The Warriors' Al Harrington wants out, and you've surely heard some rumors/wishes/wishful rumors that Harrington might end up in New York. I cast these aside for a little while, but now...

Harrington's contract matches the salary of Eddy Curry, who fell out of Mike D'Antoni's rotation even before suffering a knee injury. He is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.

The Knicks are willing to trade Curry, but the Warriors don't appear to have much interest in the former Bulls center. One other possibility would be for the Knicks to trade Malik Rose and David Lee to Golden State for Harrington. Otherwise, Walsh will have to find a third party.

One such team could be the San Antonio Spurs, who have a history of making trades with the Knicks and desperately need additional scoring.

I get the logic. D'Antoniball is running and shooting, and Harrington succeeded in a Golden State offense that was built upon much running and shooting aplenty. Fair enough. That said, what else do we know about this season's Knicks? Well, they're a trifle short (a starting post package consisting of of two 6'9''ers...) and rather unintimidating on defense (...with two blocks between them so far this season). So, I must ask, what's the need for a 6'9'' forward with a penchant for overly gracious defense? (0.2 BPG for his career). Don't even get me started about giving up Lee, who is essentially Al Harrington but with rebounding instincts, undying devotion to his team, and hair.

If we're shopping why not snatch someone who's tall and can block a shot, and may very well eat less payroll than Harrington? Why not Chong Williams? Why not Treebeard, dammit?

This rumor stinks like Isiah Thomas' dirty laundry, and I hope it's nothing more than passing fancy on the part of the media. The Knicks have needs, and Al Harrington most certainly fits zero of these needs. Am I missing the point? Speak up in the comments.

Happy Wednesday, friendsdays. Hope everyone voted yesterday and didn't blow a blood vessel over the results (in delight or despair). I've got some heavy flu-like symptoms, but let's soldier through a few links and topics of the day.

- Anybody else tired of hearing about Stephon Marbury? Quickly, the most recent news is that we're gonna let him ride the bench in a suit for the rest of the year, unless the NBPA can help organize a solution. Either way, I don't expect we'll see Marbury again. Unless the entire backcourt gets decimated by injury and we're forced to play him. That'd be awkward.

- Via The Knicks Blog, a great read on the weaknesses of Eddy Curry and how a coach might cover them. The best, I think:

For Curry to be integrated into a system, his deficiencies need to be masked. The most obvious way to do this is by having a player alongside Curry who can rebound, block shots, and take a tough defensive assignment. These players aren't everywhere, but they do exist. The Bulls had Tyson Chandler, who's since flowered as a top rebounder with the Hornets. An aging Antonio Davis, while no longer an All-Star, also provided help defensively, and was a good presence to have around the Bulls' young players.

Having clearly defined roles in the post, with the power forward being the enforcer and Curry being encouraged to use his skills on offense, makes Curry less of a liability. When a talented big man is willing to defer to Curry in scoring situations and play help defense, Curry can focus on getting his twenty points and doing whatever he can elsewhere.

I think that's quite accurate and well-put. In fact, to a lesser degree, I'd say the same goes for Zach Randolph and David Lee. While Z-Bo and D-Lee excel in different aspects of rebounding and offense, both seriously need some defensive help. This is why I've been begging for some type of defensive big man in the past.

- Speaking of which, the very same Knicks Blog shares (and better articulates) my overwhelming desire to bring Sean "Chong" Williams to New York. I wanted him in last year's draft, I wanted him over the summer, and I want him more than ever after watching the likes of Samuel Dalembert and Andrew Bogut put up dominating lines on our overly gracious frontcourt.

- Tonight's game against Charlotte is perhaps the most important game in the history of Posting and Toasting. If you've been around a while, you probably know why, but we'll get into it later, in the game thread. Sit tight and get pumped.

Dassit. Peace. 

