Tag: Jose Calderon

Knicks Pick Up Derrick Rose in Surprise Trade

New York Knicks v Chicago Bulls

 

 

Phil Jackson didn’t waste any time securing the first big trade of the NBA off-season by acquiring former MVP Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Jose Calderon, Robin Lopez and Jerian Grant.

According to league sources, the Bulls will also send guard Justin Holiday and a 2017 second round pick to the Knicks.

The 27 year old Rose has been plagued by severe knee injuries since his 2010 MVP season. He underwent surgery for an ACL tear on his left knee in 2012. In 2013, Rose suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee that required season-ending surgery. Last season, he averaged 16 points (42% FG) and 5 assists over 66 games.

I won’t act like I’m absolutely thrilled by this move, but I’m not mad at it either. Since the season ended, the Knicks front office has made it clear they want to contend over tanking. New coach Jeff Hornacek also made it clear that we needed an upgrade over Calderon at point guard.

So the options were to overpay Mike Conley to a max contract, or pay less but gamble more with a combustible character in Rajon Rondo. In Rose, we get a player that will be motivated in a contract year. Should Rose fail, he’s off the books next year and we have max money available to go after a franchise player like Russell Westbrook.

Make no mistake, it’s still a question mark if Rose stays healthy. And I’m sad we had to give up one of last season’s best contributors (Robin Lopez) and a promising young talent (Grant) to make this happen.

For now, does this look like a competent Big Three to you?

Rose_Knicks

[Video] Calderon Buzzer Beater Steals Show in Final Kobe-Melo Duel

Calderon_Kobe_game_winner

The Knicks blew a 16-point second half lead but relied on late heroics from Carmelo Anthoy and Jose Calderon to pull out a 90-87 win at Staples Center.

The game came down to a broken play with the scored knotted at 87. After nearly two violations (inbounds and backcourt) and Melo not getting free, Calderon was left to make something happen.

He did by getting free behind the arc for his only three-pointer of the night.

The Knicks looked like they were going to pack it in when the Lakers went up by five with less than four minutes remaining. But Melo lifted them with seven straight points (12 in fourth) to get the Knicks back in it. Kobe Bryant, who was nursing a sore right shoulder, made three key jumpers in the final minutes to set up the thrilling finish.

The Knicks will need all the confidence they can from this game as next up are the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

*************

Fisher Considering Backcourt Change

knicks_fisher

After a woeful performance last night against the Bucks, Derek Fisher is mulling a change to his starting backcourt of Jose Calderon and Sasha Vukacic.

The two combined for just 2 points (1/8) in New York’s 99-92 loss to Milwaukee. Although limited to just 3 minutes in the second half, Calderon was at the helm when the Knicks went down by 14 in the first quarter and was a -7 for the game. Vujacic played 27 minutes, including late in the fourth and was a -17 for the night.

“If there’s a decision that needs to be made, we’ll make it based on the team and not necessarily on one guy,” Fisher told ESPN today.”…Whether it’s the same (Sunday), we’ll see. We’ll talk about it today and then in the morning and go from there.”

The Knicks host the L.A. Lakers at the Garden on Sunday.

********************************************

Thank you Fisher for seeing the obvious. I understand, to a degree, why Fisher has been hesitate to bench Jose and Sasha. Langston Galloway and Jerian Grant have shown great chemistry in the second unit, so it’s risky tinkering with their rhythm and sticking that group with a plodding PG like Calderon. However, the alternative is what we’re doing now and that can’t continue. Fish can mix and match subs as needed, but the game should be starting and ending with your best available players. Right now that group is Grant, Galloway, Melo, KP and Lopez. Barring foul trouble or someone else getting hot, that’s how it should be.

What’s your take? Have you had enough of Calderon and Vujacic in the starting lineup?

[Video] Say No To Calderon: Cavs 96, Knicks 86

JoseCalderon_MoWilliams

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Tony Dejak

In all honestly, I planned on doing a recap of this game on Wednesday, but I was too pissed off. The Cavs were begging the Knicks to beat them. Their three-point shooting was non-existent, defense suspect, and LeBron couldn’t get into a shooting rhythm.

