New York

Tyson Chandler's departure left a question mark in the middle for the New York Knicks, but there are some viable replacements currently on the roster. 

Samuel Dalembert and Jason Smith may not be former defensive players of the year, but both men are solid enough to hold the middle down for the time being. 

New York needs rim protectors and hard-nosed defense in the post, and each man fills some of those voids.

Samuel Dalembert

Dalembert is at his best as a weak-side shot blocker, but he isn't exactly a slouch as a rim protector.

His attitude and passion can fluctuate at times, but when he's focused and happy, he's a solid stop-gap replacement for Chandler.

Former Knick Willis Reed had some encouraging words to say about the newcomer:

Dalembert runs the floor well, and he finishes around the rim. He's made 10-of-14 field goals thus far and has taken advantage of the easy looks he's received. 

Unlike Chandler, he's also worked on his jumper a little, via BasketballInsiders.com, “I’m not necessarily a scorer, but in this offense anybody can be open. It’s so versatile as a big. That’s why it’s really good that we work on our shooting because when we get the opportunities or wide open shots, we’ve got to be able to make them at a high percentage.”

Smith, however, is more polished offensively.

Jason Smith

Smith may not have the explosiveness or leaping ability that Dalembert possesses, but his offensive repertoire will do wonders to help spread the floor for New York. 

The newcomer has a tremendous mid-range jump shot that fits perfectly in head coach Derek Fisher's triangle offense. 

In only a small sample size of two games, Smith has gone 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. He'll be very useful in pick-and-pop situations, and his teammates can count on him to cash in on any open looks. 

Although he may not be as athletically gifted as some, Smith's motor and toughness have him pegged as a consistent defender who can be counted on to be physical in the post, as well as on the glass. 

Smith could be a little too overzealous defensively at times—and a little too physical—but he isn't afraid of confrontation. He is the antithesis of Chandler in that regard—he doesn't complain or whine about contact, he simply does his job as best as he can. 

A combination of Smith and Dalembert will give New York a more balanced approach and outlook from the center position.

Both men run the floor well and are far better scorers than their predecessor. If they can be level-headed, the Knicks have two athletes who will impact the team positively each game.

This duo in the middle gives the franchise depth and reassurance that they won't be pushovers for opponents. 

Start spreadin’ the news; the New York Islanders are going for the Cup.

You’ll want to be a big part of hockey in New York this season. Bolstered by a great offseason, the Islanders will be the surprise Stanley Cup contenders in the NHL this year.

After its first playoff appearance in five seasons in 2012-2013, New York stumbled out of the gate last year, finishing last in the Metropolitan Division with a 34-37-11 record.

Ownership made sure that wouldn’t happen again this year.

For the first time in a long time, the Islanders made a huge splash in the offseason, acquiring big-name players to add to an already talented roster.

Sinatra would be proud. 

Goaltending at the Top of the Heap

The championship path for New York starts with the acquisition of goaltender Jaroslav Halak, a position that has been of dire need to the Islanders for years. The team finished 28th in the league last season in goals against at 3.18 a game.

The 29-year-old Halak is a proven performer, winning the William M. Jennings Award for best team goaltending tandem along with Brian Elliot while with the St. Louis Blues in the 2011-12 season. For that season, Halak finished 26-12 with a 1.97 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and six shutouts.

“He is obviously a goalie that has a track record of playing at a high level,” New York general manager Garth Snow told the New York Post's Brett Cyrgalis. “I see a goalie who is confident, technically sound, and relies on his athleticism when needed.”

New York acquired Halak’s rights from the Washington Capitals for a fourth-rounder earlier this year, signing him to a four-year, $18 million contract.

With Halak, the Islanders also get an outstanding playoff performer, another huge need.

If there was one thing that ended the Islanders’ last playoff stint two seasons ago, a six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was the poor goaltending of then-starter Evgeni Nabokov. The scary truth of Nabokov’s playoff performance reads a 4.44 goals-against average and a brutal .842 save percentage.

Halak surged into the NHL stratosphere with a dazzling playoff performance as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 2010, ironically shutting down the heavily favored Penguins in the process. Here’s a video of some of the great saves made by Halak in that series.

Free Agency Never Sleeps

New York's work in NHL free agency further built the team into legitimate contenders this year.

Teams knew the duo of Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin would be a package deal. The best friends had expressed interest in playing with each other that offseason, and with the same agent, it was more than a probability it would happen. Luckily for the Islanders offense, it did.

"It's like fishing. You put your line in the water and you hope for some nibbles," Snow said, according to Newsday's Arthur Staple. "We got two big bites today."

