NEW YORK — Is it possible that we haven’t seen the New York Knicks play their best basketball yet?

I’m going to have to say “yes” to this one.

That seems a bit strange considering Carmelo Anthony’s MVP-caliber season and the team’s 25-13 record.

But all non-Knicks fans need to know – and should know – is that after the Knicks defeated the Detroit Pistons in London’s O2 arena on Thursday, the talk of the town wasn’t Anthony and the 26 points he dropped over on the other side of the Atlantic. And nobody really spent too much time talking about Tyson Chandler’s 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Instead, the two guys that dominated the media coverage in New York were Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert.

Remember those guys?

Stoudemire played 21 minutes and had his best game thus far with 17 points and four rebounds. Most promising, though, was that Stoudemire showed he still has a knack for moving without the ball. He rolled, he ran the floor, and he was found by both Anthony and Jason Kidd. Stoudemire’s good hands were on display, and he got to the free-throw line 12 times, making 11.

Most important to me, however, is that Stoudemire only got his shot thrown back in his face once. As his explosiveness has diminished, that was the most troubling trend we saw developing.

On Thursday, Stoudemire looked pretty good.

As for Shumpert? He was more than good.

Shumpert saw his first NBA action since April 28 and looked nothing like someone who had not played in eight months. He got the start – which Stoudemire didn’t in his return on New Year’s Day – and gave the Knicks 15 solid minutes.

Shumpert’s on-ball defense was excellent. He drained two of the three 3-pointers he attempted. He even had the courage to attempt to posterize Pistons big man Greg Monroe late in the first half.

The dunk attempt failed – Shumpert took off from outside the restricted area and tried to elevate over a near 7-footer. But the attempt itself from a 6-5 guard returning from ACL surgery was pretty amazing.

Together, Stoudemire and Shumpert have the potential to make the Knicks a more complete team.

Those that don’t see the Knicks as a credible threat to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference usually point to the team’s over-reliance on the 3-point shot, lack of a credible back to the basket interior scoring presence (aside from Anthony) and shaky perimeter defense as the main reasons.

Those concerns are credible.
But if Shumpert is 100 percent healthy, he has the ability to get to the basket and probably is the team’s best perimeter defender. Stoudemire, on the other hand, has shown flashes of slightly better footwork and fluidity operating out of the post. At the very least, he’s a much better catch-and-finish option than anyone on the roster not named Tyson Chandler.

With Kidd and rookie Pablo Prigioni directing the offense, Stoudemire will have the opportunity to make hay, even if he never re-enters the starting lineup.

Indeed, with Stoudemire and Shumpert back, the Knicks are closer to the NBA Finals than without them. Along with Woodson’s ability to incorporate them into the gameplan and Anthony’s ability to incorporate them on the court, whether or not they can help the team get over the hump depends on how well they can collectively improve on their weaknesses.

Stoudemire must become a more dominant rebounder and better defender. Shumpert, if he is to remain the starting shooting guard, must become a proficient corner pocket 3-point maker.

If those things happen — and in small samples, they both have — the already not-so-bad Knicks will be more than a “team to fear” come playoff time. They’ll have a legitimate chance to win the conference, regardless of Charles Barkley’s latest proclomation that the team is “fake.”

Despite a 5-5 stretch that’s seen the team play without starting point guard Raymond Felton, the Knicks are one of the East’s top teams and still have a very realistic chance of winning the top seed.

And once Felton returns, which is expected to be sooner rather than later, the Knicks will have the luxury of scaling back Kidd’s minutes on the ball and allowing him to play more shooting guard.

A guard rotation featuring Felton, Shumpert, Kidd and Smith and a frontcourt rotation featuring Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler playing the lion’s share of minutes with Steve Novak, rookie Chris Copeland and Rasheed Wallace (if he returns) picking up scraps, the Knicks easily have one of the NBA’s more talented ten-man rotations.

The other guys – Prigioni, Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, James White and Ronnie Brewer – likely will have to fall in where they fit in once all the bodies are available. Brewer had a stranglehold on the starting shooting guard spot after a great start to the season, but since his excruciatingly poor play has made the decision to bench him rather easy.

Even still, Brewer, along with the other four have each proven over the course of this season that they belong in the NBA and are capable of giving Woodson positive minutes, even if sparingly.

The Knicks have the depth they need to seriously challenge for this thing; all they need now is some good fortune, good coaching and time to develop some chemistry.

Despite those needs, the team is 25-13, leads the Atlantic Division and trails the Heat by just one game.

With two important players just returning to the lineup and their starting point guard about a week away, it’s easy to be optimistic about these Knicks.

For them, it’s very likely that the best is yet to come.

Moke Hamilton is a Senior NBA Columnist for SheridanHoops whose columns appear here on Fridays. Follow him on Twitter: @MokeHamilton
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/01/18/hamilton-with-stoudemire-and-shumpert-best-is-yet-to-come-for-knicks/2/

"Indeed, with Stoudemire and Shumpert back, the Knicks are closer to the NBA Finals than without them. Along with Woodson’s ability to incorporate them into the gameplan and Anthony’s ability to incorporate them on the court, whether or not they can help the team get over the hump depends on how well they can collectively improve on their weaknesses."

Finally a well informed article on the Knicks by the media instead of constantly questioning how Melo and Amare can co-exist

Ray and Shump in the backcourt gives us two relentless dogs that will defend and attack the rim which will make up for the lack of a true interior force on the offensive end. Ray's absence has hurt our number 1 option which is PNR. Ray will open things up even more for Chandler and Stat either from the pnr or on put backs.

