Is this real life? Last night the Knicks defeated the Philadelphia Seventy-sixers with a final score of 82-79. It was a hard fought defensive win on the road. It is the Knicks fifth win in a row and they are 5-0 under head coach Mike Woodson. It's really remarkable. Was D'Antoni this much of a problem for the Knicks?
The answer may be a conclusive yes. The Knicks are on a five game winning streak following his departure, that's as black and white as it gets. But there was a lot of drama in the Knicks organization clearly distracting the team that wasn't all D'Antoni's fault. The drama goes back percisely a year ago where the authority of James Dolan surpassed the opinion of Knicks then head coach Mike D'Antoni, and then general manager Donnie Walsh. They did not support the Melo trade, especially because Carmelo was going to be a free agent following the end of the season. Dolan supported the trade for the fact that no one was sure what would happen after the lockout over the summer, and that the Knicks didn't acquire as much as they had hoped for in the summer free agency of 2010. So the Knicks went ahead and pulled the trigger despite D'Antoni and Walsh's opinion, and likely gave up way too much for him. The Knicks gave away Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Raymond Felton, a 2014 draft pick and in return got Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. The Knicks also got rent-a-players like Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Renaldo Balkman because it was a three way trade including Golden State to balance the cap space.
That was a huge trade. Especially because now it is clear all the other players the Knicks got weren't even important. It was all just to get Carmelo Anthony. What could Mike D'Antoni have thought after that trade? Mike came to New York to run his West coast run 'n gun offense because the Knicks had been weak defensively for a while, and frankly were undersized. The Knicks drafted Gallinari under D'Antoni's tenure not only because he is a brilliant shooter, but because D'Antoni was Gallinari's fathers roommate when they played basketball together in Italy. Then they traded him away. Not to mention Raymond Felton, who's career was revitalized when he came to New York. He ran D'Antoni's system brilliantly with Stoudemire on the high pick and roll. It was a big part of Stoudemire's early reign of terror in the big apple. Basically, the Knicks traded several players that Mike D'Antoni was rather fond of for Carmelo Anthony.
Then the entire world had stopped. The Knicks got a superstar, the Knicks got a superstar! Commercials on MSG had people believing it was Carmelo Anthony's destiny to come to New York. Yes there were some exciting wins but it all resulted in a sweep against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The Knicks playoff drought continued. The following year the Knicks acquired Tyson Chandler, but it wasn't clear who their point guard was going to be. The head coach was still Mike D'Antoni, and the guy didn't even have a legitimate point guard. The nucleus of players was changing to something Mike did not know how to coach. This had to cause tensions to rise.
In Feburuary the Knicks STILL hadn't gotten it going. The Garden crowd was getting restless. Melo was injured and Amar'e couldn't be with the team. It was hopeless. But then came Jeremy Lin, a kid who finally got his chance. So what does a kid do that hasn't had much experience and finally gets a chance? He listens to the coach. Jeremy Lin came in and ran the Mike D'Antoni system that he loves so dearly. And everybody knows the rest. Linsanity took over, the Knicks won seven games in a row. But upon Melo's return to the lineup, the Knicks lost six in a row, and D'Antoni left with what they called a "mutual resignation."
So why are the Knicks good now? There is a very interesting quote from the postgame against the Raptors on Tuesday night from Melo. He was asked about why there is such an improvement in his game under Woodson, "I think in the last three games, my focus was just having energy that I haven't had for this season, especially on the defensive end. Everybody on this team, and everybody in the world, knows I can score the basketball, so it's not that important to me. As far as on the defensive end, I'm just showing my teammates that the effort is there, giving that extra effort, and as a result, everybody's been feeding off of that."
Not only are his choice of words overwhelmingly stupid, he's making some implications that his focus was their defensively now, but not before. Why? A "superstar" just forgets how to play defense? There was some serious drama between Melo and D'Antoni that was effecting the entire team. They didn't like each other at all. Why should they? Melo would deliberately remove himself from team huddles. Neither of them wanted the other to be there. It's conclusive that perhaps Melo wanted D'Antoni to get fired. Melo was unhappy, and he's used to getting everything he wants, when he wants it. It's also interpretted from that one quote that Carmelo's ego is through the roof, and he believes that the team is "feeding off of" his intensity. That quote flat out explains that Melo is self-centered, and his feud with Mike D'Antoni was a problem to the entire team.
