Could Nate miss Slam Dunk?

Monday February 8, 2010 5:02 PM By Alan Hahn

Nate Robinson was removed from the Knicks starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Kings. Will he remove himself from the Slam Dunk contest this weekend in Dallas?

The 5-9 guard, who could become the NBA’s first three-time dunk champion, sat out Monday’s practice with a strained left groin, which had been nagging him in recent weeks. Mike D’Antoni said Robinson is expected to be available for Tuesday's game, which is the last for the Knicks before the all-star break and would not tell him not to compete in the dunk contest on All-Star Saturday.

 “That’s him,” D’Antoni said. “He has to tell me how he feels. If it bothers him, the best thing to do is to rest. But if he’s OK to compete, it’s a fun weekend, the NBA has asked him to do it, he’s the defending [champion], so I can understand why he wants to. But he has to know his body and know what’s best for him.”

One possibility is that Williams could be a substitute for an injured contestant, such as Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, who will also be in Sunday’s all-star game. Wallace is dealing with with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss a game last week.

Robinson accepted the league's invitation to come back for a fourth appearance in the dunk contest, but sounded like the thrill is gone.

"If I don't win it, it would be good because I don't want to go back anymore," he said on Jan. 18.

I have heard that Robinson planned to involve Williams in his dunk plans. But if the groin is enough of an issue, Robinson may have good reason to tell the NBA he can't make it to Dallas and, instead, give his Seattle buddy T-Will an opportunity to show his stuff.

LeBron aims to be the anti-Kobe

Sunday February 7, 2010 1:41 AM By Alan Hahn

You can kind of see why Shaquille O'Neal fits so well here in Cleveland with LeBron James. They both have a distaste for Kobe Bryant's game.

Actually, it is somewhat ironic that Shaq would try to convince LeBron to keep firing tonight against the Knicks after he scored a franchise-record 35 points in the first half. Shaq's biggest issues with Kobe -- which Pau Gasol is now apparently dealing with -- often involved shot volume and, of course, shot quality.

Which is why LeBron's response to why he didn't try to go for a 60-point game -- as Shaq suggested -- seemed like a not-so-subtle dig at Kobe.

"I can't, my game won't let me," James said. "I could go out there and take shots and take shots and continue to make them. Most of the shots I took tonight were against one-on-one defense. As soon as the double-team comes, I give the ball up. As soon as I see somebody open, I give the ball up."

He finished with eight assists, but only two were recorded in the second half.

* * *

* - James didn't speak much about the Knicks, other than this observation: "They have some really good players, they have some really good shooters. When they're not shooting the ball extremely well, they're not very good because they don't get to the paint." It's interesting he would say that, because the Knicks actually scored as many points in the paint (44) as the Cavaliers in this game.  They took five more threes (27-22) and made 12 to 11 by the Cavs (six by LeBron).

* - The Knicks have lost seven straight to the Cavaliers, with their last win Dec. 19, 2007 at the Garden. The teams play again March 1 back here in Cleveland. Will it be the last time the Knicks have to play against LeBron?

* - Mike D'Antoni seemed ready to pull the plug on the decision to start Nate Robinson at the one in place of Chris Duhon. Actually, D'Antoni used Duhon and Robinson as a backcourt during the second-half comeback attempt and liked what he saw.

* - David Lee had 20 points and eight rebounds, but remained on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. He had a team-high five turnovers in the game, but then again, so did LeBron.

* - Jordan Hill got Lee's minutes in the fourth and was very active on defense and scored eight points on 4 of 5 shooting. But in 18:35 he didn't grab a single rebound, which is hard to believe. Even harder is the fact that Shaq had just one rebound to his credit in 25:36.

* - Eddy Curry was a curious addition to the entourage that traveled with the Knicks for this short trip. Curry is still weeks away from returning to action after undergoing knee surgery on Jan. 18, but he intends to get back out there before the season ends. "I'm hoping to come back," he said. "Even if I come back, the odds are I'm not going to play. But for my own sanity, I would like to come back." Despite his bleak outlook for his future with the Knicks, Curry said he has no intention of exercising the opt-out clause in his contract to make him a free agent this summer. He won't leave $11.2M on the table and perhaps the Knicks can move him as an expiring contract. Curry will be playing for a new contract next season and obviously has no interest in riding the bench another year.

