Super, Crazy Wacky, Predictions for the 2014-2015 Knicks

The Knicks seasons officially starts in a week!  The NBA is always unpredictable, but it’s fun to make crazy predictions, especially when it comes to the Knicks.  For the past four years, I’ve made about 40 predictions regarding the Knicks. Of course, none of these predictions have come true.  But predictions are fun, so I’m going to do this every year. No matter how stupid I’m going to look by April, I won’t back off any of these crazy predictions, I promise!

With that said, here are my fifth annual 10 crazy predictions for the Knicks 2014-2015 season:

1.       Samuel Dalembert will lead the NBA in blocks and rebounds and win Defensive Player of the Year.

No Knick has ever led the league in blocks; only one Knick has ever led the league in rebounds (Harry Gallatin, 1954-55). Samuel Dalembert was a huge part of the reason why the Knicks were willing to trade Tyson Chandler to Dallas this summer. The Knicks believed that Dalembert could give the same production as Chandler at a much cheaper price. (Dalembert will make $3.9 million this season, compared to Chandler’s $14.6 million.) But he will be even better than Chandler. He will average 14 rebounds a game, while blocking 5 shots a game and will help turn around a defense who was 24^th in defensive efficiency last year. I don’t care that he’s never finished in the top five in either category; he is in a contract year, which means he will have a monster season.  The Knicks will proceed to give him a six-year $100 million dollar contract next summer. Sound familiar?

        

        2.  Jose Calderon will league the league in steals and assists this season and become a top five point guard.

 When the Knicks acquired Jose Calderon in the offseason, they not only got rid of the worst Knick point guard in franchise history, but they also got in Calderon one of the best international guards this world has ever seen.

  Calderon has finished in the top five in assists in four different seasons, but has never finished in the top 10 in steals. With offensive weapons like Melo, Amare, and Smith, he will lead the league with 12 assists a game. He is a horrendous defender, especially in the pick-and-roll, but Phil Jackson Derek Fisher, will get him to become a decent defender.  He’ll get a league leading three steals a game this year, which will make him the first guy since Michael Ray Richardson (1979-1980) to lead the league in steals and assists. Knicks fans will love Calderon so much; they’ll start comparing him to Walt “Clyde” Frazier.  He’ll be the fourth best point guard this year, behind Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, and Kyrie Irving.

    3.  Amare will average at least 20 points per game and play at least 75 games.

In an interview after yesterday’s practice, Amare told reporters, “I think the previous years of battling injuries people have forgot," "But it's my job to remind them.”

He is right

People forget how amazing Amare’s first season was as a Knick. He was a legit MVP candidate for the first half of the 2010-2011 season. Knee and other injuries have hurt him since then. Now, fans are debating on whether his contract is worse than Houston’s six-year $100 million contract. Let me set the record straight, Houston’s contract will always be the worst contract in Knick history.

 After nearly a decade of futility, highlighted by that awful Houston contract, Amare helped put the Knicks back on the map.  As for this season, Amare will be the 2^nd leading scorer.  When he gets the minutes, he is still able to put points on the board. Last year, he scored 20 or more points nine times; he played at least 27 minutes in eight of those games.  Phil Jackson has stated that the Knicks hope to play him four rotations of eight minutes per game. That should be enough time for him to score, and it will also allow to play every back to back this season. If he takes those baths after every game, he may be an all star again.

4.  J.R. Smith will shoot 50 percent from the field this season.

BREAKING NEWS:  After a decade in the NBA, J.R. Smith admitted that he must change his shooter mentality.  Smith has struggled adjusting to the triangle offense this preseason; he is averaging 8.5 points and shooting 39 percent from the field.  “Trying to think about the rest of the team over myself or my scoring is something that I never really had to do before,” Smith said after the game.

