I am huge New York Knicks fan and have been for 15 years now. I have definitely had my share of good times and bad during that span so I have been somewhat delighted with their progress this year and the direction the franchise is headed, especially after the addition of Carmelo Anthony. However, I must say this team still has ways to go before they can be considered an elite or championship contending team.
So where are the problems and how can they be fixed? The biggest problem with this team is their commitment to playing defense. The last few championship teams (Lakers, Pistons, Spurs, Celtics) won mostly because of their defensive prowess. No team has ever won a title without playing good defense and I do not think that formula will ever change. The Knicks plan under Mike D'Antoni is in essence to outscore your opponent every night. That could get to be very exhausting and also relies on the team shooting well every night and could cause inconsistency in the success the team has. Playing good defense gives you that consistency and guarantees a team an opportunity to win even when they are not having a good offensive game. Now, I will give D'Antoni some credit for the offense he runs just for the fact that his teams put up a ton of points and sometimes are unstoppable. If the NBA was anything like the NFL where there are offensive and defensive coordinators, he would be the Mike Martz of the NBA. However, with that being said, I think we all see that his system has the potential to be good and win a lot of regular season games but when it comes to winning it all and putting it on display against the best of the best, it comes up short. His system was run to perfection in Phoenix and yet the farthest they could get was the Western Finals. The Knicks currently have too much invested in their team for that to be their peak especially with the East getting better and better with lots of teams on the rise. I will cut D'Antoni some slack for the fact that his roster has changed so frequently during his time with the Knicks and he has not been given an opportunity to work with any sort of a constant unit, but it doesn't change the fact that his "style" is not destined to succeed. Since the trade for Anthony the Knicks are 7-9 thus far, now I know it takes time to develop chemistry and continuity before people should start to panic. However, in this case there are some glaring holes that must be addressed.
First and foremost is the commitment to defense, I know in D'Antoni's system defense is not the top priority, however players should still be held accountable for their lack of effort on defense. The coach must make sure that the players are at the least giving their best effort. That is clearly not the case with the current Knicks team and it must be addressed or this team will not have much success in the playoffs. Rebounding, hustling, and defending the post or lack there of it have been a huge reason why the Knicks have been stumbling lately. Amare Stoudemire has been great for the Knicks, but even he needs improve his rebounding ability as does the whole team (except Landry Fields, top rebounding guard in league as a rookie is very impressive). Second chance points will continue to haunt this team if this is not addressed.
Next, if D'Antoni is going to run his system then maybe he should let Billups and Anthony know about it. D'Antoni's system consists of constant ball movement and finding the open man. However, when Billups and Anthony are on the court and have the ball in their hands it seems like the offense stops and becomes the exact opposite of what it intends to be. It becomes a lot of one-on-one plays, forcing up tough shots, and a lot of standing around. While D'Antoni is coach of this team he must get these guys to buy into the system he has implemented. That means that they will have to adjust the way they play as well. Billups is a pro and he will get it down, but Anthony must learn to play off the ball better, he cannot just expect to get the ball and try to create his own shots all the time. I know Anthony is a top scorer in this league and has an abundance of talent, however he cannot be content with that. He must step up and elevate his game. The Knicks gave up a lot to get him to New York, he needs to show them that he can be more of a playmaker and play within the offense. He needs to understand that along with Amare they can be lethal if they learn to play together. Having a full training camp together will definitely help but they should not consider this season a lost cause either.
I know some of the problems I have mentioned can be fixed with time and perhaps a few roster additions in the offseason to help build around Amare and Carmelo. However, if D'Antoni is to keep his job as Head Coach he may want to think about hiring an assistant with a strong defensive mentality to help balance this team out.
I think the Knicks are finally headed in the right direction at least but they are still a work in progress. Who knows maybe it will all click and this team will get it together over the last 12 regular season games and carry that momentum into a successful playoff run this year. In my opinion, they need to correct some issues before that will happen and hopefully they realize that because there is nothing I would like more than to see them be successful.
GET IT TOGETHER! GO KNICKS!!
