New York Knicks

Carmelo Anthony sustained a partial tear of his his labrum late in the regular season, and the Knicks’ medical staff has prescribed rest and rehabilitation for the injury.

What a roller coaster type year for the Knicks Organization, and their fans. The Knicks off-season was nothing flashy. The Knicks acquired Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas for Jared Jeffries, Dan Gadzuric, the draft rights to Forward Kostas Papanikolaou and Guard Giorgos Printezis, and a protected future second-round draft pick. The Knicks also re-signed Steve Novak and JR Smith, while adding Jason Kidd. The debated decision to move on from the “Linsanity” debacle led to the additions of Felton and Kidd. Expectations rose dramatically for this Knicks team when they started off hot, and were at the top of the standings. However, in the midst of the 27 game winning streak those expectations died down, and the Knicks settled in at the 2nd seed of the Eastern Conference Standings, while posting a 3-1 record against the Heat in the regular season. Despite an impressive regular season record against the Number 1 seeded Heat, the Knicks were considered to be a team to either make a deep playoff run, or get eliminated prematurely. The skepticism proved fair, after going up 3-0 on the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, they lost Game Four, and Game Five, and nearly blew a giant lead in Game Six. However,they won 88-80 and advanced to play the Pacers. The series against the Pacers proved an old basketball saying, “live and die by the three”. Nothing went right for JR Smith that series, shooting around 20%, and seemingly unable to buy a bucket. JR Smith is not the sole reason for the Knicks underachieving against the Pacers. Mike Woodson did not help the cause by having rotations that consisted of players on cold streaks, and lineups that played into the Indiana Pacers’ hands. Minutes were rare for guys producing like Prigioni or someone who was a part of their regular season success and identity like Copeland. Who knows if they would have won the series playing with the formula that got them there, but some very questionable coaching decisions leaves many questions in the aftermath of their second round playoff exit. This should lead Knicks fans to question the management and transactions by their General Manager. The Knicks lack an inside presence to deal with the big men of the Pacers or other bigger teams. As proved by the Memphis Grizzlies, big men with a physical presence can tire out a faster team, and take them out of their rhythm. The management of the Knicks simply failed to construct a team built to make a deep playoff run. The success or failure of a team that is heavy on three point shooting is determined on whether or not they are hot or cold. The Front Office of the New York Knicks should have been aware of this, and added players with other strengths to have a more balanced team. The thing is, the Knicks posted the best regular season record they had in many years, and won their first playoff series in many years. There is not much cause for them to change the surrounding talent around Carmelo. There may be enough contractual situations to cause for a few personnel changes. JR Smith may opt out of his contract, which would free the Knicks of $3.9 million next year, unless they attempt to re-sign him for a larger contract. It has been reported that JR Smith wants to retire as a New York Knick, and that he may receive a four year contract from New York. Many fans think that trading Amar'e Stoudemire is an option. He is making $19,948,799 million this year, and still has a large amount due. Fans think that the Knicks have to realize that Stoudemire is not producing to the equal amount that he is getting paid. At age 30, and declining numbers, the time is now to get something for him, without losing him for nothing. His large contract will be an issue if they wish to trade him. Unfortunately, Stoudemire is having more and more injury problems. That, plus his age being at 30 (going on 31 in November) does not make for a good combination. Twenty-Nine games played (33 games i

The Heat’s Chris Andersen is no attention seeker, but his shooting in Game 1 against the Pacers was impossible to miss.

A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters chose LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan and Chris Paul to the All-N.B.A. first team.

Danny Wild – USA Today Sports Images The New York Knicks may have been the hottest team in the entire league in the final month leading up to the NBA Playoffs. Their offense was clicking on all cylinders, averaging 103.8 points per game while converting on 47.2 percent of their field goal attempts and 40 percent of their three-point attempts in April. They were absolutely killing it on the offensive end and a lot of that was due to the great play of J.R. Smith. The league’s Sixth Man of the Year was absolutely on fire in the eight games that he played in April. In 33 minutes per game of playing time, Smith averaged 22 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond-the-arc, all of which are well above his season averages. However, that success disappeared once he got into the postseason. In the 11 playoff games that Smith played before the Knicks were eliminated, missing one game due to a suspension for elbowing Jason Terry in the face, Smith averaged just 14.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while posting paltry shooting percentages of 33.1 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three. He was abysmal in the playoffs and it aided to New York’s demise. Smith was so bad in the playoffs that it was honestly unsurprising and somewhat relieving to hear that he had fluid buildup in his knees that he will have to have drained this off-season. Though Smith deserves many criticisms, he’s never been as bad as he was in the playoffs this season. Considering he is a free agent this summer, this may keep his potential pay day from decreasing as much as it might have. Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.

Losing a game at the final buzzer, no less than a playoff game on the road against the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, would seem to have potential to demoralize the Indiana Pacers.

