KNICKS FANS STILL HAVE SOME SKIN IN THE PLAYOFFS

The NBA Playoffs are in full swing and although most analyst and fans are anticipating an eventual Kobe-Lebron matchup, there is still some good basketball to watch before we get to the finals.  For Knicks fans, although we are moving into the General Management Season, there are still many on-court storylines of interest to many of us.  There is no storyline more interesting than the ultimate fate of Stephon Marbury who escaped (or was tossed if you are reporting from the Newsday, owned by Cablevision which is owned by the Dolans, perspective) New York to join the world champions.  It appears that the Celtics, who have lost both Leon Powe and Kevin Garnett, are unlikely to reach the Finals this year.  And nothing would be better for some Knicks fans to blame the Marbury curse for injuries to Garnett and Powe.  Marbury has yet to rise above the first round of the playoffs, but those failures were on teams where he was given the bulk of the responsibility to make his team a winner.  Thus far, Marbury is struggling in his role as a back-up PG.  He played 10 minutes in each of the first two games and scored a total of two points in those twenty minutes.  In his best game, he realized 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers and no points.  He is trying to fit into his role as a playmaker here.   Helping his team to the second round and possibly giving King James a battle in the Eastern Conference Finals would be seen by others as a sort of karmic justice for Starbury who not only dished out his share of negativity but was also the target of it from the Knicks organization.  Stay tuned to this drama.

The storyline which is probably most critical to the Knicks future is that of LeBron James.  There are those who still believe, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that Walsh’s so-called 2010 plan can result in the name LeBron across the back of a Knick jersey.  Some believe that if LeBron wins a chip, he is more likely to leave his Ohio homebase. Others believe that LeBron, who’s major principal is loyalty not royalties, will leave be more likely to leave Cleveland if he loses because he would have more faith in the Knick organization to being him Championships than the Cleveland organization.   Doesn’t that make you laugh out loud. LOL. LOL. LOL.

Also as DLT pointed out in his comment in the previous thread, there are several former Knicks in the playoffs this year.  In addition to Stephon,  some of those playoff contributors are former-Isiah Thomas players: Trevor Ariza (Lakers), Channing Frye (Trailblazers); Renaldo Balkman (Denver Broncos).  And a couple of recent Walsh’s pick-up-discards (Tim Thomas and Anthony Roberson) are warming the bench with the Bulls.

Most notably, Isiah’s second round #43 pick, Trevor Ariza is a starter and major contributor for the Lakers who are rolling over the Jazz thus far.  In his first game, Ariza played 34 minutes, scored 21 points on 8 for 10 shooting, 3 for 4 from tre-land and added 4 rebounds and 2 assists.  In the next game he only played 32 minutes and scored only 13 points on 5-6 shooting  (3-3 on tres).  He also had 2 steals, 4 rebounds and 9 assists.

Renaldo Balkman is a slightly different story.  Although Balkman was a contributor to the Nuggets success and played significant minutes in wins towards the end of  the season, he was at the end of the bench for the first game of the series against the Hornets.  Karl prefers to shorten his rotation to nine players during the playoffs so Balkman’s minutes will be limited until their is foul trouble and his high, game changing energy is needed.  He has proven to be negligible as an offensive force on this high scoring team.

Ime Udoka, who played 8 games for the Knicks in the 2005-06 season, is a solid backup in San Antonio.  Channing Frye is also on the edge of the bench although he played in 63 games this season and averaged 11.8 minutes but only 4.2 points on 42% field goal shooting.  Very disappointing for a #7 pick, but he is in the playoffs which is more than can be said for the current crop of Knicks.

Knicks fans may also want to pay attention to what type of players may be available during this off-season as the Knicks look to continue the 2010 or Bust rebuilding process.  Perhaps Donnie Walsh will see some magnificient opportunities out there, like expecting Byron Scott to be available in about 1 1/2 seasons. LOL.

Below is the remainder of the playoff schedule.  I will give it it’s own page too, for easy access during the remainder of the games.

