The New York Knicks remained undefeated at 5-0 thanks to another stellar effort defensively in the fourth quarter. Led by superstar Carmelo Anthony’s 25 points and team high 8 rebounds, the Knicks held their fourth team in five games to under 90 points and won by double digits for the fifth time in as many games.
Read that sentence over again and try to comprehend what’s going on. Is this really happening? Can this be happening? Does this even seem right? It seems about as probable as a hurricane devastating thousands in New York or a reputable energy company being unable to restore power to thousands of homes in the most densely populated city in all of America.
But all of these things are and continue to happen. The fact is, the Knicks are a team in every sense of the word and it’s almost comical now to see NBA TV on a nightly basis try to explain how that came to be. Buy and sell segments are being filed nightly on sports talk shows and its 50/50: those that have seen this act before in small samples and refuse to believe in its longevity, and those who are willing to take a leap of faith that these Knicks as presently constructed are as good as they are showing.
Well, its not a question of talent- clearly the names speak for themselves. It’s how long this act can keep up and how the act will change once Amar’e Stoudemire returns to the lineup. Coach Mike Woodson has pushed all the right buttons and has gotten through to notorious knuckleheads like J.R. Smith who last night poured in 21 points on what was an off night for the Knick offense.
Coach Woodson has a team held together by a belief that if they play team basketball they will win. A simple enough concept but when you realize who this message is going to, the task becomes more and more difficult. J.R. Smith? Carmelo Anthony? Two players who have a reputation of being me-first everybody else second players are buying into the team first mentality that Coach Woodson preached before the season began. Remember, it was Coach Woodson who began the season by letting players know that if they didn’t buy in they wouldn’t get an opportunity to play. That message was extended to all players- not just non-superstars and I guess the message stuck.
Now the magic trick becomes this: how to get Amar’e Stoudemire to buy in as well? We knew he had eye issues, knee issues (two microfracture surgeries) and back issues but it’s a mystery what’s keeping him out of games at the moment. A knee procedure put him on the sideline and will eventually get him back on the court but at what level and exactly what mental state?
This is a guy who was heralded as the savior of the franchise when he was the lone superstar to take the big city plunge in the famed free agent class of 2010. He played like an MVP through half the year when, right from under him, the owner who gave him an insurance free contract of 5 years and $100 million, traded for Carmelo Anthony and in turn found himself a new team savior. Since then Amar’e has played like a player in purgatory. Not knowing whether to play leader of a franchise he’s no longer the apple of the owner’s eye of, or to play as a dynamic wing man to Carmelo Anthony’s lead role. The uneasy co-existence over the last year and a half have led many to believe that the relationship can’t work and have ruled out the Knicks from any kind of championship contention.
Of course, a strong willed coach who knows how to control a locker room can make the easy decision: tell Amar’e when he gets back that he’s the sixth man and he will anchor the team’s second unit which has proven to be a strength. The current line up with Felton, Kidd, Brewer, Melo (as an undersized 4) and Chandler has been effective begging the question why Amar’e would want to break up a good thing. Of course that may not even be Coach Woodson’s decision to make.
Many outside the team have held this belief that the Knicks are run by CAA. Many of their clients are under the employ of the Knicks and it comes as no surprise either. Then again, James Dolan still calls Isiah Thomas a close friend despite the fact that he drove the Knicks into such an embarrassing state with the Anucha Brown scandal and blunder after blunder with the team’s roster shaping as GM. What is clear is that what’s best for this franchise right now is to have Amar’e buy in really early.
What’s ironic is that if Amar’e really wants to be the leader he was excited to be in 2010 when he came to NY and declared to the NBA world that the Knicks were back, he would announce that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help continue this success. He would take on whatever role Mike Woodson gives him. But again the question that’s begging to be asked is: who is going to make that decision? With the Knicks you never know.
NOTES:
Orlando’s offense and surprisingly stingy defense made this a close game till the fourth quarter when the Knick defense overwhelmed the upstart Magic squad into a meager thirteen 4th quarter points. The Knicks pulled a Magic act of their own- transforming the Magic back into the team that- to borrow a phrase from former NFL head coach Dennis Green- they are who we thought they were. Lacking a go-to scorer, though Magic Center Nikola Vucevic was doing his best impersonation of one, the Magic couldn’t get any easy buckets when the Knicks tightened up. Eventually the Knicks pulled away despite the Magic’s best intentions to keep it close.
The credit post game was given to Jason Kidd’s demeanor in the huddle as he calmed his teammates down as things were beginning to get a little tight amongst the Knicks who were seeing their perfect season go down to a team many expected to be competing for a lottery pick.
That’s the beauty of this team: there are too many veteran players on this team that perspective and leadership won’t be lacking. If the veterans hold the stars to a standard on a nightly basis it will be interesting to see how far they can maximize the talents on this team.
– One guy I was impressed with on the Magic is St Johns’ and Queens product Mo Harkless. He’s a guy that’s a part of this youth movement going on as a result of the Dwight Howard trade and I’m excited about how far this kid can go. He’s got the skillset of a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the sense that he’s a jack of all trades and he’s got interesting dimensions to him that allows him to play defensively against a number of positions. He held his own against Carmelo Anthony last night. Melo never had a comfortable shot last night and that’s a credit to Harkless’ defense and Melo’s solid night is a credit to how good a basketball player Carmelo Anthony is.
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