Coaching the Pros

[Myles Nelson]

Injuries happen. All the time, to all kinds of people. Some of them are minor, like Dirk's middle finger sprain, and some of them are major, like Shaun Livingston's knee injury. Some are career threatening, like Yao's foot issues, and some of them can be rushed back through, like Udonis Haslem's foot sprain.

However, mine ruined my career. I was a heralded point guard out of USC, known for my court vision and play-making ability. I led the Pac-10 in assists every year, and even led the Trojans to the Final Four in my junior season. I was drafted fourth overall in 1996 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Alongside KG, we had some great years. I led the league in assists a few times, but it wasn't until I developed a deadly jumper in 02, and after we got deadly scorer Latrell Sprewell in 03, we became serious title contenders. Although we came close, WCF in 03, losing in the Finals in 04 to the Pistons, attitude problems and age forced Sprewell to retire, and in the beginning of the 05 season I tore my ACL and was done for the year. I rehabbed and came back in the middle of the 06 season, only to tear the same ACL in the playoffs that year. I knew I was done, and after 10 seasons in the NBA, I retired. KG knew he was screwed, and asked to be traded, and the Timberwolves have sucked ever since. They signed me on right after my injury to be a "guards" coach, and a year later I got a full-time assistant coaching job on Coach McHale's staff.

In the summer of 2010, the Knicks fired D'Antoni for his inability to win games with a decent Knicks squad. Walsh had admired the way I played for the Wolves, trying numerous times to obtain me, and had heard great stories about my ability to coach. I applied for the job and got it, becoming a 37 year old coach, 5 years removed from playing, and ready to take on the Big Apple.

[Myles Nelson]

EDITORS NOTE: Due to the fact that my previous coaching only dynasty was corrupted, I had to make a new one. I wanted a better team than the Wolves, so I picked the Knicks.

Yes I realize that I used the same intro. Sue me.

[Myles Nelson]

I had never seen a roster so bare. Going into the summer of 2010, we had 4 players under contract.

Tony Douglas is a good shooter who can score decently, handle the ball okay, and play average defense. He's essentially a backup shooting guard in a point guard's body. Hopefully he sees very little time on the court.

Wilson Chandler is a good versatile swingman that can really play. He can score, play decent defense, and rebound. He's a useful player that is a starter on an average team, but in the rotation for any team, no matter how good. He'd make a great 6th or 7th man.

Danilo Gallinari is honestly a shorter version of Dirk. He's still quite tall, but unfortunately he doesn't have the post game Dirk has. He's a scorer, and most definitely a shooter, but his skills really end there. He's a mediocre ball handler, doesn't play great defense, and isn't a great rebounder. He's essentially the sparkplug who comes off the bench to score in bunches.

Eddy Curry is a fat body who will never see the court, and will still get paid 8 figures. Go figure.

While the roster is clearly underwhelming, it shows some potential and a lot of room for growth as we have at least 8 spots open to fill. I'm excited to see what Walsh brings in.

[Myles Nelson]

2010 NBA Draft

We held the 9th pick in the draft and really only one rule: Get the best player available. Our roster is so bare and so flexible that all we really wanted is talent. I'm looking at the talent that should be available to us at 9 and honestly if we could get Cole Aldrich, Greg Monroe, or Xavier Henry I'd be pretty happy. Just please not Paul George or Ed Davis.

1. John Wall
2. Evan Turner
3. DeMarcus Cousins
4. Wes Johnson

No surprises thus far, although the first trade did occur.

Sacramento Kings trade: Omri Casspi
New Orleans Hornets trade: David West
Commentary: I like this trade for the Kings more so than the Hornets. I feel like Casspi is overrated and West is an underrated threat at PF. It also means that CP3 has very few big man threats. Kings come out on top.

5. Al-Farouq Aminu

Are you kidding me? The Kings draft Aminu ahead of Favors? Aminu isn't even anything special. I take back what I just said about the Kings. They lost.

6. Derrick Favors
7. Cole Aldrich
8. Paul George

YES! We have no chance at getting the highly overrated SF from Fresno State. Greg Monroe and Xavier Henry are both still available. Let's see which route Walsh goes.

9. Xavier Henry

A scoring and shooting wing who can play defense, and most of all, is athletic. I like this guy. He could really be something.

All the commentators praise the pick and say we got a good deal, so that's even better.

10. Greg Monroe
11. Gordon Hayward
12. Ekpe Udoh
13. Luke Babbitt
14. Terrico White
15. Larry Sanders
16. Patrick Patterson
17. Avery Bradley
18. Ed Davis
19. James Anderson
20. Trevor Booker
21. Daniel Orton
22. Jordan Crawford
23. Domonique Jones
24. Da'Sean Butler
25. Quincy Pondexter
26. Craig Brackins
27. Hassan Whiteside
28. Eric Bledsoe

Wow. The Lakers get Bledsoe at 28. Talk about a steal.

