The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Bill Livingston) blogs: James is not going to be leaving for Milwaukee, San Antonio or even Detroit. The challenge will come, I think, from the New York Knicks. Many believe the biggest pitch will be made by the New Jersey Nets when they relocate to Brooklyn, N.Y., in time for James’ free agency year. James is a personal friend with Nets part owner Jay-Z, the rap artist. The Nets also might trade for James’ pal Carmelo Anthony. But offensive mastermind Mike D’Antoni is the Knicks’ new coach. He will put in a fluid system that could let a player like James average almost unheard-of numbers. The Knicks are the big team in the media capital of the country, and they will be clearing salary-cap space for the next two years. The Lakers wooed Shaquille O’Neal away from Orlando by challenging him to match Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s legacy and restore the Lakers’ greatness. Orlando did everything it could to no avail.
Category: New York Knicks Blog
Knicks blog – New York Knicks blog
No one trying to take Pat Ewing from Magic
The Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz) reports: Unless circumstances change, Magic assistant coach and Howard’s big-man guru Patrick Ewing will return next season. Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins told the Sentinel that no team has asked the club for permission to talk to Ewing, including his former team, the New York Knicks. When Mike D’Antoni took over the Knicks as coach last week, he said he would be interested in handing one of his assistant spots to Ewing, who has another year on his contract with the Magic.
Knicks owner now owns NY Newsday
The New York Times (Richard Sandomir) reports: When there is news in his Cablevision empire, shouldn’t Jim Dolan be there? He is America’s newest newspaper mogul — Cablevision agreed to buy Newsday on Monday — but he was absent Tuesday when his Knicks introduced Mike D’Antoni as their coach. Now that he is buying Newsday’s ink, I was hoping he would pop in, wearing a fedora with a card saying “Press” tucked into the hat band, schmooze with the Newsday sportswriters in the Wamu Theater’s lobby and tell us how much he loves freedom of the press. You know, that John Peter Zenger sort of stuff. Dolan is an unlikely newspaper owner. The best you could say is that he could live without the news media, unless he owns an outlet, like the MSG Network. The worst you could say is that he loathes the news media enough to have promulgated a restrictive policy in 2003 (revealed last month by The Daily News) that outlined the ramifications of unfair and objectionable coverage. More than that, it reeked of institutional paranoia.
Knicks to announce D`Antoni hiring Tuesday
On Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET the New York Knicks will introduce Mike D’Antoni as the team’s new head coach.
D’Antoni is an interesting hire, because he’s famous for the run-and-gun Suns style of play, which wouldn’t work quite as well if big players like Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry will be involved.
I think people are making a bigger deal out of that then they need to. D’Antoni is obviously smart enough to know that a style that works for one team won’t necessarily work for another. I’m sure he’ll adapt to the roster, and hopefully get them to adapt to a style of play that’ll work for them and make the team better as a whole.
New Knicks coach is Mike D’antoni
The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports: The Knicks gave their head coaching job to ex-Suns coach Mike D’Antoni on Saturday. D’Antoni built an offensive powerhouse in Phoenix with two-time MVP Steve Nash and now replaces Isiah Thomas on the Knicks, inheriting his mess in the process. Mike D’Antoni averaged 58 wins over his last four seasons with the Phoenix Suns and was the architect of one of the NBA’s most exciting offensive teams. Of course, he also had Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion executing his game plan. Now, he’ll presumably be working with Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph.
Bucks name Scott Skiles head coach
General Manager John Hammond announced today that Scott Skiles has agreed to a multi-year contract to become the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Skiles becomes the 11th head coach in the history of the franchise and comes to Milwaukee with eight seasons of NBA head coaching experience. “Scott is a proven NBA head coach who has shown an ability to win,” said Hammond. “He was a passionate player at all levels of the game and that thirst for success has served him well as a coach. We look forward to what he will bring to this franchise and we welcome him and his family to Milwaukee.”
Mark Jackson issues brief statement on Knicks
Mark Jackson issued a brief statement on the New York Knicks head coaching position: “The New York Knicks are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports and I am honored Donnie Walsh has mentioned my name as a candidate. Coaching has always intrigued me.”
InsideHoops.com as well as multiple national and New York media outlets have reported that Jackson, along with Scott Skiles, are said to be two of the leading candidates to be the next Knicks head coach.
Apr. 16: Pacers 132, Knicks 123
The AP reports: Isiah Thomas gave new Knicks president Donnie Walsh a few more reasons to fire him. Mike Dunleavy tied a career high with 36 points, and the Indiana Pacers beat New York 132-123 on Wednesday night. The Knicks allowed their highest point total of the season and tied a franchise record with 59 losses… Jamal Crawford, who led New York with 25 points, said the season has been disappointing, but he’s not counting Thomas out yet… Zach Randolph had 23 points and 15 rebounds, while former Pacer Fred Jones added 20 points for the Knicks. Danny Granger scored 26 points, just missing his fourth consecutive 30-point game. Troy Murphy added 19 points and 12 rebounds as Indiana reached a season-high point total. The Pacers swept the Knicks for the first time in franchise history.
Apr. 14: Celtics 99, Knicks 93
The AP reports: Isiah Thomas was booed during pregame introductions and fans chanted for him to be fired in the final minute. But while firing Thomas may be the popular decision with fans, Jamal Crawford cautioned that it may not be the right one… Doc Rivers gave Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen the night off, but Rajon Rondo had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who learned during the game they will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. Sam Cassell added 22 points for the Celtics, who got a halftime pep talk from another champion who wears green: Masters winner Trevor Immelman, who watched the game the day after collecting the green jacket.. Nate Robinson scored 26 points and David Lee had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks. Rookie Wilson Chandler, who had been playing well lately, sprained his left knee in the third quarter. X-rays were negative.
Isiah Thomas praises Knicks fans
The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports the following (via blog, not print): If he gets serenaded with a final round of “Fire Isiah’’ chants tonight, Isiah Thomas admitted it will be OK. “Whatever comes out and whatever is said and done, the fact that they’re there (is good),’’ Thomas said. “Because we’ve been in lot of arenas where there’s apathy, fans don’t care. When I first got here, people didn’t come to the games.’’ “I honestly love the way they supported our team through these difficult times,’’ Thomas added. “There’s a certain aspect of losing that really, really sucks and the fans have a right to voice it when it sucks…Because we’re in the locker room voicing that too.’’ … Asked his emotions about this possibly being his last home game as Knicks coach, Thomas said, “I haven’t allowed my mind to drift that far. You try to be one with what is. You prepare yourself for every situation and you deal with it.’’