… I still don’t like the Derrick Rose trade.  I agree with the comments that the Knicks didn’t give up anything in the way of players (that’s the advantage of having a terrible roster – any trade only involves bad players coming off the books).  I agree that Rose is a 1-year investment and maybe he will surprise.

What is most disappointing is that New York is no longer a “destination” for free agents.  The NBA is a national brand and players in smaller markets (OKC, Miami, Cleveland, etc.) can all become hugely popular playing there.  Sure, the Knicks haven’t won a championship in 40 years but that is only important to the NY fans.  Players in other cities who have no connection here could care less.

To date, Melo has failed to attract any free agents of consequence.  That is the reality.  Other players do not want to play with a player who is a ball hog.  Do you see guys running to Houston to play with James Harden who is Melo on steorids?  Jeff Hornacek says he wants to play an up tempo style but that is anti-Melo who is a slowdown, walk-it-up isolation specialist.  Can Rose even play at that fast pace at this point of his career?

For SU, Isiah Thomas did irreparable damage for me as a lifelong Knick fan when he was running things.  I am still not back in the fold and am fine picking teams each year to watch and root for.  I like Porzingis a lot but Rose is a high volume shooter as is Melo.  Are they really going to defer to Porzingis?  Nope.  SU is happy to be proven wrong.

SU is unimpressed and uninspired by the Derrick Rose trade.  The guy is an injury waiting to happen.  It’s like getting Penny Hardaway past his prime or Ronoldo Blackman or any of the other multitudes of over-the-hill players who have found their way to MSG.  He was great when healthy but his knees are pretty much shot now.  The good news is that they didn’t give up anything to acquire him so from the standpoint of taking a flyer, sure, worth the risk.  The rumors have already started about Durant now seriously considering the Knicks or what about Dwight Howard??  Dwight Howard is only about 7 years removed from being good.

Phil Jackson was able to clear cap space so that’s a positive.  But how is Rose going to play an up tempo pace with bad knees?  SU is perplexed.  Still waiting to see where Jeremy Lin lands in free agency to determine my new team to watch on the NBA Season Pass in 2016-17.

I know there are plenty of Knick fans out there.  Care to weigh in?  Thumbs up or down?

First of all, SU’s prediction of the Cavs in 6 games was not that far off.  It didn’t look good at 0-2 but stranger things have happened.  A few observations:

• Cleveland’s comeback from down 3-1 ranks right up there with the Boston Red Sox series win over the Yankees in the ALCS in 2004 when they were down 0-3.  Both teams were trying to win their first world championship and both achieved something that had never been done before in terms of comebacks.
• Richard Jefferson had a huge series. All the talk was how Channing Frye would help Cleveland with his 3-point shooting but he hardly got off the bench in the last few games.  SU is very proud of Richard.
• Knick fans must be happy to have 3 former players get their first rings (JR Smith, Mosgov, Shumpert).  A tribute to the Knicks’ ability to make trades to help other teams.  I guess you can also throw Channing Frye in there but he has been gone for a much longer time.
• Just think about this statement: a team with JR Smith in the starting line-up won the NBA championship.  And he played significant minutes every game.  It speaks to the greatness of LeBron.
• When you watched LeBron in those last 3 games, you saw how he made his teammates better and how he played both ends of the court.  How many blocks on breakaway lay-ups did he have?  He is a true superstar and in the top 5 of all-time greats.  And, Knick fans, when you talk about Melo being a “superstar”, look at the difference here.  It’s not even close and he’s not one.  Carmelo is a great scorer – a modern day Adrian Dantley.
• It’s time for the NBA to make a new rule: no taking your mouth piece out of your mouth and chewing on it.  Man, that is a bad look.  It almost makes you turn away.  First time is a warning; 2nd time is a technical.
• The Minolta Turning Point of the series was clearly Draymond Green’s suspension in game 5.  But he earned it for a series of bad fouls.  SU does not feel sorry about that.
• What was Kyrie Irving doing in the last 30 seconds when he raced up the floor by himself and almost turned it over?  He is a great, great scorer and made a couple of and 1’s in this game that made me laugh out loud they were such great shots.  But his basketball IQ must be in single digits to have tried that last play.

So, what does this mean going forward?  All the talk has been about moving Kevin Love but SU actually thinks LeBron may want to move Irving out of town and bring in Carmelo.  You know he would love to get championships for his buddies Melo and Chris Paul.  SU says how about a trade of Irving for Melo?  The Knicks need an up tempo point guard and LeBron can easily move back to playing the point in Cleveland (heck, he pretty much does anyway).  Irving and LeBron are still a mis-match.  If I am the Knicks, I make that trade and throw in some extras to make it work (must admit cannot even think of what extras they have).

