People Don't Think This is a Contender?

[JBrizzy]

G: Raymond Felton / Pablo Prigioni / Beno Udrih
G: Iman Shumpert / JR Smith / Tim Hardaway Jr
F: Carmelo Anthony / Metta World Peace / CJ Leslie
F: Andrea Bargnani / Amar'e Stoudemire / Jeremy Tyler
C: Tyson Chandler / Kenyon Martin /

Looks pretty legit to me...you've got size, depth, outside shooting, athleticism, a proven go-to guy all on an improved roster that won 54 games last year while being riddled with injuries

Yeah, that's a good team. I guess you could class them as contenders. Out of that group of players the only player I'd really covet is Tyson Chandler and then maybe Melo. Shumpert is a pretty nice piece to have.

I see a lot of poison in there though. I wouldn't want MWP or JR Smith on my team. Sometimes they help you but sometimes they hurt you too.

[Funnyfuka]

a patchwork of inconsistant, average players who will never mesh together, no real leader/strong personality, no will to win anything...

[KG215]

So how do you explain the knicks almost sweeping okc last year? Almost lost to a meloless knicks first game, then Melo owns Durant's soul in head 2 heads as usual in the second game. OKC are no more contenders than the knicks are since no one can beat the heat, but ish's team of choice (Pacers) so what are they really contenders of? Pretty much contending for early playoff exit vs late exit.

The Heat swept the Spurs and won one of the games without LeBron and Wade. Yet the Spurs were one rebound or one made FT away from beating them in the Finals.

And the Spurs swept OKC in the regular season in 2012, and beat them convincingly in two of those games without Manu. How'd that workout for them in the playoffs?

Referencing regular season match-ups for any kind of end-all justification for how a team is built for the playoffs or will fare in the playoffs is a fool's errand. It can help, but it doesn't always mean everything.

OKC is more of a contender than the Knicks. They're a bigger threat to get out of the West than the Knicks are to get out of the East. Star/superstar power is what wins playoff games and playoff series and, in the West, OKC would have arguably the two best players in a series, regardless of who they're playing.

[Twiens]

Fully agree, I mean a line up of:

Prigioni
Shumpert
MWP
Melo (who held opposing PF's to a PER of 13.9, below the League average)
Kenyon Martin

Would be dismal defensively.

1. That lineup is tiny

2. You have to play Bargnani and Amare sometime, they have to be beside Tyson

3. Shumpert is the only really good defender in that lineup

[Unbiased_one]

The Bulls are a bad matchup for the Knicks, but believe it or not they do better against them when ROSE is in the lineup. Last year the only game they won against them was when Rose was playing. Indiana is a good team, also a tough matchup because Chandler turned into a girl against Hibbert out of nowhere. But the Knicks should have won game 6 against them if it wasn't for reffing, and then game 7 at home who knows.

So when everyone else improves it means something, but when the Knicks do it doesn't? Gotcha.


There was no scouting report on Lance. Not like Woodson is smart enough to adjust on the fly anyway. I never said the Knicks would stop Lebron. Since when does Lebron win alone? How many championships did Lebron win in Cleveland? Let's get realistic and see them match up in the playoffs. Then I will eat my words

Till than, Knicks were 3-1 against the Heat last year. Facts. One of those wins was without Melo, and another when the Heat rested Lebron and Wade. But guess what, it's not like the Heat had a bad record without Lebron and Wade. They continued to win games and beat everyone else who was on their schedule, including the Spurs in San Antonio.

Yeah cause four game sample sizes are huge...

[bdreason]

Not even a contender on paper.

[DuMa]

I'll give you a better question. who's more crazier? Metta World Peace or JR Smith

[All Net]

Contenders in the sense of being a top 5 team in the east.

[JBrizzy]

I think they're gonna miss Novak.

[Kblaze8855]

Depends how serious a threat they have to be to be called a contender.

If everything falls the right way they could win 60 games. If that makes you a contender even if 4 teams should beat you in 6 or less if healthy....they are contenders.

Which by the way I base on an assumption that Amare will not turn back into Amare.

