NBA All Star Point Guard Deron Williams had one of the best individual performances of this shortened NBA season last Sunday. He had a career high 57 points and added 7 assists and six rebounds…And now the Nets must decide whether to trade Williams before the deadline even though it will be difficult to acquire significant value because of Williams’s upcoming free agency.

Their other option is the “all-in” approach. This approach is to pair Deron Williams with Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard and entering the Brooklyn Nets era with one of the best teams in the NBA. This is a very dangerous approach because failing to land Howard would result in the Nets most likely losing Williams in free agency this summer. Their “all-in” approach took a serious hit when Center Brook Lopez injured his foot for the second time this season and will miss more significant time. Lopez’s injury means the Nets will probably not land Howard at the trade deadline next week. The Nets only hope to land Howard is to hope he chooses them in free agency thus turning down the extra money the Magic can offer him, and turning down a chance to play for big market teams with playoff proven rosters in Los Angeles and Dallas. Good Luck.

Rapper and Nets minority owner Jay Z said in one of his songs that even if the Nets went 0-82 the team would still be “gravy’ to him. I must say, however, that I don’t think Jay Z envisioned the Nets opening the Barclay Center with Marshon Brooks as the face of the franchise.

Uh oh!

(Kyle) 3/7/12

The Knicks have cooled off since ”Linsanity” took over the NBA and brought an incredible run of seven straight wins in his first seven starts. It does not get any easier as the Knicks play the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in Dallas tonight. It’s time for the Knicks to make one significant change to maximize their potential- Reduce Amare Stoudemire’s minutes!

 After over ten years of suffering, Knicks fans finally have a team to cheer for with the talent and depth to win the Eastern conference. They have a go to scorer (Carmelo Anthony), a top defensive center to protect the rim (Tyson Chandler), a legitimate point guard to run Mike D’Antoni’s system (Jeremy Lin), and a great bench that has defenders (Jeffries and Shumpert) and shooters/scorers (JR Smith and Steve Novak). Notice how I did not mention Amare Stoudemire?

 I’m sick and tired of hearing these statements from Knicks fans: “I have a soft spot for Amare because he came to New York when other big superstars didn’t want to” or “Amare is responsible for changing the culture of the Knicks after a decade of futility”. That is a bunch of bulls***! The Knicks haven’t won a title in almost 40 years!

Stoudemire has not fit in with the Knicks since the day they traded for Carmelo Anthony. Stoudemire has a career low 44 % Field Goal percentage. He is lost in the offense and the Knicks have more offensive continuity when he is out of the game. He has turned into an inconsistent jump shooter that has no post moves. His athleticism appears to be declining and his defense keeps regressing. Steve Novak is a better fit for this team because he’s a knock down shooter that stretches the floor when Lin or Anthony breaks down the defense.

Here are the (+/-) stats between Novak and Amare from their last six games.

3/4/12 vs. Celtics: Stoudemire -8, Novak +14 (Celtics 115, Knicks 111)

2/29/12 vs. Cavaliers: Stoudemire -1, Novak + 13 (Knicks 120, Cavaliers 103)

2/23/12 vs. Heat: Stoudemire -14, Novak +2 (Heat 102, Knicks 88)

2/22/12 vs. Hawks: Stoudemire +9, Novak +14 (Knicks 99, Hawks 82)

2/20/12 vs. Nets: Stoudemire -9, Novak +4 (Nets 100, Knicks 92)

2/19/12 vs. Mavericks: Stoudemire -18, Novak +17 (Knicks 104, Mavericks 97)

The Knicks play better when Novak is on the court. The most baffling game is the Knicks win against the Mavericks. Knicks played one of their best games of the season and the majority of the Knicks played excellent basketball. Stoudemire somehow had a (+/-) of -18. The Knicks played outstanding basketball when he was out of the game and awful basketball when he was in the game. It’s time for the Knicks to distribute minutes to the players that give the Knicks the best chance to win, not based on who has the higher salary.

Bench the $100 Million man.

(Kyle) 3/6/12