Antnyk already referenced this fine video in his Fanshot, but I figured I'd give it a little front page embed attention. What you see here is Q-Tip, member of one of the greatest rap groups of all time, cashing in on the hype for the '08-'09 Knicks season with a re-tooling of "Go New York Go". Tip's rendition is noticeably darker and grittier than the original, perhaps to convey the environment around the Knicks in seasons past. Look for Stephon Marbury's awkward turn in front of the camera, as well as Eddy Curry's underwhelming idea of "dancing". Newwww Yorrrrrk.

ESPN won't put up any pictures of people playing basketball, so here's Phil Collins. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

1-0! The Knicks are above .500 for only the fourth time in the last 4 years (thanks Mase). It was very nearly a full-on, feel-good win, but it's never that easy. Some notes on the win:

- Clyde kicked off the season in style, with a full-body black leather outfit. Word has it was borrowed from the "Friday Night" drawer of Mike Breen's wardrobe.

- Our starting lineup is now the "T-Mobile Starting Lineup". What does that mean? Does Mike D'Antoni text "im strting qrich 2nite...lol oopz!" to the MSG producers?

- David Lee is already showing that he's more committed to playing defense. Udonis Haslem's preposterous 10-14 would lead you to believe otherwise, but I promise Dave's getting it together. He put up a workmanlike 16,11, and 5 of his own, too.

- Danilo Gallinari made his rather surprising debut late in the first quarter. He looked pretty shaky and rimmed out a few jumpers, but what do you expect from a man who hasn't played organized basketball since July? The debut lasted only four minutes, but it was terribly exciting to see him on the floor.

- Speaking of terribly exciting, Jared Jeffries was interviewed in a tight-fitting gray and yellow sweater Jared Jeffries shops at Aber-Camby & Fitch.

- Wow, I'm really rusty.

- The first half set the bar for a half of D'Antoni basketball. The Knicks dropped 60 by playing pretty solid defense, pushing the ball, and staying in motion on the offense. Granted, the Heat were pretty cold, but it was a great start to the season.

- The second half was a bit of a drop-off, but in a different way than you might expect. In the preseason, we got accustomed to first-half excitement giving way to second-half drudgery and poor shooting. The third quarter tonight was a refreshing departure from the norm. Save for a few bonehead threes, the Knicks responded to defensive adjustments by pounding the ball inside and utilizing the multiple talents of Lee and Randolph to get looks around the hole. It was in the fourth quarter that things fell apart. Towards the end, Crawford was heaving premature threes, Robinson was over-dribbling, and nobody got back on defense. Miami was able to cut the double-digit lead down to as little as three.

- I don't want to give this too much attention, because we're sure to get some sort of "BENCHBURY!!11" headline from the Post, but Stephon Marbury didn't play a minute in this game. Not one. The likes of Mardy Collins and Malik Rose preceded him off the bench. I trust D'Antoni, but when the team is collapsing in the fourth quarter, Marbury's cool head and sure hands might steady the ship.

- Jill Martin's halftime interview was with Phil Collins and his two little kids. Future poll: Mardy or Phil?

- My girlfriend thinks Donnie Walsh looks like the giant evil booger from the Mucinex commercials. I think he looks more like the grumpy lizard secretary from Monsters Inc.

There can only be one.

- "The one thing you like about Mardy Collins is his size"- Gus Johnson. Don't ever tell me what I like, Gus. Especially if it's Mardy Collins.

- Eddy Curry spent the entire second half icing his knee in the locker room. How he injured his knee on the bench, I can't explain.

- Q-Tip performed pre-game and at halftime. Here's an analogy. '93 Knicks are to Knicks now as '93 Q-Tip is to Q-Tip now. I love Tribe, but...oy.

- Wilson Chandler was everything we want him to be and more. He had a very quiet 17 and 8, canned a couple jumpers, and scrapped all over the glass to get putbacks and loose balls. "Wilson is my homeboy" t-shirts coming soon.

