Quick Rewind: Pacers 105, Knicks 103

Box Score

The Pacers pulled off a dramatic win at the Garden on Friday 105-103 thanks to the game winning jumper by Jarrett Jack with 0.9 seconds remaining.  Jack was the difference as he scored his 29 points on 10-14 shooting.  The Knicks had a poor start to the game as they did not have a lead until they made their run in the fourth quarter.  They actually built a 5 point lead with a few minutes to play but could not secure the advantage.  Their poor play had a lot to do with their offense which was not pushing the ball enough and turning the ball over at will (they finished with 21 total turnovers).  It would also be nice to see the Knicks play with some desperation every game.  They go through these lapses in games when they don’t get after it enough on both ends.

The Knicks made their move in the second half when their offense got in gear.  A lot of that had to do with the performance of Al Harrington who scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half.  But as we are all to used to seeing, the Knicks could not get the big stop at the end of the game.  The Knicks led 100-99 with about a minute remaining.  Jarrett Jack gets a switch with David Lee on him and nails the jumper.  The next Pacers possession, with Indy up 101-100, the Pacers set a pick for Jack at the top of the key and the Knicks had some miscommunication as Lee failed to provide the help or at least slow down Jack who drove right down the lane for the easy deuce.  Then with the score tied the Pacers run an isolation for Jack who nails the clutch jumper for the win.

Three Pacer possessions, three buckets by Jarrett Jack.  Give credit to Jim O’Brien for not calling timeout after the Knicks tied it.  With a stoppage I have to assume D’Antoni would have subbed Jared Jeffries in for the final possession to guard Jack who had the hot hand down the stretch.  Jeffries’ length may have bothered Jack and would have given him less space for him to get off the final jumper.  The Knicks are clearly still having trouble finding a way to finish games which has a lot to do with their inability to get crucial stops in crunch time.

Some other people postgame thoughts:

Alan Hahn of Newsday:

But while five steals is five steals…reality is David Lee has more to give on the defensive end. But the Knicks aren’t getting it.

The most critical play was with 24.1 seconds left and the Knicks trailing 101-100. Lee was supposed to switch on a screen to pick up Jarrett Jack but seemed to hesitate as if waiting for Nate Robinson to slide through. Jack used Lee’s hesitation to blow right by him and down the wide-open lane for a layup to put the Pacers ahead, 103-100. Lee, who had three fouls at the time, could have tried to pursue and clobber Jack just to avoid the freebie, but instead he went matador and turned spectator.

Marc Berman of the New York Post:

It’s one thing to get outclassed by Denver’s Carmelo Anthony. It’s another to get whipped by Indiana’s Jarrett Jack.

The Pacers point guard ambushed the Knicks last night, dominating all game, going wild in the final minute and hitting the game-winning 19-foot jumper over Chris Duhon with 0.9 seconds left as the Knicks dropped a 105-103 Garden heartbreaker.

Joshua Robinson of the New York Times:

With four miserable teams packed in the span of six games, this chunk of the Knicks’ schedule was supposed to be their buoy, a spell to keep them afloat and lift them back toward a .500 record.

Instead, it has been a stretch of stunning mediocrity — a sorry defeat against the Minnesota Timberwolves, an expected failure against the Denver Nuggets, and only modest success against the Charlotte Bobcats. Friday’s 105-103 defeat to the Indiana Pacers (11-21) was simply the latest in a string of forgettable nights at Madison Square Garden.

Frank Isola of the Daily News:

Yes, the Knicks knew what was coming and no, they didn’t stop it. Only the Knicks can make Jack, a solid veteran guard, look like LeBron James and open a new year with the same old way of losing: not understanding how to close out games.

And a Pacer perspective via Indy Cornrows:

Jarrett Jack had a big overall game to go along with the last-second heroics. Jack finished with 29 points on only 10-14 shooting from the floor. He knocked down his first four 3-balls, so obviously he was feeling it all night. Of course, Jack doesn’t play a perfect game and a couple of his five turnovers were critical in letting the Knicks back in the game. No since dwelling on those tonight though. Since Jack has had to play so many minutes and grind through the “Heartbreak Hotel” games as he calls them, he has become the emotional leader for this team. He sets the tone for the team’s heart, soul and guts on the floor.

