New York Knicks Blog – Page 58 – NBA Blog

Knicks, Nuggets reportedly discuss an Iman Shumpert, Kenneth Faried trade

The New York Knicks may need a shakeup, and talented young guard Iman Shumpert is one of their most tradeable assets. But will the team really move him? Here’s the New York Daily News:

Talks between the Knicks and Nuggets centered around a deal that would send Iman Shumpert to Denver for forward Kenneth Faried have intensified in recent days, the Daily News has learned.

According to a league source, no deal is imminent, although the struggling Knicks feel they need to make a move to bolster their banged-up front court.

Tyson Chandler is out at least one month after breaking his leg last week while both Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin have been placed on a minutes restriction because if their health.

Carmelo Anthony calls players-only Knicks meeting

The New York Knicks aren’t off to a good start. They’ve been without the services of J.R. Smith, but still, the team hasn’t played as competitively as hoped. Here’s the New York Post on the situation:

After Tyson Chandler went down and the Knicks were beaten by the Bobcats on Tuesday night, Carmelo Anthony initiated a players-only team meeting in the locker room.

Anthony said he and others spoke and one of his messages was the Knicks must “want it more’’ and stop playing as if they don’t believe in themselves. The reeling Knicks are off to a 1-3 start, and suffered a devastating loss when Chandler was sidelined for 4-6 weeks with a broken leg. Their mental state seems very fragile, too.

“We shut the door after the game, talked it out a little bit,’’ a downbeat Anthony said Friday at the morning shootaround at Time Warner Cable Arena ahead of a road rematch with the Bobcats. “Try to figure out what was happening and going on. We just weren’t competing the way we know how to compete. We weren’t playing the way we know how to play. Hopefully the conversation we had after the game made everyone else realize, though it is early, there are things we need to fix and fix now.’’

Knicks center Tyson Chandler out 4-6 weeks with injury

The New York Knicks are off to a rough start this season. They’ve been without J.R. Smith, but even so, there are some issues. And now things get tougher due to a major injury. Here’s New York Newsday:

Tyson Chandler had returned this season stronger and looking to make amends for his poor playoff performance last year. But Chandler won’t be helping the Knicks anytime soon.

The Knicks said Chandler will be sidelined four to six weeks after suffering a non-displaced fracture of his right fibula in Tuesday night’s loss to the Bobcats. According to the Knicks, Chandler doesn’t have any ligament or nerve damage and won’t require surgery.

But this is a still a huge loss for the Knicks, who have dropped three straight games after winning their opener. Chandler is one of their most indispensible players, and their defensive anchor in the middle.

In Tuesday night’s 102-97 defeat, the Bobcats met little resistance inside and outrebounded the Knicks 51-33. Chandler played just the first 6:35 of the game.

Photo: Empty NBA court, waiting for you

I find this cool. This is an InsideHoops.com photo of an empty Madison Square Garden, with a court sitting there ready to be used. Picture yourself shooting around or playing here:

Knicks exercise contract option on Iman Shumpert

New York Knicks President and General Manager Steve Mills announced today that the team has exercised its fourth-year contract option on guard Iman Shumpert.

This was expected. Shumpert is one of the few young building blocks on the Knicks roster, and has exceeded expectations so far in his early NBA career.

In two seasons, Shumpert, 6-5, 220-pounds, holds career averages of 8.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 26.0 minutes in 104 games (80 starts) with New York. He appeared in, and started, 45 games last season to average 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists over 22.1 minutes. The Oak Park, IL native was originally selected by the Knicks in the first round (17th overall) of 2011 NBA Draft and earned 2011-12 NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.

Woodson may alternate Amare Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin in rotation

The Knicks have some talented players on their bench, but injuries are a serious concern. Which may cause coach Mike Woodson to be a bit more innovative with his rotation than he’d probably prefer. Here’s Anthony Rieber of New York Newsday:

Fans at Friday night’s unveiling of the renovated Madison Square Garden also got to see Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin make their preseason debuts for the Knicks.

After a practice on that same floor Saturday, coach Mike Woodson said seeing Stoudemire and Martin playing in the same game during the regular season might be a rare occurrence.

Woodson said he is “really considering” alternating the two former All-Stars on a game-by-game basis as a way of keeping them healthy for the whole season.

So whichever big man plays in the Knicks’ season opener on Wednesday night against Milwaukee at the Garden won’t appear the next night in Chicago against the Bulls, for example.

Knicks waive Ike Diogu, C.J. Leslie, Josh Powell, Jeremy Tyler, Chris Douglas-Roberts

New York Knicks President and General Manager Steve Mills announced today that the team has waived forwards Ike Diogu, C.J. Leslie, Josh Powell and Jeremy Tyler and guard Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Diogu, 6-8, 255-pounds, averaged 7.2 points, on 56.7-percent shooting, and 4.0 rebounds over 16.2 minutes in six preseason games after signing as a free agent on Sep. 27.

Leslie, 6-9, 210-pounds, recorded 12 points and seven rebounds over 36 minutes in five preseason games after signing as an undrafted free agent on Jul. 8.

Powell, 6-9, 240-pounds, averaged 3.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 18.6 minutes in five preseason games after signing as a free agent on Sep. 30.

Tyler, 6-10, 250-pounds, signed as a free agent on Aug. 6, but did not appear in the preseason due to injury.

Douglas-Roberts, 6-7, 210-pounds, recorded seven points and three assists over 24 minutes in two preseason games after signing as a free agent on Oct. 2.

Knicks must improve on defense, says Coach Woodson

Defense is half the game, people. That’s just your friendly reminder of something important that is somehow easy to forget. With that said, here’s a report from Marc Berman of the New York Post:

“We’re still not ready defensively,” Woodson said. “We got five, six days to get there and Friday we’ll play [just] our rotation guys. Overall, we’re competing, but we’re not doing what’s asked to be done on the floor before the game. We got off to a bad start. Even when we can’t make shots, we have to get it done on the other end. That has not been our team in the past. We got to get back to playing Knick defense.’’

The Knicks fell to 2-3 for the preseason, but this was the worst of the losses. Woodson railed in Manchester, N.H., 11 days ago when the Knicks were routed by the Celtics, calling the effort “embarrassing.” But that was mostly hot air: The coach didn’t play his starters in that game.

Andrea Bargnani misses practice due to back stiffness

Lots of players suffer bumps, bruises, soreness and other not-fun things during NBA preaseason:

There was a point during the Knicks’ open scrimmage on Sunday at Columbia, in which Carmelo Anthony was teamed with Ike Diogu, Cole Aldrich, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Chris Smith.

What made that quintet significant was how many regulars were unavailable due to injuries, with newcomer Andrea Bargnani the latest to be added to the list when he was forced out of practice due to back stiffness.

Bargnani, who was slowed by injuries during his final two seasons with the Raptors, is questionable for Monday’s preseason game in Toronto — their second visit to his previous NBA home in a week.

Reported by Peter Botte of the New York Daily News

Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but worth keeping an eye on this next week.

Kenyon Martin dealing with lingering ankle injury

Kenyon Martin’s lingering ankle injury will keep him out of Monday’s preseason game against the Raptors. It may also keep him out of the Knicks’ season opener.

Martin suffered an ankle injury late last season but returned to play in every playoff game for the Knicks.

But the injury is still bothering Martin, according to Mike Woodson.

“His knees are fine. He feels great there. It’s just, he’s nursing his ankle,” Woodson said after Saturday’s practice.

Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York