The New York Knicks started off not playing anywhere near what was anticipated of them this season. They came in with high feelings of having a commanding run on the season with their big signing of center Tyson Chandler, who was going to be the core to the team’s defensive problems in the middle.
Chandler has been excellent for the Knicks, giving them 12 ppg, 10 rpg, leading the team in blocks and tough defensive in the paint. Amare certainly had a second-rate first half of the year, scoring 17/night, with 13 games of scoring 15 or less. He hasn’t been aggressive, settling for 15 foot jump shots. Now mind you, Amare has a nice game from 12-15, but he becomes a beast when he’s driving strong to the cup. Amare is a big part of what the Knicks were to be this season; he has to step it up, without a doubt. He needs to command the rock, want the ball, which he doesn’t do very often; he takes what is given to him.
Amare has gone from a reliable superstar who was a lock for 25/game to a supplementary player. If he gets his post game in gear, he could again become a major part for the New York Knicks, and they will be greatly improved, guaranteed. Carmelo and Amare were to be the dynamic duo for the big apple, and they still are and can be. Melo just needs to unglue the ball from his hands a bit, move the ball sooner; his scoring will always be there, he an offensive player who can score points in clusters.
Now that D’Antoni has a point guard for his system, which we all know is vital for his system to be efficient, things are looking up for New York and their fans. Without a solid point guard, it eliminates the flow of the game, therefore then the rhythm of the game. Jeremy Lin may possibly be that guy for Mike D’Antoni this year. All he has to do is move the ball effectively, get Amare the ball down low, get Melo the ball for his scoring skills, which should bring double teams for those two big scorers, freeing up Lin, who can score a bit as well. Once it all comes together, D’Antoni will seem like a mastermind putting it all together. Lin cuts down his turnovers; he can be more than the sideshow act that was made out of him early.
And now the Knicks have a super bench with J.R. Smith, Baron Davis, and Steve Novak who all can score the ball productively. They will be tested early in the 2nd half of the NBA season with games against the Mavs, the Spurs, Sixers, Bulls and Pacers. But then they have explicit space for a power run with 8/13 games at home in late march to mid April with numerous winnable games in that stretch.
Knicks could very likely end up with 35 wins by seasons end and in a decent spot for the playoffs, maybe even a 4-6 spot, with the Hawks and Sixers playing down lately. Give them time to gel; this team has a bright future. They have all the pieces to be a major team as long as they play as a team. They have scoring, rebounding, defense in the middle, some strong point guard play, and the deep ball threat. It’s getting them to believe in the system.
And maybe D’Antoni could get them to play just a little team defense wouldn’t hurt either.
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