Coming Up: Knicks @ Bobcats

• Records: Knicks 11-18 (12th in Eastern Conference); Bobcats 11-20 (13th in Eastern Conference)
• Pace: Knicks 100.6 possessions per game (2nd in NBA); Bobcats 90.1 (28th in NBA)
• Offensive Efficiency: Knicks 103.3 points per 100 possessions (17th in NBA); Bobcats 100.1 points per 100 possessions (25th in NBA)
• Defensive Efficiency: Knicks 107.8 points allowed per 100 possessions (25th in NBA); Bobcats 103.1 points allowed per 100 possessions (15th in NBA)
• Effective FG% (eFG%): Knicks 49.9% (12th in NBA); Bobcats 48.1% (23rd in NBA)
• Rebound Rate: Knicks 47.3 (28th in NBA); Bobcats 49.5 (19th in NBA)

Knicks Notes: The Knicks may have hit rock bottom back on Friday night when they fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in an embarassing loss at home.  On Sunday they played better and with a little more energy but their second quarter defense and poor play in crunch time ultimately let them down as they watched Carmelo Anthony take things over.  The main problem for me has been their defense and especially not being able to prevent dribble penetration.  They could not keep Telfair out of the paint and we saw similar things against Chauncey Billups.  That has left them vulnerable to giving up easy buckets inside especially when you consider that the Knicks don’t have any legitimate shot blockers on their roster, which might be their most glaring need in terms of personnel.

The offense has not been bad as long as the Knicks do not start to play 1 on 1 basketball.  If they keep the ball moving they should be fine offensively.  I would like to see them run a little more but their offense still has been fairly decent.  One thing that needs to improve is their spacing on the court and getting back to the screen and roll game with Duhon and Lee.  I felt like they had great success when they went to it early in the season as it became their bread and butter.  Off the screen you can hit a cutting Lee who is good need the basket with his ability to use both hands, Duhon can take an opening and drive hard to the hoop, or if help defense comes you have a drive and kick scenario for them to get an open look on the perimeter.  Without much of a post scorer I think they need to go back to executing this well.

The other concern floating around is the possibility that this team has just gotten fatigued as the season has gone on.  Due to injuries and the exile of Starbury, the Knicks have basically been playing with just a seven man rotation throughout the season.  I’m not sure if I buy that theory completely.  Duhon might be tired because he has played a lot but everyone else on the team has played a reasonable amount of minutes.  The main problem may be the lack of depth.  They just need another couple options that can help score and give the team a boost of energy.  Eddy Curry could be back in two weeks which wouldn’t help the defense but would at least give them a low post scoring option.  Rumors have been floating about Carlos Delfino which is an option I like.  However, I think Donnie Walsh will wait until he hears if they will receive salary cap relief from the Cuttino Mobley retirment situation before he does anything.

The lineup changes may not have resulted in a win on Sunday but I thought they helped a little.  Jared Jeffries needs to be out there more because good things have happened when he’s been on the court, especially on the defensive end.  He has a -6 rating for the season which leads the Knicks when you don’t count fat paycheck collector, Jerome James.

A Look at the Bobcats: The Bobcats had been playing well recently, winning four out of five since acquiring Boris Diaw and Raja Bell in the Jason Richardson trade, until they fell to the Nets in their last game.  The big blow was Raja Bell leaving the game with a groin injury so his status for now is uncertain.  The trade made sense to me just because I didn’t think Richardson seemed like a Larry Brown type of player.  It is also hard to argue with the trade’s success since it has definitely improved their defense.  Their defensive efficiency has improved from 108.2 to 103.1 after the trade.

For me the Bobcats will only go as far as Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace will take them.  Okafor has been an All-Star caliber center this year who can pound you on the glass in addition to being one of the better shot blockers in the league.  Wallace is just an athletic freak and one of the toughest players to defend.  He can fill all columns in the box score and is capable of dominating a game on both ends.  The only problem with him is inconsistency and his propensity to have problems with turnovers.

