The King is in New York [2-0] Marco hits gamewinning 3

[Awesom3]

Since the arrival of Isiah Thomas in late 2003, The New York Knicks have suffered humiliation. Glimpses of hope did not last long. A promising young crop of players that included David Lee, Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Balkman all left the team with the exception of Lee. But in the end, it was all worth it.

June 14th, 2007. The San Antonio Spurs win their 4th championship under Tim Duncan after a 4-0 sweep of LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Rumors of LeBron leaving Cleveland start to resurface and rumors of LeBron in New York resurface.

Fast forward 3 years and a bit.

August 5th, 2010. Perhaps the greatest and most talented basketball player since Michael Jordan inks a $75 million dollar deal over the next 4 years.

The King has arrived in New York.



Game: NBA 2k9
Platform: Playstation 3
Difficulty: Pro (I'll switch to a higher one later.)
Season Length: 82 Games
Playoff Length: 7/7/7/7

[Awesom3]

Moves moves moves, Knicks set for the 10-11 Season

The Knicks entered the offseason with what could've been the worst team in NBA history headlined by Zach Randolph and Jared Jefferies and came out with one of the best teams with a starting line up of the up and coming point guard Ramon Sessions, veteran sharpshooter Walter Ray Allen, double double threat David Lee and rebounding and blocking monster Andris Biedrins, and the 'King': LeBron. James.

How did Walsh do it? The Knicks had to suffer 2 more seasons of missing the playoffs and didn't keep any of the great talent that they had drafted. When the summer of 2010 came, the first thing Donnie Walsh did was... nothing. When the Free Agent period came, Walsh made the first move of his offseason. He picked up his Blackberry, went to Contacts, pressed J, went down one contact skipping past 'JAMES, JEROME' and pressed dial on the contact 'JAMES, LEBRON'.

After 10 long long days, Knicks fans woke up to the best news they've heard in a long long time.

LeBron James is a New York Knickerbocker.

Only positive news came after the LeBron signing. Within a week, Ramon Sessions, Ray Allen, Andris Biedrins, Marco Belinelli, Ronny Turiaf and Patrick O'Bryant had all joined LeBron James, David Lee, and Jared Jeffries. 3 rookies Rod Wolfe, Brett Richards, and Byron Hoffman round out the 12 man roster.

The King has arrived in New York.

The Knicks will open up their pre-season as they host the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant who has won the last 3 MVP awards.

[Awesom3]

Impressive start for LeBron but not for the Knicks

Just seconds after a Biedrins tip to Sessions, Sessions found LeBron coming off a screen set by Ray Allen as LeBron quickly caught the ball and released the ball. Swish. Knicks fans will be seeing a lot of those.

The Knicks fell 97-74 in front of a sell out crowd last night behind LeBron's never give up attitude with 37 points on 16-18 shooting.

"LeBron was amazing. You can't ask for anything more than that. Obviously this is a brand new team facing off against a team led by the MVP. We don't really expect much." said Head Coach Mike D'Antoni.

And he was right. The Lakers made 11 3 pointers and Kobe Bryant had an impressive 13 assists.

"We kept trying to double Bryant and we couldn't close out the open shooters fast enough."

The Knicks will play their next game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

[Chabalaba]

How exactly did you get all of these new players on your roster?

[Awesom3]

I pretty much lost every single Knicks player and with the cap space I signed LeBron James for 17 million a year and I was able to pick up Ray Allen (older and crapper now) for 7 million. I traded Zach Randolph a 17 million expiring contract, my number 4 pick rookie and my second round pick to Golden State for Biedrins, Belinelli and Turiaf, I signed Patrick O'Bryant with my MLE. I don't really remember what the deal was for Sessions but I'm pretty sure it involved my top 10 pick rookie from the season before and my first round draft pick.

[Awesom3]

Knicks scrape past the Blazers

It looked like another ugly game for the New York Knicks as they gave up 15 3 pointers. New free agent acquisition Manu Ginobili lead the way for the Blazers with 30 points, including 5 3 pointers.

After drafting Oden in 2007, the Blazers have been praised for having an excellent young nucleus although some critics said the core would not stay together for long. The Blazers proved the critics wrong but have failed to make much noise in the playoffs. The Blazers were not able to hold on to Travis Outlaw or Martell Webster but those voids have been filled by even better players. The Blazers were able to pick up veteran shooting guard Manu Ginobili after trying to pursue LeBron James and were able to pull off a deal to pick up Devin Harris after veteran point guard Steve Blake demanded to leave the team because of chemistry issues.

