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holfresh
Posts: 38679
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Joined: 1/14/2006
Member: #1081
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I missed this over the w/e..not sure if you guys caught this article:
Will The Knicks Have Shown 'Significant Improvement' By Season's End?
The All-Star break might be a month away, but for the New York Knicks it certainly feels like they’ve hit a judgment point in the season.
The Knicks have already played in two triple-overtime games (Memphis and Detroit), won on a miraculous tip-in (Charlotte), faced constant lineup decisions due to injuries, and incited a brawl that spilled into the stands resulting in long suspensions.
No matter one’s opinion on the players, the coach, or the owner, it’s impossible to argue that the Knicks’ season hasn’t been entirely entertaining at every twist and turn.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, New Yorkers don’t suffer from a lack of choice of entertainment and will only get back behind this team if the product quality on the court is improving. With owner James Dolan’s edict to coach/president/villain Isiah Thomas to show “significant improvement,” or vacate the Garden, it’s a good time to look back at ten stories from the first half and the things to look out for in the second half.
10. EDDY CURRY, EDDY CURRY, EDDY CURRY!!
Coming into the season, Isiah Thomas declared the Knicks would live and die on Eddy Curry’s performance. If this is true, the Knicks might have a lot to look forward to. After a string of twenty point performances, and several dominant games, Eddy Curry has established himself as one of the top centers in the game and a budding All-Star. Isiah has dictated that the Knicks will pound it inside every night, and has left no doubt as to who the team’s first option is. Curry is still a defensive liability and will need to continue to work hard and show he wants to be dominant every single night, but it seems that Isiah might be vindicated in betting on the big man last summer.
9. Starbury vs. Marbury
The first thirty games couldn’t have gone worse for “Starbury.” The boos that greeted him every game resulted in poor play, complaints about his role, and a series of mind games with his supposed friend in coach Isiah Thomas. Now the former All-Star is playing with a spark that has been missing for years, finding his teammates at the right times, attacking the basket the other times, benefiting from Curry’s double teams, defending, and most importantly acting like the team’s leader.
8. Injuries
From the onset of the season Isiah has been telling anyone who will listen that the team shouldn’t be judged until his full roster has played together. While he has seemingly forgotten that injuries play a role on every team, you can’t blame a coach in a put-up or shut-up year for asking for some leeway. Now that pre-season starting forwards Jared Jefferies and Channing Frye are comfortably back from their injuries, and Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson are returning from their injury and suspension respectively, the team is finally at a whole.
7. Rotation Questions
Ironically, Isiah has gotten his full lineup back at a time where the Knicks are playing their best ball of the season. He is left having to decide what role Richardson and Robinson should play on a team that was gelling in their absence. Isiah has to find the proper middle of the lineup to compliment Marbury and Curry. He claims he’s happy to have all of his “weapons” and “guns” for his arsenal, but he has some tough decisions to make.
6. David Lee
Isiah has to solve the David Lee question. The second year forward has come out of nowhere and captured Knicks’ fans hearts. He is the clear Sixth Man of the Year up to this point, but when he has started the Knicks win. He is capable of grabbing twenty rebounds any night and can score ten-fifteen points seemingly without taking a shot. With one more season at this level, Lee is going to hit the Charles Oakley stratosphere of fan admiration, and get the key to the city, but it seems like he’ll still be coming off the bench.
5. Steve Francis
Has any player in recent memory fallen from superstardom so fast? Not only did Francis start out with a questionable welcome from the organization, but also now he’s left the team to rehab. Is he going to be healthy enough to come back this season? Would the team let him? Is he going to get bought out? At this point Francis isn’t a factor in the Knicks season, and fans will consider that a blessing.
4. Improvements to Come
The Knicks are still a long win streak away from being above .500 for the first time in a long time. They need to stop taking off-nights resulting in blowout losses, stop falling behind early and trying to comeback, start to defend better, and play with more control. They have to solve the line up issues, and hope Curry can learn how to pass out of the double team. There are a lot of questions about this team, and Knicks’ fans don’t know whether they will challenge for a playoff spot or collapse like last season.
3. The Real McCoy?
The Knicks currently sit at 16-21. Last year under Larry Brown the team was 13-23, but had just completed a six game win streak that had the city rejoicing. What followed was one of the most inexplicable and monumental failures in Knick history, which left the team scrounging out a win or two in between long losing streaks, making two desperate trades at the deadline, and firing a coach. Considering they sit only a few games ahead of their record last year, is there reason to think this season might end differently?
2. Is Something Growing in the Garden?
Fitting into the almost comical state the Knicks have been in the past few years, MSG invented the “visitor court advantage” the beginning of this year. The Knicks would get booed on a consistent basis and were unable to win at home. Now Isiah claims the team “misses” the Garden when they are on the road. What has caused the turnaround? Winning. The Knicks started 1-7 at home and are now 9-10 having won five in a row. They have won several overtime buzzer beaters, a triple overtime game and in general have played with a spark since the brawl. They are playing with a chip on their shoulder and playing for their coach who has believed in them when no one else has. Attendance is up, the atmosphere is exciting, and the fans seem to be responding.
1. Isiah Thomas
Quite simply, Isiah has shown significant progress. He has established an identity for the team, and it really looks like he is starting to make them gel on the court. If Isiah can solve the rotation questions he could steer the Knicks to a playoff appearance. This step would guarantee his job for at least one more year, but it would take a magical run for Isiah to win back the fans.
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1/14/2007 11:00 PM
