Better Know An NBA Franchise: New York Knicks

I was saving my...*sigh*...favorite NBA team for last, but I don't know if I'll get through all 30 teams, and they're on the short list of franchises I want all of you to know better. Since this is Anti-[Packers Jets QB #4] Week, I figured I'd channel my utter disdain for the Wranglers spokesman into something that actually matters to me, even though I'm not quite over that Destiney thing: The New York Knickerbockers. Oh look, there's [Jets QB #4] throwing passes in a t-shirt and cargo shorts! Drool...drool. I think Aaron Rodgers should be on the "Eff Grandad" remix with the Lethal Interjection Crew.

Anyway, the Knicks, by divine intervention, are still an important part of my sports being. My loyalty for them began when I reached the to of SEGA Genesis' NBA Jam plateau (for the record, I'm still undefeated in that game). That was going on fourteen years ago, and the Knicks are still my favorite team through all their well-documented blunders. I've already written letters to/about them, and even threatened to file for fan divorce. This will be as objective and impartial as possible. Meaning, it won't be objective and it will be partial...
Players: Where do I begin oh this roster? Least Valuable Player Stephon Marbury has a lesser grip on his life than his sneakers have on the floor. Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry appear to be rigorously training to surpass Joey Chestnut. Nate "Mr. July" Robinson's biggest accomplishment is having his Summer League jersey retired...and then taken down by maintenance two hours later. Apparently, Quentin Richardson still hasn't gotten over Brandy. Add an Italian kid (Happy Birthday!) that got the draft hookup because he knows the coach, and has absolutely no idea what's in store for him, and this team fails Chemistry class with flying blue-and-orange colors. The only player I respect is Jamal Crawford. Hopefully, young players like Wilson Chandler and Mardy Collins will see more playing time; just because it can't get much worse than it already is with them on the floor.

Coaching/Front Office: This brings me to those in charge of fixing this Broadway mess. The Knicks are such bad shape that David Stern couldn't even fix the Draft Lottery for them again, like he did for Chicago this year and Seattle/Oklahoma City in '07, but don't tell anybody. Isiah Thomas has literally been paid to stay away from the team, and the new tandem of GM Donnie Walsh and Head Coach Mike D'Antoni look to get this franchise back to relevance. D'Antoni wants to run; but Eddy and Zach want to eat. We'll see how much patience he has with them this season. Also, we'll see how long it takes for Steph to be traded; but given his ability/salary, no one wants him.

Projection: With D'Antoni as coach, defense will definitely be non-existent; even moreso than it was in recent years. One would like to believe that they'll be better on offense, but that requires cohesiveness; and we know that they're definitely lacking in that department. Part of me wants to believe that not having Isiah nearby means instant improvement, but I just don't see it happening. The turnaround will be in process; but I don't know how far ahead of schedule Donnie Walsh's plan will be. Hopefully, they'll be in good enough shape to be able to make a play for Lebron in 2010, barring he doesn't go overseas.

Bonus: There aren't any good and interesting tidbits of information to share with you about the Knicks. Everyone knows Eddy likes cheeseburgers, while Zach is more of a steakums man. So I'll leave you with this link to a Stephon Marbury interview that substantiates my notion that he's completely lost his mind. I and the six remaining Knicks fans (Spike Lee and Woody Allen included) need to hold monthly meetings to help keep each other sane throughout this upcoming season...



Peace.

Better Know an NBA Franchise: Oklahoma City [Insert Nickname Here]

Getting back to the randomness of this series after being rudely interrupted by the Dallas Mavericks, next up is the basketball franchise formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics. Owner Clay Bennett, fed up with the city's lack of concern for building a new arena, packed up his team and moved for suddenly new basketball city Oklahoma City. He has to leave the Sonics name and colors behind, but he keeps the players, and that's most important. For the fans of the team, look on the bright side. At least the team didn't leave in the middle of the night. Right, Baltimore?...


