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| MSG is alive once again for both the Knicks and Rangers (USA Today) |
The New York Rangers have had a lot of the same story but with a bit of a different path. The Rangers suffered from the same uncontrolled spending for years before a lockout and subsequent salary cap forced them to change their ways. They made the playoffs every year after the lockout until last year when a shootout loss in the last game of the season kept them out of the playoffs. The Rangers have been extremely rootable for the past few years with guys like Henrik Lundqvist, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan leading the charge. The problem is that they've been saddled with tough contracts (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival to name a few) which has put a salary cap crunch on the team. Yet the current Rangers have been fun to watch, easy to root for, and are producing wins despite a ton of important injuries.
The Rangers have been killed by injuries all season long. Their most recent game against the St. Louis Blues saw them lose Alex Frolov for the rest of the season. Vinny Prospal has been missing in action most of the season, Chris Drury has missed a lot of the first half, and in the past month they've seen Ryan Callahan, Derek Boogaard and Erik Christensen go down to injury (and Michal Rozsival has missed the past few games as well). They've been forced to dip into the minor leagues but have found some guys who look like they could stick around for a while like Derek Stepan (hat trick in his first game), Mats Zuccarello (a few huge game-winning goals recently), Mike Sauer (+11 rating leads all rookies), and, most recently, Ryan McDonagh (the prize of the aforementioned Scott Gomez being dumped on Montreal). And now comes word that Glen Sather has traded Rozsival for some forward depth in what the National Post is calling a "legitimately great trade." The Rangers have somehow managed to scrape by and after an impressive win against Dallas, they are in 6th place in the Eastern Conference and shown as a force in the East.
The Knicks have been building with youth as well, albeit in a much different way. After draft bust upon draft bust, Donnie Walsh has hit gold with guys like Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, and, most recently, Landry Fields. Amar'e Stoudmire is a sure-fire MVP candidate a third of the way in and the point guard, Raymond Felton, has been astonishingly good. What was seen as a huge drop down from LeBron and Bosh has actually developed into a pretty solid Starting 5. And that is even without Carmelo Anthony who seems like he's headed to New Jersey. Although it would be painful to see him go to their division foe, I think Knicks fans should feel content that the Knicks didn't give up the players (and the future) it would require to acquire him. Anthony would make them better--but if it isn't enough to bring them a championship, it probably isn't worth [further] mortgaging the future.
The problem for the Knicks (unlike the Rangers) is depth. The Rangers have been able to plug holes pretty seamlessly (even by signing a capable backup goaltender who can give Lundqvist some needed rest) but the Knicks have seem to go away from a deep rotation and only seem to have faith in about 7 players on a given night--if that many. Mike D'Antoni is playing like a coach who is trying to keep his job and it may come at the expense of Stoudmire's reconstructed knee if his extraordinary playing time keeps up. Even if Stoudmire does not get hurt, it has been shown that the starters have tired down the stretch of big games and the reserves, when forced into action, look extremely rusty. Many go from "DNP"s to double digit minutes in a matter of nights and none of those bench players seem to be in the rhythm you would like to see from a second unit. A big win over the San Antonio Spurs this past week may change a lot of that feeling as not only the starters played well, but the bench also got involved very heavily in sealing the Knicks big win.
Despite having a rejuvenated Madison Square Garden crowd to play in front of, surprisingly neither has played well in front of the home crowd. The Rangers have thrived by having the conference-best road record and the Knicks have been a pretty even team at home and on the road. This should actually help both teams out come playoff time. Both teams are 6th in their conference which means that they would have to continue those winning road ways to make some headway in the playoffs. And while neither one is playing championship-caliber and it probably is not the year for either one to stand tall at the end of their respective playoffs, it's at least good to see MSG excited again, full again, and for both teams to be exciting to watch--it's been a while.
