Say what you want about regular season pro basketball and the occasional monotony that comes with it, but by any sport’s standard, it really doesn’t get much better than Wednesday night’s Knicks-Celtics game. Because some nights, all the NBA’s critics are just plain, wrong.
The New York Knicks Are Your New Favorite Team
Wednesday night, the New York Knicks’ resurgence took center stage against the Celtics in Madison Square Garden, and even in defeat, they left us all asking the same question: When did these guys get this good?
As we got deeper into the fourth quarter with each team trading ridiculous shots, one-upping each other, and bringing the spectacle to another level, you couldn’t help but shake your head. Not just at the game itself, but the bigger picture. When did the Knicks get this good?
Not just good, even. Sort of irresistible. With Amare Stoudemire driving them, Raymond Felton riding shotgun, and New York’s fans going insane in the background, this has got to be the most exciting team in the entire NBA. Watching the game last night, I texted a friend: “Can’t wait to see everyone overreact to this game.”
And then: “Can’t wait to participate wholeheartedly, of course.”
To go on record with the obvious: the Knicks aren’t perfect, and they won’t ever win a championship with the current roster. But that’s part of the charm, too. Everyone associated with the current Knicks was thought to be fundamentally flawed as NBA talents. Mike D’Antoni can’t coach defense. Amare Stoudemire can’t rebound. Raymond Felton can’t shoot. Danilo Gallinari is soft. Wilson Chandler’s a tweener. Landry Fields, too.
Matter of fact, if any NBA team personifies the dreaded tweener label, it’s the New York Knicks. Yeah, they’re kinda good, but not good enough to make us forget their obvious flaws.
But screw that. Just come along for the ride. Pretend, for a day, that the Knicks aren’t fatally flawed. That Amare Stoudemire can win the MVP, and Felton’s finally ready to grow into his role as a franchise point guard. That Danilo Gallinari is the most dangerous third option in the league. That the Knicks aren’t just tweeners in the midst of a collective statistical aberration, and that this is the foundation of a dynasty. Because isn’t that more fun? Or more specifically: Wouldn’t it be fun if a team as entertaining as New York could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best teams in the league?
So forget the Suns comparisons. Wednesday night, Amare Stoudemire was Shawn Kemp, Ray Felton was Gary Payton, and the New York Knicks played a brand of basketball that’d make even the deepest cynics (err... Sonics fans) a little nostalgic. Oh, and if Amare’s Kemp and Ray’s GP, doesn’t that make Gallo the new Detlef? YOU BETCHA.
No big deal guys, just thank the New York Knicks for inspiring your new desktop background.
Sure, there’s a decent chance that New York will regress over the next few months. The MSG fans could return to their natural state of discontent, Mike D’Antoni will be on the hot seat again, Amare’s MVP chants will turn to frustrated groans, and the Knicks will be back to square one. But to quote the inimitable philosopher LeBron James, “The one thing you can’t control is you never know.”
Maybe the Knicks are for real, and they can really contend with teams like Boston. Maybe all these players have matured at the same time. Maybe they’re the old Sonics, not the old Suns. Maybe they’ll trade for Carmelo Anthony and a dynasty will be born.
The truth is, the Knicks float somewhere between the two extremes. They’re not the incomplete tweeners we expected, but they’re not the ‘96 Sonics, either. Where they float from here is anyone’s guess. popular debate lately has centered on whether this team even needs Carmelo Anthony. And... Of course they do.
Want to know why Carmelo Anthony’s worth the risk? Look at Amare Stoudemire.
There are only a handful of guys in the NBA with superstar talent, and not all of those guys are inherently dominant. It’s taken time for Amare to mature from the Suns’ enigma to New York’s epiphany, and Carmelo’s experienced many of the same growing pains in Denver the past year. Right now, he looks like a classic case of a superstar that isn’t built to carry a contender.
But wasn’t that Amare’s label a few months ago? Look at the Knicks now. They may not be on Boston’s level, but they’re not far off. Or just look at Boston. Paul Pierce was Carmelo before Carmelo; stuck sulking on a bad team, unfulfilled potential personified. Now he’s a cold-blooded finisher beloved for his intangibles. So forget pace-adjusted stats and efficiency ratings, all of which would have condemned the Knicks stars at one point or another. In the NBA, players can change, and what you see often matters less than what you can imagine.
Remember: Amare couldn’t carry a playoff team, Raymond Felton couldn’t shoot, Gallo couldn’t come through in the clutch, and Mike D’Antoni couldn’t win without Steve Nash. But the New York Knicks showed Wednesday that they could eventually do more than we ever thought possible.
It’s going to be a fun ride in New York this year, and if they land Carmelo Anthony, all bets are off. If these Knicks have proven anything, it’s that sometimes, the critics are just plain, wrong.
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