Players: Regardless of the city, hometown kid Kevin Durant is the face of the franchise. Towards the end of last season, he started to figure out how to score in the NBA, and finished averaging over 20 points a game. Once he puts on weight and moves to small forward, he'll be damn near unstoppable. He desperately needs to improve his defense, or does he? Considering that about 94.7% of the Association doesn't care about that end of the floor, he can fit right in with them. I apologize for not mentioning any of the other player on the team, but besides other hometown kid Jeff Green, the rest of them don't matter. They're still looking for a point guard, drafting young late-bloomer Russell Westbrook out of UCLA. This comes after signing Luke Ridnour to a big contract...to ride the bench midway through last season. They're also still searching for an inside presence because Nick Collison, Johan Petro, and Chris Wilcox are not the solution. It's going to be a long season for the Oklahoma City [Rock Lobsters]*...

Coaches/Front Office:  Despite not having agreed on a team name or uniform design, the Oklahoma City [Percy Miracles]* have already begun the changeover to their new franchise.  New GM Sam Presti has been avidly working on...whatever it is GMs of fledgling teams need to be working on avidly.  I don't know too much about Presti, but he can't possibly be worse than Isiah; so that's a positive at the lowest level.  Coach P.J. Carlesimo isn't expected to take this team to the playoffs, so his job isn't in any kind of jeopardy.  For now, the team will try to maintain relevance and try to generate enough excitement until they can get some better talent around Mr. Durant.

Bonus:  To honor the end of the Seattle franchise, I'll just leave you with this video of Shawn "The Reignman" Kemp in his Sonic prime, before he made his case for Fertile Man of the Decade.  I bet Alton Lister still dreams of having Kemp's sac plastered across his chin...

Projection:  The Oklahoma City [Square Watermelons]* won't be good...for awhile.  But Mr. Durant will continue to improve as a player.  They'll end up right around the same spot in the 2009 Draft...still ahead of the Knicks.

Peace.

*And if one of my nicknames is used, put my check in the mail, please.

Better Know an NBA Franchise: Dallas Mavericks

I wanted to save this one for a later date. I was trying to stick by the randomness of my team selections. Two posts into this series, and I have slightly deviated from that plan. At first intention, the second post was reserved for the Houston Rockets, because I don't have a particular feeling one way or the other about that team. However, after a somewhat lengthy exchange on my "Better Know: Wizards" post on the Facebook import (not Fundamentally UnSound *hint*), a friend of mine was consistently defending "his" Mavericks. With that said, I decided to shed some light on this franchise in a somewhat unbiased way...

This may give off the impression that I don't have a particular fondness for the Dallas Mavericks, and I swear on Baron Davis' roller skates that is not the case. This paragraph is written to get all of my personal opinions out of the way before I discuss the team as a whole. You basketball fans already know the Mavs' story over this decade. They've been a team on the cusp and have the resources and talent to already have a title or two. But Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan and the entire city of Oakland have thwarted Mark Cuban's plans for sports world domination. A lot of the blame, and a lot of said blame coming from me, has fallen upon Dirk's German shoulders. Both credit and scrutiny are first given to the best player of a team; it's just something that comes with the territory. Dirk's (and Mark Cuban's) methods for dealing with the negatives are what bothers a lot of people. There's also the small obstacle of Dirk playing significantly smaller in bigger games and moments, but that'll be discussed on a broader level...

Players: The Mavs have a lot of talent. Whenever you can trade your point guard of the future and most of your bench and still make the playoffs in a competitive Western Conference, you have to be talented. Josh Howard is a do-it-all player (and probably on the trading block), Jason Terry can chip in with 20 points consistently, and how many players—let alone, seven-foot big men—do you know that has a jumper like Dirk's? But, as the case with the Wizards, something seems to be hindering them from getting over the championship hump. It seems that the team shrivels up in big games because a lack of [intestinal] fortitude (read: cojones) among their key players (read: Dirk). I don't know if it's the makeup of the team, the lavishly comfortable home facilities, or what; but at times they seem to play...well...soft. I like Shan Foster as their second-round pick, but by unwritten rule, he'll probably stay in the D-League for the whole season. More than likely, it'll be the same team for another season. To put that bluntly, they'll be relying on Eric Dampier to be productive. Is that good enough to make the playoffs in an ever-improving West?...

Coaches/Front Office: With back-to-back abrupt exits in the the playoffs, it was inevitable—fairly or unfairly—that Avery Johnson (who loves the game of basketball) would be out as head coach. Enter former Pacers and Pistons great Rick Carlisle to lead the team. Maybe he'll be the one to instill a more defensive mindset into the players, something that's plagued the franchise since Don Nelson told the team a few years back that, "the goal was to average 100 points a game for the season." One thing is certain: Mark Cuban is one of the few NBA owners willing to spend whatever it takes to win that coveted title...