Pat Lovell-USA Today Sports On Thursday morning, the NBA announced its selections for the All-NBA teams from the 2012-13 season. LeBron James was a unanimous selection to nobody’s surprise and he was joined by Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. Wait — where is Carmelo Anthony? Okay, so Anthony wasn’t the most efficient shooter down the stretch, but that came in the playoffs. Keep in mind, the Knicks ended the regular season with a bang, earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in the process. Anthony was the catalyst behind that and he averaged 28.6 points this past season, in addition to 6.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. That offensive number was good enough to win the NBA’s scoring title this year, snapping a three year streak by Durant. Okay, so remind me again how Anthony — the main reason why the Knicks were the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and the NBA’s scoring leader here in 2013 — isn’t a first team All-NBA selection? While Anthony’s case is strong — he did headline the second team All-NBA selections by the way — it could be a situation in which who else would you take off? Duncan had another fantastic year and he continues to impress even despite not getting any younger. The voting works by position, but Carmelo certainly mixed things up during the season in regards to that. If Lebron and Durant are the two forwards, they just might get the nods for the next ten years. My vote would be for Kobe. Bryant led the Lakers from uncertain playoff expectations into consideration before tearing his Achilles tendon. He’s the leader on that Lakers squad, we know that and he once again had a terrific season. However, look at the weapons Kobe had around him this year and compare them to that of the Knicks. On paper, Los Angeles is the better team, but the Knicks had the better record. Ironically enough, this was Kobe’s 11th nomination to the first-team, tying him with Karl Malone for the most all-time — was that why he got the nod? Anthony deserved a first team All-NBA nod this season — that’s the bottom line. Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS

The star-studded U.S. national basketball team cannot afford to get complacent about being the sport's superpower given the pace of emerging talent around the globe, head coach Mike Krzyzewski said on Thursday.

Carmelo Anthony was named to the second-team All-NBA team today, his sixth appearance on the All-NBA team and his second appearance on the second team. It is just bad luck that he happens to play the same position (forward) as two of the very best players in the NBA, Lebron James and Kevin Durant, or [...]

"It is better to die on your feet (with Pablo) than to live on your knees (without Pablo)" - Emiliano Zapata I know the day after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals seems like a ridiculous time to discuss off-season moves, but these are desperate times in Knick-land. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, Knicks guard and future godfather to my future children Pablo Prigioni is in the midst of considering his options for next season. There is a very good chance that this prince of men will leave New York for good. This simply cannot stand! First of all, it will leave the Knicks a worse team in 2013-14. Though he wasn't truly appreciated until his ascension to the starting role (and the corresponding Knicks' win streak) toward the end of the regular season, Pablo was a consistent performer throughout - he ran the offense, set up his teammates, hit open threes, and he was unique among Knicks guards for a rather peculiar thing he did, where he tried to stop the opposing player from scoring. What shall we call this skill - anti-offense? Whatever it was, he did it, and it was cool. But so what if he's good at basketball - that's never stopped the New York Knicks from ditching a player before, right? The Pablo Phenomenon is about so much more than basketball - do yourself a favor and check out "pablo prigioni interview" on Youtube. The man they call "Priggy Smalls" has been a ray of light penetrating deep into the endless void of the Dolan universe. I, for one, am sick and tired of sitting on my thumbs while another beloved Knick rolls out of town. It's time for what the Argentines (maybe) call a movimiento. We need banners (preferably in Spanish), t-shirts, outsider art, protest marches, the whole shebang. Personally, I don't think we need AK-47s at this point, but I don't want the NRA on my ass, so bring 'em if ya got 'em! ¡Viva la Pablocura Revolucion! We must proceed with caution - many movements fail because they do not have a clear plan for achieving their objective. As Knicks fans, we already know there is nothing we can do to affect the organization's decision-making process. Instead, let us focus on Pablo himself, on easing his decision to come back to the Knicks by making his time in New York as comfortable as possible. Here are some ideas. 1. Forget J.R. and Chris Smith...hire Pablo's kin. It seems as if J.R. Smith had a plan to make his brother Chris part of a package deal in free agency. J.R.'s performance in the playoffs might just have torpedoed that whole deal...and if it did, that torpedo was pretty much the only shot to hit the mark in the past few weeks. Now, I don't know if Pablo has any brothers - he seems like he comes from a good Catholic family, so I'm guessing he has at least five or six. We need to find these los hermanos de Pablo. Can they play? Who cares....put them on the bench anyway! A bench full of Prigionis would be the most adorable thing ever. There's a reason puppies come in litters. 2. Make Spanish the official language of New York. In his article, Berman made mention of the fact that Pablo's wife felt uncomfortable in New York because she can only speak Spanish. I'm not sure exactly where she was spending her time, because a whole lot of New Yorkers speak Spanish, but whatever, I'll play along. For years I've heard talk that this country needs an "official language" policy - it always seemed un-American to me, but desperate time call for desperate measures. Congratulations, everyone, you now have an official language, español. Para la esposa de Pablo, debe hablar español. Meanwhile, I just spent six years learning Chinese...I've wasted my life. 3. Ban all car traffic in New York, only allow vintage mopeds on the streets. Check out Pablo's Twitter photo...dude loves his vintage mopeds. 4. Give him the greatest gift you can give any Argentine. If I know anything about Argentines (and I don't) it's this: they really, really want the Falkland Isla