MSG debut 'personal' for Jennings

Friday February 5, 2010 10:46 AM By Alan Hahn

Howard Beck was in Florida and the New York Times scribe caught up with Brandon Jennings, who makes his Madison Square Garden debut tonight against the Knicks.

The unfettered Jennings admitted to Beck that the game had extra meaning, not just because it was his NBA debut at the basketball mecca.

"This one's going to be a little bit more personal," he said, "because I did want to go there."

Jennings has one trait that is common in some of the game's best players: a high respect and interest in history. Like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Jennings engulfs himself in basketball legend and can't keep himself away from the game.

I remember when I first met Jennings at his workout with the Knicks last June and how he had what I thought was exactly what the Knicks needed: an unrelenting self-confidence and swagger and awareness.

And he wanted to be a Knick and to play for Mike D'Antoni, just as much as Stephen Curry.

"I really want to come here, I'm not going to lie," Jennings said that day in June. "D'Antoni's system is great for all point guards. You see what he did for Steve Nash, two years MVP back-to-back and the Phoenix Suns were one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NBA for those two years. So his system is great for me."

One could argue that it even helped Chris Duhon look decent statistically, with a top 10 assists-to-turnovers ratio (3.45). But one fact that couldn't go protected was shooting (34.8 percent).

Jennings has already proven he can score this season, especially after the double-nickels he dropped against the Warriors on Nov. 14. Like any rookie, the wall usually comes at mid-season and we're seeing it now in Jennings. He had just two points (1-for-7) in 27 minutes in Tuesday's loss in Orlando and over his last 10 games his averaged has dipped to 13.6 points on 33.8 percent shooting. In his last five, he is scoring 11.6 points and shooting 34.4 percent.

It happens. What is encouraging about Jennings is while is scoring production is down, his assists remain fairly static. Over the last 10 games, he is dishing out 7 assists per game and 6.2 in his last five, which is right at his season average.

Scott Skiles has used Luke Ridnour as a key part of his rotation off the bench and he has responded with a solid season for the Bucks. Ridnour's play has certainly caught the attention of the Knicks, though it is highly unlikely the Bucks would consider trading such an important piece of insurance by the Feb. 18 trade deadline. Not with the Bucks very much in contention for a playoff spot in the East (and battling with the Knicks for it). But this summer, when Ridnour is a free agent, he could be an option, though one of a several.

At this point it's not worth rehashing the events of the 2009 draft. What's done is done. Donnie Walsh admitted his scouts didn't push him on Jennings and when it came down to a decision, once Curry and Tyreke Evans -- Walsh's top two choices, make no mistake -- were off the table, the front office decided to go with a big in Jordan Hill.

We've expressed our opinion on this enough. When a franchise is rebuilding, you can't afford to get lottery picks wrong. Walsh and Co. got it 100 percent right with Danilo Gallinari in 2008. Of course there were others who went later in the draft that the Knicks could have chosen -- Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Jason Thompson, J.J. Hickson -- but Gallo fit all of the needs and after some major concerns as a rookie with the back issue, he's had a solid redshirt rookie season and there's no doubt there is great potential with so much room to grow.

Time will tell if Hill was indeed the wrong choice for 2009. And Jennings may fizzle like some players do after making a big splash early in their careers.

Right now, I just don't see it in this kid.

Nate Robinson has the challenge of guarding him and the timing of moving Nate into the starting lineup for this game is a good move for two reasons (aside from Duhon's play, obviously): 1. you need speed to counter Jennings and Nate should rise to the challenge. 2. it's a good diversion to keep the fans occupied with the lineup change rather than the lottery pick you could have had.

Just bloggin.

D'Antoni singing, 'Jesus, take the wheel'

Thursday February 4, 2010 2:01 AM By Alan Hahn

Been a while since I referenced lyrics, Fixers, but this is fitting. Not quite my typical genre, but fitting:

Jesus, take the wheel,

take if from my hands

'Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go, so give me one more chance

to save me from this road I'm on . . .

Mike D'Antoni's stubborn loyalty to the highly ineffective Chris Duhon came with good reason. Duhon running the offense meant D'Antoni still had some control of it.

