The Knicks finally broke me. After that 18-5 start to their season, my hope for them was at its highest level since Patrick Ewing was on the team. They were beating everyone, including the defending champs, Miami Heat, twice! They really seemed as if they could be the team to dethrone the champs and were doing it all sans Iman Shumpert and Amar'e Stoudemire. Since that red hot start though, they've been exactly average, 14-14 and losing to anyone, including the Washington Wizards. The hope of a championship has vanished and been replaced with hope for simply escaping the first round.
This is my breaking point because of what went down in Indiana and at the close of the trade deadline. That 36 point loss in Indiana was an epic embarrassment. There is no sugar coating that display of ineptitude. Sure, this could be the kick in the arse they needed to jolly them out of mediocrity and there's still plenty of season for Mike Woodson to figure out what's needed to have this team playing like they did to start the season. I hate living and dying with each game as the season is long and 'anything is possible', but this team just doesn't feel like a winner anymore.
The biggest problem with the game against Indiana, and the main reason I don't think this team capable of beating the Heat, (among others) in a seven game series, is that it happened already against the Bulls in December. In that game, Melo, Tyson and Woodson were all ejected. The Bulls established a giant lead, that dwindled, but ended with a victory. In that game, it seemed nothing was going the Knicks' way, especially the refs' calls. Once the game went south for the Knicks, which happened early, they shut down. They lost their fight and lost the game in the 1st quarter. The same happened last night as they were down twelve by the end of the 1st quarter.
Fool me once...
What scares me most about this team is their age. If this season isn't going to result in a championship, (with the way the Heat, Spurs, Pacers, Nets, Clippers, Thunder are all playing, the Knicks don't have a chance), then we are to hope for next year, right? Well the Knicks are the oldest team ever, and that was before they traded away Ronnie Brewer (27) and signed Kenyon Martin (35). That means the hope for next year rests on an even older, oldest team ever or a very different roster. Neither are all that appealing, so this year might actually be a must win year for Carmelo and the Knicks.
Even if Woodson is able to right the ship, the Knicks may end up facing the same fate they encountered in the 90s. Michael Jordan was unstoppable then and left many Hall of Famers ringless (Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Barkley). LeBron James is playing at a different stratosphere than everyone else right now. He may end up going on a Jordanesque type run of NBA titles, leaving his own trail of ringless Hall of Famers in his wake. Melo could be in that trail. He and Woodson and the Knicks need to fix this mess they're currently in and fight for that title, before the old men crumble.
I'm tired of waiting for next year.
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