| Featured Commentary Archive |
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Houston Has To Floor It
10/30/2002: By Mike Lupica (Daily News)
The Knicks extended Don Chaney's contract again yesterday, maybe because it was one last slow day before the season starts. James Dolan and Scott Layden guaranteed Chaney his job for the 2002-03 season not long after he took over for Jeff Van Gundy. |
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It's A Return To Gory Days For Knicks
10/30/2002: By Frank Isola (Daily News)
The old Knicks coach can recite the how, where and why of seasons gone terribly wrong as if he were the eyewitness to a crime. Even after all these years he still remembers everything. And in full detail. |
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Knicks Give Contract Extension To Chaney
10/29/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
In an attempt to shine a positive light after a nightmarish preseason, the New York Knicks have given coach Don Chaney a contract extension. |
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Smith, Checketts Rip Dolan, Cablevision's Approach
10/29/2002: By Steve Zipay (Newsday)
Since 1997, when Cablevision acquired full control of Madison Square Garden and its teams, the Rangers haven't made the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Knicks also missed the playoffs last spring, and their 2002-03 prospects are bleak. |
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Saunders Leaves 'em Laughing
10/27/2002: By Mike Dougherty (The Journal News)
Pomona resident Mike Saunders is more than the Knicks' trainer, he's their source of comic relief. |
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Public Face, Private Man
10/27/2002: By Shaun Powell (Newsday)
This will happen to Scott Layden: The Knicks, the team he oversees as president and general manager, will take a beating one night. Some team will roast them by a good margin at the Garden. Jump shots will miss. Layups won't fall. A bad pass will find Spike Lee. |
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Espn Magazine Preview
10/25/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
As Antonio McDyess torched preseason opponents, there was a flutter of hope that the Knicks would again be bright lights, big city. But now, with the former Nugget out for the year, a team that already had gaping holes at PG and C is looking at a long, cold -- and dark -- winter. |
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Traveling Sprewell Circus Arrives
10/23/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Only the sounds of the calliope were missing, that and the elephants that trample through Madison Square Garden when the circus comes to town. |
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Knicks Waive Guard Rich
10/23/2002: By AP (The Sporting News)
Guard Jemeil Rich was waived Wednesday by the New York Knicks. |
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Sprewell, Layden Deserve Each Other
10/23/2002: By AP (The Sporting News)
Rarely have two guys in sports deserved each other more than New York Knicks guard Latrell Sprewell and his boss, Scott Layden. |
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Friends Make Winners? Bah!
10/23/2002: By Johnette Howard (Newsday)
It's about time someone reminded us about the Big Lie in modern sports. For this week's local refresher course, we can thank Latrell Sprewell, the disgruntled Knicks star who keeps assuring us that no matter how ugly things get between him and Knicks management, he doesn't want to leave New York and he's absolutely sure he still can play his heart out here. Why not? What's a little mudslinging? If modern sports has taught us anything, it's that getting along is overrated. |
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Soap Opera Has Become A Turnoff
10/22/2002: By Shaun Powell (Newsday)
On the one hand, the Knicks might want this episode to continue. The longer it goes, the more it distracts from the real distraction: the upcoming season. |
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It's A Game The Knicks Cannot Win
10/22/2002: By Selena Roberts (NY Times)
For years, the Garden Plotters could gloat privately over their skills of mass deception as they created the illusion of Knicks contenders by buying up damaged goods, as they inflated ticket prices after overpaying for those false promises, as they whipped up phony sellouts to prop up their product image. |
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Sprewell Suspended By Knicks
10/21/2002: By MSNBC (MSNBC)
Latrell Sprewell sued a newspaper, spouted off and got suspended Monday. On a day filled with developments related to Sprewell’s injured right hand and his relationship with the New York Knicks, the rift between everyone involved only seemed to worsen. |
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Sprewell sues over report; Knicks allege rehab violation
10/21/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
Latrell Sprewell sued a newspaper, spouted off and got suspended Monday. On a day filled with developments related to Sprewell's injured right hand and his relationship with the New York Knicks, the rift between everyone involved only seemed to worsen. |
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Chaney Trying To Hide Excitement
10/18/2002: By Mike Dougherty (The Journal News)
Years of experience have taught Don Chaney to remain calm even while the Knicks are showing unexpected signs of life. The coach would love to be more than a little excited by the way his team is playing right now, but there's a real and present danger in doing that. |
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'Change' Is Rage In The NBA East
10/18/2002: By Steve Adamek (Bergen)
For the second time in three days Thursday, this time in a state where presidential candidates begin taking measure of each other every four years, the two teams that met in last season's Eastern Conference finals did the same. |
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Knicks Get $4.54m Cap Relief To Replace McDyess
10/17/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
The NBA granted the New York Knicks a $4.54 million midlevel injury exception on Thursday following season-ending surgery on Antonio McDyess' broken left kneecap. |
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Chaney Faces A Difficult Season
10/17/2002: By Walt Frazier (MSG)
I'm sure the Knicks are shocked right now over the Antonio McDyess situation. It's something no one anticipated, so it's devastating for the team. But if there's a silver lining, it's that the injury happened early on. Now the guys have the chance to overcome the shock and work through the rest of the preseason games in an effort to regroup. |
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Time To Look Into Rebuilding
10/17/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
"If a fighter takes a punch in the jaw, he's going to get tested. Is he going to stay down, or is he going to get back up?" |
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The Rules To NBA's Disabled Player Exception
10/17/2002: By Chad Ford (ESPN)
The New York Knicks, upon learning that Antonio McDyess will miss the entire 2002-03 season with a fractured knee cap, have applied to the NBA office for a disabled player exception. |
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Jackpot
10/17/2002: By Tom Friend (ESPN)
When the New York Knicks draft LeBron James next June -- and trust me, they'll get LeBron James -- they'll have Antonio McDyess to thank. |
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Knicks' McDyess Out For Season After Kneecap Surgery
10/16/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
There's nothing indefinite about Antonio McDyess' status anymore. The New York Knicks' starting power forward will miss the season after having surgery Wednesday on his broken kneecap. Dr. Norman Scott, who performed the two-hour procedure at Beth Israel Hospital, said the injury would not end McDyess' career. |
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Knicks' Only Hope: Pray For Ping-Pong Balls
10/15/2002: By Marc Stein (ESPN)
If Scott Layden still had the will to duck into the office Monday, he would have been wise to place his first call to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. |
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Knicks Still Competitive? No Dice; Time To Rebuild
10/15/2002: By Shaun Powell (Newsday)
They finally have their excuse. No one will blame them for using it, either. For the first time since the pre-Patrick Ewing era, the Knicks can and should shut it down and start over. Rebuild now. Recover later. |
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Knicks' Chances Crash With McDyess
10/14/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Shortly after Saturday night's game at Madison Square Garden, Antonio McDyess stood in the tunnel leading out of the Garden and spoke hopefully about the injury to his left knee. |
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An Eventful Off-Season Takes Yet Another Twist
10/14/2002: By William C. Rhoden (NY Times)
Now what, Scott Layden? More stoicism? More unblinking assurances to Knicks customers that it's all good, that everything's cool? |
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McDyess Suffers Fractured Left Patella
10/13/2002: By MSG (MSG)
NBA All-Star forward Antonio McDyess fractured his left patella in the Knicks' preseason game versus the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden Saturday night. The injury occurred with 1:55 remaining in the game on a put-back dunk. He is out indefinitely. |
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Report: McDyess Out 'Most, if not the entire season'
10/13/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
Could the New York Knicks' preseason take a worse turn than it reportedly has Sunday? Power forward Antonio McDyess is expected to miss "most, if not the entire season" with a knee injury he suffered in a preseason loss Saturday night, the New York Daily News reports on its Web site. |
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East Is Still Up For Grabs
10/13/2002: By Shaun Powell (Newsday)
Where are you going, New York Knicks? A city turns its lonely eyes to you. |
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What Was Latrell Sprewell Thinking?
