Ten days ago on Halloween night, New York Knicks fans walked into Madison Square Garden with their usual annual optimism and excitement. The sold out crowd roared and cheered like it was the playoffs, especially after the Knicks put on a spirited fourth quarter comeback against the Sixers that forced overtime. Then once again, the Knicks ruined the moment by getting blown out in OT. Read More »

Earlier today, we asked who will be better between the Suns or the Clippers. While most people agreed that the Suns will edge out the Clippers, it’s interesting to note how far the Suns have fallen since the days of Mike D’Antoni. With the big Shaqtus now focused on getting a “Ring for the King,” the Suns will return to running and racking up the points. (A run-and-gun system that led the Suns to the Western Conference finals twice (’05 and ’06), and in 2007 many felt were one Robert Horry body check away from at least an NBA Finals berth.) For today’s Reebok Still Talkin’ Quote of the Day, we look at the opinions of two members of the Suns. Read More »

With the emergence of Danilo Gallinari, it looks like the New York Knicks’ highest paid player, Larry Hughes, will be odd man out in coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation. Situation sound familiar? Last year, the team’s highest paid player and the former face of the franchise, Stephon Marbury, was basically blackballed by D’Antoni at this exact point in the preseason. While Steph bit his tongue at first, it wasn’t long until things started to spiral out of control and the Knicks’ season started to play out like an episode of the Hills. Read More »

One person most people didn’t expected to be donning a Knicks uniform this season is David Lee. The 6-10 rebounding specialist was supposed to be a hot commodity in this summer’s free agent market. But due to the recession, he was not able to secure the long-term, big money deal he was seeking. Right on the eve of training camp, Lee re-upped with the Knicks and is ready to prove he can help make a team a winner. We caught up with David at the EA Sports NBA Live 10 release party at the NBA Store in Manhattan. Read More »

OK, so the Shaq and Terry Porter experiment failed and now the Phoenix Suns are back to runnin’ and gunnin’ full time. Over the summer, Steve Kerr re-signed the quarterback behind the seven-seconds-or-less offense Steve Nash, re-upped with Grant Hill and acquired two slim and athletic big men in Channing Frye and lottery-pick Earl Clark. Under coach Alvin Gentry (who was one of D’Antoni’s assistants in Phoenix), the team will try to trying to rewind time back to the 2004-’05 season and attempt to put up 115 or more points per game. Read More »

Every NBA team has a go-to guy, and there’s really only room for one. It’s not about who always gets to take the last-second shot. More realistically, it’s the guy who regularly gets the ball when things are getting tense in the fourth quarter; it’s the guy who is expected to calm things down when teammates are getting sloppy; it’s the guy who is called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally, or spark a comeback rally of his own; it’s the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions when a shot isn’t there. Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line?

I’ve identified who I think is each team’s go-to guy for this upcoming season, and ranked them from #30 to #1. Read More »

On personal and professional level, not many professional athletes had a year as bad as Eddy Curry. Last season, the 6-11 Knicks center battled injuries and weight problems that sidelined him practically the entire season. His image took a huge hit after he was accused of sexual harassing his personal driver last January. He also had his $5.6 million Chicago house (the same one where he and his family were robbed at gunpoint in back in ‘07) foreclosed on. And worse of all, he tragically lost his ex-girlfriend and daughter to a horrible murder in Chicago. Read More »

When I heard this weekend that new Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis was mostly likely going to add Bill Laimbeer and Reggie Theus to his staff, this got me thinking: If there was a 3-on-3 tournament amongst the NBA’s current coaching staff, who would win? Read More »

In college basketball, you often see this. Big-time blue chip prospect wants to go to School A, and his high school/AAU coach somehow ends up the next season as an assistant on the squad. It makes sense, because one of the biggest things coaches have to deal with is star management - and who knows these guys better than their old coach. But who knew when the summer began and Ramon Sessions entered restricted free agency that AAU was going to have anything to do with what team he signed an offer sheet with. Read More »

All the ducks are in a row. Steve Nash spends his off-seasons in the Big Apple, Mike D’Antoni is one of his best friends and the Suns are about to implode. Although the two-time MVP isn’t an unrestricted free agent until next season, I’d bet money that Nash ends up in NYC this summer. Read More »