This is conclusive from speculation, but it seems somewhat obvious. How else can the Knicks go from good, to bad, to good again. There simply has to be more going on that people weren't entirely aware of. But the ultimate thing here is that the Knicks are winning again. Melo may not be able to see it, but they're doing it as a team. It is not fair the way Mike D'Antoni was treated in New York, but Mike Woodson seems like a better fit for the job so far. Woodson preaches defensive intensity constantly, something Knicks fans take a lot of pride in. The Knicks defense has been much better, and frankly the most important cause of their recent winning streak.
How far can the Knicks go under Woodson? Can they make that playoff push, and maybe even win the division? Can they sweep the recent hostilities under the rug and continue to play ball? Time will tell. Right now you're seeing the Knicks best team basketball of the season. They need to keep it up. Because 23-24 is not good enough for the amount of talent on this team. It's certainly time to put up or shut up for Melo, but more importantly the entire team has been playing well.
Go Knicks. Hopefully this locker room turmoil is over, but time will tell.
"NYK all day"
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Melo-drama
What is wrong with the New York Knicks? In Feburuary the Knicks were possibly the most exciting team in the NBA. So far in March, they are a pitiful excuse for a team. The energy and excitement from the fans at Madison Square Garden has become looks of disgust and hollers of boo's. That is quite a transformation in so little time.
Going into the All Star Break the Knicks were 17-18. They had moved up to the seventh seed in the East after an impressive winning streak and the outbreak of Jeremy Lin. Now the Knicks are 18-23, and worse they have lost five games in a row. Yes, they lost to good teams like the Celtics, Spurs, Sixers, and Mavericks, but in every single game the Knicks had opportunities to win and failed to seize any one of them.
The Mavericks game was really unbelievable. The Knicks were losing badly in the fourth quarter when all of a sudden it became very interesting. Bench players like Steve Novak, and Iman Shumpert put in good defense and started to go on a run. Led by Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks miraculously managed to take the lead by a point after a terrific run. Dallas followed by calling a timeout. During the course of that timeout, the Mavericks put starters like Dirk Nowitzki back in the game, but also the Knicks put all of their starters back in the game and sat Novak and Shumpert. The very players that sparked the run. Needless to say the Knicks showed pitiful desire to steal a victory. Dallas put away the Knicks and won by ten.
That's one of many recent Knicks games that were truley disgusting. Yesterday though, it gets even more horrendous. The Knicks were playing the Sixers back at the Garden after a pitiful road trip. The Knicks were losing badly in the second half when once again bench players showed a little fire and made the game interesting. Only this time, head coach Mike D'Antoni decided to leave the bench players in to conclude the game while starters like Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire sat on the bench. The Knicks lost yet again, and following the game this sparked controversy.
Carmelo Anthony's response to him not coming back out to finish the fourth quarter was, "I really don't know what the coach's mindset was, maybe he was trying to save us for tomorrow, I'm not sure, that's something to ask him. I was fine, I guess he was saving me for tomorrow's game, that was the mindset out there."
Mike D'Antoni said, "Collectively our spirits not good, our defense is not very good at all, we just didn't do what we were supposed to do, and we've got to solve that somehow." It is clear that people are pouting and unhappy with the teams recent lack of success. Only it seems like people are pointing fingers as opposed to manning up individually to the failure. Tyson Chandler (the man with the ring) said it best, "It's not a team and the current team members are not accepting the assignment given to them."
What's happening here is the Knicks have lots of individual talent but no one understand their roles with the team. That is mostly on the coach. Mike D'Antoni needs to stop thinking about gameplan and different systems and just focus on team chemistry and encouraging the right thing from different players. Also, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire are both trying to be the leader of this team. Neither of them are it, Tyson Chandler should rightfully be the leader of this team. If that didn't come across their minds while they witnessed Chandler accepting his championship ring in Dallas then it never will.