10/11/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
What the heck was Latrell Sprewell thinking when he failed to notify the Knicks that he had broken his hand (allegedly by tripping and falling on his new yacht) until a couple of weeks after the fact, when he was supposed to report to training camp? |
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Season Preview
10/7/2002: By NBA.com (NBA.com)
The Knicks have traditionally been a grind-it-out, defense-first team. Year after year their mentality was to stop the other team, not outscore them, a strategy passed along from coach Pat Riley to Jeff Van Gundy. But now that Don Chaney has a full training camp with the team, things are going to change in New York. |
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Top Ten Reasons The Knicks Have Improved
10/7/2002: By Tom Kertes (NBA.com)
As sure as the sun rising in the morning and the stars coming out at night, there's another certainty floating around our otherwise uncertain universe: the Knicks, a problematic 30-52 in 2001-02, will be a better team this year. |
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Whine Of The Week
10/7/2002: By MSNBC (MSNBC)
Frankly, we were beginning to worry that the Knicks' Latrell Sprewell had made so much progress in cleaning up his act that we’d never have an opportunity to see his name on our dishonor role. |
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For Spree, Enough Is Enough
10/7/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Latrell Sprewell has always had time to ponder the consequences. |
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Fine Costs Knicks More Trade Value
10/7/2002: By Marc Stein (ESPN)
The fine is a Cubanesque figure, and it came from a team, not the league. All of which makes Latrell Sprewell's $250,000 punishment Monday one of most sensational dockings in NBA history. |
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Knicks Play Hardball, Fine Injured Sprewell $250,000
10/7/2002: By AP (ESPN)
Latrell Sprewell was fined $250,000 Monday by the New York Knicks, who also told him to stay away from the team until he can make "a positive contribution." |
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Start Spreading The News: McDyess Says He's Ready
10/3/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
Antonio McDyess recently walked outside his apartment on New York City's Upper West Side when someone called his name. |
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Chaney Starting With Tied Hands
10/1/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Don Chaney can think upon the heartbreaking losses in close games last season or recall the one-sided losses in which he wondered just what he'd gotten himself into. He can think still about what he has ahead of him this year with a team that enters training camp without a frontline center or point guard. |
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Judge: Thomas Can't Have Contact With Wife
10/1/2002: By AP (ESPN)
New York Knicks center Kurt Thomas was ordered to stay away from his wife and home at his arraignment Tuesday on charges he assaulted her during an argument over a laptop computer. |
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Knicks Ready To Roll Dice With McDyess
9/30/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
Can new Knick Antonio McDyess come back off major knee surgery and give the Knicks a low-post threat they haven't had since Patrick Ewing and Larry Johnson worked the low boxes at Madison Square Garden? |
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Thomas Turns Himself In; Sprewell Injures Hand
9/30/2002: By MSG (MSG)
Knicks forward Kurt Thomas turned himself in to authorities over an alleged domestic dispute Monday morning. On the floor, guard Latrell Sprewell sustained an injury to his right hand and will be evaluated further today. |
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Knicks Season Preview
9/30/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
An analytical look at the Knicks heading into the 2002-03 season. |
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Knicks Sign Six Free Agents
9/30/2002: By NBA.com (NBA.com)
The New York Knickerbockers have signed six free agents: center Todd Lindeman, forwards Tim James and Mark Pope and guards Toby Bailey, Danny Johnson and Jemeil Rich, Knicks President and General Manager Scott Layden announced today. As per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed. |
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History Of Big Three (pt. 3)
9/28/2002: By Tim Kelly (NYKbasketball.com)
The series covers the history of the “Big Three”, from the time of Patrick Ewing, to the era today of McDyess/Sprewell/Houston, and today will wrap up with where the Knicks need some help, if they are good enough to make the playoffs, and what moves (in terms of free agent signings and trades) will make this team better. |
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Ewing One Of The Greats
9/28/2002: By Wesley Cheng (NYKbasketball.com)
Patrick Ewing’s career will be defined by his championship rings – or lack there of. Seventeen years in the league, 21 points and nearly 10 rebounds a season later, and only comments about the hardware on his hands are the only topic of debate a week after his retirement. Are we being fair here? |
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Knicks GM Doesn't Regret Trading for McDyess
9/26/2002: By AP (ESPN)
Without a true center or a top-level point guard after a slow summer, Knicks president Scott Layden said Thursday he was glad to be able to make the one deal he did. |
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How Knicks Drummed Up Business
9/26/2002: By Richard Sandomir (NY Times)
For a decade, the Knicks' season-ticket waiting list symbolized their success and gave them the cachet of a hot Broadway show. |
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Houston Just Wants To Win
9/25/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
A week ago, Allan Houston spent the afternoon crowded into a small conference room at the Four Seasons Hotel, part of the group that came to honor Patrick Ewing as the former teammate announced his retirement. And for much of the afternoon, Ewing and his friends and teammates were left to describe the less than affectionate relationship that the future Hall-of-Fame center held with the hometown New York fans. |
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Still Waiting For The Big One
9/20/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
The game was supposed to be just for fun. So why was Nick Van Exel screaming at referee Joey Crawford in the final minute of a charity basketball game? And when Van Exel dropped in three 3-point field goals in the final minute Tuesday, why were the 11,000 fans at Madison Square Garden on their feet embracing Van Exel as if he were one of their own? |
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Don't Judge Ewing On Playoff Failures
9/19/2002: By Sean Deveney (The Sporting News)
Patrick Ewing never won a championship. Sing it, memorize it, write it 150 times on the blackboard, tattoo it across his forehead. It's a fact, and in the twisted web of human opinion, that is all that seems to matter. Watch the sports bits on the evening news, or hear the commentary on talk radio, and it's inevitable. Pat Ewing? Good player, never won the big one. |
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Ewing Listened To Mother
9/19/2002: By George Vecsey (NY Times)
He arrived in this country, tall and skinny and speaking with a Jamaican accent. "You know how cruel kids can be at 11, 12, 13," said Mike Jarvis, who became his high school coach. "I told him that one day they'd be buying tickets to watch him play." |
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The Image Of A Proper Sendoff
9/18/2002: By Steve Cangialosi (MSG)
It was a league-wide show of respect. There to properly give Patrick Ewing his proper sendoff into the NBA's sunset were Alonzo Mourning, Jeff Van Gundy, agent David Falk, and a host of others. |
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Ewing Didn't Need Championship To Live Immigrant's Dream
9/18/2002: By Ian O'Conner (The Journal News)
Carl Ewing heard the cold-hearted taunts fill up a dark high school gym, the echoes crashing around the tallest of his seven children. Ewing was too busy working the 3-to-11 shift to catch many of Patrick's games, but he had been around long enough to understand that this chaotic symphony raging in his ears was not the sound of his American dream. |
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Only Smiles, No Scowls, As Ewing Says Goodbye
9/17/2002: By Frank Litsky (NY Times)
For this day, at least, there was no acrimony. No angry fans. No critical news media. Patrick Ewing's retirement after 17 mostly distinguished seasons as a pro basketball player turned into a lovefest. |
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Intensity, Consistency Marked Ewing's Career
9/17/2002: By Dr. Jack Ramsay (ESPN)
The term "warrior" has been overused in sports, but it is used correctly when applied to Patrick Ewing. |
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Ewing Always Let Them See Him Sweat
9/17/2002: By David Aldridge (ESPN)
