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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Saturday / November 23.

By THEO RABINOWITZ

Special to ZAGSBLOG

GREENBURGH, N.Y. – With their season-opener just a couple of days away, the Knicks were dealt another blow on Tuesday when the team announced that Amar’e Stoudemire will undergo “left knee debridement” and will miss 6-8 weeks. That would put him out of action until mid-to-late December.

Knicks head coach Mike Woodson was clearly disappointed at the news, which further depletes a team that has dealt with injuries for much of the preseason.

“Amar’e is a big piece to our puzzle,” Woodson said.”I don’t care how you slice it. I’m not one to sit here and complain about injuries.  They happen to every team in this league. The guys in uniform have to step up and play.

Carmelo Anthony echoed the frustration.

Former Penn State commit Brandon Austin took his third straight official visit this weekend, following up trips to Providence and UConn with a visit to Texas.

“It was a good visit,” Austin told SNY.tv. “I liked the campus, the team, the coaching staff and the strength and conditioning coach.”

The 6-foot-5 Austin considers himself a point guard but can play both guard spots. He said Texas is looking at him as a possible replacement for point guard Myck Kabongo, the former St. Benedict’s Prep and Findlay Prep star.

“They just said htey need a big guard like me,” Austin said of his conversation with head coach Rick Barnes.

Tyler Roberson, one of the top small forwards in the Class of 2013 out of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic, will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG entering his senior season.

In this entry, he cuts his list to three schools:

After taking my visit to Villanova this weekend I’ve decided to no longer postpone cutting my list to three schools.

I won’t be taking my visit to Kentucky and will most likely be making my final decision on where I’ll be playing collegiate ball within the next few weeks. I appreciate all six of the schools on my list but the three schools I’ve decided to keep on my list are Kansas, Syracuse and Villanova.

Here’s the ATP release:

Novak Djokovic has clinched the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat in consecutive seasons since Roger Federer achieved four straight World No. 1 finishes from 2004-07.

Djokovic, who lost the World No. 1 ranking to the Swiss on 9 July following a 53-week reign, will reclaim the top spot on Nov. 5 when Federer drops his points from his 2011 title wins at the Swiss Indoors Basel, BNP Paribas Masters and Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Federer will then not be able to earn enough South African Airways ATP Rankings points to finish the year ahead of Djokovic.

B.J. Anya is down to N.C. State and Indiana and says he likely will choose from among those two schools sometime in the coming weeks.

“As of right now,” he told SNY.tv by phone Monday morning. “That might change, but I doubt it.”

The 6-foot-8 center from DeMatha Catholic took an official to N.C. State over the weekend and said he really enjoyed it.

“It was cool,” he said. “The coaches were cool. I got to spend more time with the team [than on his unofficial visit]. I like them a lot.”

NEW YORK — You weren’t the only one surprised by the news of the James Harden trade this morning.

The Knicks were shocked, too.

“I saw that trade,” Knicks center Tyson Chandler said Sunday after practice at MSG. “The league is shaking up. Things are changing, players are moving. It’s excitement. Brings more excitement across the board to other teams. But that’s in a different conference.”

Carmelo Anthony won Olympic gold this summer in London with Harden and two of his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates — Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

“It happened very quick, man,” Anthony said of the trade. “I reached out to [Harden] and wished him all the luck. I talked to him for a minute and we’ll see happens.

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