With NBA playoff buzz abound, New York fans are despairing over a season fraught with false hope, mismatched pieces and sloppy play. The Knicks were unable to clinch the eight seed, their end-of-season push not being enough to top the Hawks, who slipped into the remaining spot in the East.
Knicks fans were hopeful that their team would at least make it into the playoffs; instead, this disappointment marked the first time in Carmelo Anthony’s career without a postseason appearance. The team showed glimmers of brilliance especially from the star of their franchise, Carmelo Anthony, who arguably had the best year of his career. But these moments were not enough and a dismal regular season due in part to loose defense and dubious chemistry resulted in failure.
Although this season is over for the Knicks, the organization can look forward to next year having made some promising developments well before the start of the next season. The most notable move being the addition of Phil Jackson, who now serves as president of basketball operations. Jackson is a two time NBA champion as a player for the Knicks and an eleven time champ as head coach for the Bulls and the Lakers. His immense basketball knowledge and incredible talent as a coach can only carry positivity into a sputtering organization in need of wise decision making in order to move forward. The first of these major decisions was the firing of head coach Mike Woodson, a bold move due to the fact that the Achilles heel of the team is inconsistency, bringing in a new system may further perpetuate their troubles.
The Knicks have also just recently signed forward Lamar Odom who was not in the league this past season but could be a good fit for the team bringing leadership and size. The Knicks do not have much hope in the draft this year as they currently do not hold any first round picks and is unlikely they will trade up on the day of the draft. Other troubling news is the fact that Melo suffered an injured right shoulder, causing him to sit out the final two games of the season which could prove to be an issue in the future for the Knicks. That is to say, if Anthony decides to stay with the team, as he is a free agent this summer and after the season the Knicks had with no other star power being brought in at this moment, Melo’s time with the team may be short lived, which would completely take the air out of the basketball culture in New York.
The future of the team is very uncertain at this time but fans can hold out hope for Phil Jackson’s leadership and the return of a prolific scorer and star. It’s quite possible that the coming season will be one of turbulence for Knicks fans but the team is moving in the right direction.
—
brocha@ramapo.edu
