After losing nine out of the last ten games and watching the season record fall to 7-13, there are a lot of questions in the Big Apple about the Knicks. The sky may or may not be falling in New York but my confidence in the team is still high despite this seasons early disaster.
Point guard: The biggest concern right now is bad point guard play. Iman Shumpert looked like he could be the guy that held down the spot while Baron Davis gets healthy but he’s banged up with nagging injuries. The biggest wildcard when drafting a rookie is how their body will react to the demands of the NBA schedule and it’s something unpredictable. I love Shumpert in the long term but for now he’s got to focus on getting his body right.
Toney Douglas has fell back into the starting role by default. He’s much better suited as offense off the bench and isn’t a good enough play-maker to be a winning point guard. He only gets 2.6 assists per game and the Knicks need someone who is going to get players in position to score, and it’s not Douglas.
Jeremy Lin played the last 20 minutes in the last game and racked up nine points, six assists, and three rebounds and showed the ability to break people down off the dribble, penetrate, and dish in traffic. It looks clear to me that he should be getting Mike Bibby’s clean-up minutes and if one of the two has to be cut to add another player, it’s got to be Bibby.
The glimmer of hope is Baron Davis, who has shown he is the kind of distributor that could put the pieces together for the Knicks. Davis averaged 7 assists or more in each of the last three seasons. The Knicks problems stem from being 24th in the league in assists per game and Davis could fix that but it’s a huge question mark. I don’t feel comfortable relying on him to be the savior because I don’t know exactly what to expect but the potential is there for him to make a major impact in the Big Apple. I know the fans are getting impatient waiting on Davis, but his taking so long to get back doesn’t bother me because I want him to be completely right when he steps on the court. If it turns out that Davis isn’t the answer then the Knicks will need to aquire a point guard at the break. This team doesn’t need a point guard, it needs a point god. Right now, Carmelo Anthony leads the team in assists and that’s not winning formula.
Despite all the other weaknesses on the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony is still the biggest and most valuable part of the team. When he is playing at a superstar level, which he’s more than capable of doing, the Knicks will win. Anthony is a game-time call for the Knicks tonight vs Detroit after missing the last two games. He should sit out tonight because it’s against the 4-18 Piston and I’m confident that the Knicks can win this game without him. Melo hasn’t played this season against Oklahoma City, Miami, or Houston and instead played games when he was hurt against Cleveland, Charlotte, and Milwaukee. That makes no sense to me and Anthony is a guy that has to earn back his nickname as the Bully. When it’s all said and done, Anthony isn’t a guy you have to worry about and I still have faith in him to get it done down the stretch of the season and get this team turned around.
Amare Stoudemire is a guy who has to earn back his nickname ‘STAT’. His 17 points per game is the lowest since his rookie season. Last season he got 25 per game when there wasn’t as much pressure to win, playing his best basketball with Raymond Felton in town. The consensus is that he needs a point guard that can get him the ball and it’s the truth. He closer to a 17 point per game scorer than 25 and is still an effective second option. Knicks fans have voiced their opinion to trade him but you can’t do that unless it’s for Dwight Howard who is too dominant not to trade for if the opportunity presents itself.
The Knicks next five games: tonight vs Detroit, Feb. 2 vs Chicago, Feb. 3 at Boston, Feb. 4 vs New Jersey, Feb. 6 vs Utah. The Knicks have to get right at home before they can be a winning team and it starts tonight.
Despite the losing skid and a lack of faith from a passionate fan-base, superstar Anthony is standing behind coach Mike D’Antoni but it’s clear that the seat warmers have been turned on by the organization. If the losing continues, he’s going to get fired, plain and simple. I don’t think he’s done a terrible job of coaching with what he’s working with up to this point. I think if New York has stuck with him this long then it should let him attempt to get this thing turned around because there’s still a lot of season left. Right now the Knicks sit at 10th in the East but the two teams in the eight and nine slot are Cleveland and Milwaukee. Cleveland is going to lose a lot of games going forward and I’m not worried about them while the Bucks aren’t that scary either. I still believe the Knicks will be a playoff team and be one of the toughest first round match-ups as the seven or eight seed. Personally, I want Miami in the first round because I want Anthony and James for a seven-game-series.
The Knicks are in the line of teams that would like to add Kenyon Martin, who’s Chinese team finishes it’s season on Feb. 16. Martin would be great depth in the post for a Knicks squad who is very thin behind Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. Rookie Josh Harrellson was doing a good job as a reserve but now that he’s out for six weeks with a fractured wrist, help is needed. Hopefully they can negotiate a miracle to get another on of Anthony’s ex teammates out of China, instant offense J.R. Smith.
