With the NBA season getting close, it’s time to take a look at what to expect from the teams around the league. Here are three thoughts about the 2016-17 New York Knicks.
The New York Knicks have been faced with some disastrous years, which is a shame considering Madison Square Garden is the Mecca of basketball. The city of New York has some of the world’s most renowned basketball courts and tournaments, but the Knicks have suffered from injuries and a badly assembled roster.
Now, that looks to change. The Knicks have received an overhaul and have brought in real contributors that might help Carmelo Anthony maximize his talents. This may even be a playoff-caliber team. Three concerns surround the team heading into the 2016-2017 season.
1. Derrick Rose Needs To Stay Healthy
This one should be obvious, but it also needs discussing. The 2011-12 season saw Rose sidelined for 12 games by a variety of injuries before tearing his ACL. He didn’t play in 2012-13 while he rehabilitated. In 2013-14 he tore his meniscus and ended his season after 10 games. Then, in 2014-15, he tore the same meniscus.
In 2015-16, he fractured his left orbital bone, but he managed to play the full season, although he never regained his top form. Will he be able to reclaim glory in 2017? Can he even just manage to stay on the court for a full season? A player like Rose is divisive precisely because we’ve seen how good he can be. He’s just been sidelined so much that we don’t see those peak performances often.
2. How Good Can Carmelo Be?
At the age of 32, Carmelo Anthony is one of the old men of the NBA, a veteran who has been playing since the tragic 2004 U.S. Men’s Olympic team that failed to take gold. A lot of great players took bronze that year, including guys like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Unlike those other guys, Carmelo has never seen the pinnacle of the NBA. When you look at what Carmelo averages — 25 points per game on 45 percent shooting with seven rebounds and three assists — it’s pretty obvious that he’s still got the talent.
His unique physicality make him a strong defender, and he can bully smaller opponents. He’s anchored the Knicks, but without much success. That’s not his fault, of course. The Knicks were devastated by bad contracts and a poor roster.
Then there were the injuries to Amar’e Stoudemire that kept the Knicks from ever maximizing the potential of a Carmelo-Stoudemire pairing.
Still, with the best roster he’s ever had, can Carmelo finally maximize his potential in a team that can actually give him support? Can he prove he can take a team to the top, like James or Wade?
3. The Team Must Be More Than The Sum Of Its Parts.
Good and great players do not make great teams. Chemistry, ball movement, basketball knowledge, these all play a part in elevating a team’s status from a group of good players to a cohesively great team. This year’s Knicks will see Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee and Derrick Rose joining the team.
Rose and Carmelo are both independent scoring threats who dominate the ball. Fortunately, Noah’s the kind of big man who can distribute ball well. You can have one or two ball-dominant players, but if there’s no passing happening, the offense goes stagnant. Noah will help his teammates in that regard.
Courtney Lee’s a player who’s tipping the cup into veteran territory at the age of 30. He’s not an explosive scorer, but he doesn’t need to be on a team with Melo and Rose. With that said, he’s great on the catch and shoot, plays well in transition, and doesn’t need the ball in his hands a lot to score.
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He’s a great defender on the perimeter, which will match up well with Noah’s interior defense. Overall, these are great complementary players. The question remaining is whether they can form a great team.