As any Knicks fans or basketball fan who’s watched just about any Knicks game so far this season knows Amar’e Stoudemire has not been the player he was last year or at any point in his career.

There are a multitude of reasons for the poor play that we’ve seen Amar’e exhibit so far.

They are as follows:

1. Lack of a true point guard

2. Lack of spacing for Amar’e to work with

3. Almost non-existent use of the Pick and Roll (his forte)

4. More of his shots coming from out of his high percentage range

The start to this season for Amar’e has essentially been a perfect storm of everything that could have possibly gone wrong.  Though his shot attempts are down compared to last years they are actually in line with the rest of his career.  What is down in a glaring way is his FG percentage.  Amar’e coming into this year had 6 straight years of above 50% FG percentage if you skip over his injury plagued 05/06.  That FG percentage is a direct result of everything mentioned above and is also why his scoring average has dipped below 20 a game so far for the first time in 8 seasons. (more…)

Knicks season average home game price: $268
tonight vs Suns: “Get in” for $46
1/20 vs. Bucks: Get in for $43
1/21 vs. Denver: Get in for $66
Here’s the link: http://tiqiq.us/6s5

This is from our friends over at NBA Rooks:

Jarvis Crittenton, Terrence Williams, Russell Westbrook and Dwayne Wade.

What do these names have in common?

They are all players that a serious portion of basketball followers have compared Iman Shumpert to over the past eight months.

There is some SERIOUS discrepancy in those comparisons.

The reason for this is that Shumpert was not a highly regarded prospect when he opted to forgo his senior year at Georgia Tech and declare for the draft last May.

Heading into the draft, there was very little buzz about Shumpert. No serious mock draft had him remotely close to the lottery picks.  Most had him as a fringe teen pick, likely to be selected in the lower 20′s. Shumpert hadn’t done much to make anybody think that it was outrageous that he would go that late in the first round.

At Georgia Tech, Shumpert had a good-but-not-spectacular three seasons.  His freshman season resulted in averages of 11 points, five assists, and four rebounds per game. Those averages all dropped slightly in his sophomore year, to 10 PPG, 4 APG, and 3.5 RPG.  And then finally in his Junior year and last season at Georgia Tech, his scoring rose all the way to 17 PPG, his APG dropped further to 3.5 and his rebounding rose to six a game.

During those three years there were two constants. First, he shot the ball at a terrible clip.  His field goal percentage hovered around 40 percent all three years and his steals fluctuated between two and three a game.  These two stats were seemingly his biggest asset and liability coming into the 2011 Draft.

This was not exactly a recipe for success.  In May 2011, ESPN’s Chad Ford said, “Shumpert has hired an agent, ending his college eligibility. It’s a surprise move for a player who is projected as a second round prospect at best right now.” In June, NBADraft.net echoed that sentiment in predicting he’d be an early second round pick.

At the combine Shumpert turned heads with his athleticism and vertical which consequently helped him shoot up into the first round.  It was at this point that Shumpert was drawing comparisons to Crittenton and Williams.

After being drafted 17th overall by the Knicks and having played in only nine games after a shortened training camp there isn’t even any question already that’s he’s surpassed those aforementioned comparisons. Crittenton has already played himself out of the league while Williams has been a huge disappointment four seasons in to his career, seemingly not growing as a player at all.

Even from the first Knicks game of the season, a couple of things were clear.  Shumpert’s shot had improved drastically during the lockout and he is an absolute terror on the defensive side of the ball.

Shumpert went down in the first game with a knee injury which forced him out of the next four contests.  But he’s now been back for the past eight games and has already earned himself the team’s starting shooting guard role.  While there’s no question his shot has improved, his shot selection has not grown at the rate that the shot itself has.  Chances are Mike D’Antoni’s 12 seconds or less offense hasn’t helped hone that skill either.

Where Shumpert has impressed most is on the defensive side of the ball.  He’s currently third in the league in steals per game at 2.33.  He is a defensive animal, not just in the passing lanes but his on ball defense, certainly impressive by rookie standards.

While it was already clear that he was going to be an effective rebounder from the guard position, one of the larger questions was if he could play the point at the NBA level.  That is still up for debate but he has shown that he’s more than capable of being a swing guard and manning the point at times.  He gets a little reckless with the ball every once in a while but has also made some beautiful passes.

