N.Y. Knicks ~ No POINT in Dwelling

From the desk of:   DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP




NEW YORK KNICKS:   POINT Taken.  But Gimmie the Big Guy.



If you blinked, you missed it.  The pre-season is over.  Let the games begin.  And if you don't pay close attention on a daily basis this season, you may miss some regular season games also.  The NBA is compressing a sixty-six game schedule into four months.  So check the papers often, odds are your favorite team is playing that night. 



And check the transactions lists as well to see if an NBA star near you winds up on the disabled list.  With this schedule..., good luck keeping players on the court.   Which reminds me,  Merry Christmas Commissioner Stern.  The TV money should start rolling in any day now.  So you can tell your owners it's okay to exhale.  Then again maybe not.  Because the next big influx of cash they can expect will be the insurance money on player contracts once they start dropping like timber on The Learning Channel.

*    *    *    *

...because I'm Old School.

The Knicks will start the 2011-2012 season the same way they finished last season; against the Boston Celtics.  But surprise!  This is not the same Knicks team that lost to Boston in the playoffs this past Spring.  Well..., they are, but they're not.  When the Knicks take the court Sunday afternoon in Boston, they'll have something they didn't have last year; an answer for Kevin Garnett.  But forget Garnett, the League now has to go through Tyson Chandler if they want to visit the paint against the Knicks.  The former Dallas center was enticed by Dolan's Dollars and promises to sell-out on Dee-Fense.  That's great!  And if he gives us twelve points a night?  Stupendous!  And if Dolan doesn't hike my cable bill, - Even more Incredible!  But never mind that.



Now we can talk.  Turn Back Now. The Lane Is Closed  ...is how I worded it.  New York's defensive paint is no longer a place other teams can just come in, dance around, and JAM like the old days of Studio 54.  The Knicks pay a big seven foot dude to man the velvet rope now.  And if you ain't on the list, most of you aren't getting in without some serious skills.



I tell you now, having Chandler, or a top center in general, is more important to me than having a premiere guard.  I believe the Knicks can get by with a good guard.  I even think we can get by with a decent guard.  That depends on what said guard brings to the table of course.  All we need is someone who will get the ball up-court without turning it over; someone who can run the break when we need to run; and someone who can bury shots from the outside when the big guys kick it out.  And yes, plays defense too.  That's it.  We don't have a TWO that's going to consistently bury shots when passes come off penetration into the lane.  The ball is going through Amare and Melo, so driving the lane, creating off the dribble, and stuff like that are less necessary.  Oh right..., Coach D'Antoni may not see things like me.  Regardless, gimmie the big guy every time.



Point guard is not first or even second on my list of concerns.  It's actually third in.  First and foremost, I'm concerned about the Knicks' bench.  And that has everything to do with Amare Stoudemire.  He didn't need to say what most fans speculated about already; - how well will he hold-up playing in such a compressed schedule?  He's going to need rest, in-game management, and we're going to need a back-up.  And we just may have one; - another seven footer to boot.  Additionally, the bench is going to be largely responsible for point guard, as it looks like we're going with the quantity over quality method.



Second on my list of worries is keeping this front court healthy.  I don't know how to prevent injuries, so that's why in the Knicks' case, I worry about them instead.  Then..., I'd start worrying about finding a point guard elite.  For now, just give me someone who can do certain things well.



And while I'm at it, quite frankly, Mr. D'Antoni's offensive philosophy troubles me a bit also.  This roster is not designed for his ideas; at least I don't think so. - Not unless he intends on using his bench a lot more than we might usually expect from him.  Either way, I think Coach is going to have to make some strategic concessions and coach to his personnel.  I don't know what he has up his sleeve, but he wasn't hesitant to speak about the Knicks and a championship in the same sentence together.  I'd say the Knicks have about seven or eight guys that will comprise the rotation; in a regular season that is.  This will be no regular season.  Instead this will be a grueling season and Mr. D'Antoni will have no choice but to keep the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth guy in step as best he can.  He might even have to slow things down from time to time.  No?



I'm just saying.





Mike,BTB