FanHouse Mike DAntoni

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Desperation oozed from every pore. If New York-area basketball hasn't reached its nadir, it's only because the NBA has a silly rule that some team must win. Otherwise, who knows how low this charade might go? The players might be the ones slipping paper bags over their heads, to match the fans' embarrassment as they sit in the stands and try not to rubberneck.

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Just after the first quarter buzzer sounded at the Meadowlands, Nate Robinson of the Knicks turned and fired a three-pointer at the basket of the New Jersey Nets. The shot went in, and, being as the period had already ended, the basket was waved off by the official.

No harm done, right? Uh, wrong. Mike D'Antoni was furious at Robinson for even trying such a stunt, especially with it coming so closely after the buzzer.

(UPDATE: Apparently, D'Antoni holds a grudge: he kept Robinson on the bench for the rest of the game.)

Knicks! Nets! NBA action at its finest. Video of the shot and the exchange, after the jump.

Fun fact: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has as many wins in November as Giants coach Tom Coughlin, Jets coach Rex Ryan, Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and Nets coach Lawrence Frank combined. His loss total pales in comparison, however, which is probably why the Knicks invited him to Madison Square Garden to be honored during Sunday's loss game against the Celtics.

They're giving him the (quite possibly made up) Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton "City Spirit" Award, ostensibly because he stopped on his way home from winning the World Series to help the victim of a car accident flag down help from the police. It was a kind act, but it's not hard to imagine Knicks brass is desperate to liven up the grim Garden scene these days.

A four-time scoring champ leading Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo offense? It looked like a match made in heaven on paper, but the Knicks have apparently decided the intangibles surrounding Allen Iverson -- including ugly exits with two teams in the span of seven months -- outweighed the potential gains.

According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, the Knicks went back and forth on the issue, with a team source suggesting Thursday afternoon there was a 90 percent chance the team would offer a contract. Ultimately, however, the team's brain trust decided that "Iverson posed too great a risk" -- a damning indictment if there ever was one, considering the 2-7 Knicks are currently on pace for a 15-win season.

Just a few days after the Grizzlies announced they'd cut loose disgruntled legend Allen Iverson, Howard Beck of the New York Times reports the Knicks do plan to pursue the guard. Beck has sources who indicate coach Mike D'Antoni is sold on the addition of the legendarily difficult scorer, and the Knicks plan to offer A.I. at least a minimum contract worth $1.3 million.

The Knicks have been dreadful this season, and it's getting worse all the time. (The Knicks visit currently winless New Jersey on Saturday in what could be the return of Devin Harris and Courtney Lee. Giving an 0-13 [pending tonight's Nets-Bucks result] New Jersey team its first win? Rock. Bottom.) Iverson is still useful as a scorer, and despite the N.Y. talking points about developing the kids, the Knicks as an organization have little to lose by letting The Answer run loose for a few months. Win, win, win. (That third one is for Spike Lee.)

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Knicks have slowly climbed their way out of salary cap hell -- but all that got them is a season in NBA purgatory.

Instead of making moves toward actual improvement, the Knicks are blatantly looking past this season to next summer when they hope to strike it rich with the famed free agent class of 2010. But while Donnie Walsh's long-term strategy may eventually pay dividends, it offers little hope in the interim that the Knicks might rise above last year's fifth-place finish in the Atlantic.

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Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team did the least this summer to improve.

If the New York Knicks want to get their fans excited about the 2009-10 season, they better be planning some good halftime shows. Or maybe free beer at every home game. Or prizes to those who boo the loudest.

When the only additions to the roster are Darko Milicic and two rookies who will take a few years to develop, you need a creative marketing department.

It's hard to imagine a high-profile team doing less.

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In order for Mike D'Antoni to fully implement his vision, he needs a talented point guard -- and as a wise man jilted teenager once said, "Chris Duhon ain't getting it done." After watching the most talented free agent point guards either re-sign with their original teams (Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby) or commit elsewhere (Andre Miller), the Knicks are left to sift through the bargain bin.

On Wednesday, that entailed meeting with Jamaal Tinsley, who's so eager to reunite with Donnie Walsh, his former boss in Indiana, that he'd sign a one-year deal worth the veteran's minimum. The Knicks have also shown interest in the recently unretired Jason Williams, who'd also likely settle for a one-year deal, and Walsh has met with Allen Iverson's agent, although nothing is expected to come of that.

Grant Hill is still undecided as to which team he'll sign his next contract with, but it certainly won't be for a lack of offers. The Suns are interested in having Hill return at the right price, the Celtics are ready to give him the chance to contend for a title, and now the Knicks have reportedly offered a one-year deal to come to New York and reunite with one of his former coaches, Mike D'Antoni.

Stephon Marbury is one of those weird characters who has just the right mix of "crazy" and "keepin' it real" where you can't ever be sure whether to trust or distrust him. Personally, I think he's a bad apple who keeps getting too many chances, but some people feel differently.

After Marbury recently did a Knickerbocker-beat-down of an interview with the New York Post, I would imagine no one who plays professional basketball in the Big Apple is much of a fan either. Marbury's quotes are full of disparaging remarks, as he essentially urged any free agents to avoid Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni like the plague.

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