Looking at the upcoming season with cautious optimism.
By: Hank Kalet
Preseason begins tonight for the New York Knickerbockers and I can only view this team with cautious optimism.
In some respects, they improved themselves in the offseason, acquiring the athletic Jamaal Crawford without giving up much on-the-court talent.
Critics have charged that the Knicks are building a team of mediocrity and bad attitudes Stephon Marbury, Tim Thomas and Crawford do not have a history of winning and that Isaiah Thomas has capped this team out forever. But that ignores that the team already was capped out and that his predecessor, Scott Layden, used that as an excuse.
What Thomas has done is nothing short of remarkable, a complete roster overhaul that makes the team faster and more athletic. Are they better? I think so. How much? Hard to say. Will they contend? Probably, though with Shaq now in the East, the Knicks probably are looking at a four or five seed.
A quick overview:
The backcourt has the potential to be one of the better and deeper ones in the league with Marbury, Crawford and Allan Houston if he returns healthy from rehabbing his knee and Penny Hardaway. Marbury, Crawford and Hardaway can play both guard spots and Houston can move to the small forward occasionally. The only issue is minutes I suspect that Hardaway will lose out here, but figure on Wilkens finding time for Penny and Houston at the three, spelling Tim Thomas.
The forward slot is interesting, with Tim Thomas, Kurt Thomas, Michael Sweetney and Vin Baker getting the bulk of minutes. Baker and Kurt Thomas also will play some center, behind Nazr Mohammed. The frontcourt is not particularly strong an issue in dealing with Miami (with Shaq), Indiana (with Jermaine O’Neal) and Detroit (with the big, bad Wallace boys).
That appears to be the nine-man rotation, with the rest of the minutes divided among several others, including the rookie Trevor Ariza, who seems assured of a slot.
There are others, such as Shandon Anderson, Moochie Norris, Tracy Murray veteran players who should probably be let loose.
I think they could be exciting, but I honestly don’t know what to expect. And they better learn to play some defense or I’m becoming a Pistons fan.