The Knicks are title contenders

[birdbrady]

and I hate it.  And, yes I hate Jeremy Lin too.

But the Knicks all of a sudden have gone from the most unwatchable team in the league - to legitimate title contenders.  And yes, basically it's all because of Jeremy Lin.

That whole offense needs a creating guard.  Melo playing point forward was laughable, but it's all that roster had.  Shumpert is a great defensive player, but having him as PG is absurd.  Toney Douglas is just a brutal gunner who has as much creating skills as I do.

Now the Knicks have Lin who can get into the paint at will.  Chandler is having the best year of his career.  He's the best defensive big in the NBA.  Amare was having his worst but that's because there was absolutely no PG to get him the ball in the right spots.  If he returns to 75% of the form he was at last year when he at least had Raymond Felton, the Knicks are golden.  Melo can go back to being one of the best wingmen in the league.  The Knicks could have an utterly unstoppable offense and a great defense to go with it, esp with Chandler anchoring the middle.

When Davis returns, he's a great player.  Even last year on a horrible Cavs team he had an 18+ PER.  Their second unit, with the emergence of Novak is going to be very energetic and very skilled.  Davis, Shumpert, Jeffries, and Novak brings everything to the table.  Instant offense, ball movement, outside shooting, energy, rebounding, and great defense with Shumpert and Jeffries.

I absolutely cannot believe I am writing this.  Obviously, people are going to say "dude, it's been 4 games!"  But you know, what? Look at all the points I brought up.  Look at it objectively.  No one wants to see the Knicks flounder more than me.  It's the most overrated franchise in sports.  Every person in the media is based out of, or started covering NYC basketball and despite the fact the Knicks have been a sorry excuse for a franchise basically the entire history of the league (two championships in 65 years) - they can't stop banging it down everyone's throats how "THE KNICKS NEED TO BE GOOD."  So I'd love to just tell you that Lin is going to fall back to earth (and he will, but he will still be a great player.  The kid has everything on the offensive end), but I just can't look at their roster, and what they have, and the fact that it's gels perfectly together as an objective fan and tell you that this is a borderline playoff team.  It's not.  The Knicks can very well win the title this year, and are set up for deep playoff runs for years to come.

*puke*

[Roy H.]

We'll see what happens when Carmelo and Amare come back.  Will Carmelo defer at times to Lin, and allow him to run the offense?  Will he allow Amare to handle the ball like he needs to?  And where is the playoff defense going to come from outside of Chandler?

Also, I think you might be overselling their second unit a bit:

Davis, Shumpert, Jeffries, and Novak brings everything to the table.  Instant offense, ball movement, outside shooting, energy, rebounding, and great defense with Shumpert and Jeffries.

I don't see that as an elite bench by any stretch.  Serviceable, yes, but I don't see them as instant offense, or particularly good in terms of rebounding or shooting.

[CelticsFanNC]

  NO they're not.  They will revert to their previous form just as soon as Carmelo comes back and starts stopping all ball movement and jacking up terrible shots.  They don't defend which wont get it done in the Eastern conference.

[birdbrady]

We'll see what happens when Carmelo and Amare come back.  Will Carmelo defer at times to Lin, and allow him to run the offense?

Melo's best years came with Andre Miller, then went to the WCF when they acquired Billups during the season after being a one and done team with Iverson .  He'll be much more effective when he's got a PG that can seemingly get into the paint at will, AND hit an open jump shot if and when Melo is doubled.

Will he allow Amare to handle the ball like he needs to?

Amare can now focus on posting up, finishing around the rim when Lin gets inside/and on fast breaks, and hitting open jump shots on pick and pop plays.  Amare should be the guy who gets infinitely better with Lin.

And where is the playoff defense going to come from outside of Chandler?

You're underestimating the impact of Chandler .  Chandler single handily made Dallas a championship level defense all by himself.  Very good chance he does the same with the Knicks.

[bfrombleacher]

and I hate it.  And, yes I hate Jeremy Lin too.

Hate Jeremy Lin? D: He's humble and hard working. You can not-like him but you can't really hate him...can you? You can hate his fans I suppose. I hate Rose fans (JERKS) but you can't really hate him...




