Clock ticking on Stephon Marbury's tenure with the Knicks

Mark it down; this New York Daily News story is the beginning of the end for Marbury and his time with the hometown Knicks. Apparently, Coach Isiah Thomas and owner James Dolan met in private after the Knicks most recent loss and discussed “options” for dealing with the “Marbury problem,” from reducing his role on the team to releasing him outright. And, reacting to the news, Marbury decided to skip practice this morning.

When the coach and owner sit down to contemplate your role and somehow, miraculously, those private conversations make it into the pages of your local paper, the writing on the wall, nay the bright red neon sign on the wall, spells impending doom. The details of their conversation didn’t just come out through intrepid journalism; they were “leaked” out on purpose. Marbury is done in New York. Caput. Finito. Fuggedaboutit.

But whether Marbury is traded outright or the $42 million remaining on his contract is bought out, this latest flare-up in Knickerbocker land could, or should, mark the beginning of a major unraveling. It is all well chronicled, but one by one, just about every big name, big contract player that coach/GM Isiah Thomas has bought in – from Francis to Houston -- was either bought out, traded or retired. Sooner or later, the same fate awaits other current players like Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford, Eddie Curry…the list goes on.

Not that individually some of these players aren’t talented, but collectively the culture that Thomas has built and Dolan has allowed to percolate is a cancer on the Knicks’ chances at success. Over the last few seasons, these two stooges have held the Knicks roster and reputation together with duct tape, crazy glue and false promises to their fans, but no longer. Besides, given the current talent on the Knicks, the team isn’t going anywhere significant, anytime soon.

It’s time for the Knicks to clean house from top down, following the recent blueprint set forth by the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trailblazers, and run a complete overhaul. Some of the contracts, like Marbury’s will be tough to move. But, let’s put Dolan, and his Cablevision dollars, to good use and initiate contract buyouts wherever possible, and trades everywhere else. It may be costly sure, and they might have to really suck for a couple of years, but in the long-run it’s the only road to take.

In The News: October 31, 2007 (NBA Edition)

The Sacramento Kings may be speeding like a runaway Mack truck right into a rebuilding phase. With Mike Bibby likely out for a couple of months, Ron Artest starting the season with a suspension and prized rookie Spencer Hawes out of commission for the year, GM Geoff Petrie acknowledged that the rebuilding in Sac-town could begin now. "At some point, you start to re-evaluate the situation," Petrie told the Sacramento Bee. "We were moving into that (rebuilding) mode anyway. But you go into the season with an open mind." It’s about time anyway, although talented, the disparate pieces on the Kings roster don’t fit together at all.

Juwan Howard didn’t stay unemployed for too long, did he? A day after being cut by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the former member of the Michigan fab-five, agreed in principle to sign with the Dallas Mavericks. Howard, who at 34, is a shell of his former self, may still be able to help a Mavericks squad that is somewhat weak along the front-line. Howard though sure has fallen a long way, with the likely high point being those McDonalds commercials he did with Scottie Pippen and Grant Hill (remember, “Juwan-na get Chicken McNuggets?”) – Oh, and the $105 million contract Howard signed with the then Washington Bullets is probably a high point for him as well.

No Deng, no deal – or so says Magic Johnson. On TNT last night, during the Lakers game against the Rockets, Johnson said, ''A deal can't get done because [the Bulls] won't include [Luol] Deng. And without Deng, a deal can't get done.'' Magic also hinted that there are still trade discussions where Kobe wouldn’t leave town at all, and a player like Jermaine O’Neal could actually join KB24 on the Lakers roster.

New York Knicks owner James Dolan has had it with team coach Isiah Thomas and he’s not taking it anymore! (maybe). Despite all that Isiah has put the organization through and given his decided lack of success, Dolan surprisingly will stick with the beleaguered coach if the team is able to, even slightly, improve their record over last year. Can the combination of Eddie Curry, Zach Randolph and Stephon Marbury lead the Knicks into the Eastern Conference playoffs? Our Magic 8-ball says, “Outlook not so good”. Fear not Knicks fans, Magic 8-ball are stupid kids toys anyway…yeah.

