New York Knicks Latest Roster & Injury Report: What to Keep an Eye on in 2011-12

It's going to be a physical season, more so than usual.  66 games packed into just twice as many days.

For the New York Knicks, it means a rigorous schedule with "21 back-to-backs, three consecutive days once and four games in five nights five times." (northjersey.com)

What once was the team's primary offseason concern—defense—has given way to a new priority: how to keep everybody healthy.

With the Mike Woodson addition, Tyson Chandler, Jared Jeffries and Jerome Jordan signings and the insertion of Toney Douglas into the starting lineup, the Knicks have satisfactorily addressed their 2010-11 Achilles Heel.

The 2011-12 Knicks are bigger (throw Josh Harrellson in there, too) and will be bringing the D.

But there's a flip side.  The aggressive play on top of the aggressive schedule will mean starters and bench players alike will be sitting out select games. Mike D'Antoni has already penciled in Amar'e Stoudemire's "recovery days."

It's not a bad idea. Depending on the game circumstances, the standings, the playoff hunt—D'Antoni will be wise to give all his players as much rest as possible.

That could be tricky on a team that scores in seven seconds or less and now pounds the other side of the ball, too.

Here's a look at the current New York Knicks roster and injuries to watch out for.

Carmelo Anthony, SF

Carmelo Anthony hyperextended his knee in practice on Monday, but he said "I'm fine, I'm fine. No worries." Then he missed Tuesday's practice. 

Hopefully it's just precautionary. Anthony had been active during the lockout, and this was a freak accident (stepping on Iman Shumpert), so the assumption is he is in almost-game shape.

Back in May, right after the season, Anthony secretly had left knee and right elbow arthroscopic surgery. He was having pain in both areas for years. As of now, it looks like these surgeries will help Anthony's play—they correctively removed the soreness—and are not matters of concern.

If you remember, it was that right elbow that was noticeably nagging Anthony shortly after coming to the Knicks.  Let's hope it's fixed.

Amar'e Stoudemire, PF

Knicks fans began the 2010-11 season concerned about Amar'e Stoudemire's 2005 microfracture knee surgery. They ended it worrying about STAT's 2012 back.

The one-two punch of Chauncey Billups' and Stoudemire's injuries crippled the team in Round 1 against the Boston Celtics.  Stoudemire threw out his back in pre-Game 2 warmups and missed most of that game and was ineffective in Game 3.

So, is the back back?

Surprisingly, it took longer to heal than you would think. It lingered all throughout the summer and was still not right as late as September, when he was "90 percent healthy."

But the lockout and late start to the season may have worked in Amar'e's favor. Word is STAT's back "is no longer an issue."  We'll see.

As for that microfracture surgery? That sort of faded into the background as the 2010-11 season went on, with Stoudemire looking youthful and physically aggressive on the court.

The knee concern will always be around and Knicks fans will hold their breath if STAT goes down and clutches his knee for even a second, as they did a couple of times last year.  But, Stoudemire could be ushering in a new generation of players who "[prove] that there is life after microfracture."

A similar progression occurred in baseball with Tommy John surgery—a surgery that once spelled the end of a pitcher's career.  No more.

Tyson Chandler, C

In 10 full seasons, Tyson Chandler has missed 20 percent of his games, only reaching 75 games in four of those years.

So, what's the problem?

Well, problems.  “Chandler’s reputation as injury prone is well-earned,” and his health problems have run the gamut from neck to toe (and back and ankle in between).

Chandler hurt his back in 2004 and wound up playing only 35 games that season, but there hasn’t been much on that since, so let’s assume he’s as good as anyone there.

But Chandler only played 45 games for the New Orleans Hornets and 51 games for the Charlotte Bobcats as recently as 2008-09 and 2009-10, before rebounding to 74 games last year with the Mavericks.

The kicker here was Chandler’s left foot: He had surgery on his left ankle and toe (which plagued him for years), then missed months with a stress fracture in that left foot.

He seems finally recovered from all that and missed just a few games in 2010-11 with a sprained right ankle.

Landry Fields, SG

Spry rookie Landry Fields played in all 82 games last year, starting 81 of them. He started all four playoff games, too.

Things turned south for Fields down the stretch, and his numbers fell off precipitously. It was due to the changed dynamic of the team after the Anthony trade—Fields' minutes dropped—and clearly hitting the rookie wall in April.

Injury has not been a concern for Fields and he will start the season a young, healthy buck, which is an asset considering the aged teams of the East.

Toney Douglas, PG

Supposed 2011-12 starting point guard (I don't believe it), Toney Douglas managed his way into 81 games for the Knicks last year and grabbed nearly 50 more minutes in the playoffs than Landry Fields.

