Why our Knicks will represent against .500+ teams

Evening, Knickerbocker rockers. I wanted to get this post up before the Denver game, which I was lucky enough to attend (first game in easily 5 years!), and which has jacked us all up with an even bigger dose of medical-grade enthusiasm, but life intervened. Take the jump to see why I think our Knicks should win at least forty percent of their contests versus winning teams (bonus: there is no mention of Melo rumors herein!).

Fist, let's get the obvious out of the way. Amar'e Stoudemire appears to be the best thing to have happened to this franchise at least since Latrell Sprewell or Allan Houston, both of whom he is much better than, and probably since Patrick Ewing, who's more on par in terms of talent and impact. I could reasonably spend way too much of this post discussing his grandeur. Instead, I offer this observation: since 1985-ish I can't recall the Knicks ever having a player whom actually deserved and received the chant of "M.V.P." at any point in any season. Pat certainly had some otherworldly campaigns, but unless your first name was Michael and your last name was Jordan, no one bothered chanting M.V.P.  for you in the late 80s or early 90s (excepting Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley when he was out-of-his-mind good as opposed to just out of his mind, god bless him). This sounds pathetic (though not to you, my friends, I am sure), but my spine tingled at the game when the crowd chanted these three heretofore verboten letters to our current hero. My friend who went to the Denver game with me said, "I hope Stoudemire is to the Knicks what Lew Alcindor/Kareem was to the Lakers." Aiming a little high, perhaps, but I second this desire. You should too.

The other obvious stuff is that our man Raymond is playing at an All-Star level (please join me in voting for him and voting for him often!), and our role players are not messing up at all. Gallo and especially Chandler and Fields have been fantastic this season so far.

Now, here are the reasons why I really think they'll make some noise with the better teams in the league (a club the Knicks will soon join, in my estimation, if they haven't already):

Confidence. This is obvious too, but it bears mentioning. We have not had a team with this much confidence since, well, since I really can't  remember. Maybe 1999, which felt a little like cheating? Of course this confidence can fade, and probably will if and/or when they hit a skid, but having tasted it they will be able to get it back.

The Knicks play a lot of home games. Of their remaining 57 games, 31 (I think -- too lazy to look at the schedule to see if I already counted the Denver game just passed) will be played at the Garden. They've got to make it their house! (And of course, they ain't too shabby on the road, either).

Great performances by opposing stars haven't mattered. Here are some bad guy stat lines from our last 13 wins:

DEN Melo 31 pts & 13 rebs
TOR Bargnani 41 pts & 7rebs & 6 assts
MIN Love 33 pts & 15 rebs
NJ Lopez 36 pts & 5 rebs
DET Prince 31 pts & 8rebs & 7 assts
LAC Griffin 44 pts & 15 rebs & 7 assts
GS Ellis 40 pts & 5 assts, Curry 29 pts & 8 assts

You know what the Knicks think of these numbers? Not much. Our guys have been able to take big punches and punch back. The main thing I think we can take from this point is that the Knicks are playing timely defense on a regular basis. Our offense is so good that, for our guys, a block or steal at the right time can be the difference in the game. This may not be as effective in the playoffs, but it is during the regular season, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Free throw shooting. This decidedly un-sexy aspect of the game is paying big dividends for the Knicks. Gallo, Felton, STAT, and Chander are shooting at a high percentage. For a rookie, Fields is as well. The Knicks are second in team FG%, and most importantly they've been getting to the line. The reason this is key is that they don't need flash or even perfectly executed plays to succeed at the stripe; and they can do it against any team, no matter how good they are. If the Knicks continue to be aggressive – and with STAT and Felton setting the tone there's no reason to think they won't continue, or even improve on, this trend – then they can continue to score a lot of very easy points. Not to mention that in close games we have no less than four players who are excellent free throw shooters, making it harder for opponents to steal games with the intentional foul. There is no easier way to score in basketball (unless you're the bastard child of Chris Dudley and Shaq, in which case you'd probably be more likely to join the Freak Show than the N.B.A.) than with the free throw, and the Knicks have been very good at this.

The Knicks offense is insanely good. According to this site, as of today your New York Knicks lead the league in scoring. When they score 100 points, they are 14-4. More telling is that when their opponents score 100 points, they are still winning at 10-8. This isn't stellar, but it is an indication of how good we have been. We must hope that against the league's better defenses this trend will continue.

Clyde will soon start creating new rhymes for these Knicks. Walt, I humbly suggest "beasting and feasting" for any time STAT dunks all over someone; and when he's swishing from the elbow, let "Stoudemire's caught afire!" fall from your lips.

Anyway, them's The Grammarian's thoughts. Big love all my PnTers. Bring on the Celts!