This is why the Atlanta Hawks will always be the Atlanta Hawks. The team actually elected not to sign up-and-coming star Josh Smith to a contract extension, ensuring that he will become a restricted free-agent at the end of the season. Folks around the league are stunned, judging from what an anonymous NBA point guard told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

2007-2008 NBA season predictions

Remember those high school yearbook predictions about which of your friends were “most likely to succeed”, or “most likely to be living in a van down by the river”? Remember those? Yeah, so do we. Reminiscing about the high-school days got us thinking, though. What if we looked at the upcoming 2007/2008 NBA season like it was one big high school cafeteria? You’ve got the popular kids like Iverson and LeBron. You’ve got your perfectionist loners like Kobe, entirely too focused to make any friends. Then you’ve got the foreign kids like Yao Ming and Manu Ginobili – still learning their place, but good at heart. And, of course, who can forget the nerds? See Tim Duncan, awkward, yet brilliant.

So, what would a season preview be like if we looked at the coming NBA campaign as if all of the NBA stars were enrolled in David Stern High School? Who (what team) would be the most likely to succeed (or win a championship)? Which student (read player) is most likely to become president (or league MVP)? Who is most likely to change (or improve)? All good questions, which demand good answers.

So without further adieu, we present our somewhat unconventional look at the 2007/2008 NBA season.

Let’s start with the team predictions.

“Most likely to succeed” – Phoenix Suns. Bad calls won’t stop the Suns from winning the championship this season. If Steve Nash and Grant Hill can stay healthy going into the playoffs, the Suns will overpower their opponents with their precision passing, unselfish play and lights-out shooting. We generally believe that defense wins championships, but no other team is good enough defensively themselves to slow down this Suns team. Phoenix will take home the championship this year.

“Most likely to fail” – Minnesota Timberwolves. Don’t get us wrong, for his age the kid can play. But when Al Jefferson is your best scoring option, your team has some serious issues. Kevin McHale wants to rebuild, but he’ll be starting from ground zero. George Mikan must be turning over in his grave. The T’Wolves will end up as the worst team in the league.

“Most likely to be a surprise success” – Portland Trailblazers. Too bad for them the Blazers are on the West Coast, because in the East, even without injured super rook Greg Oden, this squad could challenge for a playoff spot. Look for Brandon Roy, Martell Webster and Lamarcus Aldridge to form a formidable young trio, and watch the Blazers play with a lot of passion, hustle and heart. The Blazers will be the year’s biggest surprise.

“Most likely to go from the lottery to the playoffs” – New Orleans Hornets. Their three biggest stars, Peja Stojakovic, Chris Paul and David West each missed a good chunk of time at various points during the season last year, yet the Hornets finished only 3 games back of the final playoff spot. The rise of the Hornets will be complete in 2008, as coach Byron Scott has enough talent to lead this team into the playoffs.

“Most likely to get their coach fired” – New York Knicks. The Knicks have reloaded as only the Knicks can, bringing in even more headaches to an already migraine-inducing roster. Owner James Dolan was on the cusp of firing Coach Isiah Thomas last year, so even the smallest hiccup at MSG could see the end of “Zeke’s” tenure as a NBA coach.

Now on to the individual player predictions.

“Most likely to succeed” – LeBron James. With the status of consistent contributors Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic in limbo, LeBron James will be asked to do a lot more in order to keep the Cavaliers in top form. Expect LeBron to step up his game, lead the Cavs to the playoffs yet again, and take home his first season MVP trophy.

“Freshman of the year” – Kevin Durant. This one is a no-brainer. Durant is the most talented of the 2007/2008 rookie class, is in a perfect situation where he’ll be counted on to score a lot of points and is the ROY favorite going into the season. The odds are seriously stacked against other rookies like Al Horford and Mike Conley, Jr. Even if #1 pick Greg Oden didn’t get hurt, Durant would probably still take home the ROY hardware.

