Knicks trying to win by getting older

Why do the Knicks want to get older? Well, because coach Mike Woodson said that older teams have more success in the playoffs than younger teams.  Just look at the Heat this year, with an average age of around 29, beating up on the Thunder who have an average age of 25.  And Boston has done well these past 5 seasons with old dudes.  In the Larry O’Brien Championship Series, aka “The Finals”, the older team wins about 70% of the time.

* Note: Jason Kidd just crashed his car at 2:00 AM in the Hamptons and received a DWI.  Age = smarts.

So with their infinite wisdumb the Knicks (who must think they can compete for a Conference Championship) have taken a very strange route to getting older: by acquiring 3 of the 4 oldest players in the NBA in just a couple of days.  They signed Marcus Camby (39), Jason Kidd (39) and traded for Kurt Thomas (40).

Raymond Felton was the apple of the Knicks trade with Portland which netted Thomas.  Felton is 28 and could be their youngest starter.  A’mare likes Felton because Felton was able to run the show and present him as an MVP candidate (before A’mare got hurt) two seasons ago when they played together. Don’t get me started on how fat Raymond Felton is and how much of a solid defender Jared Jefferies (who they traded for Felton) is.

The Knicks are passing on Lin, who’s 23, because Carmelo said that the three year, $25 million dollar deal that Houston offered him was “ridiculous”.  James Dolan, put down the sexy saxaphone. One thing you definitely want to do is to listen to Carmelo Anthony analyze the value of contracts.  Methinks that Carmelo is protecting his “points = $” ego with that statement.  ‘Melo did average just 16 points with Lin and 28 without.

The Knicks are totally messed up.  Dolan is probably still consulting Isiah Thomas on a daily basis which all bubbles together to create the best terrible reality show in The Association.  At least Knicks fans can defect and become Brooklyn Nets fans now.

And Jeremy Lin, quit being so hurt by the Knicks not matching the heavily backloaded Rockets offer sheet and having to play in Houston.  Sure, Houston isn’t New York and doesn’t compare to the NYC lifestyle but just know that your GM is one of the best in the league, your coach loves to let the PG do his thang and run the show (think: Kyle Lowry last season), the Chinese love Houston because of Yao Ming, and you may be throwing lobs to Dwight Howard come November.  Isn’t the point of playing basketball to make as much money as you can and win a lot?  You can check both of those boxes in Houston.

Greg Monroe isn’t happy with USA Basketball

Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe didn’t expect to make the 2012 Olympic basketball team. At the very least he expected USA Basketball to pick him for the select team. You know, the team that practices against the national team. After taking a look at the roster and who’s on the team, it left Monroe a little steamed that he wasn’t selected by USA Basketball and will use that slight as motivation for the upcoming season.

The select team features the likes of the New Orleans Hornets Lance Thomas, Boston Celtics center Greg Stiemsma and San Antonio’s DeJuan Blair. All players that Monroe sees himself better than.

“No disrespect to those guys, looking at the Select Team roster, I felt like I should’ve been on there,” Monroe said. “That’s just the confidence I have in myself.”

“I am just a little bit disappointed,” Monroe said. “I think, (although) some people don’t think so, I should’ve at least been invited. All of those guys deserved it.”


Monroe has played on a worse team than some of the players on the roster which overshadows his on court production. His career is trending upward and he is one of the building blocks on a young Pistons team. But the fact that he does play for the Pistons has clouded the selection process.

Monroe says he isn’t bothered by the slight but says he won’t forget this and plans to help improve his team.

“But I’m past that, I’m happy to be here with my teammates,” Monroe said of the Pistons. “I’m not dwelling on it. We have things to do here (in Detroit).”

“Always,” Monroe said. “It always will. I don’t forget anything. Anything. I remember what people said in high school. It’s always motivation.”

Hopefully the Pistons can be the beneficiaries of Monroe’s added motivation.

Thabeet and Thunder agree to two year deal

To say Hasheem Thabeet has had a disappointing start to his NBA career would be generous. He’s been an absolute bust, but you don’t give up on a seven foot three center who was once the number two pick in the NBA draft.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking a flyer on the former Big East defensive player of the year and have agreed to a two year deal with the University of Connecticut product.




The deal cannot officially be signed until the league’s free agent moratorium period is lifted on July 11. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately known, but the contract, which will be fully guaranteed for both seasons, is believed to be a minimal salary, or roughly $880,000 in the first year of the contract.

