HERE'S YOUR STARTERS for 2012-13. Does History repeat itself? In 1972-73 the Knicks won their second world Championship. THIS IS OUR YEAR.
Bloggers drooling over Howard joining the Lakers. FOOL DROOL. They can't steal our thunder. Howard has yet to even run after having the same back surgery Larry Bird had
that shortend his carreer. KOBE and Nash are not 2002 editions they are 2013 editions and father time favors nobody!  Father time don't care or love nobody.
It just does it's job.

THE DUKE OF EARL OR BREWER TO START? No question JR Smith starts... Brewer is a career backup nothing more. JR has talent and I think this year he is going to explode and take off in a starting role. Avg like 18ppg, 5 assists, 2 steals. I think it threw off his rhythm last year coming off the bench. You start your best players and JR is clearly better than Brewer, which is a FACT.   

Felton has entered the perfect environment. To start, the man is surrounded by scorers (Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Amar'e Stoudemire, etc.). This allows him to play the role of the distributor where he can solely focus on facilitating the offense. Felton's best year of his career was with the Knicks just two seasons ago, when he averaged 17.1 points and nine assists per game. Expect similar production out of him this season, with the exception of his ppg should go down and his assists should go up..with the targets around him he may lead the league in dimes! 

NEXT UP....DO THE KNICKS HAVE THE DEEPEST BENCH IN THE NBA?????????                                                                                                                                           

        CHRIS SMITH, EARL'S LITTLE BROTHER.



(AP) -- New York has signed free-agent guard Chris Smith, the younger brother of Knicks guard J.R. Smith. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The 6-foot-2 Smith averaged 9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in two seasons under RICK pITino. The Cardinals made the Final Four last season, Smith’s senior year.
The Scriptology of this deal was mentioned in a previous Fanatics thread. To reiterate IT...was for JR to resign on the cheap.  Fifty-Fifty is now 70-30. And yes, JR
Smith is our STARTING SHOOTING guard. Chris is our 4TH PG. Former Knicks head coach PITino could not be happier. It also tells us who may step in if Woodson can't get the Job done!
pITino became head coach of the New York Knicks in 1987. The year before he arrived, the team had won only 24 games. In just two years, pITino led the Knicks to their first division title in nearly twenty years. pITino left that year after posting a 52-30 record and GM AL Bianchi being a Jackass by trying to Micro-manage pITino. Not Just Blogging.

Sixth Annual Golf Classic

at the Eagle Ridge GOLF CLUB

To benefit the J.R. Smith Youth Foundation “Opening doors For tomorrow's youth “

Purpose

J.R. Smith Youth Foundation is a New Jersey non-profit corporation. The foundation was organized to provide opportunities and support for young people through education, sports, the Arts and other beneficial activities through scholarships, grants and programs designed to further those goals. Distributions are made to organizations that qualify as exempt under section 501-C3 of the Internal Revenue Code.  

EARL is really a very good soul at heart. Consider out of the highest paid Knicks,  JR is is among the lowest ...with only Brewer and Chris Smith below him ( add Copeland if he becomes guaranteed.) If any of you old heads play golf... this is a great way to have fun and give for a very good cause. You won't see these type of tweets from the MSM... only his ill advised
make their twitters Jitter. 
 

New Nets guard Jerry Stackhouse thinks the Knicks made the right move by not bringing back Jeremy Lin.

Stackhouse, an 18-year NBA veteran, said in a video interview on SI.com that the Rockets’ three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet was too much to match “for a guy that’s only played 25 games for you.” 

Stackhouse, who will be playing for Brooklyn this coming season, believes the Rockets might grow to regret the finances of the deal, too. “I think it’s too much, I think they're gonna look back three years from now and say we maybe could have used this to go out and get another player,” Stackhouse said. ... “I think it’s going to hamper them.” Stackhouse also stated he feels that Raymond Felton, is a much better point guard then Lin is currently.  Stackhouse is not alone, as players around the league have privately voiced the same sediment.  JR Smith openly stated Lin's contract would cause tension in the locker-room. This all goes to show that Lin's rise to fame may also quickly flame out.  Every guard in the league will try to humiliate him due to his contract and being jealous of it. LIN got his payday. 
Time will tell if it was worth it. Just Blogging.......

R.I.P
SISTER SYLVIA WOODS, FOUNDER OF SYLVIA'S
1926 - 2012 

The New York Knicks decision to not sign the Houston Rocket’s offer sheet to Jeremy Lin was an emotional "don't mess with me" decision by Knicks Boss James Dolan: Nothing more, and nothing less.

Ego trumped simple logic as previous economic arguments against signing Lin have been nullified in recent days with a slew of articles here, here, here, and here. So have notions that Lin’s signing might inhibit dreams of Chris Paul.

Whether Lin "did it to himself" during his contract renegotiation with Houston is only a useful explanation if talking to Jeremy Lin. The FINAL decision rested with James Dolan. It is Dolan who ultimately "did it to me" and "did it to Knick fans" who wanted Lin to remain a Knick.

As a Knick fan, I expect executives to put the very best basketball team on the floor, or at least the DESIRE to do so. Next year The Knicks will put a lesser basketball team on the floor.

But as many have already pointed out: the arguments against signing Lin are emotional ones since the Knicks lose absolutely nothing by signing Lin. Just as starry eyed Linsanity lovers had their Linflated opinions based on emotion, so did Lin's biggest critics -- perhaps even as a direct response to the original love affair with Lin whose public displays of affection proved just mildly nauseating.

Ultimately, both Lin's extreme lovers and his extreme critics are guilty of excess. We can talk all day about Lin's deficiencies, but I was at that Wizards game sitting in the 10^th row when I personally saw Lin break the ankles of a very speedy John Wall. I know for a fact that you can't teach that no matter how many hours you spend in the gym.  You just do not give away that first step and many other attribures of a 23 year old, and receive nothing in return.