Good Lord, did the man sweat. Not the sweat that you see under the arms of working women's silk blouses. Not even the sweat of the bus driver in rush hour, the sweat that soaks up through the T-shirt to create blotches of dampness on cotton blue work shirts. |
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Missing Out On Title Kept Ewing From Elite Status
9/17/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
Patrick Ewing retired Tuesday without doing the one thing he came to New York to do. Hang a championship banner from the Garden's rafters. With Ewing, it was always something. |
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Ewing On Ice
9/17/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
When the decision was made and the announcement surfaced Monday night that Patrick Ewing would call it quits, I tried to strain through the memories of failures and highlights of his career, sifting through feathery jump shots and finger rolls off the rim, to come up with one moment that defined the 15 years that Ewing toiled for the New York Knicks. |
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Greatness Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
9/17/2002: By Mike Breen (MSG)
A" great" NBA player is retiring. I don't use the word great very often when talking about athletes. I think it's an overused word when describing a player's talents or abilities. But I believe Patrick Ewing was a great player. Did he win an NBA championship? No. But I don't think a player needs to win a championship to be called a "great" player. |
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Ewing Calls A News Conference In New York
9/16/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
Patrick Ewing has called a news conference for noon ET Tuesday and the former New York Knicks all-star is expected to announced the end of what likely will be a Hall of Fame basketball career, the Boston Globe reported. |
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Ewing Completes An Incomplete Career
9/16/2002: By Al Trautwig (MSG)
Well it's finally official. As Carmela told husband Tony Soprano in last night's episode everything comes to an end, even the career of Patrick Ewing. At a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel the former Knick will say the "R" word and retire. If you ask members of the media, many would say the most appropriate reaction would be that no one shows up. That will always be the problem with Ewing's legacy. He was not a complete player and he was far from being a complete person. |
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Valuable Lesson Learned From World Championships
9/11/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
The Knicks did not have a player on the United States team that underachieved to devastating results at the World Championships in Indianapolis, so they are in the clear as far as blame goes. But there is a lesson to be learned from the United States' failures. |
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Season Preview
9/3/2002: By John Hollinger (CNN SI)
After watching a comically overpaid roster limp to a 30-win season, the Knicks took some decisive steps to try to squeeze a playoff season or two out of a team that was both short on scoring and just plain short a year ago. |
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Bring Back The “Thugs”
9/2/2002: By Stephen Vafier (NYKbasketball.com)
The word “thug” means many different things to many different people. The baggy-pants with one leg rolled up to the knee can be labeled as thug attire. All the new slang and street talk is associated with thugs along with a hostile nature. These “thugs” are usually not well liked. |
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History Of The Big Three (pt. 2)
9/2/2002: By Tim Kelly (NYKbasketball.com)
Recently, an article was written about the history of the “Big Three” on the New York Knicks. The theory of having three players that were near franchise players and excellent in some regards, but not excellent overall. This is the second part of a three-part installment about the “Big Three.” |
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Knicks Keeping Tabs On Vujanic
8/29/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
As the basketball world convenes in Indianapolis this week — minus every player who is resting an injury or who can imagine a more glamorous summer locale than Indiana — all eyes will be on Yao Ming. That is, all eyes but those belonging to Scott Layden, Jeff Nix and the rest of the Knicks' management team on site. |
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Ewing, Olajuwon Should Bow Out Together
8/27/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
While Antonio McDyess was visiting the New York area to find a house a few weeks back, he worked out with Patrick Ewing in the Knicks' facilities. |
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History Of The Big Three (pt. 1)
8/27/2002: By Tim Kelly (NYKbasketball.com)
Bold moves many times lead to the establishment of great franchises. Dynasties. In a phrase, it’s all about being bold. When Red Auerbach drafted Larry Bird in 1978, even though everyone knew Bird wouldn’t play in the NBA until 1980, he took a chance. When the Los Angeles Lakers traded Vlade Divac for an unknown high school (a player who many dubbed a “punk”) named Kobe Bryant, the Lakers took a chance. Well, the Celtics dominated the 1980s and the Lakers are well on their way to dominating the first century of the new decade. Why? Because people at the helm of these franchises were willing to take a risk. |
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Knicks Size Up Remaining Options
8/27/2002: By Wesley Cheng (NYKbasketball.com)
With the free agent market drying up, the Knicks options for big men and crafty point guards are growing smaller and smaller. But that doesn’t mean Knicks GM Scott Layden can’t make some small moves to make New York better. |
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Ewing's Future In Doubt
8/20/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
The back door at the Purchase College gym leading to the private parking lot opened, same as it had as the likes of Clarence Weatherspoon and Howard Eisley had walked through. But this time, it was Patrick Ewing, swinging all eyes towards him. |
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Ewing Still Undecided About His Future, Team Says
8/15/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
Patrick Ewing and the Orlando Magic are parting ways after one season. |
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2002-03 Knicks Preseason Schedule Announced
8/9/2002: By MSG (MSG)
The New York Knickerbockers announced their 2002-03 preseason schedule. The games include three games at Madison Square Garden, the return to the Nassau Coliseum for the 11th time and three road games against Western Conference teams. |
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The Knicks Sign Doleac, Big Deal
8/7/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
The names are exciting. Andre Miller. Baron Davis. Darius Miles. Keith Van Horn. Dikembe Mutombo. Even Todd MacCulloch. And the Knicks announce the signing of Michael Doleac. |
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Knicks Sign Center Michael Doleac
8/7/2002: By NBA.com (NBA.com)
New York Knickerbockers President and General Manager Scott Layden announced today that the team has signed center Michael Doleac as an unrestricted free agent. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. |
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The Dyess-Man Cometh
8/3/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
As Antonio McDyess stood in the heat outside of the Knicks SUNY-Purchase practice site, wiping the sweat from his brow after a weightlifting session, Patrick Ewing walked out the door and sauntered to his car. It almost seemed like a comical aside as the franchise center for more than a decade in New York appeared just as McDyess was bemoaning the lack of a center on the current Knicks roster. |
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With Knicks, Layden Not Talking A Great Game
8/1/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
On draft night in New York, Knicks fans, tired of waiting almost 30 years for a championship, had their say. Moments after the Knicks used their No. 1 selection on an unknown forward from Brazil, the rhythmic chanting started: "Fi-re Lay-den! Fi-re Lay-den!" |
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McDyess Peeks At Playground Game
8/1/2002: By Chris Broussard (NY Times)
Antonio McDyess knows how powerful first impressions can be, so he chose to be a fan rather than a participant yesterday at Rucker Park in Harlem. In an oversized red T-shirt and matching baseball cap, McDyess looked like any other spectator as he herked and jerked with amusement at the sight of a nice dunk or a nifty crossover dribble. |
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Getting Knicks Pointed In Right Direction
7/31/2002: By Chad Ford (ESPN)
Scott Layden has a tough job. It isn't often that you find a way to ship off injury-plagued big man Marcus Camby and the rights to a draft pick that is still years away, get All-Star power forward Antonio McDyess in return and still get pummeled by the press. |
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Why No One Wants To Deal For Sprewell
7/29/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
Latrell Sprewell, anyone? Not at this point.
