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.