The struggles continue for the Knicks who seem primed to back into the playoffs which are set to begin in a few weeks. They are continuing to find new ways to lose to teams that aren’t as talented as they are and have lost 9 of their last 10. Even before the Carmelo trade last week, the Knicks were one of the worst defensive teams in the league and you know what? They still are.
I’ve mentioned more than a few times on Monday’s Weekly Knicks Notes that New York needed a defensive presence down low more so than they needed Carmelo, Chauncey or anyone else for that matter. When the Carmelo deal went down, Corey Brewer was acquired from Minnesota. Brewer is a solid perimeter defender so I was hopeful that he would make a difference. However, Brewer was released not too long after the trade, so there went that idea. But a few days later, New York acquired former Knick, Jared Jeffries after Houston bought him out.
Once a big time scorer in college at Indiana, Jeffries has become only concerned with defending and grabbing boards. That’s exactly what the Knicks need but Jeffries isn’t big enough to make the type of difference that they need.
The Knicks are still one of the best scoring teams in the league and they are fueled by an offensive minded coach. While the team (who hasn’t had that many practices together since the new faces were acquired) must adjust to one another on the court, head coach Mike D’Antoni much adjust to the type of talent that he has as well. He must implement a defensive mindset. He doesn’t have a choice.
Before Carlos Boozer got to Chicago, he was a subpar defender. But lucky for Boozer, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is a defensive minded coach and Boozer actually looks like a competent defender in that system. It’s amazing what coaching can do. D’Antoni can’t keep operating as usual because the team will never be successful that way. What kills me is that in just about every post-game conference after a loss, he expressed his displeasure with what happened on the defensive side of the ball even though he’s not a defensive minded coach.
Everyone is frustrated. Fans, coaches, players…everyone. “I don’t care how good your offense is, you’ve really got to score 120-something to beat a team like that. Our defense is what’s going to make or break us, I believe”, said Chauncey after the most recent loss to the Bobcats.
The Knicks are now two full games back of Philadelphia for the 6th spot in the East. They have a three and a half game lead on the Pacers who are 8th. I’d like to think that they can hold on enough to not miss the playoffs. Three of their next four games are against New Jersey, Cleveland and Toronto – teams who will not be in the playoffs if they started today. They need to win those not only for morale, but to really make sure they’ll be playing late April.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
