NEW YORK, NY – Remember when ESPN First Take’s Skip Bayless called the New York Knicks “…a bigger threat to the [Miami] Heat than the [Indiana] Pacers.” on Twitter earlier this week? Well, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, considering the Knicks’ latest malfunctions may have bounced them from playoff contention.
After Sunday’s 102-91 loss to the Heat, and second straight, New York’s beloved basketball team looks to be the odd man out. With four games left on their schedule, the Knicks sit two games back from the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have six games left on their schedule, including three against teams out of playoff contention.
Since this was a two-seed team last year, the BIG question is:
Why are the New York Knicks this bad in the first place?
It is truly baffling that this team is in this sticky situation. With a roster that includes some great talent in Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, J.R. Smith, and Raymon Felton, this is a very good core of five in NBA standards. It’s certainly a better core than that of the Hawks, who’ve been without their best player, Al Horford, all season. And in NO WAY should they have a worse record than the Charlotte Bobcats.
Someone has to take blame! But who?
Do you blame James Dolan? He is the owner, and every New Yorker and their mother HATES how he manages the day-to day operations of this team. But then again, he’s the guy in who dishes out all of the cash, and he’s not afraid to do that.
Is Steven Mills the guy to curse? Mills is the General Manager after all. His most questionable move this past off-season was trading for Andre Bargnani. The Knicks traded the house for a forward who only payed 35 games for the Toronto Raptors last year, due to an elbow injury. Guess what!? Bargnani hasn’t played since January because of an elbow injury!
What about Mike Woodson? Coach Woodson’s job has been in jeopardy since the Knicks got off to their embarrassing 6-16 start. A team with a player of Carmelo’s talent alone shouldn’t lose 16 of 22 games; that’s just depressing.
The bottom line is this team’s poor performance comes down to the poor coaching. Mike Woodson is the fist fall guy.
You have to feel bad for Phil Jackson, who has walked into an awful situation. What is he going to do with this squad going forward?
Final Question:
Who do you blame for the Knicks embarrassing season?
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