N.Y. Knicks - It's The Star System, Or Bust

From the desk of:   DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP

NEW YORK KNICKS - Amare Stoudemire Out Minimum Six Weeks With Injury.  Faces Second Surgery, This Time On Right Knee.

Time To Follow The Melo Brick Road

The Knicks plan to preserve Amare's knees - the one to limit his minutes by having him come off the bench - the one that was starting to work out nicley of late - failed.  The uninsurable Amare Stoudemire has effectively been lost for the rest of the regular season with a right knee injury.  Six weeks is the actual prognosis.  That potentially puts Amare and the Knicks into the end of April or early May, and the playoffs.  That's a damn shame too.  After everything he's been through here.  Amare has done nothing but say and do the right thing since arriving.  But when taking injuries into account, he could never do enough.  There is also no way I hold the "breaking glass" incident against him - not at this point.  He's been that much of a stand up guy.


There is no time to wallow in self pity however.  It is time to pack up, and follow the Melo Brick Road.  When Carmelo's knee gets better, they're off, they're off, they're off.....  in search of the elusive Atlantic Division title.


You know where I stand - the team concept versus the star system.  From here on out, it's the star system or bust.  The Knicks fortunes now lie exclusively between what Carmelo Anthony thinks he needs to do, and wants to do, in order to help the Knicks win, and what Melo actually needs to do in order to help his coach and team mates make the Knicks a successful team.  Coach Woodson's prophecy is now his reality.  When he assumed the role of head coach, he said he would be riding Carmelo Anthony as far as his small forward takes him and the Knicks.  With Amare officially out, and not being accused of complicating the rotation, Coach Woodson now gets to saddle up and find out just how far that really is.


Before Amare's injury changed everything, the Knicks recent game against the Thunder punctuated the argument, or growing belief, the Knicks are a more cohesive, and thereby a more effective team, when Melo is off the floor.  Their last win over the Jazz minus both Amare and Melo, may have reinforced the notion even further. There are tons of truth in that argument.  But at the same time, the Knicks will not win an NBA title without Carmelo Anthony.  It didn't help Melo's cause that the Knicks dream bench of Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby, and Kurt Thomas never quite made it out of the senior center.  And the rest of the assembled body, like Ray Felton's increasingly round one, or Jason Kidd's creaky one, aren't performing as spryly as they were last Fall either.


Something will have to give, or, some one will have to bend.  Because right now, at this very moment, this is J.R. Smith's team.  Somehow, someway, and at some point, Coach Woodson has to make Melo conform again, into the player Anthony was back in November and December, and keep that player in uniform until June, Red Holzman willing.  For if alternative anti-Melo emerges from  behind the wizard's curtain after his own knee injury subsides, the Knicks will be headed towards a tumultuous end, and no one will like the way Carmelo Anthony, first and foremost, will explain everything off.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Knicks: For Those Who Said Talk To Me In January

From the desk of:   DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP


NEW YORK KNICKS - Many Said Age And Injury Would Start Taking Its Toll In January And February.  The Team Is Certainly Not Without Issues.

Knicks Needs Ray Felton Back On The Floor.

 

...And Honey Nut Cheerios Too.

I can't fault Melo for continuing to go after Kevin Garnett.  What KG does, he does supremely well.  He talks vicious smack.  But we've known that for a long time.  And I get it.  That gets players even more mad.  Especially when the dude starts poppin' off about your wife and honey nut Cheerios in the same sentence.  How rich!  That was unnecessary on KG's part.  But as a highly paid professional athlete, you have to learn to ignore guys like Garnett and the Dennis Rodmans in life and stay within the game.  Riiight.  But yeah, on a more primitive level, a trip to the bus after the game might have been warranted.  That's so 1970's of me.  I know.  So now if you're Melo, you shut up and take your one game suspension like a man.  Too bad however, Melo didn't make the trip to the parking lot truly worth the effort.  You know what I mean.  If you're going to get punished, might as well go all the way.  What happened to the Carmelo Anthony we all knew and loathed in 2006; the punk who threw a cheap punch at Mardy Collins, then ran away?  He should have given KG some of that.


Grab yourself some Hatorade.  There's plenty.


With a 23-11 record, the Knicks are tied with the Heat for most wins in the Eastern Conference. Indeed, the Knicks enjoyed a stellar start to the season, raining three pointers upon opponents and playing surprisingly good defense.  But staunch pragmatists decided to hold off till January before assessing the team.  And well, here we are.  The Knicks are in first place of the Atlantic Division.


Happy New Year.


