Early Observations of the 2011-2012 New York Knicks
1) Toney Douglas is the most overrated player in the league. He is even worse than we thought. Toney Douglas is easily the worst passer on the team. Ever pass he throws puts his teammates in an uncomfortable position. He makes the worst decisions and he is not even a mediocre defender. Defense was supposed to be his strength. The guy gets destroyed by every pick and he has no idea what he’s doing against the pick and roll. He let’s guys get into the lane whenever they want which is why Tyson Chandler is always in foul trouble. Iman Shumpert is already much better than Toney Douglas
2) Amare Stoudemire has no heart. On TV we always see him slamming his chest and yelling like a barbarian. The truth is we only see these emotions after a big dunk or a jumpshot from the top of the key. Amare Stoudemire may be the worst rebounding big man in the league. Every single game you see him go for long stretches without grabbing a rebound or boxing someone out. He loves to watch the ball. Amare might also be the worst on-ball defender on the team as well. Boris Diaw is easily one of the slowest players in the league but somehow he destroyed Stoudemire one on one. Diaw hit uncontested jumpshots and got right by Stoudemire on multiple drives to the basket. On the offensive side of the ball he has completely forgotten who he is. During the early parts of his career Stoudemire was considered one of the best finishers at the rim. Stoudemire used to terrorize people with his dunks and power moves. I understand that he has worked hard on his jumpshot, but when your jumper is not falling you have to attack the rim.I love my New York Knicks, but I know that the Knicks will never win a title with Amare Stoudemire on the team.
3) Iman Shumpert is going to be good. Iman Shumpert brings so much energy to this team whenever he’s in the game. He is easily our best perimeter defender and he is a much better passer than I thought he was coming out of college. Just from his college highlights you can tell his shot was not broken. The main reason for his shooting percentage being so low last year was because he had no one else on his team at Georgia Tech last year. I think that he has the tools to be a very good point guard in this league. People are trying to make him a combo but I think he can be a tall and physical point guard.
4) Carmelo Anthony is a very good passer. I didn’t even know he knew how to pass the ball. Carmelo Anthony has shown great vision and his lob passes to Chandler have been excellent. Anthony just continues to add to his arsenal. One has to wonder when he’ll add defense to his game.
5) This team is only going to get better. Although I don’t think this team is going to win a championship, I do think that they will contend in the east.