Kulemin and Grabovski figure to be staples in on the second and third lines and puck-possession hogs, which should improve New York’s 20th-ranked five-on-five Corsi percentage (49.4) a season ago.

They’ll also bolster a unit that’s returning superstar John Tavares from a season-ending knee injury suffered playing for Team Canada at the 2014 Olympics and emerging star Kyle Okposo. The Islanders finished in the middle of the pack, 17th, with 2.63 goals a game last year.

Kulemin, 27, is an excellent two-way winger and can play the third wheel on a scoring line if needed. His 30 goals in 2010-11 on a line with Grabovski with the Toronto Maple Leafs were a tease to fans for every season after. Though he scored just nine a season ago, his two-way play makes him a valuable part of any lineup.

Grabovski, 30, will center the second line and look to keep healthy after missing 24 games a season ago with the Capitals with an injured ankle. He’s a proven scorer with three 20-goal seasons in his career. His veteran leadership and goal scoring ability should provide support for his young linemates, Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson.

Trades That Melt the Blues Away

Snow made a twilight deal before the season started to shore up a defense expected to go into the season with youth and inexperience. New York’s GM landed veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk from the Boston Bruins and Nick Leddy from the Chicago Blackhawks.

They’ll join a group which includes all players under 26—Thomas Hickey, Matt Donovam, Travis Hamonic and Calvin De Haan.

“This is going to be a great team and people shouldn't take us lightly anymore,” Boychuk told the New York Post's John DeMarzo. “They've done some good things and I think it’s going to be a good challenge for any team to come in and play us.”

Leddy is a talented 23-year-old who began his career with the Blackhawks at 19. Chicago traded its young defenseman for cap reasons. His expanded role with the Islanders should open up the ice for a team known for its speed and tenacity that gave teams fits two seasons ago.

Both players bring Stanley Cup experience. Leddy won it with Chicago in 2013, while Boychuk won it with the Bruins in 2011.

Boychuk, or as he was called “Johnny Rocket” in Boston, has a blistering shot and a history of big-game goals, scoring six tallies in the 2012-13 postseason. His shot should improve a New York unit that finished 17th on the power play a season ago. His stay-at-home tendency should help Halak behind the net.

A young team with a bright future ahead, the Islanders will put it all together to be a legitimate Cup contender this year. Led by MVP contender John Tavares, improvement in free agency and via trade, New York is poised to make its last season at the Nassau Coliseum a memorable one.

Start spreading the news.

In Derek Fisher Knicks fans must trust. 

The first-year head coach, in his first practice of training camp, spent 2.5 hours on defense, something N.Y. must improve on in order to be a contender. 

Unlike in past seasons, there appears to be a purpose and plan in place this year. But before expanding on what's to come, let's take one last look at the 2013-14 NBA season and give the organization a final grade.

Harsh Truth: F

Not to place salt on any wounds, but the Knicks played some of the worst basketball in franchise history last year, and a lot of that blame falls on their coaching staff at the time. 

Players must be held accountable, but Mike Woodson and his staff did little to veil New York's inadequacies or maximize its strengths. His defensive policy, which revolved around switching at all costs, consistently forced his players into mismatches and left them vulnerable to poor defensive rotations due to their lousy defensive awareness.

The team closed out poorly and did little to keep its opponent in front of it and out of the paint. New York was even more questionable on the offensive end, having to rely on Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith to bail the organization out of a stagnant offense and inapparent game plan. 

That won't be the case this year, but there are some headwinds facing Fisher and his staff.

Roster in Flux

Phil Jackson is still in the process of rebuilding, and the roster undergoing more turnover is to be expected. 

The Knicks, as they are currently structured, are a few pieces away from fielding a team full of read-and-react players that can thrive in the triangle offense.

Some good components exist currently, like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cleanthony Early for instance, but overall a lot of stopgaps are present during this transition period—i.e. Travis Outlaw, Samuel Dalembert, etc. 

J.R. Smith could potentially thrive in the triangle, but his focus and shot selection for the time being are still in question. If he sticks to Fisher's plan, Smith will find consistency on offense. If not, he'll be phased out of the organization. 

N.Y.'s frontcourt isn't the most desirable when considering the lack of size and number of injury-prone players present, but if health is on the Knicks' side, Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani could excel with help from assistant coach Kurt Rambis. 

Rambis, familiar with the important role big men play in the offense, will be a solid guide for Bargs and STAT, as well as Cole Aldrich, who may struggle at first adjusting to quickly reading and reacting to what the defense is displaying. 

