A Change of Pace

Invite Alex Renfroe

An undrafted talent that the Knicks need to invite to summer league is Alex Renfroe.

I blogged earlier about this kid. He's perfect for D'Antoni and he's as fast as anyone drafted, played more ball than Jennings and at a far higher level, and is a budding professional.

If the media is talking up the elderly Jason Kidd then we have NOTHING, and I mean nothing, to lose anymore.

I gave Walsh an 'F' for last season and I'm giving him an 'F' for this draft period.

Do something right please. Give this kid a look.

Another Year of Hell on Earth

The drafting of Jordan Hill is a huge disappointment. The highlight reel could have been taken at a high school basketball camp for big men. If he ever gets the hang of playing basketball, maybe the Knicks have drafted a 2015 star.

I have yet to understand trading for the #29 pick who turned out to be Toney. Couldn't he be had after getting cut by someone else? He's all ours now.

The Darko trade ensures that we're at least as good as last year's Grizzlies. Thank god for small favors.

I find fewer and fewer reasons to care about this team. The Knicks are an accounting firm first and a basketball team second.

And, quite honestly, I don't like LeBron so if he doesn't come I'll have at least one reason to remember this decade's Knicks fondly.

KM Mockapalooza Mash-up! 2009

There is no chance that anything in the following NBA Draft Mock-up will happen.

OR WILL IT? (many Thanks to the Escape From Elba crowd: http://forums.escapefromelba.com/)

#1)Lakers from Clips - Blake Griffin. The Lakers dump Bynum on the Clips to retool with a more inexpensive piece allowing for the resigning of Ariza and Odom for Phil Jackson's last year as head coach.

#2) Minn via Memphis - Ricky Rubio. Ricky decides to stay in Europe. Minn trades #5 and #18, cash, and a future first-rounder.

#3) Dallas via OKC - Hasheem Thabeet. Dallas trades J. Howard +#24 for Krstic, Watson, and #24

#4) Philadelphia via Sacramento - James Harden. Philly trades Delambert and Lou Williams +17 for Beno Udrith, Kenny Thomas, and #4

#5) Memphis via Minnesota via Washington - Jordan Hill.

#6) Minnesota - Tyreke Evans.

#7) Golden State - Earl Clark.

#8) New York - Stephon Curry.

#9) Toronto - Jonny Flynn.

#10) Milwaukee - Jrue Holiday.

#11) New Jersey - Austin Daye.

#12) Charlotte - Gerald Henderson

#13) Indiana - Ty Lawson. TJ Ford traded to PHX for #25

#14) OKC via Phoenix - BJ Mullens. PHX Gets #25 and OKC's 2010 #1

#15) Detroit - Tyler Hansbrough.

#17) Sacto via Philly - Jennings.

#29) PHX via NY via LAL - Wayne Ellington. NY trades #29, Duhon, Al Harrington, and Chandler for Amare.

Backstage Negotiations Before the Draft

KM Mock 3.1, All Hell Breaks Loose

This time we'll explore the wildest of speculations just to see what shakes out.

#1)Clips - Blake Griffin. Camby to Charlotte for Gerald Wallace +12.

#2) Memphis - Hasheem Thabeet. NY gets Darko for Q.

#3) OKC - Ricky Rubio. OKC will turn Rubio into Chris Wilcox & N8 in a week or so.

#4) Sacramento - Stephon Curry.

#5) Minnesota via Washington - James Harden.

#6) Minnesota - Tyreke Evans.

#7) Golden State - Jonny Flynn

#8) New York - Jordan Hill. PHX ships Nash to NY for Mobley and Duhon.

#9) Toronto - Earl Clark.

#10) Milwaukee - Jrue Holiday.

#11) New Jersey - Austin Daye.

#12) Charlotte - Gerald Henderson

#13) Indiana - Ty Lawson. TJ Ford traded to PHX for #25

#14) OKC via Phoenix - BJ Mullens PHX Gets #25 and OKC's 2010 #1

#15) Detroit - Tyler Hansbrough.

#16) Bulls - Jeff Teague.

