Knicks coach Mike Woodson likes to use Carmelo Anthony as his power forward. We learned that much last year. So it should be safe to assume that Metta World Peace will be the Knicks’ starter at small forward, correct? Well, it’s never that easy with Woodson, who never settled on a set rotation throughout last season — even in the Knicks’ final game of the playoffs when Amar’e Stoudemire and Jason Kidd spent the final 24 minutes watching from the bench. Woodson has
After a practice at the Team USA training camp in Las Vegas before the 2008 Olympics, Jason Kidd sat in the first row of the bleachers and talked about Chris Paul and Deron Williams, who were sitting on the opposite side of the court. At age 35, Kidd knew he would get limited playing time in the Olympics because of Paul (23 at the time) and Williams (24), who were extraordinarily talented although each still had much to learn. Kidd played the
When the Brooklyn Nets acquired Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry from the Boston Celtics, the team instantly became a juggernaut in the Eastern Conference. Joining Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, the amount of talent on the team was almost overwhelming, but not without some questions. Most notably, many wondered if a combination of Johnson and Pierce – who is turning 36 in October – would be good enough defensively against some of the better teams they will have
There is, of course, the old adage that titles are not won in July (the Heat in 2010 being the clear exception) but several moves were made on Tuesday that could quietly alter the regular season standings out west next season. We’ve also seen shooters get large contracts this week like, it seems, never before. Those are the main two storylines from the July 2, but there’s a whole lot to get to before we all take a nice break for the
Unpredictable. Chaotic. Climactic. Frenetic. Turbulent. These are just several words to describe Thursday night’s NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn. For the first time in a while, nobody had any idea what was going to happen. And from the first selection down to the humongous blockbuster trade that went down, the theater and drama of the 2013 draft more than made up for the lack of an impact player among this year’s talent pool. With very few surefire
My snap judgement on the 2013 NBA draft? David Stern emerged a winner, because the crowd embraced him. The Utah Jazz were big winners, because they got the best point guard in the draft, Trey Burke, and added a Frenchman with a 7-foot-9 wingspan. Biggest losers? The Celtics, maybe — although those three first-round draft picks could become valuable assets if the Nets go into the tank after 2-3 years of trying to win old, which didn’t work for the Knicks. A final
It is not often that you are eating dumplings in Chinatown at 3 a.m. on a Friday morning and learn that Kosta Koufos has been traded, but that true story only just added to the bizzarro nature of the 2013 Draft — the craziest draft night I have ever witnessed in more than 20 years of covering them. [Read more…]
BROOKLYN — You know that scene in the Exorcist where Linda Blair’s head spins completely around? That was what it was like to be at the 2013 NBA draft. David Stern got booed, then cheered heartily. Nerlens Noel sat slumped in his chair as the second, third, fourth and fifth picks were called — and his name was not attached. [Read more…]