When attempting to comprehend this dreadful 2016-17 New York Knicks season, many culprits come to mind. Today, we rank each of them.
Hey, listen … it’s not over yet.Even sitting at 20-26, 11th in the very mediocre Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks still have a shot to provide fans at least some excitement. Perhaps they could leapfrog such teams as the Pistons, Bulls, Bucks and Pacers and actually sneak into the tournament.
As delightful as it sounds, only a bit of excitement could arrive.
Even in the best case scenario, Manhattan would come alive for a few days only to understand its basketball prospects this spring are as screwed as Aaron Rodgers in Atlanta this past weekend.
Your Knickerbockers would have no shot at championship glory should things turn for the better. Barring injury, we already know it’ll be LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors for a third straight year.
Why even play the regular season? It’s the nature of the Association.
This is why, for intents and purposes, this season in New York has been a complete failure.
The Knicks haven’t turned a leaf en route to something substantial. They haven’t laid that first block towards building a solid foundation for the future.
The project that was this collection of talent has failed, already.
With that in mind, we take a look at the people responsible for such failures, and, better yet, we rank them just so we can point and blame that man with full exposure in mind.
Here are the top culprits to blame when it comes to the 2016-17 New York Knicks:
3. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah
On the surface, Derrick Rose hasn’t been a terrible acquisition. The 28-year-old former MVP is averaging 18.1 and 4.5 per night, but truth be told, anything he did was going to crush the production of Jose Calderon.
Unlike last year’s point guard situation, D-Rose and Brandon Jennings can actually move.
It doesn’t mean they can play defense. While, offensively, the Knicks have taken a step up at the one-spot, their defensive woes continue.
More importantly, D-Rose now symbolizes everything that’s wrong with this team thanks to his AWOL night a few weeks ago. No professional athlete can experience a situation like that and have fans feel comfy about it all.
In addition, Joakim Noah‘s free agency signing has been nothing but a bust.
In a perfect world, Noah’s basketball IQ, hustle and intangibles play would have meshed nicely with stud ballers. But that Noah is long gone. The one we have now is an old version that isn’t worth half of his four-year, $72.590 million contract.
Hey, at least each has stayed relatively healthy.
2. Carmelo Anthony
When discussing Carmelo Anthony, extremes show face.
On one hand, we have the Melo lovers, those who’ll defend the Syracuse grad regardless of play. They’ll bow down to the master no matter how poor his defense is.
On the other hand, we have the Melo haters, those who’ll look to run the man out of town no matter how many points he drops. They’ll look to bash the man who, at one point, represented one of the most prolific one-on-one scorers in NBA history.
The truth lies somewhere in between.
Anthony can still shoot the rock. He’s still an excellent scorer who opens up the floor for teammates.
Shooting at a .435 clip won’t help his resume this season, though.
On top of a less-than-stellar shooting percentage, Melo’s inability to play smart and efficient defense kills the entire structure on that end of the floor. His famous “swat block” is remarkable, but everything else about his defensive awareness creates a serious lack of defensive team success.
Take Monday night for example. In the Knicks 109-103 victory in Indiana — a night Melo hit the eventual game-winner — he committed a silly foul with his team up two points. Away from the ball with his man flashing to the free throw line, he put the opposition on the to tie the game from the charity stripe when they hadn’t earned it.
It’s this type of inefficiency on one end that simply cannot make him a bonafide NBA superstar.
He’s a great scorer, a star offensive player. He’s not that all-around NBA stud on both ends of the floor who garners close to max money.
As captain and leader of the team, Melo deserves the credit when they win and the blame when they lose. It’s that simple.
After so many years of losing, when do we finally admit Melo isn’t that superstar who can elevate players around him like others can?
1. Phil Jackson
He’s the boss, and, therefore, deserves most of the blame.
When Phil Jackson had a chance to start fresh this past summer, he chose not to. When the most talented head coach on the market was available, in Tom Thibodeau, Jackson elected to not even consider the man who once made a name for himself under Jeff Van Gundy.
We all know why he turned away. If Thibs came to New York, he’d want full control of the sidelines, just as any NBA head coach roams in today’s game.
Instead, Jax brought Jeff Hornacek on, a man who’s certainly a solid coach, but, seemingly, has bells and whistles attached.
Kurt Rambis remained on the staff, Horny is still running triangle principles from time to time, and he’s had zero chance to play a smaller lineup that would keep up with some of the high-flyers of the league.
Think about the roster Hornacek was handed. His starting lineup, while nice on paper, was too big and too slow.
How could Hornacek play Melo at the power forward — a spot he needs to play during his older days — when Noah, Rose, Courtney Lee and Kristaps Porzingis were already ready-made as starters? If Melo were to play the four-spot, the entire rotation would be out of whack. There aren’t enough perimeter players to make it happen.
It’s been clear as day, for three or four years now, that Anthony can’t play the three-spot anymore. He’s too slow and cannot keep up with the quicker threes in the league. However, he’s tough. He’s a good rebounder who can bang down low with the best of them.
It’s Jackson’s fault he didn’t build his personnel around the idea of Melo at the power forward. His older philosophies of deploying a bigger lineup instead of adapting with the times of a smaller league hoisting up threes on every possession has cost this team dearly.
For that, Phil Jackson is the top culprit in Knicks land.
