The Knicks have been wildly inconsistent lately. They're put together a 5 game winning streak against teams like Atlanta, Orlando, Detroit, etc, but then they go out and lose to the Wizards and the Clippers. The Clippers are at least respectable, but the game was not very competitive outside of Melo dropping 40+ and Felton contributing some hard-fought minutes. It's obvious that they can't win every game, but the Knicks shouldn't be dropping games to the Washington Wizards. In fact, last week this blog post might have been titled "The Surging Knicks" or "Hello Melo", but things change quickly.
The Knicks are 32-17 on the year with 1 game left against Toronto before the All-Star Break. Regardless of that game, they will be the #2 seed going into the break. They're 7-3 in their last 10 games and also only 2.5 games behind Miami for the best record in the East. This does not mean they're invincible, however, and they need to step up big time in the 2nd half of the season to establish themselves as a dominant force in the East.
Who Needs to Step Up?
Amar'e Stoudemire - After a few games with 20+ points, Stat looked lost these past few games with outputs of 9 points and 6 rebounds against LA and 11 points and 5 rebounds against Minnesota. Stat needs to strive to be more consistent in the 2nd half of the season, but most important of all he needs to get to 100% health-wise.
J.R. Smith - 6 points against the Clippers?! In a battle of 6th men against Jamal Crawford and that's the output you provide?! Granted, it's just one game but J.R. hasn't scored over 20 points in the past 4 games and he has been struggling from the field a bit. This is not a major area of concern, but Smith can play better then this.
J-Kidd - He's been logging an extreme amount of minutes lately and is also a bit hobbled, but his highest output in terms of points over the last 5 games as been 7 points. The assists have been low as well and he's only shooting 24% from the floor over that same span. Hopefully Shump can take some pressure off Kidd going forward.
Shumpert - Stats aren't as relevant for Iman as of late because he is still trying to find some consistent minutes and get his legs back under him. He's struggled shooting from the floor, but he's not needed as a major scoring threat every night. His presence is valued the most on the defensive end and he was abused by Chris Paul on Sunday. D'ing up Paul is a tough task for anyone in the league but Mike Woodson expected a lot more from Shumpert.
Mid Season Grades
Frontcourt: A-
The sole reason that they have been successful in this area is due to the star-power of Carmelo Anthony. Chandler has had some big rebound numbers lately, but he isn't defending as well as in past years. The most recent image being Chandler getting abused by the offensive game of Blake Griffin... not including dunks. And then there is the obvious, Amar'e has struggled to find his place in the offense but he has shown signs of his old self at times.
Backcourt: B-
Kidd started off the season on fire, as did the Knicks. Since then, both have cooled off and come down to Earth a bit. The one thing that can be said is the Knicks have been in desperate need of a veteran point guard these past few seasons and Kidd has surely had an impact on getting quality shots in their offensive sets. Felton is a HUGE piece for the Knicks, as they were 20-8 with Raymond in the lineup. The question will be if he can stay healthy going foward.
Defense: C
Defense was a strong suit to start the season and had many people talking about how Melo had changed his attitude on that end of the floor. It is a long season and there are always lapses in concentration, but the Knicks haven't come close to resembling their early-season defense at all lately. Maybe the break will re-energize the Knicks on the defensive end of the floor.
Bench: B-
Players like Copeland and Prigioni were making impacts almost every game at one point and now it seems to be just the Melo show. Bench players fade, but they will prove to be important come playoff time. The grade in this area correlates directly with J.R. Smith, however. The Knicks bench scoring goes as J.R. goes, and the grade reflects directly on his place. Injuries to Rasheed and Camby have made it tough on the bench's output, but if these guys can get ready for the stretch run, they will be fine.
Coaching: A
Mike Woodson deserves an A for his coaching during the first half of the season. The Knicks weren't perfect, but it can be argued that he has gotten the most out of his players thus far. Sure the Knicks have struggled on defense and at times have been to reliant on Anthony for his scoring, but Woodson has managed the personalities on his roster in a very professional manner. There have been numerous injuries that in past years would have severely effected the Knicks, but this season they are still first in their division and second overall in the East.
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