SUBWAY Wants You to Experience What It’s Like to Be Blake Griffin

February 23, 2011 – Kevin Burke

The dunk contest may be over but NBA circuits are still buzzing about Blake Griffin‘s performance. Aside from jumping over a car, Blake had some very impressive dunks that helped him win the contest, but regardlesss basketball fans were extremely excited to see him participate because he has quickly become the game’s most exciting player.

In amazing fashion Blake is averaging roughly 23 points and 13 rebounds in only his rookie season. So far this year, he has been better than many thought he would be and has quickly become a household name while making the Clippers relevant again.

But, when you watch Blake play, ever wish you could do some of the things he does above the rim? Well, SUBWAY has made that possible. This past Friday, just in time for All-Star Weekend and for his performance in the Rookie Challenge, dunk contest and All-Star game, SUBWAY launched SubwayDunkFresh.com starring Blake himself.

The app allows you to choose from any of five Griffin dunks, upload your photo on Blake’s body and create a video of yourself throwing down one of his dunks. Check it out for yourself to get an idea of what’s like to be one the most talked about athletes around.

If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook

Purdue’s Paint Crew Sings Miley Cyrus to Sullinger

February 23, 2011 – Allen Moll

It was a tough go of things last weekend for the nation’s Top 4 ranked teams(Texas, Ohio St, Kansas, and Pittsburgh) in the polls, with all suffering defeats and in turn opening it up for the Duke Blue Devils to once again be ranked as the #1 team in the land. Just imagine how good they will be if freshman phenom Kyrie Irving ever returns from that darn big toe injury.

While in my opinion, the Ohio State Buckeyes are pound for pound the most complete team among the nation’s elite squads, they are not without faults. One bright spot has been the outstanding play of freshman big man Jared Sullinger, who may be the odds on favorite to be selected as the #1 pick in the upcoming 2011 NBA Draft. This season, Jared is arguably the best 1st year player in all of college basketball behind some pretty outstanding production in the paint – 18 ppg, 9.9 rebs, 1.4 ast, .567 FG%.

Outside of not possessing an overwhelming amount of athleticism, opposing teams have been hard-pressed to find many, if any weaknesses in the big man’s all around game. Many compare his skills to that of Carlos Boozer or Al Jefferson, so NBA scouts aren’t to concerned about the whole below the rim style of play he puts on display.

To add insult to injury, during the Purdue Boilermakers’ recent 76-63 win over the Buckeyes, in which Sullinger had 25 points and 6 boards, the Purdue student section may have finally found a way to get under the big man’s skin so to speak. The Paint Crew, as they like to be called has found a new way to attempt to distract Sullinger while at the free throw line by in essence….singing his favorite song.

You see, a few weeks ago, a few of the Buckeyes, including Sullinger, were persuaded by the Ohio State public relations department to do their best rendition of Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”, which coincidentally was revealed later to be the big man’s favorite song. In spite of it’s cheesiness, the video airs regularly during time-outs on the videotron at Value City Arena.

Check out this funny video of the entire Paint Crew singing “Party in the USA” as Jared attempts 2 free throws. Although the talented freshman nailed both attempts, he admitted afterwards that it was definitely distracting.

Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.

Flying Under the Radar: Bulls Have a Chance Come Playoff Time

February 23, 2011 – Joshua Sexton

After missing 30 games with a thumb injury, Joakim Noah will make his return to the Bulls’ lineup Wednesday night against the Raptors. Behind MVP caliber play from Derrick Rose, the Bulls went a very impressive 22-8 in Noah’s absence. Despite dealing with injury problems to both Noah and Carlos Boozer, the Bulls are very much within striking distance of the Celtics and Heat in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bulls are only two games out of the top spot in the East.

Now that the Bulls will be at full strength with their best rebounder and defensive player in the lineup, the team is primed to go into the playoffs with a full head of steam. What is even more intriguing about the Bulls situation is despite only being two games back in the standings, they really have no pressure like their counterparts in the Eastern Conference.

Anything less than a championship for Boston will be considered a failure, and the Heat have more pressure to win than any team in recent memory. If the Bulls get knocked off by the Heat or Celtics in the playoffs it will have been expected. Therefore, the team will be going into this postseason playing with house money so to speak. In addition, with Carmelo Anthony being traded to the Knicks on Monday, the team may fall even farther off the radar in the Eastern Conference as the playoffs get closer.

