#Knickstape

By Rico Bautista

     It was bound to happen at some point. Nobody stays perfect at home, especially without their best player being on the floor. Yet, if there was any NBA team I could make peace with handing the Knicks their first home loss of the season, it is Jeremy Lin and the Houston Rockets. Though the sports world praised Lin last season for giving us the phenomenon of Linsanity, I held a much more practical view of his gift... he got the Knicks into the playoffs. By now we all know the story: over a period of just 26 games, a 3rd/4th string point guard who was constantly looked over in the NBA salvaged a Knicks season that was tainted by injuries, underperformance, poor team chemistry, and even poorer coaching. Subsequently, despite Lin's overwhelming popularity in New York, over the summer the Knicks decided not to match the Houston Rockets' offer of a three-year $25 million deal and suddenly Linsanity had moved on. When this happened, I could not have been happier--we signed both Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd for less money combined. Felton, though coming off of a down season in Portland, had been playing great basketball for the Knicks just two years prior and Jason Kidd, though 39 years old, is a recent NBA Champion with some idea of how to defeat the Miami Heat. On the other hand, Lin saw his numbers dip as Linsanity wore on and teams figured out how to defend him--he couldn't go left and he was an underwhelming long-range shooter. The Knicks' 19-6 start is more than enough proof that the front office made both the best basketball and financial decision for the team. Be that as it may, I will never forget what Lin did for New York last season, but more importantly I appreciate what his departure allowed New York to become this season and this is why I bear no ill feelings towards dropping our first home game to Linsanity. If anything, it feels somewhat appropriate. I like to view this loss as a toll that the Knicks had to pay in order to ascend to the top of the Eastern Conference. And, oh what an ascension it has been. But you see... the truly scary part--for the rest of the league, that is--is that the Knicks still have one more level to jump with the advent of Iman Shumpert and Amar'e Stoudemire.

     First off, no one is concerned with Shumpert's return. He was the Knicks' premiere perimeter defender last season and showed flashes of offensive potential, which he has been honing during his rehabilitation. The real concern is how Mike Woodson will fit Amar'e into the Knicks line-up. It needs to be said that Amar'e must log time at the power forward and center positions. It also needs to be said that the majority of his time will need to come at the power forward position--Chandler logging big minutes at center has simply been too important to the Knicks' success on both ends of the floor to move him. So here is where things get complicated: Carmelo Anthony has been arguably the most difficult player to defend in the NBA when he is playing power forward. When you match Melo with forwards of his size or larger, Melo can take them out to the perimeter and either blow by them or shoot the long ball. Moreover, barring Ray Allen, Melo may have the quickest release on a catch-and-shoot in the NBA. When teams counter Melo with a small, more agile defender, the combination of his footwork, ballhanding, strength, and first step is equally as overwhelming. And if his multitude of scoring options when playing power forward were not enough, Melo has also proven to be an intelligent passer out of the post. Given all of this information, you begin to wonder how a team could possibly sacrifice big minutes at this position to anyone else--even Amar'e Stoudemire. Yet, having said all of this, there still exists issues with playing Melo at the 4 and here is where Amar'e fits in. Despite Melo's effectiveness playing the 4, he has been extremely prone to injury when battling bigger guys in the post. Be it for a rebound or simply a strong drive to the hole, there have been numerous times this season where I have noticed Melo get banged up or thrown to the ground in such a manner that is simply not sustainable for an 82-game season and the playoffs. Melo has been taking hits such as this one all season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fVIiVhiwQ8. The big difference here is that Dwight Howard knocking you down is going to be a much harsher experience than someone like Brook Lopez. But the risk to injury still remains the same. Regardless of who meets him at the rim, Melo has received significantly more contact than he is used to taking in his career. This has also accounted for the increased amount of technical fouls he has received this season (6) in complaining to referees for failing to call the flagrant, and often dangerous, foul calls he's been earning.
     Either way you look at it, Melo playing at the 4 has been mutually beneficial and risky. Playing Amar'e off of the bench at power forward would cut down some of Melo's constant contact with bigger bruisers, as well as elongate the aging Rasheed Wallace's contributions this season. There are, however, two important questions regarding Amar'e's return at power forward: 1) Will he defend with the same effort Melo has shown? 2) Will Amar'e be able to pass out of the post with the kind of efficiency that has turned the Knicks into one of the best ball-moving teams in the league? The answer to the first question is easy--under Woodson, if you don't play defense then you just don't play. The answer to the second question is a bit more difficult. Let us not forget that this Knicks team is scoring at a historic rate because everyone, including Melo and JR Smith (who loves shooting even more than he loves getting a new ignorant tattoo), has been turning up shots to make the right pass. Moreover, this season's hot three-point shooting from the Knicks is bound to come down--statistically speaking, it is extremely unlikely they'll keep it up. Amar'e's inside scoring ability might just be what wins New York games on nights when the long ball simply isn't falling for them. Barring these unanswered questions, the most surprising "x-factor" regarding Amar'e's return will be the results, or lack thereof, of the time he has spent training with Hakeem Olajuwon this past summer. Players such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have drastically improved their skill sets from training with Hakeem, but neither of these players were ever natural 4's or 5's the way Amar'e is. And how will Amar'e new offensive skills translate to meshing with the rest of the team? JR Smith and Melo have played great off of one another when sharing the floor, but both have also played for years together back in Denver under a George Karl offense that employed a similar scheme of high volume 3-point shooting. Can Amar'e and JR be as productive together? We also cannot forget that though Amar'e and Melo did not share the floor well together last season, that Amar'e and Felton played extremely well together and now they're reunited for a second run. And most importantly... God help us all if Amar'e decides to bring back the cornrows.

     Oh yeah... And if you thought JR and Steve Novak was an exciting duo, wait 'till JR and Shumpert are on the floor together. A line up of Felton, Iman, JR, Melo and Chanlder/Amare could potentially be the most offensively potent line up in the league. Though poor Ronnie Brewer's minutes  should expect to take a serious hit considering Shump gives you an improved perimeter defense... plus he can make a shot or six.

     The Knicks were a top-10 defensive team last season, but that largely came as a result of having both Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert--their best perimeter defender--on the floor. I am not necessarily arguing that Shumpert's return will automatically cause the Knicks to suddenly become defensive stalwarts, but consider this: Melo is putting in work on defense this season, 'Sheed is filling Chandler's defensive role decently off of the bench, newcomers Ronnie Brewer and Jason Kidd have made careers in being savvy perimeters defenders, and Marcus Camby could be playing limited minutes in the future... this Knicks team has a chance to become an excellent defensive club. And if/when that happens... be sure to expect more Iman Shumpert tweets ending in "#Knickstape."