Iman Shumpert could very well become the starting point guard for the New York Knicks soon. Heading into the preseason it seemed like Toney Douglas was the favored player by Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, but then the team signed free agents Mike Bibby and Baron Davis. Davis is out until at least midseason, and Bibby is better coming off the bench at this point. Enter Shumpert , who got selected by the Knicks with the seventeenth pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.

Shumpert averaged 28 minutes per game in the preseason, shooing 34.8 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three-point range. Those aren’t great numbers, but when Landry Fields, Douglas and Bibby all struggled worse, it opened the door for the rookie to win favor with D’Antoni. Shumpert also averaged 11.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2 steals per game in the preseason, showing he could put up some nice numbers if given the minutes.

At practice on Friday (Dec. 23), Shumpert got a lot of time working with the other four starters (Fields, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler). It may seem like an experiment from a coach trying to see what it would look like to go with that lineup, but it also seems like D’Antoni might have something up his sleeves for the regular season. Having a duo of Shumpert (6-5) and Fields (6-7) as the starting guards would give the Knicks a lot of size on both ends of the court. Add Chandler to that equation and suddenly it could become a strength for the Knicks .

Last year, Douglas played in 81 games, averaging 24.3 minutes, 10.6 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds per game. He was a good option for the Knicks at guard, but he definitely had his limitations as well. One of them was a 41.6 shooting percentage from the field, an area where the team has got to improve in the 2011-12 season. Now, as Douglas tries to improve his game during his third NBA season, it could become a nice battle to see whether it is him or Shumpert that gets to start at point guard.

Shumpert certainly brings a different flow to the game when he is in the lineup and I am very intrigued to see what a starting backcourt of Shumpert and Fields could do against some of the most physical teams in the league. Who knows, maybe D’Antoni will surprise us all and use Shumpert as the starter against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.

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Sources:

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

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The NBA season is about to begin and the New York Knicks are still not getting any respect around the NBA. ESPN put together a panel of “experts” that selected the Boston Celtics as the projected winners of the Atlantic division this season. Two even picked the Philadelphia 76ers to win the division ahead of both New York and Boston, raising serious questions about how ESPN can call these guys experts.

The voting on ESPN led to 17 people selecting the ancient Celtics, 11 selecting the improved Knicks and 2 selecting the 76ers. The two that picked Philadelphia are A. Kamenetzky of ESPN LA and Keith Lipscomb of ESPN Fantasy. That’s a bold choice to go with a 76ers team that doesn’t seem to have done much to improve for the 2011-12 season and especially bold to place them among the top four seeds coming out of the Eastern Conference. Those Knicks fans already frustrated with those predictions certainly don’t want to hear what John Hollinger had to say .

According to the Hollinger ratings for this year, New York will finish with a 35-31 record and the No. 7 seed in the East. That would put the Knicks behind both Philadelphia and Boston in the Atlantic division, but also behind a No. 6 seeded Indiana Pacers . Finishing behind the Pacers seems like a huge slap in the face to the Knicks , especially because the team gets a full season from Carmelo Anthony and has added Tyson Chandler for the next few years. Finishing No. 7 in the East isn’t going to cut it, especially because Hollinger predicts a first round loss to the Chicago Bulls.

It seems like some great rivalry games are going to take place in the East this year, especially with the Bulls, Celtics and Miami heat. Those are the three teams that New York has to beat in order to make it back to the NBA Finals, so it’s only fitting that the Knicks play the Celtics on the first day of the regular season. Beating the Celtics on Christmas Day could go a long ways toward helping the Knicks set the pace in the Atlantic division and try to accomplish the first division title since before Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett started wearing the Celtic green.

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

New York Knicks fans waited a long time for 2011. It had been seven years since New York last made the NBA playoffs, and though they were swept by the Boston Celtics in four games, excitement returned to Madison Square Garden this year.

It started with the signing of Amar’e Stoudemire in July of 2010. Stoudemire brought instant credibility and a whole lot of offense to a team desperately in need of both. The Knicks still didn’t play defense and they were clearly not in the same league as the upper echelon teams, but on opening night – a 98-93 win over the Raptors – it was clear that this was the beginning of a new era of Knicks basketball. New York finished the season 42-40, but not before some memorable moments took place.

Here are the New York Knicks’ top five moments of 2011:

No. 5: Spurs at Knicks, January 4, 2011 – The modern-day Knicks are not known for their defense, but on this particular night it was their opponent’s defensive shortcomings that stood out. New York outscored San Antonio 128-115, prompting Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to bench his starters late in the fourth quarter. New York scored 72 points in the first half against a Spurs team that entered the game with a league-best 29-4 record. For the Knicks, Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 31 points and Stoudemire and Raymond Felton added 28 points apiece. Like old times, the Garden was rocking.