To quote Booker T:

At least it’s a start right? Phil Jackson Derek Fisher will get Smith to buy into the team concept and Smith will eventually learn the triangle offense. Hey, even Michael Jordan didn’t learn this offense overnight. This summer, Smith declared he was one of the best shooters in NBA history, which most people found hysterical, considering he isn’t even the best shooter on his team (Tim Hardaway Jr. anyone?).

He will prove his doubters wrong this year though; somehow, he’ll figure out this triangle offense before the season starts, which will help Smith, take better shots. His knee should be 100 percent this year and he hasn’t been caught smoking weed, so Smith will get off to a fast start to the season.  This year is finally the year when people will start comparing him to other great shooters like Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, and Larry Bird. Smith will be that good.

5.  Carmelo will be the MVP and average 40 points per game

In 1970, Willis Reed won only MVP in franchise history. It was a very controversial decision; many people felt like Jerry West deserved the award for carrying a 46 win Laker team that lost Wilt Chamberlain after 12 games. Since then, there have been a few Knicks who have been close winning the award: Melo third in 2012, Bernard King second in 1984, Ewing fifth in 1990, and fourth in 1993.

Melo will finally end the 44-year MVP drought; Melo plus the triangle offense equals doom for the NBA. I don’t care if he said that he doesn’t think he’ll win the scoring title and that he’ll take less shots. Just like last season, he’ll still average about 22 shots a game and will finish in the top five in usage rate.

He’ll be the triangle offense’s 11^th scoring champion, and will average 40 points per game, something that Jordan, Kobe nor Shaq has ever accomplished in this offense. That is not a misprint.  I realize that he’s never even averaged 30 points in a season, but with this new offense, he’ll get open looks that he’s never had before. The triangle offense will automatically give Melo 10 extra points per game right? Of course! 

He will win the MVP over LeBron, who won’t get it because he’s playing with two other all stars, over Durant, who might be out two months with a foot injury, and over Chris Paul, who will split votes with Blake Griffin.

  

6.  The Knicks will win at least 50 games and a playoff series; Phil Jackson Derek Fisher will be the Coach of the Year

Many basketball experts are predicting the Knicks will miss the playoffs for the second straight year; they are projected to win just 38 games. The Knicks will surprise everyone this year with an explosive offense and a solid defense.  Phil Jackson Derek Fisher will get everyone to buy into the team concept and they’ll finish the season at 52-30, winning the Atlantic Division and finish as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Due to the Knicks miraculous turnaround, he’ll become the third Knick coach and the first in over two decades (Riley in 1993) to win the Coach of the Year.

They’ll beat the Heat in the first round, ending the Heat’s reign as Eastern Conference Champions and give the Bulls all they can handle in the next round. I won’t predict that series yet, I don’t know if Derrick Rose will last the entire season.

Remember, you heard these predictions here first, so thank me later!

 I’m ready for the season to start!

Knicks Draft Woes

                                         

The draft is finally here! Congratulations to the Cleveland Cavs and their fans. The NBA felt so bad for LeBron leaving to take his talents to South Beach that the NBA decided to award number one pick for the 3^rd time since that moment.  You have the number one pick!!  Maybe the rules should be changed, so that the same team can’t keep winning the draft lottery. I’m sure a fan of the Timberwolves or the Kings would agree. They’ve never won the lottery, even though it seems like they’ve had losing seasons for the past century. But with Joel Embiid’s foot injury, it will be interesting to see what the Cavs decide to do with the 1^st pick.

This draft in particular is exciting because it is considered the best draft since 2003, a draft that included LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony. Like the 2003 draft, I believe that there are at least four players (Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Dante Exum) in this year’s draft that will be perennial all stars. Don’t forget about potential studs like Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, and Gary Harris.  People will be talking about this draft class as one of the greatest drafts in NBA history.

The draft can be the most exciting part of the offseason, especially when it’s a loaded draft like this one. As a lifelong Knicks fan, I remember in 2007 watching a terrible Knicks team, praying that they would somehow get Derrick Rose in the draft. So if you’re a fan of a lottery team, don’t panic! There is a good chance that your team will land a blue-chip player in this year’s draft.

