Exciting Knicks?

I've started to see a lot of commercials trying to get people to buy season ticket packages for the New York Knicks. They are trying to drum up excitement over the arrival of Donnie Walsh and Marc D'Antoni. Both are incredibly gifted basketball minds who I'm sure will turn things around... just not this season.

The Knicks have a very flawed roster that is not suited for the up-tempo style of D'Antoni. I think they have a couple of good pieces in place that will flourish in the new offense (Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson and David Lee come to mind) but what happens with Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph. Both are overweight big men who play with their backs to the basket in a half-court offense. Not exactly Amare Stoudamire and Shawn Marion. The types of running bigs necesarry in D'Antoni's offense. My suggestion to Marc would be to play David Lee at the 4. Although he would be a small power foward (ala Marion) his speed and energy would cause matchup problems on the offensive end. He also has proven to be one of the better defenders on a team that views defense as an afterthought.

That lack of defense as well as a highly flawed roster will keep the Knicks out of the playoffs for another season. Who knows, maybe once they trim the fat (literally by getting rid of Curry, Randolph or both) and start running they can coax a solid season out of these guys. I just don't see it happening yet.