New York Knicks Blog – Page 94 – NBA Blog

Knicks interested in point guard Pablo Prigioni

The Knicks’ interest in Spanish League veteran point guard Pablo Prigioni does not surprise Walter Szczerbiak one bit.

Prigioni, the playmaker on Argentina’s 2004 Olympic gold-medal-winning team that knocked off Team USA, is 35, but Szczerbiak — the U.S. ambassador to the Spanish League for 25 years before stepping down this season — says that’s not a big factor.

“I’m pretty sure he’d be better than a lot of young point guards in the NBA you get,’’ Szczerbiak told The Post. “He’s really been through the wars. Spain is a real pressure cooker. Every game is playoff intensity. The NBA, it’s more in the playoffs. He has great experience in tough situations and he’s a good leader.’’

Prigioni, who has played in the Spanish League since 1999-2000, met with Knicks brass last week for two days, including a dinner with president Glen Grunwald and coach Mike Woodson. The Knicks know the Spanish League better than most NBA teams — their longtime European scout, Kevin Wilson, lives in Barcelona.

“He’s 35, but he has a great body,’’ Szczerbiak said of Prigioni. “I’m sure he’s slowed down a little, but he’s still got pretty good quickness. For 35, he’s got the right kind of body — wiry, never been overweight. He’s like Steve Nash that way. You’d think he was younger than 35 the way he looks.’’

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

New Charlotte Bobcats coach is Mike Dunlap

St. John’s assistant coach Mike Dunlap was selected on Monday as the fifth head coach of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats. Dunlap, who was an assistant coach for George Karl’s Denver Nuggets from 2006-08 and was a two-time national championship head coach at NCAA Division II Metro State in Denver, Colo. (1997-06), between assistant coaching stops at Arizona (2008-09), Oregon (2009-10) and St. John’s (2010-12), is believed to be the first NCAA Division I assistant coach to make the leap to NBA head coach.

“The Johnnies basketball family is ecstatic for Coach Dunlap’s opportunity. Mike’s selection as the Charlotte Bobcats’ head coach is a well-deserved honor. To make the unprecedented jump from college assistant to NBA head coach is testament to both Mike’s abilities as a teacher and our basketball program’s marked improvement over the past 27 months,” said St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin. “Naturally after a 25 year association at the highest levels of college basketball I have short list of elite coaching candidates and will now begin the process of replacing Coach Dunlap. With our back to back stellar recruiting classes now in place we have the luxury of being able to move forward in a deliberate manner to find the best fit for our program.”

Lavin’s elite and formidable basketball staff was anchored by veteran mentor Dunlap, who has built a reputation as one of professional and college basketball’s leading strategists and on-court instructors. With assistant coach Rico Hines and Special Assistant/Advisor Gene Keady, Dunlap is one of three St. John’s basketball staff members with NBA coaching experience.

As part of Lavin’s staff, Dunlap, Hines and assistant coach Tony Chiles helped the Johnnies return to the NCAA Tournament for the 27th time in program history in 2011 – and for the first time following a nine-year hiatus. In addition, St. John’s catapulted back into the national rankings for the first time in 10 seasons, climbing as high as No. 15 in the country.

The 2011-12 season saw Dunlap take on an amplified role as Lavin recovered from prostate cancer surgery. The men’s basketball squad and its “Fresh Five” all-rookie starting lineup posted six BIG EAST victories and closed out the season with home wins over UCLA, DePaul and No. 20/18 Notre Dame. Freshman Moe Harkless was named the 2011-12 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and now looks to become a NBA lottery pick on June 28, while BIG EAST All-Rookie teammate D’Angelo Harrison set a new all-time freshman scoring record with 544 points.

Dunlap, 54, joined the St. John’s basketball family in 2010-11 after serving as the associate head coach on Pac-10 staffs during the previous two seasons. Arizona went 21-14 in 2008-09, advancing to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 before ending the season with a loss to top-seeded Louisville in the NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal game. Dunlap joined Oregon’s staff in 2009-10, with the Ducks posting a 16-16 record.

Prior to his appointments at Arizona and Oregon, Dunlap spent two seasons in the NBA, working for the Denver Nuggets under Karl. The Nuggets compiled a 95-69 (.579) record during his tenure and made two playoff appearances, including a 50-win season for the 2007-08 Denver squad, a first for the organization in 23 seasons.

Before his time in the NBA, Dunlap was a two-time NCAA Division II national championship mentor (2000 and 2002) and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coach of the Year (2000 and 2002) at Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colo., leading the Roadrunners to nine NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his nine seasons as head coach (1997-2006). Dunlap posted a 248-50 (.832) record en route to three NCAA Division II title game appearances, three North Central Regional championships, five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) titles, two RMAC Coach of the Year awards and in the process, became Metro State’s all-time winningest coach.

Prior to his tenure at Metro State, Dunlap served three seasons as the head coach of the Adelaide 36ers, a professional basketball team in Australia. The 36ers posted a 59-33 (.641) record during his tenure and advanced to the National Basketball League Final Four in 1995 and 1996 after appearing in the Grand Final in 1994.

Iman Shumpert aims for January return

Iman Shumpert is back on his feet, but he is a long way from getting back on the basketball court.

The Knicks guard, who made an appearance yesterday at a Sprint NBA Nation event at South Street Seaport, is back walking under his own power after surgery early last month to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. But he is still expecting to miss the first two months of the season.

“The target date [for my return] is January,” Shumpert told The Post.

That means Shumpert is expecting his return to be closer to eight months, the long end of the six-to-eight-month initial projection for his recovery from the surgery.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Phil Jackson not looking to coach Knicks

Phil Jackson views the Knicks as a flawed team and says he would have turned down the franchise had it offered him the head coaching job, according to a transcript of a coming segment of “Real Sports” on HBO.