Working overtime to get Andre Miller, the New York Knicks have been shopping Sprewell hard over the last few weeks, but with no success. Here's why. |
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Spree Should Stay
7/26/2002: By Tim Kelly (NYKbasketball.com)
All summer Knicks fans, myself included, have read the newspapers, talked on message boards, and debated with friends about what course Knicks General Manager Scott Layden will take in these waning weeks of summer, before training camp begins and before another season is bestowed upon us. |
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Knicks Still Searching To Answer "Big" Question
7/26/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Cornered in a hallway at the Shaw's Pro Summer League, Kevin McHale backed up against a wall and faced off against the probing questions of Knicks writers. He was asked about his plans if the Knicks offered a contract to his center, Rasho Nesterovic, and what it might take to pry Wally Szczerbiak from his roster. |
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Second Move Isn't Coming
7/23/2002: By Wesley Cheng (NYKbasketball.com)
Go and ask your neighbor for a few dollars to get lunch or to borrow his car for the day, and he’ll probably let you have a sandwich and a free ride on him. Ask the lady at work if you can borrow her computer to send out an email, and your kids will know what time you’re coming home. |
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Will Wrist Injury Break Williams' Spirit?
7/19/2002: By Andy Katz (ESPN)
Frank Williams already knew the criticism would come from New Yorkers, Knicks fans and the media. And that was before he broke his wrist. |
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Mcdyess, Knicks Open On The Road
7/19/2002: By Al Iannazzone (Bergen)
Antonio McDyess will play his first two regular-season games as a Knick on the road. |
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Posting Up With Don Chaney
7/19/2002: By Al Trautwig (MSG)
Knicks head coach Don Chaney knew that when Jeff Van Gundy resigned, it wasn't going to be easy. The team never really responded to him in spite of the fact Knicks management gave him a one-year extension. |
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Knicks Must Cope With Loss Of Rookie Hopeful
7/19/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Last year, everything seemed to go wrong for the Knicks. Injuries at the most inopportune times. Jeff Van Gundy abruptly walking away. And that knack for blowing games at the last possible moment. |
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Knicks Rookie Williams To Have Surgery On Left Wrist
7/17/2002: By MSG (MSG)
Knicks President and General Manager Scott Layden announced Wednesday that rookie Frank Williams injured his left wrist Tuesday, playing for the team's entry at Shaw's Pro Summer League in Boston, MA. |
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With TV Money Cut, Salary Cap Is Lower
7/17/2002: By Liz Robbins (NY Times)
The N.B.A. set its salary cap at $40.271 million tonight, nearly $2.3 million, or 5.2 percent, less than it was last season. It is the first time the cap has decreased since it was instituted for the 1984-85 season. |
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Postell Gets Serious At Summer Camp
7/16/2002: By Mike Dougherty (The Journal News)
Lavor Postell doesn't waste a breath. Thoughts speed through his busy mind and get put into words without delay, which makes for some amusing moments in the Knicks' locker room. |
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Williams Could Use Summer League To Speed Into Lineup
7/15/2002: By Mike Dougherty (The Journal News)
Frank Williams sliced through a surprised defense at will. Nobody was able to match the explosiveness of a player the Knicks hope will some day develop into a useful NBA point guard. |
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Summer Guidelines
7/13/2002: By Wesley Cheng (NYKbasketball.com)
Let’s face it. Any team playing in New York doesn’t have the time to rebuild. The Yankees landing Modesi and Weaver for a first place team speaks volumes of the attitude that New York embodies: sacrifice the future, win now. |
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Who's To Blame?
7/13/2002: By Tim Kelly (NYKbasketball.com)
There is a popular saying in street basketball and competitive sports overall which states, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” It’s a pretty accurate saying that filters down into not disliking a particular player because he is good at what he does, but hate the game that he plays. |
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Summer Of Scott: How Layden Can Fix The Knicks
7/13/2002: By Jamaal Webb-Smith (UltimateKnicks.com)
When the final buzzer ended on the New York Knick season, it was clear that they were a team in need. They needed size, a point guard, a post player, a plan, a hope, a life. Enter Scott Layden. |
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Williams Expected At Knicks' Summer League
7/8/2002: By AP (ESPN)
Frank Williams, a first-round pick in the NBA draft, signed with the New York Knicks on Monday. |
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Knicks Summer League Roster Announced
7/8/2002: By NBA.com (NBA.com)
The New York Knickerbockers announced their summer league roster today that will participate in the Shaw’s Pro Summer League 2002 from July 15-21, in Boston, MA. |
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Old Knock On Knicks: No Master Plan
7/2/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
By trading for Antonio McDyess, Scott Layden has put the Knicks' payroll over the $90 million mark for the first time in team history. But can all that money buy New York its first NBA championship since 1972-73? |
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Luxury Tax Will Put Limit On Free-Agents Signings
7/1/2002: By Dave D'Alessandro (New Jersey Online)
The 2002 NBA free-agent market opens today, and it promises to be the most uneventful in years for two reasons: Virtually every team has the same amount of money to spend, and most have already decided to watch their wallets. |
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Vandeweghe Dares To Be Bold
6/30/2002: By Liz Robbins (NY Times)
Kiki Vandeweghe stepped into the sunshine late Friday afternoon for only the second time in four days and drove past a security guard who serenaded him enthusiastically outside the Pepsi Center in Denver. |
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Uncensored Thoughts About NBA Draft
6/29/2002: By Ralph Wiley (ESPN)
I'm happy. I'm happy even though I've been known as the witness of death for many an NBA team I've been affiliated with, or happened to have been around, in their modern-era draft. But not today. The Knicks got Frankie. |
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McDyess Promises Big Things
6/29/2002: By Chris Broussard (NY Times)
Antonio McDyess predicts a return of thrilling Knicks playoff basketball, courtesy of his combining with Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston. |
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McDyess Ready For Big Time
6/29/2002: By Mike Dougherty (The Journal News)
The night before Antonio McDyess made his NBA debut, he was invited to dinner by a friend, who drove up to the hotel in an exotic sports car. It was his first ride in the lap of luxury. |
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Knicks Draft Analysis
6/28/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
Knicks president/G.M. Scott Layden was booed when his decision to trade future potential for present value was announced during the draft at Madison Square Garden. But under pressure from ownership to put the Knicks back into the playoffs next season, Layden authored a master stroke by turning the No. 7 pick into All-Star power forward Antonio McDyess and promising rookie point guard Frank Williams. |
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Fans Will Soon Come To The Aid Of Mcdyess
6/27/2002: By Curt Menefee (MSG)
"Fi-re Lay-den"? Or Layden on fire?? That's the question after Knicks GM Scott Layden made his biggest and, on paper, best deal since taking the reigns at The Garden. |
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Layden Deserves Cheers, Not Boos
6/27/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
The calls began in the middle of the night. And the phone never seemed to stop ringing until the deal was done. When Scott Layden could finally safely pry the phone from his ear, he might have secured his reputation, as well as his job security. |
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Happenings At The NBA Draft
6/27/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
In the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, it seemed every break in the action gave the NBA time to flash highlights of the Lakers' dominating Finals performance against the Nets. When the Nets' chance to draft came around at No. 24, they were convinced they needed someone to contend with Shaquille O'Neal.