But what good is control of the offense when you don't have any control of the season?

It may have been a long time coming, perhaps even long overdue, but D'Antoni appears to be ready to give Duhon a turn on the bench. At halftime Wednesday night he opted to start Robinson to inject some desperately-needed energy into a flatline game and it worked in what turned into a 107-85 win over the Wizards.

Robinson had 14 of his 23 points in the second half and added a season-high eight assists. But while D'Antoni admitted after the game that Robinson could supplant the slumpingDuhon in the starting lineup, let's not mistakenly refer to Nate as the "point guard."

What D'Antoni really went with in that second half was a lineup without a point guard. Or one that handled the role by committee.

Robinson certainly did bring the ball up and ran a few plays, but really his role was to be primarily a scorer, which is his strength. What the Knicks can do is relieve some of the responsibilities of being a "floor general" (read: getting others involved) by having other players -- Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries and David Lee -- handle the offense to allow Robinson to focus on scoring and getting up the floor for some quick baskets.

The eight man rotation seems to now include Robinson, Hughes, Jeffries, Lee, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington and if not Duhon than rookie Toney Douglas, whom D'Antoni said he planned to give another look. Remember in training camp when D'Antoni toyed with the idea of playing Robinson and Douglas together as a tandem, to wreak havoc as a full-court pressing backcourt that can also zip down the court and score?

Anyway, before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's acknowledge that for 24 minutes against a very weak defensive team in the Wizards everything seemed to work nicely. We've seen this before, of course, so you can understand D'Antoni, though relieved to get a win after three straight L's (and two alarmingly lackluster performances over the weekend), sounded extremely hesitant as he talked about his latest smoke-and-mirrors tactic.

"I've been on that limb a few times," he said, "and it was sawed off."

Hughes was certainly pleased to finally get minutes again and seemed to do so at the expense of a big: rookie Jordan Hill (DNP-CD). Hughes played 18 minutes and scored 11 points and looked effective on defense like he did in December. After a month of complaining and days after he said he was looking forward to Feb. 18 (the trade deadline), Hughes seemed satisfied again. And he explained his frustration a lot better this time around.

"The reality is I get paid a lot of money [$13.6M] and I want to earn it," he said. "I want to be ran until my tongue's hanging out. That's how I am. When I don't get the chance to play, it just frustrates me."

D'Antoni promoted the notion that he doesn't pay attention to the media-driven controversies, such as Hughes widely-reported dissatisfaction with not playing and direct and public criticism of the coach.

"I don't hear the chatter, I don't listen to the chatter, I don't really care about the chatter," D'Antoni said. "I understand the frustrations, but I'm just trying to put the best guys on the floor. I'm not going to get it right all the time, because I don't have a crystal ball. But the intent is to see how good we can play. [Hughes] was working, he practiced. I thought he had a good practice yesterday. I thought we needed something, obviously. You keep losing, you got to change something up."

There are 36 games left in the season, with three to go before the all-star break. The Knicks (19-29) still need somewhat of a miracle -- or misfortune for Miami, Chicago or Charlotte -- to get a playoff berth. But D'Antoni seems to have come to the conclusion that there is nothing more to lose, other than his team. So with seven expiring contracts all with personal agendas (admittedly or not), he seems to be ready to let go of the wheel and hope that those agendas can somehow work congruently.

Really, with the Knicks expected to do very little, if anything at all, by the trade deadline, what other option does D'Antoni have at this point?

Meanwhile, Duhon took the benching -- and the potential demotion from the starting lineup, with a twinge more professionalism than some of his other teammates throughout the season.

"Whether you're starting is not the biggest thing in the world," Duhon said. "It's all about wins."

* * *

* - We heard tonight that Danilo Gallinari was officially asked by the NBA to participate in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout. Gallo accepted and will compete on Feb. 13 in Dallas, though the NBA has yet to release the contenstants. Gallinari will be the sixth Knick to participate in the shoot-out and the first since Quentin Richardson in 2006. No Knick has ever won the event. The highest finishes were Trent Tucker (1986) and Charlie Ward (1998), who both finished fourth. Gallo hit four treys against the Wizards to raise his league-leading total to 126 three-point field goals made.