#17) PHX via Philly - DeJuan Blair Philly gets Stoudamire for Jason Smith, Elton Brand + 17. Shaq ships to Cle for Ben Wallace, Pavlovic.

Knicks 2009 Theme Song?

KM Mock 3.0 (updated)

You know our mock drafts are customized toward the interest of Knicks fans. Good lord, somebody has to care about knicks fans.

The draft is looking grimmer. Minny has leap-frogged the Knicks by snatching #5. Walsh, according to Berman, plans on making no trades and thinks Gallinari and Chandler are building blocks... crist, what's Kevorkian's number?

It don't get much more hopeless in Knicksland.

Our official pick is eight. Let's speculate based on the latest information.

#1)Clips - Blake Griffin.

#2) Memphis - Tyreke Evans. Snubbed by Rubio and Thabeet, Memphis takes talent that's tradable.

#3) OKC - Hasheem Thabeet.

#4) Sacramento - Stephon Curry.

#5) Minnesota via Washington - James Harden.

#6) Minnesota - Ricky Rubio. They can waste a pick on a disgruntled draftee. Rubio will soon sign his sneakers, "All alone and freezing"

#7) Golden State - Jonny Flynn.

#8) New York - Ty Lawson. There's no reason to be this optimistic here, given the talent evaluations we've been treated to but we can still dream.

#9) Toronto - Jordan Hill

#10) Milwaukee - Earl Clark.

#11) New Jersey - Austin Daye.

#12) Charlotte - Gerald Henderson.

#13) Indiana - Terrance Williams.

#14) Phoenix - Jrue Holiday.

#15) Detroit - Tyler Hansbrough.

#28 NY from Minny) Brandon Jennings

KM Mock 2.2

You know our mock drafts are customized toward the interest of Knicks fans.

Our official pick is eight. Let's speculate based on the latest information.

#1)Clips - Blake Griffin.

#2) Memphis (to NY) - Ricky Rubio. Memphis will trade #2 and Marko and Darko for #8 and Mobley and Jeffries realizing a financial windfall in the transaction.

#3) OKC - James Harden.

#4) Sacramento - Hasheem Thabeet.

#5) Washington (to NY) - Stephen Curry. NY rebuilds the backcourt. Etan Thomas and #5 swapped for Chandler, Duhon, and cash. Duhon moves closer to the White House. Thomas a buyout.

#6) Minnesota - Tyreke Evans

#7) Detroit via Golden State - Jonny Flynn. Rip Hamilton and #15 goes to GS for Crawford and #7.

#8) Memphis via New York - Jrue Holiday

#9) Toronto - Jordan Hill

#10) Milwaukee - Terrance Williams.

#11) New Jersey - Earl Clark.

#12) Charlotte - Gerald Henderson.

#13) Indiana - Ty Lawson.

#14) Phoenix - Jeff Teague.

#15) GS via Detroit - Tyler Hansbrough.

#48) Knicks from Phoenix) John Bryant Knicks acquire Shaq and this pick for Hughes and Q.

Do the Knicks Need a Draft Day Life Line?

Last year's disastrous signing of Anthony Roberson has me more and more nervous.

An awful lot of the names being floated as potential Knick targets this year show up on Hollinger's likely bust list.

Jack McClinton (83 of 60), Jordan Hill (26 of 60), Toney Douglas (62 of 60), and DeMar DeRozan (54 of 60) keep coming up in the Knicks blogosphere.

I'm comfortable with D'Antoni as a coach but I'm getting suspicious of his talent evaluation if these guys are in our future.

I hope Walsh invites Isiah to have dinner with the Knicks in the draft war room and help guide the picks - just in case.

Knicks Examining Rubio Contract

McGrady, Slowly I Turned, Step by Step

In February I commented that a McGrady trade might make sense if the cost to the Knicks was inexpensive. More recently Isola wanted to overpay.

Today, I have a harder time seeing McGrady being a Knick mostly because it seems pointless.

But if Curry and Q secured McGrady and the 2010 Houston second round pick I'd be okay with it.

