Great, now just sell the rest of the team

That footstep you heard the other day was Fred Wilpon stepping into James Dolan territory as one of the most destructive owners in New York, and more significantly one of the more incompetent owners in all of sports. I’m going to get this out of the way quickly: I do not feel bad for Fred Wilpon. Without delving too deeply into the financial quicksand that he’s been rapidly sinking into for months now, Wilpon could have at least somewhat salvaged his reputation as Mets owner by simply selling the team. The Mets are not – and should not be – anywhere near the top of his priority list at this point.

              But instead, Wilpon sabotaged any remaining respect he had in the baseball community. After ineffectively maneuvering different pieces within the organization for years, yesterday Fred Wilpon seemingly put himself into checkmate. Even if in the immediate aftermath, the team bands together and manages to make the season interesting by gutting out a few wins in their depleted state, the long term forecast now appears more grim than ever.

No team, not even the Yankees and Red Sox, can thrive without a fertile farm system, and the minor league fields for the Mets appear to be close to barren. Fernando Martinez has been a disappointment, partially due to nagging injuries, and partially due to the purgatory that he has been subjected to from so many call up’s and send down’s. Wilmer Flores may be something, but it’s way too soon to tell at 19 years old.

Even more concerning is the pitching situation. If the Mets are to effectively play the hand they’ve been dealt with Citi Field, star quality pitching needs to be their top priority. Jenrry Mejia has been given the Joba treatment the past two years, yo-yoing between starter and closer, and unsurprisingly just underwent Tommy John surgery. Matt Harvey is at least a year or two away from even being able to audition for a role in the Show.  

The best hope for replenishing the minor leagues came from Carlos Beltran and/or Jose Reyes. Two players who are having good and outstanding years respectively, but unfortunately are languishing in an injury riddled lineup full of career minor leaguers, and players whose talents are minimized in Citi Field (Wright to an extent, and definitely Bay). At the end of this season, Beltran will almost certainly be gone.

As a fan, I’m holding out hope that Reyes will stay because of his exciting adrenaline-shot style of play. But from a realist perspective, a Reyes trade could procure a wealth of young pitching talent that could yield long-term success. By taking unnecessary and unfair potshots at both of them yesterday, Wilpon has killed all leverage the Mets will have in any dealings with these players in their whatever time they have left within the organization.

My bet is that Reyes will get “Crawford money” - or something resembling it - the way he’s been performing this season. The only argument as to whether he’s the best shortstop in baseball right now comes from the Rocky Mountains, but after looking at the numbers, I’ll take the guy with a higher BA and OBP. Up until last week, he had made his affection for the New York area very public, saying he wanted to stay for the rest of his career.

Now the hometown discount the team could have gotten from the most exciting player I’ve ever seen don orange and blue has been cast into severe doubt. In the eyes of many other GM’s, Wilpon has tipped the Mets hand in terms of their intentions to resign Jose. Instead of being offered a bevy of high-level prospects, the Mets will now need to build their case to potential trade partners as to why they should get a king’s ransom for a player that Mets ownership apparently has no intention of keeping.

The Beltran slight is rife with factual inaccuracy. The expectations for Beltran when he was signed were astronomically high, as if the Mets were getting a surefire hall of famer to patrol center for the next ten years. By only those lofty standards did he not justify his contract. For the three years that this team was relevant in a championship discussion from 2006-2008, Beltran cemented himself as a top 3 outfielder in the game, including a 41 HR, 116 RBI, 18 SB campaign from ’06. This year he’s proven that if he can continue to dodge the injury bug, he’s certainly got enough left in the tank to be a starting outfielder on 90% of teams in Major League Baseball. Wilpon was never a "shmuck" for paying for Beltran in the first place, but now has earned the title by tarnishing his trade value at its absolute peak.

But the only low blow that definitely deserves a point deduction was the shot taken at David Wright. I will be the first to admit that Wright has not followed the grandiose path envisioned for him by Mets fans from the day he first assumed the hot corner at Shea. But despite the considerable road blocks the organization has laid in his path since 2008 (a nightmare ballpark to play 81 games in, and a complete lack of protection in the lineup before Ike Davis came up last year), Wright has never uttered a harmful word about the Mets.