The Bulls have a very promising nucleus for years to come. They have a rising, defensive minded coach, a team leader/MVP candidate/game changer in Derrick Rose and two stud post players in Noah and Boozer. While the players surrounding Noah, Rose and Boozer have not been awful, they are certainly the team’s biggest question mark heading into the postseason. With the trade deadline looming this Thursday, the team may be looking to trade for a perimeter player/slasher who can provide consistent scoring in the backcourt to lift some of the pressure off Derrick Rose.

The Bulls face the Heat this Thursday night in a nationally televised game on TNT. Whether the Bulls win or lose, most of the attention after the game will be surrounding the Heat’s big win, or if Dwyane Wade’s creaky ankle had anything to do with the team losing. For the Bulls that is OK. They don’t strike me as a group that needs to be in the limelight 24/7. However, opponents better grab the Bulls by the horns now. Otherwise, come this spring they could be taking the playoffs by storm.

Joshua Sexton is a lifelong basketball fanatic, who watches as many games as possible. In addition, He has played and coached the game at the high school level. He has recently started writing about the game of basketball.

Blake Griffin’s 137 NBA Dunks. Yes. All of them.

February 23, 2011 – Allen Moll

Do you want to see all of rookie phenom Blake Griffin’s amazing 137 dunks halfway through his first NBA season? If the answer is yes, then you are in luck since TheHoopDoctors.com has stumbled onto an impressive youtube video with a ticker counting down every single one of his powerful dunks this season.

While the video doesn’t include footage of Blake dunking over a car or throwing down a pass off the backboard and dunking with his elbow, you will marvel at the unbelievable power that this man possesses. Some have even begun to wonder if Griffin is the best rookie power forward of all-time. I personally think he reminds me of an even better version of a once healthy Larry Johnson, or Grand-ma-ma as he was sometimes called.

This season Blake has been a one man wrecking crew but has been especially harsh on the New York Knicks. On a number of occasions, Griffin has chosen the Knickerbockers as victims of some of his more ferocious throw-downs like when he went beastly by dropping 44 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists, including these 2 monster jams that brought the MSG faithful to their feet.

On the season, Blake is averaging an impressive 22.8 ppg, 12.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists which are impressive numbers for any player let along a rookie. Unfortunately those gaudy stats haven’t translated into many wins for the Clippers as they are once again near the bottom of the Western Conference standings at the All Star break.

Check out all of Blake Griffin’s 137 Dunks:

Carmelo Anthony Finally Traded to the Knicks

February 22, 2011 – Kevin Burke

The only thing more annoying than the rampant snow that we’ve been experiencing in the Northeast this winter are the constant Carmelo Anthony trade rumors to the Northeast this season, be it New York or New Jersey. As the snow appears to finally be tapering off, so have the ‘Melo talks. Last night, Carmelo Anthony was finally traded to the Knicks as part of a 3-team deal.

In addition to Carmelo, the Knicks are receiving Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman returns to MSG (a serviceable 5, like a Nene, would’ve been nice too). Denver receives Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, a 1^st round pick, two 2^ndround picks and $3M of cold hard cash. The Timberwolves were the third team involved and they received Eddy Curry and his expiring contract, and the underachieving Anthony Randolph. From Minnesota, the Knicks receive Corey Brewer.

When I initially heard the news late last night, I first had a tough time believing that it was actually true because of the frequency of all of the previous erroneous reports. Once I came to the realization that it was true, I immediately wanted to see what exactly the Knicks gave up to acquire him. We knew that either Chandler, Fields or Gallinari would have to go but I was hoping it would be just one of them rather than two. Initially, of those three, the guy that I wanted to keep out of the mix was Wilson Chandler. So when I saw that both Gallinari and Chandler, as well as 3 draft picks were gone, it didn’t sit well with me from a Knicks standpoint. I thought that was a whole lot to give up, even for Carmelo.

