WWOD? Non Sequitir

Revolution in Wisconsin Edition



Gamma Squad has collected some of the nerdiest, awesomest protest signs from the rallies against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to quash unions in hopes bringing down the Berlin Wall.

Carmelization: The Debuts

By the time that MSG's Al Trautwig appeared on my television last night at 7:30 p.m. with droplets of sweat clinging to his expansive forehead and gleeful, caffeinated frenzy in his voice, all of the price tag fear, Isiah loathing, Tuscan regret and unbounded Stephen A. exuberance surrounding the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony was as relevant, yet hopefully less ill-omened, as the bon voyage bash for the Titanic at Southhampton, England on April 10, 1912.

Playoffs, ho! The good ship MeloMire is untethered from its moorings and loosed upon the high seas of the Atlantic Division.

I made a slight detour on my home from the office around 6:00 p.m. to walk by the the Garden, and the crowd out front was already swelling and roiling along Seventh Avenue. Scalpers dotted the crowd and potential buyers huddled around them like seagulls around a buoy at Rockaway Beach. By the time the players took the floor for pregame shootaround, the masses had flowed inside. Not only did they want to witness the debut of Anthony but they wanted to be a part of it. The crowd enveloped 'Melo with their cheers as soon as he stepped out of the tunnel. Soon, the JumboTron above the court played a welcome home video trumpeting his return to his roots. Variations of this advertorial would air during commercial breaks throughout the broadcast. My girlfriend thought they came off as desperate. I don't, but I can see where she's coming from as desperation, on all sides, has been a hallmark of this entire process.



As someone who grew up around here with dreams of playing for having season tickets for the Knicks, I am a sucker for players who want to cash their checks here. And, clearly, so were the better than 19,000 fans in the Garden when the brief homecoming video played before the introduction of the Knicks' revamped starting lineup. So urgent was the pregame atmosphere that there wasn't even time for Mike Breen to confirm that the the print of Walt Frazier's blazer was indeed some Tiger. Or to ask him about the matching boots.

From the video editors on staff at MSG who had to cut Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov and Anthony Randolph out of the intro montage and the seamstresses removing the HARRINGTON nameplates from all those No. 7 jerseys to the fans who scrambled to buy secondary-market tickets and all the way through the newly-arrived players who'd hardly slept since the weekend, it was a whirlwind day that only gained any semblance of normalcy once the ball was tossed up at half court. At that point, it was just a basketball game. It wasn't a revolution. Or a debacle. It was basketball. And the Knicks had the two best players on the floor. And they had a calm, confident veteran point guard in Chauncey Billups behind the wheel.

Amar'e netted the first Knicks bucket per usual. Shortly thereafter Carmelo's first basket in a Knicks uniform came as a putback after grabbing an offensive board. Bucks players were looking for a foul call, claiming he'd pushed off. Even better if he did. Hopefully this offensive board is a harbinger of things to come.


On the Knicks' next trip down the floor, Billups nailed a pull-up three in transition. From the moment he started pushing the ball, he was never not taking and never not making that shot. He owned that moment as wholly as Carmelo owned the night. He looked as easy and unencumbered as if he'd been playing at the park down the corner from his house. With his dish to Amar'e on the next play, it became abundantly clear that this trade was for Anthony and the 34-year-old Billups. There's a reason that both appeared at the pregame press conference. STAT converted that Billups pass into an old-fashioned three-point play. When he stepped to the line for that +1 shot, the crowd serenaded him with those familiar letters.

M.

V.

P.

It was nice to hear that none of the hoopla, or the La La, surrounding Anthony has made fans forget who came (to get paid) first. At least, not yet. The pecking order was established. Fans are fickle enough that the order will be periodically reviewed and is always subject to change, but this is the starting point. I'd have a hard time believing it went unnoticed and I'd have to think that Anthony hasn't heard a teammate get that kind of love since perhaps Gerry McNamara at Syracuse.