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The Dyessman Cometh
6/27/2002: By Dennis D'agostino (NBA.com)
The Knicks went into the 2002 NBA Draft with their first lottery pick in 16 years. They came out of it with an explosive big man of All-Star caliber. |
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Layden Hopes To Find Seventh Heaven
6/25/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Scott Layden is a nice guy. He truly is. And he's made a concerted effort to let that be known now that his wins and losses don't speak for themselves so well anymore. But we have all heard the clichés about where nice guys finish, and that isn't a prospect which goes over real well in New York. |
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Worldwide Quest For Size
6/25/2002: By Steve Adamek (Bergen)
Yao Ming is one thing, all 7 feet, 5 inches of him and almost certainly headed for Houston with the first pick in Wednesday's NBA draft. By now, anyone with an ounce of interest in basketball knows him. |
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Foreign Flavor Spices Up Draft
6/25/2002: By Barbara Barker (Newsday)
Sometimes it's hard to distinguish an aberration from a trend. |
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The Next Nowitzki Could Be Nicknamed Nene
6/24/2002: By AP (MSG)
Maybyner “Nene” Hilario could become the “Next Nowitzki” — the term used by NBA draftniks to describe a relatively unknown overseas player who can be turned into an All-Star. |
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2002 NBA Mock Draft
6/20/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
2002's NBA Draft takes center stage at The Garden on Wednesday night. The Knicks will be looking to bolster themselves following a disappointing non-playoff season. Steve Popper looks at who will be available in MSGNetwork.com's mock draft.
Steve has Wagner to the Knicks. Steve, listen to the man: Puff, puff, pass. Puff, puff, pass. |
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Patrick Ewing Talks About His NBA Future
6/19/2002: By Deb Kaufman (MSG)
Patrick Ewing was on hand to see the Liberty take on the Orlando Miracle Tuesday night at The Garden. MSG Network's Deb Kaufman caught up with the former Knicks star to ask him about his fractured finger and future in the NBA. |
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The Mighty McGuires
6/18/2002: By Patrick Conti (NBA.com)
New York Knicks legend and Director of Scouting Services Dick McGuire and his family may prepare for Father’s Day dinner a bit different than other families would. His son Scott McGuire reminisces about a story that might help explain why. |
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Knicks Frantic To Finalize Decisions
6/16/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Surveying the front rows of the seats around the floor at Madison Square Garden, Chris Wilcox could spot his representative, Rock Newman, and a minor entourage by NBA standards along the baseline, and vaguely familiar faces lining up both sides of the court. There was Scott Layden, Don Chaney and just about every coach and front office representative of the Knicks, and assorted coaches, scouts and executives from nine other teams, all gathered to observe this nearly two hour workout to decide just how high Wilcox would rise in the June 26 draft. |
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Scott Layden Chat Transcript
6/14/2002: By NBA.com (NBA.com)
One of the most respected and successful young executives in professional sports, Scott Layden was promoted to president and general manager of the New York Knicks on June 7, 2001. Layden is entering his fourth season with the Knicks, following two years as the team's executive vice president and general manager.
"One of the most respected and successful young executives in professional sports...." Damn, someone was paid to write that. - martin |
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For Breen, One Dulcet Decade
5/31/2002: By Bob Raissman (Daily News)
It was a game of extremes. Like a whacked-out weather day on a tropical island. One minute it's calm and sunny; the next thunder, lightning, and torrential rain. |
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Don't Mock This Draft
5/27/2002: By knicksbabyyeah (UltimateKnicks.com)
The last time the Knicks were in the lottery they got away with Ewing, a franchise center, even though there'll always be talk of the "frozen" envelope one must not forget all the teams in the lottery had the same percentage of winning. Years and years later the knicks find themselves again in the lottery, why? |
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Not No. 1, But Still No Complaints
5/22/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
When you've endured a season like Scott Layden and the Knicks have, you learn to expect the worst. So sitting nervously among the league's lottery hopefuls, Layden showed little emotion when the Knicks name came up in its' appointed place in the draft order. Hearing the Knicks name called at No. 7 meant that the wishful thinking of lottery luck had been a wasted exercise, but for Layden there was relief as much as there was disappointment. |
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Lottery Requires Patience
5/21/2002: By Barry Stanton (The Journal News)
He never twitched, never blinked. Layden showed all the personality of wax fruit while the NBA ran through its latest draft lottery. |
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Who Is Yao Ming?
5/20/2002: By Ric Bucher (ESPN)
Everybody always wants a comparison -- the natural human need to label, stamp and pigeonhole is too strong to resist. "Who’s he like?" they ask when it comes to a budding NBA player. Such comparisons are never fair, nor particularly accurate, but despite all that they are often indelible. Which is why they’re dangerous. |
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Yao's Cousin Says Houston Isn't A Problem
5/19/2002: By Andy Katz (ESPN)
Yao Ming wouldn't have a problem with Houston picking him with the top pick, according to his cousin, who is apparently one of his two newly appointed official representatives. |
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Ten Players The NBA Should Covet The Most
5/13/2002: By Andy Katz (ESPN)
Top 10 players, regardless of the draft order. |
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Calling Timeout Works For Van Gundy
5/10/2002: By Scott Pitoniak (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
So far, the rumors have been as off-target as a Shaquille O'Neal 3-point attempt. Any day now, we'll probably hear that Jeff Van Gundy has signed on to coach a CYO girls team in Piscataway, N.J. |
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10 Burning Questions For Walt Frazier
5/6/2002: By Walt Frazier (ESPN)
Walt Frazier is seven All-Star Games, four All-League Defensive teams and two NBA titles. He's 36 points and 19 assists in Game 7 in 1970. He's the Knicks' all-time assist leader and 18.9 points a night for 13 years. He's inside, he's outside, he's on-the-run, on-the-spot and in-the-flow. |
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Yao-Za! What A Meal!
