Nothing on the basketball court mattered as soon as Shumpert went down with a torn ACL in game one. That moment was just a testimony for how horrible our team is. It was like the basketball God's smitted the Knicks for thinking they had a "Mobb Deep" bench. Then Stoudamire swings and accidently slices his hand, like he was going walking in the gym dropping 25pts and 10 rebounds a game. It didn't matter if he played or not. Game 3 proved that for the last time. To add insult to injury (baddum bum), Baron completely shatters his knee on a simple drive to the basket. Baron was crowned the savior at the begining of the year. Anyone remember that? Even if Baron stayed healthy...did anyone believe he was going to all of a sudden put on a Golden State Warrior jersey and carry the Knicks on his back (baddum bum)?!?!?
Numero Uno...Landry Fields is a bum. When guys start getting hurt, other guys need to step up. That guy should be Landry Fields. 15pts a game is all I ask. He should already be walking in the gym dropping 15pts a game even with Melo and Stoudamire out there. You just watch him looking for someone to pass it to. You look at him cringe at the sight of contact. You see his broken jumpshot. You see is horrible beard. How can you expect the team to have heart when a major rotation player, a starter, has the heart of a slug. If the Knicks had Mike Dunlevy, Jamal Crawford or anyone else with comparable size and skill to Landry the Knicks would have had a better chance. The Knicks must replace him. The Knicks are not in a position to give guys another chance. We know what we have in him. I would give him a qualifying offer for a million and nothing more. You do not lock him up for more than that. It's roster suicide, unless you plan to trade him.
Numéro deux...Amar'e Stoudamire can't rebound the basketball. He doesn't control the paint unless guys are letting him bully them to the basket. Effort kills Amar'e. Every team has thrown an effort guy at Amar'e and he continued to get killed on the boards. It really doesn't matter who it is. New Oreans, the Bucks....they throw no oame guys out there and they make Amar'e look washed up. I hear alot of excuses from Amar'e, from injuries, to coaching, to the death of his brother. He's got to play his position and control the paint. That's his job. He has to do his job, period. If he can't? They he shouldn't play. How do you fix that? The Knicks must find a back up power fwd that the Knicks can lean on to produce when Stoudamire disappears. You can't put this on the fact he doesn't have a point guard since Jeremy Lin went down. Will a point guard help him rebound? That's the point I'm trying to make with him. Knicks might already have the answer in Josh Harrelson, but they have to play him more minutes.
3號...The Knicks can't go into the year with the future resting on Jeremy Lin's back. Shumpert is going to come back strong. That kid has the heart, determination and confidence to do it. What he doesn't have is the ability to play point guard when Lin is not in the game. His rightful spot is at the shooting guard spot next to Lin. With this said, the Knicks need a proper backup. Mike Bibby deserves brought back after not laying down against Miami. Still the Knicks need a guy that could start on any team in the league if they had to. The Knicks don't have the cap space, but they do have shot at getting guys like Johnny Flynn, JJ Barea or Kyle Lowry due to their injuries, etc. It doesn't have to be them but it has to be someone that could start. I would try to move Landry and the chicken without a head Toney Douglas to get this point guard.
That to me is it. The Knicks need to find Amar'e and understudy, aka a spot starter that can clean up Amar'e's shortcomings. Carmelo Anthony needs another guy to help take the scoring pressure off him. The Knicks need to solidify/strengthen the point guard situation. They simply can't continue on with the limited players they have now.
In Grunwald we trust...
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