Tag: season

[Video] Knicks 2015-2016 Season Final Preview

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Tonight, the Knicks kick off the season against the Milwaukee Bucks. Check out this final preview to get you hype. The game starts at 8 p.m. ET.

Carmelo Anthony to End 2015 Season for Left Knee Surgery

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Carmelo Anthony will announce the end of his season later today to undergo left knee surgery, per NBA sources.

Anthony has played most of the season with recurring left knee soreness, forcing the Knicks to reduce his minutes and allow sit-outs on back to back games. Before last Sunday’s All-Star game, Anthony told the media that he’d likely forego the rest of the season for surgery.

Anthony’s knee ailment was revealed as requiring left knee patella tendon debridement and repair. Per Knicks president Phil Jackson, Anthony will be sidelined 4-6 months.

What we’re finding out from the medical is on court, it could be four to six months. We can’t put it at a timetable until after the surgery. But that’s what they’re saying. They say it can be anywhere between four to six months for Carmelo to be back on the floor.

But we’re really confident he’ll heal well and he’ll be fine

The Knicks limped into All-Star weekend on a five game losing streak and currently sport the worst record in the league at 10-43.

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I’ve seen some people online trying to spin this into another reason to criticize Melo for being selfish and not looking out for the team. In reality, this is a move to ensure the team’s future.

Even if Melo started playing the best basketball of his life, this Knicks team has no chance of making the playoffs. Further play only risks creating an even more serious knee injury and putting the future production of our franchise player in peril. Letting the team continue on this path sans Melo keeps the Knicks in play for a top draft pick and also opens another roster spot for our young D-League talent to gain experience.

With all that said, the disaster that has been the 2015 season is humbling. JR, Shump, Melo and Stat are all off the floor in a matter of months.

Melo Attributes Slow Start to ‘Second-Guessing’ Himself

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The NBA’s reigning scoring champion has looked anything but dominant the first week into the season. Carmelo Anthony have struggled with his shooting and alarmingly in fourth quarters, when New York has relied on him to extend leads (against the Bulls) or cap a comeback (vs. the Timberwolves). Is is COach Woodson’s plays? An injury we don’t know about? None of the above. According to Melo, his problem is simply — he’s overthinking.

After practice earlier today, Melo spoke to ESPN on his shooting woes and trying to adjust to new teammates.

For myself, maybe I’m second-guessing myself as well. Maybe I’m a little bit passive out there, trying to do things that’s out of the norm and trying to make people better at the wrong times.

That’s where I’m second-guessing myself. And I’m second-guessing my shot, and should I take this or should I pass this. I got to get out of that mentality quick.

Yes Melo, we need a quick turnaround. At the same time, I’m not going to bash the man and put it all on his shoulders. He’s made a strong effort to be the dynamic player that many critics have slammed him for not being since coming to NY. In the Wolves game, he grabbed 17 rebounds. Against Chicago, he had a Devil’s number in 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals.

The effort and the right ideas are there. When your shot isn’t falling, do other things to help the team. However, there just needs to be more imaginative plays to get Melo the ball in crunch time aside from Felton running around the perimeter until there’s less than 10 seconds on the shot clock. Or just dumping it to Melo repeatedly on the block.

Luckily for the Knicks, they have 78 games and a few months to get it right.

Knicks Waive Five Players, Retain Chris Smith

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With the regular season starting next week, the Knicks cleaned house yesterday with the waiving of five players: Ike Diogu, C.J. Leslie, Josh Powell, Jeremy Tyler, and Chris Douglas-Roberts.

The surprise among the cut players are Diogu and Tyler. The former played well in his limited minutes (7.2 points, 4 rebounds in 16. 2minutes) and provided a solid inside presence with his 6’8, 255 pound frame. The 6’10 Tyler, who was signed to a 2-year deal in August after a strong showing in the summer league, was unable to play this pre-season after suffering a right foot stress fracture in early September that’s sidelined him until late November.

With the Knicks’ constant rebounding issues, the team announced that they will “keep an eye” on Tyler once he’s healthy should he not sign elsewhere.

The waivers mean that Chris Smith, brother of JR Smith, has made the team despite registering playing time in just three games and averaging 1 point (14% shooting) and 1 rebound.

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I hope the Knicks have a plan because this looks bad on paper. Yes, we kept the 7-footer Cole Aldrich (who frankly was inconsistent this pre-season but has upside…), but the Diogu and Tyler cuts are baffling based on their play. I don’t have much hope Tyler will be available to resign during the season — serviceable and young big men are lacking and any team with sense will pick him up. Unless NY has an under the table deal in place, he’s possibly gone for good. And while Diogu wasn’t in the best shape, he gave a great effort in the post and was the only player outside of Melo that’s shown he could finish around the rim consistently.

As for JR’s brother, we know nepotism is the only reason he’s on the roster. I’ll hold my outrage if he’s cut and sent to the D-League. If he remains on the bench, it shows the organization has no vested interest in putting together a winning team. Roster spots, especially with our needs, are important and should be treated as such.

We’ll see how this plays out in the coming weeks. For now, there’s reason for concern.

Stoudemire’s Season Ends with Second Knee Surgery

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Amar’e Stoudemire’s productive comeback to the 2012-2013 season is now over with the confirmation that he will miss at least six weeks to have another knee debridement surgery.

Stoudemire missed the first two months of the season following the November 1 procedure on his left knee for a burst cyst. The pending surgery will be on his right knee and was discovered when Stoudemire complained of soreness in both knees following the Knicks’s 95-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Stoudemire has come off the bench since his January 1 return, but saw a marked increase in minutes after Carmelo Anthony went down with a sore knee in a March 4 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stoudemire had been on a 30-minute playing cap per his last surgery.

Stoudemire was averaging 14 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 57% from the field.

At press time, the Knicks are expected to open the rotation back up to include additional role players like Chris Copeland.

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Absolutely devastating. Per the tentative timeline, Stoudemire could be back in the playoffs by the end of the first or sometime in the second round if the Knicks get that far. But do we really want to risk playing Stoudemire fresh out of surgery in the grueling, physical atmosphere of the playoffs? This news pretty much declares to me he’s done for the year.

This puts all of the scoring load back on Melo and JR. When they’re hot, it will be thrilling stuff. When they’re not, it’ll be like watching a cat playing with a mouse (ie. a slow death). That goes for the rest of our squad — we are truly living and dying by the three-point shot for the rest of the year. This is the second player we’ve lost to injury (Rasheed Wallace being the first), and our star player in Carmelo Anthony has already missed 10 games from the wear and tear of heavy minutes and playing at power forward for most of the year. Coach Woodson said he planned on trying to get Melo’s minutes down to 35. For that to happen, someone has to step up big and I mean Linsanity-like big.

The Knicks front office have some tough decisions to make this off-season.