In order to ignore the soul-crushing reality that 60-70% of New York fans are skipping around cloud 9 in drunken elation today (which includes my entire extended family), I’ll try and bring down everyone's collective mood in the best way possible: talking about the Knicks.
I wrote a few weeks ago about Maryland basketball being the type of frustrating team that’s ultimately forgivable. They play hard, and occasionally even look like the better team, but end up ultimately succumbing in most of their games because when it comes down to it, they just don’t have the goods right now.
The Knicks this season are the antithesis of Maryland. After being dealt garbage cards for the past decade, this looked like the year Knicks fans finally caught a hand to cash in on. Coming off of a playoff series against Boston that made me Wikipedia Murphy’s Law to see if it had been proven, the Knicks looked promising to start the season.
Carmelo and Amare alone weren’t going to make the Knicks a championship contender, but they were going to make it dangerous. A high-powered speed boat with a newly purchased anchor in the paint capable of blowing out inferior teams and putting a scare into 90% of the league. There were holes (the bench, a young inexperienced backcourt) but there were also finally stars IN THEIR PRIME back playing on Broadway. And if Baron Davis healed up quickly, or Landry Fields took a step forward, or the Toney Douglas in my mind finally manifested himself on the court, the possibilities would become even more intriguing.
Around this time, I was expecting to be embroiled in a battle for a home playoff series. The reality is scrapping for the right to face powerhouse Chicago with the likes of the Bogut-less Bucks, and the still freshly buried Cavaliers. I was expecting STAT-stuffed first halves and Melo fourth quarter fireworks. Instead, Amare is embroiled in the worst season of his professional career, and Carmelo will be an All-Star in name only.
And the worst part is, anyone can understand why they’re bad…but NO ONE can understand why they’re THIS BAD. The source of the most scrutiny is the lack of a top point guard, which is definitely a hindrance. But Jeff Teague (11 PPG, 5 APG) and Darren Collison (13 PPG, 5 APG) are the starters on two of the more successful teams in the eastern conference. Post-Melo trade Toney Douglas looked to be trending towards those numbers at the end of last season. But instead, it appears he’s completely lost cabin pressure, and Douglas has spent 2012 in a complete nosedive. His field goal percentage has dropped 9% and his 3 point shooting is down even further (2010: 37% 2011: 24%). What has happened to his scoring ability, and any semblance of basketball acumen, is anyone’s guess.
Even if Douglas were to have a shaky hand at the wheel, Baron Davis was originally expected to come back and steady the ship. Now when he returns (which is anyone’s guess), he’ll be tasked with dragging the Titanic to shore. Baron When Healthy And Motivated Davis is a very talented point guard with good court vision and the strength to finish in traffic. He’s also at least 4 years past his prime, a career 32% 3 shooter, and has made one All-NBA team (3rd team – 2004) in his entire career. Until he returns (at least three more weeks according to the Knicks) the team’s hopes at point guard will rest with Jeremy Lin. I’m as happy for Lin as anyone, and I’ve liked what I’ve seen the past two games, but what are the chances that a playoff team can be run by an undrafted 2nd year player who averaged 16 and 5 in the Ivy League?
Mike D’Antoni’s career in New York has played out like a “Chopped” episode. A bunch of bizarre and sometimes unpalatable ingredients that he’s been forced to try and meld into something cohesive. This team as presently constituted certainly doesn’t fit his “seven seconds or less” pick and roll heavy offense. But just like competitors in the show, sometimes it’s necessary to go outside your style and literally think outside the box to succeed. Remember, this is a coach who has been credited with revolutionizing how offensive basketball is played.
So…why can’t he do it? Why do so many possessions look like they were drawn up for a fucking 6 year old team? With four players clustered to one side of the court leaving crossing their fingers that Melo will create something on his giant private chunk of floor. Why is the ball movement settled pond-stagnant? Why does one of the more explosive finishers in the game drift listlessly on his orbit 20 feet away from the basket, seemingly neglecting his ability to draw fouls and hammer home dunks in favor of conciliatory jumpers?
So as rough as Mike D’s job has been, his inability to adapt to what he’s been given has been astoundingly frustrating for someone of his reputation. Instead, with some good ingredients finally available, Knicks fans have been served the same plate of blue and orange chicken shit that’s been a house special since 2001, when there is finally chicken salad on the menu. On reality TV that gets a contestant kicked off the show.
But where the hammer falls the heaviest is with the two names headlining the marquee. The coaching is certainly an issue, but nobody is delusional enough to believe the NBA is a coach’s league. Erik Spoelstra and Mike Brown have both reached the NBA finals and Vinny Del Negro is heading one of the best teams in the league. There are plenty of possible reasons that the Stoudemire-Anthony pairing has produced results well below its expected yield, but again, WHY?
Why wasn’t there a story this summer about the two stars getting together and talking about what they could each do (read: concede) to turn what should be into what is? Why is it that this marriage is just shy of a year old, and yet in their moments on the floor together, Amar’e and Carmelo still regularly look first date awkward?
And most importantly why, oh why, was tonight’s game with a cast of characters straight out of the Replacements the most entertaining, exciting, and ultimately satisfying Knicks game I’ve watched since Christmas? Six guys dressed up as the Knicks tonight and outperformed what has been billed as the “genuine article” for the past two months. This team of D-league all stars and bench players isn’t a sustainable source of wins, but the fact remains that the bootleg Knicks won a game against an above .500 team at home. A game I’m not sure the big league team would have pulled out. And it’s extremely worrisome the questions that thought brings up
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