New York reeled off seven straight wins, providing D'Antoni with a modicum of job security and breathing new life into a season that started with high expectations.

But Linsanity didn't mask everything for these Knicks. They were handcuffed by poor point guard play before Lin's arrival, they've struggled to knock down shots throughout the season and Amare Stoudemire is in the midst of the worst year of his career.

With all of that in mind, here are our first-half grades for the Knicks.

Knicks' position-by-position report card

PG Jeremy Lin: A-

Lin has done nothing short of save the Knicks' season in the first half. He emerged from an end-of-the-bench afterthought to the talk of the NBA, leading the Knicks to seven straight wins. He's the first player since the NBA-ABA merger to average at least 20 points and eight assists in his first 10 starts. The Harvard grad's grade suffers a bit because of his high number of turnovers (67 in his first 11 starts).

Pre-Lin, this grade would have been a D. The Knicks' front office gambled that Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby and Iman Shumpert could replace Chauncey Billups at point guard. And they lost. Badly. Prior to Lin's arrival the Knicks ranked 24th in offensive efficiency, 26th in turnover percentage and 25th in assist percentage.

SG Landry Fields: B-

Pre-Lin, this would have been a C, because Fields was struggling early on. Through most of the first month of the year, Fields resembled the same player who'd lost his way after Carmelo Anthony came to town, averaging just nine points and four rebounds in January. And that was after a strong close to the month. But Fields has emerged in February, averaging 11 points and 5.5 rebounds.

SF Carmelo Anthony: C

Give Anthony some credit for playing through pain earlier this season. But he ended up hurting the Knicks. In the six games Anthony played after returning from right ankle and left wrist injuries in January, he shot 32 percent (40 for 126). The Knicks went 1-5 during that stretch and were in the midst of losing 11 of 13. Making matters worse for Anthony, he sat out seven games in February with a groin injury and the Knicks went 6-1, led by the emergence of Lin.


PF Amare Stoudemire: C-

Stoudemire is in the midst of one of the worst shooting seasons of his career. It's even more alarming considering the MVP-like numbers he put up last season (25.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 50.2 percent shooting). This year, he's dropped to 17.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and a 44.5 shooting percentage. It was widely assumed that Stoudemire would pick things up with Lin running the show. But he's topped 20 points just twice in seven games sharing the floor with Lin.

C Tyson Chandler: A

Chandler has been as good as advertised, worth every penny of the $52 million contract he signed in the offseason. He's averaged 11.7 points per game and 9.6 rebounds, provided invaluable leadership in the locker room and helped turn around a Knicks defense that was laughable at times last season. Last season, D'Antoni's crew ranked 21st in defensive efficiency. This year? New York is sixth.
J.R. Smith


Bench: B-

For much of the season, you could point to the Knicks' bench as a weakness. Simply put, New York lacked a sixth man -- or a seventh or eighth man, for that matter. Aside from Shumpert and, at times, Josh Harrellson, they had little firepower off the bench. Douglas was ineffective, Bill Walker was inconsistent and Jared Jeffries made little impact. But Steve Novak emerged as an effective perimeter threat in early February, Baron Davis finally got healthy and J.R. Smith signed a free-agent deal. The bench should be a strength in the second half.

Coach Mike D'Antoni: C-

Looking big picture, it's hard to believe that a team with Chandler, Stoudemire and Anthony is 17-18 entering the All-Star break. So, it's easy to point to the coach when looking for someone to blame. Of course, D'Antoni did not have a point guard to run his system before Lin emerged and his two offensive stars have been either unhealthy or ineffective for much of the season. Still, the coach has not made the proper adjustments to maximize his talent, particularly those which would allow Anthony and Stoudemire to mesh.

