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A Great Question To Ask Yourself

by Tommy Dee on March 22nd, 2011 at 3:57 pm

Brought forth by Will Leitch

But few believed Carmelo and Amar’e Stoudemire and the rest of the crew would jell immediately, and, regardless, the move was partly with an eye on Chris Paul/Deron Williams/Dwight Howard anyway. This year was the feeling-out period. Right? A fun little playoff trip — Playoffs! At the Garden! For the first time in seven years! — and all kinds of giddy “look at those two superstars!” excitement. It was supposed to be free money. So why does it feel so demoralizing? Why is it so little fun to be a Knicks fan right now? more.

I can only answer it myself. It’s called inflated expectations. I don’t get that upset over losses because I tend to think big picture and that this team, once again, is a work in progress. At some point, however, the work should result in wins. Last night the effort was again there for just 36 minutes. To all fans, that is what’s most unacceptable and demoralizing.
  • Anonymous

    But for the inconsistent efforts v. bad teams, I don’t think there would be much criticism.

  • Anonymous

    Going into the Season, My expectations were playoffs, .500 record. While some of these loses have been disappointing, I am trying to maintain these expectations.

  • Anonymous

    “But few believed Carmelo and Amar’e Stoudemire and the rest of the crew would jell immediately, and, regardless, the move was partly with an eye on Chris Paul/Deron Williams/Dwight Howard anyway.”

    Which wont happen anyways due to said superstars taking up the amount of money that they will. Their only hopes are pretty much “jell” with the current team(LOL) or wait for other role players to become available.

    STAT and Melo, look at each other. It’s either both of you carrying the team with smaller pieces(actually, bigger pieces since they need a big) or bust.

  • http://twitter.com/gdaibes1 Ghanem Daibes

    For the right price would anyone take a chance on Yao or Oden this summer?

  • Anonymous

    First off… I believe the more criticizing, heartbroken fans are the people who weren’t even following the Knicks before this trade. Many bandwagon fans who were expecting immediate results, championships this year.
    But that’s besides the point….
    As much at this is a “work in progress” team they cannot expect us to watch a lackluster affair of basketball. Yea, sure losses are expected here and there as this team grows on each other, but where’s the energy? Were losing to sub .500 teams because of our lack of conviction, both from the players and the coaching. Were letting average players drop career highs on us because we aren’t giving 100 % throughout the game. We understand the team is missing big men, but they make it seem SO evident because there’s no hustle. It’s “demoralizing” to watch a team that wants to be anywhere else instead of playing basketball.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CNWZGJGLDEYT5T2LV33D7TYN4A Douglas

    I know it sounds corny as hell, but my expectations for this team (no matter who was on the roster) are to give a full effort on both sides of the ball for 48 minutes a game, each game as well as in practice.

    Everything else takes care of itself after that.

  • Anonymous

    It’s never been about wins and losses to me, that’s not why I am completely disgusted with _’antoni. I predicted 39 wins before the season (barring a trade), I predicted 32 wins last year (I guess I had too much faith in the “coach” lol), but it’s been more about how we’ve lost, how we’ve won and who these wins and losses have come against.

    Teams that struggle to score or shoot even an average percentage against the entire league score literally at will against us because the defense has never ever shown even the slightest glimmer of hope of becoming average by NBA standards with any consistency.

    Also his constant head scratching use of the roster, his steadfastness toward a small ball lineup at all costs regardless of who the opponent is because he prioritizes offense over all else is maddening.

  • Anonymous

    You need their detailed personal medical files and a few experts to give you an eval before you can even think about answering that question. But big guys with histories of foot problems rarely turn out happy endings.It would have to be a huge bargain to be worth it IMO.But with our current situation going for a big long shot and hitting will probably be the only way we get a good center here.Luckily we don’t have to hash out all the nuances that is what DW gets paid for. If it works we can say they would have done better under another coach and if it doesn’t we can call for his head our decision is simple.

    LOL

  • Anonymous

    I agree. I don’t think its the losses, because you have to expect those when you throw together teams on the fly, but it’s like come 4th quarter the team just goes flat. This is where we need a coach that keeps his players motivated throughout the game and for all this talk of being a coach on the floor, I just don’t see the leadership/4th quarter motivation he was billed as having.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CNWZGJGLDEYT5T2LV33D7TYN4A Douglas

    For those Knicks fans who have been around for a minute:

    On 3/22 of each year

    2011: 35-35, TBD
    2010: 24-45, missed playoffs
    2009: 28-41, missed playoffs
    2008: 19-50, missed playoffs
    2007: 30-38, missed playoffs
    2006: 19-48, missed playoffs
    2005: 28-37, missed playoffs
    2004: 33-38, swept in playoffs
    2003: 31-39, missed playoffs
    2002: 26-41, missed playoffs

  • Anonymous

    ive got a couple problems with this.

    First and foremost it IS fun to be a Knicks fan because the games matter. People expect wins and that’s what you are supposed to expect from a sports team when you arent conditioned as a loser for 10 years

    Second. This concept of “free(house) money shkeeves me. As a fan i HATE to give away an games. The last two years was ZERO fun because we all knew we were throwing it away for a chance at redemption. Now we got TWo super stars it is time to make noise. This talk of ANOTHER super star in two years turns my stomach.I dont want to wait for something else that may have a 1% chance of happening. Given the CBA and the uncertainty of waiting TWO years I’d rather roll with TWo stars then WASTE two years.

    Third. This talk of a “fun little playoff trip” are the words of a non fan. Im sorry if it’s offensive but ANYTHING can happen in the playoffs. You DONT take them lightly and go INTO the playoffs saying “let the chips fall” or “im just happy to be here”// anyone with “look at tthe two super star” excitement hasnt suffered with this team for any length of time and is just a band wagon jumper and can get off the boat as far as Im concerned.