But never fear Knicks opponents, victory is always within reach when Jose Calderon is on the floor! The season is young, but it’s no hyperbole to state Calderon is the worst starting point guard in the league. On paper, his stats are atrocious — 4.6 pts (27% FG), 2.4 assists, and three-point shooting at 31%. But the eye test is where Calderon looks even worse. He literally can’t keep any opposing guard in front of him. Mo Williams dropped 22 points on him. Amazingly, Fisher had Calderon playing in the final seven minutes. At the time, the game was even. A few minutes of errant passes and stagnated offensive sets later, we found ourselves down by double digits.

This rant sums up my feelings quite well.

WHERE ART THOU SHOT, MELO???: Games like this are when we could really use the old Melo. Unfortunately, most athletes don’t hit the ground running after major knee surgery, so I’m not expecting Melo to return to form completely until around late December. Despite the bad shooting (17 points, 6/18), Melo was strong with his defense on LeBron (23 points, 9/23) and getting boards (12).

PORZINGIS EXCELS…WHEN HE’S ON THE COURT: Our rook continued to impress. In 21 minutes, he put up 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He’s currently leading the team in the latter two categories. The problem is the foul trouble kept him benched for long stretches in the second half. It really hurt us because he went out midway in the third just when he had started putting repeated buckets on Kevin Love. Outside of his brain fart fouls, Calderon’s issues with keeping his man out the paint contributed to Kris’ fouling.  Nonetheless, Kris’ confidence is growing. Phil got us a gem.

[Video] No Tricks, All Treats: Melo Drops 37 on Wizards in 117-110 Win

CarmeloAnthony_JaredDudley

WASHINGTON, DC — The Knicks notched their second road win of the season with a gutsy performance over the Washington Wizards last night. You would think it’s too early in the season for games with playoff-like atmospheres, but that’s what we got as Melo answered one his unlikely critics and showed a shooting rhythm that will prove deadly this season.

POOR JARED DUDLEY (NOT REALLY): In May, Jared Dudley went on a NY radio show and proclaimed Carmelo Anthony the “most overrated player” in the NBA. His reasoning was the usual talking points we hear: doesn’t make his teammates better, one-dimensional blah blah blah. He later apologized, but word obviously got back to our Knicks leader, as he revealed in his post-game comments:

It wasn’t really nothing kind of personal against him. I just knew what was said in the offseason. So that was in the back of my mind.

Melo had a field day in the second half when Dudley attempted to guard him. He hit a key long jumper with just 4 seconds left on the shot clock to put NY up 108-106. In the game’s final 20 seconds, Melo iced it with four free throws. Meanwhile, Dudley has 0 points in 17 minutes. His two shots were open three-pointers that would have swayed the momentum back in Washington’s favor.

He bricked both.

I think Melo made his point. His entire stat line read 37 points (11/18), 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block. He had 11 points and 5 rebounds in the fourth quarter alone.

GUARDS HANG TOUGH: Our backcourt had the nightmare task of dealing with John Wall (25 points) and Bradley Beal (26 points). They weren’t exactly contained, but  Jerian Grant (7 points) and Langston Galloway made them work and prevented layup drills in the fourth quarter. That was enough to make Wall miss two key floaters. And Robin Lopez altered a Beal layup that would have brought the Wizards within three.

Calderon lack of speed necessitated him sitting in the fourth, but he was a solid contributor with 10 points. Galloway had two clutch threes in the fourth and delivered 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

BENCH BRIGRADE HOLDS MELO DOWN: How many times have we seen Melo worn out in the fourth from carrying the scoring load all game? Once again, the bench players drew fouls and kept the game close, allowing Anthony to sit from a few minutes left in the third to the 8  minute mark of the fourth. Those players included Derrick Williams (7 points), Kyle O’Quinn (10 points) and Lance Thomas (12 points).

THE TRIAL BY FIRE CONTINUES: The Knicks go home to face another high-end playoff team when the Spurs visit Madison Square Garden on Monday. Who came up with our schedule???

Bon Voyage! Knicks Complete Six-Player Dallas Trade for Felton and Chandler

 NewKnicks

Yesterday, the Knicks completed their first big trade under the Phil Jackson regime, shipping out starters Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler for point guards Jose Calderon and Shane Larkin, guard Wayne Ellington, center Samuel Dalembert, and the 34th and 51st picks on tonight’s NBA draft.

