The Knicks’ Dismal Season Speaks for Itself

Its called team chemistry, and basketball - at the professional level - rewards teamwork. It is what made the Reed, Debusschere, Bradley, Frazier, Monroe (or Dick Barnett) team so great. The starters were very good, but not necessarily the best at their positions. However, they all (including reserves) knew each of their teammates strengths and weaknesses and they capitalized on that. In Basketball, with only 5 players on the floor, there is no place to hide a weak player. A baseball team can afford a great defensive player who cannot hit, because the player is one in 9. Not in basketball. Put a weak shooter on the floor and the person covering him/her can drop back and double team. That weak shooter has to find a way to contribute to the offense. At times, the current Knick team plays that way on offense, but less so on defense (switching as necessary and avoiding mismatches). As good as Carmelo is, he cannot make this team succeed by himself. IF the Knicks don't have 8 players (3 reserves) who are totally in the game and playing as part of a team when they are on the floor, they will not succeed over the long haul. They will win a game here and win a game there, but not come out and consistently be a winner. The players on this team have talent. Whether they can consistently play together is Phil Jackson's an open question. That burden falls on both Carmelo and his teammates. He has to look to them and they have to know when (and when not) to look to him.

Trade Phil Jackson!! What a waste of money this guy has been since arriving on a red carpet and a big black limo.

Great players make those around them better. Carmelo has never done that. Those of us who were horrified that Dolan overruled Walsh were even more horrified that Phil resigned him. You simply can not build a great team around a player like this, no matter how nice his numbers are. Forget about what you got or didn't get; having him suck all the oxygen was a mistake clear and simple.

And while we are at it, we have seen a complete dumbing down of the game during the Dolan era. Many of us who used to love Clyde Frazier on the court are sick and tired beyond exhaustion of him in the booth. Can we please have someone whose analysis goes beyond "swoopin and hoopin?" This tie to an era 40 years in the past is an embarrassment to those of us who care about this game, and Dolan's keeping him on the payroll is yet another indication that he is clueless. If you want to spend some money, go recruit Jeff VG and Marc Jackson and bring us back to intelligent basketball.

I'll say it again, for the bazillionth and umpteenth time; as long as "Guitar Jimmy"
Dolan has anything to do with the Knicks, they'll remain losers.

It's about time to lose Dolan. But, if only there were a way..... (*sigh*)

The curse of the tax break. Until Dolan starts paying taxes to NYC, rather than a limited time abatement that expired decades ago and has been renewed, the Knicks will not win. A perk -- if he starts paying taxes, maybe he'll sell the team and we can find an owner who cares about building a winner, not a team made to fill the seats for a year or two but not designed to build a long-term winner.

What is there to say? Well, in a word: "Unwatchable"

Wow, 3 Olympic medals, and TWO of them gold! Well why didn't you say so sooner? Impressive, and certainly a lock on the Hall of Fame.

Hey Rhoden,
Your favorite "coach" was fired.
You wrote here asking to give him the job even though he never coached/win anything as coach before.
You should ask to give Isiah Thomas another crack @ it.
He's one of your favorites too.

bill wake up please: carmelo has played 25 great games as a knick this season but it's too little too late. greed and selfishness are his legacy as a knick, monetarily, as a player, as a person. he should have waited for free agency, so that the knicks could have used the players that were traded for him as pieces later on. yes, no matter what kind of devaluation you want to do in 20-20 hindsight about them, they had value and could have been traded to improve the knicks in due course... but then only a lowlife like dolan could possibly have forced the situation.

and nobody forced melo to remain in new york, take the supermax, AND get a no trade clause. melo is no innocent victim here, despite the fact his m.o. is to never shoulder responsibility or take ownership for his contribution to the knicks record -- he made this bed, now he gets to lie in it. too bad he's the sort who will cry all the way to the bank.

please stay away from basketball: you're clearly out of your depth.

Anthony is a poor excuse of a player. Its all about him. When he gets the ball everyone in the building knows where its going next. A very one dimensional player. They should have shipped him out long ago while they could still get something for him.

Cracks me up that anyone still calls Carmelo Anthony a "Ballstopper." When they lack ball movement, it's not Anthony's fault. Regardless, it is indeed hard to figure what the hell happened to this group. They were playing beautifully - even the other night V Detroit. But it doesn't really seem that complicated to; If they play D and move the ball on offense, they're competitive. It helps when they are hitting, but until they have a PG who penetrates and breaks down defenses, they're operating at a disadvantage

Thank you Mr. Rhoden, and unfortunately, you will receive little deserved thanks from these commenters. None of the players you mentioned have been worth a darn. Chandler and Galinari potentially, but the latter has played in at least 60 games ONCE since he was traded, the former, more than 62 games ONCE since he was traded. Mozgov plays 17 minutes a night and is a role player on a team of stars. Don't even get me started on Felton.