Lineup

Via Marc Berman of the New York Post, Fisher said, "The only person I know for sure who is going to be starting is ‘7’," referring to Melo. Fisher also added:

Putting together a starting lineup is not just about individual guys.

It’s the five guys who work well together as a unit. Those decisions can’t be made until we observe as a coaching staff. It will start to crystallize and formalize.

Fluidity in the triangle offense will play a part in who the staff decides to start.

The adjacent video shows the Knicks practicing the triangle in training camp and, at first glance, it appears that Fisher and his staff are articulating their mission quite well.

Via Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, Amar'e Stoudemire believes he could log 30 minutes per game.

If healthy, Stoudemire could be worthy of starting, but that all falls on how quickly and efficiently he plays on both ends of the court—the same could be said for every player on New York's roster.

Fisher wants to instill a clear message in his players, and unlike in past years, he's demanding maximum effort from his athletes on both ends of the floor. 

Editor's note: The New York Yankees are retiring Derek Jeter's No. 2 jersey at Monument Park on Sunday, per Chris Bahr of Fox Sports. This article was originally published on Bleacher Report in 2014 but is being redistributed to remember his legacy as part of our coverage of his jersey retirement.

There is fact, and there is legend. There is Derek Jeter the ballplayer, and there is Derek Jeter the myth. And the myth—reflected in the outpouring of adulation and parade of retirement gifts normally reserved for the titans of the game—has outgrown the man.

How did this happen? How did Derek Jeter, who never even won an American League MVP award, become this generation's Joe DiMaggio?

There's no denying Madison Avenue's role. The ubiquitous Nike RE2PECT ads, the schmaltzy black-and-white Gatorade commercials featuring an everyman Jeter glad-handing his way through the South Bronx as Frank Sinatra belts out "My Way" in the background and the Yankees' embarrassing huckstering of Jeter mementos that stretch the definition of "memorabilia" create a feedback loop that perpetuates the Jeter myth.

Advertisers are clever, but they do not create a myth. They merely capture it, embellish it and repackage it for public consumption. The fountainhead of the myth draws from two wells: objective reality, in this case the measure of a ballplayer’s ability, and circumstantial reality, or the external factors outside a player's control—luck, in other words.

Under the objective lens, Jeter acquits himself well. He was one of the best offensive shortstops of all time, played with unsurpassed commitment to winning and belongs in the Hall of Fame. Even the most strident Yankee-haters can't deny that.

But Jeter was also lucky. That isn't to say he made his living on infield hits (although he did cap his career with one), bloop singles or home runs reeled in over the outfield fence by 12-year-old fans. All athletes benefit from the rub of the green from time to time.

Instead, Jeter's luck primarily fell outside the lines—how many ballplayers get to play for the most successful and iconic team in the history of North American sports alongside so many greats, including the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera?

Good fortune—with an assist from Madison Avenue—inflated Jeter's myth beyond the perimeter of his skill set. Does anyone believe we would have watched a season-long retirement tour if Jeter had spent his career wasting away in Kansas City?

Understandably, the disconnect between Jeter the myth and Jeter the ballplayer has led to blowback. Hence the Keith Olbermann rant and the chorus of "overrated" chants that trailed Jeter throughout his career.

On some level, Olbermann is right: Jeter's outsized myth offends the sport's weightier demigods—Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle—and waters down the disenfranchised greats who, unlike Jeter, never had a chance to shine.

What about those guys? What about Don Mattingly? Are they not worthy of the same praise Jeter received simply because they weren’t as charmed with great teammates to propel them to almost a regular season’s worth of postseason appearances? Is Jeter the only one with championship "je ne sais quoi"?

Of course he's not. But the question misses the point. Sports are myth enacted by extraordinary humans. Why should it matter, in the end, whether greatness was attained through factors outside of the hero’s control?

Take Jeter's final game at Yankee Stadium, a microcosm of his career. Does it matter that his last at-bat at Yankee Stadium would never have happened if David Robertson, one of the best closers in the game, didn’t blow a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth? Or if Jose Pirela didn’t lead off with a single so Brett Gardner could bunt a pinch runner into scoring position, perfectly setting the scene for one last act of Jeter magic?

Serendipity and mythology have always gone hand in hand. The Greeks even gave luck its own goddess, Tyche. She touched Derek Jeter, and he made the most of his supernatural powers. To detract from the myth of Jeter is to deny the power of luck in sports, myth and life.

Shakespeare put it best: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." For Derek Jeter, it was all three.