Oh and Adam Morrison?  He was taken over Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay.  Yikes.

Keys to the Game: Obviously it comes down to the defense for the Knicks.  They need to be able to get enough stops to win games.  They also need to get off to a good start on the road to help their spirit as a team.

I think it’s pretty simple to determine which teams the Knicks should struggle against.  They have trouble stopping good shooting teams because they just aren’t very good defensively.  They are now 0-10 against teams ranked in the top 10 in eFG%.  However, Charlotte ranks 23rd in that department and will likely be without Raja Bell.  This is a big positive for the Knicks coming in.

The main area of concern will be rebounding and not letting Okafor and Diaw dominate the Knicks due to the size advantage they may have.  Another key will be containing the explosive Gerald Wallace who the Knicks have struggled with in the past.  Don’t let Wallace make plays driving to the hoop and turn him into a jump shooter.

Game tips at 7 PM EST on Tuesday.  That’s it and I won’t be back until Friday due to New Year’s festivities.  I’ll be back then to preview the game with the Pacers.

The Uptempo Coach’s Criticism

Mike D’Antoni has always been accused of not bothering coaching defense which is rediculous.  A lot of times people have looked at the amount of points per game his team’s have given up and automatically assumed that they were terrible defensively.  The truth is that in Mike D’Antoni’s uptempo system, they take shots quicker and therefore there are more possessions in the game for both teams.  So obviously teams they play against will allow more points because they get more chances than they would against most other teams.  This is why defensive efficiency, or points allowed per 100 possessions, is a much better measure of a team’s defense.  

George Karl brought his Nuggets to the Garden on Sunday and his teams of the passed have come under similar criticism.  He plays an uptempo style and always here the same things that D’Antoni has.  Ken Berger of Sportsline.com chatted with George Karl who had some interesting things to say about that type of crticism and of the new coach in New York:

“I feel for him,” Karl said after the Nuggets escaped the dreaded matinee at Madison Square Garden with a 117-110 victory over the Knicks. “My feeling is, when you give up a lot of points, nobody’s going to think you’re defending. Last year in our halfcourt defense, we were a pretty good defensive team. But no one would ever write that, because we were awful in transition and we were awful in giving up a lot of numbers. So I don’t know that anybody is ever going to give the due.”

On the cusp of the 30-game mark in D’Antoni’s first year in New York, the Knicks (11-18) are a far cry from the hardnosed, defensive-minded teams that had so much success in the 1990s. They also are nothing at all like the meandering teams that occupied basketball’s most famous venue for all the years since — bumbling along with no apparent plan other than spending money and committing the worst sin of all: failing to entertain.

The Knicks are nothing if not entertaining. For the first time in years, they inspire curiosity for the right reasons. The last vestige of the previous failed regime, Stephon Marbury, is enjoying a paid vacation until after New Year’s, when buyout talks will crank up again. Other than that, the Knicks are embroiled in the most drama-free six-game losing streak in their recent history. The Knicks are still losing, but who cares? Can’t you see the future?

Karl can. The first difference he noticed in watching film of D’Antoni’s Knicks is how frustrating they are to play. He noticed upon personal inspection that the energy has returned to the building, too. And it was nothing like the sky-is-falling drama that Karl remembers from past visits, such as the one marred by the infamous brawl between the Knicks and Nuggets two years ago.

“You can’t grow or build without a positive belief that this is going to be better in a year or three years,” Karl said.

There is reason to root for this team again, reason to hope. Many believe this is because of the future plans of a certain MVP candidate who wears No. 23 in Cleveland. In reality, it all emanates from a regular-looking guy with salt-and-pepper hair and a mustache, stomping around on the sideline in an expensive Italian suit and flashing indecipherable hand signals.

“Mike is an interesting hire,” Karl said. “My recollection of New York is the city game, the street game, the playground game. And he plays as fast and free as any coach I’ve ever played against. I know the Knick (teams) have been based on defense. But I was kidding with one of my assistants that I would like to see Mike D’Antoni get a Carolina or Kentucky or Kansas job, because people don’t think (his style) can win. People don’t think it can win championships. And I think that’s crazy.