When the club asphyxiated in successive September’s, Wright was the only player willing to face the media and calmly conduct a post-mortem, even though there was never any blood on his hands (he batted .352 in September of 2007, and .340 in September of 2008). He’s played at least 140 games in every year since 2005, and although he hasn’t been what fans expected, it’s never been for lack of effort on his end.

I would have to think that Wright knows that on at least 20 other teams, he’d be a perennial all star due to the combination of more confined confines, and a lineup where he wasn’t routinely the sole focus. A shot across the bow at him not only alienates the team’s leader and most loyal defender, but also sends a giant flashing signal to potential free agents that the New York Mets treat even their star players like throwaways.

In each of their own ways, all three of these players have done everything within their power to improve the Mets in their time in New York. By quietly selling a majority stake in the franchise, Wilpon would finally be able to say he’s done the same. 

This is how I picture the Sean Miller meeting went

I was originally going to write something about where Maryland goes from here on their ill fated coaching search. But I wouldn’t be doing justice to the scope of Kevin Anderson’s comedy of errors as an athletic director if I didn’t spend some good solid time on it. He’s done all he can to drag Maryland’s reputation through the mud. Now it’s my turn.

I’m surprised that it has taken me so long to completely lose faith in Kevin Anderson’s ability to competently perform the specific tasks that his job requires. I imagine this issue has infiltrated other areas of his life, like returning from the grocery store with all of the items crossed off the list, 20 different IOU’s, and possibly an expired can of corn. During his brief stint at the position, he has had three major tasks placed in front of him. Replacing the head football coach, followed by replacing the defensive coordinator, and the monumentally daunting task of somehow replacing Gary Williams.

Now, the head football coach issue is the most forgivable of his decisions in my opinion. The firing of Ralph Friedgen (a necessary move at some point due to his age and rapidly approaching culmination of his contract) was handled with all of the delicacy of the Manson murders. Friedgen deserved much better, especially in a year where he somehow coaxed a 9-4 record from what appeared to be an exceedingly average team heading into the fall, and earned ACC Coach of Year honors. Friedgen was forced to accept his ACC Coach of the Year after he had been relieved of coaching duties for 2011. You kill Old Yeller after he gets rabies or eats a whole wheel of cheese and poops in the fridge, not when he brings in the paper and inexplicably cooks you dinner.

The hiring actually could have gone very well. I am among the group that believes Randy Edsall is a very talented football coach, and a great hire. Being from Connecticut, I can definitively say that UConn football wasn’t even used as a punch line before Randy Edsall, because no one would have gotten the joke. To build a program from a middle of the road 1AA team to playing in a BCS bowl game says everything that you need to know about his work ethic .

The biggest thing that made the Edsall hire questionable in the eyes of so many Terps fans was that the very public frontrunner for the job was offensive savant Mike Leach. If Edsall had been the prime target from the beginning, his supporters would have been able to build a sense of anticipation for the hire due to his considerable accomplishments in the Big East. Unfortunately, Mike Leach’s accomplishments dwarfed those of Edsall, and a lot of fans were crestfallen when Maryland “only got” Randy Edsall.

After Don Brown left for Connecticut (enjoy him Huskies fans, it may take a year to integrate his system, but it’s an all out attack – like a poor man’s Rex Ryan defense), there were whispers of Randy Shannon coming to College Park to fill the DC position. Say what you want about Shannon as a head coach, but his track record at Miami as a purely defensive coach was borderline peerless. Outside of a “disappointing” 2004 season when the Hurricanes finished 28^th in total defense, his units finished an average of 5^th in the country from 2001-2006. The rumors died relatively early, but after hearing the name of such a talented (and probably overqualified) candidate, the fans expectations were again obviously high. An average coordinator from a conference renowned for its defense would have been somewhat deflating, but ultimately acceptable.

However, Kevin Anderson’s decision to promote former Southern Miss defensive coordinator Todd Bradford to DC parallels favorably with me drinking expired milk from the fridge: you check the numbers and like you thought, they’re definitely bad. But there’s no other apparent option because going to get new milk requires too much work. And you end up kicking yourself for not acting on such an obviously time sensitive issue earlier when you’re paying for it soon afterwards. The Southern Miss defense gave up 30 + points in more games than they didn’t last year. They were also statistically the fourth best defense in their conference.

