Movin’ On Up

Knicks Bricks has a fancy new home! Sorry to move twice in two weeks, but we feel like the wordpress in the URL makes us look like amateurs (we know we’re amateurs, but still). We’ll keep the party going at www.knicksbricks.com.

Come check out the new site, and be sure to share/like our links on facebook and follow us on twitter @knicksbricks for blog updates and random thoughts. The more you do, the closer we can get to quitting our day jobs.

Wall Street vs. Main Street

Amar'e chatting up Tommy Hilfiger

Kevin Durant dresses like Urkel, if Urkel were a point-scoring domination automaton

Tonight the Knicks and their bloated, misspent payroll come stumbling into Oklahoma City one gave above mediocrity, despite having played one of the league’s easiest schedules thus far. They will face a young, sleek Oklahoma City squad that has burst out to a 10-2 record, despite the media-created drama surrounding their star players, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. However, in many ways this game feels like an allegory for the Main Street vs. Wall Street/Red State vs. Blue State/’Muurka v. America/Live within your means vs. Get Rich Quick divide that has been going on over the past few years. A player-by-player look at how these rosters were constructed paints a clear picture of the philosophies of each front office and their relative success. Unfortunately, it looks like the Bockers will stagnate, having been locked into their current mediocre roster, while the Thunder will continue to grow and compete at the highest level.

D-League Showcase Recap

Unless you suffer from a crippling and compulsive addiction to basketball (in which case…Hi, my name is Mike and I’m a hoopsaholic), you probably had no clue that the NBA’s D-League Showcase was going on this week in Reno, Nevada. The point of the expo is that the D-League rounds up all its teams to play in one place during a condensed period of time, so that NBA scouts can scour the minors for bodies to help round out their rosters, while enjoying the added bonus of avoiding a trip to Sioux Falls or Canton (only in the D-League can Reno be considered a desirable destination).

We’ve been slightly (read: totally) negligent here in covering the showcase because we’ve got, you know, jobs and wives and what not, and I think it’s safe to assume that: a) 70% of the hits on this site come from the Knicks Bricks writers checking to see if anyone has posted anything new and b) the other 30% don’t give a shit about the D-League. Having said that, we figure it’s better late than never. As I wrote earlier this week, the Knicks may want to consider using their newly acquired D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks, to get some of their young pieces some burn, and using the rest of the D-League to round out the roster in the meantime. Assuming the Knicks need two things on the roster as it is presently composed, size and consistent 3-point shooting from the guards, let’s take a look at some of the D-League players who might have drawn the Knicks’ attention this week:

I’m on a Jorts Tour, with Amar’e My Man….

Supplies won't last

The talent and impact of Knicks’ rookie forward Josh “Jorts” Harrellson might have been a touch overstated by certain writers of this blog (fine, it was me). While that may have been an overreaction to his breakout game against the Kings on New Year’s Eve, there is one area where he is sure to make a lasting impression on fans for years to come: high comedy and stellar branding efforts.

Jorts has a shockingly well developed website for a mid-second round draft choice who didn’t get much playing time until his senior year at Kentucky and had a fairly slim chance of making an NBA roster, let alone an NBA rotation. It includes such gems as the “Jorts Tour” that barnstormed its way through several Wendy’s and Wal-Marts in Kentucky this spring (that is not a joke). There is a promotional video in which Josh exhibits his overwhelming disdain for punctuation of any sort. But wait, there’s more!!

What About Jerome Jordan?

Will Jared Jeffries' Return Fasten Jerome Jordan's Cheeks to the Bench?

If everything goes according to plan, the Knicks will have Jared Jeffries back on the active roster at some point this week. Knicks fans were reminded painfully that Jeffries is a limited player during Game 2 of the Boston series last year. However, a limited player is not necessarily a useless player. Jeffries can passably guard every position on the floor, which is a particularly useful skill on a Knicks team that occasionally seems pathologically committed to switching on ball screens. With the 6’11″ Jeffries returning to the rotation, the Bockers’ front court rotation will consist of Tyson Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire, Jorts, and Jeffries, with Carmelo Anthony capable of playing the 4 in small ball lineups. The odd man out will be rookie center and former Serbian sensation Jerome Jordan,* which begs the question: what should the Knicks do with Jordan?