5/3/2002: By Jim Caple (ESPN)
Our dinner with Yao Ming |
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Yao Plays, But How His Future Plays Out Is Uncertain
5/2/2002: By David Aldridge (ESPN)
The custodian looked to be about 55 years old, and as he pulled up the fluorescent green tape that had been a makeshift NBA three-point line, I wondered if he would hold onto it and try to move it on eBay or something. If chewed gum could fetch a price, surely the tape around which Yao Ming shot a basketball would be worth something. |
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Big Trouble?
5/2/2002: By Ian O'Conner (The Journal News)
Yao Ming was out of breath, out of time, and out the Loyola University door with his newfangled NBA posse after his hourlong workout and before any American could ask the $12 million question: How do you say "caveat emptor" in Chinese? |
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Seeking Epiphany In Form Of A Big Man
5/2/2002: By Mike Wise (NY Times)
They filed into the rickety old brick gymnasium one at a time, like a caravan of fans at an Indiana high school game in 1950. By the time Yao Ming stepped on the court he was not merely a Chinese national treasure. In a Webcam world, he had become a piece of basketball folklore more talked about than seen. |
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Yao Ming Shows Solid Skills, Remarkable Size
5/1/2002: By AP (ESPN)
Yao Ming arrived in a black stretch limousine, a crowd of people waiting to catch a glimpse. A collective "ooh" went up when he walked into the gym, ducking his head so he wouldn't bump into the concrete doorway. |
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Under The Microscope
5/1/2002: By Ric Bucher (ESPN)
Newsflash: Yao Ming will be impressive when he goes through a workout under the watchful eye of nearly two dozen NBA general managers on Wednesday at Loyola University. How could anyone know this long before said workout actually takes place? It's easy if you've seen Yao play recently (as I have) and know how the workout will be structured (as I do). |
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Chinese Government Stuck In The Past
5/1/2002: By George Vecsey (NY Times)
In a world going madder by the hour, it is almost refreshing to run into some familiar political posturing — a veritable golden oldie of socialist suppression. |
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The Knicks' Pointed Question
4/30/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Last week, the Knicks packed their bags, stuffing the memories of a disappointing and frustrating season away as they took an eye towards an uncertain future. Mark Jackson, whose future as a player is ticking down to its final seasons, had a bold prediction. |
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Yao Ming's Ready For The NBA
4/29/2002: By Ron Rapoport (Chicago Sun-Times )
We are here for the signing of the Shark. Yao Ming bends down and affixes his Mandarin John Hancock to the fierce cartoon shark on the wall alongside those of his teammates and coaches. |
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How To Fix The Knix --And Quix
4/29/2002: By Ralph Wiley (ESPN)
We'll get into tight drama with the NBA playoffs later this week. First, last rites for the New York Knicks Professional Basketball Club, and its 2002 village-at-the-foot-of-Mount Etna-like meltdown. |
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Yao's Path To NBA Remains Twisted
4/28/2002: By Andy Katz (ESPN)
This much is certain about Yao Ming… |
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Ming's Muscle A Big Question For Teams
4/28/2002: By Marc Berman (NY Post)
During the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs earlier this month, 7-6 center Yao Ming sat next to Shanghai Sharks teammate David Benoit on the plane and asked him his honest opinion: "How would I stack up against Shaquille O'Neal?" |
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Road Less Traveled To N.B.A.
4/24/2002: By Ira Berkow (NY Times)
The young man's reputation as a basketball player was swelling beyond the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges, which in the hoops universe is planets apart from, say, the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Big Ten. |
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The World's Most Empty Arena
4/23/2002: By Dave Anderson (NY Times)
It's the world's most famous arena. Madison Square Garden even dared to describe itself that way yesterday on its Seventh Avenue marquee. |
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Free Yao Ming! ... But Not To Be A Grizzly
4/22/2002: By Ray Ratto (ESPN)
The Shanghai Sharks finally have decided to free Yao Ming for the upcoming NBA draft, and with remarkably few preconditions. |
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Knicks' Offseason Needs
4/22/2002: By Dan Graf (The Sporting News)
The cap-strapped Knicks signaled the start of a rebuilding process when they extended coach Don Chaney's contract in March. Chaney had done little to prove he deserved another year since taking over from Jeff Van Gundy early in the season, but the move to keep him seemingly is an admission that more losing is ahead before a big-name coach is needed. |
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Pacers Still Make Knicks Look Bad
4/21/2002: By Ian O'Conner (The Journal News)
They don't book NBA playoff games around here as often as they do carnivals, which explained the giant beer bottles, juggling clowns and lounge-act bands outside the Meadowlands arena gates and the dearth of celebrity faces inside for Reggie Miller to turn red with front-row rage. |
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Ageless Reggie Treats Nets Just Like Knicks
4/21/2002: By Shaun Powell (Newsday)
Parking spaces were plentiful, just like the number of walk-up tickets available. The noise level inside the building at times was high but never reached Dolby. |
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Start Over By Trading Sprewell
4/19/2002: By Harvey Araton (NY Times)
The Knicks should use Latrell Sprewell, their most tradable commodity, to obtain a veteran leader, a unifying presence to walk the walk. |
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Camby May Leave If Spree Is Traded
4/19/2002: By Marc Berman (NY Post)
Marcus Camby has issued his first warning to Knicks management: If his buddy Latrell Sprewell is traded, he may opt out of his contract after next season. |
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Dolan Gets It Wrong Again
4/19/2002: By Wallace Matthews (NY Post)
So let me get this straight. If you are selfish, irresponsible, intermittently lazy and intolerably full of self-pity, Jimmy Dolan will give you a rebate. |
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Sprewell Walks Away Not Knowing If He'll Return
4/18/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
Latrell Sprewell walked through the tunnels and corridors of Madison Square Garden, with the clock already striking 6:16 p.m., early by his usual standards, but ominously late considering the week he has come off of. |
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Knicks' Situation Far Too Familiar For Sprewell
4/18/2002: By Barry Stanton (The Journal News)
This is Latrell Sprewell's nightmare. He wakes up in a cold sweat (in the middle of the afternoon, of course) and races to the arena, only to find out he is right back where he started, with Golden State. |
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Scott's Summer Job
4/18/2002: By Frank Isola (Daily News)
And now the real season begins. Scott Layden has five months to fix this mess, or at least do something to demonstrate to the Knicks' pessimistic fan base that the team is building a future and will contend for an NBA title before the year 2010. |
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Garden Fades To Black
4/17/2002: By Joe Gergen (Newsday)
For the first time in 25 years, the Garden will be dark for the playoffs, with the Knicks’ and Rangers’ problems eerily similar |
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Suspension Not Spree's Way Out
4/16/2002: By Peter Vecsey (NY Post)
Correct me if I'm misinformed, misguided or simply serving a misconduct penalty, but hasn't Late-rell Sprewell made it copiously clear he prefers to remain a Knick? So, why would anyone suggest otherwise? |
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Should The Knicks Gamble On A High Schooler In The Draft?
