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Five Things the Knicks Need to Win a Championship
We're less than a week away from the start of the NBA season, and the Knicks are gearing up for their Christmas Day showdown with the Boston Celtics. And while opening day is getting all of the excitement and attention this week, the Knicks have bigger goals than simply avenging last year's playoff sweep at the hands of Boston.
Instead, the Knicks want to compete for a championship once again. And while New York is not the favorite to win the Eastern Conference this year, in a shortened, 66-game season, anything is possible. For the Knicks to put themselves in position to win a title in 2012, here are five things that need to happen:
5. Iman Shumpert Needs to be in the Rookie of the Year Race
The Knicks are expecting pretty big things out of the rookie rom Georgia Tech, and Shumpert is not backing down from the high expectations. Reports of his strong play have buzzed throughout Knicks training camp, and Shumpert's 16-point performance against the Nets in the preseason did nothing to lower anyone's expectations of him. Shumpert does not need to win Rookie of the Year, but if he's in the running, it means the team will be receiving some valuable bench contributions in spelling Carmelo Anthony and Landry Fields.
4. Amar'e Stoudamire needs to stay healthy
This seems obvious, but it is easier said than done. Though Stoudamire stayed healthy throughout last season, it was more of an anomaly than a trend in his career. Stoudamire is such a vital piece of the Knicks offense, and any extended time missed will hurt in the shortened season. The 16 fewer games, however, may help to keep Amar'e fresh come playoff time.
3. Somebody needs to step up and solidify the point guard role
Head coach Mike D'Antoni has publicly said he's not worried about the point guard position, and that it's not terribly important to the flow of the Knicks offense. While that may be partially true, there are only five players on a team. It's pretty difficult to hide a weak link for the entire season. So either Toney Douglas or Mike Bibby, or a combination of the two, is going to need to play well enough to not have Knicks fans boo them throughout the year.
2. Carmelo Anthony cannot just be a scorer
We all know what kind of player 'Melo is. He's a terrific scorer and finisher with a jump shot that makes him even more dangerous. But he's going to have nights where he's not scoring 40 points, and he can't just disappear on those nights. The Knicks are not deep enough to afford that. So that means Carmelo will need to become more of a distributor within the offense, and all indications are that he is willingly embracing the extra role. Reports from training camp are that Anthony is regularly connecting on outstanding passes, and that was on full display in the preseason game against the Nets. This adds a completely new dimension to the Knicks offense and makes them even more difficult to stop.
1. Defense, defense, defense
As much fun as it is to joke about the Knicks' inability to play defense, it will cost them a shot at a title until they can fix it. Tyson Chandler's addition should help tremendously, but it will be on the rest of the team to commit to getting stops night in and night out. With the weapons the Knicks have offensively, a vast improvement on defense could make the Knicks a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. If that's the case, and the Knicks get home-court advantage in a couple playoff series, watch out.
Photo Credits: AP Photo/Mel Evans
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