As the new-look 'bockers fumbled their way over and around the sacrificial Bucks, it wasn't just the new arrivals making first impressions. With Mozgov shipped, Ronny Turiaf needed to show himself as a center capable of starting, middling and possibly even finishing a ballgame. Similarly, Shawne Williams was auditioning for a frontline role more indicative of his height than his ability to knock down the corner three. Of course, with Gallo gone, Williams also needs to show that he can make that shot when forced to hoist at a higher volume. Perhaps, most importantly, Toney Douglas flourished last night. His scoring punch replaced the contribution that Wilson Chandler had been reliably adding to the team's tally. More importantly, he looked ready to pick up the difference in minutes played between Felton and Billups. D'Antoni rode Felton hard out of the gate. Perhaps, too hard. With the older, slower Billups in the fold, Douglas is going to have to run the point on offense and on defense for this team for stretches in every game. As per usual, he was forcing play to the floor on defense. When he's on the court, he electrifies the DE-fence that the team is trying to build. This role becomes even more important without Felton and Chandler, two of the better/only perimeter defenders on the roster.

Some hot shooting from Keyon Dooling and John Salmons brought the Bucks close in the late stages as the Knicks played with scrimmage pace and fluidity and, to ensure we got the ending that we craved, Stoudemire fouled out down the stretch. At this point, Anthony delivered the win. He overcame his early misses and made good for those times he stopped the ball early in the shot clock. He scored 6 points in the last minute and change. With four more points coming from made free throws by Billups in the span it was over. As Billups iced the last two free throws with five seconds left, the crowd erupted into a Yankee Stadium–style Chawn-SEE Bill-Ups!! chant.

Carmelization: Spin Doctor Zhivago

The initial reaction across the Twitterverse to the Nets' acquisition of Deron Williams is probably best summed up this tweet from Akis Yerocostas (@Aykis16), the associate editor for Sactown Royalty:

Holy. Crap. So Prokhorov is basically a Russian evil genius now right? Gets NY to pay out the nose for Melo, then grabs D-Will, whose better

Or, by Anthony Leshinsky (trexxxN):

@freedarko Prokhorov v. Dolan is beyond riveting; one is playing chess, the other is hammering in crooked nails with a saxophone. #fb

From Mikhail Prokhorov's arrival on these shores in a platinum hoverhelijetskicopter built using ill-gotten KGB technology, he has made clear two goals for his ownership of the New Jersey Nets. First, he intends to win an NBA championship. Soon. Second, he inteneds to tweak Knicks owner Jimmy Dolan. Consistently.

Utilizing ornate in-person presntations featuring noted hip hop performers and (possibly) pint-sized giraffes, he has attempted to woo hooperstars LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to New Jersey in order to fulfill that first goal. Which would of course also satisfy the second. Despite feelings of front-runner tremendousness at various points in both courtships, LeBron signed a free-agent contract with the Miami Heat and Anthony was traded to Dolan's Knicks after refusing to sign his contract extension if shipped to New Jersey.

A few days before the Anthony trade was consumated, Prokhorov had packed up Jay Z and flew to Los Angeles to hard sell Anthony one last time during the All-Star break. Just as had been the case during his club's run at LBJ, the media was informed of the fruitfulness of the meeting:

“It was a fantastic meeting, trust me," Prokhorov told CNBC. “No words; live music, excellent atmosphere. We looked into each other’s eyes. Just real man talk.".

Just. Real. Man. Talk.

Having failed to convince Anthony to sign a contract extension if traded to Brick City, Proky managed to talk his way into a moral victory with a Tri-State press corps that has been so thoroughly burned by years of Dolan's Draconian media policies that they are ready to throw in their lot (and their columns) with anyone challenging him. Prokhorov dressed up the entire Anthony affair as a success for the Niets, insisting that his organization had “made a very good tactical decision to force (the) Knicks to pay as much as they can."

And, while I'm sure that the Nets front office was aware that pursuing Melo with all of the assets that they had acquired would raise the price for other teams looking to land the 26-year-old scorer, I would find it hard to believe that this was the main objective from day one. Or, did Proky fly to Los Angeles to sit wordlessly between Anthony and Jay-Z for the better part of an hour, just to ensure that Donnie Walsh included both Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari in the Knicks' deal for Anthony? Or was it all a ploy to exile fellow ex-patriot Timofey Mozgov to the Rockies? Perhaps there is some generations old blood feud between the Prokhorov and Mozgov clans dating back to disputed territories in the Crimea that changed hands in the aftermath of the Decembrist Revolt.

Because then I might believe that all the public machinations of the Nets' attempt for Anthony were done with goals other than actually obtaining Anthony.