Plain and simple, the Knicks are not a team. They have more than enough talent to be successful and yet they are far from it. The Knicks were able to have success with Melo and Amar'e out of the lineup because their ego's weren't clashing. They were able to play team basketball and run the floor the way Mike D'Antoni wanted them to.
Carmelo Anthony is more of a problem to this Knicks team than Amar'e Stoudemire is. He simply doesn't get it. The fact that when he is deliberately benched and simply thinks it's because the coach is saving him for tomorrow shows how self-centered and cocky he is. Yes, Melo led the team in points, but in a loss so who cares. His shot selection has been terrible, and that's because Carmelo thinks he has to lead the team in wins. Melo wants to win just as much as anybody on this team but he truley believes that in order for that to happen he has to put the team on his back every single night. That's not winning basketball, that's not team basketball, and that's certainly not even possibly a minor thought of championship basketball.
In order for the Knicks to become relevant again Mike D'Antoni needs to encourage team unity and have every single player understand how they can make the team better as a whole. That is a tall task, but right now all Mike D'Antoni has done was change up rotations in the lineup once in a while.
It's easy for Knicks fans to get angry and blame Melo and maybe even say get rid of him if the team continues to struggle. Fans will claim that the Melo trade last year was a bust and that he's a ball hog and the whole nine yards. But truthfully Knicks fans do not need another Stephon Marbury. What Knicks fans need is a head coach with every intent of taking the Knicks to the promise land. Knicks fans have not had that since Jeff Van Gundy.
Now it is true that in sports sometimes the authority of owners can undermine the power of head coaches. It's possible that can be the case with James Dolan. How many coaches have these guys seen? Larry Brown, Isaiah Thomas, Mike D'Antoni, do none of these guys know basketball? It's truley difficult to even speak of Isaiah Thomas' name but the point is Dolan has seen numerous head coaches. The last truley good head coach the Knicks had was Jeff Van Gundy. During his time as assistant coach in the early nineties, and eventually head coach from March 8th 1996 until his abrupt resignation on December 8th, 2001. During that time the Knicks were a disturbing force of nature, wreaking havoc in the league year after year. His resignation was a sad day for Knicks fans, because since then the Knicks have been a complete joke.
Why would Van Gundy abruptly resign as Knicks head coach after so much success. His resignation remains a mystery, but he claims he could not do all he felt he needed to do to help the team win. What could that possibly mean? Salary cap problems the team was going through, or was someone preventing him from doing his job? It's very possible the interference from the owners or people of higher authority in the Knicks organization was giving him problems. And perhaps that's why the Knick have failed to generate a season in which a playoff series was won since 2000.
This blog has digressed and raised some speculations, but the fact is the Knicks are far from what they should be. The players are serious under achievers do to their inability to coexist with their teammates. This goes particularly for Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.
Knicks players need to understand that changes need to be made, or changes will be made.
Still plenty of games left. Maybe the Knicks can get hot again. Pray that it does or the Garden will become a serious hostile environment that Knicks fans are all too familiar with.
Going into the All Star Break the Knicks were 17-18. They had moved up to the seventh seed in the East after an impressive winning streak and the outbreak of Jeremy Lin. Now the Knicks are 18-23, and worse they have lost five games in a row. Yes, they lost to good teams like the Celtics, Spurs, Sixers, and Mavericks, but in every single game the Knicks had opportunities to win and failed to seize any one of them.
The Mavericks game was really unbelievable. The Knicks were losing badly in the fourth quarter when all of a sudden it became very interesting. Bench players like Steve Novak, and Iman Shumpert put in good defense and started to go on a run. Led by Amar'e Stoudemire, the Knicks miraculously managed to take the lead by a point after a terrific run. Dallas followed by calling a timeout. During the course of that timeout, the Mavericks put starters like Dirk Nowitzki back in the game, but also the Knicks put all of their starters back in the game and sat Novak and Shumpert. The very players that sparked the run. Needless to say the Knicks showed pitiful desire to steal a victory. Dallas put away the Knicks and won by ten.