Thabeet will be playing for his fourth team in four years. He was picked one spot ahead of current Thunder guard James Harden. It is a minimal investment for the Thunder and could turn out to be a bargain if Thabeet realizes his potential. If not, cut him loose and move on. What could work in Thabeet’s favor is that he won’t be looked upon as a savior and can just play basketball.

“Playing in that environment is positive,” said Thabeet’s agent, Bill Duffy. “Sam Presti has done a great job of not only building a winning organization but a culture that’s conditioned to developing and nurturing. So we think it’s a really good fit. So now the onus is on Hasheem to buy into that and to develop and to reach his potential.”


It would seem to be the perfect landing spot for him, but I’ll just wait and see.

Detroit Pistons to sign Ukranian big man Vyacheslav Kravtsov

Outside of Ben Wallace and Greg Monroe, the Detroit Pistons have been devoid of quality big men the past two seasons. Team president Joe Dumars is out to change that. The Pistons are stocked at the guard and small forward positions and want to improve their depth at the center and power forward positions.

While the moves haven’t been major and the players are unproven Dumars is set on improving the depth along the front line. With Monroe already on the roster, the Pistons drafted University of Connecticut big man, Andre Drummond with the number 9 pick in the draft. Even though there were questions surrounding Drummond it could prove to be a solid pick. The Pistons were lucky to have what was considered a top five talent fall into their laps for the third straight year.

Looking to add more younger, cheaper talent the Pistons signed Ukranian seven footer Vyacheslav Kravtsov.

Kravtsov, an athletic seven-footer, averaged 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 22 minutes per game last season for BC Donetsk in the Ukrainian league.


Kravtsov, 25, was undrafted in 2009 and played for the Celtics’ summer-league team in 2010. He’s known as a defensive presence, and the Pistons have been familiar with him for some time. Pistons assistant coach Brian Hill was an assistant on the Ukrainian national team last summer.

His Eurobasket.com scouting report lists him as a “phenomenal shot blocker who likes nothing more than contesting absolutely anything on its way up” and that he’s “athletic, strong and can explode in and around the hoop on offense although he’s still trying to find consistency with anything from range.”

Word is that he did have some dominant games against Jonas Valanciunas and Enes Kanter, both of whom were top five lottery picks in 2011. Any basketball fan knows that doesn’t mean a whole lot.

Hopefully this can turn out to be more Mehmet Okur than Darko Milicic.

Olshey shuns Clippers, takes Blazers GM job

After working without a contract this season and being left to twist in the wind by Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers general manager Neil Olshey pulled a swerve on the Clippers and took the Portland Trail Blazers job.

Olshey wasn’t guaranteed a contract by the Clippers and had an agreement in principle with the team until the Blazers came calling. Olshey built the team that went to the second round of the playoffs and had the best winning percentage (.606) in franchise history.

Olshey also interviewed for the Blazers job last year. To be honest I really can’t blame him for leaving. I won’t get into an anti-Sterling tirade but can you really trust him. I could see Sterling pulling the rug from under Olshey and instructing him to blow up the current edition of the team in a few years.

The Clippers have started a search for a general manager before the offseason kicks into full gear. As of now Coach Vinny Del Negro, director of player personnel Gary Sacks and team president Andy Roeser will handle all of team’s responsibilities in regard to basketball operations.

Jeremy Lin owns Linsanity

If Jeremy Lin can continue his meteoric rise in the NBA he’ll get paid in more ways than one.

Lin now owns the rights to the term, phrase or whatever you want to call it, “Linsanity”. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office registered the term for Lin after he filed for it in February.

It’s obvious that someone close to Lin was on to something after Lin became the hottest name in the NBA after the New York Knicks put him in the starting lineup. Anyone wishing to use the “Linsanity” term will have to go through Lin or his representatives.a

If he can keep up his stellar play he stands to get paid.

Isiah Thomas wants another shot in college or the NBA

After his well documented failures in both college basketball and the NBA, Isiah Thomas wants to get another shot at coaching or being a general manager at either level.

Thomas was recently fired by Florida International after compiling a 26-65 record over three seasons. Thomas has also coached the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers and served as the general manager for the Knicks and Toronto Raptors. Thomas has a good friendship with Knicks owner James Dolan and has been connected to any opening in the Knicks organization.

