New York Knicks: 2017-18 season preview
Storyline 3: When will the hope of the playoffs die?
The New York Knicks last made the playoffs in 2013, when Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler led the team to a 54-28 record and a second place finish in the Eastern Conference. The team lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs.
Since then they have averaged 29 wins per season, three times finishing 12th or worse in the Eastern Conference. Of that playoff squad, only Anthony remains with the franchise; only four other players are even still playing in the NBA. The roster has completely turned over, and not for the better.
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That perpetual roster and front office turnover has an effect on the Knicks’ fanbase, producing false hope. Despite handing out bloated contracts to aging injury risks, or loading up on one position while completing ignoring another, or rotating coaches based on the whims of the owner or team president — none of these things suggest success, and yet every season hope rises regardless.
How long this season will the hope of a playoff run stay alive? With a new front office and an overhauled backcourt, the possibility of a different outcome survives. What if Hoodie Melo and Kristaps Porzingis team up and destroy everything in their paths? If the Eastern Conference is so bad, why couldn’t the Knicks emerge from the fray and make the postseason?
These questions almost seem reasonable, and yet every season the Knicks come crashing back to earth. No team in the league plays in the tension of such high annual hopes and such bitter and disappointing results.
Because the Eastern Conference is so challenged for quality teams, the Knicks will stay within striking distance of a playoff berth well into March, drawing out the pain for their fans. Then invariably they will miss the postseason…only to ignite hopes again next year.