“I think if you get the best players,” Karl said, “this style will be incredibly difficult to play against –- impossible, maybe, to play against. But we have so many experts who think that you have to play defense, you have to rebound, you have to be a possession coach, you have to execute. I just laugh. Explosive offense is not as intimidating as dominant defense. But it is scary when you don’t know how to stop someone.”

Quick Rewind: Timberwolves 120, Knicks 107

 

 

Recap from AP: “Kevin McHale turned to prayer, though it wasn’t really needed. The combination of Al Jefferson inside and some sizzling 3-point shooting was more than enough.  The Timberwolves snapped a 13-game losing streak and won for the first time this season under McHale, getting a season-best 23 points fromRashad McCants in a 120-107 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.  ”The guys have been playing hard and we really needed this one,” McHale said. “At the end of the game I said, ‘Thank God,’ and I meant it.”  Jefferson added 21 points and 15 rebounds in the Timberwolves’ first victory since beating Oklahoma City on Nov. 28. They had dropped their first eight games under McHale, who took over when Randy Wittman was fired Dec. 8.”

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The Knicks have suffered their worst loss of the season as the losing streak has now reached five games.  As the numbers do indicate, this is a loss that has to be put on the defense.  They simply did not bring the energy tonight defensively which was the main reason that they fell into a hole in this one and couldn’t find a way to climb out of it.  The pace of the game, at 99.0, was at the Knicks liking (their season average was 100.7) but a lot of that may have had to do with the fact that Minnesota had way too many open looks to turn down.  After the game Coach D’Antoni was quoted as saying, “We weren’t mentally sharp.”

The offensive numbers that the T-Wolves put up on Friday night were pretty rediculous.  They had an offensive efficiency rating of 121.2 which pretty much tells you what you need to know as that is extraordinary (the current median for Offensive Efficiency in the league right now is around 104).  Minnesota entered tonight game ranked 28th in the NBA in that category, averaging 98.3.  That tells you how poor the Knicks defense really was tonight and why they could not mount a comeback.  There are other ugly stats: the T-Wolves shot 51% from the field, 54% from behind the arc, and that translates to a silly effective field goal percentage of 60.1%.  One of the big keys for the T-Wolves was the play of Rashad McCants.  He scored 23 points on just 12 shots which included 7 big treys in just 21 minutes.  He hit a lot of big shots from the perimeter that really deflated the Knicks.

The numbers show that the Knicks were actually pretty good offensively but it wasn’t enough to make up for the poor defensive effort.  They made a couple runs, one at the end of the first half and one in the fourth quarter, but when you don’t make stops you can’t comeback to win.  The Knicks really need to start defending the screen and roll better.  They were putrid against it on Friday as Sebastian Telfair really had his way and seemed to get in the paint at will.  Give Telfair credit because he played extremely well, but the Knicks have to figure out a way to get on the same page defensively.  

The Knicks have now fallen to 11-17 and the losses are starting to pile up.  One of the worst teams in the NBA came to Madison Square Garden and pretty much had their way.  Things are tough right now as the .500 mark drifts farther and farther out of their reach.  We’ve all seen this story before.  Will the Knicks fall apart like they have in the past or will they find a way to get it straightened out?  A big key will be if they can keep the spirits up in the locker room and get the team to play with intensity night in and night out.  What we do know is the defense needs improvement.  Now Eddy Curry could be back in a couple of weeks.  Oh boy.  I love ya Mr. D’Antoni, but trying to improve your defense while putting Eddy Curry on the floor is a lot harder than you think.  Sunday’s tilt with the Nuggets will be a test for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walsh and D’Antoni Greet the Media

As NYKnicks.com is reporting, Coach Mike D’Antoni and GM Donnie Walsh sat down for a press conference on Friday as the team prepares for the opening of training camp.  There have been many issues and rumors that have been talked about regarding the Knicks all summer long.  But now is the time to open up training camp, get guys in shape, and see how everything plays out.  There were a couple of quotes from Walsh that kind of stuck out to me.