Bonus: There wasn't a bunch of trivial and interesting information that I found in my not-so extensive research, outside of the Mavs' uniforms being designed by Diddy himself. I'm not even sure that's something to be proud of, but I guess that's cool...

Projection: As stated earlier, all of the elements have been here for this franchise to pose with the trophy in June for years now. Are they a top eight team in the West? If you're one of those people that believes in experience, then that answer for you is yes. However, I don't think the Mavs will buy into Rick Carlisle's system right away, and a lot of the other teams on the Left Coast are simply more talented than Dallas. Three of the teams in their own division—The Timmys, The CP3s, and T-Mac, Yao & the Rockets—are better than them. The resulting season is that they will miss the playoffs by a game or two; and will probably trade Josh Howard if they're out of contention by the all-star break. It will definitely be a few years before Mark Cuban gets that ring. Maybe he should have been a little more persuasive in the purchase of the Cubs, because it seems they'll end their 100-year drought before his Mavs are the best team in basketball...




Peace.

Better Know an NBA Franchise: Washington Wizards

It's been awhile since my last post, but I have returned with a brand-spanking new series I'll be starting. I'm going to shine some insight on each of the 30 NBA teams. I plan to finish it, but don't hold me to it. You can't really blame me if I don't really feel like writing at length about the Bobcats. If David Stern doesn't care about them, then why should I...right? I thought about going in alphabetical order; but Fundamentally UnSound is all about the randomness. Gut feeling would tell me to start with the Knicks; but it pains me to even watch anything they do at this present time. Anyway, to the first team...

I figured I'd start with my hometown team, the Washington Wizards. For going on five years now, they have been an "up-and-coming team" that was supposed to rise to the top of the Eastern Conference's elite. Apparently, Lebron James didn't get that memo, as he's been judge, jury, and executioner for the inhabitants of the Phone Booth for the past three postseasons. It's not a rivalry if one team does all the winning. That "sleeper team" role only passes for so long. (See: 2000-2004 Sacramento Kings)

Players: The Wizards have an abundance of team chemistry. Despite Agent Zero's scorer's mentality, the rest of the team seems to enjoy him. And while he's still the best player of the team, the most valuable is unquestionably Caron Butler. He and Antawn Jamison are the heart and grit of the Wiz. Nick Young should see more time this year, since he has a natural knack to score. With that said, as stacked as they are offensively, they lack that interior presence needed to command games on the defensive end. Brendan Haywood, Andray Blatche, and new draft pick Javale McGee are not the answers. If they don't find someone to own the paint on both ends, they keep wearing "Round 2" T-Shirts and caps in the playoffs...


Coaching/Front Office: Eddie Jordan may be one of the better coaches in the Association. He successfully incorporated the Princeton-style offense; and, when executed correctly, (read: when Gilbert doesn't decide to do his own thing) is amazing to watch. For some reason, he can't translate his defensive-minded mentality over to his whole team. Caron and DeShawn "I Can't Feel My Face" Stevenson seem to be the only ones fully committed to it. As far as the front office goes, Abe Polland believes in his "Big 3" because he locked up both Arenas and Jamison to huge multi-year deals. Gilbert even took less money than the team offered him, hopefully so they could bring that missing championship piece into the franchise.


Bonus Info: It's becoming more and more known that the Wizards are a playful bunch. From DeShawn Stevenson making the rest of the team sign contracts to talk to him, to he and Gilbert's three-point shooting challenge, they like to have fun while working. They like to play practical jokes on each other. Of course, Gilbert is the ring leader and main culprit, and his main prey are Nick Young and Dominic McGuire. Paintball fights, fake boxing matches, and games of H-O-R-S-E are all a part of those two rookies-turned-sophomores daily routine. This is also further proof that basketball players have so much free time on their hands.

Projection: The Wizards are a top eight team in the East, but need interior toughness. That act they tried to pull on the Lebrons last year wasn't them. Now with Toronto, Milwaukee and Indiana getting better in this offseason, their window isn't going to stay open for long. Either defensive intensity needs to be magically instilled in the current roster, or they'll continue to be one-and-done in April.



Peace.