Chandler missed over 30 games last year with injuries and has struggled in recent years to meet the level of play that made him the Defensive Player of the Year in 2012. He has one year remaining on a four-year, $60 million dollar contract.

Felton had one of his worst seasons last year, shooting 39% from the field and posting a career-low in points (9.7). Felton was plagued by off the court problems as well — he was arrested on felony gun charges and last week plead guilty, receiving a $5000 fine and 500 hours of community service.

“The journey to build this team for the upcoming season and beyond continues,” said Phil Jackson in a statement about the trade. “We have added players with this move that will fit right in to our system while maintaining future flexibility. We would like to thank Raymond and Tyson for their time and hard work with the organization over the past few years.”

***********************************

Sorry Tyson Chandler — any trade that gets Felton off this team gets the stamp of approval from me. While I’m not particularly crazy about Jose Calderon on the defensive end, he can hit open threes, which makes him ideal for the triangle offense Fisher and Jackson are looking to implement. Shane Larkin also has a lot of potential. I can see him becoming a fan favorite and having a string of breakout games next season. I’d be surprised if Dalembert makes it onto the roster. Ellington I’m not well-versed on, but at least he’s not an injury-prone old vet like most of our signings in recent years.

As for Chandler, I loved him when he was healthy and giving full effort. But when is the last time we’ve actually seen that from him? He seemed to always be injured or sick during the playoffs, and his rim protection has taken a severe nose-dive. Not to mention, the man still struggles to finish point-blank shots at the rim.

Chandler also did a lot of finger-pointing last season, taking jabs at Mike Woodson and subtle ones at Carmelo Anthony. His body language and effort told me Chandler had mentally checked out so a change of scenery, especially back to where he had his greatest success, should be a huge motivator and do him good.

All in all, this is a very good trade for the team. And can you believe we actually got picks back?! In Phil we trust…

Knicks Complete Perfect Home Stand with 99-85 Win Over Pistons

Tyson_Chandler

Five and counting! The Knicks extended their winning streak to five games last night with a dominating 99-85 win over the Pistons. The Knicks are back to what they were doing in November and early December in destroying teams that aren’t on their talent level. Onto the game’s notable points.

 

NO FIRST QUARTER SLUMP: There was no slow start in this one as the Knicks held the Pistons to just 13 points, a record for their season thus far. Detroit was being out-hustled to every ball and their frontcourt of Andre Drummon and Jason Maxiell struggled to score over Tyson Chandler (a combined 4 points and 7 rebounds). The Knicks shooting was erratic (at times under 40%), but the defense and offensive rebounding gave them plenty of opportunities to the tune of six treys to take a 28-13 lead.

 

THE GAME ENDS: You know a team is doing well when they can laugh about an airball free throw (courtesy of JR Smith). Much to Coach Woodson’s chagrin, the team decided to turn this into a pickup game in spots with JR chucking threes and the team trying wild alley oops. However, the Pistons couldn’t take advantage with JR and Tyson crashing the boards and Novak getting hot from downtown. The half would end with the Knicks holding a 57-36 lead.

 

SECOND HALF SLOPPINESS: The Knicks mentally were clearly elsewhere no matter how much Woody yelled and glared. Chandler got lazy on defense and gave up easy layups to Drummond and Calderon early in the third. Melo, who had 19 points in the first half, also started slow in picking up his third and fourth fouls. Still, this is the lowly Pistons we’re talking about, and they could only get as close as 70-54 before some timely hoops by Stoudemire and Chandler helped to push the lead back up to 20 (76-56).

 

NOT MUCH REST: Since he was not pleased with the effort, it seems like Woody left the starters in for the fourth quarter to prove a point. The offense got bogged down in isolation ball for Melo and long JR treys. On defense, NY started getting beat a lot backdoor by speedy Detroit guards like Will Bynum. Nonetheless, three-pointers by Smith and Novak effectively iced the game at 91-75, and the starters were pulled at the 1:31 mark.

 

CHANDLER’ HISTORICAL MARK: Tyson Chandler had his third consecutive game with 20 rebounds, being the first Knicks player to do since Willis Reed 43 years. With the Wizards coming up next, he may just set a  new record.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtmnauL7YjY]