“We need to show the city that this franchise is for real,” said Walsh. “I’m out there, and I’ve got people talking to me all the time. I’m not sure they were convinced we were (for real). This city has had a great history of basketball, and I grew up in it… This history of the Knicks, when people look at the city, they want the team to play for real. And we’ve got to do that. The best way to do that is to win the games. I think that they’ll embrace a team that does that if they see there’s a future, a direction and hope down the line.”

“I’ve bought into Mike D’Antoni,” said Walsh, who made it clear he believes D’Antoni is among the NBA’s very best at his job. “I like the way his teams’ interrelated with each other and with him. Since he’s been here, I’ve discovered why. The way he approaches players and contact he has, it’s very positive and open, but definitive… The end result is if you have a problem with Mike, the problem is probably with you.”

The one thing I took away from the interview was that this is D’Antoni’s team all the way.  Mike has been given the keys to this long and daunting rebuilding job.  Training camp will be about D’Antoni finding out which guys will excel playing his style of basketball and finding out who are guys that he likes as players.  It will then be up to Walsh to try to unload some of the guys that are not D’Antoni guys.  You can obviously make the argument that Steph and Randolph do not appear to be D’Antoni guys.  But there is only one way to find out.  Let’s get the guys into training camp and then see what’s what.

“We have a new coach who I have a great deal of respect and admiration and faith in,” said Walsh. “So we’re going to start and see who on this team is going to be able to fit into a team that competes, can play together, can play hard and will represent our franchise and our city.”

Mike D’Antoni Interview

Recently the new head coach of the Knicks, Mike D’Antoni, sat down for an interview with NYKnicks.com.  You can read my take on the hire of Coach D’Antoni here.  

Here are some of the interesting things that he had to say:

NYKnicks.com: When you first got hired, you said one of the main reasons you decided to come to the Knicks was the opportunity to work with Donnie Walsh. How has that relationship been working out for the last few months? 

D’Antoni: It’s been great. He’s a good guy, and he’s fun to be around first of all. You know, he’s one of the best (executives) in the league, and just the day-to-day relationship we have with each other, it makes it very comfortable to work. 

NYKnicks.com: Let’s name a few players on the roster, and if you can just say the first thing that pops into your mind, starting with Quentin Richardson, whom you already know from having coached him in Phoenix. 

D’Antoni: He’s a guy you want to go to battle with. He comes up with big plays. 

NYKnicks.com: How about Jamal Crawford? 

D’Antoni: He’s a very, very talented basketball player. 

NYKnicks.com: Eddy Curry? 

D’Antoni: Big. He’s one of the better centers in the league. 

NYKnicks.com: Nate Robinson? 

D’Antoni: Nate … He’s fun to watch. Very exciting. And an unbelievable talent. 

NYKnicks.com: David Lee? 

D’Antoni: He works hard. He’s everybody’s favorite … and he’s definitely a coach’s favorite. 

NYKnicks.com: Zach Randolph? 

D’Antoni: Zach is a 20-10 guy who is one of the two or three guys in the league that can do it. 

NYKnicks.com: How about Wilson Chandler? He’s a player you might not have known a lot about before you came over here. 

D’Antoni: He’s got unbelievable potential. The same with (Danilo) Gallinari. He also has unbelievable talent and can really make others around him better. 

NYKnicks.com: Is there anybody who has surprised you so far from what you’ve seen? 

D’Antoni: Jared Jeffries. He’s surprised me. He’s been a lot better than I thought. 

NYKnicks.com: When training camp starts next week, what are some of the things you are looking to establish? 

D’Antoni: Um, running. Playing together. Just doing the right thing and see where we are and where we can go. I’m excited to get on the road and see the direction where we all want to go to. 

NYKnicks.com: We have been asking players this question, so we’ll put it to you, too: If you have one thing you want to tell the fans about the Knicks this year, one single message, what is it you want to tell them? 

D’Antoni: That we’re going to be exciting. We’re going to be a lot of fun to watch.

You can read the entire interview here.

Breaking News: The Starbury Era is Over

Alan Hahn of Newsday is reporting that Stephon Marbury’s career as a Knick will officially be over very soon.  People that are close to the situation say that the Knicks plan is to waive and buy out Marbury by the end of the week.  Marbury is currently in the final year of his contract with the Knicks which is to pay him $21.9 million.  

