It worked for Akeem Joffer and it'll work for LeBron James.
Seriously LeBron get out of the armpit of America and GO TO NY!
You shall find true love there!
Warriors (W-L): 53-21
Knicks (W-L): 48-26
TV: CSN Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680
TIp-Off: 7:30pm
Blog Buddy: Posting and Toasting
Hit the FFWD button and JUMP!
The 2009-2010 NBA season is almost over so just for fun let's take a look back...
New York Knicks
Around the Association: 2009-2010 New York Knicks- Is it summatime yet? (9/19/09)
Projecting 2k9-2k10 Season
Let's keep things simple. Eddy Curry and Al Harrington are not exactly Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley- especially on the glass. Larry Hughes is not John Starks. Chris Duhon is not the 90's PG combo of Chris Childs/ Charlie Ward. Darko Millicic is no Anthony Mason- although he's arguably just as scary.
For the Knicks the 2009-2010 season is about restoring some semblance of relevance to Madison Square Garden. A return to the playoffs would obviosly be great (especially since they don't have the rights to their 2010 draft pick), but this season is really about doing whatever maneuvering possible to set this franchise up for a brighter future in the 2010 summer and beyond. The goal for this season is to reduce the number of "OMG! THE KNiX DID WHUT?!" statements.
I feel bad for all the Knicks season ticket holders this season who shelled out big bucks for one of the league's most expensive seats, but that's basically it. The entire 2009-2010 New York Knicks season is one big summer league or preseason tryout. The goal is to not screw up.
My crystal ball says 30-42.
The Knicks are currently sitting at 26 games with 8 games left. Looks like 30-42 will be close.
The only "OMG! THE KNiX DID WHUT!" statement I had for them really was drafting Jordan Hill over Brandon Jennings.
Golden State Warriors
Micro-Warriornomics :: GSoM's 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Preview (Part 1 of 2): Player previews and more
2k9-2k10 Golden State Warriors Projections
Biggest Strengths
Roaracle Faithful
There's two constants for the Golden State Warriors:
- THE SUCK
- The best fans in the entire association
We could go on and on about #1, but let's take a second and appreciate #2.<long second>Especially before WE BELIEVE the Golden State Warriors have always had some of the smartest and savvy-est fans in the league. Loyalty would be an understatement.Golden faces.
1 Dub. 1 Luv. is more like it.
Likable Young Players
There's plenty of reasons not to warm up to vets like Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis.
But Stephen Curry, Anthony Morrow, and Anthony Randolph? That's a whole different animal. It's hard not to root for these guys.
The Anthony's plus a little masala is a-OK with me.
They're young, they're exciting, and the expectations might be a tad bit too high for them. But they'll be fun to watch and root for.
Expiring Contracts
I can't stress this one enough. If the Warriors actually use these chips intelligently they've got a shot at something nice, real nice.
The 2nd (soon to be 1st) Most Winningnest Coach in NBA History
More often than not the Warriors will have the coaching advantage on the sidelines. There is no other coach in the league that can do more with less- which is especially relevant here since the Warriors will have less more often than not this season. For all the drama that he brings for a variety of reasons (not all his fault), Nellie is a master hoops tactician and that can't be denied.
By the way if you're reading a Warriors preview or article on a national mainstream outlet and they routinely refer to CWebb-Nellie parallels, it's a BIG clue that they haven't done their homework and unfortunately know that sensationalism = more web clicks.
By the way if you see baseless and inane "FIRE NELLIE!" rants from a Warriors fan every time something goes wrong, it's a BIG clue that they didn't live through The Dirty Dozen: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 either because they're too young or they didn't realize there was a basketball team in California other than the LA Lakers till the 2007 NBA Playoffs.
Nellie and Riley as the Shot Callers
When the Warriors unceremoniously dumped Chris Mullin to much (mostly unfounded) fan and media backlash, they promoted Nellie's buddy Larry Riley to the GM spot. Riley doesn't have the most distinguished resume based on his numerous NBA stops, but unlike the Warriors previous hire he actually has credentials and experience at all levels- coaching, scouting, and management. Unlike the Warriors previous hire, he actually sounds prepared at interviews and seems to have a vision.