GM Glen Grunwald: A-

Interim GM Grunwald (and assistants Mark Warkentein and John Gabriel) surprised many when they landed Chandler in the offseason. Most assumed they'd focus on going after Chris Paul. But netting Chandler proved to be a shrewd move (see above). Grunwald & Co. also landed Smith and Davis, whom they hope will prove to be capable backups in the backcourt. Does Grunwald deserve credit for Lin? Sure, though Lin was nearly cut by the Knicks. One mark against Grunwald's front office was its inability to find a suitable point guard before Lin's emergence.

Knicks' midseason awards

MVP: Lin. He is the first player since the NBA-ABA merger to average at least 20 points and eight assists in his first 10 starts. He led the Knicks to seven straight wins.

Defensive MVP: Chandler. He has been the key to the Knicks' improvement from 21st to sixth in defensive efficiency.

Linsanity on ESPNNewYork.com

When it comes to the Knicks' newest sensation, ESPN New York is all-Lin.
Lin: Game By Game Photo Gallery Latest

Biggest surprise: Lin. Emerged from the end of the bench to lead the Knicks to a 9-3 mark since he started playing significant minutes.

Biggest disappointment: Stoudemire. STAT's averaging 17 points and shooting just 44 percent from the floor -- career lows and a sharp drop-off from the MVP-type numbers he put up last year.

Best coaching move: Turning to Lin on Feb. 4 against the Nets after he hadn't shown much the night before against the Boston Celtics. Without that move, Linsanity never happens.

Worst coaching move: Stoudemire's lack of participation in the pick-and-roll game and the decision to allow Carmelo Anthony to play point forward.

Best offseason acquisition: Chandler (Lin was signed in-season). Chandler has scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds per game -- as good as advertised.

Worst offseason acquisition: Bibby. When they signed him, the Knicks hoped Bibby could contribute significant minutes at point guard. That never materialized. The 33-year-old is now stuck on the end of the bench.

Biggest concern: Will Anthony hurt the offensive cohesion established by Lin? The offense under Lin was predicated on ball movement; Anthony thrives in isolation.

Key to the second half: D'Antoni's ability to integrate Anthony, Davis and Smith into the offense that Lin had established during the Knicks' seven-game winning streak.

Gives MDA a C- because "...the coach has not made the proper adjustments to maximize his talent, particularly those which would allow Anthony and Stoudemire to mesh." but then goes on to say "...the offense under Lin was predicated on ball movement; Anthony thrives in isolation." as the biggest concern. Which is it, MDA's inability to mesh them or the fact that Carmelo thrives in isolation?

Another problem, cites "...the decision to allow Carmelo Anthony to play point forward." as the worst coaching move. What other option did MDA have? Using Carmelo as a "point forward" was an attempt to get Melo moving the rock!

Grunwald, not deserving of an A-. If he doesn't strike the gold thunder with Lin, the guy looks a lot worse. Pure **** for luck .

Also, worth noting: "Last season, D'Antoni's crew ranked 21st in defensive efficiency. This year? New York is sixth."

Nalod wrote:
Momentum adds grades.

Lin A- is silly. Dude gets a solid A or A+. Team was what before he started? Team was What after? If the knicks can't play .800 ball the second half under Lin thats a different "sememster". We'll grade him at the seaasons end.

MDA at the half. Say he gets a "D" in the first quarter and an A at the second quarter so give the man a C+, maybe even a B.

Chandler an A? In fairness his first 10-15 games not exactly the best job. Not his fault and it takes time to acclimate and of course Linsanity really helped his grade. If it helped his grade, it should have helped MDA. I give chandler a B+. He was great the second quarter but that first quarter pulled him down.

Splitting hairs? Maybe. The rest I would agree with.

going into the second half the potential is really there to make a big move.

I am a self-confessed Chandler fanboy, granted, but in my opinion the guy deserves nothing less than an A+. The only fault I can pick is sporadic bonehead fouling. Have we all forgotten how BRUTAL the Knicks defense was last year? Not only is this team legit on the defensive end, you can argue that many of the games they've won have been in spite of their offense and because of their defense. I place the lion's share or credit at Tyson Chandler's feet for that. Best free-agent pick-up that I can remember...