This has been something that has been rumored as a possibility for pretty much the entire summer so it does not come as that big of a surprise.  Donnie Walsh went out and signed a capable veteran when he brought Chris Duhon in during free agency.  Walsh believes that Duhon is a player that is capable of setting up the players around him and making them better.  This was something that Marbury has always been critcized for.  He has never been a good leader and most of his teams have seemed to underachieve.

The move to eat the rest of the contract cannot be easy for the Knicks.  In doing so they are giving him $20 million to play elsewhere and they are also reducing the level of talent on their roster.  However, this is still the move that the Knicks needed to make.  Yes, this is a move that can be classified as addition by subtraction.  It is about separating themselves from the previous era of Knicks basketball and starting the D’Antoni/Walsh era.  It is about starting to rebuild and moving this organization in the right direction.  

The move is also about improving the nature of the locker room by removing someone that was conceived to be a cancer to it.  The uneasiness between Steph and the other players was there, as Hahn reported:

“Marbury, who created a huge divide between himself and teammates after he went AWOL in Phoenix last November, stayed to himself with his workouts at the MSG Training Center this offseason until yesterday, when he joined the other Knicks veterans in pickup games. One observer from yesterday’s workout noted the uneasy atmosphere among the other players. “You could just feel the hate,” the person said.”

So now the Knicks can move forward once the move becomes official.  Let’s hear what you guys think about the move in the comments.  Happy?  Sad?  Indifferent?  Let’s hear it.

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Photo via AP

Danilo Gallinari Interview

Danilo Gallinari, the young centerpiece of the franchise, recently sat down with NYKnicks.com for an interview.  For the record, I thought that the pick of Gallinari at #6 in the draft was the right move.  The Knicks desperately needed a good swingman, especially if they are going to play at Mike D’Antoni’s uptempo pace.  I love Danilo’s handle and stroke.  I also like the love that ESPN’s international basketball guru Fran Frischilla gave him at the draft.  I also like that in Italy he was already competing against grown men in the professional league.  I think this will make the transition to the NBA a little bit easier for him.

Meanwhile, here are some of the interesting things that Gallinari had to say in his interview:

NYKnicks.com: How’s your back feeling?

Gallinari: It’s better, it’s better. I think I will be fine for the season.

NYKnicks.com: What else did you do over the summer to get ready?

Gallinari: I tried to clear my mind and not think about coming over here. I’m going to have enough time to do that. I was thinking about myself and my family and enjoy them. I want my mind free for the season.

NYKnicks.com: You said before you got drafted that you wanted to be in New York. It’s a few months later, and now you have been in The Garden and are wearing a shirt with Knicks across the chest. What’s that like? So far, has it been everything you hoped?

Gallinari: It’s a great feeling. The most exciting night was the night of the draft. After the night of the draft, my excitement and emotion were going away a little bit because I went back to Italy. I couldn’t wait to get back to New York. I love New York.

NYKnicks.com: You played that one game in Summer League where you really played well. How was that?

Gallinari: It was nice because it was my first game in the USA. I didn’t like the situation that I only played one game. I should have played many more games. I like to play. But we are here now, and it counts and is more important, so I am ready for the season.

NYKnicks.com: Are you going to miss playing in Italy?

Gallinari: Probably yes, but I will not be missing playing in Italy, I will be missing Italy in general. It is my life and my friends. It is always over there. But for basketball this is what I always wanted. It’s a dream for me so I’m excited.

You can read the entire interview here.

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Photo via AP

Zach to Memphis Deal Falls Through

It is now official that Zach Randolph will not be headed to play in Memphis.  Alan Hahn of Newsday has reported that the Grizzlies have decided to pass on a potential deal to acquire Randolph.  The potential deal was supposed to send Randolph to Memphis in exchange for center Darko Milicic and guard Marko Jaric.  The Grizzlies did not feel it was a good enough deal for them to take on the 3 years and $48 million still remaining on Randolph’s deal.  The Grizzlies were asking the Knicks to throw in a first round draft pick for 2009 but this is something that the Knicks just could not afford to do (especially since the Knicks are without their first round pick in 2010).