No. 4: Knicks at Heat, February 27, 2011 – Who says this doesn’t play any defense? It was a defensive play – maybe the most memorable play of the season for New York – that propelled the Knicks to a 91-86 victory over the Miami Heat. With seven seconds remaining, Stoudemire blocked LeBron James’ layup attempt to protect a one-point lead. Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his third game in a Knick uniform. New York fell behind by 15 in the first half and ended the game on a 13-2 run. But it was Stoudemire’s heroics that had people talking.

No. 3: Heat at Knicks, January 27, 2011 – Nothing seems to make NBA fans (except for those who root for the Heat) happier than seeing LeBron James fail. They had plenty of opportunity to celebrate on this night at the Garden. James shot 7-for-24 from the floor and finished with 24 points, a below-average performance for King James. The Knicks hadn’t beaten a LeBron James team since 2007. With TNT broadcasting from the Garden for the first time in five years, there was no better time to end that streak. The Knicks did just that with a 93-88 win after outscoring Miami 29-15 in the fourth quarter.

No. 2: Knicks Return to the Playoffs – Sweep or no sweep, what mattered was that the Knicks were back in the playoffs. Not since 2004 had they been there. For too many seasons, the Knicks were mediocre at best, with no real hope to get out from under the salary cap and begin the rebuilding process. Then came the summer of 2010 and the signing of Stoudemire, February 2011 with the trade for Carmelo Anthony, and then suddenly, the Knicks were in the playoffs where they went up against the Celtics. Boston was the better team and it showed. The Knicks lost the first two in Boston and the next two at home. They didn’t go down easy, but injuries to Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups didn’t help their chances against a team that even Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni admitted was the better squad. The franchise has now lost ten straight playoff games, but finally getting back to the playoffs seemed to matter most.

No 1: Carmelo Anthony Comes Home – The Knicks didn’t land James seven months earlier, but the team thought they got the next best thing when the Brooklyn-born Anthony joined them in a trade that sent Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov, along with some cash and draft picks, to the Denver Nuggets. (The Knicks also picked up Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter in the deal.) Anthony received a 3-year, $65 million extension that made New York his home for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, February 23, 2011, he scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his Knicks debut at the Garden, hitting big shots down the stretch of a 114-108 win over the Bucks. It was Melo Mania the rest of the way.

Charles Costello is a lifelong Knicks fan who was a beat reporter assigned to cover the team during the 1997-98 season.

Sources

Spurs at Knicks: AP via Yahoo! Sports

Knicks at Heat: AP via Yahoo! Sports

Heat at Knicks: AP via Yahoo! Sports

Knicks Return to Playoffs: New York Daily News

Anthony Comes Home: New York Daily News

Video: YouTube

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The New York Knicks took a huge step towards helping Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony pursue an NBA title this year. On Saturday, the team completed a trade to acquire center Tyson Chandler from the Dallas Mavericks. The sign-and-trade deal nets Chandler a four-year $56 million contract, making him one of the highest paid centers in the league.

In exchange for Chandler, the Knicks sent center Ronny Turiaf to the Washington Wizards and guard Andy Rautins to the Mavericks. The Mavericks were doing this deal with the intent to get something out of losing Chandler, and they also gain a 2013 protected second-round pick from the Knicks .

In order to clear room on the roster, the Knicks had to pay the salary of Turiaf , making it a really enticing deal for the Wizards. The Knicks also had to use the new amnesty clause on point guard Chauncey Billups to free up the $14.2 million he is owed for this year. Now Billups will get a chance to sign with any other team in the league. Possibly with a grudge that will show itself when he plays against New York this year.

It’s too bad that the team had to part ways with Turiaf , as he was probably the hardest working player on the team last season. It was just another price to make sure they got Chandler though, which in itself raises expectations for the center this year. There are certainly many more moves needed this offseason because the Knicks are very short on roster players.

As it stands, the starting lineup for the 2011-12 season is Chandler at center, Stoudemire at power forward, Anthony at small forward, Landry Fields at shooting guard and Toney Douglas at point guard. Not exactly mind-blowing depth for the Knicks, but there were rumors that Mike Bibby was also set to join the team as another point guard. The rest of the bench consists of Renaldo Balkman and Bill Walker for now.

Getting Chandler is a big step towards fixing the defense for New York, and this is a team that definitely is ready to compete in the Eastern Conference again. The roster has got to stay healthy though, because there are no good back-ups to move into the starting lineup if any injuries befall the Knicks.

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

In a move that perplexed most NBA analysts and fans, the Knicks used the amnesty clause on point guard Chauncey Billups so that they could sign Tyson Chandler to a $15 M contract. The move meant the Knicks had some holes to address at point guard, and in typical Mike D’Antoni style, defense does not seem to be much a consideration in filling the void.

In addition to already having shoot first point guard Toney Douglas, D’Antoni can now choose to enter either the decrepit Mike Bibby or possibly the 5’11″ Barea, if they do indeed acquire him. The backcourt would be so vulnerable on defense, but that has seldom been a consideration for a coach who has never really put much consideration into that part of the game.

