Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.
You’ve seen a couple weeks of Linsanity: So, will the Knicks be a playoff team? Why, or why not?
Steve Aschburner: Yes, the Knicks will be a playoff team. You taken a look at the bottom nine in the Eastern Conference lately? There aren’t two teams better than New York in that group, not as long as Carmelo Anthony, Baron Davis and Amar’e Stoudemire let Jeremy Lin initiate the offense properly – and give him sufficient help at both ends when other point guards go at him the way Deron Williams did. With the exception of Boston, there’s not one sub-.500 team in the East that should make an extended run at bumping New York out of the top 8.
Fran Blinebury: Yes. In two words: the standings. Want seven more? Cavs, Bucks, Pistons, Nets, Raptors, Wizards, Bobcats. With Milwaukee suffering from their annual plague of injuries, I don’t see anybody behind who can pass the Knicks in the standings. Lin is going to come down off his cloud, for sure. There will be a period of adjustment with Carmelo, certainly. But the Knicks are better now. With Lin at the point, they’ve filled their biggest hole. I’m not predicting a run to the Eastern Conference finals. But they’ll make the playoffs.
Scott Howard-Cooper: The Knicks will be a playoff team because they are not as bad as some of the other possibilities in the East. Not the highest praise, but welcome to the conference where some team could make the postseason with a losing record. More importantly, New York has the most growth potential, the most room to get better, than anyone in the second half of the current bracket.
Shaun Powell: The Knicks are in the playoffs, if only because the East goes only eight or nine deep, at most. The question is, what happens next? The Knicks will do better than most believe, but not as much as New York (the city) believes. The main ingredients are there: a point guard who can reach the rim, a shooter, a front-line scorer, a defensive stopper and a batch of role players. They will only get better as the season progresses and will be a tough out for either the Bulls or Heat. This is setting up for an interesting 2012-13 season, which could turn New York into a basketball town.
John Schuhmann: They’re obviously a playoff team, with the Celtics sinking and none of the of the bottom seven much of a threat. The question is whether they’re a top-four seed and can actually win a playoff series. And there are so many variables with this team that it’s impossible to really know how it will play out. But I’ll guess that they’ll finish fifth in the East and lose in the first round. However, they will win a playoff game for the first time in 11 years.
Sekou Smith: Yes. They’re going to make the playoffs. They are too talented to watch the playoffs from home. And now that they’ve found the right point guard for Mike D’Antoni’s system, there’s nothing else in the way of them staying on a playoff track from now on. Bottom line, the Knicks are deeper and much more talented than the three teams currently on the fringe (Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit) that might pose a real threat to their playoff hopes down the stretch of this regular season.
They are! It’s not because they are a shoe in due to the bad teams they are ahead of in the East, it’s because they have all the pieces necessary to be a contending team. They have shooters, scorers, multiple shut down defenders, depth, size, and most importantly, a ball handler that can do it all in Lin(read about him by clicking my name). I believe it will take some time to gel, but they have a contending team in the making this season.
You’re the guy who won the contest with stephen curry right? lol see your blog every now and then.. its a good read..
lol that’s me! thanks for remembering and thanks for reading
Will the Knicks make the Playoffs? Absolutely, and I believe they can even make it to the Eastern Conference Finals easy. They have the talent and the right pieces. All it takes is commitment from the superstars. The rest of the team is already committed and clearly demonstrated this during the recent winning streak.. It is up to Carmelo and Amar’e to commit to the defense and move the ball as needed to find the open man. I cannot wait till the playoffs are here. It’s going to be an exiting season and battle of the fittest.
Ofc NYK are playoffs team, even without Lin they can be playoffs team. i am knicks fan but i don’t like the way the knicks play defense. Offensive is not a problem, if any we have too much offensive weapon. Tyson Chandler alone is not enough. Stats and Melo need to step. Especially with the physically he have (size, quickness) he should be the prime stopper of other teams superstars (ie- LBJ, the truth and so on..) but we all know melo don’t play D. i am not a melo hater or anything but sometimes i wish it’s Josh Smith playing for Knicks instead of Melo. imagine that….