The Larry vs. Nate Debate

Tuesday February 2, 2010 9:27 AM By Alan Hahn

The Knicks had a 6-9 month in January and banished-to-the-bench veteran Larry Hughes played in only two of those games. Hughes played in 12 of the 15 games in December when the Knicks were 9-6, so on the surface -- which is generally as deep as some may care to look -- it suggests Hughes is the difference-maker.

Hell, we'll even toss in the Tuna defense: You are what your record says you are.

There is only one player you can directly associate with the frustrated Hughes' exile, and that's the previously-exiled Nate Robinson. During his 14-game ban in December, the Knicks were 8-6. Then Mike D'Antoni went back to him on Jan. 1 in Atlanta and a 41-point explosion mushroomed over Phillips Arena.

Now, Robinson's numbers weren't terrible in January. He averaged 13.8 points and 3.5 assists and shot a decent 46.6 percent from the field. So from a numbers perspective, it's difficult to argue that Hughes would be more effective. Especially if you consider that in December, Hughes' best stretch of the season, he wasn't quite lighting it up off the bench. He averaged 8.8 points and 3.7 assists off the bench and, most notably, shot just 32.4 percent from the field.

But, yes, in comparable blocks of the season, the Knicks were winning games when Hughes played and aren't again with Robinson back in the rotation.

And here's where the scale tips in favor of Hughes. Robinson didn't have many big scoring nights after the 41-point performance and his defense always leaves little to be desired. He has this maddening penchant for backpedaling deep into the defensive zone after he makes a basket, which allows the opposing guard to comfortably walk the ball up the court without any pressure. Why not be more aggressive here and on a make jump right into your mark's kitchen and hound him to the timeline?

In Minnesota, Nate actually went all the way back to the foul line after a make and then turned into a traffic cone, as Jonny Flynn motored right by him for a layup. What good are two points at one end when you immediately give up two on the other end?

Hughes played a big part of D'Antoni's zone defense because of his long arms and overall length at the top of the 2-3. Robinson's speed should make him extremely effective in the zone because of his ability to recover, but, again, the honest effort isn't there anymore (at least not after a few games in early January).

Hughes' performance dipped notably after his groin injury kept him out a few games in the middle of the month. It had a noticable impact on his shot, which is already suspect even when he's healthy, and slowed him on defense. Now Robinson is battling a hammy, which could be why his shot has been so inconsistent lately. But you can't blame it on his defense because, let's be brutally honest here, we all know Nate uses defense to recharge his battery. That's just the player he is.

With the playoffs fading quickly and defense falling back into old habits, D'Antoni needs to rethink his rotation, but do you really want to reward a player who has done nothing but gripe and complain -- especially after a 43-point win -- and take shots at the coach in the meantime? You should never let the inmates think they can run the asylum.

Robinson may have that ability for sudden scoring outburts that may help you win a game here or there, but we're seeing the same tendencies as last season, when it all fell apart. Chris Duhon can not handle a heavy workload and the team falls apart once he goes to the bench (which is as alarming as it sounds, all things considered). Robinson has proven he is not comfortable running the offense, which means the Knicks are once again without a true backup point guard (or, as we've argued here before, forcing a true backup to be the starter). Overall, Robinson is pretty much is back to playing the way he wants to play, which brings us back to the asylum line.

Really, rather than moving them around again, perhaps its time for new inmates.

Speaking of which, has anyone paid attention to Tony Allen lately? If the Celtics are still interested in Robinson, perhaps the Knicks reconsider. Allen can play defense and, as we've seen lately, can provide some offensive help. Of course if you take Robinson out of the equation, the Knicks bench, which was outscored 51-8 without Al Harrington on Sunday in Minnesota, would lose a great deal of offense.

Again, how's it working out for you this way?

>> See Knicks game and player photo galleries

* * *

A night after the Knicks held their annual "Knicks Bowl," which benefitted the Garden of Dreams Foundation, John Starks is hosting his own celebrity bowling tournament at Lucky Strikes on 42nd Street to raise money for his foundation, which provides college scholarships to disadvantaged high school students. The event is closed to the public, but Starks' work is something to appreciate, especially when you consider his own humble beginnings.

