If you told me that the Knicks could beat the Heat but get knocked out in the second round, I'd be thrilled. As said, nothing other than winning the finals would make me happier

I would take equal or greater pleasure in knocking out the Celtics. But, yeah, the Heat would be sweet.

Jeffries is going to be BIG this spring!

Don't really hate the Celtics. Aside for maybe Garnett, They are a good bunch of guys. And, you gotta love ex knick Doc Rivers. But Miami? Hate everything about them from LeShmuck to Pat Riley [Shudder]. HATE! Nothing would be sweeter than beating them but I think that someone will beat us to it.

^I think the Balkman thing is for Garden Vision - the scoreboard stuff they show during the games.

Definitely not crazy - we just need our shooters to get hot and not get killed on the boards but nobody can shut us down. This team is built for the playoffs. The knicks will still however live and die by the 3. MDA just loves it a bit too much.

I forgot about Pierce - he is is a bit of an arse but not on the same level. Chicago is really easy to root for with Noah and Rose but I don't know how many times I can look at Thibedou's bad hair plugs.

I actually think we can. We already beat them in chicago without Melo and they have no answer for STAT and Melo either.

Watch them put Jefferies on Rose.

I know - and they are definitely the better team I just think we match up better against them then some other teams (Boston). It will be all about the boards.

My wish list for the offseason - I think it's all very doable:

Not sure of the exact cap ramifications (trying my best not to add significant salary and work within the framework) but this would be my plan: I'd look to hold tight on high-end free agency for 1 year and instead max out the draft with 2 picks (I wanna see them acquire a 2nd pick in this draft somehow -- Jerome Jordan, Andy Rautins, and up to $3M cash are assets I'm ready to include to land the highest pick possible, preferably a high 2 for salary cap reasons---->I'd select 6'5" SG Marshon Brooks with our own 1st & 6'11" C Keith Benson with the acquired lower pick..Then I'd jump all over the best undrafted prospect right after the draft concludes (possibly 6'6" SG/SF Jon Diebler) and then invite DL big man Marcus Cousin to training camp with a guarantee to make the club (dude had 18 & 15 last night for the Austin Toros). Possibly SF DeShawn Sims as well (see below)*. Next year's lineup:

5 - Turiaf/Cousin/Benson
4 - Stoudemire/Turiaf/Cousin/Benson
3 - Anthony/Shawne Williams/Diebler/Balkman *DeShawn Sims
2 - Fields/Marshon Brooks/Diebler
1 - Billups/Douglas/A. Carter

That lineup would have everything we would need to compete at a high level next year (and really be more of a well-rounded, complete team than what we have right now): Star power at the top, a damn good vet PG at the controls even for just 1 more year, firepower off the bench with Marshon Brooks, improved size/rebounding/shot-blocking/depth, another quality shooter off the bench that could play 2 positions & stretch the defense..Turiaf for 1 more season until Cousin & Benson are ready full-time the following year (although both could absolutely contribute next season, esp. Cousin, with a chance to faze out Turiaf altogether)...Brooks is my new potent 6th man..Diebler takes over for Walker/Rautins and would be an upgrade..Billups/Douglas and possibly A. Carter back on the cheap can easily bridge the gap at the point for another season and get us to CP3, D-Will or maybe even Ray Felton...Walker's gone. I'd like to keep Shawne Williams but if he demands too much money from us, he can go too--Brooks and Diebler easily replace both players. *Maybe I go a step further & invite a DeShawn Sims to training camp to replace Williams at a better cost..Continue to shop Balkman even if I had to give him away in the end for peanuts--his contract needs to come off the books at some point before 2012 free agency (until we can unload him [say he's still with us to start the season next year], I'd actually look to use Balkman in a spot-duty hustle/defense role a-la Jeffries--it would only improve his value---we should've just used Balk in this role right now as a showcase measure and forgot all about Jeffries--the ultimate goal is to find a taker for Balkman eventually)..We're gonna need every penny in the summer of 2012 -- that's when I'll be looking to spend big on the open market and make the big splash (targetting one of the big PGs), but not this off-season..This summer, I think we can make many improvements going the smart, cost-conscious route..