mistake, there'll be a line of chumps waiting to pay him like he's Sam Cassell. Problem is he's no Sam Cassell. But I'd have been happy to take him for the playoffs this year, and certainly for the whole campaign next year. Bottom line is Francis is a steal for under 2 million.
Hughes has been solid running the point for the Cavs, but we need a point guard. A real point guard. That may not be Francis, but for just over a million a year, that's a gamble I'm ready to take. He's never lit it up in the playoffs, in fact I'm not 100% sure he's ever even been to the playoffs, but he's still Steve Francis, one of the best opportunity creators in the league, one of the best rebounding guards, and one of the biggest egos. And that's actually something the Cavs could use a little of. We need some Franchise swagger.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Monday Business

Artest's teammates weren't the only ones he told of the news. Friday, he told the editors of www.hiphopgame.com, a Web site for which Artest writes a personal diary. Artest was unavailable for comment before the Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns 107-100 Sunday at Arco Arena, and he did not speak after the game, either. Sacramento Bee

Artest told HipHopGame, "I'm retiring from the Kings, to spend time on my blings, done questing for rings, all the ladies sing. Ronnie's heading to Europe, sippin' on syrup, with my feet in the stirrups..." Get it? It's a rap...

The NBA warned Gilbert Arenas on Sunday not to repeat his actions of Tuesday night, when he said he made $10 bets with a group of fans during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. "We spoke to Gilbert and explained the issue to him," NBA spokesman John Acunto said. "And he assured us he wouldn't do anything like this again." Washington Post

Arenas added, "But I was drafted 2nd round, and I spent the first 40 games of my career riding the bench... Don't I get some sort of special consideration? I'm so under appreciated. I'm going to carry a chip on my shoulder over this, and now every time I play against David Stern and Stu Jackson, I'm gonna guarantee 50 points to make up for this shaming..."


Knicks boss Isiah Thomas has long coveted O'Neal, who has been remarkably loyal to Thomas to this day as the two remain close friends. The Knicks are sliding and will need a boost—O'Neal prefers to play outside now—to complement Eddy Curry. I may be the only one, but I still think Steve Francis has something. Plus, Francis can opt out after next season anyway if things don't work. To match salaries, I'd take Francis, Channing Frye and Hoosier Jared Jeffries, who hasn't worked out that well in New York, to give the Pacers a core to begin working with.

I can see why New York would want JO'Neal, but I can't fathom why the hell Indiana would want Franchise. Unless they've grown so accustomed to malcontents, that having just Tinsley in their locker room is making things too serene.

The Portland Tribune reported that Randolph, while away from the team last week on bereavement leave for the death of his girlfriend's cousin (sounds like quite the family man), hit a strip club while he was home in Indiana and left without paying the bill. The Trail Blazers said he just stopped by.

Yeah, he just stopped by... to get a lap dance instead of playing basketball with his team. Like Artest, some dudes just never learn...

Monday, March 5, 2007

On The Subject Of Wasted Talent

That Isaiah Rider was damn sweet. It got me thinking, this'll be an ongoing series. Dudes who were raw... and ruined their careers. This dude could still be a contributor if he wanted. This footage is even sicker than JR's. The American Dream, Latrell Sprewell.








Umm that last one was just creepy.