“I definitely want to be in basketball again whether it be coaching or as a general manager,” Thomas said by phone. “My gift is basketball. I would love working with the kids. If it’s the right college program, I would consider it. If it’s the right GM job or coaching job in the NBA, I would consider it. I love the game. I just want to be in the game.”


“I have great friends in the organization,” said Thomas, a two-time NBA champion and 12-time All-Star with the Detroit Pistons. “A lot of them I gave them their first job opportunities in the NBA. The owner and I have a very good relationship. It’s an organization I will always root for and will always want them to do well because they’re all personal friends of mine.” 

Thomas says he would be willing to listen to all offers college or pro.

“I’m like everyone else, I keep my options open,” Thomas said. “My mom always said don’t burn any bridges. I followed her advice. It would have to be the right option and right place.”


The question is would anyone be willing go all in on Thomas. When he played he was one of the best players of all time. He was a winner. Off the court is another story where he’s had more than one failure. Namely running the Knicks into the ground.

Call me a homer since he did play for my hometown Detroit Pistons, but I think he should get another chance despite his track record, but it would have to be the right situation. He shouldn’t be thrown into a rebuilding situation.

Report: Knicks on Odom’s short list

No one knows where Lamar Odom will be playing basketball next season. After a tumultuous season with the Dallas Mavericks he’ll more than likely wind up as a free agent since I don’t think Odom could be traded for a bobsled at this particular moment. Odom is still under contract with the Mavericks and he could be traded or waived/bought out.

Despite his one bad season with the Mavericks, Odom will be a highly sought after free agent due to the versatility he can bring to the table. A source close to the situation says that the New York Knicks might be a team on Odom’s short list.

A source with knowledge of Odom’s thinking says the New York Knicks would be “on the top of his list” if the Queens native becomes a free agent.


“Lamar is big on being comfortable,” the source said. “And New York is somewhere he can be comfortable.”


“He wants to find a place where he can end his career, and New York is ideal,” the source said. “He’s won championships in the past and he wants to win another. And to do it there would be great.”


He could go back to the Los Angeles Lakers where he had his best years or to the Miami Heat where he once played and could be sixth man supreme. I don’t see him fitting in with the Knicks since all they do is acquire name players and implode. But a front line of  Odom, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler could be pretty good if Carmelo Anthony wants to shift to the two guard spot. So it’s highly unlikely he’ll wind up in New York.

Wherever he lands they’ll probably get the Odom of years past and not the Dallas version which was a bad bill of goods.
 

Shaq to discuss GM job with Orlando Magic

In what would be the worse idea of all time, the Orlando Magic are reportedly willing to discuss the general manager job with Shaquille O’Neal. Orlando is looking to retain the services of Dwight Howard and think that maybe O’Neal could help keeping Howard in town.  

O’Neal stated his career in Orlando but has no front office experience whatsoever. It has worked out with some former players (Steve Kerr, Joe Dumars) but I just don’t see it happening with O’Neal. I don’t really think it’s going to happen and figure the Magic is just trying to keep themselves in the news.

If they’re trying to find someone to save the franchise from irrelevance hiring O’Neal would not be the way to do it.

Jerry Sloan interested in coaching again

After taking sometime off due to retirement, former Utah jazz coach Jerry Sloan is getting the urge to coach again. According to a Fox Sports Florida report Sloan has expressed interest in the Orlando Magic coaching job. If that wasn’t enough of an itch, Sloan also wouldn’t mind getting a crack at the Charlotte Bobcats job.

Of course there has to be interest in Sloan and he gets that but it’s obvious that something has been missing in his life since he retired in 2011.

“Yes, I think so,’’ Sloan said from his farm in McLeansboro, Ill., about his interest. “It would be very intriguing. But they would have to be interested in me.’’

Sloan hasn’t heard anything from the Magic or Bobcats. Orlando would be a better situation since Charlotte is in full rebuilding mode. But Sloan doesn’t seem to mind the challenge.

“It’s not always about starting at the top,’’ Sloan, 70, said when asked if he really would interested in a rebuilding situation such as the one with Bobcats, whose 7-59 record resulted in the worst winning percentage in NBA history (.106). 


The Magic is a franchise in flux right now since no one knows the direction the team will go since center Dwight Howard reportedly wants out of Orlando.

Sloan would be a good hire for either team and he knows the game. With his old school ways I just don’t know if he has the patience for the Bobcats rebuilding or Orlando possibly blowing their team up.