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Bottom line, as Andrew and I discussed last week is that the only reason for the Knicks to get Carmelo is to have a star IF Amare goes down. Otherwise you have your alpha male, and the Knicks would be better off getting some size. The Knicks can not stop big guys, they are winning despite giving up an insane amount of uncontested dunks and lay-ups. I saw rumor they could go after Marc Gasol this off-season, which would be great. Otherwise I would like to see them try and get a quality big person around the trade deadline. Rumor is also that Amare is not in favor of blowing up the team to get Melo. Knicks still have the expiring Eddy Curry corpse--- I mean contract. Maybe Portland is willing to trade Camby? Personally I am in favor of the status quo and patience. So many moves have been made the last several years where the Knicks made bad trades. Andrew and I discussed this last week, and I mentioned how these vets somehow still land big contracts..... (see Richard Jefferson)and lo and behold Denver now wants to dump/include Al Harrington in the Melo dealings. They obviously did not consult any Knicks fans before they signed him.
ReplyDeleteI do not watch the Rangers, but as far as the Knicks it is great to see some passionate, exciting basketball again. Let's hope they can get a nice road W in Portland tonight!
Alex,
ReplyDeleteI think you hit the nail right on the head when you said that the status quo and patience is the way to go. Too often a team like this gets too excited over a quick start and blows up team chemistry to land a big star. This rarely works out in sports (I think the NJ Devils can attest to that).
The key for both the Rangers and the Knicks is to develop their young players and make SMART trades when needed to plug holes.
Andrew, is that really what you think happened with the Devils? You think that in the final weeks of last season, the Devils got too excited over their "quick start" and decided to go out and get Kovalchuk, thereby blowing up team chemistry?
ReplyDeleteIn reality, the Devils considered themselves a genuine contender (not unrealistic, considering they had the 2nd most points in the Eastern Conference) and decided to acquire a legit goal-scoring superstar to see if the newfound offense would push them over the top in the playoffs. That didn't happen, but renting him for the playoffs was a sensible thing to do.
Of course, they signed him to the infamous megadeal in the offseason. But he's not the problem, and neither is chemistry. The bigger problems have been age (Brodeur) and injuries to other offensive weapons (e.g., Parise, Zajac).
So no, I don't think the Knicks' acquiring Carmelo would be analogous. It might not be advisable, but for different reasons. If you want a more analogous comparison, one might be the Washington Redskins, who brought in Albert Haynesworth, Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb...we all know how that worked out.
Haha...I knew the Devils comment would irk you. You're too easy to bait.
ReplyDeleteI do think the Knicks consider themselves a genuine contender and that's why they would go after Carmelo. And if they got Carmelo and signed him to an extension, they would have a lot of money once again tied up in a few players (Amare and Melo would take up a good chunk of their cap, I'm sure) who don't play any defense.
The No. 6 Knicks as a genuine contender? Hahahahaha. Now that's funny.
ReplyDelete7 weeks ago, the Knicks were 3-8 and another lousy season was underway. In the last 4 weeks, the Knicks went 5-6.
The only thing keeping the Knicks in the playoff hunt was that truly magical stretch where they won 13 of 14.
So, what have we learned? Outside of that magical stretch, the Knicks are 8-14. So no, they are not genuine contenders in the extremely top-heavy Eastern Conference.
The Knicks are a legit playoff team. they need more beef in the middle or they have no shot as a contender. They get toasted by BIG teams ie: Sunday vs. LA Lakers. They do have a lot of the pieces to contend, but need another big man who can help shore up the D. I love Turiaf but his knee is not going to get any better, and they will get crushed if they face either Howard and the Magic or Boston even if half of their big guys are healthy. NBA is all about match-ups.
ReplyDeleteLegit playoff teams and legit contenders are two different things. The East is very top heavy. So the Knicks are definitely a contender for playoff spots Nos. 6-8. But as you said, they are going to get crushed by any team Nos. 1-4. They are too small and play lousy D. How are they going to defend Dwight Howard or any of Boston's big men? Answer: they're not. The Knicks as legit contenders is a joke.
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