But when I woke up this morning, I had a new perspective. Take a look at what the Knicks gave up: Chandler, Felton, Gallinari, Mozgov and three draft picks (I’m not as concerned about the money because it isn’t coming out of my pocket). In my opinion, Chandler is the best player of those four and although I truly believe that he will develop into a special player, he can be replaced. And if he can be replaced, so can the other guys. Even though Chauncey is eight years older than Felton, he’s the better player of the two. I don’t think Gallinari will develop into anything special and the only reason he was that coveted was because his father played with Knicks coach, Mike D’Antoni in Italy. That’s the only reason he was taken 6^thoverall by the Knicks back in 2008. There’s no way he should’ve been taken so high.

Then that takes me to Timofey Mozgov. I was nothing short of disgusted when I found out that the Knicks’ unwillingness to include Mozgov in this deal is what held this up over the past week or so. Mozgov barely played in January because D’Antoni didn’t think he was good enough, so why would he stand in the way of landing ‘Melo? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Mozgov’s best attributes are that he’s 7’1” and he’s 24 years old. Notice I didn’t mention any actual basketball skills. His height and youth are desirable, but those alone don’t account for any points, rebounds or blocked shots.

So basically, Carmelo replaces Chandler (advantage: Knicks), Chauncey replaces Felton (advantage: Knicks as Chauncey is one of the best clutch shooters of his era and a Finals MVP), and Mozgov is irrelevant. So all the Knicks lost was Gallinari, but they got Corey Brewer to fill that void. Gallinari is a better scorer but Brewer is the better defender. Sure, they lost draft picks, but the Knicks aren’t in building-for-the-future mode. They’re trying to win now so the draft picks aren’t as crippling when you take that into consideration. Everyone that the Knicks gave up can be replaced, but you cannot replace a guy like Carmelo Anthony, in his prime, and the offensive tools that he possesses. Let’s face it, the Knicks of 24 hours ago weren’t going to win anything because they only had one star player in Amar’e. They would be a perennial 6th seed in the East, but not much more. Now, they have two star players and traditionally, teams that win have at least two.

Carmelo becoming a Knick was inevitable ever since he announced that he wanted to go to New York. That caused the Knicks to, understandably, drag their feet. Unfortunately, however, because the Knicks weren’t willing to throw in role players (first Chandler, then Mozgov), ‘Melo felt slighted and there was growing concern throughout the New York organization that they may not be able to land him in free agency as easily as most thought. I’d be willing to bet that Knicks’ owner, James Dolan, stepped in and told GM, Donnie Walsh, to get it done at any cost. We don’t know if ‘Melo would be willing to potentially lose out on millions under the new collective bargaining agreement by waiting for free agency. Also, it was clear that he wanted no parts of New Jersey, and the Nets had a more attractive offer including four first round picks.

‘Melo was excused from Nuggets practice yesterday so that he could do a taping of “Conan.” Now, I’ve never been on an NBA roster but I can’t imagine guys are usually excused from practice so that they can appear on a talk show. I think the deal was already done at that point but wasn’t made public yet, which is why he was excused.

So what does this all mean for the Knicks? Their new starting lineup will be Chauncey Billups, Landry Fields, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Ronny Turiaf. That’s actually a better starting lineup than Raymond Felton, Landry Fields, Wilson Chanler, Danilo Gallinari and Amar’e Stoudemire. But the Knicks are thin now. We’ll see what they can muster up as far as a bench is concerned. Right now, they are 6^th in the East and will definitely make the playoffs but aren’t a contender in the East. Yet.

In the summer of 2012, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams will become free agents. Because he’s 34 years old, Chauncey, although one of my favorite PGs in the game because he’s so savvy, isn’t a part of the long term plans for the team. That means that the Knicks will have their sights set on either Paul or Williams, with Billups being the stopgap until then (that’s one hell of a stopgap). If I had my pick, I’d take Williams over Paul because while they have comparable court vision, Williams is the better scorer of the two. While Dwight would be nice as well, that’s not likely. So, it may have been a back door way of getting there, but the Knicks are two-thirds of the way to forming their own Big 3 with Stoudemire, Anthony and Paul/Williams guaranteed to be a Knick before long. When that does happen, which isn’t that far off, the Knicks can be considered as one of the elite teams in the East.

