Five Keys to the Knicks Success
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Tommy Beer
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Nov 2, 2005, 11:24


GM Isiah Thomas overhauled the Knicks once again this summer. In less than two years, Zeke has completely gutted the roster. With Allan Houston retiring, there is no longer a single player that wore a Knicks uniform while Scott Layden was GM. Isiah has reshaped the Knicks into a younger and more athletic team, which should certainly make the team more entertaining and more enjoyable to watch. However, the Knicks have the highest payroll in the league and the league’s best coach on the sidelines, so New York fans who have been desperate for a quality product will be clamoring for marked improvement. Here are five issues facing the Knicks that will establish the direction they head in this year:

1) Follow the Leader: They say you can’t come home again. The Coney Island Kid is hoping to prove that axiom wrong. Soon after he was hired as GM, Isiah Thomas pulled off the blockbuster trade for Stephon Marbury. It has been anything but smooth sailing for the Brooklyn native. Larry Brown will be his fourth head coach in that short time. The roster has been in a constant state of flux. During that time, the Knicks have been desperate for a leader, but Marbury has not stepped up to the plate. No one can argue that Stephon is one of the most gifted and talented players in the NBA. He puts up rock-solid stats year after year. However, Marbury has never won a playoff series. And the knock on him is that he has never been able to make the teammates around him better. Well, it is now or never. Do or die time for Starbury. He has a talented supporting cast and a coach that has left a trail of reformed point guards at nearly every stop he makes. Brown may claim that he needs guys like Antonio Davis and Malik Rose to be locker-room leaders; but the fact is that this team will go as far as Marbury takes them. Will he lead them to the Promised Land or ping-pong balls?

2) Defense, Defense, Defense: If the Knicks want to make noise in June, they need to guard people from November through May. The Knicks allowed nearly 100 points a game last year (99.7 to be exact). They allowed opponents to shoot a blistering 46.5% from the field. That will simply not get it done. The two top defensive teams in the league last year were the Pistons and the Spurs. Was it a coincidence that they met in Finals? Larry Brown knows the value and importance of defense and the Knicks have the type of long, athletic players that can be molded into good defenders. Now it is just a question of getting stops.

3) The Eddy Curry Factor: The Knicks took a big gamble when they pulled the trigger on the Curry deal. But centers are so important in today’s NBA that it is a roll of the dice the organization had to make. Curry is the prototypical NBA pivot. He is big, strong, and quick. He is a beast once he catches the ball in the paint. He has great hands and a feathery soft touch. He is just 22 and has yet to even enter his prime. However, the Knicks would have never been able to get their hands on Curry if there were not mitigating circumstances. Curry’s weight has fluctuated throughout his career and it was reported that the Bulls were not enamored with his work ethic. And of course the situation regarding the health of his heart was the main catalyst in his departure from the Windy City. The heart issues will be a question mark until he can play a few years of incident free basketball. Nevertheless, players that possess the combination of Curry’s size and skill are very rare in the NBA. What remains to be seen is if Curry can put it all together.

4) The Rookies: For the first time in what seems like ages, the Knicks have a crop of young guns that the organization and the fans can get excited about. The trio of first round draft picks – Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, and David Lee – are all strong prospects with nice upside potential. However, each player brings something different to the table and it remains to be seen how they will be used, and how often. The rookie that will likely see the most playing time initially is Nate Robinson. The Knicks are loaded with depth in the front court so it may be tough for David Lee and/or Channing Frye to see significant minutes. On the other hand, after the starting pair of Marbury and Crawford, the Knicks do not have many guards to bring into the game. Robinson, who is already a fan favorite, will bring an intensity that the Garden and his teammates will feed off. Nate is a gritty defender (although I would like to see him press his man 94 feet when he is in there) and a gifted scorer who will find a way to make baskets. When Frye and Lee get in the game, they will also be expected to bring energy and passionate play. While the impacts of Frye and Lee may be limited early on, the Knicks are confident both will be significant contributors in the future.

5) Tested Early and Often: The schedule makers certainly did not do the Knicks any favors. The start of the season is especially tough on New York and they will have to come out of the gates firing on all cylinders if they want to make a strong early statement. The Knicks play 10 of their first 15 games on the road; including a grueling six game trip to the West Coast. The Eastern Conference is better and deeper than it has been in years, so each game on the Knicks schedule will be important if they want to make the playoffs. With this tough schedule, Larry Brown will not have as much time as he would like to experiment with the roster. The moral of the story is that Knicks fans should have a good gauge of what to expect from this team by the time December rolls around.

Posted by boomann:

I just dislike espn when they aren't showing games. All their programing other than the games and quite frankly is crap. Even sportscenter has gotten bad instead of showing us highlights they now show us jumpshots over and over again. Who in their right mind wants to see a Raja Bell jumpshot when Shawn Marion had like two dunks that were much better than a jumpshot highlight. And to put the icing on the cake, other than the guys who actually played basketball except Will Perdue their anaylsis and predictions are not very insightful. Hollinger, Stein, Simmons and the rest of those wacks can Suck my salty ballz. nuff said