He's a healthy third-year?  Almost.

The (laugh) "longest-tenured" Knick had immediate offseason surgery "to repair a torn labrum in his shooting arm."

The early procedure, coupled with the season's delayed start, has Douglas ready to go—"fully healed."

Mike Bibby, PG

Out with the old, in with the old.

Mike Bibby, entering his 14th year, is the oldest player on the Knicks. He is a tireless journeyman, working a minimum of 79 games for 10 of his 12 full seasons on five (now six) different teams. He's started 946 of 962 regular season games and played in 100 playoff games. Wow.

Age and injury often go hand in hand, but Bibby is entering the bench phase of his career, which will help the little man (6'1") get some insurance rest.

The last blip on Bibby's injury radar occurred at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, when he "tore a ligament in his left thumb."  He missed 30-plus games.

Since then, Bibby has played 98 percent of the schedule.

Jared Jeffries, C-F

In his first tour with the Knicks, Jared Jeffries broke his left wrist in 2006 and “suffered a fractured left fibula” in 2008—both in preseason practices.  He missed over 50 games in total due to those injuries.

Thankfully for Jeffries, there’s a shortened preseason this year, too.

Jeffries is a bit stiff and creaky, but appears relatively healed.

Still, like Toney Douglas, Jeffries had right-out-the-box surgery—this time on his right knee—as soon as the Boston Celtics left town. He’s had four times the 6-8 weeks needed to recover from the cleaning, so Jared is a go.

Renaldo Balkman, F

Renaldo Balkman is hardly in the game, so he's rarely in game shape.  He’s played in just 21 games the last two seasons.

Balkman is frequently hindered by minor injuries. In fact, he’s hurt right now and missed the Knicks’ Wednesday practice with a bad knee.

Like Jeffries, Balkman is a two-time Knick and also injured himself the first time around with a right ankle cartilage injury.  Since then it’s been a potpourri of left ankle, right foot and now knee issues.

It’s OK, though, Balkman only sees wood when the score is out of hand.

Bill Walker, G-F

Bill Walker's also missing practice; he’s nursing a sore groin. What's that from? The guy hasn't played basketball in over seven months.

Walker is not the healthiest specimen. He’s had weak knees going all the way back to his freshman year at Kansas State, which finally erupted in a torn meniscus (on the right side) to start 2009-10.

The knee problem did rear its head again last season when Walker sat out a few games, this time with a sore left knee.

Still, Walker has played in increasingly more games each of his first three years, and if you missed it, believe it or not, his name was called 61 times.

Iman Shumpert, G

Iman Shumpert looks fully recovered from the arthroscopic knee surgery (right meniscus) he had in the middle of his sophomore year at Georgia Tech. That was two years ago.

It looked like Shumpert had a small setback in November when he "planted wrong" and "limped off out of" a practice game (@alanhahn), but he's bounced back strong.

Ah, youth.

Josh Harrellson, C

Josh Harrellson's injury history is squeaky clean.

Oh, wait, he did get four stitches once from a game-time conk on the head.

Jerome Jordan, C

Jerome Jordan is in the building.  He stopped by Knicks camp as Glen Grunwald & Co. worked behind the scenes on freeing him from his KrKa contract.

For all intents and purposes, or as you may have heard, "in principle," Jordan is (read: will be) signed and has already been added to the roster.

Suddenly, the Knicks are pretty damn big.

As for Jordan injuries?  Nothing to note.

Shawne Williams, F (Free Agent)

As of now, Shawne Williams remains a free agent, but with the Jamal Crawford deal biting the dust, the Knicks have made him an offer. So have the New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat.

Williams missed all of 2009-10 after the Mavericks kicked him out of Dallas the year before, and the Nets waived him before the start of the season: “We brought him in to take a look at him and [he was] way out of shape ... [we] didn't like what we saw.” (usatoday.com)

A couple months later Williams was “booked on drug charges,” involving marijuana and codeine-syrup.

But the Knicks took a chance on him in 2010-11 and it worked out. Williams had his best season.

As far as injuries go, Shawne has the standard occasional sore back and tore a tendon in his ring finger this past year, but played through it. It’s healed.

Gone

Other than Chauncey, this list is rather undaunting:

Chauncey Billups (G) to the L.A. Clippers (espn.com).

Derrick Brown (F) to the Charlotte Bobcats (washingtonpost.com).

Anthony Carter (G) to the Toronto Raptors (nationalpost.com).

Roger Mason (G) to the Washington Wizards (washingtonpost.com).

Ronny Turiaf (C-F) to the Washington Wizards (nydailynews.com).

Andy Rautins (G) to the Dallas Mavericks (nydailynews.com).

Shelden Williams (F) to the New Jersey Nets (nj.com).