Jose Calderon Injury Will Hurt New York Knicks
By Shane Phillips
@ShaneRantSports
Getty Images
Phil Jackson knew that working for the New York Knicks wouldn’t be easy. A franchise plagued by bad contracts and lack of team ability would need time and effort to turn around. However, the “Zen Master” sure didn’t expect to open up his first season as the team president with a blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, 104-80.
As if it wasn’t painful enough to let down all of Madison Square Garden and the New York Metropolitan area, the Knicks will now be without predicted starting point guard Jose Calderon. The former Dallas Maverick will miss two to three weeks with a calf injury, and was New York’s best leading point guard option with career averages of 10.2 PTS and 6.8 AST.
The backup options for New York aren’t spectacular, to put it nicely. The other two point guards on the roster are Shane Larkin and Pablo Prigioni. With a combined three seasons under their belts, Larkin and Prigioni don’t draw too much attention from opponents. Larkin has careers averages of 2.8 PTS and 1.5 AST. Prigioni is not much better with 3.7 PTS and 3.2 AST, and at the ripe age of 37, his body is not getting any younger.
All in all, the Knicks looked pretty awful, and there was plenty of garbage time to go around. Carmelo Anthony only scored 14 points in 29 minutes. The superstar may have been up too late the night before to catch his one-line cameo in Sons of Anarchy.
Anyway, the loss of Calderon will only increase the likelihood of an excruciatingly slow start to the NBA season for New York. With the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James next on the schedule, the Knicks could very well begin the 2014-15 season at 0-2.
Shane Phillips is an NBA Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow Shane on Twitter @ShaneRantSports, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also email Shane at [email protected].
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