New York Knicks Blog – Page 119 – NBA Blog

Pistons interview Patrick Ewing for head coaching job

David Aldridge of NBA.com reports:

The Detroit Pistons have expanded their head coaching search by interviewing Orlando Magic assistant coach Patrick Ewing, according to league sources.

Ewing, 49, has long desired to be a head coach, and has decried what he viewed as pigeonholing him as a “big man” assistant, a role he has undertaken while an assistant coach in Houston with Yao Ming and in Orlando with Dwight Howard. Ewing has said that he does a lot more than just work with bigs and is ready to run a team. He badly wanted to get a shot with the Knicks, the team for whom he became a superstar after being taken first overall in the 1985 Draft.

Donnie Walsh says Iman Shumpert can shoot

Chris Sheridan of ESPN New York reports:

The book on Iman Shumpert was that he couldn’t shoot. But when the New York Knicks saw him knocking down shot after shot when they worked him out, they determined the book was outdated.

Outgoing Knicks president Donnie Walsh raved about Shumpert’s shooting ability, his defensive abilities and his 40-inch vertical leap Thursday night after the Knicks took the Georgia Tech combo guard with the 17th pick in the draft, passing over Marshon Brooks of Providence, Chris Singleton of Florida State and Kenneth Faried of Morehead State.

“He shot the ball extremely well. His shot’s not broke. Some guys you see, and you can tell right away they can’t shoot and they’re going to have to learn form. He has good form, he was hitting shots, he can defend very well. Very well. And he’s got tremendously long arms, so I really liked him a lot,” Walsh said.

Walsh said the Knicks had one trade in the works that would have allowed them to move up, but the team they were talking to ended up having the opportunity to draft the player they wanted.

Knicks have selection committee for draft

Alan Hahn of New York Newsday reports:

As Donnie Walsh prepares to make his exit from the Knicks’ front office, he puts his support behind the staff he leaves behind. And at this point, it is very possible that the franchise moves forward with a hierarchy that includes Glen Grunwald, Mark Warkentien, Allan Houston and Mike D’Antoni .

“I think if everybody is comfortable with that, that’s what they should do,” Walsh said of the committee approach. “I think they’re all qualified, they all like each other and they’ve been working together like that for a long time.”

With the focus currently on the No. 17 pick the Knicks have in Thursday’s NBA draft, the search for Walsh’s successor has not yet gotten under way. Walsh’s contract ends on June 30, as does most of his basketball operations staff, with the exception of Grunwald, who has been tapped to serve as interim general manager, and Houston, who has been promoted from assistant general manager to GM of the team’s D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks.

Spero Dedes to become Knicks broadcaster

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports:

Spero Dedes had hoped in April a deal would work out for him to move from radio to the Lakers’ TV job. But things changed during negotiations that included Dedes wanting to continue periodic work for CBS on the NFL and college basketball and other national jobs — and Dedes is instead headed to be a radio and TV play-by-play man for the New York Knicks, who will allow him to do some national work.

“We had a verbal agreement with Spero to be our new TV play-by-play announcer,” Lakers spokesman John Black said. “However, prior to getting a finalized contract, he had a change of heart and decided to pursue another job.”

Pat Riley says he will not coach again

Whenever an amazing coach has called it quits and moved on to another line of basketball-related work, you can’t help but to wonder if he’ll eventually make a comeback to the profession.

Especially if the team he works for has a loaded, star-studded roster like the Miami Heat.

But Pat Riley will reportedly stick to executive offices.

The AP reports:

Heat President Pat Riley says he will not return to coaching, and says the team has a strong leader in Erik Spoelstra.

Riley spoke Tuesday at his annual end-of-season wrapup and touched on several topics including the disappointment of Miami’s loss in the NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks. He lauded the Mavericks for winning the title, plus says he still believed the first Heat season with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as teammates was “a great year.”

This has nothing to do with Riley or the Heat, but I wonder if we’ll ever see Jerry Sloan on the sideline again.

Kemba Walker supports Rice High School

Legendary CHSAA basketball powerhouse Rice High School in New York City is expected to close, but some supporters are still keeping hope alive and rallying to keep it open.

Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News reports:

Kemba Walker led UConn to an improbable NCAA title this past season, and graduated from college in just three years. On Thursday, he’s expected to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft.

But if Walker hadn’t attended Rice High School, he says, much of that success wouldn’t have happened.

“It meant everything,” he said. “It made me the man who I am today.”

That’s why the Bronx product couldn’t say no when his former basketball coach asked him to swing by the school at the corner of Lenox Ave. and W. 124th St. Monday. Walker, 21, spent the afternoon outside the building along with about 75 other students, parents and alumni at a rally designed to raise awareness about Rice’s plight.