… Except if you’re a Knicks fan!

That’s right, after watching Raymond Felton have one of the worst starting point guard seasons I have ever seen, after watching Melo score 30 points a night, while leading the league in minutes, and still lose on a nightly basis, and after watching Mike Woodson make comical coaching errors, the Knicks won’t have a first round draft pick this year to show for it.

Thanks to the Carmelo Anthony trade in 2011, the Knicks had to give up this year’s draft pick.  That’s right, the Knicks gave up a draft pick in, a loaded draft, for a guy who might not even resign with the team this offseason.

Yesterday, the Knicks traded Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton, to Dallas for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, and two 2^nd round picks (34,51), so they will have some draft picks after all. They’ll undoubtedly try to use those two picks move up in the draft.

Knicks fans, including myself are always anxious during the draft. One of the best parts of the draft, is seeing how Knicks fans react to whomever the Knicks pick.   The Knicks have had some success in the draft, Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, and Walt Frazier became Knick legends.  

But ever since David Stern rigged the draft so the Knicks can select Patrick Ewing with the 1^st in 1985 the Knicks drafted Ewing in 1985, the Knicks have also had so many draft blunders, one could argue that they have been one of, if not the worst NBA team when it comes to the draft.

Don’t believe me? Well take a look at some these draft choices in Knicks history. If you’re a Knicks fan reading this, don’t cry. Just remember, we have Phil Jackson managing basketball operations for the first time in his career and a rookie head coach in Derek Fisher, so everything is going to be okay.

6.  The 2009 NBA Draft

 The Knicks badly wanted Stephen Curry, and Stephen Curry wanted to play in the Garden. It was going to be a perfect match, the Knicks badly needed a point guard, and Chris Freakin Duhon was the starting point guard that year.  Unfortunately, the Warriors selected Curry with the 8th pick (one spot before the Knicks could grab him).  Instead of taking a point guard (Jeff Teague, Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson), the Knicks decided to take Jordan Hill.  Jordan Hill wouldn’t even last one season, as he (and Jared Jeffries) was traded to the Rockets for the Tracy McGrady. Five years later, the Knicks still don’t have good point guard. Newly acquired Jose Calderon is a decent pickup at best, but at least they won’t have to deal with this guy anymore.

5.  The 1986 Draft

In the 1986 draft, the Knicks took Kenny “Sky” Walker with the 5^th pick, way ahead of guys like Dennis Rodman, Mark Price and Arvydas Sabonis. Walker would only average 7.7 points per game in five seasons with the Knicks. Hey, at least he won the dunk contest in 1989 right? Rodman and Sabonis became hall of famers, and Price became one of the greatest shooters in NBA history.

Then after the Suns took Jeff Hornacek with the 46^th pick, the Knicks drafted Michael Jackson 13 picks ahead of Drazen Petrovic. No, not the Michael Jackson, who told Billie Jean “The kid is not my son”, I mean Michael Jackson, the point guard out of Georgetown. Michael Jackson never played a game for the Knicks… too bad; we never got to see him do the moonwalk at the Garden.

4. 2006 NBA Draft

For all of Isiah Thomas’ faults as a GM (and believe me, there are plenty), he was always known as a great talent evaluator. After all, he drafted T-Mac with the 9^th pick in the ‘97 draft, Damon Stoudamire with the 7^th pick in the ‘95 draft, and David Lee 30^th in the 2005 draft.  But in 2006, Isiah Thomas capped off one of the worst seasons in franchise history by selecting Renaldo Balkman with the 20^th pick, just one pick ahead of Rajon Rondo. Don’t confuse him with Rolando Blackman, you know, the guy that Pat Riley said he should have put in during game 7 of the ’94 finals instead of watching John Starks shoot them out of a championship.  Renaldo Balkman averaged less than 4 points per game in two stints with the Knicks, while Rajon Rondo became one of the premier point guards in the league before tearing his ACL.  And who could ever forget about this.