Anyway, in my opinion they have as good a chance as we do. In my opinion we got OKC, Bulls, Heat on top. Then we've got the maybes...Blazers, Spurs and 6ers. Then we've got a bunch of if this and that happens, then they'd have a chance. And that last one is us and the Knicks.

For us its if we're healthy and strong physically and mentally (so far I think our losing streak is all psychological). And maybe if Doc can figure out the rotations so we get a better playoff seeding.

For the Knicks its a few ifs. If D'Antoni can get it together, if Jeremy Lin continues his production, if they mesh with the new Jeremy Lin...

[jpk2000]

[Edited.]  Please review our rules on treating others respectfully and maintaining an appropriate tone.

[PosImpos]

Even if Lin really is this good, he and the rest of the pieces will still need to fit together.  In such a short season, I just don't see them coming together and having the kind of chemistry required to really make a deep playoff run, let alone contend for a title.

They'll be a tough out in the playoffs, though.

[BostonArizona]

You're underestimating the impact of Chandler .  Chandler single handily made Dallas a championship level defense all by himself.  Very good chance he does the same with the Knicks.

Not with D'antoni as their coach..

[greenlion]

it's a pity how starcrossed people are with lin, don't get me wrong, but his story is really worth considering, from the farthest reaches of the bench to practically a licensed guy, but he's just as good on how the season would play out for them..people are just on the look-out for feelgood stories in the midst of all the primadonnas on what we know now as the NBA...

[falconj]

Melo+Chandler for D12+Hedo

[mahonedog88]

As much as I hate New York, hate the Knicks, so on and so forth...even I have to admit that the Jeremy Lin story is pretty cool.

As far as from a basketball standpoint?  Let's see how the team plays when both Amare and Melo are back in the lineup.  Cause even with a pass first pure pg, I'm still not convinced that Melo and Amare can play together.  Who knows, maybe it's just D'antoni's system that is preventing the two of them to mesh, or maybe the two of them together just can't work period, point guard or no point guard...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

And who's to stop Melo from going right back to the ballhog that he is when he returns from injury.

[letsgoblue86]

I don't buy it.  When Melo and Amare come back Lin is going to lose half his FGA and the offense will run through Carmelo more.  I just don't see it.

[Geo123]

We'll see what happens when Carmelo and Amare come back.  Will Carmelo defer at times to Lin, and allow him to run the offense?

Melo's best years came with Andre Miller, then went to the WCF when they acquired Billups during the season after being a one and done team with Iverson .  He'll be much more effective when he's got a PG that can seemingly get into the paint at will, AND hit an open jump shot if and when Melo is doubled.

Will he allow Amare to handle the ball like he needs to?

Amare can now focus on posting up, finishing around the rim when Lin gets inside/and on fast breaks, and hitting open jump shots on pick and pop plays.  Amare should be the guy who gets infinitely better with Lin.

And where is the playoff defense going to come from outside of Chandler?

You're underestimating the impact of Chandler .  Chandler single handily made Dallas a championship level defense all by himself.  Very good chance he does the same with the Knicks.

They are not contenders at all.  Melo and Amare need the ball and are selfish players.  Lin will not have much effect once those 2 return.  Chandler is the only defensive player and Jefferies isn't the answer to anything...

[GreenFaith1819]

I've seen mentioned here how Tyson is the best defensive center in the game.

After last night's game, I can't argue with that at all.

Lost in the shuffle of Lin's continued great play is the fact that I've never seen Bynum D'd up like he was last night. I only saw half the game, but man did Tyson make his presence felt or what.

Like Roy and others have mentioned, it will be interesting to see how the pieces fit together, once Melo and Amare returns. It's D'Antoni's job to make sure that happens.

Lin certainly has game, though. If they need a textbook on how to make players fit together, they need to look no further than Boston. Melo has to learn how to sacrifice, and that starts the minute he returns.

Once BOS rights the ship, though, I still like us in a series vs them. There's no way that Rondo will not show up.

He'd better.

If the Knicks are title contenders, then BOS is, too - no matter how bad we're playing right now.

[Donoghus]

For the Atlantic division crown maybe.

As for the title?  No way.  That team isn't getting by Miami or Chicago in the east.  

The D'Antoni/Melo/Amare dynamic is going to hurt that team especially come playoff time.  Blackhole offense & very questionable team defense gets you almost nowhere in the NBA playoffs.