It will be great to have a head coach and GM that are finally on the same page. You could tell Nellie wasn't exactly enamored with Mullin's player pickups and rightfully so (the Adonal Foyle- Troy Murphy- Mike Dunleavy front court?, Kosta Perovic? Marcus WIlliams?).
There's a great piece over at SFGate about new Warriors GM Larry Riley that's definitely worth the cost of a click.
Jim Barnett, Tim Roye, and The Razor and Mr. T
I wanted to take a quick second to highlight some folks who don't get much national media attention though they're quite golden. There's a lot of clowns working under Cohan's regime and in the local Bay Area media who we'll leave unnamed, but these guys are more than legit.
Jim Barnett of Barnett's Law Fame. Barnett is the Warriors color TV commentator and is old school smooth in every way imaginable.
Tim Roye of Elevation Sensation fame. Roye is the Warriors radio announcer and does an absolutely superb job despite having announced so much suck for well over a decade.
Ralph Barbieri of Amici's fame and Tom Tolbert of Run TMC fame. The Razor and Mr. T host the weekly Don Nelson Show on KNBR here in the Bay Area. If you've never heard Nellie's show with Ralph and Tom you're missing out.
Biggest Weaknesses
The Human Powered Turnover Machine
Barring no injuries and if Monta Ellis can make through the season without hopping on a "low-speed moped", it's a pretty safe bet that the Warriors will lead the league in turnovers. Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Anthony Randolph will be the main culprits. Rookie Stephen Curry will probably add to the turnover totals considerably, but we will excuse the rookie.
We'll be using this picture quite a bit in our recaps this season.
Low Hoops IQ
Top to bottom this is one of the dumbest rosters in the league. It can be painful watching them struggle to throw the simplest inbounds pass. Part of that is being young, but most of that can be attributed to players who simply aren't that sharp on the court and off the court. We'll just leave it at that. We're not in the business of hurting the trade value of players on the home team- well at least today.
Immaturity
Media Day 2009 typifies the "Captain" Moped silliness. I'll pass the mic to my man DT from the mighty Fear the Beard: Hater Tuesday: Warriors media day special edition:
What the hell kind of team can't even get media day right? Show up, look happy to be a well-compensated professional, say some nice things to move some tickets, and go home. But no. Not our Dubs. They've got to make this into a public spectacle of dysfunction. And at the center of the storm? The team's two best players. First, you've got Captain Grinch telling us that, yes, he still wants out. Then you've got Monta telling us that, no, he doesn't think Nellie's backcourt plan will work. Great. Where do I sign up to give Chris Cohan that disproportionate share of my disposable income for my delusional "great time out?"
Don't you hate it when your "Captain" is running away from the mess he helped create?
It's very difficult rooting for these guys.
I'll let you all dissect that in the comments.
Forget tonight's game, here's some--
Summatime Predictions
- LeBron James joins the New York Knicks.
- Larry Ellison OWNS the Golden State Warriors.
- 1 or more of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, or Joe Johnson joins the Knicks.
- The Warriors draft Evan Turner.
- A bunch of has-been's but still got a little something, something (ascension, don't ever wonder ya'll) in the tank join the Knicks for relatively little financial reward.
- Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter get reasonable deals to stay on the with the Dubs.
- The Nike Air LeBron VIII's get released in over 50 colorways, 7 of which are NY themed.
- Nellie stays because he's the RIGHT coach for a rebuilding team- he's done it with the Warriors (three times), the Dallas Mavericks, and the Milwaukee Bucks. To all the Nellie haters- show me another coach with that kind of resume and talent evaluation skills (see Nellie Knows NBA Draft: The Warriors and Mavericks Years + Nellie doesn't play rookies myth)
Looking forward to... SUMMATIME!
More on the New York Knickerbockers @ Posting and Toasting plus these goodies below:
Poll
Which team has more to look forward to this offseason?
This poll is closed
-
38%
Golden State Warriors
(220 votes) -
26%
New York Knicks
(152 votes) -
35%
Both have plenty to look forward to, but just don't look back!
(203 votes)