The "3-Point Scholarship" assists financially-challenged families of high school seniors in the New York tri-state and Tulsa, Ok. (his hometown) areas who demonstrate academic excellence and make significant community service commitments. The scholarship to date has helped over 150 students with grants toward college.

The Knicks have raised over $1.5 million for the Garden of Dreams foundation through their annual bowling event since 2000.

Pushing panic button, since there's no easy button

Monday February 1, 2010 9:22 AM By Alan Hahn

Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph ain't walkin' through that door.

Mike D'Antoni is back to looking like a coach with very few options. With his team in a 2-11 tailspin (and also now six games out of a playoff spot), he was asked about shuffling the deck and trying other players with the hope of sparking something positive.

"We've gone that route and I don't see anything better or worse," he said. "We'll keep looking at it, but we're going through with this group right here and should win."

The problems that have come up lately seem to be the same as they were early in the season, the last time the Knicks were 11-games under .500 (Dec. 2): defense and effort. This time around the team is a little banged up physically, but they're playing with some injured egos as well. The spirit again seems low around the locker room.

And is it really a surprise, when you consider, as Jeffries said, "We're right back in the place we were" before things turned around in that 9-6 December.

January started out well -- 3-0 -- but finished with just three more wins in the last 12 games. February's schedule is extremely light (seven of 11 games at home), thanks to the all-star break, but March will come in like a lion (opens in Cleveland and has 10 of 16 games on the road) and and keep roaring through to April (13 of the final 19 games of the season are on the road).

On top of it, the Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors seem to be pulling away in the race for the final berths in the East. In fact, those teams have all moved ahead of the Miami Heat, who currently hold the eighth spot.

Jeffries said "there needs to be a sense of urgency" but downplayed talk about panic. Al Harrington, who has missed two games with a knee injury (and his 17 points per game off the bench have been sorely missed), feels differently.

"Everybody," he said, "should be hitting the panic button at this point."

If only there was an easy button. Donnie Walsh could press it to make a playmaking point guard who can knock down shots and defend appear on his roster before the Feb. 18 trade deadline.

Even D'Antoni seems to hope something can get done before the deadline to give him another option.

"I think we as an organization and Donnie [Walsh], they're looking all the time and trying to better the team without messing up the long-term plans," D'Antoni said. "It's a tricky thing, it's not easy to do. But we'll keep plugging and I'm sure Donnie will keep looking and do what's necessary."

A few concerns:

Without Harrington, the Knicks bench managed just 8 points in the blowout loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday and had 23 points mainly because Nate Robinson had 16 of them. Jonathan Bender, who has played in place of Harrington, has been scoreless (0-for-6) in those two games.

"I'm good," Bender said. "Yeah, I'm feeling good."

He's not looking too good right now.

Robinson is dealing with a nagging hamstring, but his game seems to have regressed to his November standard, right before his 14-game benching. Not to say he's back with the antics; actually that part has not been a noticable issue since he's been re-inserted into the lineup.

But it's painfully clear he is not comfortable running the offense, which means when Chris Duhon goes to the bench the team doesn't have anyone who can get the offense under control and keep it in a flow. Robinson also has a maddening penchant for backpedaling too deep into the defensive zone on offense, which allows opposing point guards to walk the ball up the floor comfortably and permits the other team to get into their set and run their offense. Nate needs to be more aggressive and hound the ball across the timeline. Maybe the hammy won't allow for this, but it makes no sense for a 5-9 guard who is ridiculously athletic to hang out in the circle of the key and wait as the opposing guard brings the rock up the floor.

Jordan Hill is getting a good opportunity here but you're seeing just how much more he needs to learn, especially on defense. I don't mind rookie mistakes, but what you want to see is rookie accountability. You'd like to see him take a little more pride in challenges against players in the paint and, mostly, take pride in his effort.

In Minnesota, Kevin Love beat him up the floor for a layup (Hill had to goaltend it on the chase), which should never, ever happen. Jordan needs to use his athleticism in every way possible, including the simple idea of making the other team's big run the floor. It's amazing to me that, as effective as big, burly Al Jefferson was on Sunday, none of the Knicks bigs tried to get him into a race to wear him down (we all saw on Tuesday he's not in any kind of shape) and get him off the court because of fatigue and foul trouble.