And now onto the coup de grace. Granted, this was the most difficult hand that Anderson has been dealt for a number of reasons. He had to replace a legend, on very limited notice, at the most important position on the Maryland athletic staff. But, against all assumptions of common sense, Anderson once again undertook a very public courtship of Sean Miller for the job.

After his first two debacles, I figured if Kevin Anderson was willing to pursue just one high profile candidate yet again, there is no way he would do unless said candidate made his intentions clear with either a verbal guarantee or a contract signed in blood. Whatever happened out in Las Vegas - whether Miller was simply using Maryland to pressure Arizona into meeting his demands, or if Anderson and Bisciotti sold the program about as well as Tommy Callahan sold brake pads - he still looks terrible. Again, he stubbornly pursued a strategy that had ended calamitously twice before, and it ended with an extremely public and highly embarrassing failure, to the surprise of only him. He has convincingly fit the definition of insanity.

Putting a call in to Brad Stevens – who was quoted as saying he would only leave Buter ‘if they kicked me out’ – before the somewhat disappointing but unfortunately realistic option of Mike Brey was another extreme miscalculation. Now Terps fans, who started the weekend giddy with the possibility of landing a coach befitting to replace Gary Williams, are forced to just be happy with whoever heeds Anderson’s pleas and steps up on a podium in the next week. All that hangs in the balance is the stability of a proud, successful program, and the first Maryland recruits that I’ve been legitimately excited about in 5 years. (Maybe if we convince him we DON'T care, he WON'T screw it up...I'm out of ideas.)

Replacing Gary. First candidate: Rick Barnes

It’s not easy. Before getting into who has to step into the large, sweat-soaked shoes that have been left over, it needs to be noted what Gary did for Maryland. The critics will say that Gary was a disinterested recruiter who shunned quite possibly the most fertile recruiting ground in the country right in his back yard. Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, and Rudy Gay are just a few of the names he missed out on, but take a look who got those kids. Durant went to Rick Barnes, who I’ll get to in a minute, but the next two coaches are Jim Calhoun and Bob Huggins (who didn’t coach Beasley, but he recruited him).

 Huggins is right down there at the bottom of the slime bucket with John Calipari in terms of sleazy recruiters, and Calhoun isn’t much better. It’s impossible to deny that Gary neglected a veritable gold mine, but he won a national championship and fielded a competitive team nearly every year of his tenure, and he did it without having to sign a deal with the devil (boosters, certain AAU coaches) as the aforementioned names did. Because of him, plenty of Maryland fans were shocked to find out yesterday that this job is as highly regarded in the coaching industry as any because of the pristine condition Gary left it in.

             What cannot be questioned was Gary’s acumen for the game. When it came to game day, there is no coach that I can think of in college basketball (with the possible exception of Coach K) I would rather have commanding a team. With Gary at the helm, Maryland got to the NCAA tournament with DAVE F*CKING NEAL STARTING AT THE 5. AND THEY WON A GAME. In the most important nationally televised games, games where some teams would be blinded by the spotlight, Maryland was almost always game. There are a few blemishes, including some thumpings at Cameron and the Dean Dome, but there were also games like the 2007 win at Carolina, the 2006 win at Duke, and the unquestioned dominance of all things Comcast Center and Cole Fieldhouse under his reign. From 2006-2010, the Terps were 3-2 against North Carolina whose McDonalds intake resembled that of Morgan Spurlock. Why? Because Gary Williams could run tactical circles around Roy Williams, and just about anyone else you put in front of him.

            Lastly, and I’ve said this before, the last thing you want to see as a fan is a team or coach that just doesn’t care. The prime example that comes to mind for me is the 2005-2006 UConn team with five first round draft picks that lost to George Mason. Although Josh Boone and Hilton Armstrong didn’t end up really lighting the world on fire in the NBA, they were both more than adequate college basketball players. Marcus Williams was a dazzling point guard with outstanding court vision, Denham Brown provided a long distance threat, and Rudy Gay was a continuously running highlight film. That team should have won the national championship running away, but there were games where they simply did not show up. Part of the blame goes on the players, but part of it definitely goes on Calhoun for not being able to get such a talented group to play to their potential.

