The Carmelo Situation
Last week, the Knicks lost a devastating game to the Celtics and were embarrassed by the Heat. I’ve concluded that the Knicks are a good NBA team, but have no chance of competing for an NBA title. As of now, there are four types of teams in the Eastern Conference. There’s the elite (Celtics, Heat, Magic), the second-tier (Bulls, Knicks, Hawks), the “barely making the playoffs” teams (Pacers, Bucks, Sixers) and the awful (Pistons, Cavs, Raptors, Nets, Bobcats, and Wizards). In order for the Knicks to join the elite, they must get Carmelo Anthony.
Right after the Knicks-Nuggets game, Carmelo said that if he signed with a team other than Denver, he would like to go to the Knicks. As a patient fan, I would like to see the Knicks keep Gallinari, Chandler, and Fields for the season and wait until July to sign Carmelo. Let him go to the Nets right now if he wants to. If he wants to come to New York, he will make it happen. The Knicks seem headed for a fifth or sixth seed in the playoffs. Unless a miracle occurs, there’s no chance they will beat the Celtics, Heat or Magic in a best of seven series. For this season, let the Knicks make the postseason for the first time since the 03-04 season. Hopefully they can win their first playoff series since 01-02. If the Knicks make the playoffs, we can call this season a success. Let’s look to next year for Carmelo.
Stoudemire and Carmelo playing together would be lethal. I’m going to go ahead and say that the Stoudemire-Carmelo combination would be deadlier than the big three in Boston. Allen, KG and Pierce are getting old. In the NBA Finals last year, they showed their age after failing to finish Game 7. I know the Celtics have the best record in the Eastern Conference, but the Heat are by far the best team in the East. I’m not a LeBron fan and I hate Bosh, but they have the most talent in the NBA. After watching the Celtics and the Heat last week, it’s clear that the Heat are a stronger and faster team. Put Melo with Amare and the Knicks will have a team that can compete with Miami. Who knows? Maybe with the addition of CP3 in 2012, the Knicks can start a dynasty. But knowing James Dolan, this entire situation will probably fail miserably.
5 BOROUGH SPORTS 
December 23, 2010 at 10:32 am
Melo+Amare more lethal than the Boston Three Party??? There is no chance… Let’s think about this, you have Carmelo Anthony, who, by all rights, is a tremendous scorer, but plays absolutely zero defense. Last time I checked the last 3 NBA titles have gone to teams that play hardcore defense (Lakers and Celtics). And we know about the failed experiment in phoenix with the D’Antoni system. You just can’t try to outscore teams in the NBA come playoff time. At some point defense is a huge component.
Now, if the Knicks added a young 6’1″ point guard out of Wake Forest whose name rhymes with Miss Mall then things might be a little different.
December 23, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Very good point. Ive never been crazy about the D’Antoni philosophy of outscoring your opponents. The reason why the Knicks were able to make noise in the postseason back in the 90’s was because of defense. Pat Riley formed that team into the best defensive team in the league. Hopefully when the Boston dynasty comes to an end (three years maybe?) the knicks can take over as the team to beat in the east. The addition of Miss Mall would change everything.