You just don't do it. You play that card. If your hand busts, then so be it. But you play that card. Period.

According to the NY Times Howard Beck, the departure of Jeremy Lin seems all but a certainty. What appeared a near certainty came into doubt over the span of a weekend. A weekend where a matchable four year 30 million contract-- that was set to escalate to 9.8 and 10 million per season in years three and four of the contract- became an unwieldy 25 million dollar three year contract laced by the rival Rockets with a 14.8 million uber poisonous pill in year three of the deal. The contract procured by Lin, came in the context of a tit for tat game of cat and mouse between the Knicks, the Rockets and Lin as the organization allowed the market to set a price for Lin. Lin, a prudent Harvard Finance graduate, of coursed secured a bigger pay day than first reported.

For the Knicks who are set to bleed luxury tax payments for each subsequent seasons, Lin's bloated third year poison pill seems to be even to much for the Knicks to swallow. Off course the procurement of Raymond Felton's services made Jeremy Lin's presence in the Garden ever more tenuous.

As a reportedly Linless reality sets in, the macro phenomena that became one of pro sports most marketable viral global feel good stories has taken an about face.  The good vibes and groundbreaking debate of the Jeremy Lin phenomena is reversed into a new series of debates, each one a possible indictment on the state of the Knicks.  Stories celebrating Lin's rise in the context of the shattering of a racially tinged typecasting of skill/talent based on ethnicity, have turned toward debates over whether the retention or release of Jeremy Lin is indicative of the posture of the Knicks' franchise going forward.

Depending on the pundit, to match would either signal the persistence of the same old free spending Knicks. For other critics a failure to retain Lin may signal the first step towards fiscal prudence for a franchise well know for excessively unscrupulous acquisitions. For other pundits a failure to match, calls to question the Knicks off season moves to bolster the roster for a title run as just another empty threat by a now penny wise pound foolish front officer. While others may deem a failure to match as another miscue by a franchise that has too often lost ground to the adept maneuverings of rival organizations. All the while Lin gradually exits the grand stage of Madison Square Garden as the clock ticks to 11:59 EST on Tuesday. But as the clock ticks away let us call to question the reasons for why Lin has been allowed to walk.

Do we want to go into next season with Ray Felton and Jason Kidd as our point guards?  Felton in 2012 is not the same as Felton in 2010.  I question if he is in NBA basketball shape and if he can recover his outside shooting--only 30% from beyond the arc last year.   Similarly, If Jason Kidd's recent DWI arrest is an indication of how he intends to behave off court, I would be quite concerned if I am MSG management.  Kidd was presumably brought in to mentor Lin, but what sort of role-model does he provide?  Is his recent drunken misconduct incident a one time occurrence or is it part of a larger alcohol problem previously hidden from the public.  Did the Knicks do a proper background check? . Kidd and the Knicks have some serious damage control, including a show by Jason of mea cultpa and much remorse (and/or rehab if Kidd ihas an AA problem) and/or some community service, before introducing Kidd to the fans and children at the Garden of Dreams.
 

I hope the above elements enter into MSG thinking before allowing Lin to walk away for nothing.  I cannot believe that the Knicks will be better without Lin and receiving nothing in return going into next season.  The absence of a penetrating point guard who can run a pick n roll and dish off was sorely missing in the playoffs.  Lin has demonstrated pure point guard skills who made his teammates better--Novak and Fields especially, but also Chandler and Jeffries. He also inspired the fans, juicing ujp the Garden crowd, and his teammates in what for the Knicks was the most exciting part of the season:  See MSG Countdown Highlights of Linsanity Moments.

     ROCKETMAN


The pursuit of Steve Nash did show that the Knicks have big doubts about Lin’s ability to guide them in the short term with the win-now cast of characters in place. 
25 million for a future D-league off the bench PG is absurd. Yell, Cry, stomp your feet but LIN is History in the archives of the New York Knicks. They will not match Houston's offer despite the MSM deceptive hyperbole that the Knicks will match the Rocket's offer. I understand that Linsanity was a fun craze for a couple of weeks but the bottom line is this—Nobody ( even Lin fanboys) knows that to expect from Jeremy Lin.  As the Knicks cap stands now we will be 17 Million over the Luxury tax in year three of his contract. With the new SUPER TAX imposed in Lin's third year, he would cost the Knicks 42 MILLION in luxury tax alone. No way that goes down while Amare and Melo are in their prime and CP3 is making it known to the world he wants to take on the Heat with Melo and Amare. In the 27 games that Lin played 20 minutes or more (pretty much the entirety of the Linsansity period), 13 of them were against playoff teams, playing the 76ers, Pacers and Mavericks twice each. He played 10 playoff teams in 27 games this season. He played well when he was the focal point of a Mike D'Antoni offensive system that saw Steve Nash win the MVP twice. The system is designed to have the point guard be the best player on the floor. Dantoni is gone as Lin will surely be. BTW..Knickknack is 
a TROLL that frequents this blog. Ignore him. We all know him as "Mark" or Mitch "the Grill" who is harmless. I am now officially a fan of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND! Bring on FELTON. I promise not to use the term "Feltoff."

While both Lin and the Knicks are hoping for a reunion, sources have told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that if any clubs offer Lin a back-loaded contract that pays him an eight-figure salary in the third and fourth years, the Knicks would be hesitant to match the offer. Lin will get $5M in year one, $5.225M in year two and $14.898M in year three. Rockets hope that will discourage NY due to year three will cost the Knicks 42 Million in Luxury taxes. Is LIN WORTH HALF OF THAT??????