I can not think of one time when I was at Maryland where I thought that the basketball team was just going through the motions during a game. Every game was always the Duke game to Gary Williams, and if a player didn’t believe that, then he was pulled off the floor and given a few choice words by the coach. Every single player to a man that played under Williams will say that they respect him, and all the players that I saw improved dramatically in every year under his tutelage. He was a brilliant tactician, and a better motivator, and no matter who comes in, it will not be the same without seeing that predatory crouch on the sidelines during games.  

            Now, to get to the search for the replacement. There are four names that I can think of who would legitimately soften this possibly knockout blow. I do not believe that Brad Stevens will leave Butler because he has created what is his own version of Duke in the Midwest. He is revered as a god there, and he has gone to back to back Final Four’s. Butler may not be a recruiting powerhouse currently, but players are going to want to play for Stevens wherever he is, why leave?

Shaka Smart is also a name that has been thrown around, and as charismatic as he is, I don’t want him taking the reigns at Maryland. I simply don’t think he’s ready, and although it’s clear that his players would run through a wall for him, he hasn’t shown success at the high major level yet. The VCU NCAA run also really only included one very impressive win (Kansas) and one marginally impressive one (Purdue). A nail biter over FSU and a demolition of an already stumbling Georgetown were games that they should have won looking back. Lastly, there was a reason that all of the pundits were up in arms about VCU making the tournament, they didn’t have a great regular season, they in fact had a very average one. In short, Shaka Smart: Possible great coach in the future, but the resume is too short.

            Tubby Smith is too old.

Rick Barnes:

Current Job: Head Coach – Texas

Maryland connection: Was an Asst. Coach with Gary at OSU

Why I like Rick Barnes: Kevin Durant. DJ Augustin. LaMarcus Aldridge. Jordan Hamilton. AJ Abrams. TJ Ford. The list goes on. Rick Barnes is an outstanding recruiter who has turned Texas into a national powerhouse and has had them in the national title conversation heading into March in almost every year since he’s been there. Out of all the candidates, I believe that Barnes would be most adept at recruiting the DC/Baltimore area, and creating a whole lot more red hats on signing days than shades of blue.

Why I don’t like Rick Barnes: Quite simply, Rick Barnes is one of the worst high major X’s and O’s coaches that I have had the chance to watch. For the talent he recruits, by this point he actually should have fulfilled the perennial potential at least once with a Longhorns National Championship. In 2006, his team got Big Babyed in the Elite 8 after finishing 27-6. Somehow, his team crashed out in the 2^nd round of the 2007 tournament with the best college player I have ever seen. They didn’t just lose, they got handled by USC 87-68 when they were the ones with Kevin Durant. Just baffling. Barnes has had his pants pulled down far too many times on the big stage for me to comfortable with him as a coach. As much fear as he would inspire on the ACC recruiting trail, Roy would now have somebody to match less than considerable wits with, and Coach K would be thrilled to take a consistent two wins a year from a team stocked full of talent every year, but with no idea how to play effective organized basketball.

Adios Amigo

This weekend presented an ultimatum to write a Mets column. After finally showering off my Knicks hangover with some help from the draft, I was staring at the prospect of the Mets pulling me into baseball season Godfather-style. If the Mets had taken two of three from the Phillies, I would have reserved my judgment on the season and continued coasting through the season with a faint hope of the team briefly catching lightning in a bottle and making the season interesting. Instead, they dropped two of three including one where Roy Halladay pitching like he had a plane to catch, so it's time to face the music. 

            Realistically, it’s time to deconstruct these Mets. I've held off on this idea for the past few years, but the Mets do not resemble a contender this year, and their minor league system makes it look like they won't for a while. However, the Mets do have plenty of chips to play to change this situation around. To trade away David Wright would invite a fan mutiny. For better or for worse he has the dubious honor of being the face of a franchise that has had a big hand in torpedoing his market value over the past few seasons. Due to injuries, poor investments in multiple arenas, and the comically colossal dimensions of Citi Field, Wright’s once lofty ceiling is now something that is well within the vision of Mets fans. Carlos Beltran is off to a decent start, but even in a contract year, would net only marginal prospects in return due to his advanced age and well noted expiration date on his knees. There’s only one player that can turn the franchise around.

