Are the NY Knicks the scariest team in NBA?

[pwayknicks]

As a Knick fan....

Boston would beat us in 4 MAYBE 5

Miami would be a grueling series for them, but they would beat us in 6

Orlando would beat us in 6 although I can see us upsetting them if Mike D actually played the right players

Chicago and Atlanta IMO would be a toss up....we can beat either team in a 7 game series

[MitchellUK]

I don't think so right now. They have two stars, an outstanding veteran, and one excellent rookie. That's about it. They tore the house down to start over with the foundations, which long term will prove to be a good move, but what that has left them with right now is a team that on any given night is scary and could beat anyone in the league (having two bigtime players like Stoudemire and Anthony will do that for you), but equally, if Melo or STAT have a bad game or are well defended, they are going to struggle. Over a seven game series, I don't think their current roster will cut it.

I also don't think they have enough time to iron out all the wrinkles before the playoffs. Had they done the Melo deal earlier, they would have had time to tweak the roster a little more, add more role players, and really gel as a unit. They might give whomever they play a couple of scares, but I don't see them getting out of the first round.

Start of next season, though? Different story altogether. If they handle the draft and their exceptions well, they could and should be beastly.

Right now, I would say the scariest team, at least in the East, is the Sixers. They are rolling, and have been for a couple of months. They don't really matchup favourably with any of the teams above them, meaning I still don't think they will get out of the first round, but they play excellent team basketball and whoever plays them is going to have a really tough time of it.

[MeloNY]

Legit question OP and yes, of the playoff teams without homecourt advantage in the first round the Knicks are the scariest! Hi haters!

[Optms]

Celtics will get a nice work out these playoffs. The East is so loaded with talented teams right now, none of which are going to go down without a strong fight.

The Knicks aren't any scarier than the Bulls, Magic or Heat, though. I slot them all in the same tier with maybe the Bulls slightly ahead right now just because I love the defensive tenacity and balance. They know what their bread and butter is and have more of an identity than some other clubs do right now.

[Slap]

The Bulls have not beat the knicks this year, and that was with the old squad. The new squad is actually a much better defensive team than the old one, so without a doubt I think the Heat and Bulls would be a tad bit scared to have to play them in round one. They were 2-2 against the heat this year too, so I have no doubt that no one wants to face them in the first round. lebron said it himself. In an interview before the heat/knicks game this past sunday he told reporters that no one in the league wants to see that team in the first round. He said if Melo and Amare get real hot and are pumped up they have a great chance at beating any team in the east. They have held the heat and the hawks to 90 pts or less within their last 10 games. Since Melo has been here they are giving up right around 100-101 points a game. Which is't great by any stretch of the imagination, but its almost 5 points better than prior to the acquisition. Against the heat and the hornets, which are two very good half court defensive teams, they allowed 85 points and 88 points. They were also on their way to a win over the magic on tuesday before Nelson decided to go all reggie miller on them. If the Bulls lose to them again when they play later this season, I know they will be scared to face them in the first round. That would make them 3-0 against the knicks. Now that the knicks are using a lot more Iso plays with guys like Fields cutting to the basket and spacing the floor with chauncey and williams/walker they have a very good half court offense. They beat the heat on Sunday in their half court offense. They didn't get out and run at all in that game. When Billups is playing they also don't push the ball like they do when douglas is in the game or when felton was running the point before. People also need to calm down with the cavs loss. Like a number of people have already said, the lakers lost to them as did the celtics.
As the knicks get acclimated to one another they will play pretty good defense, especially in the playoffs against good teams, when melo and amare are real motivated. People that don't want to admit that the knicks are one of the scariest teams for a top seed in the east to face early in the playoffs is just a NY hater. Coaches and players have already acknowledged that they are a scary opponent in the first round.

Noah and Boozer were injured both games. Nice try though. Also in what world is Melo an upgrade in Defense?

[koogiking]

god damn is op the guy who kept making gallo = goat sf threads in the GB

No i didn't. I don't even like Gallo. prove it

Noah and Boozer were injured both games. Nice try though. Also in what world is Melo an upgrade in Defense?

Boozer was injured the first game, but Noah was there. Noah was injured the second game, but Boozer was there. So it's not like both were out at the same time.

Also, in both games the Knicks didn't have Melo or Billups.



About the Center issue, yeah like I said before it is a big issue. But other teams in the east have that issue too. Like the heat for example. I don't know who that Joel Anthony guy is, but he is at least as good as turiaf. All he does is get a few blocks during the game. He's only 6 foot 9(Turiaf is 6 foot 10). He doesn't score at all and he doesn't grab rebounds either, so if anything the heat have just as big a hole at the center position that the knicks have.



I'm not trying to say that the knicks are the best in the league, or that they will win a championship. What I am saying is that they are a really tough team for a championship competitor to face in the first round. They are harder than most 6th seed teams we've seen in the east. Last year the Milwakee bucks were 6th seed. To go from facing the milwaukee bucks in the 6th seed to facing the knicks is a huge jump and the knicks will actually make for a hard and competitive first round matchup just like how the Lakers had trouble against OKC last year in the first round.

