The New York Knickerbockers are kicking off the 2009 season with a “Fan Fest” event at Madison Square Garden. The festivities will take place for three days beginning Thursday, October 29, in the MSG mall area located in front of Chase Bank at Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets. The Knicks City Dancers, Knicks Alumni and other special guests will be on hand to participate in on-court contests, carnival style games and activities and ticket giveaways for the Home Opener. The Knicks interactive Groove Truck will be located on Seventh Avenue with live music, special guest emcee’s and Knicks Fan Development representatives.

The “Fan Fest” will take place from Thursday, October 29 through Saturday, October 31, culminating with the Knicks Home Opener vs. Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. A limited amount of tickets are available for the Home Opener and upcoming games. For more information please visit nyknicks.com or Ticketmaster.com.

Below is an itinerary of events for the Opening Week “Fan Fest”:

Thursday, October 29, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Who:                Knicks City Dancers, Knicks Alumni Relations and Fan Development Advisor, John Starks and Hoops Wizard Black Jack Ryan

What:                Live music and entertainment, home opener ticket giveaways, shooting contests with alumni for multiple prizes, balloon artists and performances by the Knicks City Dancers

Friday, October 30, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Who:                Knicks City Dancers, Knicks Alumni Tony Campbell and Hoops Wizard Black Jack Ryan

What:                Live music and entertainment, home opener ticket giveaways, shooting contests with alumni for multiple prizes, balloon artists and performances by the Knicks City Dancers

Saturday, October 31, 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Who:                Knicks Alumni Charles Smith and Cal Ramsey and Hoops Wizard Black Jack Ryan

What:                Live music and entertainment, special Halloween Costume Home Opener ticket give-aways, balloon artists, face painting and shooting contests with alumni

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The New York Knickerbockers and Garden of Dreams Foundation team up to celebrate the start of a new season of giving with a fun-filled “Dream Day” at Madison Square Garden Training Center and The Children’s Village of Dobbs Ferry, NY. On Monday, Oct. 12, the Knicks players, coaching staff and dancers will host 30 kids from The Children’s Village at a private day at the training center followed by an event at the outdoor basketball court at The Children’s Village.

First, Knicks players, coaches and Knicks City Dancers will take the kids on a tour of MSG Training Center, including a special locker room visit, basketball skills clinic and autograph session. The players will then join the children at The Children’s Village to spruce up an outdoor basketball court and have a backyard barbecue party to celebrate the day.

Below is an itinerary of events for the Knicks and Garden of Dreams “Dream Day”:

Who: Jared Jeffries, Larry Hughes, Darko Milicic, David Lee, Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari and the Knicks City Dancers

What: Players, dancers and kids take private tour of training center

When:        1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Where: MSG Training Center, Greenburgh, NY

Who: Al Harrington, Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler, Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas

What: Players and kids paint and clean areas of the basketball court and have barbecue party

When:        3:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Where: The Children’s Village, Dobbs Ferry, NY

*In the event of inclement weather the entire event will take place at MSG Training Center*

The Garden of Dreams Foundation is a nonprofit charity that works closely with all areas of Madison Square Garden, including the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, MSG Entertainment, MSG Media and Fuse to “make dreams come true for kids in crisis”. Garden of Dreams partners with local children’s hospitals, “wish” organizations and community-based organizations to build on-going, unforgettable programs for children in the tri-state area who are suffering from devastating illness, homelessness, abuse, hunger, extreme poverty and tragedy.

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New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that forward David Lee has been re-signed to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“While this was a long process, we always wanted David to remain in New York and we are very happy to have him re-signed,” said Walsh. “David really flourished playing for Coach D’Antoni last year and we once again expect him to play a big role for us this season.”

Lee, 6-9, 240-pounds, averaged career-highs of 16.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 34.9 minutes in a career-high 81 games during the 2008-09 season. He also posted a league-high 65 double-doubles, while also ranking third in the NBA in rebounding and seventh in field goal percentage.

Lee was drafted by New York with the 30th overall selection in the 2005 NBA Draft and has career averages of 10.9 points and 9.0 rebounds in 287 career games over four NBA seasons with the Knicks. The University of Florida product set the Knicks franchise record for field goal percentage, shooting .600 from the floor in 58 games during the 2006-07 season. Lee was also named Most Valuable Player of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge at 2007 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, after scoring a game-high 30 points.

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New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball OperationsDonnie Walsh announced today that forward Marcus Landry has been signed as a free agent. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Landry, 6-7, 230-pounds, averaged 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 121 career games over four seasons at The University of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee, WI-native averaged a career-high 12.7 points per game for Wisconsin in 2008-09 and led the Badgers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Landry averaged 9.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 21.8 minutes in five games for the Sacramento Kings entry in the 2009 NBA Summer League presented by EA Sports.