3.   2002 NBA Draft

After missing the playoffs for the first time since 1987, the Knicks found themselves back in the draft lottery.  The Knicks drafted Nene with the 7^th pick, but then traded him (along with Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson) to the Nuggets for Antonio McDyess, the 25^th pick, which turned out to be Frank Williams, and the 30^th pick in 2003, which turned out to be Maciej Lampe. Williams and Lampe were busts , playing a combined six seasons in the league. Of course, the Knicks could have just kept Nene, or drafted Amare Stoudamire, instead of overpaying him 8 years later. But in typical Knicks fashion, they decided to trade for a guy in McDyess who had just came off a serious knee injury.  Of course, McDyess got injured in a preseason game, and miss the entire 2002-2003 season.  McDyess ended up part of the trade that brought Stephon Marbury to the Knicks, which set the Knicks back for another 5 years.

2.  2003 NBA Draft

In one of the greatest drafts in NBA history, the Knicks had the 9^th pick.  The Knicks had so much success in drafting one big man from Georgetown named Patrick Ewing; they decided to draft another big man from Georgetown in Michael Sweetney , even though they already had a crowded frontcourt.  Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the exact reason that they decided to draft him, but I wouldn’t put it past the Knicks for thinking that way. They could have drafted guys like David West, Boris Diaw, who was the x-factor of the 2014 NBA Finals; hell Josh Howard would have been a better pick. Sweetney only played four seasons in the NBA, averaging less than 7 points per game.

1.     1999 NBA Draft
In 1999, the Knicks had one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history.  They were the first 8^th seed to reach the NBA finals, before losing to the Spurs in 5 games. Who knows what would have happened if Ewing was able to play during that series. But that same year, the Knicks also had arguably the worst draft pick in franchise history, drafting Frederic Weis with the 15^th pick. The Knicks could have drafted hometown hero, Ron Artest, but they decided to draft a soft big man who got posturized by Vince Carter. Weis never even played a game in the NBA, while Ron Artest…I mean   Metta World Peace, became one of the premier perimeter defenders of the NBA.


Perhaps the Knicks realize that they have had so many miscues in the draft, they decided to just trade future picks.  Ever since the McDyess trade in 2002, it seems like they are almost obsessed with trading future picks for marginal players. For example:

·      In 2005 the Knicks traded a future pick (2006) and the right to swap picks in 2007 to the Bulls for Eddy Curry.  Those two Bulls picks became LaMarcus Aldridge (got traded to the Blazers for Tyrus Thomas), and Joakim Noah. Both Noah and Aldridge both made All NBA teams this year (Noah 1^st, Aldridge 3^rd).  Curry had one “nice” season, averaging 19 and 7 in 2007, but only played 69 games the following three seasons because he couldn’t stay in shape.
·      In 2010, the Knicks traded a future pick (2012) to the Rockets for Tracy Mcgrady. It freed up cap space, for the outstanding 2010 free agent class.  Instead of LeBron, the Knicks signed Amare and Raymond Felton, two players the Knicks can’t even give away for free right now.
·      In 2013, the Knicks traded a future pick (2016) to the Raptors, for Andrea Bargnani. That’s right, the Knicks traded a future pick for a guy Toronto was trying to give away. Andrea Bargnani is known as a shooter, yet only shot 27.8% from 3 this year. He only played 42 games, missing the last 40 games with an elbow injury because he believed he could fly.

The Knicks almost traded their 2018 first rounder for Kyle Lowry, but decided against it because they finally realized that giving up future draft picks may be a bad idea, especially when you’re not competing for a championship. Lowry is a good player, but the Knicks weren’t winning anything with him.  Ok, lets not fool ourselves; the Knicks probably didn’t want to deal with Masai Ujiri again.