This would add some short term expense but free up a roster spot and rid relieve us of Eddy Curry once and for all. Q is just odd SF out anyway.

The 2010 Knicks Clues

This YouCube Video is the first of our collection of strange clues about the direction the Knicks will take in the coming months.

So far the Knicks clue board includes:

1.) David Letterman asking Steve Nash where he's going to be next year. Nash replies "Right Here". Played Backwards "Right Here" sounds like "In MSG".

2.) From Alan Hahn's Newsday blog, "Another one of LeBron's pals, Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia, said he probably wouldn't get involved in the attempts to lure King James to New York, but SI.com's Jon Heyman (a former Newsday columnist) shared an interesting tidbit via twitter yesterday:

"asked cc sunday if his buddy lebron will come to #knicks, and cc said, "and bosh, too ... it'd be good for (lebron).''

Juicy...."

3.) "Yes, that's a clear indication Steph wants to be a Knick, and would prefer the seven teams drafting before New York pass over him. The Currys see Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo system as a great fit and whatever salary Steph would lose initially by lasting to No. 8, he'd make up several times over with the marketing opportunities New York represents.

Don't get the wrong idea; this process is still in the hands of the teams, not the player. But there's no doubt where Steph Curry wants to play."

4.) Alan Hahn discovers an easter egg clue in LeBron's 2010 Nike commercial. A blue and orange bird can be seen poolside metaphorically taking LeBron to the Garden.

The Floating Fix Continues

Isn't it funny how the technical foul orgy has disappeared completely from the playoffs?

Not at all. It has been replaced by an even more subtle fixation. That of obsessing as to whether 3 point shooters are stepping on the line. Let's see what team does that kind of micro-scrutiny distress. Hmmm. Let's see...

Yes, replay after replay is scrutinized to ensure Orlando's points are shaved as often as possible.

Yet, here in game four overtime, Kobe Bryant clocks Jameer Nelson with such force that Nelson is almost knocked unconscious. No flagrant. No call. Furthermore, play continues so that Fisher's three is counted.

Funny isn't it. Play can be stopped for minutes at a time to scrutinize from every angle whether or not someone's foot is on the line, yet a player is writhing on the floor and not one ref has any interest as to why.

Amazing doesn't just happen, it's manufactured.

KM Mock 2.1

Our mock drafts are unique in that I will attempt to customize the remarks specifically toward the interest of Knicks fans.

Our official pick is eight. But increasingly speculation is growing that the Knicks have something up their sleeve. Let's specualate based on the latest information.

#1)Lakers from Clips - Blake Griffin. The Lakers dump Bynum on the Clips to retool with a more inexpensive piece allowing for the resigning of Ariza and Odom for Phil Jackson's last year as head coach.

#2) Memphis (to NY) - Stephon Curry. Memphis will trade #2 and Darko for #8 and Mobley realizing a financial windfall in the transaction. Curry joins soon to be signed Steve Nash as NY's new backcourt.

#3) OKC - Hasheem Thabeet. OKC happily sticks.

#4) Sacramento - Ricky Rubio.

#5) Washington (to NY) - James Hardin. NY rebuilds the backcourt. Mike James and #5 swapped for Duhon and cash. Duhon moves closer to the White House. James a buyout.

#6) Dallas via Minnesota - Jordan Hill. Minnesota as usual trades something of worth for crap.

#7) Golden State - Earl Clark. Any taker of Cory Maggette's contract might buy this pick.

#8) Memphis via New York - Tyler Hansbrough. Memphis grabs their PF.

#9) Toronto - James Johnson Toronto bank on size and need. From WY, Johnson might be a great fit in Toronto. This pick could easily be moved.

#10) Milwaukee - Tyreke Evans.

#11) New Jersey - Chase Budinger. Thorn rolls the dice.

#12) Charlotte - Gerald Henderson. Best talent on the board.

#13) Indiana - Jennings.

#14) Phoenix - Eric Maynor. Looking past Nash.

#15) Detroit - Jonny Flynn.

#24) Knicks from Portland) Dejuan Blair. Knicks acquire Sergio Rodriguez and this pick for cash and minor roster fill.