The Knicks looked dead for most of the game as they were down 20 points at halftime with David Lee being the only person that looked alive offensively. A late 3rd quarter spurt led by a 3 from Ray Allen and a 3 by Marco Belinelli helped narrow the lead down to 11 by the end of the 3rd and the Knicks were able to pull off the comeback in the 4th quarter when Ramon Sessions scored on a drive that should have had a foul called with 2.6 seconds left in regulation. The Blazers called a time out and Brandon Roy shot a 3 that just rimmed out as the Knicks escaped with the 94-93 win at Portland.

The Knicks only made 4 3 pointers in the game on 20 attempts. Mike D'Antoni, a coach known for introducing 'small ball' and coaching excellent 3 point shooting teams did not want to answer any questions regarding the shooting of the Knicks so far.

"Obviously Mike's a bit upset. We're supposed to be a good shooting team. Me, LeBron, Marco and Ramon can all shoot the ball. When you have a guy like LeBron James on your team we should be getting lots of open looks and when we have rebounders like Andris and David we should be getting even more open looks... We have open looks but we're just not converting on any of them." says Ray Allen, who is close to passing Reggie Miller as the all time 3 point leader in the NBA.

I think I'll just wrap up pre-season here. Right now I'm just using pre-season to test out the team a bit and I'm still getting used to playing with them and I'm not really playing serious. Regular season games will have more in depth recaps and I hope to make better presentation. I'll also be doing a screenshot contest since I don't have 2k9 for the PC and I think having a screen shot contest would involve the readers more and it would help the presentation since pictures of a TV don't give the best quality picture.

[The X]

I like that you have skipped a couple of seasons & showing people of a glimpse into the "what if LBJ goes to Knicks?" scenario

[hova-]

This is a quite nice story. King James in NY along Ray Ray Nice win against Portland despite your three point weakness. Keep it up, Im liking it

[nba_baller]

How can you lack 3-point shooting with Ray Allen Anyways. Nice dynasty.

[Awesom3]

Hopefully it's just a shooting slump so far and I step it up. I'm going to sim up the pre-season and do a bit of a season preview and a recap of the last 2 seasons to show some of the moves that have happened in the 2 years.

[Awesom3]

Donnie Walsh pulls off last minute moves, 8 man rotation set

It seems like Walsh wasn't finished in his busy offseason. Through the first few games, the Knicks lacked an inside scoring threat. The answer?

Chris Bosh.

The Knicks had to give up new acquisitions Ray Allen and Andris Biedrins along with 2 future picks to land the All-Star power forward in New York.

Walsh then signed DeAndre Jordan, one of the biggest falls of the 2008 NBA Draft for the league minimum. With the next 3 guys coming off the bench all Power Forward/Centers, Walsh packaged Ronny Turiaf and a pick to Denver for the versatile swingman Linas Kleiza. The final move came when Patrick O'Bryant was sent along with undrafted rookie Byron Hoffman to the Lakers for veteran Point Guard Derek Fisher.

"I think we're set and we're not going to do any more major moves. We obviously gave up a lot for Bosh but hopefully this move will pay off. We got Linas and our association have been a fan of him for a while. We also landed Derek who is a great veteran to have on the floor with since Ramon has never been on a court with a group of talented players. We believe that DeAndre still has a lot of potential so we are willing to give him a run as the back up center." said Donnie Walsh.

The Knicks will tip off with a game in New Jersey, one of the teams that LeBron was rumored to go to because of his affiliation with the part-owner and rapper Jay-Z.

"I think we're set. This is probably the best team I've been in. It was nice having Ray and Andris for that week and I wish them the best of luck in Toronto." said LeBron James.

The pairing of LeBron James and Chris Bosh could possibly be the best duo in NBA History and some experts already predict they will be better than the Jordan-Pippen Tandem.

New York Knicks fans have already dubbed this tandem as 'LeBosh' and haven't been this pumped up since their last Finals appearance. Long time Knick fan Spike Lee says this may be one of the best Knicks teams assembled and maybe one of the best NBA teams of all time.

[Awesom3]

Knicks take first of many wins to come behind LeBron

Chris Bosh tipped the ball over to Ramon Sessions who drove in and set LeBron James up for an easy dunk. Knicks fans can expect to see a lot more of that. Ramon Sessions was moving the ball and finished the first quarter with 5 assists including setting up Marco Belinelli for 2 3 pointers to end the quarter to put the Knicks up 2 at the end of the first.

LeBron started strong shooting 7/8 from the field and an emphatic dunk set up by a beautiful Kleiza outlet put the Knicks up 37-27 midway through the 2nd quarter. However the Nets went on a run to take the lead at the end of the first half.

