Donnie Walsh/Paul Bearer

Not sure where this originated, but it's priceless. Hopefully Walsh can bring the Knicks back from the dead and challenge the likes of Hulk Hogan for the world championship.

YAHOO!: Woj on The Marbury Situation

Adrian Wojnarowski, a dear friend, just posted this column on Yahoo!

Front Page

It's no secret that SportingNews puts out the best NBA annuals. Lindy's and Athlon Sports do their thing too, but SportingNews is no joke. They break down all the teams and dish some solid scouting.

This year's issue has been a good read during the work commute and other weekly subway travel I've done in the last week. The New York region cover featured David Lee. Too bad they don't come out with an all-basketball mag ever week. Any magazine that puts D.Lee on the cover is worth the subscription price. - CAPUTO

Jamal Crawford to PHX?

It's about time for Jamal Crawford to go get his. After 8 years in the NBA, Crawford has never played in a single playoff game, but has shown signs of absolute brilliance in light of the Knicks struggles. With Steph in Outer Space, Crawford put the team on his back and played the type of tough, competitive basketball New York City can appreciate. He'll need to quickly adapt to Mike D'Antoni's style in order to get a head start on the popularity race that will end at the All-Star Game in Phoenix.

The bright side is, Crawford can shoot and run. He'll be able to blend right into what his new coach is trying to do. Time will tell if he'll be able to thrive in this new setting. He's also the kind of citizen that will get to the All Star Game if he deserves to be there.

While it's way too early to count Crawford in for the All-Star Game or the Knicks for the playoffs, it's certain that Crawford will be in position for a career-defining season. - CAPUTO

SLAM NEWSLETTER: Marbury Doesn't Fit!

SLAM NEWSLETTER

Friday, September 26, 2008

It’s hard to say if the Stephon Marbury saga could get more disappointing, aside from the skull tattoo. When it comes down to it, the only point guards in the NBA right now with more career assists than Marbury are Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. And now, after twelve years and two All-Star appearances, he’s persona non grada among his teammates and probably the rest of the league, too. His raw skills and natural ability have kept him in the NBA through some fairly sticky situations, but does he have enough left to contribute to the good teams he says he can?

In an interview with NBC-New York sports anchor, Bruce Beck, Marbury mentioned that both the Celtics and the Heat could use a point guard. While what Steph says might be true, there is good reason why neither team will pick him.

The Celtics won the NBA Championship with a young Rajon Rondo, who never walked away from a tough task the entire year. Rondo’s scoring and assist numbers both jumped considerably from his rookie season in about the same number of games. He showed himself to be a great glue-guy on a team of seasoned vets. While the Celts will probably still enlist an experienced point to play behind Rondo, it’s hard to see where Marbury’s ego would fit into Boston ’s nucleus.

Even in Miami, where they are pretty desperate for a point guard, Marbury seems pretty unwelcome. When SLAM caught up with Dwyane Wade at the NBA Store last week, he didn’t seem to be interested in adding the Coney Island kid to his team. While he didn’t dismiss the idea, he certainly didn’t pull out his sidekick and invite Marbury to South Beach for the weekend. With Mario Chalmers, Chris Quinn, Marcus Banks and Wade himself all capable of running the point, they Heat should be straight.

While Marbury’s talent has hardly even been in question, it’s not really logical for anyone to add Marbury unless they get him at a Starbury price. - MATT CAPUTO

SLAM ONLINE: KNICKS SEASON PREVIEW

SLAM ONLINE
NEW YORK KNICKS SEASON PREVIEW
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 9/17/08

When assignments went out for this year's SLAM Online season previews, I got lucky and wrote about the Knicks..

Another Deep Conversation

Stephon Marbury and Bruce Beck are tight. Beck is the guy who conducted the infamous rant in where Steph talked about...well... he talked a lot. That was about the only thing that was apparent.

This year, as the team headed into training camp, Steph and Beck spoke at Marbury's home in Purchase.

Training Camper

There is something obviously odd about this photo. To think that Allan Houston is a part of Knicks rebuilding process is kind of crazy considering that he hasn't played in the league in three years. That's about four coaches ago.

It was in Houston's last season with the Knicks that Jamal Crawford played his first. Now they're on the same team again.

Houston, the team's 4th all-time leading scorer, was a shell of his former self in the 20 games he did play in 04-05. It's hard to see why the Knicks brought him in now - other than to make him work for the money he's earning to not play.

However, there are a few good reasons why bringing him into camp he doesn't hurt.

-He's one of the few people who remembers what it's like to win in New York. Even if just for a few weeks, Houston's attitude and experience should be of value to the Knicks' young team. Houston might will hopefully instill some wisdom into Crawford who needs to play consistently well for the Knicks to make any noise.