CrushAlot wrote:Hamilton: With Stoudemire and Shumpert, Best is Yet to Come for Knicks
1 Comment

By Moke Hamilton
January 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

NEW YORK — Is it possible that we haven’t seen the New York Knicks play their best basketball yet?

I’m going to have to say “yes” to this one.

That seems a bit strange considering Carmelo Anthony’s MVP-caliber season and the team’s 25-13 record.

But all non-Knicks fans need to know – and should know – is that after the Knicks defeated the Detroit Pistons in London’s O2 arena on Thursday, the talk of the town wasn’t Anthony and the 26 points he dropped over on the other side of the Atlantic. And nobody really spent too much time talking about Tyson Chandler’s 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Instead, the two guys that dominated the media coverage in New York were Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert.

Remember those guys?

Stoudemire played 21 minutes and had his best game thus far with 17 points and four rebounds. Most promising, though, was that Stoudemire showed he still has a knack for moving without the ball. He rolled, he ran the floor, and he was found by both Anthony and Jason Kidd. Stoudemire’s good hands were on display, and he got to the free-throw line 12 times, making 11.

Most important to me, however, is that Stoudemire only got his shot thrown back in his face once. As his explosiveness has diminished, that was the most troubling trend we saw developing.

On Thursday, Stoudemire looked pretty good.

As for Shumpert? He was more than good.

Shumpert saw his first NBA action since April 28 and looked nothing like someone who had not played in eight months. He got the start – which Stoudemire didn’t in his return on New Year’s Day – and gave the Knicks 15 solid minutes.

Shumpert’s on-ball defense was excellent. He drained two of the three 3-pointers he attempted. He even had the courage to attempt to posterize Pistons big man Greg Monroe late in the first half.

The dunk attempt failed – Shumpert took off from outside the restricted area and tried to elevate over a near 7-footer. But the attempt itself from a 6-5 guard returning from ACL surgery was pretty amazing.

Together, Stoudemire and Shumpert have the potential to make the Knicks a more complete team.

Those that don’t see the Knicks as a credible threat to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference usually point to the team’s over-reliance on the 3-point shot, lack of a credible back to the basket interior scoring presence (aside from Anthony) and shaky perimeter defense as the main reasons.

Those concerns are credible.
But if Shumpert is 100 percent healthy, he has the ability to get to the basket and probably is the team’s best perimeter defender. Stoudemire, on the other hand, has shown flashes of slightly better footwork and fluidity operating out of the post. At the very least, he’s a much better catch-and-finish option than anyone on the roster not named Tyson Chandler.

With Kidd and rookie Pablo Prigioni directing the offense, Stoudemire will have the opportunity to make hay, even if he never re-enters the starting lineup.

Indeed, with Stoudemire and Shumpert back, the Knicks are closer to the NBA Finals than without them. Along with Woodson’s ability to incorporate them into the gameplan and Anthony’s ability to incorporate them on the court, whether or not they can help the team get over the hump depends on how well they can collectively improve on their weaknesses.

Stoudemire must become a more dominant rebounder and better defender. Shumpert, if he is to remain the starting shooting guard, must become a proficient corner pocket 3-point maker.

If those things happen — and in small samples, they both have — the already not-so-bad Knicks will be more than a “team to fear” come playoff time. They’ll have a legitimate chance to win the conference, regardless of Charles Barkley’s latest proclomation that the team is “fake.”

Despite a 5-5 stretch that’s seen the team play without starting point guard Raymond Felton, the Knicks are one of the East’s top teams and still have a very realistic chance of winning the top seed.

And once Felton returns, which is expected to be sooner rather than later, the Knicks will have the luxury of scaling back Kidd’s minutes on the ball and allowing him to play more shooting guard.

A guard rotation featuring Felton, Shumpert, Kidd and Smith and a frontcourt rotation featuring Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler playing the lion’s share of minutes with Steve Novak, rookie Chris Copeland and Rasheed Wallace (if he returns) picking up scraps, the Knicks easily have one of the NBA’s more talented ten-man rotations.

The other guys – Prigioni, Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, James White and Ronnie Brewer – likely will have to fall in where they fit in once all the bodies are available. Brewer had a stranglehold on the starting shooting guard spot after a great start to the season, but since his excruciatingly poor play has made the decision to bench him rather easy.

Even still, Brewer, along with the other four have each proven over the course of this season that they belong in the NBA and are capable of giving Woodson positive minutes, even if sparingly.

The Knicks have the depth they need to seriously challenge for this thing; all they need now is some good fortune, good coaching and time to develop some chemistry.

Despite those needs, the team is 25-13, leads the Atlantic Division and trails the Heat by just one game.

With two important players just returning to the lineup and their starting point guard about a week away, it’s easy to be optimistic about these Knicks.

For them, it’s very likely that the best is yet to come.

Moke Hamilton is a Senior NBA Columnist for SheridanHoops whose columns appear here on Fridays. Follow him on Twitter: @MokeHamilton
http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/01/18/hamilton-with-stoudemire-and-shumpert-best-is-yet-to-come-for-knicks/2/

How can you not get excited about this team.....When healthy, we can compete with the best. SF appears to be our weakness. Not sure I want to see Shump playing SF for extended minutes. Thats just another injury waiting to happen.