Empty the Bench

By: Zachariah Blott

Next up in our ongoing “The Kids are Alright” series is those lovable New York Knickerbockers, who thanks to their 76er and Net cohorts in sub-mediocrity are actually holding down 3rd place in the Atlantic Division at 8-15. This despite no real concern with winning games this season: as regular ETB contributor Zachariah Blott details below, this team has both eyes on the summer of 2010.

More from the Kids are Alright Series:
- Sacramento Kings
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Detroit Pistons
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Philadelphia 76ers

Why They’re Worth Watching:
The Knicks run – a lot. The Knicks shoot threes – a lot of threes. And guess what, their opponents do exactly the same thing. Nothing screams “something cool could happen at this game tonight” more than two teams running wild and letting loose from behind the arc for 48 minutes. There’s only one type of team many wives and girlfriends are willing to watch, and this is it.

Thanks to second-year head coach Mike D’Antoni, the guy who made the run and gun so fun for the Suns (not to be confused with this awesome 80’s punk band), the Knicks are sprinting out to the fourth-fastest pace in the league and attempting the second most bombs from downtown. (They have the second most threes attempted against them, as well.) In fact, New York actually ranks just ahead of Phoenix in both speed and three-point attempts, but the Suns are actually quite good at getting points out of their trips and connecting on the trifectas. That’s due to talent, not effort, which is where the true beauty of watching the Knicks comes from.

They’re just not a talented bunch, but they go at it at a circus pace with a circus style. You know how watching the Little League World Series is so much more satisfying than MLB because the odds of something good or bad happening are 50-50? That’s the Knicks. They could go 10-for-39 from deep in a crushing defeat, or they can hit 13-of-25 triples to go with 26 assists. You just don’t know because it’s still Isiah Thomas’s idea of talent playing a make-or-break system.

As far as individual talent goes, there are a few Knicks worth paying attention to. Second-year gunner Danilo Gallinari has hit a league-high 64 triples this year on 45% accuracy, and his power forward frame (6-10, 225) allows him to chuck them up with virtually any defender in his face. He’s very active on defense, so he’s able to make some positive things happen on that end as well.

Big man Al Harrington looks and plays like he should be as exciting as Kevin Durant, but instead he’s been mired in 16-20 ppg okay-ness for the last 5 years. Center David Lee has done well in his energy role for D’Antoni (18 ppg, 10 rpg) and is hoping for teams to throw the kind of money at him that they would at someone who put those numbers up in a conventional system – good luck with that, David. Rookie PG Toney Douglas looks like he has a place in this league, and GF Wilson Chandler, though wildly inconsistent, has talent and potential to spare.

The Knicks’ present and future after the break…

What’s the Plan? Make it to the summer of 2010. They’ve structured almost every contract worth anything to expire at the end of this year. The Knicks will have a ton of money sitting around, so they’ll go hard at LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the rest of the amazing free agent crop of 2010, selling them on their marketability in New York and their ability to be statistically productive in D’Antoni’s sytem. Although it looks like Wade is staying put in Miami, Bosh is the Knicks to lose, and LeBron is a real possibility.

There’s no question that the main goal is to load up on some serious talent this offseason. Beyond that, New York will hang onto Gallinari, Douglas, and rookie PF Jordan Hill for a while. All three have shown some degree of promise and would make good role players next to some 2010-issue superstars.

How the Future Looks: If New York can sign a couple big-time (not just big-name) talents, particularly James, they’ll improve in a hurry. It looks like ex-GM/Coach Thomas’s plan of screwing up the Knicks for the long-run has worked out well, but the jumbled mess of players he brought in are soon out of town. This clears up the revenue and roster space for current GM Donnie Walsh to build a respectable franchise in a single summer. If he can land either James or Joe Johnson, and then some combination of Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire (who’s already excelled under D’Antoni), Carlos Boozer, Manu Ginobili, Ray Allen, and Josh Howard, the Knicks would be relevant right away.

As for the rest of the current season, New York has shown some recent life, reeling off five wins in December after only accruing three through October and November. Their three-pointers are finally starting to fall, which helped them down the Suns, Hawks, and Trail Blazers in the first week of the month. The rest of December’s schedule isn’t too bad, so they could flirt with .500 by the New Year if all the chips fall right. Getting into the playoffs is a real possibility considering only four Eastern Conference teams are currently above .500. In reality, they’re playing with house money anyway because 2010 is what it’s all about in the Big Apple.

More from the Kids are Alright Series:
- Sacramento Kings
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Detroit Pistons
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Philadelphia 76ers

New York Knicks Photo Credit: Icon SMI