-Houston plays a lot of basketball and is not in the type of situations where he's trying out for the team and seeing if he can compete again. He hit a few NYC PRO-AM spots this summer and is obviously comfortable pushing himself a little bit. Therefore, he shouldn't be dragging ass.

-The Knicks were 21st in the league in team shooting last season. Q.Rich and Crawford should be more comfortable this season, Q having totaled his most regular season threes under D'Antoni with the Suns, but the bottom line is they need to shoot better. Houston is a great shooter and the son of a coach.

-Say all he can do is shoot. No full-court breath or getting to the basket. Just nail every jumper. If he really can't make the final roster spot with what he has left in the tank, he'll certainly make it clear the Knicks need another shooter during camp when there is still time to correct it.

-Like Ewing Jr. and Dan Grunfeld, Houston is another good story. Unlike point guards, the Knicks are never short on those.

-Houston and Marbury are close. They are both Born Again Chrsitians and if anybody can work well with Steph it will be Houston. - CAPUTO

Crawford Mentioned Me On Newsday.com

Even Jamal Crawford is after my job.

Nate The Great!

Imagine what he does in practice or just fucking around?

PONY BOY

PONY invited me and my friend Benji down to the Lower East Side where their spokesman Wilson Chandler was getting his picture taken in his signature shoes. PONY has refreshed their City Wings hightops for Chandlers rocking and should be ready to wear for 2008-2009. - MATT CAPUTO

PHOTOS: BEN TIFA

SLAM: Jamal Crawford's House

SLAM ONLINE
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 8/25/08

On a work-related trip out to Seattle this summer, I ran into Jamal Crawford. One thing lead to another and I ended up back at his place. No homo!

Matt Sheridan, SLAM's Video Chief, and I were collecting footage on Seattle's hoop scene. By chance, a kid at the Seattle Rotary Boys and Girls Club mentioned that Crawford was home and happened to be playing ball himself at his old high school.

Neither Sheridan or myself had ever been to Seattle, so, the driving was pretty crazy. We ultimately made it to Crawford's house in time to watch the US taking the Gold Medal in hoops.

I wrote about the visit to Crawford's crib, as well as other Seattle basketball notes, for my blog on SLAMonline.com....

THROWBACK : Bernard King

Bernard King was nasty. MSG Network in New York has been running this "Vault" series, where they go through old tapes that have been long forgotten, and today, they broke down some old Bernard King tapes. I remembered he'd come back from a terrible injury, but not that he went on to become and All-Star with the Bullets.

It's guys like Bernard King that make it hard to think that athletes aren't role models. Someone like King is a reminder that obstacles are made to be gotten through or around. I hope the kid from the Clippers, Shaun Livingston, can benefit from Bernard King's courage.

I really shouldn't talk about baseball on a basketball blog, so I won't. I also do not want to, in any way, make it seem like I have some dark info on B.K.'s past. But I will say, wouldn't you rather hear Bernard King took steroids to return to an All-Star career or that he used steroids to become an All-Star?

FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:

Bernard King: He averaged 22.5 points over 16 seasons, but the explosive scorer was at the peak of his powers (32.9 ppg in 1984-85) when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in March 1985. That cost King a whole season and much of his explosiveness, but he adjusted and made a successful comeback with Washington, earning a final All-Star slot in 1991 at age 34. King sat out the 1991-92 season with more knee problems, then played just 20 games for New Jersey the following year. Great career, all things considered? Until King makes it into the Naismith Hall of Fame, it counts among the curtailed.

SLAM ONLINE: The Knicks Have No Idea Where They're Going and Neither Do I!

This post on SLAM Online lead me to want to have one place for all of my thoughts on the Knicks. So, it's fitting that this piece opens KnicksArchive.com. - CAPUTO

SLAM ONLINE
Originally Published 4/1/08

Last week, late in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks faced an infinite deficit against the play-off chasing New Jersey Nets, Jamal Crawford went to the foul line. From the tiny JVC I watched the game on, the Garden crowd seemed as quiet and docile as usual. I can only imagine how pathetic the Knicks look in high-def. With or without top-of-the-line reception, when the MSG Network’s cameras close in on Crawford from the sternum up, it’s hard not to notice the unusual bandage he has worn on his left shoulder since January. I have no clue why he wears it, or why I watch Knicks games when it’s clearly not “the thing to do.”

“I wonder why he wears that thing on his shoulder,” says Maggie Coughlan, a Nyack native and lifelong Knicks fan, sitting on the couch next to me watching the Knicks leading scorer take aim for the basket. “I wonder if it’s to keep his shooting arm warm.”

As Crawford raised his narrow arms for his first free throw, the Knicks were locked into their seventh consecutive losing season. And this season is by far the most disheartening and counterproductive, probably of all time. And tonight, the only nearly serendipitous happening at the Garden came right after Maggie’s sentence ended, from a guy who hasn’t played for the Knicks since 1977.....