HLBT Daily: Welcome Houston Chronicle, My Knicks' First Preseason Game

I would like to thank all readers from the Houston Chronicle for stopping by. Make yourself at home. And of course, to all the regulars, thanks for the support.

Yesterday I watched the Knicks' first preseason game. Their opponent was a Kidd & Carter-less Nets squad.

I subscribe to the belief that the outcome of a preseason game matters less than the all-star weekend celebrity game, though for the Knicks it would be nice to create a winning environment before the season starts. Isiah Thomas said he feels that preseason wins are very important for this reason; he wants his players to expect to win. If they win in the preseason, then a win during the season is more of a familiar feeling. Also, if they lose in the preseason, they can say, "oh, well it was just preseason." If they win, there is no need to make excuses.

That being said, last night the Knicks torched the Nets, 111-97. And to all the haters, guess who the Knicks' statistical leader was. I'll give you a hint: he was the 2006 draft selection that everyone balked at... He goes by the name of Renaldo Balkman.

Renaldo is not the type to fill out a stat sheet; he usually does the "intangibles." Last night, he did both, scoring 11, pulling 7 boards, blocking a shot, and getting a steal - all in a mere 15 minutes of play. Heck, he even hit a 3.

In part due to Balkman's stellar play, the Knicks' second unit arguably outplayed the first in the game. Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Renaldo Balkman, David Lee, and (starters) Eddy Curry or Channing Frye formed a group that played gritty defense and constantly moved around on offense - just the way Isiah wants it.

Other game notes: Marbury had 16 points and 0 assists... Steve Francis was more well rounded with 6 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. Curry started out strong, but as the game rolled along, Eddy seemed to regress to his old bad habits. Quentin Richardson was the first player off the bench - he led the team in court time, playing 23 minutes. Jamal Crawford did not have a good game statistically, though looked much more explosive. In a previous article I mentioned that Crawford described himself as being "much stronger... though still skinny." New acquisition Jared Jeffries played well when he was in the game with Channing and Eddy - the length of that frontline will give opposing teams some trouble on the boards. Not that any of them are superlative rebounders, it's just that with their 22 feet or so of combined arm length, the ball is bound to bounce their way a few extra times. Nate booked some solid numbers with 12 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, though did not play quite as well as the stats would suggest.

Marcus Williams and Antoine Wright both played extremely well for the Nets. Marcus, who finished with 21 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds, did not look like a gigantic downgrade from Jason Kidd in the game. Antoine, who looked like Vince on a few plays, finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. It seemed that he worked on his athleticism in the off-season.

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Thus far, two of the players I focused on in my Draft Steals article (Steve Novak and Craig Smith - both second round picks) are both playing very well. Allan Ray, who I wrote an article about after he went undrafted, is also more than holding his own on a Celtics team that is unfairly deep at the guard position. All three are outplaying most of the 2006 draft's first rounders. The NBA does not keep track of this for preseason, though I would bet that all three are in the top 20 among rookies in production per 48 minutes. Since preseason minutes are so volatile, stats per 48 minutes are the best to analyze.

Thus far...

Player Name, Team:
Opponent: Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, Minutes ... Stats per 48 mins in same order

Craig Smith, Minnesota T'wolves:
Milwaukee Bucks: 9, 6, 1, 1, 0, 15 ... 29, 19, 3, 3, 0, 48

Detroit Pistons: 10, 5, 1, 3, 0, 19 ... 25, 13, 3, 8, 0, 48

Steve Novak:
Memphis Grizzlies: 12, 3, 2, 0, 0, 23 ... 25, 6, 4, 0, 0, 48

Atlanta Hawks: 6, 2, 2, 1, 0, 27 ... 11, 4, 4, 2, 0, 48

Allan Ray:
Cleveland Cavaliers: 8, 0, 1, 0, 0, 11 ... 35, 0, 4, 0, 0, 48

Toronto Raptors: 9, 2, 1, 2, 0, 25 ... 17, 4, 3, 4, 0, 48

Cleveland Cavaliers (again): 2, 3, 1, 0, 0, 3 ... 32, 48, 16, 0, 0, 48 - this one is crazy... I don't foresee Allan Ray ever getting 48 rebounds in a real game... 32 points is feasible though.

So you can see that these second round and undrafted players are making the most out of their opportunities, and showing why I had so much faith in them.
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Moving on to a man who will never have to deal with a non-guarenteed contract:
If you have been waiting all of your life to see Dwight Howard acting like a little girl (...), look no further. For I have come across a video which contains... Dwight Howard acting like a little girl. And no worries, parents - show the kids. This good Christian, rather than give expletive filled exclamations, reverts to 1) heavy breathing or 2) "AW MAN!" every time he feels the urge to let out some emotion.




In Dwight's defense, a quote from the youtube comments section: "Hmm.. Sucks that [the roller coaster] looks to be going slower than it actually is.. Makes him seems like a little girl..."
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Speaking of a comments section, I will be bringing one back to HLBT. Please post often. I took it away because only about 1/100 readers would post, and then people would think that nobody reads HLBT. We can't have that! So everybody please be vocal. I know you have opinions, so why not be heard?