“Most likely to be a surprise success” – Danny Granger. The third season is usually the break-out year for most NBA youngsters, and Granger is in for the biggest break-out of all. The Pacers forward, who averaged 14 points and nearly 5 boards a game will take over as the legitimate second option behind Jermaine O’Neal. And with JO likely to miss his share of games, or possibly get traded, Granger is in line for some serious improvement in 2007/2008.

“Most defensive” – Emeka Okafor. If he can stay healthy, Okafor could easily lead the league in blocked shots. Wing players hardly ever win this award, so players like Gerald Wallace, Raja Bell and Bruce Bowen probably won’t get much consideration, and with Ben Wallace on the downside of his career Okafor is ready to step in and claim the best defensive player label.

“Most likely to move” – Jermaine O’Neal. While the Kobe Bryant trade rumors dominate the conversation and probably will do so until he is dealt at some point, the all-star most likely to be moved before the February trade deadline is the Pacers own Jermaine O’Neal. JO has a massive contract, nearing $20 million per season, and injury concerns, but team president Larry Bird is chomping at the bit to get the youth movement started asap – meaning Granger and Shawne Williams could soon take JO’s place as the face of the Indiana Pacers. Bird will likely find a suitor among one of the Eastern conference competitors looking to keep pace with the new-look Celtics.

Those are our capsule predictions of the upcoming NBA season. Now, let the games begin.

In The News: September 20, 2007

A day after Andrei Kirilenko demanded to be traded through a Russian blog post, both his agent and the Jazz tried to downplay the situation as much as possible. Agent Mark Fleisher told the Salt Lake Tribune that Kirilenko, though unhappy with his current role on the team, will report to training camp when it opens in early October. Kevin O’Connor, senior vice president of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz, also expected Kirilinko to be in camp, saying that he hopes the forward honors his rather substantial contract.

"I'd like to think Andrei recognizes that the Utah Jazz have helped him in his career,'' O'Connor told the newspaper.

But O’Connor also said, “I think what we would be remiss in doing, is not exploring every option to make our team better, and that includes everybody and we've always talked about that."

Things don’t look too rosy for Kirilenko in Utah, which would be just fine with AK-47.

Soccer goalie kicks ball boy on the shin

The life of a ball boy, or girl, seems like a fun and carefree one. You get to go to every game, hang out with the athletes and generally have one of the best seats in the house. Life is good, just as long as you’re not applying for the ball boy position in the Peruvian soccer league. Apparently a Peruvian league goalkeeper, who also plays for the International squad, simply couldn’t take the heckling from a ball boy any longer and kicked the poor lad on the shin. The goalkeeper was of course kicked out of the match and taken to the police station, for, well, abusing a poor, helpless kid. You can read more about this saga on the Guardian Web site.

Olympic torch aspires to be the first torch ever to scale Mount Everest

Since the close of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, the Olympic torch has been on a long and winding journey to its final destination of Beijing, China for the 2008 Olympic event. Apparently, the torch has just now reached a very crucial stage, as it will in fact journey to the summit of Mount Everest and back down on its route through Nepal and China. It’s pretty cool in general that the torch is passing up to and through the summit of Mount Everest, but the “free Tibet” folks don’t seem too thrilled about a Chinese icon passing through Tibetan land.

Houston contemplates comeback. NY hoops teams contemplate crappy rosters

The Nets and the Knicks are dueling for the services of one Alan Houston. But, the story here really isn’t the fact that Houston may be coming out of retirement, it's that both the Nets and the Knicks are desperate enough to covet the services of an over-the-hill jump shooter, who never played defense even in his prime and is entirely too intimate with the surgeons table to be considered even the least bit reliable. Goes to show the state of the Nets and Knicks respective rosters.