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New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that guard Nate Robinson has been re-signed to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are very happy to have reached an agreement with Nate,” Walsh said. “Nate established himself as one of the top reserves in the game last season and we expect him to play a key role for us this season.”

Robinson, 5-9, 180-pounds, averaged career-highs of 17.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 29.9 minutes in a career-high 74 games during the 2008-09 season and finished third in the voting for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. The Seattle, WA-native was also the winner of the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk competition at NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix and joined Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner and Jason Richardson as the only two-time winners of the competition. Robinson first won the award at the 2006 dunk contest in Houston.

Robinson has career averages of 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 282 career games over four NBA seasons all with New York. The University of Washington product was originally drafted following his junior season by the Phoenix Suns with the 21st overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, before having his draft rights traded to New York on draft night.

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New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that guard Sun Yue has been signed as a free agent. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sun, 6-9, 205-pounds, averaged 0.6 points, 0.2 assists and 2.8 minutes in 10 games as a rookie last season with the L.A. Lakers. The Hebei, China-native was selected by the Lakers of the second round (40th overall) in the 2008 NBA Draft and also averaged 9.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in six games on assignment last season with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League. The 23-year old is a member of the Chinese National Team and started all six games for China in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

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29th Overall Selection in 2009 NBA Draft Signed to Contract

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walshannounced today that guard Toney Douglas has been signed to a contract. Douglas was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 29th overall selection before having his draft rights traded to New York in exchange for a 2011 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.

Douglas, 6-1, 225-pounds, averaged 21.5 points for Florida State University in his senior year and was the runner-up for the ACC Player of the Year award. The Tampa, FL-native was an All-ACC First Team selection and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He also led the Seminoles to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998 and to the championship game of the ACC Tournament for the first time in school history.

Douglas is expected to play for the Knicks’ entry in the 2009 NBA Summer League presented by EA Sports in Las Vegas, NV from July 14-19.

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The New York Knickerbockers will recognize Aliya Donn of St. Francis Preparatory in Queens and Zach Kriftcher of Schreiber High School on Long Island as the recipients of the Dave DeBusschere Award for the 2008-09 season. Both students excelled in the classroom as well as on the basketball court, and have exemplified the same heroic characteristics that Dave DeBusschere carried throughout his life. At tonight’s game versus the New Jersey Nets, Donn and Kriftcher will be presented with the award by Peter DeBusschere, son of Dave DeBusschere.

 

Donn maintained a 94 percent average at St. Francis Preparatory, served as the captain of her team and was named Most Valuable Player. She also received the Girls Catholic High School Athletic Association’s John Moran Sportsmanship Award. She is a member of the National Honor Society and her school’s ministry, with whom she traveled  to New Orleans last summer to rebuild homes and work with victims of Hurricane Katrina.

 

Kriftcher maintained nearly a 4.3 grade point average at Schreiber High School (Li town?) and averaged a double-double this season, 14.0 PPG and 11.0 RPG. As captain, he led his team to victory in the Long Island Conference AA-2 championship and was named to the All-Nassau County team. He also received the conference’s Scholar Athlete Award and is a member of the National Honor Society.

 

Dave DeBusschere starred at the University of Detroit and enjoyed a 12-year career in the NBA. He started his career in his home town of Detroit and played for seven seasons before being traded to the Knicks in December 1968. He helped lead New York to the playoffs in each of his six seasons, including NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. He made five NBA All-Star teams (1970-1974) and one All-NBA Second Team (1969). He retired as a Knick in 1974 before returning to the organization as executive vice president and director of basketball operations in 1982 where he presided for four seasons. He received the highest honor as a Knick on March 24, 1981, when his No. 22 jersey was retired to the rafters of MSG. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.

 

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The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball OperationsDonnie Walsh announced today that free agent forward/center Chris Hunter has been signed to a contract. As per club policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed. Hunter, a member of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, became the 24th GATORADE Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season.

 

Hunter, 6-11, 240-pounds, averaged 19.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 47 games with Fort Wayne this season. The Gary, IN-native registered 21 point-rebound double-doubles in 2008-09 with Fort Wayne and ranked among the league leaders in points and rebounds per game. Following a four-year career at the University of Michigan, Hunter played professionally overseas in Poland and Belgium before signing with Fort Wayne prior to this season.

 

The Knicks roster stands at 15 players.

 

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The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walshannounced today that free agent center Mouhamed Sene has been signed to a contract. As per club policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed. Sene, a member of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, became the 21st GATORADE Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season.

 

Sene, 6-11, 230-pounds, averaged 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in five games this season with Oklahoma City before being released by the Thunder on Feb. 19. Sene then signed with Albuquerque and averaged 10.0 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in nine games. A native of Senegal, Sene was selected in the first round in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 10th overall pick. Sene has career averages of 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 46 NBA games over three seasons with Seattle/Oklahoma City.

 

The Knicks roster stands at 15 players.

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