4/11/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
When Charles Oakley took the floor at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, there was no emotional introduction. Unlike Patrick Ewing, who got a sentimental starting assignment in New York on Tuesday, Oakley was in a suit by the time the game began. |
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Ewing's Great ... But Not Greatest Knick
4/10/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (ESPN)
You want to start an argument in a New York bar? Say that Patrick Ewing is one of the all-time greats but just never had the talent around him to win a title with the Knicks. |
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Ewing, Knicks Just Relics Of Another Era
4/10/2002: By Barry Stanton (The Journal News)
They are two broken-down wrecks now, the faded star, Patrick Ewing, and the failing team he left behind, the Knicks. |
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In End, Ewing Starts Where He Failed To Finish
4/10/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (Daily News)
When the Orlando Magic was finalizing plans for its trip to New York, Patrick Ewing asked Doc Rivers for a favor. Could he bring his son, Patrick, along? |
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Ewing Acted As An Outsider
4/10/2002: By Ira Berkow (NY Times)
Patrick Ewing's 15 seasons as a star with the Knicks were, in many ways, 15 years of lost opportunities to connect with fans. |
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Doc Rivers: Ewing Will Probably Retire At Season's End
4/9/2002: By AP (MSG)
On the eve of what might be Patrick Ewing’s last game at Madison Square Garden, his coach said he believes the 17-year veteran will retire after the season. |
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Dolan's A Dunce If Chaney Returns
4/9/2002: By Peter Vecsey (NY Post)
As the proprietor of Madison Square Garden, Dave Checketts adhered to the philosophy of never allowing a coach to start a season with only one year remaining on his contract. More often than not (NBC staffers are the latest to recognize this) lame-duck status breeds an infectious lack of respect, attention and significance within your sphere of influence/affluence. |
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Knicks Once Had What Kings Have
4/8/2002: By Mike Wise (NY Times)
In the home locker room, the Lakers-Heat game plays on an overhead television. Shaquille O'Neal puts his shoulder down and bulls toward the basket. Some 2,000 miles away, Vlade Divac can almost hear O'Neal's footsteps |
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Lottery On Horizon With Playoffs An Impossibility
4/7/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
The ball is in general manager Scott Layden's court now. The Knicks' 14-year run in the playoffs officially came to an end when a loss in Portland mathematically eliminated them from contention for a postseason berth with eight games left in the season. Instead of gearing up for the excitement of late April, the most important dates on the Knicks' calendar now are the May 19 draft lottery in Seacaucus, N.J., and the June 26 NBA draft at Madison Square Garden. |
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Endorsement Brings Spree, Dolan Together
4/5/2002: By Greg Logan (Newsday)
Unlike the vast majority of his NBA contemporaries, Latrell Sprewell runs from nearly all the endorsement offers he receives instead of trying to cash in on his New York popularity. Other than his And1 sneaker endorsement, which is as basic as breathing to a player of any stature, Sprewell isn't interested in promoting much of anything beyond his own Sprewell Racing auto parts company. |
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Sprewell Knows Losing, And It Still Hurts
4/5/2002: By Mike Wise (NY Times)
For the first time in 15 years, the Knicks will miss the playoffs. Latrell Sprewell remembers this feeling from his days at Golden State. |
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Big Mac Stars Full Of NBA Talk
4/4/2002: By Dan Martin (NY Post)
Amare Stoudemire thinks there are too many high school players heading straight into the NBA. |
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Mystics Deny Van Gundy Set To Coach Team
4/3/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
Is Jeff Van Gundy ready to return to coaching? And will it be in the WNBA? |
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If All Goes Right, Knicks May Get Their Own Ming Dynasty
4/3/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
For nearly the entire season, the Knicks have tried to make due by pushing Kurt Thomas onto the floor against players who tower four to six inches over him. At 6-foot-8, Thomas has done his best, fairing better than most of his teammates as he tries to use quickness or positioning to counter the height and weight that he lacks. |
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Even Knick Wins Are Lost In Sorry Season Of Defeat
4/3/2002: By George Willis (NY Post)
Amid the hoopla over the start of the 2002 baseball season, the Knicks have led a quiet existence, except for the booing from those who have shown up at the Garden in recent weeks to endure more of the same frustration that began that December day when Jeff Van Gundy quit as head coach. |
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Garden's Chairman Of Bored
4/3/2002: By Flip Bondy (Daily News)
He didn't want to talk about it, not at first. And who could blame him? Empty Seat No. 6, Row M, Section 71, was tired of being ignored, day in, night out, by Garden executives who were still claiming their nonstop string of sellouts. |
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Dolan Caught In Public Battle
4/3/2002: By Mike Wise (NY Times)
It has become increasingly difficult for James L. Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, to cloak himself in anonymity. |
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Postell's Play Provides Needed Break From Reality
3/30/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
The emergence last week of New York City cult hero Lavor Postell provided an entertaining interlude in what promises to be a grim finish to the Knicks' first non-playoff season in 15 years. The second-year swingman out of St. John's has been the Knicks' 12th man all season, but he recently announced himself as an "All-Star on the rise" and said the only difference between him and top scorers Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston was a matter of getting playing time and shots. |
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Several Big Men Could Interest Knicks Come Draft Time
3/29/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
On Monday night, Don Chaney finally gave up, admitting that the season was lost and emptying the end of the bench for some primetime action. If Monday's results -- a 19-point lead squandered to their fellow lottery-bound losers, the Nuggets, and 1-of-7 shooting for Lavor Postell -- were any indication, the final month of the season could be a painful watch. |
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Game Could Be Dajuan's MSG Tryout
3/28/2002: By Andrew Marchand (NY Post)
The NIT Final, also known as the Dajuan Wagner Knick tryout, continues tonight when GM Scott Layden is expected to examine the point guard's abilities while Memphis takes on South Carolina at the Garden. |
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Wagner Puts On Show For Scouts
3/27/2002: By Andrew Marchand (NY Post)
There were Knick scouts in the Garden last night to watch Dajuan Wagner. They were here to see if the Memphis freshman could play the point or if he is just a 6-foot-3 shooter. |
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The Garden May Be Reliving 25-Year-Old News
3/26/2002: By Al Trautwig (MSG)
On Monday night with 3:02 left to go in their respective games, it was remarkable how bad the scenarios were for both Garden teams in the same instant. |
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An Uncertain Future For Kurt Thomas
3/24/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
He has become everything that he always told you he could be. He no longer has to tell the tales of how he once led the nation in scoring and rebounding, and those stories were hard to tell anyway with his teammates joking about the schedule he played collegiately at TCU. He can instead focus on what he did two weeks ago when he was named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week. |
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Sprewell Renews Plea For Paint Presence
3/23/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
After months of maintaining a positive attitude as the Knicks plunged in the standings, a 29-point loss at Atlanta prompted Latrell Sprewell to renew his plea to management to find a low-post scorer, shotblocker and rebounder. It might have been a matter of stating what has been obvious from the beginning of the season, but Sprewell is the only one in a buttoned-down organization willing to put a name, a face and some passion behind the words. |