At some point, the Knicks have to start doing better when it comes to the draft.   Maybe one day, they’ll act like a responsible team. Just like maybe one day, Dr. Dre will release “Detox”. Between the draft miscues, poor management, Charles Smith’s inability to go up strong for a goddamn layup, and John Starks’ 2/18 performance in game 7,  it’s no wonder the Knicks haven’t won a title in 40 years.

The 1946-1947 New York Knicks

The 1946-1947 New York Knicks

Roster (via Basketball Reference)

No.	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Birth Date	Exp	College
12-15	Aud Brindley	F	6-4	175	December 31, 1923	R	Dartmouth College
14	Tommy Byrnes	F-G	6-3	175	February 19, 1923	R	Seton Hall University
3	Bob Cluggish	C	6-10	235	September 18, 1917	R	University of Kentucky
10	Bob Fitzgerald	F-C	6-5	190	March 14, 1923	R	Fordham University
4	Frido Frey	F	6-2	195	October 26, 1921	R	Long Island University
9	Leo Gottlieb	G	5-11	180	November 28, 1920	R
8	Sonny Hertzberg	G	5-10	175	July 29, 1922	R	City College of New York
5	Ralph Kaplowitz	G-F	6-2	170	May 18, 1919	R	New York University
5-19	Lee Knorek	C	6-7	215	July 15, 1921	R	University of Detroit Mercy
5	Frank Mangiapane	G	5-10	195	August 5, 1925	R	New York University
4	Nat Militzok	F	6-3	195	May 3, 1923	R	Cornell University
10	Bob Mullens	G	6-1	175	November 1, 1922	R	Fordham University
11-15	Dick Murphy	G	6-1	175	March 10, 1921	R	Manhattan College
12	John Murphy	F	6-2	175	September 13, 1924	R
16	Bud Palmer	F-C	6-4	180	September 14, 1921	R	Princeton University
12	Hank Rosenstein	F	6-4	185	June 16, 1920	R	City College of New York
6	Ossie Schectman	G	6-0	175	March 30, 1919	R	Long Island University
7	Stan Stutz	G-F	5-10	170	April 14, 1920	R	University of Rhode Island
11-17	Butch Van Breda Kolff	G-F	6-3	185	October 28, 1922	R	New York University
11	Jake Weber	C	6-6	225	March 18, 1918	R	Purdue University

The NBA’s (formerly known as the Basketball Association of America[1]) launched in 1946, with 11 franchises, with each team playing 60 games.  Out of those 11 teams, the New York Knicks, along with the Boston Celtics, are the only franchises that are still located in their original city.

On November 1^st 1946, the Knicks played the first game in NBA history, beating the Toronto Huskies at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, 68-66. The Knicks would finish 33-27, well for 3^rd place in the Eastern Division, finishing behind the Philadelphia Warriors who finished 35-25 and the Washington Capitals, coached by Red Auerbach, who finished an astounding 49-11.  During the regular season, the Knicks had a nine game winning streak and a five game winning streak, but also suffered two five game losing streaks. 

Basketball was a completely different game back then. The Knicks leading scorer was Bud Palmer who, only averaged 9.5 points per game! Ossie Schectman led the team in assists with 2.0 assists a game.  To put that in perspective, Jr Smith who is known for his terrible shot selection, averages 3.0 assists a game this season. Forward John Murphy had the highest field goal percentage at 32%.[2] The Knicks were 8^th in scoring, averaging 64.7 points per game, but were 2^nd in the league in opponent’s points per game, only giving up 64.0 points per game.

In the playoffs, the Knicks beat the Cleveland Rebels in the quarterfinals two games to one, winning the final two games in New York.   But unfortunately, the Knicks were swept 2 games to zero in the next round to the Philadelphia Warriors, which ended their season.

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[1]  The NBA was known as the BAA until 1946, when the BAA absorbed the National Basketball League (NBL) forming the NBA.

[2]  Even John Starks in the 1994 finals shot better than that!