What Happened to the Knicks?

It is almost hard to believe how much the New York Knicks have regressed from last season.

Last regular season, the Knicks finished second in the Eastern Conference, winning an impressive 54 games, including going 3-1 over the eventual NBA Champions, the Miami Heat.

After winning their first playoff series since 2000, Knick's fans had high expectations coming into the 2013-2014 season. Over the past couple of years in the Eastern Conference, only two teams had separated themselves from the pack, the Heat and the Pacers. With injuries to Derrick Rose the past two seasons, the Bulls have fallen from the ranks of top contenders in the East. With that, there was certainly an opportunity for the Knicks to establish themselves as one of the East's premier teams with another good year. 

However as we know, that did not happen. The Knicks have struggled all season, only showing rare glimpses of being the team many thought they were capable of being. The Knicks are now 14 games below .500, and hopes for claiming the eighth seed in the playoffs grow slimmer with each passing game.

It may still be a bit premature to completely write off the Knicks, considering how bad the East is. Nonetheless, they have greatly underachieved and a look at some of the reasons why this season was a disappointment may help (or hurt) the grieving process for fans.   

Firstly, the losses of key reserves from the 2012-2013 campaign have been overlooked. Jason Kidd, Steve Novak, and Chris Copeland, were all instrumental during stretches of last season. In a league where being able to stretch the floor and make threes is growing ever more important, the Knicks had shooters. The lack of bench production has mostly been blamed on Jr Smith's lack of professionalism, and Amare Stoudemire's lack of knees. No longer having a number of shot makers off the bench has held back the Knicks from reaching the success of a year ago.

There are certainly other problems that have lead to the Knicks shortcomings, beside losing a few useful roll players. Head Coach Mike Woodson has to take much of the blame. Even during the playoffs last season, the Knicks had befuddling defensive breakdowns. Unlike the good three point shooting, the defense breakdowns did carry over from last season. According to stats.nba.com, the Knicks have the 27th ranked defense in the NBA. This is unforgivable for a coach who is known for being defensive minded. 

The problems on the defensive end can largely be attributed to Tyson Chandler being injured for much of the season. However, blow-bys, and late rotations still occur with Chandler. The problem is the lack of discipline, and players not being on the same page. That screams poor coaching.

It is also very difficult to win in today's game without good point guard play, which is something the Knicks certainly do not have.

Last season Raymond Felton was arguably the second most important player to the Knicks offense. Penetrating and kicking to shooters, setting up Chandler for lobs, and being another threat off the dribble, Pablo Prigioni excelled in his role as a defensive minded spark of energy off the bench. But with Felton hurt and returning out of shape, the Knicks have struggled to find a solid primary ball handler, often making Carmelo Anthony work even harder to get himself going offensively. 

Carmelo Anthony is one player who has done his part this season.

Anthony has been an elite player for the better part of a decade, and he is proving that again this year. He is one of the games great talents in the prime of his career, who makes plays that few others can. When the going gets tough for teams, they often look to their best player, and Anthony has responded. Anthony is putting together another stellar season having games where has looked as good as any player in the league. For the unbiased basketball fan, watching the Knicks brings feelings of sympathy for the Brooklyn native. 

As for the future, who knows? Smart teams usually build through the draft. The Knicks have been trying to figure out how to be relevant since Patrick Ewing retired (Ewing, mind you, who they got through the draft) And naturally, the Knicks do not have a pick in this years draft, which is loaded with talent. 

Future of the Jets

New York Jets fans have endured yet another wasted season. What can fans really take from the season to assure that they are headed in the right direction? They have no idea who their quarterback will be next year, or if their coach will be back; doubts surround the competency of the general manager; and the offensive coordinator, Tony Sparano, is terrible. The two AFC championship appearances are distant memories as the Jets have fallen back to their usual spot as a middle of the pack team, if that. In fact, Jets fans must ask themselves if they were ever anything more than that, even when they made two playoff runs. Granted, they won four road playoff games in two years, but were the Jets ever an elite team in anyone's eyes outside of New York? In both 2009 and 2010, they failed to win a division title, coming in second behind big brother, the Patriots. 