We could roll through the entire roster at this point, but it's becoming redundant. Whatever the Knicks had going for them in December and early January -- the mojo of effort and defense -- is clearly gone again.

Gallo in the mix for Three-Point Shootout

Thursday January 28, 2010 9:38 AM By Alan Hahn

Danilo Gallinari got the invite to Dallas we all expected on Wednesday when the NBA included him on the Sophomores roster for the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge game in All-Star Weekend.

Nate Robinson, who will also be in Dallas to compete for an unprecedented third Sprite Slam Dunk championship, planned to include Gallinari in one of his dunks. And Gallo may be very busy on All-Star Saturday if the NBA also tabs him to compete in the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest.

Gallinari leads the NBA with 115 three-pointers made, two ahead of Suns center Channing Frye and Houston's Aaron Brooks is third with 108. Gallinari, however, ranks 21st with a 40.4 percent clip from downtown. Daniel Gibson leads the league with 47.2 percent, but his volume is much lower (50-for-106).

Defending champion Daequan Cook is shooting just a 28.8 percent clip from downtown in extremely limited time. He is currently dealing with an ankle sprain and may not get the chance to defend his title. Former two-time champion Jason Kapono is shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc but also in somewhat limited time (14.2 minutes per game) for the 76ers.

Of course the Knicks are hoping to also have some participation in the Sunday portion of the weekend for a change. David Lee's all-star fate will be revealed tonight on TNT.

* * *

* - Programming note: We'll have a LIVE CHAT here today at 11 a.m. Bring your questions and join us for an early lunch.

Lee awaits all-star worthiness

Wednesday January 27, 2010 1:41 AM By Alan Hahn

The Knicks haven't been over .500 since the 2000-01 season. Coincidentally, that's the last time they had representation in the NBA's all-star game.

It was close in 2007, when Eddy Curry was putting together a solid year as a dominant low post scorer. After 44 games, right before the all-star reserves were announced for the 2007 team, Curry averaged 19.4 points and 7.09 rebounds per game.

After 44 games this season, right before the all-star reserves will be announced on Thursday, David Lee is averaging the exact same 19.4 points with a more impressive 11.4 rebounds.

But here's the thing: Curry's Knicks were 18-26 at the time.

The Knicks record this season after 44 games? 18-26.

In 2007, the Eastern coaches gave the nod to young Dwight Howard, who had comparable numbers to Curry, but his Orlando Magic were 23-21.

Does the same thing happen to Lee this season?

Let's consider the options. Chris Bosh is a sure bet at forward. Gerald Wallace is averaging 18.5 points and 11 rebounds per game for a much-improved Bobcats team that is at .500 after a win over the Suns. The Hawks lead the Southeast Division and could see another player join Joe Johnson on the reserves list. Al Horford or Josh Smith? Take your pick.

Now it gets interesting. You can certainly make a case for Lee at this point. He has statistically been outstanding and has emerged as the Knicks most important player. But he is on a losing team and that team did just take a 50-point beating at home on Sunday and his defensive reputation certainly isn't a highlight on his resume. What may work in Lee's favor is that most coaches submitted their ballots after his 31-point, 17-rebound effort against all-star candidate Pau Gasol and the Lakers on ESPN's national broadcast on Friday.

But what about Paul Pierce? The Celtics lead the Atlantic and already have Kevin Garnett as a starter and there is a great argument that Rajon Rondo absolutely deserves a spot among the reserves. Do the Celtics actually have three worthy candidates? Not if the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers only get two (Mo Williams could get selected, but his injury will keep him from playing).

It'll be interesting to see the results, which will be revealed Thursday on TNT. The coaches votes were due Wednesday.

Mike D'Antoni was sure to leave Lee in the game Tuesday despite a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter just so Lee could get his 10th rebound, which resulted in his 26th double-double of the season. D'Antoni believes Lee is deserving of an all-star selection.

Many others in the media agree -- TNT's Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley each included Lee among their picks -- but the only votes that matter are from the Eastern Conference coaches.

"I've heard some support from not only you guys [here in New York] but the national media," Lee said. "I guess we'll see how it turns out."

It should be noted that Danny Granger was an all-star reserve last season on a Pacers team that was 17-27 after 44 games.