- Dwyane Wade got his 26 points, but was held to 9-24 shooting by a carousel of Knick defenders. Duhon, Richardson, and Chandler all got looks, and Wade looked off the whole night. The fact that he still manages to put up near-triple doubles on awful nights speaks to his greatness. I'll take the win, though.

- The Knicks as a team shot 9-25 from downtown. The number really should've been about 8-21. As I mentioned, Crawford went into his glassy-eyed shooting seizure, jacking up any ball he caught and throwing away a handful of crunchtime possessions. So, Jamal's fourth quarter late-game gaffes aside, the downtown numbers were both reasonable and respectable.

All that said, Game 1 of '08-'09 was a solid glimpse of things to come (hopefully), though there were understandably some kinks in the machinery. It felt great to kick things off with a win. The next game's on Friday, so more on this one tomorrow. Leave your post-game thoughts in the comments.

I already wrote this damn post, but my computer froze, so I'll just run down some links quick-like.

- Danilo Gallinari is ready to bang. No word on whether he'll be ready for the final preseason game, but he's cleared to practice. Who knows if and how long it'll take for him to crack the rotation, but we could certainly use his sure shooting stroke.

- Donnie Walsh has decided to pass on this opportunity to extend the contracts of David Lee and Nate Robinson. The decision will wait until next summer, when the team's direction will be a bit clearer. Lee's resigning will probably be a point of much contention this offseason. In the meantime, The Knicks Blog is under the impression that both Dave and Nate are filing this under the "basketball's a business" category, and know how important their roles are this coming season.

- Gian at 7SoM has your video recap of that uggggly game against Boston.

- Bethlehem Shoals runs the Knicks through his quotemonger apparatus. A highlight:

Jamal Crawford on all the uncertainty swirling around the Knicks:

"It’s the preseason…I don’t take it that serious."

Translation: So wait, all you in the media actually think we’re figuring anything out around here? Also, no shit this was an Iverson reference–you fell right into the trap, since now you’re forced at act like D’Antoni’s going to have the 2008-09 Knicks, and a gulag set up for Isiah-era retreads, by Opening Day. This is campaign season, motherf*ckers, where everything’s in flux and talk is cheap. And then once it’s on, don’t expect no W.-like silliness from D’Antoni. You’re trying to trap him, too. Damn liberal media.

- Frank Isola wonders if Mike D'Antoni may have made his first chink in the Knicks' collective armor. I worry much less about Jamal Crawford than I do about Eddy Curry.

- Wilson Chandler will be OK. It'd still be nice to have Gallinari mobilized, just in case.

That's all for now. Remember to measure twice, cut once.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Remember when I said that D'Antoniball was going to kill me this season? Well, it didn't even take until the regular season for me to get hypertensive. Last night's performance had my blood boiling like it was 2006. Some brief notes on an ugly game:

- Citing a desire to experiment, D'Antoni benched Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph in favor of Stephon Marbury and Nate Robinson. So, with three point guards, Wilson Chandler, and David Lee on the floor, there were some interesting matchups. Duhon spent most of his time guarding Paul Pierce, while Chandler was stuck with Kevin Garnett and Lee had to bang with Kendrick Perkins.

- The offense, though, was the real problem. Partly because Boston got back on defense, and partly because the ball movement completely tanked, the usual first half vigor was nowhere to be seen. Contested threes were hoisted, pick and rolls were botched, and possessions were wasted with little or ineffective passing. New York was down 58-34 at the half. Things clicked intermittently in the second half, but never enough to cut it close.

- David Lee looked particularly frustrated, and rightfully so. Besides playing out of position at center, he was routinely ignored when cutting to the basket, and found himself out of the flow of the offense.

