2008-09 New York Knicks Wagering Preview

After naming longtime NBA front office leader Donnie Walsh as the team’s new president of basketball operations – the NBA betting season with nowhere to go but up.

While the team didn’t make many significant offseason free agent additions other than better-than-you-think point guard Chris Duhon (who may start at the position this upcoming season) and another veteran point guard in Anthony Roberson, the Knicks drafted athletic 6-8 combination forward Danilo Gallinari a player who will contribute right away in New York after years of playing professionally in Italy.

It’s no small coincidence that the Knicks, at D’Antoni’s urging, drafted Gallinari whose father played alongside D’Antoni in the Italian professional leagues two decades ago.

D'Antoni, the man credited with bringing back the free-flowing, motion-oriented style of play popularized in the NBA until the slow-down, ‘hack-‘em-until they cry’ style of the 1990s, will try to transform the Knicks into a team similar to the ones he recently coached in Phoenix.

The Knicks, who ranked 21st in scoring, averaging 96.9 points per game on a dismal 43.9 percent shooting mark from the field, (27th) and 33.7 percent mark from three-point distance, (27th), will need to improve defensively after allowing opponents to average a whopping 103.5 points per game last season, (22nd) on a blazing 47.5 percent shooting mark from the field, (28th).

New York did manage to grab 12.5 offensive rebounds per game, (sixth) and 30.0 defensive boards per contest, (19th).

The Knicks went a discouraging 16-25 against the spread, (ATS) at home but somehow managed to pull off a winning ATS record on the road, (21-19-1).

With a nearly nonexistent defense, the Knicks went ‘Over’ their set O/U total in 50 of their 82 games, (50-32 O/U).