D-Wade #3
04-11-2010, 10:49 AM
Oh and Joe Johnson too
The Knicks finish the season Wednesday in Toronto and open their shopping spree July 1. The next time they play the Garden, owner James Dolan dreams of LeBron James in Knicks orange and blue.
"We saw an opportunity to try to hit a home run," coach Mike D'Antoni said of this bonanza offseason. "That's what we're trying to do. At least we know there's a fastball coming and we at least want to take a swing at it. Whatever happens, we're going to be better next year. If it's a breaking ball, we're screwed."
Anything is better than the current Garden dreck. The Knicks, at 28-51, have posted three straight 50-loss seasons. The Orlando Sentinel, in its game story yesterday after the Magic rout, wrote, "the laughable Knicks are a cardboard cutout of an NBA club."
Incredibly, Garden attendance was superb this season. The Knicks rank fifth in the league at 19,490 -- 24 sellouts in 39 games.
Less surprising is the success of the Knicks' unprecedented gimmick of launching season-ticket sales for 2010-11 in late February. According to a team official, the club has sold just over 2,200 new full-season tickets for next season in six weeks. Last year, it took six months to sell that many full plans. The prospect of James and the free-agent flurry has fans believing these two nights are the end of the Garden's darkest era.
Even if they don't get James, D'Antoni and team president Donnie Walsh believe their roster will be upgraded significantly with $32 million of cap space -- good for two max deals. Nevertheless, indications are the Knicks are no lock at getting any of the fabulous five free agents.
Walsh can not yet be heralded as turning around the Knicks as some have begun to do. In fact, Walsh failed in his two-pronged bid to clear 2010 cap space while remaining competitive the past two seasons and building an array of young building blocks prospective free agents are salivating to team up with. The Knicks were out of the playoff race the last week of March last season, and at the Feb. 18 trade deadline this season.
Most players believe James is staying in Cleveland and Dwyane Wade, who visits the Garden tonight for the last time before becoming free, will not leave Miami, despite selling his home for a loss.
League sentiment also has Amar'e Stoudemire hooking up with Wade in Miami and Chris Bosh joining forces with point guard Derrick Rose in Chicago. That leaves Joe Johnson, who doesn't exactly make the Knicks world-beaters.
Walsh and D'Antoni believe pairing Johnson with Rudy Gay or with David Lee and mid-range free agents including Marcus Camby, Steve Blake, Raja Bell or Kyle Korver will make the Knicks a solid playoff team next season, with more cap space in 2011.
Despite powerful attendance figures, there was never a deep attachment by the fans to these recent Knicks teams. Nate Robinson was a fixture as the Knicks' most popular player for most of the last five years. But when he returned to the Garden for the first time Tuesday as a Celtic, he received polite applause, nothing more. It was telling.
Knicks officials said the packed houses have surprised them.
"They've been super," D'Antoni said. "We're kind unique. That's why it's called the greatest arena in the world. There's always electricity in the air."
And so today and tomorrow the Garden has its final curtain call for the contemptible basketball. Maybe the fans flocked now, figuring next season will be too tough a ticket to secure
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/knicks_latest_debacle_almost_over_gTfa4KRqlxSjLDmd 8yKOgK?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=#ixzz0kiF6khQe
The Knicks finish the season Wednesday in Toronto and open their shopping spree July 1. The next time they play the Garden, owner James Dolan dreams of LeBron James in Knicks orange and blue.
"We saw an opportunity to try to hit a home run," coach Mike D'Antoni said of this bonanza offseason. "That's what we're trying to do. At least we know there's a fastball coming and we at least want to take a swing at it. Whatever happens, we're going to be better next year. If it's a breaking ball, we're screwed."
Anything is better than the current Garden dreck. The Knicks, at 28-51, have posted three straight 50-loss seasons. The Orlando Sentinel, in its game story yesterday after the Magic rout, wrote, "the laughable Knicks are a cardboard cutout of an NBA club."
Incredibly, Garden attendance was superb this season. The Knicks rank fifth in the league at 19,490 -- 24 sellouts in 39 games.
Less surprising is the success of the Knicks' unprecedented gimmick of launching season-ticket sales for 2010-11 in late February. According to a team official, the club has sold just over 2,200 new full-season tickets for next season in six weeks. Last year, it took six months to sell that many full plans. The prospect of James and the free-agent flurry has fans believing these two nights are the end of the Garden's darkest era.
Even if they don't get James, D'Antoni and team president Donnie Walsh believe their roster will be upgraded significantly with $32 million of cap space -- good for two max deals. Nevertheless, indications are the Knicks are no lock at getting any of the fabulous five free agents.
Walsh can not yet be heralded as turning around the Knicks as some have begun to do. In fact, Walsh failed in his two-pronged bid to clear 2010 cap space while remaining competitive the past two seasons and building an array of young building blocks prospective free agents are salivating to team up with. The Knicks were out of the playoff race the last week of March last season, and at the Feb. 18 trade deadline this season.
Most players believe James is staying in Cleveland and Dwyane Wade, who visits the Garden tonight for the last time before becoming free, will not leave Miami, despite selling his home for a loss.
League sentiment also has Amar'e Stoudemire hooking up with Wade in Miami and Chris Bosh joining forces with point guard Derrick Rose in Chicago. That leaves Joe Johnson, who doesn't exactly make the Knicks world-beaters.
Walsh and D'Antoni believe pairing Johnson with Rudy Gay or with David Lee and mid-range free agents including Marcus Camby, Steve Blake, Raja Bell or Kyle Korver will make the Knicks a solid playoff team next season, with more cap space in 2011.
Despite powerful attendance figures, there was never a deep attachment by the fans to these recent Knicks teams. Nate Robinson was a fixture as the Knicks' most popular player for most of the last five years. But when he returned to the Garden for the first time Tuesday as a Celtic, he received polite applause, nothing more. It was telling.
Knicks officials said the packed houses have surprised them.
"They've been super," D'Antoni said. "We're kind unique. That's why it's called the greatest arena in the world. There's always electricity in the air."
And so today and tomorrow the Garden has its final curtain call for the contemptible basketball. Maybe the fans flocked now, figuring next season will be too tough a ticket to secure
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/knicks_latest_debacle_almost_over_gTfa4KRqlxSjLDmd 8yKOgK?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=#ixzz0kiF6khQe