I don’t know about eastern conference finals but even if they lose first round I think whoever they play will sweat.I think how far they go depends on Stoudemire and Anthony. Stoudemire needs to commit to the defense instead of moving out of the way and Anthony needs to just flow and let the game come to him instead of slowing the offense down, As far as defense, I don’t think Amare and Anthony should be on the floor at the same time.Melo does try but if his man gets past him he’ll let him go, Amare’s help defense is like a rabbit in a magic show, he disappears.
lol at the Amare reference to the rabbit. very suiting. i hate to bash Amare, but he really is a tragic defender, one of the worst in the league. it’s almost painful (i’ve been a Knick fan since Allan Houston) for me to watch all the bad decisions that he makes on the defensive end. people keep saying that Carmelo is a bad defender, but he is much better than Amare when it comes to defense. Amare is running around looking like he’s lost.
Knick to the playoffs?, I think so. With a new and healthy BIG 4 ( MELO, AMARE, CHANDLER & J.LIN), super supporting cast clicking, sustaining the momentum and sticking to the system of D’ Antoni, they can reach the playoffs no doubt.
In a 2 seed vs 7 seed match up, The (7) knicks will beat the (2) heat in the first round. You heard it here first. The heat are going to panic and choke all over the place. I hope the knicks face the heat and not the bulls. Bulls players don’t fall apart in crunch time.
how much u willing to bet…Knicks will not beat the Heat in playoffs
Lmao choke? have you seen how the Heat have been playing lately? and Knicks dont play defense at all theyre all offense and the Heat are gonna feed off of Lin’s turnovers. We’ll see thursday though
It’s plausible…..as long as melo & 2 guard can contain Lebron & Wade, Lin or Fields should be able to beat Charmlers. Especially with JR coming off the bench, scoring wont be an issue.
Haha as much as Id love to see that it will not happen. As mentioned previously the Knicks have next to no defense and the Heat are probably the best offensive team in the league as well as one of the best defensively. Knicks would lose 4-1 if not a sweep
Personally, the Knicks identity is Carmelo Anthony being the Dominant scorer he is. Run plays for him. You do not need to just run Isolation plays. If Anthony and Stoudamire run a few screens on the Low block for each-other even without the ball, while Tyson sets a high screen for Lin, that is a mis-match EVERY time down the floor because Lin is so quick at getting to the rim. If you cut him off, you have Amer with a mis-match one side, Carmelo with a mis-match other side, shooter in the corner, and Tyson rolling to the hoop. Worst case scenario, they put teams over the Foul limit Early!
Go KNICKS. KNICKS willl make the playoffs and I expect the D will get better. Het, Lin got killed by DWill and I’m sure he has seen the film and realizes that Stat and Melo failed him by not defending the picks well. As a team they didnt switch well and that will get better once they see different defenses. LIN has PRIDE and he will force them to play tuff D for him or else! Baron needs more minutes with Lin so Lin-sanity can get busy from an off gaurd position. The Knicks Defense was exposed on that pick-n-roll from the Nets but THANK GOD FOR LIN and his VIDEOTAPE obsession! Get ready for another streak folks. Go KNICKS!!!
I agree that Lin will review the tape of the game. I watch the game myself and honestly, it wasn’t just Lin getting burned by D Will on defense. In the two games that the Knicks lost since Lin has been leading the charge, the Knicks shot very poorly from 3-Point range. They were 5-21 (23.8%) on Monday vs. the Nets and 4-24 (16.7%) on Friday vs. the Hornets. Lin can distribute, but he can’t help his teammate make the shot, too. They can’t settle for jumpers; the jumper has to be a natural part of their offense if the 3 is wide open, not something they do at the bottom of the shot clock. They have to keep attacking the rim. It’s worth noting that Lin only turned the ball over 3 times in the loss.
