Starks Sees Promise in New Knicks Era

As the start of a new season — and a new era — of New York Knicks basketball draws closer, NYKnicks.com will sit down with the players, coaches and others closely associated with the team to discuss their thoughts on the outlook for 2008-09. We continue the series with former All-Star, Sixth Man of the Year Winner and fan favorite John Starks, who currently works in the Knicks Community Relations department. Starks discusses a wide range of topics including what he is up to today, the induction of his good friend and longtime teammate Patrick Ewing into the Hall of Fame and, of course, the future of the Knicks.

Rumors and Free Agent Updates – Players Coming Back Edition

Luke Walton Walton underwent surgery in July to remove bone spurs and scar tissue from his right ankle. He is hoping to get medical clearance today to begin workouts and hopes to be 100% by mid October. Of course, I expect Kobe to make an announcement that he will make an announcement that he still plans to play in pain and not get surgery. He can’t let someone else get the headlines.Speaking of the Lakers, they signed guard Brandon Heath, who played last season in France, averaging 12 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 25 games. He played with the Clippers summer league team in Las Vegas and averaged 5.6 points in five games. He probably won’t make the team, but will get a chance to show the team why he should in training camp.Last October, the Bobcats’ Sean May had micro-fracture surgery to correct a chronic bone bruise that caused him to miss much of his first 3 seasons. May looks to be in great shape and is ready to get on with the rest of his career, hopefully injury free. He has gotten his weight down between between 265 and 270 pounds. He’s playing pickup ball every day at the Charlotte Bobcats training facility, and says he’s pain-free from the right knee injury that cost him most of his first three pro seasons.Another Bobcat who has missed a lot of time due to injuries is Adam Morrison. Morrison missed last season with a torn ACL in his left knee. He is now playing without a brace or pain. As Celtics fans know from their experience with Tony Allen’s recovery from an ACL tear, one of the biggest challenges is restoring confidence in the knee on a day to day basis in making the moves he will need to be effective on the court. The Celtics have 4 players on their team now who have overcome serious knee injuries and come back: Leon Powe (3 surgeries), Bill Walker (3 surgeries), Tony Allen (2 surgeries), and Darius Miles (career ending injury).The Bobcats have always had a young and athletic team and they appear ready to have a strong season this year if May and Morrison are both healthy. The Bobcats’ athleticism has always given the Celtics problems and for some reason they have had the Celtics’ number. Like the Wolves and Nets, the Bobcats are getting an early start on the season. With three weeks to go until training camp, all but four players under contract were working out and playing in the team’s practice facility. They have a new coach and have some great young players and may surprise a lot of teams, not just the Celtics, this season.There was speculation that Patrick Ewing, Jr would wear his dad’s #33 for the Knicks. But now we learn that Ewing Jr. will wear No. 6 when he plays for the Knicks rather than his famous father’s 33. Patrick Sr’s #33 was retired but had given permission for his son to wear 33 as he did at Georgetown. But, wisely, Jr is going to forge his own path with his own number in the pros and #33 will always belong to his dad.Deron Washington. the third of the Pistons’ three second-round picks, impressed the Pistons’ management in Las Vegas with his athleticism and tenacity. He opened more eyes in August when he was working out with the other young Pistons at the practice facility. But, Washington won’t be playing with the Pistons this season. He signed a contract to play with Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Premier League and continue to develop his game in Europe. Another of the Pistons’ second round picks, Trent Plaisted, signed in July with Angelico Biella of the Italian league. The Celtics had considered letting their second round pick, Bill Walker, play in Europe this season but were so impressed by his workouts in Boston this summer that they decided to keep him with the team.With the furor over Monta Ellis’ accident fading now that he has told his team the truth about how he was injured, the Warriors are back to the business of getting ready for training camp. They signed three undrafted free agents, guard DeMarcus Nelson of Duke, swingman Dion Dowell of Houston, and forward Rob Kurz of Notre Dame. This gives the Warriors 18 players under contract, 3 over the league maximum to start the season.Shaquille O’Neal has slowed down considerably from his peak as a player, and now he has announced his plans for retirement. He intends to play out the remaining 2 years of his contract with the Suns and then call it quits. His plans after basketball include include going into law enforcement. He has already served as a deputy both in Miami and Phoenix in his off time and he would like to enter some form of law enforcement full time after his career is over.Sam Cassell has also announced his plans and they took many Celtics fans by surprise. He stated in the Baltimore Sun that he plans to play one more year and will sign a contract next week and then become an assistant coach for the Celtics after the 2008-09 season. The Celtics declined comment on the subject but the team already has 15 players under contract, all of which seem to have a future with the club. Unless Danny has a 2 for 1 trade in the works or maybe Darius Miles isn’t really in the plans, or possibly Scal and his remaining 2 years will be cut, but I just don’t see Sam fitting on this team right now.Brandon Roy is looking good after having surgery a month ago. Reports are that you can’t even tell that he had surgery. He is shooting jumpers and making some very light cuts, seemingly pain-free. His shot looks to be improved this season. I like the way the Celtics ended up last season and Ratliff’s contract was crucial in bringing KG to Boston, but there will always be the thought of what if the Celtics had taken Brandon Roy with that pick instead of making the trade. What if they had continued to build with youth. We’ll never know for sure, but I think it could have worked just not as quickly.

