Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe ranked the "NBA League pass watchability of each team" (meaning if youre a neutral fan in the middle of the country, which team would you want to watch). They ranked the knicks 10th and heres why (lololol):
"Bill: Ranked this high solely out of respect to MSG, the floor, the uniform, the announcers, your twice-a-season Carmelo three-week hot streak, J.R. Smith doing J.R. Smith things, and the real possibility that this season could be something of a disaster. Anything less than 48 wins is a letdown for Knicks fans, and that's where I think we're headed here — they're soooooooooooooooooo bad on paper defensively, I just don't see how you can finish more than 10 games over .500 with this roster.
Zach: I've written enough about the Knicks in the last week. But in terms of watchability, this is an all-around powerhouse — no. 4 on my list. They've got a telegenic scorer, a top-three overall broadcast crew, two of the wackiest dudes in the league (and that doesn't include Kenyon Martin!), and a 3-point-happy attack. What's not to like? Have you seen Mike Woodson's proto-beard this week? Huge upside!
Bill: The potential of an unhappy season scared me off a little. I don't want my 2013-14 League Pass experience to be unhappy; my Celtics season will be unhappy enough as it is. Like you, I am VERY dubious of this Knicks team. How will their lineups work? How do you ever play Bargnani and Stoudemire at the same time without just creating a layup line for the other team? Shouldn't we be worried that they lost two of their best 3-point bombers when that was such a big part of last year's arsenal? What if J.R. Smith looks more like "Indiana Series J.R. Smith" than "Borderline All-Star J.R. Smith"? What if Chandler looks like "Breaking Down Chandler" (like he did last spring)? Will Amar'e play even 50 games? So many red flags here, and we haven't even mentioned what Frank Vogel did to poor Woodson in Round 2. The good news: We're only one year away from the words "Amare's Expiring Contract."
Zach: The default assumption on Amare at this point has to be that he doesn't play at all, or that he plays so little as to not be very relevant. If he's healthy, he can prop up bench lineups, sans Melo, that would otherwise have very little scoring punch. Anything more than that and you're inviting an opponent bucket-fest"
Knicks should be improved: win about 40 games and maybe sneak into the playoffs. Melo, Rose and even Noah will have some nice moments however this team should be about PORZINGUS. the sooner they make him the primary player, the better
10/24/2013 11:21 AM