After they were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers Saturday night, the Knicks left a strange taste in the mouths of their fans. On one hand, the team had won their first playoff series in over 10 years, but on the other, they looked bad for a team with a ‘win now’ mindset.

Can this success carry on to next season? It’s tough to say. Kidd and Camby are still signed for two more years, so there’s money towards the cap right there, plus the team still has large sums to pay Melo, Tyson, Novak, and Amar’e. JR Smith is a free agent, and while he wants to “retire a Knick,” that’ll be hard if his asking price is high. 

Say JR takes a pay cut. You’ll get Copeland back for cheap, and you still have Shumpert on his rookie deal. Raymond Felton’s deal isn’t horrible, which is a plus. After that, the makeup of this team is anyone’s guess.

Prigioni and Martin may very well retire, which leaves holes at the point, and an even deeper hole in the paint. New York desperately needs to draft a Center in the upcoming draft, but they’ll probably need to pick up another low-cost bigman in the offseason, in addition to a backup and third-string point guard (if Kidd decides to walk away).

So what can you hope for? You can pull for Jason Kidd to retire, Pablo to stay, and for the drafting Gorgui Dieng, for instance. Also, you need to pray the team is smart enough to let JR walk if he wants too much money. If he’s not expensive, you don’t mind the signing. But if he’s going to be the JR he was in the playoffs, and get the money he expected back in April, no thanks.

It’s way too early to make predictions about next season, but it might not be as sweet as 2013. Depending on what the team finds in free agency, and who retires, it could be a long year.

Quick Rant 5/15: The New York Knicks

onestrikeaway:

Never mind.

He’s single-handedly making people forget Amar’e Stoudemire is hurt, and that Tyson Chandler is simply a shell of himself. Oh, and remember when J.R. Smith was the man in New York? Funny how 90 points changes everything.

If this outburst means one thing, it’s that the Knicks can make a playoff run. Yes, I realize when he dropped 50 on the Heat, LeBron wasn’t guarding him - it was Battier. That’s not the point.

The Knicks, with Amar’e healthy in the postseason, will now have three great scoring options to look to. Melo is shooting efficiently and passing the ball very well, and J.R. Smith has discovered how to take the ball inside and get points, not just jack up ridiculous turnarounds that even Kobe would have difficulty making.

New York has options now. Oh, and they also have that Tyson guy defending the post at an elite level. Mix in Kenyon Martin, who’s revitalized the team with ferocious play down low, and some good contributions from Jason Kidd, Pablo Prigioni, and Chris Copeland, and this team has a chance of going far.

Am I crazy? I say no.

sbnation:

Uh … Stevie Johnson is just joking about bombing the Patriots, I guess. 

When All-Star reserves were announced yesterday, several Nets fans were up in arms. Some are just madly in love with Deron Williams, who’s clearly been under-performing this year, while others want justification for Joe Johnson’s large contract. The majority, though, fairly question the inclusion of Tyson Chandler over Brook Lopez.

The Knicks starting Center is scoring 6 less points per contest, not blocking shots at the rate Lopez is, and loses the Player Efficiency Rating battle by 4. So why did he get in over Brook? The truth may be that NBA coaches, who have a say in the decision, are displeased with the firing of Avery Johnson. Regardless of this fact, let’s look at the numbers when the two match-up together.

Brook Lopez vs NY (Avg): 17.3 Pts, 45% FG, 10.7 Reb, 3.3 Blk, 2.3 TO, 0.3 Stl

Tyson Chandler vs BKN (Avg): 14.0 Pts, 73% FG, 10.0 Reb, 0.8 Blk, 1.0 TO, 1.0 Stl

When you look at it this way, Chandler gets the slight edge at first glance. Regardless of the difference in shooting percentage, Chandler is taking care of the ball considerably better, and while he’s not blocking shots on defense, he’s getting steals. Tyson Chandler won Defensive Player of the Year last season not because…

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Why in the world is Drew Brees allowed to have his suspended Head Coach, Sean Payton at his potential record-breaking game? The man was suspended for a reason, Goodell determined he was helping put opposing offensive players in danger with the Saints’ bounty program. There was uproar from the public over the severe nature of his and other New Orleans coaches’ actions. Many said the bounty program was inhuman, and now the man at the helm of the football team will be allowed back on the field. 

Now, let’s clarify here. Payton can’t coach the team, nor can he talk to them. He’s not reinstated, so it’s not as if he’ll be near an NFL Stadium anytime soon (unless he decides to break another rule). That being said, I have a problem with the decision by the NFL’s Commissioner.

When you hand down a suspension, that’s it. No football for you. If your star QB wants you to be there when he breaks Johnny Unitas’ record for consecutive games with a Touchdown pass, you should have thought about that when you were nodding your head at Greg Williams’ charges to knock players’ legs out. It’s supposed to be a punishment. That’s like a parent telling their kid “No TV for a week!” Then allowing him to watch the series finale of The Office because it’s “special” and he’ll “never get to see it again.” It’s all lies.

Sean can congratulate Drew after the big performance over the phone. He can watch it from his couch, wearing his headset and Saints sweatshirt, coaching from there. Why give him the chance to be inside a stadium again.

Who’s currently leads golf’s Fedex Cup standings? You wouldn’t think it was Tiger Woods now, would you?

He’s drawn so much criticism from the media for not winning a major tournament that one of his best seasons in the last few years has gone completely un-noticed. You have to respect what Tiger has done with his game, and on some level, with his life.

We don’t know what his personal life is like, but in terms of golf, he’s not only changed the way he plays, but he’s surrounded himself with different people.

He changed his caddy, his swing coach, his swing, and his strategy. He’s no longer the very aggressive golfer we’ve come to love watching (at least some of us, anyway). He plays shots off the tee that he knows he can put in the fairway. Tiger is simply a different player now, and because he’s not his old self, people think there’s something terribly wrong.

The biggest reason Woods faces so much criticism is because he’s the third best golfer in the world and hasn’t won a major tournament since 2008. That’s right: because he’s not #1, he’s #3.

There’s a failure to see the big picture here, and it’s that he’s still playing great golf. In my opinion, Tiger should have been deemed “back” when he started playing elite again.

He’s 4th in total driving, and leads the PGA Tour in scoring average. Is that good enough for you? Is he back?

I say he’s back.

Check out my new bi-weekly podcast, “On Deck” on wfuv.org/ondeck. We take voicemails from baseball fans across the nation at 347-903-WFUV and play them on the show! You can also tweet @KennyDucey or @WFUVSports.

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