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West Will Not Be Heading East
3/19/2002: By Peter Vecsey (NY Post)
Enough of this hallucinating and unchecked speculation by an intensifying faction of local newspapermen. |
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Basketball Mecca Has Lost Its Game
3/19/2002: By Shaun Powell (Newsday)
Please, don't take what you're about to read personally. There's still plenty that sets us apart from the rest of the country. Nobody can beat us for theater, culture, public transportation, pastrami on rye and rodents. It's not even close. |
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Ties With Hawks May Attract West
3/17/2002: By Mike Wise (NY Times)
Although many believe Jerry West is happy in semiretirement, the thinking is that he misses competition too much not to be more involved. (Also… Van Gundy's contract ties.) |
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With Webber In Town, Knicks Ponder What Might Have Been
3/17/2002: By Steve Popper (MSG)
A night when the NBA's best -- the Sacramento Kings -- came to Madison Square Garden, used to ignite the electricity in the building and in the team. But as the Knicks prepared for Thursday's game, the thoughts were not really about how they could beat the Kings. It has become as hard for the players to picture that as it is for even the most diehard fans. |
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Come East, Old Man
3/17/2002: By Johnette Howard (Newsday)
With 18 games left in the Knicks' disaster of a season, Madison Square Garden is sprouting empty seats and Knicks coach Don Chaney and some players are talking gamely about finishing this lousy season as well as they can, then seeing if they thud into the NBA draft lottery nonetheless. But the glaring truth is, one top draft pick isn't going to save this woefully constructed Knicks team or - more importantly - bring the Knicks out of the salary-cap jail. |
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Inside Story Sez No Mercy For Ming
3/17/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (Daily News)
Like 29 general managers, Vlade Divac hears great things about Yao Ming, the 7-6 Great Wall of China who might be planting himself in front of NBA rims next season. |
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Karl's Comments Anger Jackson
3/17/2002: By Chris Broussard (NY Times)
George Karl's recent comments, which implied reverse discrimination among N.B.A. coaches, riled Knicks point guard Mark Jackson. |
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Team Intent On Finishing Season On High Note
3/16/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
Now that the Knicks know they're headed for the lottery, logic suggests it would be in their best interest to tank the rest of the season and accumulate as many ping-pong balls as possible to improve their chances of landing one of the top two draft picks. That would allow them to address one of their two crying needs by choosing either Chinese center Yao Ming or Duke point guard Jason Williams. |
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Spencer Finds Inspiration
3/16/2002: By Chris Broussard (NY Times)
Felton Spencer expected the typical pitch. He was looking for a new agent and had set up a meeting with Darren Weiner through a mutual friend. But instead of trying to sell Spencer on his business, Weiner told an inspiring story that made Spencer aware of the importance and complications of bone marrow transplants. |
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Webber was always just a dream
3/15/2002: By Barry Stanton (The Journal News)
Chris Webber didn't play for the Knicks last night. But he didn't play against them, either. |
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No Exception, C-Webb Took Dough
3/15/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (Daily News)
Chris Webber was spotted in Manhattan one day last September enjoying a leisurely lunch, but his choice of a companion spoke volumes about why he was with the Kings in the Garden last night and not the Knicks. |
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Knicks Are Easy Prey For NBA's Top Teams
3/14/2002: By Mike Dougherty (The Journal News)
It's official: The Knicks have become a team most opponents expect to beat. |
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Oh, How The Garden Does Groan
3/14/2002: By Charlie Leduff (NY Times)
Allan Houston probably did not see him sitting up there in Section 413, Row B, Seat 9. |
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Free Yao Ming
3/13/2002: By Ric Bucher (ESPN)
Knicks GM Scott Layden, in leaping to a conclusion, thereby stumbled into the cultural divide that stands between 7'5" Yao Ming and an NBA career. Layden was told by officials from Yao's team, the Shanghai Sharks, that Yao would be free to participate in this summer's draft. Layden took this to mean Yao was free to play in the NBA next season. |
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Knicks Can't Help But Quit While They're Ahead
3/13/2002: By Mike Lupica (Daily News)
They are supposed to be too small, especially without Marcus Camby. Sometimes it seems the Knicks are a whole team of players 6-5 and 6-6. |
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Clyde The Wordhawk, Laying Up Fancy Adjectives
3/13/2002: By Chris Hedges (NY Times)
Walt Frazier's presence at Knicks' games is a reminder of brighter days gone by. |
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Johnson Envisions Evaluating, Delivering Players
3/12/2002: By ESPN (ESPN)
Magic Johnson says he'd be "interested" in the New York Knicks' general manager's job -- if the opportunity presented itself. |
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Layden On Way Out As Dolan Plans Shake-Up
3/10/2002: By Dave D'Alessandro (New Jersey Online)
If we're reading Jim Dolan correctly -- which is never easy since he emerges from his office only once a month to scare the help -- Knicks GM Scott Layden will be fired, perhaps even before draft day. That much seems obvious, because Dolan would have let Don Chaney go if he believed Layden had the wisdom to make the next coaching hire. |
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GM Layden Not Looking To Rebuild --Yet
3/9/2002: By Greg Logan (The Sporting News)
Knicks general manager Scott Layden says he has a definite plan, but the information is classified and management at Madison Square Garden is sending out mixed signals. They surprised many with the announcement that coach Don Chaney was given a one-year extension with a team option for the 2003-04 season. |
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Knick Brass Has Long History Of Getting It Wrong
3/8/2002: By Peter Vecsey (NY Post)
Since we last miss-communicated, the New York Knickerbockers stunned the basketball world, the free world, World B. Free, As The World Turns, Wally World, The World According To Garp, It's A Small World After All and Gary Condit's re-election team by removing the "interim" from Don Chaney's resume. |
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Quick Fix For Knicks? Forget About It
3/7/2002: By David Aldridge (ESPN)
I can't help it. I'm loving this. Every day, someone with a Knick Allegiance comes up to me and says, 'What are they doing?' |
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Sleeping With Fishes
3/7/2002: By Larry Johnson (ESPN)
The Knicks' ship has gone down, and apparently the captain will stay down there with it ... for at least one more year. |
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Worst-Run Team In Sports Didn't Do Chaney Any Favors
3/6/2002: By Ian O'Conner (The Journal News)
As the only Celtic to play with Bill Russell and Larry Bird, and as a grounded nobleman in a profession noted for its whacked-out egos and whistle-sized hearts, Don Chaney did not deserve this sentence imposed on him by the Knicks. |
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Contract Or Not, He's Still A Lame Duck
3/6/2002: By Mitch Lawrence (Daily News)
Scott Layden didn't come back from China with 7-6 Yao Ming, but he did return from his scouting trip with the recipe for Peking Lame Duck. |
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Getting Sinking Feeling Son Is In Over Head
3/6/2002: By Mike Lupica (Daily News)
There is no plan at the Garden, there is no transition process at work here, even if Scott Layden talked about one last night. There is just suddenly this obsession from James Dolan, Layden's boss, to act as if he is doing something. So he does the worst possible thing at this time: He extends a coach who is 12-27 with the Knicks after last night. Dolan just decided he needed to look like a boss here, instead of the boss's son. |
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Knicks Buying Some Time
3/6/2002: By Mike Wise (NY Times)
The Knicks have basically decided they can no longer cut and paste and pretend they are on a contending course. |
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Bad Choice For A Bad Team
3/6/2002: By Ira Berkow (NY Times)
Why did the Knicks move to, in effect, honor Don Chaney's contribution to their collapse? |
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