New York Knicks Need A Second Go-To Scorer
By Michael Woolfson
@Bigwoolf5
Adam Hunger-USA Today Sports
Coming off two straight wins against 2013-14 playoff teams, the New York Knicks were feeling good about themselves at 2-1. However, Washington Wizards outclassed them by a score of 98-83, showing some major weaknesses on the Knicks if they wish to be considered among playoff contenders.
The Wizards were without one of their young studs Bradley Beal, and John Wall certainly didn’t have one of his better games, yet the Knicks still allowed the them to pull away in the second half. Nobody on either side had a particularly huge night in this extremely sloppy game, but the Knicks turned the ball over 18 times, and Carmelo Anthony shot 8-of-23 from the field with seven of those turnovers, leading to this lopsided loss.
Right now, the Knicks are not good enough to win games when Anthony shoots the ball as poorly as he did. New York doesn’t have that second go-to scorer on their team right now as Amare Stoudemire isn’t getting the minutes due to his bad defense, and J.R. Smith is so erratic and inconsistent. Carmelo is a great scorer but nobody is good enough to carry the scoring load themselves.
The Knicks came into this season with high expectations mainly because of Phil Jackson coming to the organization, but fans definitely need to temper those expectations. This is year one of a rebuilding process that will take at least a couple of years.
Right now, the Knicks don’t have the talent to compete with top-notch teams in the Eastern Conference, and that was evidenced by their double-digit loss to the Wizards. They will have moments showing that they can hang with great teams, like they did when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, but there will also be moments when they struggle and look really bad.
Right now, the Knicks are a mediocre team with mediocre talent, and thats okay … for now, anyway.
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