Race horse becomes the Tiger Woods of losers

We generally don’t write about horse racing, but this nugget of news was too good to pass up. Apparently, a Puerto Rican horse has set some kind of world record for futility. With its last place finish this week, the infamous horse named Dona Chepa became the losingest steed in horse racing history. And you thought the Chicago Cubs had it bad. All is not lost however. Apparently, Dona Chepa’s jockey received a very nice plaque for his completely and utterly uninspired life-long losing efforts. Great success.

The LeBron James project reaches critical Stage 3

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first Bionic Man.”

Apparently, the research to build the most potent basketball player ever, or otherwise known as the “LeBron James experiment”, is still in full development. Coming off a star performance during this summer’s FIBA America’s tournament, LeBron has ballooned up to 255 pounds (from 240) on the same 6’8” frame, while gaining zero body fat. The 22-year old also underwent recent Lasik laser eye surgery and has better than 20/20 vision.

On the flip-side, the research to build the perfect big man has hit a snag.

There really is only one downside to all this experimentation however, and that’s premature aging. See Exhibit 1, 22-year old LeBron James, and Exhibit 2, 19-year old Greg Oden. Right.

Go to sleep for a couple of weeks and wake up to the glory of the NBA

If you’re a basketball fan, remember these dates: October 1, 6 and 30. The first date is the official start of NBA training camps. October 6 is the start of the NBA preseason schedule, which includes the NBA Europe Live tournament kicking things off. And of course, October 30 is the start of the 2007-2008 regular season. Can you feel the excitement? The NBA is back!

Five things to watch this NBA season

Today is September 17, 2007, and with more than a month left before the start of the NBA season – though we’re eagerly counting down the days to October 30 – it’s still a bit early for a full season preview. Oh yes, we’re definitely writing one though. The season will be previewed for all, with our own unique take no less. What fun would a blog be if we didn’t throw in our own Nostradamus-like predictions along with the rest of the horde? We did it for the NFL season, so it’s only fair that the NBA, which at the end of the day gets the lion’s share of love on Grey Matter, gets its own season preview.

But, we digress.

What is appropriate at this relatively early stage, before training camps starts on October 1 & 2, is a sneak peek into the season ahead with a look at the 5 things to look for during the 2007-2008 NBA season. Our Top Five list vacillates between the intriguing to the outrageous, so here goes:

• You don’t need the NBA National TV schedule to tell you this (although a quick glance shows no less than 3 televised games with these 2 teams involved during the first week), but all eyes will be on Boston and Los Angeles when the NBA season finally gets going around Halloween. Boston for the 2007 version of the Celtic trio, and Los Angeles for week one of the “Kobe/Phil giving up on Lakers management and leaving town” watch. You’ll feel like it’s 1987 all over again. The stock market will be up, up, up, the New York Giants will win the Super Bowl while actually playing defense, Gary Hart will re-visit an old flame, the history channel will run a 42-hour retrospective on the Iran-Contra affair, and you’ll get an awkward desire to listen to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” repeatedly on your iPod. All things will be right with the world. Whatever the reasons this time around, in October, Boston and Los Angeles will be the centers of the basketball world once again.

• Do you remember Clarence Stephen Johnson? If you do, give yourself a pat on the back and be content in the knowledge that you are probably one of 12 people in the world that remember this journeyman power forward. Johnson played for 7 different NBA teams during his forgetful NBA tenure from 1981 to 1991. But, he does hold one claim to fame. Johnson holds the NBA record, among those that qualify, for the highest field goal percentage, at .632 percent, for any rookie ever. We bring up Johnson because, although the NBA presumably doesn’t keep this record for futility, Seattle Sonics forward Kevin Durant could very well set the record for the lowest field goal percentage for an NBA rookie, ever. Durant shot just 33 percent during the Las Vegas summer league against his first pseudo-NBA caliber competition. So, the over under on Durant’s field goal percentage for the regular NBA season is probably at an embarrassing 25 percent from the floor. Don’t get us wrong, we strongly believe that Durant will turn out to be easily the best player taken in last season’s draft, and will develop into one of the elite scorers in the game, but in 2007, with no veterans in sight to shoulder the load, the kid, who makes Kate Moss look overweight, will put up more bricks than the Great Wall of China. So, despite his unbelievable talents, look for other rookie of the year candidates, like Mike Conley Jr., Corey Brewer and Al Horford, to challenge Durant for the ROY throne.