But until more information about that Prokhorov-Mozgov blood feud comes to light, I'm going to assume that the Nets went after 'Melo, first and foremost, because they wanted 'Melo. Perhaps they wanted his fame as much as his game as they seek to forge a new brand, but they wanted him for themselves all the same because without locking up Anthony through his team's move to Brooklyn, Prokhorov was no closer to that first goal of winning a championship.

Yet, to his credit, Prokhorov did manage to make headway on that second goal despite his failure to land Anthony. Not only did he plant the idea in the fertile back pages that he was more responsible than the Nuggets' front office for the price the Knicks paid to land Anthony, but his staff pulled off a shocking trade for a different All-Star on the day of Anthony's debut at the Garden. The Nets shipped Derrick Favors, a very promising power forward prospect who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft; Devin Harris, an NBA All-Star at the point; and then a 2011 first-round pick to the Utah Jazz for Deron Williams, who is arguably the most talented point guard treading the boards in the entire Association. As a public relations excercise, the Williams trade was an immediate smash hit as the above tweets indicate. Most importantly, it caught the NBA twitterati off guard. After the torturous CAA-driven Melo and LeBron moves it seemed a tsunami of fresh air to have Williams' move come as a surprise.

The Russian knows how to play the back pages in a way that is flat-out Steinbrennerian. He sells his losses like victories and boasts risks into rewards. Nevertheless, it seems like this deal is as much about acquiring the spotlight on the day that Carmelo was introduced, as it is about the future. Because how does shipping Favors, Harris and a first-rounder look when Williams doesn't re-up when his contract runs out after 1+ seasons of losing in an empty building with Brook Lopez as his only running mate? At that point, will today's spike in relevance mean much in that fight for a title or against Dolan?

Despite that fact that both basketball aficionado camps - the efficiency-focused Hollinger disciples and the grizzled old-time bird dogs who trust eyes over algorithms - are in agreement that, in a vacuum, the superlative point guard is better than the high-volume scorer there is enough risk attached to the Nets deal that even the Wilpons would be suspicious if it yielded dividends. The Nets surrendered both players as well as one of the three draft picks that they would have given up for 'Melo for Williams. Which, at first, seems like a steal, but don't forget that they were requiring that Anthony sign an extension before that deal went down. Something that Williams didn't do. Which means that after about 100 regular-season games (and maybe 4-5 first-round playoff games NEXT year), this very talented gentleman can end the lease at his rented Edgewater condo and move on to any club that he chooses. Or even worse for the Nets, he can keep that condo and just take the ferry across the Hudson when he signs with the Knicks as a free agent.

Now, to be clear, I don't think that Williams is coming to New York. I think he's more likely to go home to Dallas or to go west to Los Angeles. But, I do think that he's at least as likely to leave as he is to stay at the end of next year while Carmelo and Amare will be together for several seasons. I also think that Prokhorov is unaware of how anonymous the Nets were before he planted his flag in the swamps of Jersey with another very respected point guard in Jason Kidd (who Williams could very well succeed in Dallas) at the helm. I think that he may have gotten so focused on his secondary goal of upstaging Dolan that he undermined his primary goal of winning a title. Or perhaps, all of this has to do with the aforementioned Prokhorov-Mozgov feud from the old country. Perhaps.

I guess, it's also possible that, as one area columnist decidedly not smitten with his new Russian overlord noted:
"To put it politely, with the possible exception of Sean Williams, the Russian gentleman is as ignorant as anyone we’ve ever encountered that had some connection – big or small – to the NBA."

Carmelization: Reading My Bros (and Cousin)

Since we've already heard what the professionals had to say about the deal that will hopefully never be known as the "Return of the Balk," I figured it was only appropriate that we heard what my younger brothers had to say.

Brother Middle: I'm bummed to see us lose a few guys I like alot but i feel it had to be done. I'm a little shocked/flabbergasted by this isiah involvement. Even if Walsh would have been more conservative I'm glad we got the deal done. We're in good position. How long do we keep D'antoni? I'd like a team that plays a little defense.

Brother Youngest: If Melo is hanging out with Ronnie then he is cool in my book.


Bonus Cousin Baller: Excited about the shakeup and think Billups is a winner, but not good for the system and should have PG and a Big be the stars so the pick and roll has the best two players. Interested to see how Carmelo as a ball reliant wing will work. We also have no frontcourt depth without Mozgov and no potential center for the future right now. Hate losing Gallo because I thought he was key in the rebuilding plan and developed an affinity toward him, but we did upgrade SF position and we don't need another. I agree we gave up a lot, but was necessary.