While earlier in the schedule the Knicks were playing like the team many thought they could be, they are now slowly morphing into the team many feared they might be.  Problem one?  Life has been a struggle without Ray Felton.  That's just my take.  Pablo Prigioni is nice off the bench.  But I don't think the Knicks want him getting extended minutes.  The longer Felton is out, the more minutes Jason Kidd must play.  The more he plays, the sooner he burns out heading into March and April.  That's the traditional thinking.  The Knicks also probably do not want to potentially head into the playoffs with Ronnie Brewer at the two and Kidd at point.  Do they?  I think Felton is more important to this team than he gets credit for.


Regardless of how I started this posting, I have nothing but good things to say about Carmelo Anthony this season.  He, Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith have been stellar.  The return of Iman Shumpert will add a lot of youthful spring to the Knicks legs too.  These four lend much to be optimistic about.


The same can't be said of Amare Stoudemire.  The doctor is ordering his minutes get cut back.  He will remain a compromised player for the foreseeable future.  Then consider the limited contributions of Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby, and Kurt Thomas, and it is easy to deduce the Knicks have major depth and size issues moving forward.


The age factor and injuries many thought could hamper the Knicks the deeper the season went, are indeed starting to hinder the Knicks as the New Year settles in.  The next seven weeks of Winter will reveal much about this team.  For now, I think Knick fans have to be happy with their season so far.  But the real fun, or pain, lies ahead.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Knicks ~ 'Bockers Trying To Get Their Point Across

From the desk of:   DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP

NEW YORK KNICKS:  Jeremy Lin is Now a Point of Contention.  Knicks on Verge of Pointing Him Towards the Nearest Exit.


Many have been clamouring for the return of Ray Felton ever since he found favor with fans prior to the Carmelo Anthony acquisition.  Now, based on circulating reports, you may have him again Knick fans.  And with Jason Kidd in the fold, it looks a lot like the Age of LINsanity is all but over.  Jeremy Lin signed his offer sheet with the Houston Rockets, and now the Knicks will have 48 hours or so to match.  But do they want to?  If you're reading into the Knicks' moves, the answer is, No.


Without trying to detract from Jeremy Lin's arrival on the scene, and playing so well before getting hobbled by injuries, I was never completely sold on him.  The key word there is SOLD.  I'm not insinuating he can't be a good player.  I just do not see the upper body strength from him, and watched him get pushed around last season after the brilliance wore off his introductory flash, and lighting the city on fire.  Once teams started taking the body against him, LINsanity headed to the LINfirmary.  In his defense, he almost always made good decisions on the court.  But can he endure a whole season of bumping bodies in the lane?  I do not think Knicks fans will be finding out up close.  For answers to that quandary, check in on him while he plays in Houston.


With Jason Kidd on board however, the Knicks now have that alpha-point guard who will dictate the direction of the ball, and more specifically, direct traffic between Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.  Whether it is going to be Lin, or Felton, I look for the soon to be forty year old Kidd to be splitting playing time down the middle.  In that case, Jason Kidd should be very reliable, not to mention effective while playing twenty-some minutes per game.  Whether he is on the court during the last six minutes like he says he wants to be, will get itself worked out.  That's Mike Woodson's problem for now.


With Jason Kidd on board, I think we'll be seeing a very different version of Carmelo Anthony.  Of the players he'll share the court with, Carmelo Anthony stands to benefit the most from Kidd's arrival.  For a guy I'm not too particularly enamoured with, Kidd just may help out Melo's game immeasurably.  I still do not think Jeremy Lin has the cache to demand the ball back from Melo.  But Jason Kidd does, and will.  And if Melo doesn't fall in line, a veteran like Kidd knows how to send on-court messages to his team mates through selective ball distribution.  Whatever in-game time the old man needs to refresh his legs and catch his breath, will be provided by Ray Felton or, possibly Jeremy Lin, or even both.  Being a starter means stepping out on the court first.  After the initial tip-off, being a starter means nothing.  So, I don't care who steps out first.


If acquired, can Ray Felton recapture the flare and effectiveness he played with his first time here?  He better lose some weight first.  That's just fact.  He's the third coming of Round Mound right now.  Ray may need boot camp instead of training camp later this summer.  In any case, expect him to get a loud ovation the first time he takes to the Garden floor this Fall.  But just keep in mind, he couldn't win a starting job in any of his landing spots after he got traded.


I'm not lost on Jason Kidd's age.  But for twenty to twenty-three minutes a night, I think he'll be just fine, and key to any Knicks' success next season.  What Ray Felton can contribute remains to be seen.  But we already have a feeling we know what we're getting.  And I'm sure Amare Stoudemire is OK with the deal too.  If Stoudemire's body holds up, prepare yourselves for a return of the Amare from the 2010-2011 season.


Marcus Camby's age is also not lost on me.  But to back up Tyson Chandler and play some forward, I think he's marvelous.  And the more players willing to play defense, the better.  It will be nice to see Camby in a Knicks uniform again.




Mike.BTB