That's one of many recent Knicks games that were truley disgusting. Yesterday though, it gets even more horrendous. The Knicks were playing the Sixers back at the Garden after a pitiful road trip. The Knicks were losing badly in the second half when once again bench players showed a little fire and made the game interesting. Only this time, head coach Mike D'Antoni decided to leave the bench players in to conclude the game while starters like Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire sat on the bench. The Knicks lost yet again, and following the game this sparked controversy.
Carmelo Anthony's response to him not coming back out to finish the fourth quarter was, "I really don't know what the coach's mindset was, maybe he was trying to save us for tomorrow, I'm not sure, that's something to ask him. I was fine, I guess he was saving me for tomorrow's game, that was the mindset out there."
Mike D'Antoni said, "Collectively our spirits not good, our defense is not very good at all, we just didn't do what we were supposed to do, and we've got to solve that somehow." It is clear that people are pouting and unhappy with the teams recent lack of success. Only it seems like people are pointing fingers as opposed to manning up individually to the failure. Tyson Chandler (the man with the ring) said it best, "It's not a team and the current team members are not accepting the assignment given to them."
What's happening here is the Knicks have lots of individual talent but no one understand their roles with the team. That is mostly on the coach. Mike D'Antoni needs to stop thinking about gameplan and different systems and just focus on team chemistry and encouraging the right thing from different players. Also, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire are both trying to be the leader of this team. Neither of them are it, Tyson Chandler should rightfully be the leader of this team. If that didn't come across their minds while they witnessed Chandler accepting his championship ring in Dallas then it never will.
Plain and simple, the Knicks are not a team. They have more than enough talent to be successful and yet they are far from it. The Knicks were able to have success with Melo and Amar'e out of the lineup because their ego's weren't clashing. They were able to play team basketball and run the floor the way Mike D'Antoni wanted them to.
Carmelo Anthony is more of a problem to this Knicks team than Amar'e Stoudemire is. He simply doesn't get it. The fact that when he is deliberately benched and simply thinks it's because the coach is saving him for tomorrow shows how self-centered and cocky he is. Yes, Melo led the team in points, but in a loss so who cares. His shot selection has been terrible, and that's because Carmelo thinks he has to lead the team in wins. Melo wants to win just as much as anybody on this team but he truley believes that in order for that to happen he has to put the team on his back every single night. That's not winning basketball, that's not team basketball, and that's certainly not even possibly a minor thought of championship basketball.
In order for the Knicks to become relevant again Mike D'Antoni needs to encourage team unity and have every single player understand how they can make the team better as a whole. That is a tall task, but right now all Mike D'Antoni has done was change up rotations in the lineup once in a while.
It's easy for Knicks fans to get angry and blame Melo and maybe even say get rid of him if the team continues to struggle. Fans will claim that the Melo trade last year was a bust and that he's a ball hog and the whole nine yards. But truthfully Knicks fans do not need another Stephon Marbury. What Knicks fans need is a head coach with every intent of taking the Knicks to the promise land. Knicks fans have not had that since Jeff Van Gundy.
Now it is true that in sports sometimes the authority of owners can undermine the power of head coaches. It's possible that can be the case with James Dolan. How many coaches have these guys seen? Larry Brown, Isaiah Thomas, Mike D'Antoni, do none of these guys know basketball? It's truley difficult to even speak of Isaiah Thomas' name but the point is Dolan has seen numerous head coaches. The last truley good head coach the Knicks had was Jeff Van Gundy. During his time as assistant coach in the early nineties, and eventually head coach from March 8th 1996 until his abrupt resignation on December 8th, 2001. During that time the Knicks were a disturbing force of nature, wreaking havoc in the league year after year. His resignation was a sad day for Knicks fans, because since then the Knicks have been a complete joke.
Why would Van Gundy abruptly resign as Knicks head coach after so much success. His resignation remains a mystery, but he claims he could not do all he felt he needed to do to help the team win. What could that possibly mean? Salary cap problems the team was going through, or was someone preventing him from doing his job? It's very possible the interference from the owners or people of higher authority in the Knicks organization was giving him problems. And perhaps that's why the Knick have failed to generate a season in which a playoff series was won since 2000.