Referee Bias

An academic study of officiating in the NBA yield some surprising results via the Oregonian's Researchers' NBA officiating study detects biases, but not necessarily the ones fans suspect by Rachel Bachman.

The researchers looked at six seasons of turnover statistics. They used ones where referees wield relatively little influence, such as a bad pass or steal, as a "control" group, and compared them with ones where referees wield greater influence, such as traveling and offensive fouls.

The researchers found that each type of favoritism -- home, trailing in a game and trailing in a series -- resulted in a 5 to 10 percent advantage in "discretionary" turnovers, or ones over which referees have the most influence. The researchers do not attempt to explain what the percentages could mean in actual wins and losses.

Still, the study concludes that the detected referee biases, though probably unintentional, could increase the league's revenues through additional ticket sales and television appearances by reducing the number of blowout games and making televised games more compelling.

"We can say with fairly high confidence that the results are not just due to randomness or (statistical) noise, that even teams facing elimination have an additional advantage in these referee-based turnovers, discretionary turnovers," said Daniel F. Stone, assistant professor of economics at Oregon State University and one of the study's authors.

NBA executives condemned the study, which is dated March 2009 and has not been published in a scholarly journal, criticizing its methodology, tone and conclusions. The league, whose showcase event, the Finals, starts tonight with the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Orlando Magic, rigorously monitors officiating and does not condone favoritism, said Joel Litvin, the NBA's president of league and basketball operations.

Litvin also dismissed the study's suggestion that fans influence referees' behavior, a finding that echoes those in research about European soccer. The basketball study finds that the home-team advantage in discretionary turnovers increases by 1 percent for every 1,000 people in attendance.

and...

After collecting data for the latest study, culled from play-by-play accounts on ESPN.com, the researchers stumbled into the "home" and "close-game" bias findings, Stone said. Price said the study's most interesting conclusion is that officials might exhibit biases -- conscious or unconscious -- that could benefit their employer.

The researchers also found foul advantages for home teams and teams trailing in a game, but did not emphasize them in the study.

"Our results on fouls are weaker since we can't draw the same distinction between whether they're referee or player-driven as we can for turnovers," Stone said.

NBA referees are paid salaries during the regular season and also for each playoff series they work, according to a league spokesman. So they have no apparent financial motivation to make calls that would extend a playoff series.

Referees must be selected to work the playoffs, however, and are chosen based on experience and regular-season and playoff performance, which is evaluated by league and team officials.

More playoff games typically produce more ticket and television revenue for the NBA. Consequently, officials could make calls to enhance those revenues in order to please their employer, the study says. It also says referees "may have made calls in attempts to please the crowd or players, without being cognizant of their effects on league profitability."

Litvin called the suggested link between referees' calls and league profitability "preposterous."

"But people still think we fixed the Ewing lottery, so I guess nothing surprises me," Litvin said. The 1985 draft lottery gave the large-market New York Knicks the No. 1 pick (and superstar college player Patrick Ewing) despite one-in-seven odds. Wild speculation surfaced that the league froze or bent the Knicks' envelope to make it identifiable by touch.

For five years, the NBA has used observers to log and scrutinize every call. It amplified its study of certain calls in the wake of referee Tim Donaghy's 2007 guilty plea to criminal charges in a gambling scandal involving games he worked and bet on.

"It's really a matter of whether or not the referees are correct in their calling," said Steven Angel, the NBA's senior vice president of league operations and officiating. "And we find that they are."

Finally...

The study notes that it did not examine another fan theory -- that referees favor star players -- because the researchers chose to focus on team-related biases.

Bruce Blonigen, Knight professor in social science in the University of Oregon's department of economics, also reviewed the study at The Oregonian's request. He praised its detailed data (taken from about 3,500 games, from 2002-2008) and the use of "non-discretionary" turnovers as a control group.

"All in all, I find their analysis very compelling and would not be surprised to see it land in a top economics journal," Blonigen said.

The study concludes with suggestions for the league, including increased monitoring of discretionary fouls, clarification of the rules and inclusion of traveling and offensive-foul violations in box scores.