The big renovation of Madison Square Garden is expected to be finished by the 2011-2012 season. We'll see new seats, more spacious concourses, and new lighting and displays within a few years (Other ideas from the suggestion box: "Bulletproof casing around the courtside seats"-James Dolan. "Ice cream and cake stand near the home bench"- Anonymous). Howard Beck of The Times reports that a new-look Garden could buy New York its first All Star Game since 1998.

Garden executives have already made an unofficial pitch to N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern, who has embraced the prospect.

"I would say it’s a very live possibility," Stern said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

The Garden has to file an application, and there will be competition from other N.B.A. cities, notably Orlando, Fla., which is building a new arena. But New York is likely to emerge as the favorite, given the Garden’s history, the lure of Manhattan and Stern’s enthusiasm for its bid.

It'd be pretty righteous, indeed, to have the All Stars back in town. Who knows where the Knicks will be in five years, though. What if we still don't have any All-Stars on the roster? We'd never hear the end of it. Time to strike preemptively and get a leg up on the competition...

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We've reached the time of summer that calls for creative minds. This void of basketball activity between summer league and training camp constitutes the dog days of NBA blogging. It was around this time last year that we assembled the P&T Top ten, a list of our favorite players of the last 20 or so years. Each player on the list was adopted and memorialized in post form by a member of the P&T community, culminating in what is undoubtedly my proudest achievement here at the blog. Check out a few of last year's posts. Essentially, it was a way for us to utilize these quiet days of summer while allowing me to coast and neglect my job you guys to flourish in the front page spotlight.

So. We've done our 10 favorite players, and I'm looking for a new project of this year. Ideas that I've already had or heard include Top 10 Scrubs, Top 10 Great Games, and Top 10 Bizarre Moments, all within the last 20 or so years, given what appears to be a pretty low median age of P&T users. I'm partial both to the first one (remembering Chris Dudley would be a treat) and the last one (remembering the time Antonio Davis ran into the crowd would also be interesting), but I'm opening it up to your thoughts and additional concepts. I want this to be something fresh and enjoyable that elicits the untapped talents of the Posting and Toasting community. Let yourself be heard in the comments.

Good morning, everybody. Hope a good weekend was had by all. I totally dropped the ball on the last two games of summer league, which was just poor planning on my part. I'm very sorry for that. Let's hit some links to see what I missed.

- The Knicks were handily walloped in their last two games against Charlotte and Minnesota. I'm not so worried about the losses as the individual performances, and the only real standout was Anthony Roberson in yesterday's contest. The Knicks' signee put up 23 points on 9-18 shooting, including 3-7 from three to go with 2 assists. Those last two figures certainly bolster D'Antoni's notion that Roberson might play an Eddie House-type role in the Knick lineup.

- The Knicks finished 2-3 in the summer league. Considering that last season was preceded by an undefeated Vegas outing, I'll take 2-3 every year.

- You can get the individual averages for the summer league here. Wilson Chandler measures up nicely, albeit against fringe competition. Mardy Collins' numbers are rather unsightly, even against fringe competition.

- Meanwhile, let's not forget that the whole reason we were excited for the summer league was to get a chance to see Danilo Gallinari in action, and the kid ended up getting shut down. This article (ignore the misleading tabloid headline) points out that we're pretty much where we were a week ago: positive that Gallinari has a lot to offer, but without any solid evidence of how much he might contribute in the NBA. We also get this:

A team source said the Knicks are considering resting Gallinari the remainder of the summer and request he not play for the Italian national team that gets together in two weeks. The decision could be out of Gallinari's hands as the Italian players are threatening a strike.

Not sure why they'd be striking (Possibilities: They're hungry, it's hot out, their tummies hurt.), but I wonder what Danilo thinks of all this. It seemed from the outset like his back wasn't hurt that badly. This might be a little overprotection on the part of the New York brass. I can't argue with avoiding injury, as long as it doesn't create an early rift between the Knicks and Gallinari and his Italian homies.

- Final piece of SL news: Nate Robinson's #4 jersey was formally retired in Las Vegas. Says Nate, "It's crazy, right? Yeah, it's kind of awesome. First time ever, so I'm glad I could be the first one. It's kind of cool. Maybe I'll set a new trend." Such a Nate Robinson thing to take place, and congratulations to him, I suppose. You gotta wonder, though. Are they really retiring the number 4 from the summer league? That's a lot of people to deny that widely worn digit. Will players in the future petition to wear the number to honor Nate the Great? One must wonder. Anyway, this whole thing gives me some ideas for the rest of the summer. We'll be getting to what comes next shortly. Have a good one, and I'll see you all later.