Carmelization: Reading the Pros

For the most part, there seem to be three reactions in the media to the Knicks' acquisition of Carmelo Anthony and other players in exchange for various starting players, insurance policies, draft picks, overweight, overpaid bench warmers and cash prizes.

1. Eucatastrophe. With lips stained bright blue from the Knickerberry kool-aid, these guys think the deal was a no-brainer regardless of the price.

2. We had to do it but, damn, that was expensive. The great unsilent majority of fans and commentators tend to be writing some variation on this theme. These folks want to be happy, but something just doesn't sit well ...

3. Bad men conspired to make a bad deal. We've got an unmitigated Isiah-hatched disaster on our hands. And we re-acquired Renaldo Balkman. Next you're going to tell me that Jared Jeffries coming back after the Rockets waive him. Wait, what?

GROUP ONE:

ESPN.com's Bill Simmons (via Twitter):
"In a 30-team league, the Knicks now have 2 of the 10 guys who started yesterday's All-Star Game. That deal was a no-brainer."

"Chandler/Gallo/Felton/Mozgov/No. 1 for Melo/Billups = totally fair deal. NYK cannot eff around here. Last available top-12 guy for 18 mths."

Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen:
I think it's a terrific deal for years to come.

ESPN NY's Ian O'Connor:
It's one of the best trades this team has made since Eddie Donovan acquired Dave DeBusschere in 1968.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith:
"The people who run this franchise would have looked like buffoons for perpetuity had they not pulled the trigger and gotten Melo to Gotham City ... As for the players the Knicks lose, no disrespect, but who cares?"



Mike Lupica of the Daily News:
There have been only a handful of debuts such as this since the glory years for the Knicks. There was the night that Patrick Ewing officially became a Knick. There was the first time Pat Riley came out of the Knicks locker room and made the left turn and began to make the Knicks matter again. There was Amar'e Stoudemire's debut earlier this season. There have been some others. None bigger than this."

GROUP TWO

Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe:
-They have improved in the big picture, but this team is still not close to competing against the Heat, Celtics, Bulls and Magic.

-My general take is that this is a fair deal ... New York is paying a heavy price, but it’s not as heavy as the James Dolan haters — and they are justified in their hate, for sure — might have you believe.

Ball Don't Lie's Kelly Dwyer:
Just enjoy this moment, New York. Because this moment doesn't promise anything beyond what it's already given you.

Dan Krieger at the Denver Post:
Everybody will declare victory because that's what everybody does after a trade, but all we know for sure is the end of the interminable Carmelo Anthony drama was a victory for Anthony, who got everything he wanted.


GROUP THREE

ESPN's John Hollinger:
"New York still gets its Melo-Stoudemire nucleus, but now lacks the supporting pieces to do anything important with that core."

Jemele Hill at ESPN:
"The New York Knicks just figured out a way to give up everything but the coasters for a borderline franchise player and still be a couple of years away from being ready to compete for an NBA championship."

Joey Litman at Straight Bangin':
More than anything, hurtling toward such an uncertain end is what casts the Anthony trade in the same negative light that has shone on the Knicks for years. After working with discipline and purpose to change Knick culture, cultivate opportunity, and repair horrific salary-cap damage, New York reverted to the bad habits which got it in trouble for so long.

Carmelization: The Moving Pieces

To New York:
Carmelo Anthony
Chauncey Billups
Shelden Williams
Anthony Carter
Renaldo Balkman
Corey Brewer

To Denver:
Danilo Gallinari
Wilson Chandler
Raymond Felton
Timofey Mozgov
2014 first-round draft pick (from NY)

To Minnesota:
Anthony Randolph
Eddy Curry
$3 million (from NY)

Love and Basketball

The Best Quotes from All-Star Saturday Night

On Love:
"I always say, shooting is like a good lady. It stays with you your whole life."
-Kenny Smith

"You know what your jumping ability is like? It's like those girls in the club, they're only with you when you're in the league."
-Kenny Smith

On The Best Scorer:
"I think Carmelo is the best flatout scorer in the NBA but [Kevin Durant] to me is second."
-Reggie Miller

"I would say it was Carmelo is the easiest, Lebron is the second and then [Kevin Durant] is the third best scorer in basketball."
-Kenny Smith

"In another year, [Durant]'s going to be the best player in basketball."
-Kenny Smith

"He better kill LeBron James then."
-Charles Barkley

On Scoring:
"Scoring is the easiest part of the game. Defense and rebounding are the two hardest part of the game."
-Charles Barkley

On Dunkers:
"I would say arguably the best in-game dunker in this league."
-Reggie Miller on Dominique Wilkins

"Well i think The guy to his left is. [Doctor J] is the greatest in-game dunker ever."
-Charles Barkley on Julius Erving

"No, I'm rolling with Vince Carter. C'mon Chuck."
-Dwight Howard

"Vince was a great dunker, but we'd have to disqualify him becuase he got shot once a game."
-Charles Barkley

On Love:

Pride Comes Before the ... Break

After a sprained toe forced Amar'e Stoudemire to sit out the Knicks' road win over the Nets at the Rock on Saturday night, STAT returned to practice on Tuesday with strong words for his club's next opponent: the Atlanta Hawks.

The last time that the Knicks and Hawks linked arms on the dance floor a few weeks back, things got ugly in the waning moments as the Knicks three-point shooting enforcer Shawne Williams exchanged a few haymakers with Atlanta's Marvin Williams. During that game, Amar'e apparently took exception to some of the antics of Hawks pivot Al Horford.

"I told you before he doesn't want to see me, man. Horford, I watched him play in Florida and I've seen him play a few years in Atlanta. We have two different games. We'll see how it plays out [Wednesday].

"He feels good. His team was winning. He had a couple baskets. He hit a couple jump shots. But he felt good. He felt like he was doing something.

"But welcome to New York."

True to his words, the Knicks were less than cordial hosts last night as they powered their way to a 102-90 win. The home team was feisty, fiery and aggressive throughout the game. They repeatedly took the ball into the paint (and made a ton of floating runners once there) and committed a few hard fouls when the Hawks tried to do the same. Befitting their contentious stance, the Knicks donned Oakley-era throwback uniforms when they took the floor. All that was missing from their mid-1990s masque was the mustaches.


Although Horford and Amar'e will be teammates on the Eastern Conference All-Star team at the weekend there was clearly no love lost between the pair as they each labored to dunk over the other throughout the game. Both had their moments, but Amar'e had more of them, finishing with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks while Horford had a (for him) pedestrian 12 points and 11 boards.

While the Hawks relied on three-point shots to keep them within hailing distance, the Knicks got production up and down the lineup, notably a stellar effort by Wilson Chandler off the bench. Still it was Stoudemire's ornery oratory from Tuesday that defined the performance. For once, the Knicks produced four quarters of prideful, pressing basketball. They didn't surrender a 30-point quarter or settle only for deep jumpers. They took the game to their opponents, all night long. Lionel Richie would have been proud. Needless to say, everyone in the Garden was. Fans even booed down a late "We Want Melo" chant emanating from the 400 level.

I watched the conclusion of this game with my grandfather. I turned to him and remarked, "This Amar'e guy is pretty good. Ain't he?"

"Yeah. He's special. And he wants to be here," he replied definitely.

Welcome to New York, indeed.

Landry Fields: Everybody's Employee of the Month

Donning a pair of Clark Kent frames and the requisite red T-shirt Knicks rookie shooting guard Landry Fields recently attempted to sell Knickerbockers merchandise to shoppers at a local Modells Sporting Goods store, presumably in Westchester where Fields lives. Like Danny Woodhead before him, nobody recognizes Fields and nobody is particularly interested in buying a No. 6 jersey. Mild amounts of comedy ensue as Fields hams it up.



Having played the male lead in the eighth-grade play (largely thanks to owning several tie-dye shirts and being a convincing enough stoner), I'd like to think that I know a thing or two about acting chops. And by my estimation, Fields is a natural. A large part of his success in these improvisational scenes is his awareness of the folks around him and his willingness to just go for it. Not coincidentally, these same two attributes are evident in the hustling put-back play that has become Fields' trademark.









In other Modells viral advertising news, Philadelphia Eagles R&R man DeSean Jackson also appeared in a similar spot. Being DeSean Jackson, though, he was recognized pretty early, making everything a little less fun.