"This team "is" garbage" uses the wrong verb. Whether this team "will be" garbage by late March, is a much more relevant questions. No one, including MS knows the answer to that question now. At least 3 things have to be decided first.
First, the Knicks have to master their new defensive alignment and everyone needs to prove they are willing to invest the extra energy it requires to be successful. Only then, will the Knicks be able to begin investing time on fixing their offense.
Second, the Knicks need to get quality point guard play to get the ball to the open man, particularly Amare in the right spots. Is Baron Davis able to get that job done, and can he stay healthy? Plus we can now see why Shumps' college shooting stats looked so unimpressive. He has so much self confidence, he seems able to persuade himself repeatedly that he is the best option to take the next shot. Hopefully, he can overcome his impulse to shoot so much, and concentrate more on passing the rock, and defense.
Finally, last season, it took most of the year for D. Wade and LBJ to become more comfortable sharing the ball. Clearly Amare and Melo need more time to work out how they can best cooperate with one another. I am also kind of wondering if it bothers Amare that he has gone from being a "rock star" at the garden, and now he is playing second fiddle to Melo.
The question MS should have answered is whether the Knicks will be garbage toward the end of March. Unfortunately for MS, he simply can't know how the the Knicks defense, the Knicks point guard play, and the playing relationship between Melo and Amare will change between now and then. I saw a couple of Giant games, particularly the second loss the Washington, that made it seem like they simply weren't going to be able to make the playoffs this year. It only proves how easy it is to jump to the wrong conclusion based on paying too much attention to premature evidence.