- Big statistic of the game: 4-31 from downtown. We were waiting for the other shoe to drop- for the shots to stop falling- and it finally did. The problem is that the guys couldn't adapt. Facing an able defense that stifled the fast break game, the Knicks forced shots and wasted possessions instead of stepping up the motion and passing. There just wasn't a Plan B. Someone might argue that once in a while the shots just don't fall, but shooting 12.9% from three point range would be inexcusable from a team of flamingos, and they don't even have hands. At some point, you must stop shooting.

- Eddy Curry is now Eddy Curry Jr. in the ESPN boxscores. Eddy Curry Jr. may be a scrub this season.

- I'm clinging to the hope that this is all a fluke and Jamal Crawford's gonna open the season by dropping another 52 on Miami.

- Wilson Chandler sprained his knee in the second quarter and did not return. He did walk off by himself, though, and didn't appear to be in excruciating pain. That is the same injury he had last April, though, and my medical school education tells me that repeatedly injuring the same body part isn't reccommended.

On the whole, this game reeked of the weak effort and hair-brained play that characterized the Isiah Thomas era. The good news is that it's just the preseason, but I'm not looking forward to games like this in the coming year.

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

D'Antoniball is gonna kill me this year. Even in the course of one relatively mellow preseason game, the Knicks' newfangled speed makes for electrifying bursts of scoring and sloppy runs of incompetence that may cause my nervous system to shut down completely. It's becoming clear that that green light isn't turning off any time soon, and the Knicks are loving their freedom to push the ball and fire away. Some quick notes because I wanna get to today's stories:

- Wilson Chandler's line is always surprising. Wil was 10-15 from the field last night for 22 points to go with his 8 rebounds. The thing is, his shots often come out of the flow of the offense, and many of the rebounds come by snaggling loose balls and taking people by surprise. He's got an ugly, herky-jerky game, but continues to fill up the box score.

- Zach Randolph needs to play help defense.

- Eddy Curry needs to play help defense without assaulting people. Curry's defense in general seems to have gotten even worse. He allowed the relatively tame Brook Lopez a good chunk of his 19 points by either viciously fouling him or neglecting to contest his shots entirely. This may be the beginning of the end for Curry, because he's done nothing to show that he'll ever fit on this team again.

- Mardy Collins threw down on Sean Williams in the second half and then buried a dagger three-pointer in the fourth quarter. I don't know that he's improved much, but he's certainly playing within his own limits and getting the job done.

- Nate Robinson has this new thing where he defends a point guard bringing the ball up by turning his back to him and playing D with his ass. I've yet to discern the purpose of this strategy, but I trust Nate.

- The absence of Nash in the D'Antoni offense makes for one particularly troubling phenomenon. In the second half (usually beginning of the third), when the offense predictably grinds to a standstill and shots aren't falling, the Knicks don't have anybody to single-handedly take over and keep the team afloat. You'd think Crawford could play this role, but he hasn't just yet. More on this later.

- If you haven't heard Brook Lopez's voice before, I highly recommend it. Ian Eagle thinks he sounds like a combination of Jason Collins and Jeff Spicoli. My suitemate (PPisthetruth34) heard his voice from afar and asked "wait...did the Nets draft Brendan Fraser?"

- The Knicks jacked up quite a few threes (25), but once again hit a nice portion of them (12). Better, though, is that they got to the line to connect on 26-36 attempts to supplement the long-range attack. I'm a little more comfortable with a three-point barrage of guys are still getting to the rim with some frequency.

That's all for your recap. Posts on today's news coming soon.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

In game 3 of D'Antoniball exhibition, the Knicks ran and scored a bunch, but collapsed down the stretch to fall to the Sixers in New York. I was able to catch the whole game, and took notes for those of you who missed out.

- Guys seem to be gambling more than last year. Maybe it's just a particular set of matchups or preseason restlessness, but the guards in particular try to pick pockets and snipe passing lanes. The good news is that this creates occasional steals and fast break buckets. The bad news is that the help defense lags terribly, so gambling means giving up a lot of easy baskets and fouls (The Sixers had 29 FTA) as well. It makes me wonder if D'Antoni encourages this sort of handsy defense. John Andariese did mention that Coach had challenged Nate Robinson to get 3 steals a game, which would suggest that he's on board.

