As a New York Knicks fan since about 2003, I’ve been conditioned to doubt every promising thing that happens to the team. I don’t care if the NBA is “Where Amazing Happens.” I don’t buy those ads on the 1 train that try to convince me that Carmelo Anthony and Allen Houston share some warm, yet awkward and shallow New Yorker nostalgia. If it were up to me, there would be a 250 foot billboard outside of Madison Square Garden that says “Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch,” and slap a picture of Isaiah Thomas cackling with Stephon Marbury on there for good measure. This is a team that, despite relentless media hype, a huge market, and deep pockets, has failed to live up to high expectations and more importantly, ruined the state of New York basketball for the past decade. Since 2003, the team has endured eight sad seasons, only two playoff appearances, a winning percentage below forty percent, zero playoff wins (0-8), and fourteen trillion bad transactions (source: my tear-stained diary.)
Because of this, I cannot say that I have felt truly confident about a single significant decision the team has made in a very long time. When they tried to field a backcourt of Starbury and Steve Francis in 2005, I didn’t buy that the two would be able to coexist. A twenty-three win season later, my point was proven. After David Stern uttered the names Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins in the ’06 draft, I sat confused on my couch wondering what they were thinking. Collins was out of the NBA by twenty-six and Balkman was just waived by the Knicks after six underwhelming seasons. Even after the team acquired Carmelo last winter, I insisted that they may had given up too much of their core foundation for too little. Lo and behold, the post-Carmelo Knicks have played well under .500 ball and were embarrassed by the Celtics in a four game sweep last April.
I use these instances not to imply that I should take the job of the general manager of the Knicks, but rather to highlight the impulsiveness and naivety of New Yorkers and the New York media. Most current Knicks fans (read: Jeremy Lin fans) have started following the team because of the novelty of Lin and his resulting surge in the media. In the past few weeks I’ve met more lifelong Knicks fans than I have in the past ten years of my life combined.
The Knicks will not continue this pace for the rest of the season and it’s very important that these fans and analysts can handle that without losing their control. Playing on such a big stage makes the team as vulnerable to criticism as it is accepting to praise. The team faces a tough March schedule and if they drop three or four in a row, the city cannot turn their back on the squad. The worst thing you could possibly do to an inexperienced and vulnerable player like Lin is attack him. If ESPN New York starts pushing “Trade Carmelo” stories, ‘Melo is only going to hog the ball and force up bad shots to prove his role as top dog.
As basketball guru John Wooden said, “there is no progress without change, so you must have patience.” Baron Davis has only been practicing with the team for a few weeks. J.R. Smith was signed about a week ago and immediately inserted into the lineup. Carmelo and Stoudemire have not gotten ample practice time with Lin due to their injuries.
As we saw in the Miami Heat game last week, this is a Knicks team that still has many fatal flaws. Lin has turned the ball over at a historic rate. Carmelo is filling up the stat sheet but isn’t even in the top fifty in efficiency on the season. Stoudemire has often looked out of plays in the scheme of the offense, and his drop in scoring and rebounding reflect that.
As cliché as it may be, I believe that the long term success of this team falls on the shoulders of Coach Mike D’Antoni. The talent is clearly there. When Lin is playing well, the Knicks have one of the best starting lines in the NBA. With the sudden addition of Lin and J.R. Smith on top of Baron Davis coming back early from injury, the Knicks can comfortably run ten men deep. If this is the case, the issue becomes control of personnel and making sure that everyone is comfortable in their roles.
Carmelo cannot be playing point guard. Iman Shumpert cannot be coming off the bench and shooting twelve shots. Steve Novak should avoid the paint at all costs. The Knicks have become a team of very specialized players and if D’Antoni can maximize these specialties, they will be in good shape. Novak and Smith are excellent from beyond the arc. Keep them there. Lin and Amare can be deadly off of the pick-and-roll. Make that a focal point of your offense. Carmelo can abuse smaller defenders on the low block. Run sets that end with Anthony in the post. If I see another possession where the ball sits in Melo’s hands for twenty seconds before he jacks up an off-balance fadeaway with a hand in his face, I’ll turn off the television. This team is far too talented to be wasting possession not utilizing the unique skills of each player.
But I digress. The Knicks and New York need to keep their cool. This is a team that will more likely be the fifthor sixth seed in the East than the second or third and that is fine. I’d rather the squad enter the playoffs having each player know their role and be committed to winning than having Jeremy Lin scoring 40 points a game in losses. I hope the media and consequently every human being living in New York jump off the bandwagon and we can slip into the playoffs sitting on a lower pedestal and with a smaller bull’s eye on our backs.
I am by no means confident with the state of the Knicks right now. Rather, I am cautiously optimistic. In time and with smart decision making, this is a team that can compete for a title. If D’Antoni can foster a Doc Rivers-like sense of brotherhood and commitment to winning I predict that this team can go on to play with the Bulls and Heat deep into the playoffs. Lin, Carmelo, Stoudemire and a deep bench can push the pace and put up points against the best in the conference.
Still, if everything goes according to the proper Knicks plan, Carmelo will test positive for steroids, Stoudemire and Landy Fields will get into a locker room fist fight, Steve Novak will demand more playing time, Jeremy Lin will get sick of the bad puns and retire at the ripe age of twenty-three, and I’ll spend another long summer thinking what could have been.