I’m not sure how much basketball Bibby has left in his sneakers, and Barea may be a flash in the pan. During the regular season, Barea averaged just under 10 points per game, and while impressive in the playoffs, he was inconsistent. He had some 20+ point games and then other nights where he barely sniffed the stat sheet. It’s hard to see the value in a guy like Barea when the Knicks aren’t having any trouble scoring anyway, but maybe it is just D’Antoni’s preference to have a guy like Barea whose primary thought when he gets the ball is what kind of shot he can find for himself.

The Knicks probably have made a huge mistake by letting Billups go. I don’t even know how Chandler and Amar’e will work together, but something tells me the Knicks are putting all their eggs in the “get Chris Paul” basket, and are shoving all in, and going with whatever they’re stuck with if they strike out. They realize ultimately that to contend with the likes of Miami, Chicago, and Boston, that they are going to have to get their own super trio, and just having Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony probably isn’t enough.

Even if the Knicks do land Paul, he’s going to have to find a way to get his teammates to tighten up late in games and play some defense. There haven’t been that many run ‘n’ gun teams that have made the Finals, and if you want to go ahead and mention the Lakers’ Showtime teams, I will counter that they actually played very good defense, at a fast pace. Don’t confuse the two. The Knicks need to pick it up defensively if they are going to get anywhere, and adding Barea and Bibby hardly will accomplish that at all.

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These days, 7-footers who are both elite defenders and offensively competent are rare in the NBA. Center Tyson Chandler’s imminent four-year, $60 million deal with the New York Knicks will provide his new team with the length and interior defensive presence it desperately needs.

The Knicks’ salary cap space, when the deal becomes official, will be taken up by the earnings of power forward Amar’e Stoudemire, small forward Carmelo Anthony and Chandler, who averaged 10.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks last season. Veteran point guard Chauncey Billups is the cap casualty in this, because New York—in order to create room for Chandler—is going to use the amnesty clause to clear his $14.2 million salary off their books.

Chandler, 29, won a championship this year by helping the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. His addition solidifies New York’s front court, leaving coach Mike D’Antoni free to address each guard position.

Toney Douglas, an offensive-minded point guard, still has to learn how to become a better distributor, and second-year shooting guard Landry Fields needs to recapture what he lost after Anthony was traded to the Knicks last February. New York has been interested in inking free agent Grant Hill to be their two guard, but Chandler’s signing may be a huge obstacle toward such happening.

Without Chandler, the Knicks would have entered the 2011-12 season with Jared Jeffries, a good defender but non factor on offense, as their starting center.

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It’s time for the New York Knicks to make a bold move this offseason and go after shooting guard Brandon Roy(notes). ESPN’s Marc Stein has already stated that there is a strong possibility that the Portland Trail Blazers will waive Roy under the NBA’s new amnesty clause. It will make him a free agent right away, and the Knicks should step in and offer him a contract.

New York could offer Roy either the veteran’s minimum or the mid level exception for the 2011-12 season, or even offer up a multiple year deal if Roy was willing to accept it. What he could provide the Knicks is a nice spark off the bench at shooting guard, and a player that could control the tempo of the game when Carmelo Anthony(notes) and Chauncey Billups(notes) are taking a rest.

How much of a deal Roy becomes will depend on the specifics of the amnesty clause. It had looked like the clause would still require the franchise to pay the player, but that the contract just wouldn’t count against the salary cap of the original team any longer. That could make Roy an extreme bargain for any franchise that gives him a chance, and New York should try to become that team. Roy showed in the 2011 NBA Playoffs that he had a lot of value with the Trail Blazers still, and that is something that could translate to another franchise this season.

Roy has knees that have gone through numerous surgeries and he isn’t the star player that he once was. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a lot of value though, and he posses basketball intelligence that could help a team like the Knicks. The Knicks need to get more players on the active roster that can score, especially after dealing away so many assets to get Anthony from the Denver Nuggets. Roy is the type of player who can serve as a catalyst, could act as a great complimentary player to Anthony and Stoudemire and wouldn’t eat up cap space the team might need to pursue point guard Chris Paul(notes).

Maybe the biggest reason to give Roy a try is that no other franchise would get the chance to play him. What the Knicks don’t want to see is a team like the Chicago Bulls step up and give Roy the minutes to prove he can still play the game.

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Source:

New York Knicks Website

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The New York Knicks should work hard to bring back guard Roger Mason(notes) for the 2011-12 NBA season. Mason is one of the free agents that could leave the team, but the front office should try hard to bring him back for the veteran’s minimum. He is the type of role player that could play a lot of minutes off of the bench, and with the salary cap restrictions that the Knicks might face this year, it is important to get talented players who want to play for the team.

Mason played in limited action for the Knicks during the 2010-11 season, but that was because coach Mike D’Antoni simply didn’t give him enough minutes. Those minutes increased in the playoffs though, as Mason would average 18.3 minutes per game in three games against the Boston Celtics. He averaged 6.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, and helped eat up some of the minutes at the guard positions for the team.