One more thing: should Lee get an all-star spot, he would not only be the first Knicks all-star in nine years, but he'd be the first Knicks draft pick to make the all-star game in over 20 years. Amazingly, Mark Jackson was the last in 1989.

* * * 

* - Nate Robinson returned after missing one game with a hamstring strain, but it appeared he might have hurt his right wrist on a hard fall after being fouled by Sasha Pavlovic on a fast-break layup with 1:49 left in the third quarter. Robinson, a righty, even shot the free throw left-handed (and missed). Two possessions later, however, he drilled a three-pointer with his right hand and appeared to be fine after that.

* - Wilson Chandler played through a groin strain that kept him out of practice on Monday and finished with 20 points. D'Antoni kept Chandler's minutes restricted in the blowout just to make sure the injury didn't flare up.

* - Jordan Hill played 1:10 in the first half but was unavailable for extensive garbage time in the second half because, according to the team, he was feeling ill. The rookie wasn't on the bench but seemed OK in the locker room after the game.

* - The Knicks took 40 three-pointers -- seven shy of their NBA record set earlier this season -- and made 17 of them. They were 8-for-16 in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand, as Jonathan Bender came off the bench launching seven and making four. It did seem a bit much and you wonder if there will be any carry-over into the next game between the two teams, which happens to be in only a few days -- Sunday in Minnesota.

* - Chris Duhon didn't hit a shot (0-for-3) but he did record 13 assists with zero turnovers in 31:04. The Knicks overall had 32 assists on 47 made field goals.

* - One final thought regarding David Kahn's comments from the previous blog about how he expects Ricky Rubio to make his NBA debut in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform: that plan could change dramatically -- and Rubio could suddenly be very available -- should the T-Wolves (9-37) upset the Nets and win the draft lottery in May to earn the right to select Kentucky's John Wall.

Just bloggin.

Kahn sees Rubios future in Minny, not NYC

Tuesday January 26, 2010 7:21 PM By Alan Hahn

David Kahn seems amused by the amount of shelf life the Ricky Rubio-to-New York campaign has maintained since last June's draft. The Timberwolves general manager was quick to point out that Donnie Walsh called him the day after the draft on the apparent suggestion of the Knicks beat writers (present company included).

"He said, 'David, I just had a press conference and I told the writers I'd call you about Ricky Rubio. So, I'm calling you'," Kahn said before Tuesday's game between the Knicks and Timberwolves at the Garden.

While there was a great deal of speculation in the press, Kahn said there was one major detail people from the New York perspective failed to consider.

"I mean no disrespect to the Knicks or Donnie," he said, "but what kind of trade could they propose?"

Clearly he meant the Knicks didn't have the kind of assets to make that kind of deal, though Kahn stopped short of going there. "You said that," he retorted, "I didn't."

But Kahn is aware he has a surplus at the point guard position. Along with Rubio, who is in Barcelona (and contractually locked up until 2011-12), he also drafted Syracuse's Jonny Flynn and then signed Ramon Sessions.

Still, when you ask him about Rubio, he insists the young Spaniard is very much in the team's plans going forward.

"I fully expect Ricky Rubio to start his playing career in a Minnesoa Timberwolves uniform," Kahn said.

Then he added a disclaimer: "Of course I also couch this with everything: I can't predict the future. I can't say for certainty that something would happen to change that plan. But the plan, for now -- and it's a firm plan, we have a lot invested in the kid already, a lo to fenergy and resources last summer were exhausted, and I'm very eager to see him start his career in our uniform."

* * * 

* - Nate Robinson (hamstring) and Wilson Chandler (groin) both tested out their injuries earlier in the day and were cleared to play tonight against the T-Wolves. While that's good news for the perimeter, this is one game where the Knicks can certainly use the big body of Eddy Curry, who will be out another five weeks after having his left knee scoped. Al Jefferson is an absolute load on the low blocks.

* - Tonight is David Lee's last night to make a case for the all-star team. Eastern Conference coaches have to have their ballots in by tomorrow (Wednesday). Mike D'Antoni said he already sent his in. Coaches can't vote for their own player, so we already know D'Antoni had to chose someone other than Lee. Will the Knicks' poor record -- and the 50 point home loss on Sunday -- keep Lee off the team? Remember the same thing happened to Eddy Curry in 2006-07.