    Lastly, Expectations SHOULD be inflated.That’s a good thing.yes, some things will change at the margins and this is not the roster that will be around for ever but to just throw away games and seasons makes a real fan who follows and watches all the games puke… especially when the meter is running on our star players prime years.

  • Anonymous

    LOL @ us only being 6 games ahead in the loss column compared to 2009.

  • Anonymous

    Oden for 1 year at about 2 milli? Hell yeah. If he gets hurt cut him.

    Yao. No. Way to slow. He is done IMO

  • Anonymous

    You’ve summed up how I feel as well. We’ve lost too many games we should’ve won; especially on the defensive end where we needed some stops.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Q5WEHNP3JSYWE3ZSFEKLPXLMS4 Nosmo King

    If we were 9-7 since the trade and beat all the teams we played with losing records, I think the vast majority of fans would be fine understanding the need to jell to get to the next level – there’d also be hope going into the playoffs. Unfortunately, we’re 7-9 and have lost all but one game to teams with losing records, and twice to the worst team in the league. Our style of play has also regressed. I certainly didnt expect us to be 12-4, but I also didnt expect us to be below 500 and 0-4 against Cleveland and Indiana. I dont think anyone expected this team to end the season below 500, but after Wed’s game vs Orlando we’ll probably be there and, if we are, I suspect that’s where we’ll end the season. Our style of play has become the problem – jelling wont change the high post one-on-one Melo and Amare show on offense – and it wont change our inconsistent effort on defensive. This whole thing has become pretty depressing, but as a long time Knicks fan I’m used to it….

  • Anonymous

    nyk trade with denver to get mosgov back. he is on bench for denver and could be our starting center. give them shane williams walker cash. trade turif to sac for gaspi good tough forward play defense .draft pg to learn from billups .bring in jerome jordan for next year.

  • Anonymous

    Unless this team has a major turnaround it’s fair to say it looks like MD won’t be back next year (It’s even trickling into the media). Who would be your ideal replacement? (Realistic please)

    I like Mike Brown, but I would look or an assistant coach from Chi/BOS/SAS/Dal/LA and pull a Thibideau like hire.

  • Anonymous

    agreed that the evaluation of the “coach” has never been about Wins and Losses.

  • Anonymous

    This team has enough talent to force a six or seven game series at the very least.

    if the knicks go out with a whimper in the playoffs, they should look for a new coach….but then the onus will be on the players…

  • Anonymous

    This teams problems start at the root. We have two players in the SL that don’t fit the system (Billups and Anthony are halfcourt players). Our two star players aren’t great defenders. Our coach isn’t a great defensive teacher. There is no cut plan for the center position. This team needs to just start anew with a new coach, a new system, and a new mindstate. Coach already said to expect .500 ball so that’s what the players are doing.

    I still think the future of this team is bright.

    SN: We need to give Melo the ball in the point forward role more often, starting him with the ball adds more ball movement because he doesn’t just camp and wait for the ball. The Lakers do it with Kobe and I think it would work well with us.

  • http://nykconnoisseur.wordpress.com NYK Connoisseur

    ‘If you want to go quick, go by yourself. If you want to ride, you gotta go together.’

    I’m sorry, but what does that mean? Wise sounding quotes that make no sense are really irritating.

    “Second place is the first loser.” -No Fear

  • Anonymous

    Someone should convince Amare that expectations were low because he seems to believe that expectations should have increased since the trade went down. Silly him because he had big expectations prior to the the trade as well.

  • Anonymous

    That’s my biggest issue. And once again that had more to do with the pre-trade team contributions.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XNSXEPLCRSBXZL3RW3JZ5B43KM Anonymous

    Why is it so demoralizing? Because this team was, if nothing else, was supposed to be better than the one we broke up in the trade. I understand you think it is better, and all the pundits out there are saying we are better, but fans want to actually BE better. As in, win more games than we would have before the trade. I know its a small-ish sample size, but we were 2 games over .500 before the trade, and we’re 2 games under .500 since the trade. You’re only as good as your record, so which team is better right now?

    If this all turns around and we make big improvements next year, great. I’ll be happy. But the reason this stings so much is not inflated expectations, just the expectation that we made ourselves better with the trade, and that hasn’t yet proven to be the case. We had some easy gimme games this past week, and lost them in disgusting fashion.

  • Anonymous

    http://nbaplaybook.com/2011/03/22/poor-effort-allow-the-celtics-to-run-on-the-knicks-in-the-fourth/

    the spirit that they played with before the trade is on life support.

  • Shpati Papraniku

    Yep, Knicks have to go all out for 48 minutes if they want to beat a team like the Celtics. This Melo move good very well be another beginning. Playoffs will be fun to watch finally.

  • OLD KNICK

    ANTHONY DEAL REVIVES HARRINGTON

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/…

  • OLD KNICK

    MAYBE THE KNICKS JUST AREN’T THAT GOOD ???

  • OLD KNICK

    Wow…. Perspective!

  • Anonymous

    And that team started 3-8.

    I’d argue that if Melo/Amare went to camp together and had ALL SEASON to snag a big man…we would have a better record today and hopefully we will have a better record next season.

    The team we traded cant bring us a ring and the team we have now has a chance in time…I can live with that.

  • Anonymous

    maybe the knicks arent that good YET, all i know is as a knick fan , i care about them again. I didnt care about this team for almost a decade, now i watch every game, granted i watch them waiting for the collapse, but i watch them. All the fans moaned about was getting star power on this team and now we have it and everyone wants it now. well in a few weeks when the playoffs start, if the knicks bomb and look horrible doing it, ill say maybe we arent that good, until then im just happy to be looking forward to watching knicks basketball again.