If he does....id say 2 teams should be able to beat them in 6 or less.

If Amare isnt good enough to start over Andrea and play 30+ minutes...hes never gonna be Amare again. Which is sad. But he is 31 and had a great run. He was a HOF level player for 7-8 years.

[FreezingTsmoove]

In all honesty Felton is a bottom tier PG, Pablo is ****ing overrated, dude can give you 2 things while out there for a quarter when any other athletic guard can give you 10, MWP sucks now cant wait for Knicks fans to want him to stop shooting, and Andrea Barg is probably one of the most overrated players I have ever seen. ***** dont even know what winning basketball is and yall are convinced he's going to be a starter to help win a championship? And lets be real here Melo aint going to pass the ball to any of them.

[DMAVS41]

Nah, two huge problems remain unless something crazy happens.

Melo isn't a championship first option

Chandler isn't half as good as people here think he is

[JtotheIzzo]

G: Raymond Felton / Pablo Prigioni / Beno Udrih
G: Iman Shumpert / JR Smith / Tim Hardaway Jr
F: Carmelo Anthony / Metta World Peace / CJ Leslie
F: Andrea Bargnani / Amar'e Stoudemire / Jeremy Tyler
C: Tyson Chandler / Kenyon Martin /

Looks pretty legit to me...you've got size, depth, outside shooting, athleticism, a proven go-to guy all on an improved roster that won 54 games last year while being riddled with injuries

If they stay healthy and if they can get stops they will be tough.

They are still slow, but in the Eastern Conference that is not as big a deal.

The small ball line up of

Felton
Smith
Shumpert
Melo
Amare/Bargnani

looks interesting as does going HUGE and playing zone with:

Chandler
Amare
Melo
World Peace/Shumpert
Felton

The key here is PLAYING ZONE because that team gets raped in man to man.

[Kblaze8855]

Nah, two huge problems remain unless something crazy happens.

Melo isn't a championship first option

Chandler isn't half as good as people here think he is

The championship first option thing just doesnt make sense to me.

Worse players than Melo have been the first options on title teams. And people with similar or worse shot selection. Selfish people. Scumbags.

You can build a title team around most any star provided the supporting cast is right.

Defense and coaching(which provides defense) could let a player like Melo lead a title team.

Shit you put Glen Rice on the 04 Pistons in place of Rip hes a champion winners first option.

People worry too much about a teams leading scorer to me. Its the other 11 guys and the people directing them that really decide what you are capable of. The top guy pushes you over the top....gets you from ok to great. Or from great to the best.

And worse #1s than Melo have done it.

[DMAVS41]

The championship first option thing just doesnt make sense to me.

Worse players than Melo have been the first options on title teams. And people with similar or worse shot selection. Selfish people. Scumbags.

You can build a title team around most any star provided the supporting cast is right.

Defense and coaching(which provides defense) could let a player like Melo lead a title team.

Shit you put Glen Rice on the 04 Pistons in place of Rip hes a champion winners first option.

People worry too much about a teams leading scorer to me. Its the other 11 guys and the people directing them that really decide what you are capable of. The top guy pushes you over the top....gets you from ok to great. Or from great to the best.

And worse #1s than Melo have done it.

Nah, I don't think you can have the clear cut best player in the NBA today on a title team average 49 or 50 percent TS and take as many shots as Melo does....and not create well for others and hijack the offense so often while also not giving the kind of effort on defense as well.

Now, if you think a guy taking roughly 25 shots a game on sub 50% TS is going to get it done in the playoffs as the clear cut number 1 guy on a playoff team...well, I think you are watching a different game.

The 04 Pistons are a bad example of this. It wasn't a team built around a star. That is what you are missing. Sure, if Melo only took 18 shots a game and played that Rip Hamilton role...it would be different, but he doesn't do that.

I'd also question if he could play without the ball in his hands enough to have a team built around him like the 04 Pistons to actually work.

I actually defend Melo here, but until he increases his efficiency or starts playing a different style...I simply don't think it's possible for a team to win with him as the clear cut best player.