“There’s just too much work that has to be done with that team,” Jackson said in the interview with Andrea Kremer, which is set to be televised on Tuesday. He added, “It’s a little bit of a clumsy team.”

But there was never a decision to make because the Knicks “never called,” Jackson told Kremer. The remarks could be viewed as an odd sort of vindication for Knicks officials, who were widely criticized for failing to reach out to Jackson.

— Reported by Howard Beck of the New York Times (Blog)

Explaining what he meant by clumsy, Jackson said, “Well, they don’t fit together well. Stoudemire doesn’t fit well with Carmelo. Stoudemire’s a really good player. But he’s got to play in a certain system and a way. Carmelo has to be a better passer, and the ball can’t stop every time it hits his hands. They need to have someone come in that can kind of blend that group together.”

When interviewer Andrea Kremer said it sounded as if Jackson was the perfect person to blend the talent because of his résumé, Jackson said, “Yeah, well, it never happened.”

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Tony Parker suffered eye injury during Drake vs Chris Brown nightclub fight

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker suffered an eye injury during a nightclub fight, but it will not stop him from playing in this summer’s Olympics.

Parker told multiple media outlets that he got some shards of glass in his eye during the incident Wednesday in Manhattan.

“I was there with a bunch of friends when a fight broke out. They started to throw bottles about … I got it all,” Parker said.

“The cornea has been touched. I can’t do anything for seven days. … But I was lucky. The injury won’t prevent me from competing the Olympics in any way.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

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Jay-Z will open 40/40 club in Brooklyn Nets Barclays center

Jay-Z and his 40/40 club are taking full advantage of the Nets move to Brooklyn, and doing it in style.

The 40/40 Club will open its new location at the Barclays Center, the new sports and entertainment venue and home to the Brooklyn Nets. The $1 billion arena will house the 9,000 square-foot restaurant slated to debut on the arena’s opening night when Jay-Z performs in concert on September 28, 2012.

“There is no better home for another 40/40 Club location than the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn,” stated Jay-Z. “The 40/40 Club has revolutionized restaurants in a way I anticipate Barclays Center to transform the arena watching experience.”

Located on the Barclays Brownstone Suite Level, The 40/40 Club will feature key materials and design concepts from its newly renovated New York City flagship location, including the custom illuminated amber resin bar top. The design for the space is by SHoP Architects with consultation from designer Jeffrey Beers to ensure a consistent look and feel with the flagship venue. The new location in Barclays Center will feature 36 TVs, including eight 80’’ TVs on the outside of the bar soffit, and will also offer great views of the basketball court.

“The 40/40 Club at Barclays Center will provide a dynamic environment to complement the experience of attending Brooklyn Nets games and other select events,” said Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark. “The 40/40 Club will deliver the best in service and cuisine, while creating a vibe fitting for such a spectacularly designed venue.”

Sounds like the Nets will keep the party going both before and after games.

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Lottery team may have made Dion Waiters a draft promise

The intrigue here at the NBA pre-draft combine involved Syracuse guard Dion Waiters essentially going underground once he completed the weights-and-measures process.

Waiters, a 6-4 combo guard with a knack for making pressure jump shots, suddenly cancelled workouts and interviews, setting off speculation he’s been made a promise by a team with a lottery pick.

Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo (8th pick) confirmed as much to the Toronto Star, saying, “His agent has told me there’s a promise to another team.”

Certainly everyone has the right to decide what’s in his best interest, but it’s curious that a player seemingly outside the top five wouldn’t want as much exposure as possible.

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Knicks guard Iman Shumpert recovery on schedule

Knicks guard Iman Shumpert knows you need to walk before you can run.

Shumpert, one of the NBA’s elite perimeter defenders, has not started walking, but still says his recovery from a torn ACL suffered during the Eastern Conference quarterfinals is “going good.”

“They say I’m right on target with everything, I’ll be walking next week,” Shumpert told The Post. “I’m being really optimistic about it, really happy about it, hopefully it picks up soon.”

Shumpert emerged as a key contributor to a Knicks team that made the postseason for a second consecutive year, and despite being expected to miss at least a month next season, Shumpert said he’s looking forward to getting back on the floor.

— Reported by Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of the New York Post

Amare Stoudemire is now engaged

New York Knicks captain and six-time NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire proposed to Alexis Welch, the mother of Stoudemire’s three children, in Paris Saturday night.

Stoudemire asked Welch for her hand in marriage while overlooking the Eiffel Tower lights outside of their penthouse at Le Meurice Hotel Belle Etoile Royal Suite at 11 p.m. local time. He surprised her with a dinner after they spent the day taking a private historical tour of Paris that included stops at the Louvre and other landmarks.

“I have been planning my proposal for a while and overlooking the entire Paris skyline seemed like a perfect place. I am so happy she said ‘yes,’ and now we can continue to build our life together as husband and wife,” Stoudemire told PEOPLE from Paris.

— Reported by People Magazine

Dwyane Wade expects Tyson Chandler to start for Olympic team

The Knicks’ Tyson Chandler was a safe bet to make the Olympic team this year, because the coaches love the center’s selfless style and defensive mentality. It turns out the players feel likewise.

Heat guard Dwyane Wade said that because Dwight Howard has undergone back surgery, he expects Chandler to start at center for Team USA in this summer’s London Olympics.

“Absolutely,” Wade said. “We watched Tyson, the things that he does, his ability to cover so much on the basketball court, from the three-point line to the rim. He’s phenomenal.”

“And especially the style of play in the Olympics is a little different. The style is not necessarily post-up, post-up, post-up. It’s more so of having a big guy down there, someone who can defend, someone who can rebound, someone who can catch and finish. So he brings that to the team.”

— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday