MVN: Most Valuable Network

There is a sudden energy flowing back into the New York/ New Jersey area and it's the unexpected reemerging NBA franchises in the metropolitan area. The Knicks and Nets have all of a sudden stopped being the overlooked teams of and just outside the city, and have become teams of relevance again.

The New York Knicks have been in the gutter and made headlines for all of the wrong reasons for basically the entire decade. The Knicks haven't finished a season over .500 since the 00-01 season and have been dragged through the mud with constant negative storylines like Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury. But all of a sudden there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the New York Knicks. With the tremendous coaching job done thus far from newly appointed head coach Mike D'Antoni and the opening of some major cap space after the 09-10 season, the "Quest" has built a lot of momentum. Yes, 2010 is a while away, but D'Antoni has proved that he can produce a team that cannot only entertain but win some basketball games in the mean time. Though the playoffs are still an option, it seems like it will just be too much of a hill to climb for the Knicks this season. But after another good draft pick and a year under D'Antoni's system, the Knicks are likely to see the playoffs next season right before they make the headlines for a big spending spree in the summer of 2010.

The face of the Knicks has to be the head coach Mike D'Antoni at the moment, but multiple players have really stepped up this season and proven their worth. Lets start with the dynamic duo of Nate Robinson and David Lee. Nate Robinson has become a well-known commodity across the league because of his electricity and show stopping ability. He's a fixture on all highlight shows and has proven that he is not afraid to take on any moment, shot, or player in the league. David Lee has quietly solidified himself as the double-double king of the NBA. He is a hustler and a player who can be relied on to give 110% throughout his time on the court. Unfortunately for the Knicks both of these guys are free agents at the end of the season, and rumor has it that only one of these two fan favorites will be able to stay with the budget management in preparation for the 2010 off season. The other three main contributors for the Knicks have been Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler, and Chris Duhon. Al Harrington brings the constant 3-point shooting threat, Chandler the versatility to get to the rim, and Duhon the court leader and playmaker that runs the masters offense. And then there is the young draft pick, Danilo Gallinari. The potential of this youngster excites the crowd, as he is a spectacular shooter who will be a key piece to the rise of the Knicks franchise back to its prominence in the near future.

The New Jersey Nets obviously don't get the same spotlight and attention as the nearby Knicks, but it has become no secret that their youth movement and recent front office moves have been nothing but successful for the franchise. Led by Devin Harris and Vince Carter the Nets have brought solid promising youngsters into the mix, that are sure to brighten the franchise's future, wherever it may call home. Yi Jianlian, Ryan Anderson, and Chris Douglas-Roberts are the youth additions to this franchise that the Nets are hoping to provide the surroundings to Devin Harris and Brooks Lopez. Harris has established himself as a top five, point guard in the league and looks like he is still improving. And Lopez has shown the promise the Nets were looking for when they drafted him, and is almost certain to be a legit star amongst big men across the league. The Nets are also clearly on the way up thanks to the bright front office that seems to always get the best of their acquisitions.

Yes, many NBA fans in cities like Los Angeles and Boston might laugh at this current optimism, but it cant be ignored that all metropolitan area sport fans are starting to find it necessary to flip through the Knicks and Nets games every night in recent times. It seems you can always count on an exciting game and finish even if they come up on the losing end. Despite the fact that both of these squads are under .500 they are both currently in the hunt for a playoff berth with the Nets only 2 games out of the 8th seed and the Knicks only 1.5 games out.

So it may seem a bit optimistic, but one thing is for certain the Metropolitan area has definitely taken a big step forward in their NBA progression and it looks that soon both of these franchises will be back to being East contenders, where they belong.

I can't believe how hard the Knicks have to work now to fill MSG.  On Monday I got an e-mail that there were still $10 tickets left for tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks.  I didn't need them because I had already bought a quartet back in December.  I also have anxious young men call me at strange times during the day trying to entice me into buying a mini-season plan or a special package.During the game they announced that there were still tickets available for the Laker game which is coming up on Monday.  Indeed if I want to see the next three games at MSG (Kobe, LeBron and then Boston) I can get them AT A DISCOUNT.This is still a shock to me.I'm used to the days when the Knicks had a waiting list of over 25,000 for season tickets.  I'm used to every game being a sell-out. ... Read more

Hey everyone.So like in the last post (which was about three weeks ago), I am, again sorry about the lack of posting here at father knickerbocker. There was football on and then school started and then laziness set in and then all of a sudden the Knicks are winning more and are a game and a half out of the playoffs and Eddy Curry's gay and a whole bunch of shit is going on. But hey, everyone knows that the NBA doesn't really start until the All-Star Break, so by that measure, I can still wait a few weeks. But for the loyal readers here (if there are any anymore, as their certainly aren't loyal writers) I will soldier on, and will now be updating regularly. So here goes.The Knicks played the Grizzlies today, and while they won, it wasn't pretty, especially in the first quarter.  The Grizzlies put up... Read more

So how is everybody? Did everyone have a pleasant Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/L. Ron Hubbard worshipping day? Mine was good, as evidenced by the lack of postings here at Father Knickerbocker, which I apologize for. I spent my holiday season away, and since I've been back I've been too drunk/lazy to get into the routine of uptating, but I've forced myself into opening the computer and not going straight to pornography sites in order to bring everyone the news about the Knicks. I'll take my medals later.And speaking of news, how about this: THE KNICKS BEAT THE CELTICS! Holy Shit! Can anybody believe this!? Cause I certainly can't. There must have been some sort of black magic or something going on that night. Wilson Chandler put up 31 points. 31 points! That's double his average on the year. This was the Knicks second win in nine games, and their first win against the... Read more

One of the ways that you know this is not a very good Knicks team is its inability to protect its home turf at MSG.  Instead of, "we must protect this house" the Knicks obviously sing Disney songs in the locker room "be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test."  The Timberwolves who were 0 for December before showing up at the Garden, won this game easily.How bad are the Timberwolves?  I don't know how to describe the hideousness of their season - 4 wins, losers of 13 straight.  A team that averages 94.4 points a night, manages to score 120 against the Knicks.  A team with only 3 players averaging in double digits, has 7 score 10 or above against the pitiful Knick defense.  The T-Wolves managed a .514 shooting percentage from the field, and an amazing .542 percentage from three point range.  The Knicks... Read more

I don't think that this will come as a surprise to anyone, but the Knicks lost to the Celtics on Sunday.But in all honesty, did anyone expect them to win? I know I didn't. The Celtics have been on a tear this entire season, and with this win managed to tie their franchise record of 18 straight wins. At this point, there was absolutely no reason to expect the Knicks to win this game. I think the Celtics could have started Robert Parish, Larry Bird, and Kevin HcHale, who have a combined 158 years on them, and still managed to win this game.But that doesn't necessarily mean that the Knicks played terribly against them, at least offensively. Quentin Richardson made up for his distastrous game aganst the Bucks, going 5-9 from the three point line and scoring a game high 39 points. Nate Robinson also had a pretty good night,... Read more

The Knicks face the Celtics tonight, in what is sure to be a loss in order to give the Celtics their 18th straight win, which would tie their franchise record for most consecutive wins. I really don't see the Knicks winning this game, and I would be pretty happy if they simply manage to show up tonight (someone tell Al Harrington to take public transportation), and are somewhat competitve, which didn't happen at all against the Bucks. I'll be back to write about it tomorrow, but I just wanted to write this post to say how awesome I am. According to Deadspin, LeBron hinted to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that he would be interested in sticking around Cleveland past 2010, and might even sign his contract extention before that. I knew this would happen. LeBron has no reason to leave Cleveland. The Cavs made the finals just two years ago, and... Read more

Safely home after a 2-3 road trip, the Knicks must have been looking forward to playing in Madison Square Garden.  If they were, it was not apparent.  The Bucks 11-16 were coming in and fresh off a loss against the Sixers.  Surely the Knicks could add to their woes.  After all wasn't this the team that fought Phoenix down to the wire and actually led the Lakers at the half?  Wasn't this the team that had beaten Sacramento so badly that they got the head coach fired?Well, somehow a different team showed up.  The Knicks lost 105-81 and it wasn't really that close.  The bench trio of Roberson, Malik Rose and Jerome James all played the final six minutes.  That's pretty early to throw in the towel, but frankly that towel was covered in dust, grime and sweat and it was not going to come clean.You can blame it on... Read more

Today was one of the first times in recent memory where I actually felt excited about the prospects of the Knicks' future. Yes, I know that the Knicks dropped their last two games of their road trip, going 2-3 overall, but it would be completely wrong to say that the trip was a failure in any way, considering that most people, me included, didn't see them having any wins by the end of this trip. For the first time in a very long time, the Knicks actually looked like a pro-basketball team, and not like the train-wreck that most of us have become used to watching the past few years. They shot well, played good defense, moved the ball well, and looked for the first time like they were beginning to gel as a team since the November 21st trades. And even in games where they performed pretty terribly, they... Read more

I'm not sure what happened last night.  I turned on the television to watch the end of the Knicks game and they were ahead by over 20 points and Jerome James was on the court.So, I figure that he must be the reason they beat Sacramento.I'm kidding.  I watched the whole game, including the first quarter during which the Knicks scored 43 points.Nate Robinson was back, David Lee did not seem affected by the injury he suffered at the end of the Nets game, Q Rich was out with the flu, but he wasn't needed.Al Harrington actually won the game.  The Knicks came out flat in the 3rd quarter and Sacramento went on a run to cut a 24 point halftime lead to 12.   Harrington then scored 11 points in one and a half minutes.  That did it for the Kings who offered only token resistance the rest of the... Read more

Cuttino Mobley we barely knew ye. And when I say barely, I mean barely. According to the New York Times:     Mobley, an 11-year N.B.A. veteran, announced his retirement Thursday after learning that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a potentially fatal heart condition. Mobley never knew he was at risk until Knicks doctors evaluated him after his trade from the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 21.Mobley was a Knick for all of 19 days, and didn't play in any games, as he was sidelined from the beginning due to his heart. Mobley had known that he had a heart condition, but had never been diagnosed with hypertropic cardiomyopathy until he was prompted by the Knicks' doctors to get an M.R.I after his physical examination for the team. Mobley made the decision to retire after being told by advanced heart specialists that playing in the NBA could probably kill him, and... Read more