Finally, how often does DWill go off for 38 points and shoot 8-14 from downtown? I’m a fan of DWill, but honestly, if he was that good every night he’d be leading his team to victory… aren’t the nets 10-24 right now? I’m going to come out and say it: basketball is a team sport, and great players make their team better. That’s what Lin is doing right now–like you say, we just need to give them time to figure it out.
ahahaaha? even without jeremy lin the knicks will clinch playoffs? nah! i dont think so, the cavs and bucks are better that time, if lin wasn’t there, and made a 7 game streak, they could have been top 10 or 11. r u out of ur mind? the knicks will beat miami? no way, its impossible, i say they aim for chicago because absolutely they can beat chicago rather miami. bulls dont choke? yeah right! whatever dude, they were beaten badly by the heat in the east finals, d-choke, oooops i mean d-rose wasn’t able to do anything. as in nothing, 4-1 right? just like phi and boston? 4-1. this season they meet, and guess what? 12-12 in ft d-choke, ooops wrong again, d-rose, and he missed both free throws? what a choker ahahahahaha
I wouldn’t say D-Rose “choked”. I don’t think he’s used to having two guys on the other team who are as athletic as he is and can run him down on defense and swat the ball. If you can protect the rim against D-Rose, you force him to shoot from outside where his percentages are lower.
lebron also missed free throws on that game with the bulls. let’s just see on thursday what happens when the knicks and heat play… also… for the record… i’d rather let the knicks face the heat than the bulls beacause lbj folds under preasure… and MSG presents a lot of pressure…
I think they are ready for playoffs. Right now they are playing high level and you guys above are definitely right about the right pieces. They have all the right pieces together. If you guys check the previous history on nba quality contenders or champs. They should have a good pointguard,guard, power forward and a certified center. Coming off the bench they a have well define bench like JR Smith, Novak, Shumpert and Bill walker and of course Bibby and Davis. I think they have a good chance of going deep into the playofff.s…
I agree that the knicks finally habve a chance at real stardom . I will go out on a limb and say they can make it to the finals……. However that is ONLY if the big 2 Amare and Carmelo step up their defensive game. Defensive is the only way to beat the BULLS or Miami . If you don’t belive me just ask Lebron and Dewade about last year’s Finals. They Knicks have a good offensive team in Lin , Carmelo , Stat and if Baron comes back strong…….. But they will choke if they cant make the stopss….
I’m not a knicks hater but I don’t think knicks will ever win a championship with the current roster. Maybe if Kenton or wade gets injured but the knicks have probaly the two worst team defenders in melo and amare. And amare is just a terrible defender over all. Then u have smith. Lin isn’t a great defender(ex.Calderon and williams) and fields is a average defender. How will I win with ur three stars below average defenders especially since Miami had teamed up and made a team where almost all started r capable of being on all NBA 1 denfesive team.
If Carmelo doesn’t get past the first round, he should never be mentioned in the same breath of any significant player again.
yes cause we have steve novak the best 3 pt shooter and melo the scorer and amre stoudmire
knicks will go all the way to the east finals and lose to the heat i hope knicks will win the championship
absolutely Knicks will be on a playoff they can finish 5 or even better 4 place as far as i concern what i notice on todays game against Hawks Melo played 27 mins. and manage to score 15 seems his getting alone and buying in to the system if this will continue they probably a force to the playoff they can get thru 2nd round and depends on the team they gonna face if it’s Miami they have chances of getting to eastern finals i really don’t know need to watch Knicks vs. Miami but if we compare on last season Melo can defeat Lebron and the team his playing with… like when Melo is still a nuggets they over ruled them. Heat easily defeat Knicks but when Melo and Billups arrive in NYK Heat starting to loose on Knicks twice on 3 times they met…
The Knicks would find it hard to miss the playoffs; the question is can they at least finish 6th and dodge the Bulls & Heat in the first series? Ddon’t get cute talking about the Heat choking, they didn’t choke until the actual Finals last year, why should they choke early this year?
The Knicks are gonna make the playoffs for sure. We have Lin, Davis, Smith, Melo, Stoudamire, Shumpert, Novak, Chandler, Fields. So much depth on this team. They just need to work together to win games. Amare needs to step up more and Chandler needs to stay outta foul trouble and Lin needs to stop turning the ball over. If they fix that they could make a run at the title cause thats alot of talent.
they would get past first round. but after that not so sure. i think they would end up being in the 4 up to 6th seed. they could beat indiana, sixers, atlanta and orlando in the playoffs but miami and chicago are two big threats.