            It’s time to trade Jose Reyes. Even when he has finally found the instruction booklet on how to put it all together, and is one of the two answers Alek Trebek will accept for “Best Shortstop in Baseball”. In the short term, it’s going to be miserable not seeing the one guy who’s still somehow smiling through the shit storm and whipping lasers to Ike Davis in warm-ups. But looking forward to the future of the franchise, it’s clear that the rebuilding process should start as soon as possible. Hopefully it’s not a fire sale, but it will be a sale of sorts, and Reyes is the out of place fixed up 2005 Lamborghini sitting in the drive way that no one wants to listen to offers for. The worst part about it, is that he BELONGS in New York, specifically in Citi Field.

One of the laws of the fans (those laws should be published), is that a team isn’t supposed to trade a player until we don’t like them anymore. Collectively, we all sit as Commodus and look on with jaded pessimism, waiting to hand down judgment on the latest failed entertainer. Especially in New York, where it’s almost never about building relationships with athletes, and more along the lines of a series of one night stands and mail order brides that are either never as good as the first one, or as attractive as they seemed in the catalog.

David Wright may be the photogenic face that the media commonly associates with this team, but go to any Mets game and there’s only one player who’s cheered by name every time he gets up. Through all of his slumps, errors, and injuries (and there have been injuries), Reyes still can detonate the stands with excitement, and most importantly, let’s us know that he’s not taking it for granted. By all accounts he’s given, he’s just a guy that loves playing a game for a living. Whether that’s true or not, that’s what all of us non-players want to see out of any person lucky enough to not be in our category.

More importantly for Jose, very few players have had the good fortune of playing a stadium that maximizes their positive assets. Jason Bay got to have two years of nirvana in Fenway Park where the green monster transformed his long fly outs in Yawkey Way souvenirs. Jose Reyes doesn’t have the power that Bay does (whatever power that may be), but Citi Field is just as uniquely tailored to him.

Where most hitters come into Citi Field and see the black walls looming endlessly off in the distance, Reyes sees the unending expanse of green leading up to them. Make no mistake in 90% of other ballparks (especially including Fenway, one of his likely landing places), Reyes would still be a spectacular player. An increasingly disciplined hitter with enough power to prevent outfielders from cheating up to snare his line drives. But in Citi Field, Reyes is another animal entirely.

The sheer amount of ground that the outfield in Citi forces its defenders to cover means that Reyes can simply hit ball into the gap and watch it roll without any threat of a wall impeding the progress of it or him. Anything that gets past the outfielders is immediately a possible triple. For the past two years, there has been nothing even remotely as exciting as seeing Reyes realizing this possibility while rounding first, and briefly tilting the field downhill running to third. That wow factor is present in almost everything Reyes does. The best fielding at short Queens has seen since Ordonez, and the ability to steal any base at any time robbing any pitcher of their concentration.   

Unfortunately, it appears that the time for Mets fans to witness Reyes in his natural habitat is coming to a close. Get your tickets while you can, because the constant smile with a # 7 on his back will be whipping balls across the infield somewhere else soon, probably San Francisco. In the short term, the Mets are removing one of the last sources of joy from their team, but hopefully when fans look back in a few years, his departure will have brought a few more people in who get their own cheers.

With the 30th pick in 2011 Draft...

In my opinion, there is really only one way that the last two New York Jets seasons can be viewed: they are very, very, close. Consecutive AFC championship game appearances, coupled with a 3-2 lead in the series against the Patriots under the rule of Ryan make that much clear.

With such a defensive minded coach, it’s somewhat ironic that there is more long term stability on the other side of the ball. A bruising young running back and a sure-handed veteran with the occasional trick still left up his sleeve. At least one, (and hopefully two) gamebreaking receivers with a quarterback who has been most effective at synchronizing with them when the stakes are raised. And above all, an offensive line that renders itself an afterthought due to consistently outstanding run blocking, and protection reminiscent of the Secret Service. Needless to say, I’m of the opinion that the Jets need to use this first round pick to upgrade the defense.

