I apologize for not updating the blog after the game last night. I ended up going out as soon as the game was over and forgot to update until today. I just want to have a brief recap of last nights game because I want to go through something else with you.
In the first half we played brilliantly. I saw a lot of hustle and hard work. Everyone was doing what they were supposed to. Gallinari did not have a good shooting night by any means, going 2 for 13 from the field, but I remember him fondly in this game because he did everything else extremely well. Grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists, and most importantly, blocking 3 shots. He also iced the game at the end by making all of his free throws. It is games like this that lead me to believe that Gallo can be a franchise Dirk Nowitzki type of player, he is beginning to show little by little that he can do more than just shoot the lights out. But more on him in a second.
David Lee had a superb night, scoring 18 points, grabbing 21 rebounds, and dishing out 5 assists. Lee is beginning to pass much better, averaging 4 assists in the last 5 games. I think Lee has played well overall in our past couple of games.
Wilson Chandler should be getting the bulk of his points on drives. Period. He is just a much more valuable player when he is driving to the hoop. His jump shot comes and goes, but he proves to be a very valuable asset when he is going for the lay-ups and dunks.
The team overall played brilliantly in the first half, but once again, as us Knicks fans have seen a thousand times, we blew the lead in the 3rd and 4th quarters. We still managed to get the win but if we messed up once in those final minutes, we lose. Knicks fans, we have to learn to keep our leads when we have them. This is what separates us from the better teams. Teams like the Lakers and the Celtics take leads and suck the life out of a team to the point where they don't want to fight back. When we take leads in games, we give up mini runs and allow the teams to come back into the game. We have to learn to manage a lead at the end of games.
But now I want to turn your attention to an article by ESPN.com writer Bill Simmons. I first want to point out that I am a HUGE fan of Simmons and I look forward to each and every one of his NBA articles, but I have to severely disagree with the things he wrote about the Knicks in his column today. In his column, he made several trade scenarios involving different teams to "save" their franchise. I quote...
Trade! Trade! I am thinking something like this …
Fake Trade 1a: Gallinari, Curry and $3 million to Minnesota for the Mark Blount/Brian Cardinal ECs. Basically, Minnesota would be paying $10 million next year to get Gallinari for 2011, 2012 and 2013. Total financial commitment: $23 million. Isn't a lottery pick and potential 50-40-90 percentage guy worth $23 million over three years (just $9 million for the last two), especially for a team stupidly playing the "we're waiting for Ricky Rubio, so tuck yourself in and enjoy three years of losing and misery!" card? Of course.
Fake Trade No. 1b: Jeffries, Hill and $3 million to Sacramento for Kenny Thomas' EC. Same principle, less money: You just bought a lottery pick for the price of Jeffries' 2010-11 contract ($6.5 million, and by the way, he's a valuable defender). The same offer could work for the Nets (Bobby Simmons), Zombie Sonics (Etan Thomas) and Blazers (Steve Blake/Travis Outlaw). Someone will bite.
Back to the Knicks: Scott Layden and Isiah Thomas did so much damage to that franchise that, really, there's a certain symmetry in them emerging from the 2000s without keeping a single lottery pick thanks to the aforementioned two trades. But if they cleared the decks completely, couldn't they seduce LeBron with the offer of building his own franchise from scratch in America's biggest city -- the metropolis where basketball matters the most, in a market he could potentially own like no New York athlete since Namath, in one of the two cities that would allow him to pursue all the non-basketball things he wants to pursue -- and put himself on the map for eternity as the guy who saved basketball in New York City? Anyone can win a title. Not anyone can own New York for a few years.
Look, I change my mind on this topic almost every month. I have no idea how it will play out. None. I just know the Knicks have a chance to offer LeBron James something that nobody else has ever been offered in sports history: A blank canvas and unlimited resources for a potential top-10 player of all time who is just hitting his prime to build his own All-Star team. It's unprecedented. If Gallinari and Hill have to be sacrificed to make it happen, you do it. You don't even think twice.
Look, I agree that we need to trade Curry and Jeffries to someone, but there are 2 clear holes in Simmon's theories.Hole #1: I will put periods after each word for dramatic effect. We. Are. Not. Trading. Gallo. After watching him this season I am convinced that Gallo could be a star very soon. He is proving that little by little he could be a very nice player in the next couple of years. He is showing us that he can do a little of everything out on the court. And I would be flabbergasted if Donnie even considered giving away Gallo to the T-Wolves just to dump Curry's contract. If we were getting back pieces along with expirings, say Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake and Jerryd Bayless, that I can kind of see. But for the rotting corpse of Brian Cardinal and Mark Blount? How could we make a trade like that? What would Donnie say in the news conference?
"I just traded the most valuable piece we had for the future, but we got Mark Blount and Brian Cardinal! They'll be nice pieces!"
I just think, even if we are getting back expirings and ridding ourselves of Curry, Gallo is too valuable to just give away in a clear salary dumb like that. It leads me to believe that Simmons hasn't watched one Knicks game since the awful 1-9 start. He talks about Gallo as if he's just a nice player and that's all. Bill, to us Knicks fans, he's more than a nice player, he's our glimpse into a brighter future.
Hole #2: The fact that Simmons suggests that GMs look at Jordan Hill and say that he would be enough reason to take on either Jeffries or Curry also leads me to believe he has not watched a Knicks game this season. Jordan Hill has not played like a lottery pick. Jonathon Bender, a player who hasn't seen the court in 3 years, is getting more minutes then him. That's saying a lot about his play. If some GM out there sees Jordan Hill as the backbreaker to a trade that sends away Jeffries or Curry for expirings, then I think Donnie does the deal without thinking twice about it. So far Hill has been a bust, and I think Donnie has admitted that to himself. But realistically, I just don't see any GM wanting any part of a deal like that.
So those were my rants Knicks fans. I still suggest you read Simmons stuff, he's a great sportswriter and his work is very entertaining, it's just clear he just doesn't watch the Knicks. (and for good reason. He's a lifelong Celtics fan.)
Until next time Knicks fans.
P.S. We are a half-game out of the last spot in the East. Thought I should bring that up. :-)
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