Yes it is. New York is a Playoff team. theny all have the pieces the thing is they should play Defense and TeamWork as well
I can see the Chemistry on Backcourt between Lin and Fields and on the 2nd Unit BDavis and Smith on the Atlantas Game if they always play like that would be Great Run for them lastly i think they should sign Wilson Chandler or any Elite Center if ever Tyson is Broke and trade Bill walker , Toney Douglas, Bibby and Jordan.
C – Chandler/ Jeffries
PF – STAT/ Novak/ Harrellson
SF – Melo/ Shumpert/ WilsonChandler
SG – Fields/ Smith
PG – Lin/ Davis/ Bibby
Yes it is. New York is a Playoff team. theny all have the pieces the thing is they should play Defense and TeamWork as well
I can see the Chemistry on Backcourt between Lin and Fields and on the 2nd Unit BDavis and Smith on the Atlantas Game if they always play like that would be Great Run for them lastly i think they should sign Wilson Chandler or any Elite Center if ever Tyson is Broke and trade Bill walker , Toney Douglas, Bibby and Jordan.
C – Chandler/ Jeffries
PF – STAT/ Novak/ Harrellson
SF – Melo/ WilsonChandler
SG – Fields/ Smith / Shumpert/
PG – Lin/ Davis/ Bibby
Yes it is. New York is a Playoff team. theny all have the pieces the thing is they should play Defense and TeamWork as well
I can see the Chemistry on Backcourt between Lin and Fields and on the 2nd Unit BDavis and Smith on the Atlantas Game if they always play like that would be Great Run for them lastly i think they should sign Wilson Chandler or any Elite Defensive Stopper Center if ever Tyson is Foul Trouble/Injured and trade Bill walker , Toney Douglas, Bibby and Jordan.
C – Chandler/ Jeffries
PF – STAT/ Novak/ Harrellson
SF – Melo/ WilsonChandler
SG – Fields/ Smith / Shumpert/
PG – Lin/ Davis/ Bibby
For me as a commissioner they will going to playoffs but c’mon guys don’t expect too much.. They will not going in the east finals period. Their only 2 teams that have chance to compete against the Heat it’s Magic and Bulls that’s it.. Lin is a good player but it’s not enough. I don’t care if they have Smith,Davis,Novak,Chandler,Anthony and Stat. It’s still not enough to repersent the east in the finals.
Love the knicks but lets be realistic, it’ll take a miracle (and lots of choking from lechoke etc) to see Knicks even reach the conference finals
I hate the Heat but I cant see anyone else winning the East… unless D.Rose goes crazy in the playoffs and the Bulls contain lebron and wade. Otherwise I guess its another trip to the finals for the Heatles
Knicks are playoff bound but unfortunately not playoff ready…not as long as they’re the 7th or 8th seed where they’ll probably face Miami or Chicago. There are still some glaring weaknesses in their team game: Turnovers; Poor free throw shooting; an inability sometimes to finish plays down in the paint; and for lack of a better word – butterfingeredness at both ends of the floor. Their defense and rebounding have improved considerably however and that should help make them a tougher out. But New Yorkers like myself don’t want them to be any kind of “out” in these playoffs…and definitely not a first round out. The Knicks have to move up in the standings after the All-Star break and solidify a fourth or even a third seed (a pipe dream just a few weeks ago) to give them a good shot at a Conference Finals appearance.
amare and melo do not play defense .
no other words r needed to explain why NY is going nowhere
they will do playoff just cuz other opponents in the east r… bad teams
in the west conference they would rank bottom 4
Look,the Knicks are very lucky to be in the weakest conference (not just this year but for the last four or five).In the West they would be fighting the Warriors.So, thanks to that situation, they´ll make the playoffs.But it´s hard to picture a scenario where they aren´t crushed in the postseason.I believe they will be swept unless they are able to reach the seed number six.Then they might be capable of winning one game at home…
Should trade Lin to the Suns for Nash. Both players would enjoy : Lin playing without pressure from Melo / Stoudemire…Nash playing for a (future) contender an playing alongside with Baron Davis (like Billups did with CP3 in LA)
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