29. Damion James
30. Grevis Vasquez

TRADE:
New Orleans Hornets trade: Marcus Thornton
Cleveland Cavaliers trade: Leon Powe and Grevis Vasquez
Commentary: Really New Orleans? First West and now Thornton? You're just giving away the pieces to your team now.

Dallas Mavericks trade: JJ Barea
Houston Rockets trade: Chuck Hayes
Commentary: Scrub for scrub. Meh.

Houston Rockets trade: Jordan Hill, Shane Battier
Indiana Pacers trade: Troy Murphy
Commentary: I don't like this trade at all for Houston. I think Battier is such an underrated glue guy, he plays great defense, he can shoot. Murphy is so overrated.

39. Tibor Pleiss

My initial reaction? Uhh, who? He is apparently a 7'1" center who should have been picked already and is a hard worker. I like this kid from what I can tell so far.

Landry Fields goes 46th to the Bobcats. Great steal. Dexter Pittman goes 57th. That's an insane steal. Two great pickups right there.

TRADE:
Ryan Anderson of ORL was swapped for JaVale McGee of WAS. McGee is more defensive, more Tyson Chandler-lite whereas Anderson is more of a spot up big. I prefer McGee here.

Post draft, Xavier Henry looks pretty good. His defense is good, he can definitely score, and everything else is acceptable. As for Pleiss, he's a good defender, but everything else needs work. He's a project player for sure. His potential is high.

[Myles Nelson]

We renounce everyone except for David Lee, leaving us 26 million in cap to spend on free agency. Let's see Donnie Walsh put together a great team.

TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS OF FREE AGENCY

Atlanta: Luis Scola, Fred Jones, Quentin Richardson, Tim Thomas. Grade: D
Boston: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Nate Robinson, Jerry Stackhouse, Carlos Arroyo. Grade: B+
Charlotte: Raymond Felton, Anthony Tolliver, Bobby Jackson. Grade: C-
Cleveland: LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Al Harrington. Grade: A
Dallas: Dirk Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood. Grade: A
LA Clippers: Dorell Wright, Timofey Mozgov, Chris Duhon, Von Wafer, Travis Outlaw. Grade: F
LA Lakers: Allen Iverson, Steve Blake, Derek Fisher, Matt Bonner. Grade: B
Miami: T-Mac, Josh Howard, Rasual Butler, Rafer Alston, Brad Miller, Earl Watson, Udonis Haslem. Grade: D
Minnesota: Joe Johnson, Nick Fazekas, Alonzo Gee. Grade: C-
New Jersey: Dwyane Wade, Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden, Linas Kleiza, CJ Watson, Cartier Martin, Mike Sweetney. Grade: B
Sacramento: Amar'e Stoudemire, Rashad McCants, Sergio Rodriguez, Jarvis Hayes. Grade: B
Utah: Carlos Boozer, Larry Hughes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Earl Barron. Grade: A

Free Agent Winners
Boston: They kept Pierce and Allen, and added deadly shooter Miller and exciting point guard Nate-Rob to retool for another playoff run.
Cleveland: They resigned LeBron James. Nuff said.
New Jersey: They signed Wade and got some decent role players to put around him.
Sacramento: They added to the talent they got in the draft by signing Stoudemire.
Utah: They resigned Carlos Boozer and got two good role players in Hughes and Big Z. Look for them to make a playoff run.

Free Agent Losers
Atlanta: They lost Joe Johnson, but didn't conserve money as they think they can still contend.
LA Clippers: Had all kinds of cap space and nothing to show for it.
Miami: Same reason as the Clippers.
Minnesota: Although getting the kind of talent Johnson brings to the table is a plus, he's not going to help their rebuilding phase. He's the kind of star a team like Minnesota will trade away for rebuilding pieces.

[Myles Nelson]

[align=center]A Look at the New York Knick's Offseason

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The Knicks came into the offseason holding 26 million in cap and 4 players on their roster. Here's who they added.

Xavier Henry, a scoring guard who can slide over to SF at times. Great pickup.

Tibor Pleiss, a young project center who should see some time in the NBDL first.

Shaun Livingston, is a decent point guard, good handles and okay defense, but should be nothing more than a backup.

Luke Ridnour, presumably my starting point guard, although I'm not pleased with that since Ridnour is more backup point guard material. He's better than Livingston at pretty much everything, so he has the job by default.

Bill Walker, nothing more than a backup shooter. He's a good sparkplug who can shoot, dunk, and not much else.

Shannon Brown, essentially the same player as Walker except Brown plays defense.

Kyle Korver, I call him my run-stopper cause he'll hit 3s to stop the other team from going on a run. Especially useful at the end of a game.

Craig Smith, a decent backup bigman. He'll get a lot of minutes though, as I hope to never play Curry ever.

David Lee, part 1 of my two-headed beast underneath. David Lee will score in bunches and pull down rebounds. He'll probably average a double-double in the PF slot, and he'll post up and score like crazy.

Chris Bosh, our big offseason acquisition. He'll play center and score as often as David Lee will. They make quite the left-handed tandem down low, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they work together.

[Myles Nelson]

Setting up the Roster

The first thing I did to determine how I wanted to run this team was to look at the hierarchy.