When Boston formed their Big 3, they won a championship in their first year and the rest of their roster wasn’t that impressive. Miami formed their own Big 3 when they didn’t even have enough guys to actually make up a roster, but they’ve figured it out so far and should win a championship at some point. And I expect the Knicks to be elite before long because the necessary role players are now going to want to come to New York because the future is very bright.

The knock on both Carmelo and Amar’e is that they aren’t great defenders. True, but that’s because they haven’t played in a system predicated on defense. D’Antoni’s system is shoot first, ask questions last. While Amar’e and ‘Melo hold the ball for a while before eventually scoring, we’ll all be surprised as to how this thing actually works on the offensive side of the floor. But D’Antoni needs to incorporate some defense before he’s replaced.

After forfeiting two seasons in pursuit of LeBron and not getting him, the Knicks only had Amar’e to show for it. Now they have Carmelo as well. You can say that this won’t work, but if nothing else, it has made the Knicks relevant and the talk of the NBA and sports world. This trade even had ESPN’s Mike and Mike talking about the NBA practically all morning, which is a rarity since they never talk about basketball. New York has star power now, which is something they haven’t had since Ewing. Marbury, Houston and Sprewell were very good players, but not stars of this magnitude.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad this is now over. I want to see basketball being played now. I’m tired of the talking. I’m sure ‘Melo is happy too, and I didn’t think it was possible, but he probably had a more talked about departure from his former team than LeBron.

Dwight Howard vs Blake Griffin in Next Year’s Dunk Contest?

February 22, 2011 – Rob S. De France

Before All-star Saturday night, I had a chance to represent The Hoop Doctors and ask Dwight Howard about his thoughts on possibly competing with Blake Griffin in the Dunk Contest in the future.

I feel like the Dunk Contest needs star power to manifest the level of importance the NBA desires to get out of All-Star weekend. Just look at the name ‘All-star.’ It makes sense to have All-stars in every event.

Look at the Rookie-Sophomore Game—a game of future All-stars, mostly.

The 3-point contest—okay not all of them were All-stars, but Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Durant are. Historically, you can draw upon legends of the game who participated in this event, like Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Michael Jordan.

Even the Skills Challenge features high-level All-stars—this year Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Derrick Rose competed. In the past, you’ve had players, like Steven Nash, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant. (Event not established until 2002-2003 season).

The point is: the Dunk Contest—as great as Blake Griffin was—has gotten boring.

I don’t care if you jump over a car, a motorcycle, or even a plane—I want to see dunk offs between All-star level players who are also amazing dunkers.

Of course, I want Griffin in the Dunk Contest, but I would prefer to see him matched up against comparable talent. And that’s what I brought up to Dwight Howard when I spoke to him before the Dunk Contest:

As a competitor, Howard sounds like he is up for the challenge even though he was very gracious in not taking anything away from Blake Griffin’s moment. As much as it was great for Griffin to have his moment, think about a Dunk Contest with some real heavy-hitters.

Remember some of the great matchups in Dunk Contest History.

1984 Michael Cooper v Clyde Drexler v Ralph Sampson v Dominique Wilkins v Julius Erving

1985 Dominique Wilkins v Michael Jordan v Julius Erving v Clyde Drexler

1990 Dominique Wilkins v Shawn Kemp v Scottie Pippen

1997 Kobe Bryant v Ray Allen

2000 Tracy McGrady v Vince Carter v Jerry Stackhouse

Tell me you wouldn’t like to see something super in the next All-star game? How about a Dunk Contest between LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin?

Rob S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition living in Los Angeles. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. De France has played, coached, and officiated competitive high school basketball in California for many years. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.

2011 All-Star Game: Hometown Heroes Deliver

February 22, 2011 – Joshua Sexton

Now that the All-Star game is in the books, fans can start looking forward to the second half of the season. Considering this year’s festivities took place in the city of angels, much of the attention was on Blake Griffin and Kobe Bryant. It would certainly be an understatement to say these players had good All-Star weekends.