Final thought: LeBron was totally gassed at the end of the game.  He had nothing left.  I did not understand why Cleveland kept walking the ball up the court and then making LeBron go 1 on 1.  Run the offense that got you there.  They were fortunate that the Warriors went 0 for 9 down the stretch.  It’s a fine line between winning and losing for sure.

Before I go, must comment on the US Open final round.  That was embarrassing.  Not making a decision on whether Dustin Johnson made the ball move on the 5th hole until after the round is over is like playing game 7 of the NBA finals and not checking on a 3-pointer that was near the line until the game is over.  Golf is one strange sport.

You have to admit that there have been some odd line-up combinations in this year’s NBA finals.  Many times during the game, LeBron is the tallest player on the court.  As a fan, the faster up and down pace is much more enjoyable to watch.  The coaches are calling few plays and the players are just playing ball.  Do you remember the Pat Riley era in NY?  He called every offensive play – every one.  Walk the ball up and dump it down into Patrick Ewing.

Of course, there is the Mike Woodson equivalent – walk the ball up and give it to Melo.  But he has variations off of that set: there’s the 3-jab step move; 4-jab step move; and the 5-step option.  Woodson felt it was important to mix up the jab steps.

SU predicts (now) that the Warriors will win in game 6.  Kyrie Irving is a terrific offensive player but you know, you just know, he is due for a 7 for 25 night.  It’s coming and when it does, no-one else will be in a position to pick up the slack.  Certainly not Kevin Love who is down to 3-4 shots a game.  SU has been very happy to see long-time fave, Richard Jefferson, get quality minutes and rave reviews by the broadcasters.  Even Mark Jackson who buried Richard on the bench just a few years ago in Golden State.

Lots of rumors of Melo being traded to Cleveland to play with LeBron.  SU would do the even up trade with Love.  Why not?  Melo can play the 3 or the 4 – a perfect fit with the Cavs and the chance to play with his buddy LeBron.  Love can throw the full court outlet passes on the fast break at the Garden.  Add Jeremy Lin and maybe you have something.  Or not.

The Yankees continue to tease the fans by flirting with .500.  SU says no need to flirt: call it a season and sell high.  Beltran is a great fit for a contender and would bring some top prospect.  But you need to deal him while he’s hot and looking spry.  He’s one oblique injury away from being out for weeks.  Same with Chapman.  Yanks are going nowhere.  Refsnyder is killing me.  Finally getting his shot to play every day and not getting it done offensively.  Now we have Ike Davis?  Cashman going the bottom feeder route yet again.  Blow it up and get more interesting.  Find some hitters where you can actually visualize them getting a hit.  Seriously: when Brian McCann is up, it feels physically impossible for him to get a hit through the shift.  Chase Headley?  Every hit is a shocker.

Note Eduardo Nunez is hitting .327 for the Twins and playing every day batting lead-off.  SU is very proud of him.  Always liked him.  Exciting player.

Meanwhile, the Mets are desperate for some offense.  They will need to be as equally shrewd this year in July as they were last year.  History says that’s hard to do.  You are more likely to have a track record like Cashman’s than you are being successful.  But their pitching should at least get them to October.

Mark Texeiria is going on the DL with torn cartlidge in his knee.  They will treat it with injections and rest but he could be out for the season if he needs surgery.  SU says that given his performance year-to-date, this is a positive development for the Yankees.  Texeiria has been a rally killer in the middle of the line-up all season long.  Everyone wants to blame A-Rod but Texeiria has played many more games and hasn’t hit a homerun in over 140 at bats.  Taking him out of the line up hurts defensively but will allow Girardi to go with a more uncontentional line up going forward.

SU would equate this with getting Stephen Drew off of the roster.  It has major positive implications.  Let’s give Rob Refsnyder a shot now to play regularly.  He actually can hit the ball and why not see what he can do?  They are bringing up this dude Parmalee to play 1st at least part-time.  SU says ok with me – anyone is an improvement.

The best scenario right now is for some team in the AL East to go on a roll and put the Yankees in sell mode come July.  SU is all in on blowing up the roster and selling some pieces.  Hey, beat the rush and start now.

Sad news about Muhammed Ali’s passing.  SU was always an Ali fan – larger than life.