The Knicks found themselves slumping in the 3rd quarter and were down 10 entering the 4th. They rallied back behind key buckets from LeBron and Bosh and Jameer Nelson caused a crucial turnover as he stepped accidentally caused a backcourt violation with 23.8 seconds to play as he hovered across the mid court area. With the Knicks up 83-82, the Nets for some reason chose not to foul. Ramon Sessions burned 8 seconds off the clock before the first foul was committed and burned close to 10 seconds off when he found Marco Belinelli open in the corner who shot a 3 to seal the deal with an 86-82 lead with a little bit more than 5 seconds to play. New free agent acquisition Richard Hamilton raced up the court and let go for a 3 that clanged off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Marco Belinelli had a career night where he let loose for 26 points including 6 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc. LeBron James finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for the night and Chris Bosh added 16. Ramon Sessions struggled from the field but managed to dish out 13 assists including the game sealing look to an open Marco Belinelli.

Sorry about the rather bland recap. I'm just kind of excited with the team that I assembled here.

[Awesom3]

Game Recap

Belinelli makes 3 that counts the most, lifts Knicks up 105-102
Marco Belinelli struggled after hitting 2 early 3 pointers, missing the next 8 before finally hitting one at the buzzer to put the game away. The Knicks found themselves down early and took their first lead sin[video][/video]ce the first quarter off a LeBron jams hammer dunk in the middle of the 4th quarter. Kevin Martin hit a 3 pointer late to put the Kings up 100-98 but was responded by a Chris Bosh jumpshot that barely went in to tie it up. Rajon Rondo quickly responded and found Jason Thompson open for a dunk. On the other side, LeBron James blew by Kevin Martin for a lay in as the Kings called a time out with 20 seconds to play. Kevin Martin gave Jason Thompson a good look at the baseline but he failed to cash in with 5 seconds left. DeAndre Jordan collected the rebound and threw it ahead to LeBron James. LeBron found Belinelli ahead and quickly tossed it to Belinelli. Kings guard Rajon Rondo thought Belinelli was going to use Linas Kleiza as a screen but Belinelli quickly pulled up with 0.3 and watched his 3 clank in to give the Knicks their first home win.

Game Notes
+ Marco Belinelli was only 2 for 10 on 3 pointers on the night before the gamewinner.
+ Kevin Martin attempted 19 3 pointers.
+ Rajon Rondo was 2 rebounds away from a triple double.
+ DeAndre Jordan was starting at Center.

Key Statlines
LeBron James - 32 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 13/21 FG, 4-6 3PT
Chris Bosh - 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 11/21 FG
Marco Belinelli - 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 3PT
Ramon Sessions - 11 assists, 2 steals
DeAndre Jordan - 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks

Haier Play of the Day
Belinelli hits the gamewinner

Around the League
Russell Westbrook and Dwight Howard were named Players of the Week
Pistons trade Amir Johnson to the Bulls for Andres Nocioni

[Awesom3]

Catching up with the league - Sacramento Kings

After trading the final key piece of some of the best Kings years in Brad Miller for Grant Hill, the Kings have been shaping up. With the additions of Rajon Rondo, Travis Outlaw and Grant Hill, and the expected development of players like Beno Udrih (who had a career best 16 point/9 assist statline last season), Kevin Martin who consistently ranks among league leaders in points per game budding young bigs Jason Thompson who has been a solid rebounder and Spencer Hawes who is starting to develop into the high post passing mold of a center similar to previous Kings Centers Vlade Divac and Brad Miller. Unfortunately, Donte Greene won't be seeing much playing time this season behind Kevin Martin, Travis Outlaw and Grant Hill.

[Awesom3]

LeBron's 42 guide New York to win
Knicks 109 @ Bucks 104
Michael Redd came out of making 13 points in the last 2 minutes including 2 3s but the Bucks could not take the lead late in the 4th. Both teams faced huge shooting slumps and have great interior defense without committing any fouls. Point Guard Ramon Sessions came close to a triple double.

Game Notes
The first Bucks field goal came with 5 minutes left when Richard Jefferson scored off a drive past Chris Bosh
The Knicks only converted on 4/10 free throws
Derek Fisher had a sore knee after getting fouled hard on a drive by Andrew Bogut

Key Statines
LeBron James - 42 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals
DeAndre Jordan - 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals
David Lee - 13 rebounds, 6 blocks
Ramon Sessions - 8 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists

Pistons hand first loss of season to Knicks 132-122
In a high scoring match up the very different Detroit Pistons beat the Knicks who had recently acquired Sun Yue after trading away Jared Jeffries for Lewis Pittman of the Cavaliers and signing Sun with the newly acquired capspace. Sun had 10 points in his Laker debut. Luther Head of the Pistons had 23 to lead the way and Jason Kidd, Tayshaun Prince, Andres Nocioni and Iverson all scored in double digits. LeBron had 29 points and 9 assists and Bosh finished with a double double scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.