N.Y. Knicks: A New Era or Another Error
One of the NBA’s all time franchises has a new coach and a new look
Original NBA team has seen some thick and a lot of thin
The New York Knicks are one of two charter members of the NBA (along with the Boston Celtics) who are still based in their original cities. It’s a long and storied history that has featured many ups and downs.
The Knicks won their only two NBA Championships in the 1970’s, (compare that to Boston having won 17) but they experienced a successful run in the 1990’s with Hall of Fame Center Patrick Ewing. Since Ewing was traded in September of 2000, the Knicks have only had one winning record (the 2000-’01 season) and have made the playoffs a total of two times in that span.
Knicks will run the floor like never before
Veteran basketball man Donnie Walsh was brought in to clean up Isiah Thomas’ mess.
Walsh brought in Coach D’Antoni from the Phoenix Suns, where he employed an up tempo style of basketball that nearly won a championship in the Valley of the Sun.
Midtown Manhattan can be a "valley of despair" when the Knicks don’t win but its worse when a team is boring in doing it.
D’Antoni figures to improve the excitement level if nothing else but does he have the players to win. That remains to be seen.
Defense is Lacking
You don’t win in the NBA without defense and that’s a big reason why the Knicks haven’t won lately.
New York’s defense has ranked among the league’s worst the past few years and it don’t figure to get much better with a coach that stresses offense. D’Antoni taught defense in Phoenix, its just that the Suns didn’t play it, nor did they need to, at least in the regular season, with the way they could score.
Lack of Star Power
The Knicks have some good players but no great ones. The thinking is that they can lure Cleveland’s LeBron James to New York when he becomes a free agent following the 2009-’10 season. The Knicks would have to be under the NBA’s salary cap by then in order to sign James. There is no guarantee that James would even come to New York to play for the Knicks.
In the meantime, Walsh will need to reshape his roster while trying to stay competitive in the next two years.
How will the Knicks do in the 2008-’09 season
As is the case with any new coach, some players will adapt well to the new style while some others won’t.
Speedy Nate Robinson will benefit from this new style as will gritty forward David Lee and the athletic Wilson Chandler.
Eddy Curry is one who will not take his game to another level under this new head coach. In fact, Curry has already earned a spot in D’Antoni’s "doghouse" as he’s been told he’s out of the rotation for now. The 6’11" center has never lived up to expectations ever since he was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bulls. That trade gave the Bulls two lottery picks while Curry has been a poster child of the Knicks futility the past few seasons.
The Knicks will improve upon their total of 23 wins last season but they are still a long ways off from being one of the NBA’s elite teams.
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