Unfortunately, despite the well-wishes of Walker and many others, Rice HS will still likely fade into history. But the show of support is cool.

ESPN writer Chris Sheridan sues Peter Vecsey and NY Post for libel

Nathan Vardi of Forbes reports:

Chris Sheridan, a basketball writer for ESPN, sued basketball columnist Peter Vecsey and NYP Holdings, claiming they “published a maliciously false article” that impugned “Chris Sheridan’s veracity and competence as a journalist.”

Vecsey’s article argued that the New York Knicks did not have a good chance of obtaining basketball player Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets and called Sheridan’s reporting the “latest fairy tale” derived from the “same fountains of misinformation that frequently play make-believe with ESPN’s Chris Sheridan.” Sheridan had reported on ESPN.com two days earlier that if Anthony were to be traded from the Nuggets, he would only agree to sign a contract extension if he was traded to the Knicks. Sheridan cited an anonymous source…

Sheridan claims that Vecsey was motivated by his “historic malice towards Mr. Sheridan” and “fabricated an entirely false and sustained tirade against Mr. Sheridan.” Sheridan claims he demanded a retraction from Vecsey and the New York Post on April 7, but that they did not respond.

NBA heads to 2011 offseason of uncertainty

The AP reports:

“It’s an odd position, when the game is the best it’s ever been, when the ratings are the highest they’ve ever been, when the excitement is the greatest it’s ever (been),” Players Association attorney Jeffrey Kessler said last week. “It’s sort of odd to see the owners say we’re going to destroy this game unless you change this whole system. Players just want to play.”

Nobody can predict when they’ll get that chance again. When the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat on Sunday night in Game 6, it sent the NBA into a most uncertain offseason.

Owners and players are nowhere close on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. Without a new deal, players say they have been told by the owners they will be locked out.

The NBA was reduced to a 50-game season by a work stoppage in 1998-99, and the loss of games is a threat now. Citing leaguewide losses of about $300 million this season, the league hasn’t budged on its desire for significant changes to the financial structure, ranging from reductions in the length of contracts and the amount of guarantees, to an overhaul of the salary cap system that would prevent teams from being able to exceed it, as they can now under certain exceptions.

And Stern said the record TV ratings and all the other positive attention the league has received doesn’t make him any more motivated to get this settled, since he’d want to do it anyway.

“I don’t need any external prod to want to be able to make a deal,” he said…

The sides are scheduled to meet twice this week and say they hope for frequent discussions before the end of the month. Should those fail, the NBA could follow the NFL’s labor situation right into the court system, which both sides say they want to avoid. So although a work stoppage in July wouldn’t seem to have much effect since games aren’t going on, Stern insists “we very much feel the weight of the deadline.”

Mark Jackson talks big as new Warriors coach

The AP reports:

Declaring that “the Bay Area will never be the same,” Jackson promised sweeping changes Friday to the perennially underachieving franchise. He was introduced by the Warriors at a swanky San Francisco hotel across the bay from where the team plays in Oakland that had all the flair of the area’s new coach.

The Brooklyn native and former New York Knicks point guard said the Warriors will make the area “New York City West” in NBA circles, attracting the coveted free agents the franchise has always struggled to sign. He even predicted championship banners would follow.

“When you look at the success of the teams in this area, the A’s have had theirs. The Niners have had theirs. The Giants have had theirs. The Raiders have had theirs. And now we’re looking forward to ours,” Jackson said. “So, therefore, it’s about time. Sorry it took so long, but now we’re at the party.”

Well, not quite.

The Warriors have made the playoffs just once since 1994 and haven’t won an NBA title since 1975. About the only success the franchise has enjoyed is that fans in the basketball-crazy Bay Area regularly sell out Oracle Arena and can be as vocal as any in a market saturated with sports teams…

“We’re not going to accept mediocrity,” Jackson said, slipping into his Brooklyn accent and friendly slang that made him a broadcasting favorite. “You might as well hitch onto the bandwagon because things gone be a changing.”

Nate Robinson charged with public urination

Richard Liebson of Lohud.com reports:

NBA point guard Nate Robinson made quite a splash on Main Street early Friday when police said he was spotted urinating on the sidewalk outside the City Center.

The 5-foot-9 member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who has also played for the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. after cops said he was seen doing his business outside the Barnes & Noble store at 230 Main St.

He was taken Police Headquarters where he was issued a ticket charging him with a public urination violation.

InsideHoops.com editor says: At least he wasn’t jumping 28 feet in the air and trying to dunk while doing it. Because then bystanders might have gotten an unwanted souvenir from the experience.