- The Knicks jacked up 32 threes last night. That makes up more than a third of their 87 field goal attempts. The crazy part is that they made 15 of those 32 threes, which amounts to a very solid 47% from downtown. Should we be expecting 30+ threes a night this year? Cause if they're not falling like they were last night, I might be in a straight jacket by December. 

- 20 fastbreak points and in the first half. None in the third quarter. I can't tell what's at play there. Tired legs certainly contributed, but that's such a marked drop that I wonder if there was a strategy adjustment at halftime. Either Philly did a better job getting back on D or D'Antoni slowed things down going into the second half. The latter is pretty much unfathomable, but there was a change of pace in the second half of the Toronto game as well, so something's clearly happening. It's possible that Coach tried to rein in some of the gambling that occured in the first half. Nate and co. forced 8 turnovers in the first half and only 2 in the second.

- It isn't clear yet who's behind the wheel in the final 2 minutes. This was a close one going into crunchtime, but things were completely disorganized on both ends of the floor down the stretch.

- We may be looking at our first legitimate triple double threat since Latrell Sprewell. David Lee's passing skills are on display in the D'Antoni offense. He made a couple backdoor feeds and kick-outs, finishing with 7 assists. Z-Bo didn't drop any dimes in this one, but look for his assist numbers to spike as well.

- Both in training camp and in preseason, Lee seems more willing to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket like a guard. I do wish, though, that he'd use that large body and draw some contact instead of flipping it high off the glass and ducking from contact.

- Eddy Curry's first preseason minutes were a complete failure. He dropped a few passes, got back late on defense, got stuffed by Theo Ratliff's corpse on a dunk attempt, and committed 3 fouls in only 6 minutes, only to leave with an upset stomach. While Randolph appears at least somewhat equipped to prove the doubters wrong, Eddy Curry has done nothing to warrant a spot in the rotation. It's still early, but not that early.

- Jamal Crawford got 26 minutes was a non-factor. I'm just gonna attribute that to preseason lineup noodling and ignore it.

- There was a fantastic 19-4 second quarter that included a Chris Duhon transition three, a Lee steal to ignite the break that culminated in a Q dunk, and Randolph running the floor for a tip-in. If the energy on both ends was that consistent for the entire game, we might've finished with upwards of 400 points.

- I know it's preseason, but Nate Robinson has lead the team in field goals attempted twice in three games. Wilson Chandler's putting up his fair share as well. It's funny because Jamal Crawford, the one guy you'd expect to have a permanent green light, has curtailed his shot attempts the most. 

- Marreese Speights is a terrifying human being and a shoe-in for the Jason Maxiell All-Stars. At one point, he blocked David Lee's dunk attempt and wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo. I don't have proof, but I'd bet good money that Speights occasionally eats toddlers.

Honey, hide the kids.

- Mardy Collins has developed a nice little floater in the lane, and looks more determined to get to the basket and make things happen. Oh my god...did I just praise Mardy Collins?

- 7SoM points this out and I wholeheartedly agree: the game changes when Nate's on the floor. The defense gets pluckier and peskier in his presence, and it's not just him. Nate's knack for the obnoxious is contagious.

That's all I got for this game. The next exhibition game against Boston is this Friday. Me, I'm ready for the real deal. Just a couple weeks now.

Before I head to class (Japanese! はじめまして, bitches!), I'd like to alert you to a severe blow to the Knicks' preseason depth chart. From The Daily News: (via SLAM):

Poor Eddy Curry. He sat on the giant blue physio-ball during a break from Monday’s practice and the ball exploded. Eddy fell and scraped and his wrist but should be okay. The ball, which is used for stretching exercises, was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is a tragedy. Ball, 2'6'' and 25 lbs., was a candidate, albeit a longshot, for the center position in Mike D'Antoni's starting lineup. A training camp signee, Ball was embraced by D'Antoni for his tireless motor and springy athleticism. My condolences go out to Ball and his family (seen below).