• David Stern will seriously consider instituting shoulder pads and helmets for his league’s referees by the third week of the season. Disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy will have long faded from the headlines, like exorbitantly high gas prices, Don Imus’ racial slurs and hurricane season, when the NBA kicks of its 2007-2008 campaign. But, the first time an NBA referee blows a call against the home team, zealous fans will surely bring down the “Wrath of Khan” on the poor, unsuspecting referee. If you thought the infamous episode of Ron Artest vs. Pistons Fans got ugly, wait until Dick Bavetta blows a foul call in the final seconds – Tim Donaghy’s ghost will indeed be exorcised to the fullest. In all seriousness though, the way the refs call fouls, particularly during the first month of the season, and whether the frequency, or number of fouls is altered in any way through fan, and sports radio, outcry will bear close watching.

• Look for Steve Nash to once again compete for the league’s MVP, because the charity giving, soccer playing model citizen apparently can’t do any wrong. With Grant Hill in tow and Leandro Barbosa a year better, the Suns could run through the league to claim the best record in 2007-2008 (oops, we’re predicting team results, gotta save it for the season preview), and Nash will get all the credit yet again. In terms of competition for Nash and his MVP run, you can throw in the usual names like Duncan, Nowitzki, LeBron and Bryant, but also keep an eye on Gilbert Arenas (because the Wiz will bounce back this season) and Yao Ming, and/or Tracey McGrady (because the Rockets could finish in the top 3 in the West) with an outside chance at the individual crown.

• Finally, which one of the New York Knickerbockers do you think will be the first to get in trouble with the law, get injured, or say inane things that makes Cletus Del Roy Spuckler from The Simpsons look like a genius? Apparently, the New York players understand that they are in the media capital of the world, because they are really, really good at making headlines. Just look at what went down in Knickerbocker-land this Summer. Discount sneaker salesman Stephon Marbury decreed that dogfighting, unlike curling and pairs figure skating for example, is a legitimate sport, the 6’ 11” and 285 pound Eddie Curry managed to be robbed in his own home (you would think that he could spend some of the millions of dollars he consumes, like so many hamburgers, on a solid security system, or security guards for that matter) and the leader of them all, good ol’ Isaiah Thomas, mapped out meeting minders all over his Outlook Calendar for the court dates stemming from being accused of sexually harassing a former co-worker. What’s next? During the 2007-2008 season, watch for at least two-third of the Knicks starting lineup to spontaneously combust during the third quarter of a game against the new-look Boston Celtics.

Which brings us back to Boston and Los Angeles. Mitch Kup-cake and Jim Buss, you’re on watch. Not just by Laker fans, but by fans of the NBA in general. You hold in your hands the ability to not only keep Kobe Bryant in "Purple and Gold", but to make the Lakers matter again. NBA fans want another Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry. Despite his bumbling ways, Danny Ainge held up his end of the burden. Now make it happen on your end, because players coming back from injury DOES NOT count as a personnel move.

Umm, we apologize for the Lakers diatribe. Where were we again?

Virtual GM: Sacramento Kings

With the Mike Bibby trade rumors heating up once again, and Ron Artest’s name still being linked in “rumorville” with the New York Knicks, we thought it would be a good time to play virtual GM and take a look at some moves that could help the Sacramento Kings pull itself out of the quicksand of mediocrity that its been stuck in the last couple of seasons.

