It’s time to dispel this fallacious notion of the Knicks being in shambles.
When you glance at their record they’re 33-49. But let’s further delve into the Knicks’ season. Notice the team’s injuries: Jamal Crawford, the Knicks best closer and second leading scorer with 18 PPG, played only 58 games. David Lee, who’s amongst the NBA leaders in rebounds and FG%, only played 56 games. Nate Robinson only played 64 games with injuries and suspensions. Quentin Richardson played 49 games. Stephon Marbury played 74 games, most which came in the final month of the season when the Knicks were 2 games behind a playoff berth. Steve Francis played 44 games.
Had everyone been healthy, there’s no doubt the Knicks would have made the playoffs. The injuries combined for a total of about 60 points and 20 rebounds. This also threw the chemistry off balance. The Knicks were so badly depleted, in April Mardy Collins led the entire NBA in MPG!
And why is in LA in less shambles than the Knicks? Kobe pretty much single-handily got them to the playoffs. The only real “asset” the Lakers had other than Kobe was an inconsistent Lamar Odom. In New York Kobe will have a veteran PG in Marbury. I know people will say the “selfish” word to describe Marbury, which is totally untrue. Marbury only took 13 shots per game. The only time he became less passive is when the team needed him to do so like in a scoring drought or from the injuries to Crawford, Francis.
Curry is also the big man the Lakers hope Bynum will become. I know people discredit him for his defense, but it’s an aspect of his game, which he is currently working on this offseason. Kobe is also better than any defender on the Knicks, so he won’t allow as many defenders in the paint, giving Curry an easier time.
Curry and Marbury are the best center and point guard Kobe has played with (as of 04-05). With Kobe and Curry unstoppable on the perimeter and paint respectively, the offense will be pretty unstoppable to say the least. I would imagine a Kobe-led Knicks team being able to compete with any team in the East, at least.
Kobe himself said he was close to signing with the Knicks in the offseason. Even though L.A. is a big market, it still isn’t the same as New York. New York is considered the capital of the world and is one of the greatest cities in the history of the world. I don’t find the difficulty in Kobe wanting to play for the Knicks, who with his company, can be one of the best teams in the league.
<div class="quote_poster">bronbron23 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Why would Seattle want Crawford and Nate anyway. Crawford is streaky but still an ok player but with Ray Allen you really don't need Crawford and Nate is a SG in a PG body bearing in mind they also have Ridnour and Watson.</div>
The main reason Crawford and Nate are always rumored to be traded to the Sonics is because they are from Seattle.