Finally, you may want to catch the French Open finals tomorrow between Murray and Djokovic.  SU is rooting for the Joker to get that first French Open championship.  Speaking of the French Open, check out this film on the 1981 French Open.  It’s in French but offers a lot of behind-the-scenes access to the star players.  You have to watch it in small doses but it’s interesting and worth checking out.  Special thanks to long-time SU subscriber D. Harmon for passing this along.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kx8E9Clwgvk

SU has figured out the Yankees’ strategy.  It’s becoming clearer to me:

• They will humiliate him for the rest of this season along the lines of what they did to Jorge Posada in his last season.  Bat him 8th or 9th, sit him in games you would figure he would start, piss him off.  Then, after the season is over, they will negotiate a buyout for A-Rod’s last year of his contract and that will be that.
• This will be a long and tortured road and A-Rod will do his best to be the good soldier.  The media will be all over it as we know they relish the chance to bring someone down even more than building them up in sports.
• The other alternative is that they accelerate this plan and negotiate the buyout mid-season this year.

SU believes he still has something left in the tank and surely more than the other slugs on this roster.  Plus, I would rather watch him swing and miss vs. seeing Mark Texeiria hit into the shift over and over and over again.

Time will tell.

Wow, that was quick.  A-Rod sat yesterday and is sitting tonight against a left-handed starter, in AJ Happ.  Girardi implied that he may even sit tomorrow.  Refsnyder is starting in right field and A-Rod, Gardner and McCann are all sitting.  SU feels bad for A-Rod (OK, he’s still getting paid) but this has to be a major ego blow.  You can say he’s earned the bench time by his performance but he was starting to hit before he tweaked his hamstring and the only way he will get back in the groove is to throw him out there.

It looks like he will become an occasional starter against left-handed pitchers but not all lefties.  They clearly feel Beltran is much better as a DH.  Refsnyder gets his big shot tonight.  He needs to not screw this up and take advantage.  Looks like Chase Headley is safe given that he is terrible from both sides of the plate and you don’t lose anything based on who’s pitching. Romine is the back-up first baseman.

Time to tell the truth about the 2016 Yankees: this is a $200 million+ payroll?  Is there any GM out there that couldn’t do better than this?  SU will say it again: the fans will not continue to watch this line up.  Like Knick fans, they can handle a rebuild situation.  Please, please, please give us the rebuild.  Paging Ross Moschitto, Jerry Kenney and Horace Clarke.  Please report to active duty.

As predicted by SU last week, Golden State completed the comeback from being down 3 -1 and secured the Western Conference Championship.  So, how did they do it?

• Klay Thompson dug deep and won game 6 for them and in the process, allowed Stephen Curry to get healthy and regain his shooting form.  Curry took it from there in game 7.
• Billy Donovan went from a coaching genius up 3-1 to a rookie NBA coach who has more to learn.  The truth, as per usual, lies somewhere in between.
• Russell Westbrook can’t help himself.  His crazy athleticism is a curse.  He is so good and so fast that he resorts to taking over the game down the stretch.  At the end of game 6, SU heard a stat that in OKC’s last 15 possessions, there were 14 passes in total.  The NBA has already launched an investigation to find out how ex-Knick coach Mike Woodson sneaked onto the  OKC bench and was allowed to call offensive plays for the Thunder.  Westbrook was criticized for turning it over 3 times late in game 6 but it did appear that on at least one of those instances he was trying to pass the ball.
• Durant is terrific but he logged a lot of minutes last night and seemed to tire late.  You have to hand it to Steve Kerr for resting his stars and getting great production from some bench players in the 3rd and 4th quarters (and for not taking the Knicks’ job last year).
• Reggie Miller’s insights were interesting as he pointed out how the OKC players were yelling at each other when things started to head south in the 3rd quarter.  Grace under pressure?  Show some leadership.

SU believes Cleveland is a very tough match-up for Golden State.  LeBron appears to be on a mission.  SU predicts Cavs in 6.  But this will be a great series.

SU was also correct about Matt Harvey – at least for one start.  It looks like he made some mechanical adjustment and his velocity is back up in the high 90s.  Of course, time will tell but Met fans must be breathing a little easier.