This is disappointing news for the Knicks as this is the one player that they needed to unload the most.  He has a big contract, does not play defense, has ballhog-like tendencies, and is a bad character guy (I recall reading something about how he demanded a trade in the middle of the locker room), and does not seem like a good fit for Coach D’Antoni’s offensive scheme.  The interesting thing to watch will be how D’Antoni plans to use Randolph if the Knicks cannot unload him before the start of the season.  Will he be in the starting lineup even though he does not appear fit for an up and down pace?  He is a double double guy with All-Star level offensive talent so that will be something to watch.

The other question to ask is if there is another team that might be tempted by the talents of Zach.  I can’t see a team really wanting to take on the big contract at the moment.  Denver could be a possibility as they do not have a really good low post scorer like Randolph is.  If you put Randolph along with A.I. and Carmelo, there will be very few teams that will be able to make stops against them.  However, that would also make the Nuggets the team that is the least interested in playing defense in the NBA, if they aren’t already.

Anthony Roberson Interview

I understand some of the criticism that has come out since the Knicks signed Anthony Roberson.  It is true that the Knicks already have a glut of guards and most people only saw him as an extra body to allow the team to cut Stephon Marbury.  However, I actually think it could be a move that helps the Knicks this year.  Roberson is a very good shooter and those a the type of players that can excel in Mike D’Antoni’s system.  The Knicks view Roberson as basically what Eddie House was for D’Antoni in Phoenix except with a better handle.  Plus when you have a team that cannot play good defense, you need as many shooters as you can get to be able to put up points to keep your team in the game.  It sounds to me like he could a good fit as a role player this year.

Anyway, he recently sat down for an interview with NYKnicks.com.  Here is an excerpt of some of the interesting things that he had to say:

NYKnicks.com: You bounced around the NBA trying to establish yourself. Was that a difficult period for you?

Roberson: It’s been a good experience, actually. My rookie year, I was in Memphis and learned a lot. I was a young player on a veteran team and didn’t play that much, but I learned a lot on the bench from those guys like Eddie Jones, Damon Stoudemire, Bobby Jackson and some others. It was a good experience for me and I’m just happy that Jerry West gave me that opportunity to play and experience the NBA that first year. Then I played in Golden State my second year with Don Nelson, and that gave me an opportunity to play a lot more. I learned a lot more, because I think the more you play at the NBA level the more you learn and the more confidence you get. And I was real confident my second year. It was very successful for me. Now this year I am coming in with a new attitude and am just trying to be a part of this new attitude and new era that D’Antoni is trying to bring to New York. So I’m trying to stay positive, play hard when I get my opportunities and do what I do best.

NYKnicks.com: Has coach D’Antoni told you about what he expects out of you?

Roberson: Just to be ready when my number is called. And that’s all I can ask. At the same time, I’m just happy for the opportunity and when my number gets called I’m going to be sure to be ready to play.

NYKnicks.com: How do you fit in with the new style of basketball the Knicks want to play here under coach D’Antoni.

Roberson: I think I fit in well. You know, D’Antoni plays some exciting ball. He loves to get up the court and shoot fast. This team has a lot of good shooters and playmakers, and I look at myself as one of them.

NYKnicks.com: Along with Wilson Chandler, you are one of the few people to play with Danilo Gallinari. How would you characterize what you saw from him in Vegas?

Roberson: He’s very talented. He can do a lot of things on the floor. He’s also a good teammate — someone who listens and also plays hard every day. I think he’s going to be very, very good. I’m excited to get back out there with him.

NYKnicks.com: And with Chandler, how was it playing with him?

Roberson: Me and Wilson had a good connection. Real good. We’re both from Michigan and knew each other from high school, so our bond has always been real good. He is getting better and better. The fans got a surprise on their hands when they got him, and when they see him this year, he’s a lot better than he was last year. He looks real good. He improved a lot. I think his confidence is way above where it was last year, and I think he’s going to be a big part of this team.

You can read the entire interview here.