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Overall
Win/Loss Record : 54-28, first place Atlantic Division
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Last Season’s Rank
7
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Projected 2013/2014
Finish
7
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Last
season’s Team Statistics and League Rank
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Returning
Individual Statistical Leaders
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Projected
Starters Based on Talent, Tenure, Paycheck and Potential Impact:
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Second Unit Roster Order Ranked on Talent, Tenure, Paycheck and Potential Impact:
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Analysis:
Sorry New Yorkers, but you dream of honoring your team with a ticker tape parade to celebrate your long awaited NBA championship will not come true despite the progress it made last season when they won their first 50 plus win season in over a decade and their first playoff series in around that same time span. The Knicks simply do not have what it takes to reach to that next level and they will certainly not be any match for the incumbent champion +Miami HEAT as they proved last season losing handily in the second round to an inferior +Indiana Pacers team. In fact, it may even be doubtful for your team to capture the Atlantic Division crown, be granted home court advantage in the post season, or even advance past the first round of the playoffs. With the 200$ million roster renovation of your cross town rival +Brooklyn Nets as well as the resurgence of the +Chicago Bulls, the Eastern Conference has become a far more dangerous place and as a result, your Knicks will be finding themselves on the outside looking in. This season will certainly mark a turning point for this franchise and just may possibly be the last chance for the Knicks to contend for a title as their window of opportunity has all but closed and it is all due to a player who is supposed to be the team's greatest strength, but may be in fact it greatest weakness. Upon his arrival three years ago, Carmelo Anthony was tabbed as not only the team's savior, but the missing piece that would raise the Knicks from being just a marginal playoff team into a title contender; however, sad to say the reality of the situation far from lived up to expectations of fans and the media. When he first arrived at the trade deadline of 2011, the Knicks struggled greatly finishing the season just one game over .500 and eliminated quickly in the playoffs, while on the flip side, his former team, the +Denver Nuggets actually played better without him finishing the regular season with 50 wins. In his second year, during the lockout shortened season of 2012, the Knicks struggled greatly at the beginning barely able to reach .500 and they managed to bounce back not so much because of Carmelo, but more because of a walk on who no one had heard of that went by the name of +Jeremy Lin. Fast forward to last season where the Knicks not only finished with their first fifty plus win season since 2000, but also finished with on top of their Atlantic Division for the first time since 1994. That seasons Knicks fans had stars in their eye thinking that this could be THE season where their team will take that first big step from being just a marginal team to a true contender for the NBA crown; however their hopes were dashed as their beloved team was humiliated in the second round of the playoffs by a far inferior +Indiana Pacers team that had barely won their rather weak division winning just 49 games in the regular season. After three straight disappointing finishes, this season looks as if it will be do or die for the Knicks as it looks to be their final chance to contend for that long elusive title before their window of opportunity shuts on them once again; however, as long as they have Carmelo leading the team, they might as well shut it themselves because he is in no way capable of bringing the team to the Finals let alone to championship glory. Despite being promoted as one of the league's greatest players and placed alongside such superstars such as +LeBron James and +Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony deserves no such praise because he has not played anywhere near the same level as James or Durant nor has he shown the desire or ability to do so. Carmelo is essentially a black hole on the offensive end sucking up every single possession as he basically takes it upon himself to score every basket while his teammates simply stand by as spectators. He is virtually useless without the ball in his hands and his tyrannical dominance of the offense has come at the expense of his teammates, most notably his supposed "partner," Amare Stoudemire whose offense has struggled upon his arrival. His iron clad grip on the Knicks offense has also made them the most predictable team in the NBA leading many of their opponents to easily anticipate their every move. That is what happened in the second round playoff series with the Pacers--all Indiana had to do was to close the lane to keep Carmelo from attacking the basket thus forcing him to take bad jump shots and keep him from getting to the free throw line chance he had no chance to get fouled. Once the Pacers closed off the basket to Anthony, the Knicks' offense simply just ground to a halt as the team proved completely incapable of generating any sort of real consistency in scoring with no one else being able to put the ball basket. As a result the Pacers, a team that was one of the worst offensive in the league managed to hold the Knicks, who managed to score an average 100 points in the regular season, to just 89.5 per game and subsequently took the series four games to two. From all the evidence that the previous season provided, Carmelo Anthony is not as much the Knicks greatest strength, but their greatest weakness as he sheer domination of the basketball shuts out his teammates while making them even more vulnerable if an a opponent manages to do the same as Indiana did in the playoffs shutting down Carmelo. What makes matters even worse for the Knicks is that Carmelo's only value on the court is his ability to score the ball and his penchant for taking as many shots as he possibly can while providing little if anything else otherwise. And it does not seem as if things will change anytime soon despite the new off season additions to provide extra offensive firepower such as Metta World Peace, Andrea Bargnarni, and Beno Udrih, because as long as the team's offense run through Anthony, they might as well be considered as ineffective since neither one of them will be fully utilized to their full potential. Carmelo was supposed to be the one to lead New York to championship glory, but thus far all the Knicks have been in his tenure on the team marginal at best if not mediocre. Hopefully the Knicks' front office will realize this before it is too late when Carmelo's contract expires at the end of this season and it chooses between offering him a maximum contract extension of 129$ million over the next five years or allowing him to walk as a free agent. As it stands now, the Knicks are no better off whether they decide to keep Anthony or not and it has become painfully apparent that Carmelo will not develop into the franchise player that they had hoped he would for the team. They will remain among the top four teams in the Eastern Conference behind the Miami Heat; however, just don't expect them going anywhere farther than a second round finish in the playoffs because they simply do not have the good to take that next step and the primary thing that's holding them back is the same thing that was supposed to push them forward. |
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Monday, October 21, 2013
SDH's 2013/2014 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 7. New York Knicks
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