Yoots maneuver
The Knicks are no doubt in hot pursuit of a championship as long as Carmelo Anthony is on the team. Say what you want about Melo, but he's a top nba talent and is worthy of being centerpiece on a team. He gets Alot of flap but he can't win alone. He definately should not be asked to play out of position. The investment in him is too great to wear him down. Lebron can play any position on the court. He's bigger than any of his power forwards. He averages the most rebounds per game on his team. He's also the teams best ball handler and passer. Miami knows enough to play Lebron at his natural position and allow him to do his thing. In turn, you put position players around him playing their roles so their star player can continue to dominate without having to do everything. The Knicks are forcing Melo to do everything and he's taking heavy criticism because of it. Melo should not be asked to bang with Tim Duncan and Kevin Love. The fact that Melo can compete with them is beside the point . Melo needs to go back to dominating small fowards and leave the role playing to someone qualified to do so.
That being said, why is Shumpert our starting small forward? Why is Felton playing shooting guard next to Priggy? Last season the Knicks had no choice due to injuries. This year the Knicks have the healthy bodies to match up better than this on paper. The coach after training camp still doesn't believe it. That means there is a conflict between the coach and management. Something should be done and it doesn't have to involve firing Mike Woodson.
In order to do that there has to be a lateral trade forcing Woodson to slide players back into their natural positions. In my humble opinion, this has to involve Iman Shumpert. Fans like to talk about his potential, but what about Tim Hardaway Jr and Torre Murry? I believe both players have just as much if not more upside than Shumpert. Are we grooming talent as a lottery team or are we trying to win right now? The Knicks need to come to grips with this issue and make a move before the season gets ugly. Melo needs to be playing small forward. The Knicks have a glaring hole at power foward and center. We can't afford to harbor 3 point guards and 4 shooting guards. Something had got to give. The decision to invest in Jr Smith should make him the starting shooting guard by default. That is not too shabby especially if you factor in Tim Hardaway off the bench. Woodson seems to like Priggy as the starting point guard. That's fine because he's been effective running the team. So your backcourt is Priggy and Jr Smith with Beno, Hardaway and Toure Murry off the bench. That's a solid unit. If you are listening, our odd men out should be Felton and Shump. This was supposed to be our starting backcourt. Priggy and JR Smith is equal if not better, that's not even a question. What can we get for Felton and Shump? The Knicks need a solid rotation big man.... in a nutshell, you have to pursue that and not look back. This is not a reality show. The Knicks are trying to win and win big this season. Time is now to settle this ship and get back on course. Make that move. Knicks should probably look to Denver, Sacramento or the Bucks for answers.
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