Today's must-see comes from yesterday. It's the results of Ball Don't Lie's Starbury Tattoo-Off. Readers used their photoshop skills to express how they would have artistically occupied the space recently inhabited by the Starbury "3". You really must go see the full gallery, but I think this one's the best. It's called "Headspin" by yoniekal.

Simple, silly, but strangely fitting. I love it. Once again, go see the rest. You won't regret it.

In other news, a change of plans means I will not be able to watch even close to the entirety of today's 4 p.m. summer league game against the SummerBobcats. I'll put up a thread later for those who do watch, and anyone's free to do a recap, but it isn't mandatory. With Gallinari out, I don't know what more we're gonna see that we haven't seen in the previous three games (famous last words before the infamous Zhang Songtao 70 point, 40 rebound outburst). In the meantime, enjoy the multiple iterations of Steph's decorated dome. Peace.

Sup fellas. This is the third game of the 2008 Knicks Summer League. We've split the first two games 1-1, and it's coming down to the wire! This may very well be the most significant of all these insignificant games in terms of unimportant momentum needed to finish out the rest of this meaningless mini-season. Today we'll be facing D'Antoni's former team's team, the Phoenix SummerSuns, who also maintain a 1-1 record. Introductions!

SummerKnicks starters: Mardy Collins, Von Wafer, Anthony Roberson, Wilson Chandler, Paul Miller

Rounding out the SummerKnicks: Antonio Graves, Dan Grunfeld, Marcus Hall, Delonte Holland, Brandon Hunter, Antione Johnson, Zhang Songtao, Renaldo Balkman, Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari (italicized means injured)

SummerSuns starters: DJ Strawberry, Alando Tucker, Marcus Vinicius, Judson Wallace, Robin Lopez

Rounding out the SummerSuns: Jiri Hubalek, Taquan Dean, Justin Cage, Jared Jordan, Vladimir Golubovic, Ekene Ibekwe, Ivan McFarlin

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In their third game of the Vegas Summer League, the SummerKnicks will face the Phoenix SummerSuns. Mike D'Antoni will get to watch some of his old players (D.J. Strawberry, Alando Tucker) and some of the guys he's missing out on this year (um...Robin Lopez?). Meanwhile, the Knicks should once again be without Danilo Gallinari, and probably won't have Renaldo Balkman, who sprained his ankle in the last game. I guess it's another opportunity to get a hold on Wilson Chandler's growing game, as well as how Anthony Roberson might fit in New York. Regarding the latter, D'Antoni sees Roberson as an Eddie House type in his fast-paced offense, so I guess we should watch for those sorts of qualities here in the Summer League. Be on the lookout for signs of instant offense, accurate three-point shooting, and finely manicured facial hair from Roberson.

The game is, once again, at 4 p.m. EST on MSG. Arichmix has the recap for today. I'll do my part and cover the two over the weekend. Get them SummerW's.

A wistful day for the New York SummerKnicks. As you've surely heard (the title might be a good hint) , the NYSK's storied 6 or so game winning streak in Summer League play has come to a close. But I urge my depressed comrades to focus not on our crushing defeat at the hands of the ruthless Ian Mahinmi powered SummerSpurs, but rather look back on... the good times. 

I'm surprised the Spurs have a summer league team because of their roster's general makeup of a championship-shitting geriatric ward, with little room for the unprofessional motherfucks who populate the D-League and the summer league. Anyway, quick thoughts from players on the summerspurs (I really hope the whole universe adopts the "Summer(teamname)" method of referring to teams): Ian Mahinmi is a french guy who was drafted a few years back and played like 8 minutes this year for the Spurs, Kenny Adeleke went to Hartford, and he and I have one mutual friend on facebook, and George Hill is some random guy they drafted from the omnipresent IUPUI.

Gus Johnson is not in Vegas. In his memory, here is the video for the song "Freaky Gurl" by Gucci Mane:

You will be missed, Gus. Anyway, two years ago, they sent Clyde and Mike Breen to Vegas, last year, they sent Clyde and Gus, and this year, they sent Clyde and Mike Crispino. If my projections hold true, next years announcing crew will be Clyde Frazier and an anthropomorphic pile of cow shit. Mike Crispino takes Vegas Summer League action and makes it MORE boring. By the way, the theme of Clyde Frazier's getup tonight is "racial harmony pumpkin". It's half black, half white, and has orange collars and one orange sleeve. 