[Alpha9444]

dude when you lose to cavs u cant be scariest team

Lakers lost to the cavs.....

[benjamakandi]

dude when you lose to cavs u cant be scariest team

Lakers lost to the cavs.....

So did the Celtics. However the Knicks lost twice to the Cavs. They didn't learn from the first loss.

[droponov]

It depends. They could be, but D'Antoni won't play line-ups with enough defense and rebounding for them to be.

[Cigamodnalro]

The NY Knicks are the second scariest team in the Northeast.

[RunSunRun]

I don't know about fans of other teams, but of all the other contenders in the East, I would LOVE for the Spurs to play the Knicks in the Finals so we could mop the floor with them.

They need, like you said, a real center and to fill out their roster because they gave up so much for Melo. I think they can give some teams in the East a run for their money but they won't make it to the Finals and even if they do they'll get stomped. Next year, once they get some pieces, that's a different story. They will be a contender for years to come, though.

If the Knicks make the Finals and play the Spurs, I GUARANTEE they beat them. You're "real" center is 6'7.

As a Suns fan, D'Antoni can't beat Popovich. We try to block it out mentally, but we always come back to mental images of Pringles standing on the sideline with his arms crossed, yelling, "Let's go!" while Popovich is laughing and actually game planning.

[SacTownKings4Life]

Personally, I think the Knicks' starting lineup LOOKS great. However, the reality is, they are simply the shallowest team in the league. Damn near every game they've played since the trade, I look at the box score and see 3 guys scoring 20+ points and MAYBE one other guy in double figures. That's not gonna cut it in the post season. They rely too heavily on their 2 star players (and Billups) to the point that if ONE guy has an off night at any given time or is simply shut down by the opposing defense, it's gonna be ugly. Just watch. You need more than 25 points from your bench on a nightly basis IMO. I wanna see them play Boston one time.

Also not sure why they dumped Brewer. They can use all the bodies they can get right now, and none of the other buyout players seem to be lining up to join them either. Dumb move to me...

[AmareNY]

If you draw the Knicks in round #1, YOU better be scarred. Heck you might even piss your pants a little.


Go Knicks!

[cloud king]

I don't see anyone beating the Celtics in the East, but yes, the Knicks could definitely beat the Heat, Magic or Bulls even without HCA

[Rockice_8]

If Melo and Stat are red hot then yeah they can beat anyone and it wouldn't surprise me if they shocked the Bulls in the first round. For them to be hot throughout the 1st round let alone the entire playoffs are a tough thing to do though. 2nd round exit at best most likely a 7th game 1st round exit IMO.

[RaisingArizona]

I think OKC is. If Perkins steps in, they can win the west.

[jeff1624]

I think OKC is. If Perkins steps in, they can win the west.

People are seriously overrating Perkins right now. There's only one thing he really excels at and that's post defense and even then he's no Dwight Howard.

[Knickz4life88]

The Bulls have not beat the knicks this year, and that was with the old squad. The new squad is actually a much better defensive team than the old one, so without a doubt I think the Heat and Bulls would be a tad bit scared to have to play them in round one. They were 2-2 against the heat this year too, so I have no doubt that no one wants to face them in the first round. lebron said it himself. In an interview before the heat/knicks game this past sunday he told reporters that no one in the league wants to see that team in the first round. He said if Melo and Amare get real hot and are pumped up they have a great chance at beating any team in the east. They have held the heat and the hawks to 90 pts or less within their last 10 games. Since Melo has been here they are giving up right around 100-101 points a game. Which is't great by any stretch of the imagination, but its almost 5 points better than prior to the acquisition. Against the heat and the hornets, which are two very good half court defensive teams, they allowed 85 points and 88 points. They were also on their way to a win over the magic on tuesday before Nelson decided to go all reggie miller on them. If the Bulls lose to them again when they play later this season, I know they will be scared to face them in the first round. That would make them 3-0 against the knicks. Now that the knicks are using a lot more Iso plays with guys like Fields cutting to the basket and spacing the floor with chauncey and williams/walker they have a very good half court offense. They beat the heat on Sunday in their half court offense. They didn't get out and run at all in that game. When Billups is playing they also don't push the ball like they do when douglas is in the game or when felton was running the point before. People also need to calm down with the cavs loss. Like a number of people have already said, the lakers lost to them as did the celtics.
As the knicks get acclimated to one another they will play pretty good defense, especially in the playoffs against good teams, when melo and amare are real motivated. People that don't want to admit that the knicks are one of the scariest teams for a top seed in the east to face early in the playoffs is just a NY hater. Coaches and players have already acknowledged that they are a scary opponent in the first round.

Noah and Boozer were injured both games. Nice try though. Also in what world is Melo an upgrade in Defense?

if you watch the knicks games u would know EDIT..Melo has showed signs of playing good defense and also were talking about the other guys we acquired that have been playing great d for us..left Miami at 85 blew out the horned they didnt score over 100..before the trade both teams score way over 100 and we probably dont win..if you dont watch the knick games you cant put in your 2 scents like that

EDIT: No Personal Attacks

[Knickz4life88]

hornets*

[Canomad]

dude when you lose to cavs u cant be scariest team

so boston and the lakers arent scary?