Knicks Season in review

The Knicks had a very good season. A season i think most would agree was surprising especially the torrid start. Jason Kidd was gelling and create for the Knicks, Felton was back to the Felton of old and even Rasheed Wallace was giving the Knicks some good minutes and some toughness.  

If you would tell me in the preseason the Knicks would finish with the second seed in the east and win 54 games i would have called you crazy. I expected mid 40s and maybe fighting for 4-6 seeds. I wonder if that makes me a pessimistic fan or a realistic one.  How ever you deem the Knicks season the playoffs is where teams really show what they are made of and we folded like a WWE chair :/  Melo played as hard as he could with the help he got, which is to say not much at all. JR Smith is still missing, Felton was stunted and our shooting was nerfed. I won't even mention Jason Kidd's funk which i believe has forced him into retirement. 

The Pacers played great. They played strong, fast and decisive. I don't want to take anything away from them especially the play of Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson. The Knicks had no answer and the Pacer shooters made their shots. The Knicks played good to great defense but we just couldn't score. JR didn't get going, Amar'e just couldnt get a roll going due to his limited minutes, Kidd was horrible and Novak didn't even play. The Knicks best players were Prigioni, Melo and Chris Copeland. Tyson Chandler was just abused. 

I hope we can draft well and hope that Kidd retires, Amar'e comes back full strength and Melo comes back healthy. We got close, but we could have played a whole lot better!

Welcome to NY Iman Shumpert...wait who??

Well, i will say this. I did alot of research going into this draft as to what we needed, what would be available and what i could live with coming away from this draft. One thing i knew for certain, The Knicks would buy another draft pick. I assumed it would be late first round, maybe 30 from Chicago. They did buy a pick and it was a second rounder.

Here was my expectations. Take the best player available at 17. I assumed one of the lottery talents would fall and get snatched up by us...it almost happened.

 F Kawhi Leneard was taken by the Pacers @ 15. My next step was to take one of these four: Nikola Vucevic, Chris Singleton,  Marshon Brooks, Kenneth Faried or Donatas . Vucevic went a pick before, an we had a choice of the rest. Brooks the SG in the Spreewell mold, Faried a rebounding machine, Donatas a 7ft Andrea Bargnani type who would do fantastic in Mike D's system but wouldn't defend a fly, Singleton the best defender in the draft, combo PF/SF and with the 17th pick in NBA draft...The NY Knicks select..... Iman Shumpert?!?!??!

Doing my research, i knew of him. I saw videos, read the scouting reports but with the more " known " targets on the board you didn't expect it. After a day or two of calming down, the pick makes alot of sense. We need defenders, we need athletes. Shumpert is a stud defender, he can guard 1-3. He also is looking to be groomed as a PG. He is ideal size to play the 2 as well. 42" vertical, 6'10" wing span and quickness allows him to be our go to defender against the Kobes, Wades, Westbrook and Lebron's of the world.

We need interior defense also, and Singleton would have fit the bill but the minutes and rotation with Amar'e and Melo would not have saved him many minutes. Shumpert will be in the guard rotation right now.

We bought the 45th pick from the Hornets and got the rights to Josh Harellson, a C with a mean streak. About time! We need a good who will avg more fouls than points and can pick and roll and hustle. Hope he makes the team.

Hope this lockout ends, the Knicks need some big men..i hear Kwame Brown is the target...help me!