Most of the buzz going into the weekend was surrounding Griffin’s participation in the dunk contest. Griffin certainly lived up to all of the hype as he went on to win the dunk contest with an array of exciting dunks. His evening was capped off by jumping over the hood of a car to throw down an alley-oop pass from teammate Baron Davis. What makes Griffin’s win even more impressive is the fact he beat out some very stiff competition. Serge Ibaka, JaVale McGee and DeMar DeRozan all had dunks Saturday night that will be seen on YouTube for years to come. It was easily the best overall dunk contest since Vince Carter took the league by storm over a decade ago. In addition, Griffin contributed eight points, five rebounds and five assists to the Western Conference’s victory Sunday night.

Kobe treated his hometown fans to a classic Kobe performance. Kobe ended the night with 37 points and 14 rebounds as the Western Conference best the Eastern Conference 148-143. Kobe collected his fourth All-Star MVP trophy which ties him for the most all-time. I was pleasantly surprised by Kobe’s performance Sunday night. Considering the game was in Los Angeles, I knew there was a strong possibility that Kobe could take home the MVP award. However, what did surprise me was Kobe’s demeanor from the opening tip. It was evident that Kobe was taking the game a little more seriously than his All-Star counterparts. Kobe’s killer instinct mindset is what has always separated Kobe from the other elite players in the game today. In addition, I think I wet myself a little when Kobe finished the dunk over LeBron.

Also, Pau Gasol had a stellar showing for the Western Conference in front of his hometown fans. Gasol finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Check out the All-Star videos of Blake, Kobe and Pau after the jump.

Wall’s Bounce Pass Oop To Griffin Highlights NBA Rookie Challenge

February 22, 2011 – Allen Moll

Well, if the players on display at the 2011 NBA Rookie/Sophomore Challenge are any indication as to the future of the game, the Association is in good hands going forward. Just like any other All Star type event, one wouldn’t be psychic to predict that there wouldn’t be much defense played in this year’s version of the NBA’s very best 1st and 2nd year players.

Prior to the game, this year’s #1 overall pick John Wall reportedly looked up the fact that Chris Paul established the Rookie Challenge record for assists when he dropped 17 dimes on the Sophs back in 2007. He promptly went out and made a conscious effort to break the 4 year old mark by continually dishing the rock rather than scoring at will like so many other competitors in the event.

Wall was spectacular in setting the new benchmark for assists by dropping 22 dimes in helping the Rookies win 148-140 and in effect, earning the game’s MVP Award. Most of his assists went to former Kentucky teammates Eric Bledsoe and big man DeMarcus Cousins, who had a tremendously efficient game of his own, tallying 33 points and 13 boards. Cousin’s 33 points rank as the 4th highest scoring game in Rookie Challenge history, matching Lebron James 33 points in ’04.

Second year forward DeJuan Blair out-shined most of his other teammates on the Sophomore squad with a spirited 28 point-15 rebound effort, highlighted by an alley-oop off the glass to himself which almost brought the rim down.

But the true highlight reel moment came when the ’09(Griffin) and ’10(Wall) #1 overall picks connected on arguably the most impressive bounce pass, alley-oop I’ve ever seen……

Then on direct orders from coach Kevin McHale, Wall promptly did the Dougie:

Morehead State’s Faried Breaks Tim Duncan’s NCAA Rebound Record

February 22, 2011 – Allen Moll

If you haven’t yet heard of Morehead State’s dominating big man Kenneth Faried, you will next season around NBA circles as he will surely be rising up everyone’s 2011 Mock Drafts after becoming the NCAA’s all-time rebounding king. Although the 6’8 and 225 lb senior plays at a small school in the Ohio Valley Conference, the name Faried will now rank above players like Ralph Sampson, Derrick Coleman, and Tim Duncan in the NCAA record books.

In grabbing 12 boards in a win over Indiana State this past Saturday, Faried has collected a total of 1,576 rebounds, which are 6 more than former Wake Forest stand-out Tim Duncan totaled between ’94 and ’97. Now all future elite level rebounders all will be gunning for Faried’s mark which should be even farther out of reach considering he still has a handful of regular season games left.

The 4 year player hailing from Newark, NJ apparently made the right decision to pull out of last year’s NBA Draft early to return to Morehead State and play out his senior season. NBA General Managers had concerns about his lack of overall skill on the offensive end in spite of his tremendous defensive prowess and through the roof athleticism. Faried has worked hard on his game and has steadily increased his scoring from barely 10 ppg as a freshman to now nearly 18 ppg as a senior. His efficiency also has gone through the roof as he ranks among the nation’s leaders in FG% by shooting an impressive .635% from the field, with most coming on dunks, jump hooks, and tip-ins.