             Mock Draft's seem to have the Jets picking Phil Taylor to fill the hole left by Kris Jenkins for the past two years. In my estimation, Jenkins doesn't necessarily need to be replaced. The fact that he's blown out his knee early in 2009 and 2010, and the defense has gone on to spectacular years only strengthens that case. Replacing Jenkins is like getting a new HDTV instead of paying the electric bill.
             The elephant in the room when it comes to Ryan's defense is that it's pass rush by committee. The Bears game stands out in particular as a time when the issue reared its ugly head.Rex relies on multiple looks not just because it's his preference, but also because the option to put the bulk of pass rushing responsibilities in the hands of one or two people is simply not there. Shaun Ellis and Calvin Pace are both nice pieces, but not types that opposing offensive coordinators need to game plan around.  Phil Taylor’s most effective trait is his ability to occupy space, which is already something effectively accomplished by Sione Pouha (and Mike DeVito in 4-3 packages). 

             With this year’s crop of defensive tackles, there’s really only one in the Jets range that I believe has star-like qualities, and that’s Marvin Austin. He’s extremely nimble for a defensive tackle, and was widely considered the second best defensive tackle available for this year’s draft before he was suspended for the entire 2010 season. Although Pouha is 32, the only way I feel that a defensive tackle draft pick would be justified is if the player brought a new aspect to the already solid defensive tackle position, which Austin would with his potentially explosive athleticism complementing Pouha’s stout work against the run.

            The most obvious way to remedy the pass rush issue is simple: get a pass rusher. Whether it’s a 3-4 end with the ability to get to the quarterback, or an outside linebacker with the speed and strength to command double teams, both would be welcome additions to a team whose leading sacker was Bryan Thomas with 6 last year. Assuming that the Jets don't move up into a spot where an elite one is available (which is always a possibility with Mike Tannenbaum), there are three options that I have narrowed it down to. Adrian Clayborn at DE and either Akeem Ayers or Justin Houston at OLB. Of the three, I think Clayborn addresses a more pressing need as a 3-4 defensive end, but his precipitous drop off from 2009 to 2010 is definitely worrisome. Clayborn doesn't possess the elite athleticism that is necessary to consistently outmaneuver larger and quicker offensive tackles on the next level. 

In terms of the outside linebackers, Ayers is definitely the safer pick considering his ability to cover and work against the run are both solid. When I looked up Justin Houston on YouTube, a Vernon Gholston video appeared in the recommended videos window…not a good start. But he’s a relentless pass rusher and- if he pans out- could fill the role that Terrell Suggs had in Rex’s defense in Baltimore.
In the case that the Jets DO move up, it would almost have to be for Da'Quan Bowers. His knee could be a glaring red flag, as well as whether he fits in the Ryan's base 3-4 defense. Jonathan Vilma and Vernon Gholston have previously shown that you can't just jam pieces into the puzzle because they look nice. But for all of the concern about his health, it was only a month ago that Bowers was a consensus top 3 pick, and his ceiling is several stories higher than all of the aforementioned players, with the possible exception of Austin. 

Overall, if I had to rank these players in order of preference, it would go 5. Houston, 4. Clayborn, 3. Bowers, 2. Ayers, 1. Austin. Bowers is obviously the most talented player, but would require the Jets again walking away with a dearth of draft picks. I think Austin could play outside on a 3-4 occasionally despite being relatively short at 6’1”, and he possesses what I believe to be Sapp-like athleticism. The Houston-Gholston parallels scare me away from him, and Ayers seems like he’s the safer pick and a more well-rounded player. 

Planting the seed of hope at the Garden

1)   

       Stay out of early foul trouble

           In both games, the Knicks early attack has been severely hampered by an important cog getting into foul trouble early. Carmelo Anthony in Game 1, Toney Douglas in Game 2. Instead of being able to create an early advantage with a full strength lineup, they have instead simply had to focus on surviving early Celtics onslaughts. Considering the fact that Stoudemire and Billups’ minutes will be limited (optimistically), Mike D’Antoni already has enough on his plate to deal with in terms of his offensive strategy. Having to adjust his lineups on the fly and dig deeper into the bench will mean that the Knicks will lose this game. 

