5 Things To Know About The Knicks

1.) Offense V.S. Defense: The Celtics are the best defensive team in the league, the Knicks on the other hand aren’t even average. Taking Mike D’Atonio’s philosophy of offense first then defense, the Knicks have propelled themselves into the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. Unfortunately for them they’re going up against a team that prides itself on shutting down opposing offenses and if the Celtics are able to control the tempo the Knicks have no defense to fall back on. It’s funny to hear people speak so highly of the Knicks offense when in reality it’s all based around one thing, three pointers. If the Knicks aren’t hitting their shots its very hard for them to go to the pick and roll because everyone will collapse on Amar’e cutting and their offense becomes stagnant and doesn’t produce points

2.) The Knicks Are On Fire! ESPN sure knows how to build up a story, the Knicks have won eight so they must be a good team right? Well I’d like to disagree. They’ve beaten two teams with winning records, Hornets and Nuggets, and both teams are in serious chaos between a lack of leadership and Carmelo drama in Denver plus the slump New Orleans has hit. I’d describe this New York run simply as a decent team playing beyond expectations, beating up on bad teams and catching fire at the right time. Though not as great a feat it resembles the run Houston put together when they won 22 straight games with an undermanned team that shouldn’t have won 5 straight let alone 22.

3.) It’s All About The Point Guards: With 8 straight 30 point games Amare is taking a lot of the credit for the success his team is achieving. Look closer and there is another culprit whose fingerprints are all over the wins, Raymon Felton. Quietly having his most productive season yet Felton is off to a quick start and is proving to be a capable NBA point guard. Most people wondered how the transition from a small market team in North Carolina to New York would affect him and so far he’s proven he can handle the pressure. Though Ill explain later on I believe that Felton is as important to this team as Stoudemire.

4.) Amare Stoudemire For MVP: Folks I hate to break it to you but Amare one of the top forwards in the league, perennial all-star and dynamic scoring threat isn’t as good as people want to believe. Yes he scores a lot of points, commands double teams and has helped rebuild the once proud Knicks franchise but there’s something missing. As a big man and I mean 7 foot big man, why does he average les then 10 rebounds per game? Why do guards attack the rim with no fear of a defensive presence rolling over and sending their shot into the 3rd row? Traditional big men rebound, score in the paint and play defense now I understand the games changed and players have developed and that’s a good thing but they HAVE to keep the playing the roles that define their position. There is absolutely no excuse that a 34 year old KG who’s come off a knee injury should average more boards then Amare. I hate this new breed of big men that play like guards instead of big men .Its not only Amare the NBA is polluted by guys like Rashard Lewis and Antoine Jamison. If Amare ever wants to be remembered as a truly dominate NBA big man he needs to start rebounding and make himself a dominate low post threat.

5.) The Celtics Might Lose: Yes I just went through this whole article pointing out many faults of this Knicks team and all the advantages the Celtics have but there’s one glaring fact that pessimists like me cant ignore, the 2010 season. Last year the Celtics lose this game, they go into MSG thinking easy win and play lifeless basketball. I don’t believe that this is the same team as last year but with those memories still in my mind I can’t help but think “what if”. Hopefully the Celtics will put a strong effort and shutdown this overblown Knicks offense and cool down all the hype. My prediction is that if the Knicks don’t score over 90 points they can’t win so with that I’m picking the Celtics to win 97-88.

Injuries

So the Celtics are being hit hard by the injury bug and who would have guessed it would happen? With an average age of 30 years old it’s surprising at the amount of people who are missing at Tuesday’s practice. Okay, lets drop the sarcasm, this is exactly what a lot of people guessed would happen and it’s not exactly headline news. One of the major quips against this year’s Celtics team was that they were a lot of injury prone players or players that are on the wrong side of 30.
Whether you expected it or not, the amount of injuries piling up have to be a concern. There are the long term injuries to Kendrick Perkins, Delonte West and Jermaine O’Neal that we’ve already accepted but there a couple of nagging injuries that could cause some problems. The biggest and probably the most important has to be Rajon Rondo’s hamstring. Banner number 18 depends on the well being of Rondo and without him the Celtics simply aren’t the same team. Rondo isn’t the only point guard battling a leg injury; Nate Robinson seems to be dealing with a sore foot since the game against the Atlanta Hawks. If he needs anytime to heal up and Rondo is still not 100% we could be dealing with a depth issue at that position.
Shaq seems to be dealing with an injury that players at his age usually don’t deal with, with ONLY 18 years of NBA experience and at the young of age 38, the whole Celtics organization seems to be perplexed at why his knee’s are constantly sore and cause pain (I’m sorry I promise no more jokes). Glen Davis was also sent home from practice with a severe fever and is questionable for Wednesday’s game against Denver. The Celtics seem to be hitting a rough patch but December victories aren’t what this team is built to accomplish. Yes, they should be trying to get home court advantage but if that means playing these injured players then I guess they’re going to be on the road for the Finals. If the team is back and healthy anytime before the all star break then I consider that a success and something to be grateful for.

Power Rankings

Well a lot has changed in the NBA since our last rankings, the Hornets have reverted to the mediocre team we all expected, the defending champs went on a 4 game losing streak and the mighty Celtics have continued to dominate (yes I’m still a homer). I know its early in the season but I’m also taking back something I said in the previous rankings, hint the Celtics aren’t behind the Lakers anymore.
1.) Boston Celtics- How can I deny a team that’s on an impressive 10 game winning streak and are playing some great basketball even though they’ve been plagued with injuries. Kevin Garnett is playing some amazing ball and some of the rebounding numbers hes getting are flat out ridiculous comparing to how he struggled last year
2.) Dallas Mavericks- With a 16-4 record the Mavericks are surprising many people with their play and seem to be a serious contender in the West. They have been ending teams streaks and have six straight wins at home. A quick glance at their schedule and you can see they have the potential to go on a monster streak with the lousy teams they play.
3.) San Antonio Spurs- They seem to be borrowing the Utah Jazz’s blueprint for success, go down by at least 15 points and comeback to win the game in the fourth quarter. Four wins this week have come when they were trailing and they have now matched the team’s best start through 20 games. I said this last week and I’ll say it again GO AWAY.
4.) Orlando Magic- The NBA season had started about a month ago but flu season is just hitting Orlando. They’ve been hit by a serious virus and multiple players have been missing games while recovering, what they can be proud of? Their still 15-5.
5.) Utah Jazz- Great point guard, great coach and a deep team are things a lot of people overlooked when deciding the fate of the Jazz and Deron Williams seems to be on a mission to prove every one wrong. An early MVP candidate he seems poised to have a break through season.