Chris it's terribly difficult to agree with you. In some aspect you say some things that make sense, otherwise you seem to have half sighted bias. You claim, why won't people finally realize Melo is not right for the team. Then you use the argument that Melo is being played out of position, which puts him at a disadvantage to be the best that he can be for himself and his team as an argument to disqualify Phil Jackson. I am a fan of New York Players in general and Melo in particular, even though I tend to agree technically with the unfortunate incompleteness as a two way Superstar, yet how many people can actually impact the game, players and coaches, like Melo has consistently over many years. I like Melo because he is one of the most dominant and consistent and earnest in what he gives and has given in a hall of fame career. The best thing is, you know exactly what he is going to give you.On offense Melo is large like Jupiter. On defense he is not so large. WE ALL KNOW THIS! Melo doesn't deny it. His due, he is a Canon on offense, and he make his team a lot better and is worth every penny he is paid. Anyone who says otherwise is in denial and due at least some therapy as the same kind of people who denied giving Patrick his due and ran him out of town with no remorse; bunch of belly aching gripers and whiners who kills success if it isn't every bit to their liking.
So with a player of his caliber why have we not gotten him another superstar. Why is Melo playing with 14 new teammates and a brand new coach or two every year or two. How many other superstars in NBA history is ever asked to do that without another prime superstar who can put two hands on another side of a load that is so much heavier, to lift and carry, in NY. Does it take Omniscience to tell that the team begs a defensive star or specialist, a solid defense minded coach and phylosophy to complement one of the greatest offensive arsenal in the NBA for more than a decade, and who even now still got it good at a time when others in his career by this time are on their way down hill like an avalanche out of nowhere. As far as I can tell Melo is coachable especially recently, he is willing to play defense, why is it that this franchise couldn't put together an appropriate team for longer than a minute, to compliment the greatest player in its history since Patrick Ewing. Whenever other coaches are asked about playing the Knicks: when their mouth open, the one song they all sing is "stop Melo".
The next bright spot the team has is Porzingis, the player they booed like a red headed step child before knowing anything about him. And the players they preferred instead of KP? By now everybody would have been calling them bums and busts and asking for their heads and gonads on a plate. With the way everyone expects Melo to make bricks without straws, and rushing KP from yesterday, as next man up, with the way NY is treating his teammate?? KP came in loving NY, I'm not sure how long he will be singing that tune, or if he isn't already asking Melo how much is a greyhound ticket out of Dodge at sundown.
I do a back triple flip and land on my spine when I hear people gripe that NY couldn't get a player, like Greg Monroe for max money. Why would we want him, why are you even interviewing him and offering him money, he might take it and then be looking for valuable playing time! Thank God that train wreck didn't happen Phil! Thank you....
But now there, you picked up Noah... I really terribly have to admit I didn't see it coming. But, but I'm not going to complain you know, he's here, he's our player for a few years; oh 4 years, that's kind of steep, but at this point the team has it rough as it is and there is some good things we can salvage, just have to see.
Hmm, we paid Courtney Lee, but not Galloway; Melo said Wade could have been done. And you know he could be signed for less for a friend. I've always thought Phil way more lucky than brilliant from Chicago days. If he wanted to prove he was really a good coach he could've gone and coached and built the Nets of the Jason Kid era to a championship. Instead he chose to go and coach Kobe and Shack which is OK, but it doesn't prove that he can win with anything but echelon superstars that's pretty much destined to win inevitably. Anyway before I get carried away, Melo has one of the most player friendly contracts in history. And if he is to get traded he gets a big fat raise, the kind that he might hire the Joker to stop by and professionally laugh for him as he dances. The team is drowning in all the Melo hate and drama from dumb ass fans, story hungry media and big mouth Phil. Team play and chemistry was coming along pretty good all considered till bone head Phil started cracking his negative whip, and for some reason all kinds of nutty events transpired, bad enough, but people were actually initially calling him a genius motivator for it. I'd love to have those same people drink some coolade with my name on it. Maybe they would call me God, or maybe not who cares. Let Melo's contract run out, Phil contract run out, but what's it matter. Until the media, the fans and Dolan is no longer in any charge of basketball operation and we get some real solid basketball heads who is averse to managing a circus and big enough to tell NY to STFU and do what you do best, which is watch games and cheer. Y'all booed KP, now you keep insisting on shoving him in the pressure cooker prematurely. He needs time, a bit more than a NY minute to feel his shit out, let the game get slow and put some meat on his bones. Yeah he's tall as a house and a mismatch for most, but a lot is theoretically at this point, let him take his time to learn how to do it comfortably and organically. I see him out there rushing his shit; he needs to get pace, calm, and touch and feel and vice versa, to be deliberate and smooth. Kinda stuff he wants to learn good from Melo, if only y'all would ease off KP's ass with the plunger trying to get shit out of his bowels faster than he can eat his cereal.
There are 14 other players on the team trying to get right and good with all the new teammates coaches and system, they're trying to make a go at it. Trying to do their jobs, but all they see is people writing and talking crap, like the place is deep. Nobody openly giving them a chance, seeing with them and their plight. Yet on that note I will take that back, because on the game they recently lost at the garden to Pheonix, I was relieved and touched that one young fan approached Melo and showed something, a reminder that some sympathy and human decency is not non-existent even for a jungle. Maybe that bit of good nature made good karma and helped a little for one game. Maybe, it goes a long way, even longer than a dream, maybe...