Kenyon Martin is one of many aging New York Knicks players trying his best to stay healthy. Photo Credit: Mark Runyon,
The New York Knicks have been hot recently. They’ve won 11 in a row and appear to be heading into the playoffs with a ton of momentum. A lot of this has been because of the excellent play of Carmelo Anthony, who scored 131 points over three games this past week. After a rough midseason slump, the Knicks have gotten their act together and once again look like one of very few teams who could pose a serious threat to the Miami Heat in this year’s playoffs.
So, with all these good things going on, why should Knicks fans be worried?
Because this is one of the more fragile teams in the league. They’ve struggled with injuries all season long and as a result, they’ve shuffled their starting lineup several times since the start of the year. Some incarnations of the Knicks have worked, while others have failed miserably. You would think the Knicks could solve this by just sticking with the most effective groups, but every few weeks, another player gets injured or fatigued and they have to develop chemistry with yet another new group.
Throughout the season, much has been made of the Knicks’ age. They are by far the oldest team in the NBA and they currently have six players on their roster over the age of 35. This sort of experience is not without its advantages. The Knicks have players who have been around the block a few times and know to avoid the silly mistakes that get younger teams in trouble. At the same time, having a roster full of players who are past their prime and can easily become fatigued is going to cause a lot of problems. Many of the Knicks’ veteran players have struggled with injuries this season. Rasheed Wallace started out strong, but after he went down with an injured foot in December, he vanished from the lineup. Marcus Camby was supposed to be a significant contributor, but he’s been hurt the majority of the year and when he has played, he’s looked old and washed up.
Jason Kidd has been healthy most of the year, but his season has been marred by inconsistency. After beginning the year by draining every 3 in sight, he’s fallen off considerably, to the extent that his shooting percentage is now a lowly .371. When Kidd is on, his 3-point shooting can still help the team, but the idea that he would be anything more than an occasionally useful role player has been dead since January or so. Even Kenyon Martin, who has been extremely effective since joining the Knicks, is day-to-day with a sore right knee. This is an extremely fragile team and that could be a huge problem in the postseason.
When the playoffs come around, a team needs to have a group it can rely on in order to be successful. Most of the elite teams in the NBA can say that. The Heat have the Big Three and a solid group role players, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a strong group with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant leading the way, while Kevin Martin contributes off the bench. The Knicks don’t really have a set group they can trust at all times. Right now, they basically have Carmelo Anthony, and whoever else happens to be healthy on a given night. If Tyson Chandler makes a full recovery by the time the playoffs begin, we can add him to that list, but for now, the Knicks have one superstar and a lot of questions.