Another downside of playing for this Mike D’Antoni run team has been the offensive style. D’Antoni is no longer a run-and-gun coach with his current roster.  The Knicks mostly play a half-court, isolated offense.  Shumpert is best suited right now for an up-and-down team.  He has shown flashes of brilliance in transition and is so fast with the ball on the break it’s almost as if he glides up and down the court.

That is where the Westbrook and Wade comparisons come into play.  Those making such comparisons might have gotten ahead of themselves for now,  but he does play in a similar manner to those two All-Stars.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him progress to that level if he can improve his shot selection.

In just nine games played this season, Shumpert has already proved the doubters wrong.  With averages of 12 points, 3 assists, 3 boards, 2 steals and a three a game but shooting well under 40%.  By stuffing the stat sheet he’s already proved he should have been a top 10 pick.

From the Crittenton/Williams comparisons to the newly assessed Westbrook/Wade, he has already come a long way in a short time.

Harvard Alum Jeremy Lin is now a member of the Knicks.  How do you like them apples?

Tyson Chandler confirmed on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM’s “Ben and Skin Show” Friday morning that he will sign with the Knicks. As indicated by his arrival in Denver, Chauncey Billups is gone, whether by a sign-and-trade or more likely the amnesty provision.  In addition, Turiaf will also be sent packing, one way or another.

There are many Knicks fans whose first reaction will be “great we’ve got a big man but no CP3.”  Despite rumors of Amar’e for Paul, it would have been tremendously disrespectful for the Knicks management to up and deal him after all-but resurrecting this team and basketball city.

Let’s explore the impact that Tyson Chandler will have on this roster, sans Billups and Turiaf.

Tyson Chandler critics argue that he has only averaged around 8 points and 8 boards a game so far in his career and question how much of an impact he will make.  Yet, pure number crunchers fail to realize that up until the Dallas Mavericks added Chandler to their core last season they were incapable of winning that elusive ring. (more…)

by Michael Naclerio

Yes, we all saw the picture of David Stern and Billy Hunter embracing, although that doesn’t mean a deal has been completed. Yet with the signing of the CBA agreement on the horizon, speculative roster talk is back in action.  Once the ink officially dries there are a few new regulations which will impact the Knicks upcoming off-season (2 weeks or so) roster moves. And as most of you already know, there are quite a few moves that need to be made.

Headed into the season opener on December 25^th against the Boston Celtics, the Knicks only have 9 players under contract, which will likely jump to 11 when they come to terms with draft pick Iman Shumpert and pending Derrick Brown’s qualifying offer already on the table.  The Knicks already check in at just under $60 million committed to the 2011/12 season, not including Shumpert or Brown’s salaries.  Already over the ~ $58 million cap, the Knicks will have to turn to league minimum salaried players and their altered mid-level exception. (more…)

TO: ALL PLAYERS

FROM: G. WILLIAM HUNTER

RE: SETTLEMENT

As you have heard, early Saturday morning, the NBA and the players reached a settlement in the Anthony antitrust case, the Minnesota lawsuit brought by several players and supported by your National Basketball Players Association following the disclaimer of interest voted by the Player Representatives less than two weeks ago. I offer my sincere congratulations for the significant achievements won on behalf of all players as a result of that settlement.

Over the next two weeks, the parties involved in the Anthony lawsuit will engage in a four-step process in an attempt to open training camps and free agency on December 9th and begin the 2011-12 season on Christmas Day. (more…)

As we enter day 6 of what may be a very long NBA lockout, we reflect on an interesting day 5 exchange between the New York Times, Forbes and the NBA.  Yesterday morning the NY Times called out the NBA for claims that it is losing money.  In the article they included a Forbes study depicting the last 22 years of the NBA’s estimated financial performance, showing the only losing season in the last 2 decades occurred during the strike-shortened season of 1998-99.

Last night, the NBA fired back in an email statement to the NY Times, blasting the Forbes report as “inaccurate” and saying the “estimates do not reflect reality.”  The statement added, “The league lost money every year of the just expiring CBA.”   The Times includes the full statement which runs completely counter to the Forbes report.