Gymkata wrote:

Nalod wrote:
Momentum adds grades.

Lin A- is silly. Dude gets a solid A or A+. Team was what before he started? Team was What after? If the knicks can't play .800 ball the second half under Lin thats a different "sememster". We'll grade him at the seaasons end.

MDA at the half. Say he gets a "D" in the first quarter and an A at the second quarter so give the man a C+, maybe even a B.

Chandler an A? In fairness his first 10-15 games not exactly the best job. Not his fault and it takes time to acclimate and of course Linsanity really helped his grade. If it helped his grade, it should have helped MDA. I give chandler a B+. He was great the second quarter but that first quarter pulled him down.

Splitting hairs? Maybe. The rest I would agree with.

going into the second half the potential is really there to make a big move.

I am a self-confessed Chandler fanboy, granted, but in my opinion the guy deserves nothing less than an A+. The only fault I can pick is sporadic bonehead fouling. Have we all forgotten how BRUTAL the Knicks defense was last year? Not only is this team legit on the defensive end, you can argue that many of the games they've won have been in spite of their offense and because of their defense. I place the lion's share or credit at Tyson Chandler's feet for that. Best free-agent pick-up that I can remember...

My grade was based on his first 10-15 games. Nobody got an A with a record as they were 7 games under .500.

Those games mattered. Im not saying it was his "fault" but there were games where his rebounding was not there. Lack of a camp and PG had a lot to do with it.

You got to grade on what was there. When Amare came out his play went up tremendous. In my opinion his play was a C, then an A which is why I gave him a B+.

Fanboy is cool, just be objective on the games earlier in the season.

Nalod wrote:
Momentum adds grades.

Lin A- is silly. Dude gets a solid A or A+. Team was what before he started? Team was What after? If the knicks can't play .800 ball the second half under Lin thats a different "sememster". We'll grade him at the seaasons end.

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:Grunwald: B, got Swagballs and Tyson; Lin was a gift from The Gods.

Sorry, but "Wack Sauce" is responsible for this.

Gymkata wrote:

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:Grunwald: B, got Swagballs and Tyson; Lin was a gift from The Gods.

Sorry, but "Wack Sauce" is responsible for this.

For what? I don't think he swayed Swagballs to New York.

Gymkata wrote:http://www.msg.com/videos/jr-smith-postgame-win-vs-mavs-219
"Melo, he really sealed the deal for me." 1:20 of the video.

Research is hard.

What am I grading the guy for? For his balling not his general manager skills.

The 'D' stands, GYMKATA!

And 'sealing' the deal is like putting the icing on a cake. You still have to bake the cake. Swagballs, like every other player in any league in any country in the world, came for the cash dollar bills; DON'T GET IT TWISTED!

Gymkata wrote:http://www.msg.com/videos/jr-smith-postgame-win-vs-mavs-219
"Melo, he really sealed the deal for me." 1:20 of the video.

Research is hard.

Gymkata wrote:

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:

Gymkata wrote:http://www.msg.com/videos/jr-smith-postgame-win-vs-mavs-219
"Melo, he really sealed the deal for me." 1:20 of the video.

Research is hard.

What am I grading the guy for? For his balling not his general manager skills.

The 'D' stands, GYMKATA!

And 'sealing' the deal is like putting the icing on a cake. You still have to bake the cake. Swagballs, like every other player in any league in any country in the world, came for the cash dollar bills; DON'T GET IT TWISTED!

You're entitled to whatever grade you want to give. Just imparting some education to you. You're welcome!

Check yo' self...

Before you WRECK YO' SELF, GYMKATA!!

Thanks for the education, I needs it!

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:Nah, you're not alone, I love to adulate on this.

Here is how it goes:

Jared Jeffries: A+, doing everything you want from him; the best glue guy in the league.

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:
Novak: A+, exceeding expectations, making it rain like never before in his career.

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:
MDA: A, team showed flashes of brilliance when they were playing true to his vision; 8-1

Totally ignoring Bibby gets you extra credit.