Turkey Sandwich Consumed: Knicks 91 Bobcats 87

"Up your nose with a rubber hose!" - Tyson "Horshack" Chandler

This game was a turkey sandwich. It’s good for you, it fills you up, and it’s reasonably healthy; it gets the job done, but it leaves you feeling entirely unsatisfied. The Knicks, playing the Bobcats at home for the second time in 5 days, hoped to avenge a disheartening loss last week, in which New York looked sluggish and uninterested. The Bockers spotted Charlotte a quick ten points, to the vocal chagrin of the Garden crowd. Perhaps spurred on by the boo-birds, the Knicks clamped down on defense and got some easy looks, running out to a 21-16 lead, before closing out the quarter up by 3. That’s when things got extremely boring for a prolonged stretch, only to get a little too interesting in the end. Ultimately, the heady play and hustle of Tyson Chandler saved the Knicks from another embarrassing home loss against the team that dumped his salary just last season, as New York was able to cling to a 4 point victory that Knicks fans enjoyed but did not relish, just like a turkey sandwich.

Odds and Ends

After this enthusiastic greeting from Knicks fans, I’m really excited to see how jazzed up the crowd gets for Shump Shump’s introduction in the pre-game dog and pony show. However, seemingly lost in Shumpamania is Toney Douglas. Am I the only person who feels really bad for Toney? He seems like a good teammate and a hard worker who was thrust into a position and situation he was ill-equipped to handle. I hope he doesn’t lose too much confidence and is able to find a niche as a solid bench scorer because the Knicks are going to need him to contribute as the season progresses.

In other news, ESPN New York is reporting that Melo is good to go for tonight’s game with the Bobcats and claims to be “pain free.”

Stay Classy, Knicks

Enjoy the view, advanced scouts. At least you can still see Baron Davis gaining weight from here

When I read stories like this one from SLAM, about the Knicks’ placement of opposing advanced scouts and media members in the 300 level of newly renovated Garden, I shake my head in disbelief. Listen, for the media members, I don’t really care. How you treat media members is not likely to affect how other teams react. Frankly, I don’t blame the Knicks for refusing to give away prime seats (I shudder to think what they cost) to the press corps for free. That said, not giving them to advanced scouts is shortsighted because it will (and has) invite retaliation from other organizations for the Knicks’ counterparts.

What troubles me most about this sort of thing is that it displays an inability from the Knicks’ front office to understand basic laws of cause and effect. How did this issue not occur to them before there was a blowup? How was it not fixed after the first complaint? If you follow this franchise closely enough, you can’t help but get the feeling that it is rotten to its core. Although this story is only tangentially related to basketball operations, it certainly gives us some insight into the processes that have led to putrid on-court products for the better part of the last decade.

An Open Letter to the Assclowns at Yahoo! Fantasy Sports

Dear Assclowns at Yahoo! Fantasy Sports:

Please re-adjust the calibration on the maximum games played for rotisserie fantasy basketball leagues. You have the maximum number of games per position set at 66, but are tracking them as if it’s an 82 game season. I can guarantee you that I am not +27 games played a center, even though Andrew Bogut has been out for a week with “personal reasons.” I was willing to forgive your trespasses while the fantasy football season was still going on because I suspected you were very busy. However, most fantasy football leagues have been over for two weeks and you have done nothing to remedy this problem, despite the fact that it is your job and only reason for existing. No, this is not because I am in dead last and my team is terrible and I resent the implication. You’re the worst. Step it up.

Sincerely,

MJL, Esquire

No, No, NO, NOOOO!…..YEEEESSS!!!

Melo's game-winner had Knicks fans watching through their fingers when it went up (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

I’m a nitpicker by nature. It drives my wife out of her mind. I have completely ruined going to the movies for the remainder of our marriage because I am chronically incapable of suspending disbelief. I cannot just enjoy the ride. In keeping with my nature, on the morning after the Knicks have climbed back to .500 by throttling the Pistons last night, I want to talk about how much I am bothered by Carmelo Anthony’s game-winner on Friday night against the Wizards.