Knicks Season Comes To End

The banged up Knicks roster could not pull off a miracle in Miami.  The Heat ended the Knicks season Wednesday night defeating the Knicks with ease, winning the series four games to one.

New York knew it would be tough to make it a series once Iman Shumpert went down with a torn ACL.  As it if that was not enough, Amare Stoudemire decided to go at war with a fire extinguisher and cut up his hand.  Stoudemire would have to miss game three because of the injury.  If those two blows were not enough, Baron Davis would then go down in game four tearing his ACL as well.  The Knicks were down three point guards for game five.  Jeremy Lin could not pull a Willis Reed as his knee still was not 100 percent.  The Heat were just too talented for a Knicks team that was hobbled and in disarray.

The Knicks did not show much fight in game five as they could not get the game close in the second half. They trailed by double digits the entire second half and could not put any form of run on.  The Heat had an answer to every move the Knicks tried to make.  The Knickerbockers got the one team in the Eastern Conference that they did not want to play.  They clearly would have matched up better playing the Bulls, who trail the eight seeded Sixers three games to two.  Miami is by far the best team in the East right now.  With Derrick Rose going down with a torn ACL, the Heat have instantly become the favorite out of the East.

Mike Woodson's squad has a very good team and one that can definitely contend once again next year.  This team needs some backcourt help.  Steve Nash will definitely be a guy that the Knicks will have on their radar.  Jeremy Lin was huge for New York, but the league started to catch up with him a bit before he got hurt.  The Knicks will most likely bring back Lin-sanity as he instantly became a fan favorite.  The team still needs a lot of backcourt help as Iman Shumpert will not be back until around Christmas time and Baron Davis will miss almost all of next season.  Landry Fields will also become a free agent and could have played his last game as a Knick.  New York needs to bring in a guy who can score out of the backcourt helping out Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.  Besides another point guard along with Lin, and a shooting guard, the Knicks need another big man to come off the bench.  Jared Jeffries is not the answer.  Jeffries played well off the bench this year, but New York needs another big man who is not a liability offensively.

Coach Woodson definitely deserves to return next year.  Woodson had this team playing very good basketball finishing 18-6 to end the season.  Unless Phil Jackson decides to come out of retirement, Mike Woodson should coach this team next season.

With a bit of backcourt help and some depth added to the bench, the Knicks could definitely come in next season after a full summer of training camp and compete with the Bulls and Heat at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Knicks Headed Back to Playoffs

With the Bucks loss Thursday night to the Pacers, the Knicks have officially clinched a playoff spot.  The Knicks will head back to the playoffs for their second straight year.  The Knicks have not made back to back playoff appearances since the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons.  From 1987-2001 the Knicks made the playoffs every season.  From 2001-2010 they made it just once, where they were swept by the Nets in 2004.

Clearly, it has been a long time since the Knicks have put together back to back playoff seasons.  Last year's playoffs showed that the Knicks needed some more pieces as they were swept away by the Celtics in the first round.  This year could be a huge improvement for the Knickerbockers as the team has some more depth and shooting, something they needed desperately last season.  Once Amare Stoudemire went down with injury in the playoffs, Carmelo Anthony had the ball every possession taking more shots than he should.

The Knicks will get Stoudemire back tonight against the Cavaliers and will have him ready for the playoffs this year.  The team has pieces this year that it lacked last season coming off the bench.  Steve Novak has been monumental in the Knicks success lately as he continuously knocks down clutch three pointer after clutch three pointer.  J.R. Smith has started to come alive of late and everyone knows when his game is on, he will make a lot of shots.  Rookie Iman Shumpert has done a tremendous job bringing energy and a defensive presence that will be key come playoff time.  Mike Bibby has also played a role of late starting in the absence of Baron Davis and playing well.

The Knicks clearly have much more depth and a bench presence than they had last season.  Melo is also playing the best basketball we have seen him play as a Knick and maybe his career.  The Knicks are really hoping that they fall into the hands of the Bulls and stay away from the Heat in the first round.  We have seen how competitive the Knicks have played with the Bulls and how remarkable of a series it could be.  It is guaranteed the Knicks will play one of the two in the first round.  We will find out in a week who it will be.  The Knicks are the one team that nobody at the top of the conference wants to play.  I can guarantee that this year's playoffs will be a much better one for the Knicks as the Garden will be rocking like it did back in 2000.

Melo Haters Silenced

Anyone who had anything bad to say about Carmelo Anthony was quickly silenced Sunday afternoon.

Anthony put on an unbelievable performance at Madison Square Garden in a playoff atmosphere against the Bulls, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference and the most wins in the NBA.  The Knicks beat the Bulls, 100-99 in overtime. Melo scored an astounding 43 points.  He showed integrity and determination down the stretch making clutch basket after clutch basket.  With 11 seconds left, Melo drained a long three pointer with the long arm of Taj Gibson right in his face.  The Garden erupted into a thunderous roar.  The Knicks seemed to be out of the game, but thanks to four missed free throws by Luol Deng and Derrick Rose, the Knicks stayed alive.  Melo's clutch three helped send the Knicks to overtime where he was not done yet.

Melo would make a driving layup with just over a minute to go in overtime to cut the Bulls lead to two.  With eight seconds left, Melo would make the Garden shake once again.  He drained another long three pointer with Deng's hand in his face to give the Knicks a 100-99 lead.  The Knicks would get a stop on defense and come out with the victory.

Anthony showed all his haters that he knows that it is his time.  The Knicks are playing without Jeremy Lin for the rest of the season and possibly without star Amare Stoudemire for the year.  Sunday was up there as one of the most magical performances ever seen at MSG.  The Knicks needed that game as the Bucks are creeping up behind them for the eight seed in the East.  It was a monumental win in a game that could be a playoff preview of the first round.  Anyone who had doubts about Melo has hopped on the bandwagon now and is on for the ride.

The Knicks clearly are the team that the Bulls and Heat do not want to play in May.  The Knicks are tied with the Sixers for the seven seed at the moment with the Bucks sitting just a game behind.  New York has ten games remaining and will play the Bulls once again on Tuesday night in Chicago.