Top Scorers
Chris Bosh
David Lee

2nd Options
Xavier Henry
Danillo Gallinari
Wilson Chandler

Based on this, I'd want to run a slow paced team as I want the ball pounded down low as much as possible. This is a team that honestly goes about 8 deep, so I'm not going to use my bench very much. We're going to crash hard and never run a full court press or a zone.

Depth Chart
PG Luke Ridnour (28)
SG Danilo Gallinari (34)
SF Wilson Chandler (34)
PF David Lee (38)
C Chris Bosh (38)
6. Xavier Henry (24)
7. Shannon Brown (14)
8. Craig Smith (12)
9. Shaun Livingston (18)
10. Kyle Korver (0)
11. Tony Douglas (0)
12. Bill Walker (0)
Inactive. Eddy Curry

My prediction for this team? We probably have enough firepower to make the playoffs. Boston and New Jersey are better than us, but Toronto and Philadelphia are not. If we get a 6th or 7th seed I'd be pleased.

[Myles Nelson]

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 2010-2011 PREDICTIONS

Eastern Conference
1. New Jersey Nets (Dwyane Wade, Brook Lopez, Devin Harris)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (LeBron James, Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison)
3. New York Knicks (Chris Bosh, David Lee, Danilo Gallinari)
4. Orlando Magic (Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson)
5. Atlanta Hawks (Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford)
6. Boston Celtics (Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett)
7. Milwaukee Bucks (Andrew Bogut, Corey Maggette, Brandon Jennings)
8. Philadelphia 76ers (Andre Iguodala, Evan Turner, Elton Brand)
9. Charlotte Bobcats (Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton)
10. Chicago Bulls (Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah)
11. Indiana Pacers (Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Greg Monroe)
12. Washington Wizards (John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, Andray Blatche)
13. Detroit Pistons (Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey)
14. Miami Heat (Michael Beasley, Raja Bell, Jermaine O'Neal)
15. Toronto Raptors (Andrea Bargnani, Jarrett Jack, Hedo Turkoglu)

Playoffs
1. Nets over 8. 76ers
2. Cavaliers over 7. Bucks
6. Celtics over 3. Knicks
4. Magic over 5. Hawks

1. Nets over 4. Magic
2. Cavaliers over 6. Celtics

1. Nets over 2. Cavaliers

Western Conference
1. Sacramento Kings (Amare Stoudemire, Tyreke Evans, David West)
2. Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum)
3. Denver Nuggets (Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene Hilario)
4. Utah Jazz (Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko)
5. Dallas Mavericks (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Caron Butler)
6. Portland Trailblazers (Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Miller)
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (Joe Johnson, Kevin Love, Al Jefferson)
8. Golden State Warriors (Stephen Curry, Reggie Williams, Monta Ellis)
9. Houston Rockets (Yao Ming, Kevin Martin, Aaron Brooks)
10. Memphis Grizzlies (Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay)
11. San Antonio Spurs (Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan)
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden)
13. Los Angeles Clippers (Eric Gordon, Baron Davis, Blake Griffin)
14. New Orleans Hornets (Chris Paul, Darren Collison, Emeka Okafor)
15. Phoenix Suns (Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill)

Playoffs
1. Kings over 8. Warriors
2. Lakers over 7. Timberwolves
3. Nuggets over 6. Trailblazers
5. Mavericks over 4. Jazz

5. Mavericks over 1. Kings
2. Lakers over 3. Nuggets

2. Lakers over 5. Mavericks

2. Lakers over 1. Nets

Awards
MVP: LeBron James
ROY: John Wall
DPoY: Dwight Howard
MIP: Michael Beasley
6th Man: Luis Scola, Atlanta
COY: Paul Westphal, Sacramento

[Myles Nelson]

November 2010

We start the season in Washington. While they have the potent backcourt of John Wall and Gilbert Arenas, I'm not too concerned cause I'd take a beastly frontcourt over a beastly backcourt any day. It pays off too, as David Lee drops 31 points and 11 rebounds in our 105-94 win. Xavier Henry had 18 off the bench and Wilson Chandler and Luke Ridnour each had 17 points. Bosh only scored 7, but nabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 3 shots, making him a pivotal player in this win.

Our home opener is a few nights later, hosting the Phoenix Suns, who are already 0-2 on the year. Steve Nash and Jason Richardson are forced to carry this team and they simply just cannot do that. We pound them down low to the tune of 36 points in the paint as Bosh scores 28, Lee scores 18, and Gallinari pitches in 21 in our big win, 113-92.

We hosted the fast-paced, offensive minded Golden State Warriors. Monta Ellis showed us exactly what it means to outrun the other team and he torched us for 35 points, Steph Curry following suit with 20 of his own. Luckily, we blast them right back, as Bosh gets 29, Henry gets 18, and Gallinari has 17. Our team effort beat out their two star attack and we won 112-108.

[bobbyr]

Great dynasty report, love it so far!

As a huge real life Knick fan I'm always interested in NYK dynasties!

I hope you keep going.