New York Knicks: Cancel That Playoff Run
I’ll admit it. I was a New York Knicks supporter from the beginning of this season. I believed, even at their worst, that they’d still be able to ride Carmelo Anthony into the playoffs in the wretched Eastern Conference. Now, I’m officially jumping off the bandwagon as the front office is going…well…all New York Knicks on us.
Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih are potentially being waived as we speak. Udrih isn’t much of a surprise, as he’s a bit player that wouldn’t see time on most clubs. Peace is a different story, though. The team has struggled mightily and could have at least given Peace a chance (ZING).
Peace has played 388 minutes this season, which is 12th on the team. His per-36 minute numbers aren’t spectacular by any means, but 12.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals is a lot better or at least in line with many of the others, who are getting the lion’s share of the minutes. Obviously he isn’t going to take minutes from the starters, but check out this per-36 minute chart and pay close attention to the reserves:
| Player | G | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmelo Anthony | 52 | 2034 | .452 | .417 | .463 | .836 | 2.0 | 5.9 | 7.9 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 25.6 |
| J.R. Smith | 47 | 1546 | .388 | .375 | .399 | .611 | 0.5 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 14.1 |
| Iman Shumpert | 52 | 1392 | .377 | .345 | .409 | .778 | 1.4 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 9.3 |
| Raymond Felton | 39 | 1277 | .400 | .286 | .453 | .697 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 6.5 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 11.3 |
| Andrea Bargnani | 42 | 1257 | .442 | .278 | .487 | .824 | 2.0 | 4.4 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 16.0 |
| Tim Hardaway | 54 | 1174 | .449 | .394 | .507 | .806 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 16.0 |
| Tyson Chandler | 31 | 910 | .611 | .611 | .600 | 3.5 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 10.6 | |
| Amar’e Stoudemire | 41 | 807 | .539 | .539 | .683 | 2.9 | 5.3 | 8.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 18.6 | |
| Pablo Prigioni | 39 | 803 | .450 | .438 | .484 | 1.000 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 6.8 |
| Kenyon Martin | 32 | 633 | .512 | .000 | .516 | .579 | 2.0 | 5.6 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 4.8 | 7.8 |
| Beno Udrih | 31 | 588 | .425 | .425 | .425 | .833 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 6.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 10.6 |
| Metta World Peace | 29 | 388 | .397 | .315 | .448 | .625 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 4.1 | 12.9 |
| Toure’ Murry | 32 | 244 | .422 | .143 | .447 | .560 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 | 12.5 |
| Jeremy Tyler | 20 | 210 | .563 | .563 | .632 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 10.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 5.7 | 15.8 | |
| Cole Aldrich | 25 | 112 | .412 | .412 | .750 | 4.2 | 12.2 | 16.4 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 6.4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/22/2014.
Defensively, Peace is holding opposing small forwards to a 13.7 efficiency rating. Granted, his offense has been shoddy at best, but he can still provide some solid defense. Iman Shumpert has been everyone’s darling, but guess what? He’s getting BEAT to a bloody pulp nightly. He allows opposing shooting guards a gaudy 18.0 efficiency.
Mike Woodson couldn’t possibly consider taking some of his minutes away? Some believe it’s a personal issue, a vendetta of sorts:
Frank Isola covers the New York Knicks for the Daily News and sees the dysfunction from the inside. He had some very telling tweets this afternoon as well, as it relates to the New York Knicks and how they try to control players and the media:
James Dolan is willing to spend money but is he willing to put the right people in place and allow them to do their jobs? Ask Donnie Walsh.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) February 22, 2014
But the spies in Knicks lockerroom, who have the personality of a wet toilet seat, distract the players by saying "don't talk to those bums"
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) February 22, 2014
It’s baffling to think that an organization with such history could simply go down in flames like this. But it’s not new — have you forgotten that the Knicks last made the NBA Finals in 1998-99? That the haven’t made the Eastern Conference Finals since 1999-00? Or how about the fact that they’ve gotten past the first round just once in the last 13 years?
This is a franchise that could be in serious trouble. They’re saddled with the horrible Amar’e Stoudemire contract, they’re facing the very real possibility that Anthony will walk after this season and they’ve got an owner who doesn’t seem to want to pull the trigger on any real changes.
At 21-34, the Knicks are somehow still just 4.5 games out of the No. 8 seed. Still, they can’t seem to close out games, they can’t seem to get on the same page and they’re releasing players that they likely can’t replace with better ones. In short? Cancel that playoff run and start praying that Anthony gives the team one more year.