This blog has digressed and raised some speculations, but the fact is the Knicks are far from what they should be. The players are serious under achievers do to their inability to coexist with their teammates. This goes particularly for Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.
Knicks players need to understand that changes need to be made, or changes will be made.
Still plenty of games left. Maybe the Knicks can get hot again. Pray that it does or the Garden will become a serious hostile environment that Knicks fans are all too familiar with.
Monday, March 5, 2012
A Look Ahead at the Knicks
So far Knicks fans have witnessed a season that has been full of ups and downs. The rise of Linsanity is something no sports fan can ever forget. A Harvard graduate, undrafted, cut twice, signed off of the D-League, it simply couldn't be scripted. Jeremy Lin is a good person, and his rise to the starting lineup, and more importantly his ability to revitalize the New York Knicks, has excited basketball fans across the nation.
That being said, the Knicks have a mediocre 18-19 record and are 8th in the Eastern Conference. Sure, the Knicks were 8-15 before Lin became the starting point guard and shocked the world, but a .500 ball club means one thing: inconsistency.
During Lin's incredible seven game winning streak, the Knicks were slowly but surely getting healthy. Amar'e rejoined the team after dealing with personal issues, Melo recovered from his injury, and soon so did Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert. Then following the signing of J.R. Smith the Knicks actually had four (count'em four!) legitimate guards to work within the rotation. The Knicks are officially healthy and have depth at every position. Steve Novak has been nothing short of excellent. Jared Jeffries has played terrific defense and there has been exciting play from everyone on the team. So it's official, the Knicks have absolutely no excuse.
Sure, the Knicks have had very limited practice time with their new healthy squad, and the lockout shortened season is a serious bummer. But it is time to stop making excuses and step up. There have been some exciting wins with this team but there have been some disappointing losses against Miami and Boston, possibly two teams Knicks fans may currently hate the most.
What does that tell you? Pressure is effecting this team. Yes, both those games against the Heat and Celtics were on the road, two very hostile enviornments. But those are wins you need to have if you want to have hope for this team. It does not seem like the Knicks have what it takes to close out games just yet.
In fact, the Knicks Celtics game this past Sunday is symbolic of where the Knicks are right now. Close, but no cigar. The team was hustling and their heart was in it from beginning to end, but as we've seen so many times before, when it comes to crunch time the Celtics have more experience. Our nemesis, Paul Pierce drained a three to tie the game towards the end of regulation. Yes, the shot was a prayer and Shumpert contested it well. But the bigger issue is the Knicks still had time for a shot of their own. The ball was inbounded to Lin (who had hit a clutch three, and had six total points to finish the 4th quarter after one of his worse starts as a Knick) and he instantly got it to Melo.
Carmelo Anthony has said himself that he wants the last shot in a game winning situation, and that's understandable he's hit numerous big shots over the years and that's why he get's paid the big bucks. But this idea collides with basketball fundamentals, such as a crazy thought like passing to the open man. Or, if Melo needs the ball so badly why wasn't a play designed to get him a good look rather then just watch him put up an off balance shot?
Realistically yes, Melo should be taking our game winning shot. Just like Paul Pierce had to be the man to put the dagger in Knicks fans hearts. But is Paul Pierce the only one to have won the game in those buzzer beaters Knicks fans are all too familiar with over recent games? If Paul Pierce were to have been double teamed he would have passed the ball to someone like Ray Allen who also probably had a reasonable chance of destroying Knicks fans hearts.
The point is the Celtics are more of a team because they truley believe that anyone on the court can hit the game winner (and they all have). It's something called belief, and it's essential to team unity. For this reason, the Celtics are on a higher level then the Knicks (despite a similar record). The bitter truth is confidence is difficult for a Knicks franchise that has failed to have been a contender for the title since at least 2000, and even worse hasn't won a championship since 1974.
In order for these Knicks to be meaningful they have to believe in each other. The Knicks need to overcome all obstacles, distractions, expectations and just get it done for the sake of the team and no other reason. For a team that's been as hopeless as the Knicks over the years, that seems like a pretty tall task for a lockout shortened season, and a team that may or may not be on the same page.
