(I’m going to assume the parents of young kids in the audience get that joke. If not — it wasn’t intended for you anyway.)
The Knicks are in the market for a new D-League affiliate. New York had been sharing the Springfield Armor with the Nets and Sixers, but Team Prokhorov has announced plans to make the Nets and Armor exclusive partners.
The D-League has never been a big priority for the Knicks, but this seems like an excellent opportunity to change that. Note to Donnie Walsh – not that you’ve asked, but here’s what I’d do…
The Knicks should set up their own D-League team… it makes too much sense, on too many levels. It would create an environment in which to teach prospects the finer points of Seven Seconds or Less, and a place where draft picks and free agents that need to develop skills (think Andy Rautins and his transition to point guard) a place to test those skills under game conditions.
But there are pretty solid business reasons to create a minor-league basketball team. The Nets are about to invade the Knicks’ home turf… and the Knicks are about to jack up ticket prices into the stratosphere. Creating a new D-League franchise somewhere in the metro area – the Nassau Coliseum? Westchester County Center? The Meadowlands? A Dolan-owned facility like Radio City? – would give fans a lower-cost option to experience pro basketball with their families. That’s a chance to win the hearts-and-minds of both kids and their parents.
What’s the obstacle? Well, Mike D’Antoni thinks his developmental players learn more from practicing with the team. He also thinks he doesn’t need an assistant to concentrate on defense; management doesn’t agree with him on that point, either. Besides, having a D-League team that employs the same offensive and defensive systems as the big club and that plays games locally would be a much better environment for player development than shipping kids to Massachusetts, where they’re sharing playing time with the next generation of Nets and Sixers.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
May I humbly suggest CT as the place for the new D-League team? The largest media market in the US without a major professional sports team is Hartford/New Haven.
I’m not sure I’d want to be the person in charge of marketing minor-league pro basketball in Connecticut — seems to me the UConn Huskies have basketball fandom pretty well locked up in the Nutmeg State. But I’d agree – that market makes at least as much sense as North Jersey, Westchester or Long Island. There’s a nice arena in Bridgeport too that would probably be suitable.
It just shows the state is BBall crazy – get a couple of former Huskies on that team and people will come.
Agreed on Bridgeport – UCONN is apparently banned from playing at Bridgeport by the terms of their Hartford Civic Center contract. Also, while Connecticut isn’t that big, Storrs is in the middle of nowhere, and Bridgeport is at least an hour away from Hartford (three in regular traffic), so the part of the state that is south and west of New Haven doesn’t really get to see much live UCONN basketball.