Want to Be Part of It: NY Knicks 12-13 Preview (Pt. 1)

Here’s something I never thought I’d write: I completely agree with Stephon Marbury.

In an interview with ESPN New York, the starting point guard for the Chinese Basketball Association’s reigning champion Beijing Ducks simply said, “Nope,” when asked if he thought Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire could play together.

Include Tyson Chandler and that pretty much sums up my feelings towards the Knicks' Big Three. In fact, I’d argue that the majority of the Knicks roster is ill-suited to play together—no matter how stacked New Yorkers believe their team to be or how many Knicks players think they can win it all.



While the core of Anthony (28), Stoudemire (29) and Chandler (29) is all under 30 (and should be entering into their NBA primes), Stoudemire is an old 29 having a litany of medical procedures on literally every part of his body—knees, back, eye, hand. While he arrived early to camp fully healthy and in much better shape than last season, it remains to be seen how much STAT has left in the tank. In 11-12, he looked like half the player he had been with the Suns. I can't fault him for any emotional instability he had last year after having to cope with the sudden, unexpected death of his brother. That's a tough blow for anyone to deal with.

And the Stoudemire that suited up last year looked nothing like the 2010 version who was a legitimate MVP candidate for the first half of the season. He was slower, had lost significant lift and never seemed comfortable. If that is a harbinger of things to come, a Stoudemire with decreased athleticism and quickness offers little offensively outside of a 15-foot jump shot that completely abandoned him last year.

Like Amar’e, Chandler is an injury risk. While he only missed four games last season (lockout-shortened), he averaged a paltry 58 games in the three years prior. Unlike Amar’e, he is coming off the best season of his career as the reigning defensive player of the year. That being said, he remains an extremely limited offensive player. While he maximizes his skill set and led the Association in field goal percentage last year (the best since Wilt Chamberlain in fact), after 11 seasons in the NBA, he has zero post moves.

As for Anthony and his proclamations of it being "his time,” I remain skeptical because he remains the same player he was when he entered into the league—an at times offensive dynamo who has proven to hit clutch shots, but who generates little offense for anyone else, plays lax and uninspired defense, and has settled into the mold of an extreme scorer with middling efficiency.

I suspect you notice a common theme.

All three players are excellent at what they do and have continued to hone their specialties over the course of their careers. The problem is that none of them have evolved.

Lebron James came into the league as a gifted passer and athletic marvel who excelled at getting to the hoop. Nine years into his career, he has become a terrific rebounder, a devastating post presence, a fourth-quarter assassin, a DPY candidate, and subsequently, an NBA champion.

Carmelo came into the league as an NCAA champion, a clutch and lights out scorer who excelled at offensive rebounding and getting to the line. Nine years later, he's improved his freethrow and three-point percentages and his rebounding, and made it to the Western Conference Finals in the 08-09 season.  

Chandler went from the number two pick to DPY. Stoudemire went from athletic freak dunk machine to devastating pick-and-roller.

There was improvement. Obviously. But there was no growth. Chandler still has no offense. Stoudemire still can't defend. Melo's still throwing up a 21.5 PER year after year after year.

Which makes it hard to believe that they will change now—tutelage under The Dream notwithstanding.

And a transformation is what will need to happen in order for this trio to not only be successful, but to thrive and dominate in a way that would make them a championship caliber team.

The problem is that Stoudemire and Anthony simply aren't complimentary. While their games share little resemblance—Stoudemire is most effective in the pick and roll/pick and pop and Melo gets his in isolation on the wing and in the post—the problem is that they both must occupy the same space on the court in order to be most effective. Compounding the problem is the fact that both are dreadful defenders.

Is it possible that Carmelo and Amar'e have learned how to harness their abilities and focus on actually trying on the opposite side of the ball like they have been talking about this summer? Sure. As Kevin Garnett once screamed, "Anything is possible!!!!" (well, except for Kobe Bryant doing something that doesn't instantly create disparate opinions).

Is it likely though?

Let's put it this way:

Melo has been on two Olympic teams since Jerry Colangelo took over the program. Nearly every player on an Olympic/World team has made significant improvement after representing the United States. James, Bryant, Wade, Chandler, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Derek Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Deron Williams, Andre Igoudala, and even Lamar Odom (before his meltdown last year). In the four years since, these players have combined for 19 all-NBA first team selections, seven all-NBA second team selections, 13 all-NBA defensive first team selections, seven all-NBA defensive second team selections, all four MVP and DPY awards, all four scoring and rebounding titles, three of the four Finals MVPs, and a Sixth Man of the Year award.

Anthony accounted for just one of those all-NBA second team honors.

As for Stoudemire, he's come into various season's talking about big changes to his game. He wanted to be Ron Artest in 2008. He was going to be Sun Tzu in 2010. This year, he's talking about defense being the most important aspect of winning a championship.

Fool me once...

Outside of hollow-sounding proclamations of a newfound zeal for defense, it's the offense that has solidified my unbelief in this team.

While they play with contrasting styles, Amar'e and Melo are also far too similar to play effectively together. At 6-9, 240 lbs, Anthony is best suited as a power forward, which he played to great effect during the Olympics. He is an excellent rebounder, and is physical enough to bang down low with bigger players, but quick enough that he can easily beat them off the dribble.

Because of his lackadaisical defensive effort, Anthony as a four is best paired with a defensive-minded, agile, offensive-rebounding five. Chandler is actually the perfect compliment. But then where does that leave Stoudemire?

Even if Melo can play the three (he did slim down this summer and rained threes from all zip codes in London), an athletically diminished Stoudemire is best suited to play center—much like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in their old age. The only problem is that Stoudemire is a poor rebounder and defender.

So what if Stoudemire opts to come off the bench? This would give the bench stability with a legitimate go-to scorer. Protecting and rebounding behind Stoudemire would be Marcus Camby, while Amare's former teammate Raymond Felton could work the pick and roll like they did in 2010 when they enjoyed a great deal of success as a tandem.

This would even out the team and take full advantage of everyone's talents, but isn't the whole point of having a big three to maximize the starting five by playing together? This split approach would work well for the regular season and could net them a top three seed, but the playoffs are what really matters.

And in the playoffs, the three will need to be able to not only play together, but to play exceptionally well together.

With Chandler clogging the lane, Anthony and Stoudemire taking up the same sweet spots on the floor, all three lacking court vision and passing ability, and the original creator of the "Iso Joe" offense in Mike Woodson leading the way, I fail to see how this offense, let alone this New York Knicks team, will be a contender this year.

The offseason signings are certainly not the answer.

Click here for Part II.