Here’s the Kings roster as it stands today, and the number of years remaining on the contracts for each player in parenthesis:

Point Guards: Mike Bibby (2), Quincy Douby (4), Mustafa Shakur (not signed yet)
Shooting Guards: Kevin Martin (2), John Salmons (4)
Small Forwards: Ron Artest (2), Francisco Garcia (3)
Power Forwards: Mikki Moore (1), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (3), Kenny Thomas (3), Justin Williams (1)
Centers: Brad Miller (3), Spencer Hawes (5)

Free agents: Vitaly Potapenko, Corliss Williamson

It’s safe to assume that unless they’re bundled as part of a blockbuster deal, players like Quincy Douby, Kevin Martin, John Salmons, Francisco Garcia, Mikki Moore, Justin Williams, Spencer Hawes and Brad Miller probably won’t be moved this year – whether it is because of their youth, talent and/or length (and amount) of contract. Taking those players out of the equation the players the Kings could most likely look to move are Mike Bibby, Ron Artest, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas. Of those four, Artest and Abdur-Rahim have the most cap/trade friendly contracts, at around $8 million and $6 million per year respectively.

So, now that the stage is set, let’s put our GM caps on to work out some scenarios. The bottom line is that Mike Bibby shouldn’t even be in any trade conversations. He is, and has been, the face of the Sacramento Kings franchise for some time, and unless you’re able to get an all-star caliber player in return he shouldn’t be traded. That option, unfortunately, isn’t available to the Kings. Especially since he’s coming off a down season, this is not a sellers market when it comes to Mike Bibby. Perhaps next summer, when he’ll only have one year left on his large $14.5 million contract, someone might be interested in a solid starting point guard with an expiring contract.

So, if we’ve decided that it’s best to hold onto Mike Bibby for at least another year, Ron Artest sticks out like a sore thumb on this defense challenged squad. Reggie Theus likes for his teams to get up and down the court, so to be able to do that the Kings need a more versatile small forward that can get out on the break to fill the wings and catch-and-shoot from the 3-point range on the perimeter. They have mobile big men that can run, a point guard in Bibby that can push the ball and a premiere shooter and slasher in Kevin Martin. The Kings should build around that core and look to trade Artest and possibly one of their aging power forwards, ie. Abdur-Rahim.

There’s a ton of trade scenarios that could work for the Kings, from trading Artest for Los Angeles Clippers forward Cory Maggette, or sending him in a package to the New York Knicks for Quentin Richardson and David Lee. But, the one that makes the most sense is packaging Artest with Abdur-Rahim and sending both to the Miami Heat for James Posey, Udonis Haslem and possibly a 2009 or 2010 1st round draft pick. Heat coach Pat Riley gets the defensive small forward he desperately needs and a serviceable presence at power forward in Abdur-Rahim that can play off Shaq -- besides Riley has shown a propensity for stockpiling veterans just slightly past their glory days.

The kings end up with two players that can thrive in Theus' up and down offensive schemes -- a small forward that can hit the open 3 and a power forward that can do the dirty work in the paint and hit the boards. Sacramento would also dump the 3 years still remaining on Abdur-Rahim's contracts and the headaches that come with having a personality like Artest on your team -- and they get younger and more athletic in the process. Besides, the major problem for the Kings last year was a lack of chemistry and team identity, not talent. With this trade the Kings can regain that swagger, and go back to being one of the highest scoring and most entertaining teams in the league.

Following the trade, the Kings lineup would be as follows:

Point Guards: Mike Bibby (2), Quincy Douby (4), Mustafa Shakur (not signed yet)
Shooting Guards: Kevin Martin (2), John Salmons (4)
Small Forwards: James Posey (new contract), Francisco Garcia (3)
Power Forwards: Udonis Haslem (3), Mikki Moore (1) Kenny Thomas (3), Justin Williams (1)
Centers: Brad Miller (3), Spencer Hawes (5)