The fact is that Kenneth has always been an elite level rebounder as early as his freshman year, when he averaged 8 per contest. Thereafter he put up marks of 13.0, 13.0, and a league leading 14.2 rebounds per contest this year. Many have compared him to the modern day Dennis Rodman or Ben Wallace because of the similar body types and style of play.

This season, he has hit double figures in rebounds in all but 3 games and has an impressive 12 games of grabbing 15 or more, including 5 contest of 20 boards. His best game had to be a 23 point, 23 board, 3 block gem in a win against Tennessee State late in January. During his outstanding career he has compiled an impressive 76 career double-doubles to rank among the NCAA’s all time best in that category as well, prompting Morehead to already retire his number prior to his senior season’s completion.

If his squad can somehow make it back to the NCAA Tournament by getting by conference rival Murray State, Faried will be one of those nightmare match-ups for one of the high major programs’ opposing bigs. That may make Morehead State one of the favorites to score one of those entertaining 1st round upset wins we all try to predict in our office pools.

As it stands right now, Faried probably will go late 1st to early 2nd round in the upcoming 2011 NBA Draft. Some teams may shy away because of possessing only an average or limited offensive game or that he played against lesser competition but that would be a mistake since Faried is one of those players that every team needs that will do all the dirty work like diving for loose balls or playing lock-down defense. As for the lack of competition, his stat-line playing against Jared Sullinger of Ohio State should quiet those rumors – 15 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks to Sullinger’s 8 points and 8 rebounds.

Check out a video showing why Faried is starting to get some national attention:

To read more on Faried’s inspiring background growing up in Newark and his journey to rural Kentucky to play at Morehead State, check out Dana O’Neal’sfrom ESPN’s piece on Faried here.

Monday’s Weekly Knicks Notes: Week 18

February 21, 2011 – Kevin Burke

1992 was the last time a Knick started the All-Star game. That is until the past Sunday anyway. Amar’e started and represented well for New York. He would finish with 29 points and 6 boards in defeat for the East. Nonetheless, he performed very well, even scoring the first 4 points for the East. The night before, Landry Fields suited up for the Rookies in the Rookie Challenge. Landry would end up with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in the win. It was his usual resourceful performance.

But the highlight of last week was, of course, Carmelo. On Friday, it was reported that the Nets and Nuggets reach an agreement that would send ‘Melo to Jersey. I almost felt as if it was embellished because the original reports sounded a bit more conclusive than it actually was. The deal wasn’t done because it was pending Carmelo’s willingness to agree to that extension, which of course is what’s been holding this up from the beginning. So it was much ado about nothing.

While in L.A. for All-Star Weekend, ‘Melo , while visibly annoyed at time due to the questioning by reporters, was surprisingly candid in his responses. He answered all the questions and even admitted to meeting with both the Knicks and Nets this past weekend. He said he was “just listening”.

After the New Jersey rumors swirled on Friday, the Knicks reportedly offered a choice of Gallo or Fields, along with Felton, Chandler, Eddy Curry and a 1^st round pick. Chauncey was supposed to be coming to NY along with ‘Melo as well. Well, if nothing else, it shows that the Knicks are sweating because they upped their offer significantly.

Then today, there were more rumors swirling. Even if the Nets do not end up with ‘Melo, they still might pull off a trade with Denver. If the Knicks send Gallo, Felton, Chandler and Mozgov to Denver, the Nets have been in discussions to then acquire either Gallo, Felton, Chandler or Mozgov. So the Knicks could end up with ‘Melo and the Nets could end up with a slew of Knicks players. If you’re the Knicks, you do not want that to happen. You don’t want to be reminded constantly of your former players that are just playing down the road now in New Jersey.

This has gotten beyond ridiculous and really doesn’t make much sense to continue talking about it until something actually happens. The trade deadline is Thursday at 3p ET and I believe that something will happen by then. Denver needs to do something or they could stand the chance of losing ‘Melo and getting nothing in return. We’re just a few days away from putting this all behind us…hopefully.