Coverage of Knicks Summer League

Special Treat - Balkman's posterization

There are seemingly two types of Knick fans these days:
1) The hopeful, forward thinking breed
2) The kind who subconsciously don't want the team to succeed, as their very being revolves around Knick-bashing.

Congratulations, group 1 faithful (group 2, time to move on to the Yanks). Yesterday's summer league game against the Cavs looked to be a solacing prognosis for the Knicks. From the special features (which included footage of Knick practices) to the outstanding play of Renaldo Balkman, the Knicks looked good.

Balkman, as advertised, brought great intensity to the court. He picked up steals, saved multiple balls from going out of bounds, and filled lanes on the break beautifully. I would go as far to say that he was the best player on the court in the first half. Unfortunately in the second half, he tweaked his ankle. He was still effective, though not semi-dominant as he was in the first half. Clyde Frazier, the Knicks' announcer, pointed out that Balkman's out-muscling and out-hustling was a forgotten element of the game for the Knicks, and that it really helped invigorate the Knicks to do some serious "wheeling and dealing"... or maybe it was to give them some "fire and desire"... or maybe "movin' and groovin'"... Well either way, Renaldo Balkman was a sight for sore eyes yesterday afternoon.

Another point of intrigue was Channing Frye and his improved physique. The word was that he had bulked up to 260 lbs. (listed at 248 last year), and he certainly made it look like this was true. He appeared to be much sturdier on top. He also says that the knee sprain that he suffered towards the end of last season is a non-issue; he was not even wearing a brace in the game.
The only negative I noticed was that Channing did not look like his balance in the post had improved much; not too long after I noticed, the announcers mentioned that they had talked to Mark Aguirre, the Knicks' big man coach, and they said he made a point to tell them that he is working on Channing's balance in the post. Outside of the balance issue, he developed a very nice jump hook from about 8-10 feet out.

David Lee looked good as well, and no I'm not just talking about the 'do he sported - which was a throwback to his dunk contest winning high school days. He brought the hustle that his followers have grown accustomed to, but he also developed the range that he was lacking last year. He was 2/2 from the college 3-point line. The shots did look pretty mechanical, but he looked somewhat comfortable taking them at the same time. Otherwise, he overpassed a little bit, but overall a very solid performance.

Nate was put at the point, though he did not do a great job at setting up his teammates. He was supposedly focusing on doing just that, however if you watched the game he was obviously looking for his own shot. He was bombing a lot from deep and only looked to pass a couple of times on the break - both were bad passes that were stolen. That being said, Nate certainly did not play a bad game. He did a nice job of putting the ball in the peach basket himself. He scored 23 points and played with his usual enthusiasm.

Last year, it could be said that overall, the Knicks played basketball like it was a job and they were just showing up to earn a paycheck. In an interview, Isiah said that his #1 concern for this year is to get his players to love the game again.

Final score: 95-71, New York

Roster:

Num   Player   Pos   Height  Weight  Birthdate  College   Years Pro
04   Nate Robinson   G   5-9   180   5/31/84    Washington   1
07   Channing Frye   F/C   6-11   245   5/17/83    Arizona   1
08   Ime Udoka   G/F   6-6   215   8/9/77     Portland State 2
09   Brian Greene   F   6-7   225   8/30/81    Colorado State R
14   Walker Russell, G   6-0   170   10/6/82    Jacksonville State R
20   Olu Famutimi   G   6-4   207   2/21/84    Arkansas   R
21   Kenny Adeleke   F   6-8   250   2/10/83    Hartford   R
25   Mardy Collins   G   6-6   220   8/4/84     Temple   R
32   Renaldo Balkman F   6-8   208   7/14/84    South Carolina R
42   David Lee   F   6-9   235   4/29/83    Florida   1
50   FrankoKastropil C   7-0   265   5/8/84     Croatia   R
55   Paul Miller   C   6-10   250   11/12/82   Wichita State R