Anthony is not Lebron James or Steph Curry. No one is. He certainly is not one to hold his opinions, and his failure to mesh with Jeremy Lin is a regret (incidentally, Lin was essentially, until recently, a backup on every team he has played since leaving NY). But that is not the issue with this team. It's things like trading a number one pick (and two #2s) for...Andrea Bargnani! It's hiring another triangle protege with zero history of success (Rambis) after firing the first. These are the symbols of a failed ownership reign. Anthony is at best a piece of this puzzle. His numbers this season are strong. He takes a beating on both ends. But yes, let's make sure this disastrous franchise pins all its flaws on him.

I believe that if Phil wants them to continue the triangle offense then he should be coaching the Knicks.. a la Pat Riley..

The truth is, the Knicks have, with few exceptions, been pretty bad, or at best, mediocre, since the late 90's. And they have not really been a contender since 1994. This talk that NYC cannot accept a rebuild has led to this ridiculous situation, where they attempt to sing a big ticket, but highly flawed player, then surround him with parts that do not make the whole better. They need to do a complete, totally complete rebuild. And they have a star, not Carmelo, whom I like, but the young Porzingis.

Sorry Mr. Rhoden, it's time that we tell the children that the Knicks are bad because Jim Dolan is a terrible owner and Carmelo Anthony is just an average player who takes a lot of shots.

There is a reason why Carmelo Anthony has never led any team deep into the playoffs. Though he was great in his one college year, not so much in the NBA.

Yes, he scores a great deal, but he misses a great deal too. His career WP48 advanced stat (which counts the whole box score) is average, at best. That means in any given year he's around 200th in the league.

In his one really good year, his "contract" year two seasons ago, he was only somewhat above average. His effective shooting percentage this year is 46.4%. Stephen Curry's is 63.8%, Kevin Durant's is 57.4%, Kawhi Leonard's is 56.9%.

Jim Dolan's Knicks have had the single worst record in the NBA over the past decade. He made a big mistake in trading for Anthony, though not as big as his giving away a first round draft pick for Andrea Bargnani, the single worst player in the NBA over the past three decades.

Pray for a sale of the Knicks. As Princess Leia says in Star Wars IV, it's our "only hope."

Mr. Rhoden all due respect but your support for the Anthony trade was wrong then and is even worse now. Pairing him with Stoudamire was a bad idea. That was pretty much the consensus around the league and the results spoke for themselves. The team was measurably worse when they were both on the floor. Phil Jackson had phenomenal success coaching, (with Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Jordan and Pippen) but has turned out to be a less than engaged (lazy?). incompetent executive. Re-signing Anthony to a 5 year max deal was an awful decision. Trading for an injury prone, 34 year old, defensive liability PG on the decline was mind boggling. Robin Lopez? Langston Gallaway? There's no talent on this team. Another mess.

"Carmelo has been a wash"????? They did not pay him HUGE money to be a "wash"! "Olympic gold" "legacy" That must be why the Knicks are paying this player with bad knees for another three years!!!

I like Carmelo, but a big time ball stopper. That said, think that trade was fine. Unfortunately, it caused them to speed up a process that had them lurching for players and giving up trade picks. Agree they need a point guard, but they also are fixated to an offense that not only stifles point guard play and creativity but also critically, reduces the quality of the coaching pool. If Jackson wants to be seen as overall as complete a basketball coach and mind, as say Pat Riley, he is going to have to get the coach right, restructure the system, get much better point guard play, and improve the defense. They won 17 last year and they will probably double that this year, so moving in the right direction. That sometimes is not what NYK'ers want to hear, and they have challenges ahead of them. But, like the Mets, they do have some solid pieces and with some tweaking, should continue to improve.

Attending Knick games is proof of what P.T. Barnum said - there is a sucker born every minute.

Championship? I'll settle for a competitive .500 team, like they were earlier this year. Things were fun. Porzingas and 'Melo fast friends. Lopez and Afflalo supporting nicely. Was I dreaming? What the heck happened?

Mr Rhoden, with all due respect you are delusional. They never, ever should have traded for him in the first place. Look at the Celtics, who starting rebuilding after the Knicks. They are light years ahead of them now. Fish rots from the head. Mr. Anthony is the leader of the team, Mr. Dolan is the owner.

They need a dominating point guard...I still wear my Linsanity tee-shirt