Woe of the Knicks

Now I'm originally from New York (not the city, but still, close enough), and I try very hard to like the Knicks, really. However, everything that happened this season has just made it that much more difficult to like an utterly unlikeable team. A lot of people thought that this season would be different, on paper the Knicks had a solid team that looked good. Stephon Marbury at the point, who, despite all his antics is still a decent PG who can shoot, drive, and pass. Jamal Crawford at the 2, another ball sharer and scorer. Quentin Richardson at the 3, a good pull-up shooter, and liable to get hot beyond the arc. Zach Randolph at the 4, a big bruiser, who is always in consideration for a 20-10 night. Eddy Curry in the middle, a burgeoning center who is also a large force in the middle. Then we have hardworking Nate Robinson and David Lee coming off the bench for some support. Looks good on paper right? That's about as far as it goes though.

I can probably trace all of the Knicks' woes to Isaiah Thomas somehow, but lets say regardless of the coaching, and just look at the roster. I knew a lot of people that said that Curry and Randolph would be beasts in the low post for the knicks (both coming off approximately 20-10 seasons), but the problem of coexistence reigns supreme. When we look at the play of both Randolph and Curry, we have to stop and say, "Gee, the way they play is kinda similar to each other." We have a 6-9 power forward and a 6-11 center who sooner turn the ball over than pass it to anybody. Both have the mentality of being at the center of the team, and ultimately what happened was they cannibalized each other's stats. Any night Randolph went 20-10 Curry went 4-6 and vice versa. Furthermore, you add an inside player that doesn't play defense, everyone has criticized both Curry and Randolph on the abominal defense they play, and how slow they are to get back. So what do we get? Two big men in the middle who would probably turn it over, and let Detroit (one of the slowest teams in the NBA) bring it up half court with announcers considering whether or not to call it a 5-on-3 fast break. I exaggerate a little, but you get the picture.

Now let's look at what's happened to the team. Everyone sort of has this "me-first" mentailty on the Knicks so it's not surprising that they've sort of fallen apart. Randolph now believes with Curry and Marbury sidelined for the rest of the season due to surgery, it's his team, he has to do everything, play every position. Obviously he's wrong. There is a reason that the Blazers were so eager to get rid of him, and it's showing why. Marbury and Curry are out, and now we understand why they start instead of Fred Jones, Jared Jeffries, and Wilson Chandler. Quentin Richardson has proven to be at best, to have T-Mac's injury prone body and a pre-22-game win streak Rafer Alston's brick prone shot. Jamal Crawford, David Lee, and Nate Robinson are great players, but not the stuff to keep a franchise afloat. It's been said before, and I'll say it again, New York, it's time to blow up.