2007-2008 NY KNICKS: PLAYOFF RUN OR BUST

In the 10 seasons from 1991-92 through 2000-01, the Knicks played at a .628 winning percentage while reaching the postseason each year, advancing to at least the Conference Semis 9 straight times, and the NBA Finals twice. If not for Jordan’s Bulls, they may have won a championship or two. In those 10 years, the worst record posted was 43-39. The best record posted by a Knicks team in the 6 years since was 39-43, the only year they made the playoffs (and got swept by the Nets). The winning percentage during the stretch - .396.

While MJ was the Knicks’ nemesis in the 90’s, Jim Dolan has played that role in this decade. He has no idea how to run a basketball operation and siding with Isiah Thomas is never a good idea. That being said, the players on the roster play hard for Isiah and have shown improvement since the Larry Brown era.

Despite the record, last year’s team made great strides and had a chance to make the playoffs. Eddy Curry was sometimes out of control but showed signs of being a dominant center, at least in the Eastern Conference. Crawford showed that he can be a team player despite taking wild shots at key times. The emergence of David Lee and Renaldo Balkman energized the fans and the team throughout the season. If not for injuries to Lee and Crawford, I have no doubt the Knicks would have made the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed in a very weak Eastern Conference.

The signs of last year will translate into a playoff berth with this year’s team. With the addition of Zach Randolph, the Knicks have two dominant low-post scorers. After playing 4 games together, Randolph and Curry combined to average almost 40 points and 20 rebounds per game. The backcourt of Marbury and Crawford have combined to average over 35 points and 12 assists per game. Isiah Thomas has even set up a legitimate rotation of 8 or 9 players (as opposed to playing 12 players last year). With this rotation, the Knicks will be able to score points and put pressure on their opponents.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, scoring does not translate into winning as they are a terrible defensive team. In the past the players did not give an effort. This season the Knicks have actually played hard defensively; the only issue being they just are not good enough. Marbury and Crawford are too slow to keep up with younger and faster guards (Jameer Nelson and Allan Iverson had a field day playing against Marbury) and Randolph and Curry are not good around the basket. Other teams that have quicker power forwards will create mismatches and the Knicks guards have trouble keeping opposing guards out of the paint. These two flaws translate into not being able to defend the 3-point line. In the game vs. the Magic, the Knicks were lucky to be in the game in the first half as the Magic shot 3-17 from downtown. Very few of those 17 attempts were contested. The Knicks lost by double digits in the second half because those shots started falling for the Magic. One other fatal flaw the Knicks have is their inability to make their free throws. After 5 games, as a team the Knicks have attempted 141 foul shots (28.2 per game) and have only made 99 (70%). That cannot happen if the Knicks are going to win close games against good teams.

Despite the flaws, I think the Knicks will play extremely hard each and every night. It would be nice to see more of David Lee in the 4^th quarter instead of Eddy Curry who is not the focal point down the stretch. In addition, Curry cannot make a foul shot (14-30 on the season) and does not play defense. Crawford will play a huge factor in crunch time as he has seemingly matured as a team player and is better overall than he has been in previous years.

As I write this, the Knicks are 2-3 after losing a terrible game to the 1-5 Heat (Randoplh did not play). The Eastern Conference is more competitive now but I still feel the Knicks should and will make the playoffs. It would be a terrible disappointment not to make the playoffs and to go one step farther, the Knicks should be able to get out of the first round this year.

Playoffs Predictions:

Eastern Conference:

1. Celtics

2. Pistons

3. Magic

4. Bulls

5. Heat

6. Knicks

7. Nets

8. Cavs

Western Conference:

1. Suns

2. Spurs

3. Jazz

4. Rockets

5. Nuggets

6. Mavericks

7. Lakers

8. Hornets

Eastern Finals: Celtics over Knicks

Western Finals: Suns over Spurs

Champions: Boston Celtics

Final note to the diehard Knicks fan:

Keep the faith for the next two or three seasons. Hopefully by 2010 – 2011, the Knicks will have Kobe, Lebron or Wade; a new coach, and if we are really lucky, a new owner.

BREAKING NEWS:

This article was written late last night before I found out about the latest developments on Stephon Marbury. I just heard that Marbury has “left the team.” I have no idea what that means as the Knicks said that he is welcome to come and play tonight in Phoenix. Rumor has it that the Knicks want to decrease Marbury’s minutes (I don’t know who they want to play instead) or possibly buy out his contract. If that is the case, I would use him in a trade and give the other team the money to buy him out. Bottom line, the Knicks need to be creative and do something positive here. Buying out Marbury’s contract would be a terrible waste and would greatly weaken the team. Sometimes I wonder how management for a professional team in a big city can be this poor. The NY Knicks franchise has become an absolute joke and a new owner in town is desperately needed.