           If the worst does happen, D’Antoni needs to pull the plug on Douglas a little quicker. When he got in foul trouble early in Game 2, he shied away from contact with Rondo on the break, and Rondo coasted to a triumphant first fame. Whether it’s Anthony Carter or Jared Jeffries, a better more effective option needs to be employed when Toney is in foul trouble.


 Replace Landry Fields.

          As much as I like how Fields has been able to mold himself into an effective NBA player over the course of the season, he has no place in this series and he’s showing it. The Celtics are good at getting Allen shots by creating a house of mirrors with screens, and Landry appears to be lost. Guarding Allen also means that Fields is regularly too far from the hoop to provide his most well refined service, rebounding.

           I would like to see a good deal more of Shawne Williams and Bill Walker in Fields’ stead. Walker had a cringe worthy 0/11 shooting line in Game 2, the law of averages almost require him to be better in Game 3. Even if the improvement on that end isn’t earth shattering, he’s an athletic, versatile defensive option who can spell Carmelo for periods on Paul Pierce. The same can be said for Williams, who can guard practically anybody the Celtics put on the floor with the exception of Rondo. 

           Both options are offensive upgrades from Fields at this juncture, and both have infused the Knicks with a rugged physicality when they’ve stepped on the floor in the series. They are wrenches at Mike D’Antoni’s disposal to throw in the Celtics carefully delegated offensive machine, and at different points this year have shown the ability to ride a hot streak on offense. Fields coming off the bench is an attractive option because the attributes that he brings to the game (energy and rebounding) are well suited to short bursts more than extended play.


Have a better plan for when Carmelo is doubled

            I would say after his 42 point masterpiece in Game 2, it’s safe to assume that whoever does draw the assignment of guarding Anthony will receive some extra assistance. When Doc Rivers finally started employing that strategy in the 4^th quarter, the Knicks offense broke down almost completely, and it ultimately resulted in the game resting in Jared Jeffries offensively challenged hands twice. This cannot happen again. 

            Jeffries panicked on the last play and didn’t see a wide open Douglas in the corner, and on the previous possession when Mason got the ball on the wing with 9 seconds left on the shot clock, nobody moved and Mason had to take a contested three that Jeffries was fortunate to rebound. Knowing D’Antoni, the offensive plan will be better this time around. Roger Mason really only has one value on this team, and it’s as a shooter, Douglas is a shooter and has the capability to create and get to the basket as well. The ball should not be in Jeffries hands in key moments at all costs.


Apply constant pressure to the Celtics on the offensive end

            With the possible exception of Carmelo getting Game 2 hot, The Knicks should never give the Celtics an easy defensive possession. No ill regarded shots early in the shot clock, a limited amount of unforced errors, and crash the offensive boards hard. The Celtics have proved that regardless of what the scoreboard says, they are always in the game, and they need to be treated like that. 

             I’m actually more worried about how the Knicks will react to the crowd than how the Celtics will, because the Knicks have to guard against overconfidence and the danger of quickening their pace to the point that too many absentminded mistakes are made. The Celtics are a model to follow in that they never got too high or too low, they maintain a steady but not breakneck offensive flow throughout the game, and they always look for the best shot every possession instead of wasting a possession on a heat check.


Get it to STAT early

            As a realist, I’m going to go ahead and say that Amar’e Stoudemire is not going to be at 100% during this game. His normally explosive first step will be compromised, and because of this he won’t be able to render Kevin Garnett completely helpless with his offensive versatility…for the entire game. However, at the beginning of the game and possibly just after halftime, whatever lingering effects his back spasms have on him should be negated by a combination of treatments and injections. 

             For the limited time Amar’e will be at his most effective, he needs to make Garnett respect his physical ability. Get by him by any means necessary, and anyone else who gets in his way. After he’s able to establish his ability to get the basket, he should be able to rely on his consistent 15 footer considering Garnett will be forced to respect the notion that Amar’e is one of the few power forwards that he doesn’t have the speed and power to keep up with anymore. STAT might not draw a double team, but he’ll make sure that Garnett won’t be available as a double teamer.