NBA Playoff Schedule

Eastern Conference
Cleveland  2  vs. Detroit  0
Game 1 – Sat April 18 Detroit  84 at Cleveland  102
Game 2 – Tue April 21 Detroit 82 at Cleveland 94
Game 3 – Fri April 24 Cleveland at Detroit 7:00PM ESPN
Game 4 – Sun April 26 Cleveland at Detroit 3:30PM ABC
Game 5 * Wed April 29 Detroit at Cleveland TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 1 Cleveland at Detroit TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 3 Detroit at Cleveland TBD TBD

Boston 1 vs. Chicago 1
Game 1 – Sat April 18 Chicago 105 at Boston 103
Game 2 – Mon April 20 Chicago 115 at Boston 118
Game 3 – Thu April 23 Boston at Chicago 8:00PM TNT
Game 4 – Sun April 26 Boston at Chicago 1:00PM ABC
Game 5 * Tue April 28 Chicago at Boston TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu April 30 Boston at Chicago TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 2 Chicago at Boston TBD TNT

Orlando  0 vs. Philadelphia 1
Game 1 – Sun April 19 Philadelphia 100 at Orlando 98
Game 2 – Wed April 22 Philadelphia at Orlando 7:00PM NBATV
Game 3 – Fri April 24 Orlando at Philadelphia 8:00PM ESPN2
Game 4 – Sun April 26 Orlando at Philadelphia 6:30PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 28 Philadelphia at Orlando TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu April 30 Orlando at Philadelphia TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 2 Philadelphia at Orlando TBD TNT

Atlanta 1 vs. Miami 0
Game 1 – Sun April 19 Miami 64 at Atlanta 90
Game 2 – Wed April 22 Miami at Atlanta 8:00PM TNT
Game 3 – Sat April 25 Atlanta at Miami 6:30PM TNT
Game 4 – Mon April 27 Atlanta at Miami TBD TBD
Game 5 * Wed April 29 Miami at Atlanta TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 1 Atlanta at Miami TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 3 Miami at Atlanta TBD TBD

Western Conference
L.A. Lakers 2 vs. Utah 0
Game 1 – Sun April 19 Utah 100 at L.A. Lakers 113
Game 2 – Tue April 21 Utah 109 at L.A. Lakers 119
Game 3 – Thu April 23 L.A. Lakers at Utah 10:30PM TNT
Game 4 – Sat April 25 L.A. Lakers at Utah 9:00PM ESPN
Game 5 * Mon April 27 Utah at L.A. Lakers TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu April 30 L.A. Lakers at Utah TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 2 Utah at L.A. Lakers TBD TNT

Denver 1 vs. New Orleans 0
Game 1 – Sun April 19 New Orleans 84 at Denver 113
Game 2 – Wed April 22 New Orleans at Denver 10:30PM TNT
Game 3 – Sat April 25 Denver at New Orleans 1:00PM ESPN
Game 4 – Mon April 27 Denver at New Orleans TBD TBD
Game 5 * Wed April 29 New Orleans at Denver TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 1 Denver at New Orleans TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 3 New Orleans at Denver TBD TBD

San Antonio 1 vs. Dallas 1
Game 1 – Sat April 18 Dallas 105 at San Antonio 97
Game 2 – Mon April 20 Dallas 84 at San Antonio 105
Game 3 – Thu April 23 San Antonio at Dallas 8:30PM NBATV
Game 4 – Sat April 25 San Antonio at Dallas 4:00PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 28 Dallas at San Antonio TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 1 San Antonio at Dallas TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 3 Dallas at San Antonio TBD TBD

Portland 1 vs. Houston1
Game 1 – Sat April 18 Houston 108 at Portland 81
Game 2 – Tue April 21 Houston 103 at Portland 107
Game 3 – Fri April 24 Portland at Houston 9:30PM ESPN
Game 4 – Sun April 26 Portland at Houston 9:00PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 28 Houston at Portland TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu April 30 Portland at Houston TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 2 Houston at Portland TBD TNT

* if necessary

2009 Playoffs & Finals Around the Web

Yahoo! Sports – NBA Playoffs – Streaming video reports and interviews, the complete TV schedule, the latest scores, stats, breaking news and photos.

Slam! Sports – Basketball – Late breaking news, scoreboard, together with daily stats on assists, blocks, points, steals, blocks and rebounds.

TSN.ca – NBA Playoffs – A series preview and all the teams in contention, their standings in playoff history along with their related regular season logs and stats.

Espn – NBA Playoffs — Everything you want to know about the 2009 Playoffs.

By the way, in case you are interested, the Miami Heat Dancers won their fourth straight NBA DANCE TEAM COMPETITION. It’s not hard to see why, is it? Yeah, the real definition of professionalism is to get to the playoffs without being distracted by your dance team.  Then again one may wonder how Heat players stay married.   Just Bloggin’.