But in a month that's been as Linsane as this one, there's reason to believe that maybe the Knicks can come together. Deep down in every Knicks fans heart there is still hope. It has nothing to do with talent or skill, it has to do with playing as one with one mindset: to win by any means necessary.
Go Knicks. Believe it, and anything is possible. This season is still there for the taking.
That being said, the Knicks have a mediocre 18-19 record and are 8th in the Eastern Conference. Sure, the Knicks were 8-15 before Lin became the starting point guard and shocked the world, but a .500 ball club means one thing: inconsistency.
During Lin's incredible seven game winning streak, the Knicks were slowly but surely getting healthy. Amar'e rejoined the team after dealing with personal issues, Melo recovered from his injury, and soon so did Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert. Then following the signing of J.R. Smith the Knicks actually had four (count'em four!) legitimate guards to work within the rotation. The Knicks are officially healthy and have depth at every position. Steve Novak has been nothing short of excellent. Jared Jeffries has played terrific defense and there has been exciting play from everyone on the team. So it's official, the Knicks have absolutely no excuse.
Sure, the Knicks have had very limited practice time with their new healthy squad, and the lockout shortened season is a serious bummer. But it is time to stop making excuses and step up. There have been some exciting wins with this team but there have been some disappointing losses against Miami and Boston, possibly two teams Knicks fans may currently hate the most.
What does that tell you? Pressure is effecting this team. Yes, both those games against the Heat and Celtics were on the road, two very hostile enviornments. But those are wins you need to have if you want to have hope for this team. It does not seem like the Knicks have what it takes to close out games just yet.
In fact, the Knicks Celtics game this past Sunday is symbolic of where the Knicks are right now. Close, but no cigar. The team was hustling and their heart was in it from beginning to end, but as we've seen so many times before, when it comes to crunch time the Celtics have more experience. Our nemesis, Paul Pierce drained a three to tie the game towards the end of regulation. Yes, the shot was a prayer and Shumpert contested it well. But the bigger issue is the Knicks still had time for a shot of their own. The ball was inbounded to Lin (who had hit a clutch three, and had six total points to finish the 4th quarter after one of his worse starts as a Knick) and he instantly got it to Melo.
Carmelo Anthony has said himself that he wants the last shot in a game winning situation, and that's understandable he's hit numerous big shots over the years and that's why he get's paid the big bucks. But this idea collides with basketball fundamentals, such as a crazy thought like passing to the open man. Or, if Melo needs the ball so badly why wasn't a play designed to get him a good look rather then just watch him put up an off balance shot?
Realistically yes, Melo should be taking our game winning shot. Just like Paul Pierce had to be the man to put the dagger in Knicks fans hearts. But is Paul Pierce the only one to have won the game in those buzzer beaters Knicks fans are all too familiar with over recent games? If Paul Pierce were to have been double teamed he would have passed the ball to someone like Ray Allen who also probably had a reasonable chance of destroying Knicks fans hearts.
The point is the Celtics are more of a team because they truley believe that anyone on the court can hit the game winner (and they all have). It's something called belief, and it's essential to team unity. For this reason, the Celtics are on a higher level then the Knicks (despite a similar record). The bitter truth is confidence is difficult for a Knicks franchise that has failed to have been a contender for the title since at least 2000, and even worse hasn't won a championship since 1974.
In order for these Knicks to be meaningful they have to believe in each other. The Knicks need to overcome all obstacles, distractions, expectations and just get it done for the sake of the team and no other reason. For a team that's been as hopeless as the Knicks over the years, that seems like a pretty tall task for a lockout shortened season, and a team that may or may not be on the same page.
But in a month that's been as Linsane as this one, there's reason to believe that maybe the Knicks can come together. Deep down in every Knicks fans heart there is still hope. It has nothing to do with talent or skill, it has to do with playing as one with one mindset: to win by any means necessary.
Go Knicks. Believe it, and anything is possible. This season is still there for the taking.
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