Every year, once the newest NBA 2K is released my buddies and I draft teams and play them against each other. This gives us an opportunity to play the game with players we watch on a daily and lets us serve out our general manager fantasies. It never fails that one of us will draft names and not worry about position or strengths of a certain player. Of course this results in said team being out rebounded, not getting key defensive stops, and superstars being fatigued when it’s crunch time. With each game I watch the New York Knicks, I’m reminded of that team.
The Knicks mortgaged the little depth and short term cohesiveness they had to team Carmelo Anthony with their highly touted Summer acquisition Amare Stoudamire. For their persistence in acquiring Anthony, they were awarded an aged Chauncey Billups with a notion for taking ill advised shots that sometimes go in thus being labeled big shots.
New York also received Anthony Carter, Candice Parker’s husband, and Corey Brewer in this deal. Carter has played sporadically and Candice’s husband has primarily been relegated to ogling Spike Lee’s orange Russian hat. The defensive minded Corey Brewer has since been signed by the Dallas Mavericks after being released by the defensively challenged Knicks.
Since the trade, the Knicks have gone 7-10 and currently sit a game under .500. Even worse, they lost to the lowly Cavaliers twice within that span. Stoudamire and Anthony have not and more than likely will not ever be mistaken for defensive stoppers. Once known as a clutch defender, Billups has lost a step or two defensively and it shows when facing much of the younger quicker point guards littered throughout the league.
The Knicks currently start Ronnie Turiaf at center. Taking nothing away from Turiaf’s determination and hard work; to say he and Amare are the same height would be generous. The Knicks usually finish second in rebounding in what are two team contests and get pounded inside by bigger more physical players (insert Dwight Howard here).
The run and gun offense Mike D’Antoni instituted prior to the trade has turned into get Melo the ball on the block or an Amare jumper from sixteen feet out. Toss in Billups hoisting threes between Melo and Amare’s shots and it’s easy to see how this team is a mirror of what it looked to become once upon a time.
The Knicks will be back to legitimate contender status in the near future, unfortunately for the big apple it won’t be this season. Considering they are currently favored to join my buddies and I on 2k11 shortly after the playoffs start, you have to wonder was it worth it. Keep in mind, it was basically a foregone conclusion that Carmelo would be Knick in 2012. Now ask yourself again, was it worth it?