Not to point any fingers, but if Curry thought that wasting one of his competitors for the center spot is going to assure him a starting role, he's sorely mistaken. Word has it Foam Roller came to camp with 15 pounds of added muscle and his sights set on the starting five. Watch yourself, Eddy.

Game thread coming later.

Jeff Clark from Celtics Blog has once again mobilized the basketball blogosphere to write season previews on our favorite teams. Joey from Straight Bangin' and my very own self are the two bloggers sad enough to cover the Knicks. Here's my contribution for the Knicks.

Team Name: New York Knicks
Last Years Record: 23-59
Key Losses: Renaldo Balkman, Frederic Weis' contract
Key Additions: Chris Duhon, Anthony Roberson, Danilo Gallinari (R), Patrick Ewing Jr. (R)

1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?

Aside from the draft choice of Danilo Gallinari, the Knicks' biggest roster move was signing free agent Chris Duhon to fill an apparent point guard gap. The real moves were made off the court, with Mike D'Antoni and his staff taking over for Coach Isiah while Donnie Walsh took over for GM Isiah.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

Depth- For better or worse, the Knicks are deep at several different positions. Coach D'Antoni should be able to toy with different lineups and patch holes when the injury bug hits.

Freshness- Much like a Subway sandwich, the Knicks are chock full of freshness (Yes, I know solicit product placement in my blog posts. Your company could be here!). With a new staff, management, and media policy, there is finally an air of change in the...air. I don't know if that even counts as a strength, but I get the feeling that the overall mood of the club is taking a turn for the better.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

Deadweight- New York has a few players on the roster who are serviceable, but might not be exactly what D'Antoni and Walsh are looking for going forward. You've surely heard about them. Guys like Curry, Marbury, and Randolph are widely believed to be undesirables within the Knicks front office. Their continued presence will be a test of D'Antoni's coaching and patience.

Defense- The addition of Chris Duhon should bolster the backcourt defense slightly, but our frontcourt is still far too sedentary to stick with some of the flying man-beast forwards and centers that populate the league. Shipping away Renaldo Balkman doesn't help matters.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Significant improvement. I know, that phrase rings of a bitter and (hopefully) bygone era, but it's what we're looking for. A cinderella run to the playoffs would be sweet, no doubt (except for losing that lottery pick), but I think most of us would be happy with at least sniffing the top 8. Such an improvement would bring at least some modicum of respectibility and a sense of foundation rather than reinvention in the years ahead. Oh, and no more truck parties.

5. Will Gallinari be a factor?

Much fuss was made about the Knicks picking Danilo Gallinari with the 6th pick in this year's draft. Some weren't sure he could hang with NBA forwards, while others were foretelling All-Star berths for Il Gallo. The jury may still be out come next summer. The big rooster has a nagging back injury that kept him out of most of the Summer League and looks as if it will keep him shackled to an exercise bike for the rest of the training camp. If he misses all of preseason, Danilo just might not crack the rotation for the early part of the year. We may even be looking at a D-League candidate. It appears we're taking ourselves too seriously this year to let the young and the raw develop on the Garden floor. So, if Gallinari can't stay healthy, he'll be hard-pressed to make an impression in his rookie campaign.

Predicted Record: 36-46. Improvement, and hope for '09.

Here's the rest of the division:

Boston Celtics
CelticsBlog.com    
 Green Bandwagon      
 LOY's Place
Red's Army
Celtics 24/7

New Jersey Nets
About Basketball

New York Knicks
Straight Bangin'

Philadelphia 76ers
 Recliner GM
Passion and Pride

Toronto Raptors
RaptorsHQ.com
Hoops Addict
Cuzoogle