When and why did the NBA start sucking?

I. OVERVIEW on’t get me wrong, the NBA is still easily the best basketball league available to hoops fans, but gone is the intrigue of the 1980’s and 90’s, when the NBA was filled with star personalities such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, et. al. The NBA is still by far the greatest basketball talent in the world on display for sure, but it has become a snorefest.II. WHEN DID THE NBA START SUCKING?I trace back the the NBA’s downfall to the 1996-97 season. That was the season that Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury entered the NBA. With their entry, the hip hop movement kicked off, and everyone started becoming the same. The Answer was the truth, and he will go down as one of the greatest players and personalities that ever played in the NBA, but at the same time, everyone else became a caricature.III. WHY DID THE NBA START SUCKING?1. No more Michael Jordan :This guy was too great. He had the total game on offense and defense; he was an athletic specimen, with lightning quickness and killer hangtime; he had the intangibles to will a team to victory both as a leader and soldier; and he had the image, with the Armani suits, baldhead and mainstream appeal.Everyone else who was annointed to be the next MJ has so far failed. Don’t even get me started on Kobe or LeBron – none of them are close. Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway had some bad luck with injuries, but they wouldn’t have come close anyway. I have no comment regarding Harold Miner.2. Too much hip hop :I love hip hop and I love Allen Iverson, but the hip hop movement was terrible for the NBA. When AI first came into the league, his tattoos, braids and dress were revolutionary, but as soon as he got it started, everyone followed, and they became nothing special. With everyone doing it, the players’ rah rah displays on the court became a mere annoyance.Hip hop also destroyed the game. Iverson’s crossover, flair and toughness were amazing, but then everyone tried to make the NBA game into Rucker Park. The results manifested themselves in the sounds of bricklaying, fans breaking noses from wild passes, and guards getting swatted while trying to finish on three defenders converging on the basket. It was like listening to Vanilla Ice after listening to Public Enemy.I believe that the game’s transformation was a major reason why Team USA got spanked in world competition from 2002-06.3. No characters :The NBA was not scripted, but its roster of characters was much like the WWE’s. You had the Holy Trinity of Jordan, Magic and Bird. You had the Flying Mound of Rebound in Charles Barkley. You had the Dream Shaking Nigerian Nightmare in Hakeem Olajuwon. You had the old looking dude who made himself look even older by not shaving his head or moustache and wearing hot pants, long socks and tennis shoes in Clyde Drexler.You had the dominant-white-point-guard-and-black-redneck odd couple in John Stockton and Karl Malone. You had the Detroit Bad Boys led by the babyfaced assassin Isiah Thomas and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad of Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, et. al. Even the genuinely nice guy David Robinson was a character, with his Navy background. I could go on and on.Now, no matter how you try to put it, there’s no intrigue. The most intriguing players of their generation, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson, are on the decline, and their potential successor is an unproven Michael Beasley.IV. FUTURE OUTLOOK art of the NBA’s decline is bad luck and part of it is not. David Stern’s strategy of marketing individual players over teams has caused fans to lose interest, unless there is a Lakers vs. Celtics finals going on.The guys have great talent and athleticism, but some ingredient is missing, and there hasn’t been a player in a long time with the combination of game and personality of the old schoolers. What there is, there is a sense of something having been contrived. It may be a mere cycle, and players with these combinations will come along again.However, the hip hop movement dominating American basketball is not a mere coincidence. Even if the guys were all to play fundamentally sound, team basketball, there would still be no intrigue. Back when hip hop was in its infancy, in the 1980’s and 90’s, players were themselves. They just let their natural flair take over, and that was the best flair for the camera.Do remember, though, that the culture and society that permeates the off-court world of NBA players will change eventually, and be more conducive to making the NBA more exciting.The NBA can either wait for a new generation of players to come along or develop…Or they could hire Vince McMahon.

Pat Riley joins Hall of Fame greats as proud son

The image of polished perfection has made it to Springfield, Mass.On one hand, that makes Pat Riley profoundly proud.Because it’s as if his father is going to the Basketball Hall of Fame with him tonight.”My dad was dashing,” he says of the late Lee…