Speaking of breathing, the Yankees are giving new meaning to the term “lifeless.”  Great stats:  last night you had key players in the following slumps:

• Gardner: 0 for 19
• McCann: 1 for 19 with his homerun in the 9th inning
• A-Rod: 1 for 16 with a ton of strikeouts
• Castro: 2 for 25
• Hicks: 2 for 15
• Beltran: 4 for 21 (and supposedly carrying the team)

Afer 50 or so games, they have been limited to 2 runs or less 21 times already – worst in the majors.  SU says they are officially unwatchable.  They will win enough games with CC, Tanaka and Eovaldi plus the bullpen to hang around .500 but they are going nowhere and no-one is going to be watching.  SU says time to clean house and go young.  But I have been ignored before.

The whispers in Yankeeland have begun that the return of A-Rod off the DL will hurt their offense and recent success on the field. The premise is that Carlos Beltran hits much better as the DH vs. when he is playing right field.  Allowing Beltran to DH also frees up Hicks to play the outfield where he has been hitting about .285 for the past few weeks since he has seen more regular at bats.  Andrew Marchand of espn.com weighed in recently:

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/92877/a-roag-its-time-the-yankees-made-alex-rodriguez-a-part-time-player

The reality is that the Yankees started winning when Ellsbury was also out for several games.  They are winning due to better starting pitching and enough offense to eke out some wins.  Mark Texeiria is now having neck spasms and will miss several games.  Can you say psychosomatic symptoms of stress due to being in the walk year of his contract?  SU is all over this one.  He is seeing millions of dollars evaporate before his eyes and having 12 rbis through 40+ games is a bit embarrassing.  A-Rod had started to hit before his hamstring injury and hit a homerun last night in his rehab assignment.  You don’t have to bat him 3rd and you don’t have to play him every day.  But Beltran runs hot and cold and there is no reason to think his hot streak will last for a long time.

There are rumors now that Andrew Miller will be shopped before the trade deadline.  SU is not following this one.  He is in the 2nd year of a reasonable 4-year contract and has proven he can play in NY.  Chapman is great but will be a free agent after this year.  There are also rumors about trading Beltran before the deadline.  SU would keep Miller and move Beltran.  This team may get a wild card but won’t go anywhere in the playoffs and they are incredibly boring to watch.  If you are looking to put fans in the seats and watching on YES, it’s time to rebuild and might as well get started.  But let’s do it more thoughtfully please.

Met fans panicking about Matt Harvey.  SU says calm down and keep rolling him out there until he figures it out.  You may not want to sign him long-term but you do need him this year and it’s important to maintain his confidence and stroke his ego.  It’s likely that his medical issues are a bigger deal than is being let on.

Cleveland will put away the Raptors in game 6 and that will be that.  But SU says do not give up on the Warriors just yet.  OKC is combustible and Golden State just has to win game 6 on the road.  I know it’s rare to see anyone come back from down 3-1 in the NBA playoffs but this group won over 70 games this year.  Steve Kerr needs to make an adjustment – let’s see if he is up to the challenge.  SU loves having a game on each night for this round.  The post-season has been terrible til now – record number of blowout games which is odd.  Home court seems to count for too much – certainly more than it should.

SU must admit I was shocked that Draymon Green was not suspended for game 4.  Surely during the David Stern era this would never have happened.  He was a stickler for the rules and if you took a half step onto the court from the sideline in a fight that was happening 30 yards away, you received your suspension – even in a game 6 of a playoff series.  There is no way Green was kicking his foot that high as a natural follow-through on his shot.  In fact, both Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson thought he should have been suspended, and Van Gundy figured the league was trying to decide between 1 and 2 games.

If Golden State wins tonight and goes on to win the series, this decision will no doubt taint their success to some degree.  But good drama tonight and Green will receive the John Starks treatment for what he used to get in Indiana after head-butting Reggie Miller back in the 1990s.

The 4th quarter of the Cavs- Raptors game last night was great.  At one point, Cleveland made 11 shots in a row and still couldn’t win the game.  Even SU fave Richard Jefferson got into the act with 8 4th quarter points.  Cleveland is discovering what many teams already knew: live by the 3, die by the 3.  Did you really think JR Smith was going to keep shooting at that high a level?  And Kevin Love seems to shrink from the spotlight when the light shines brighter.  I will say this: LeBron James is pretty much unstoppable.  When he is playing his pass first game and lets the offense come to him, he is the man.

Channing Fry is a nice player but you can overdo the 3-balls on every possession.  True, it took Toronto to have exceptional games from Lowry and DeRozan to win and that won’t happen again.  Cleveland will win in 6 games but they need to mix it up offensively to get ready for the finals.

Look for the Warriors to bounce back tonight.  Westbrook is due for a 6 for 27 shooting night.  You can feel it coming.