Danilo Gallinari is out. Another victim of the pillaging force of Robert "Tractor" Traylor, who knocked him down and bruised our fragile italian. Later, Renaldo Balkman will twist an ankle trying to block a shot, and be out for the game, which kind of was a turning point after which the Spurs went on a run. He came back in on crutches. For some reason, he was helped off the court by the Knicks trainer and Jerome Williams, whose post-NBA career of randomly being around a team on which he spent a grand total of one season and was kind of popular amongst the fans is going swimmingly.

I paid practically no attention to this game, so, if you hadn't noticed, 90 percent of this shit will be vaguely tangential, but kinda related to the Knicks, but really just a rant. In other news, our camp group went to a zoo today, and I strongly suggest that the next link dump animal be the tapir. Them fucks is awesome.

A lot of people are saying that the signing Anthony Roberson is Stephon Marbury's death knell as a Knick. I disagree. It's Mardy Collins death knell. Think: Mike D'Antoni is our coach. Mardy Collins is a slow, defensive minded, oversized point guard with a silky 25 percent three point touch, who, in his defense, can turn a few assists here or there, but, on the other hand, IS THE WORST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE. Roberson is a pg with a great shot who probably hasn't made in in the league because he's a bit too small. Mike D'Antoni is our coach. Who makes the roster? Boy, do I hate Mardy Collins. He goes 1-8 from the field (his one shot was a fadeaway from the free throw line that is ugly enough to prevent me from getting an erection for the next three days) and 0-3 from beyond the line. Roberson had 12. Mardy Collins was a decent idea for a pick at the 29 spot or wherever he got him - a big point guard who distributes and plays d. But he hasn't panned out. He looks to shoot a lot despite a complete dearth of shooting ability and, to be honest, isn't that good a defender - he fouls a guy for a four point play. I don't think he deserves to make our roster. I hope his career as a bitchier Eric Snow turns out well.

They did a really unrevealing interview with Anthony Roberson

Friend-who-is-friends-with-Renaldo-Balkman quote of the day: "Dan Grunfeld facebook messaged me today." Apparantly, he's injured and will not play in the next few days, and apparantly is friends with my FWIFWRB's brother and just tells people that.

Zhang Song-Tao is on our roster. Also, there is a player on our squad named "Antione Johnson". I'm wondering whether this is a) another way of spelling "Antoine" b) a Dwyane Wade or Jhonny Peralta situation or c) his name is pronounced "Antione", however you would say that. 

Clyde and Mike completely fail to grasp how to pronounce "Mahinmi." It's "Ma-een-mee". They pronounced it so that it rhymed with "Tahini".

Q-Rich does a really nice piece from poolside at the Winn at halftime, where he reveals he has about 30 nicknames for Wilson Chandler and only one for Paul MIller. I hope it finds its way onto youtube or something, it was good. You should've watched. Cockmonger.

Gregg Popovich is sitting in the fourth to last row of the arena, focusing intently on the court, with a full moustache/beard. It's disturbing. 

So, anyway, the Knicks pretty much sucked this game. Our best player was either Paul Miller or Anthony Roberson, which is a bad fucking sign. They scored 12 in the fourth quarter, and were stuck between 60 and 63 points from about the 8 minute mark to about the 1:30 mark. Then, Delonte Holland - nicknamename "The Tunnel" - hit two shots in the last minute and did a sweet and completely unnecessary shake and bake move, and the Knicks were down by 18 for a long time. 

In conclusion, Mardy Collins can be fucked by a narwhal, and I hope he is. His jumpshot goes about 20 feet in the air and clangs iron with such force that it cannot possibly go in. Farewell, sweet SummerKnicks win streak.

Sorry, there is no poll. Suck it. 

Today's relevant news story is that the Clippers acquired Marcus Camby last night in exchange for a second round pick. These are the same Clippers who appeared ready to welcome Zach Randolph, cumbersome contract and all (and I don't mean "and all" as a throwaway phrase. I'm talking about this.). Given L.A.'s unique situation of having like 4 players financially committed to their team, along with the sparse package they offered in return for Z-Bo, you've gotta wonder if the Randolph sweepstakes might be closed. And we won. Hooray. I suppose it's possible that the Clips would still want Zach to fill out their roster and form a starting frontcourt with Camby. Here's an artist's visual estimation of said frontcourt:

Electrifying. Anyway, we'll see what happens on that front, but it seems that our crusade to rid ourselves of Randolph has struck a hitch.

Meanwhile, Game 2 of Knicks Summer League action is today at 4 p.m. EST on MSG. This will serve as your thread for discussion should you be watching the game. I will not be, so the lovely Barnesgasm will be taking over in my stead. Anticipate dick jokes and references to Mystikal. Get them SummerW's.