Prediction:

            A lot of people are giving the Knicks this game because of the aura of the Garden, and how close they’ve played the first two games. The only team in these playoffs that will not be fazed by the Garden will be the Boston Celtics. They haven’t lost to the Knicks all year, and they’ve simply been through too many battles to inexplicably lose their cool at the sight of a fully packed MSG, however impressive and imposing it may be. The other point makes more sense to me: The Knicks have played both games down to the wire in Boston, the latter of the two with Carmelo and a cast of backup singers. 

            IF Stoudemire can go, and doesn’t show too many ill effects from his back spasms, I think the Knicks are able to pull this one out if only for the reason that down the stretch, it will be Amar’e catching those passes from Carmelo, and not Jared Jeffries. 10 years ago today the Knicks beat the Raptors 92-85, time to throw an anniversary party.     

Time to see what we've got with TD

            

I’ve been a vocal supporter of Toney Douglas for a long time. Not just since the Knicks picked him through a draft night trade with the Lakers, but since college. Out of all of the visiting players that I ever deemed to “suck” at Maryland in the pre-game warm-ups, he and Al Thornton made me eat my words the most. He’s always been a mortal lock to play suffocating defense until the final buzzer, which I think is invaluable to any team, especially the New York Knicks considering their nightly Jekyll and Hyde act on that end. He’s waterbug quick, with pitbull intensity, and the confidence to let it fly from three, which is usually beneficial because of his good to lethal accuracy from there. The point guard instincts are still in the formative stages, retarded by Florida State’s otherwise impotent offense relying almost completely on his production. But I think he can be an effective starting point guard in the NBA, and there’s no better stress test for that hypothesis than this game.

            After being limited by D’Antoni during Felton’s stay with the team, and briefly captaining the ship during Billups’ previous thigh injury, tonight is finally Toney’s night to sink or swim test. This game WILL SHOW whether he can handle the duties of a starting point guard in this league, or if he’ll be relegated to back up status for the remainder of his tenure in New York, and probably afterwards. Although it may not be the ideal situation for this to be taking place during a vitally important Game 2 against the defending Eastern Conference champs, it’s exactly what I want to see.

There’s only two ways this can go. The consensus opinion is that without Billups’ steady hand to guide the offense, it will sputter against the best defense in the league. Toney won’t be able to balance the high wire act between keeping his two superstars happy while also remembering that he’s a more than viable offensive option. He can occasionally be tentative with his passes, and the Celtics defense feasts on indecision. His “two sizes too small” tight defense is not suited to Rondo, who has the speed to blow by overanxious defenders who don’t give him room to play stone mason with his jump shots. If the night ends with a round number in the win column and only two on the scoreboard, a lot of blame will be placed on the play caller of this usually high powered offense. 

Or tonight could be the Knicks find their point guard of the future, however near that may be. All of the clamoring for a young dynamic point guard could be reduced to whispers in 48 solid minutes. He’s done it a few times this season against playoff teams. The 30 point game on the road at the eventual leader in the clubhouse Chicago Bulls in November. Helping to force rookie phenom John Wall into 9 turnovers the very next night while hanging crooked numbers all over his own row in the box score. And most convincing, his complete and utter deconstruction of all things Chris Paul on a night that was supposed to be a premature welcome party to the man who plenty believe is the best point guard in the league. The next day, the switchboards of New York sports radio stations lit up like Lite Brite’s with calls about how Paul might not even be worth the investment, and that maybe the Knicks should look elsewhere for their forthcoming third piece.

Nobody mentioned the other side of that argument, that maybe Toney Douglas is just that good. Maybe he’s close to figuring it out, he’s definitely not the distributor that Paul is, but he’s a better deep ball shooter with unparalleled defense among point guards. He might not be a superstar, but if Billups can teach him up on how to run an offense (something he’s really never had outside of the aforementioned brief tenure with Felton) he can be an important piece of a championship contending team. It’s apparent to everyone who’s watched the Knicks that they look and play “very different” with Toney running the point. Tonight is the night that he gets to determine which two words replace those.