The question becomes, how do the Jets get back on track? It will pain Jets fans to hear this, but they should take a couple of pages out of the Giants book. And by that I mean, stick by your coach when it would be easier to fire him. Tom Coughlin went from being on the hot seat to a two- time Super Bowl Champ. Now many fans are calling for Rex Ryan's head because the Jets have underperformed in so many games this year.  Their worst performances being on Monday Night Football and Thanksgiving Day with the entire country watching. That being said, Rex's defense still kept the Jets competitive in a good part of their games this year, and is the sole reason why the Jets managed to win 6 times this season. Despite all things, his guys play hard for him, and with a team depleted of talent he had the Jets thinking playoffs up until week 15 (though we all know how that ended). 

Rex Ryan has been far from perfect as coach. Fans can do without his preseason "Super Bowl or bust" comments every year.  He also stuck with Mark Sanchez for far too long, but then again he was not the person who guaranteed him $8.25 million for next season.

I still feel Rex Ryan's model of a good defense, solid run game, and decent quarterback play can win in the NFL. However, Mark Sanchez has not provided decent play, and Shonn Greene is only an average running back.  Furthermore, their most talented players on both sides of the ball  --Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes -- suffered season-ending injuries. Rex Ryan has the ability to rally the troops. Also, as long as Ryan has been the coach the team has had an identity, that of a hard nosed, defense first team, which is a good thing. Last off-season, the front office signed Tim Tebow and burdened Rex Ryan with finding ways to use him, instead of getting him some functional talent. 

Sanchez must go, he can not handle playing in New York, and he is not wanted or welcomed by most Jets fans. He rode the coattails of good teams in 2009 and 2010. He has proven time and time again that the more responsibility he gets, the worse he gets. The upcoming draft is lacking talented quarterbacks. Because of that Alex Smith is probably the best option if the Jets can get him. But if the Jets go out and sign Michael Vick in hopes that he can magically return to his 2004 self, the Jets might just be hopeless. The last two times the Jets signed the biggest names they could get at quarterback (Favre in '08 and Tebow last year) it caused  controversy and a season with no playoffs. 

The Jets best hope is to get Rex Ryan some talent at the skill positions, get rid of Mike Tannenbaum as general manager, which they are in the process of doing, and find a new offensive coordinator (all easier said that done, I'm aware). If they can do some of these things, maybe we'll have another great Jets season --going 9-7 or 10-6 and maybe sneaking into the playoffs on the last week of the season.

Who Needs Rebounding?

Who in basketball says you need to rebound the ball in order to win? Well, traditionally, everyone.  In most cases, you have to be at least competitive on the boards to hang around in any game. However, that wasn't the case last night as The Timberwolves dominated the The Heat in Miami on the glass 53 to 24, but still managed to lose the game. This is a trend that became apparent when the Miami Heat were able to win an NBA title last year without any real size. It is continuing this season as The New York Knicks have the second best record in the league (18-6) and are 27th in rebounding differential (-3.8). While you have the Lakers second in the league in rebounding differential (+5); and their struggles this season have been well documented. How is it that teams that get beaten up on the boards are still able to have as much success as they are? For one, offensive efficiency. The Knicks and The Heat rank second and third in the NBA in that category-- which makes up for their lack of rebounding. And they must continue to play quality offense if they are going to continue to have success. The Heat are averaging a league low with 7.8 offensive rebounds a game but are able to make up for their lack of second chance buckets by creating easy scoring opportunities by  forcing turnovers. The Knicks compensate by simply not turning the ball over, averaging a mere 10.5 turnovers a game (Philadelphia is a distant second with 12). Though the Knicks lose the battle of the boards most games, it's not hurting them as they have enough scoring opportunities because of how well they take care of the ball.

The question is:  can a team that is one of the worst at rebounding in the league consistently win? Despite what the beloved Charles Barkley believes, I say they can. The NBA is a point guard dominated league so statistics that primarily relate to point guards (assists, turnovers, steals) will have more baring on the outcome of games. The power forward is no longer the hardest position to play against, so stats that they have the most impact on mean slightly less, like rebounding. Something Charles Barkley aka "The Round Mound of Rebound" will never admit. The immense young talent the league has at point guard, and lack of true big men will only continue to lessen the importance of rebounding. It is an accepted truth that basketball games are won and lost in the paint. Well, if the league continues to evolve this way, the new truth will be that the game is won and lost in the open court.