Can the Knicks Actually Turn it Around?

I still remember when the Knicks brought Amare Stoudemire to town. Everybody was hyped. He was one of the most athletic and versatile scorers in the league. He could jump, run, and shoot. I mean this guy still holds the record for most points per game in a Conference finals series debut (37 ppg against the Spurs in ’05). He played with tenacity and he could even rebound and play defense. Well, whatever. The man brought hope back to the big apple.

In case you forgot...

Then, I remember when the Knicks brought Carmelo to New York. He was considered by many to be the best pure scorer in the league (I never bought into it, but others did!). Sure, he had never won anything, but he never had a legit big man, either. But now, he had Stoudemire.

The 2012 Knicks were actually respected

Along the way, they brought in a slew of Ex all-stars, veterans, scorers, defenders, and role players. Last season, they had a fully loaded team that could compete with anybody, and everyone was thinking that they could actually challenge Miami for the Eastern conference crown. But, somewhere along the way this team lost it. Stoudemire had multiple surgeries, chemistry was a problem, and J.R. was being J.R.- throwing elbows, untying shoes, taking bad shots, etc. (On a side note, one of my favorite J.R. Smith memories came during a Twitter rant in which he asked a chick publicly, “You trying to get the pipe?”).

This year, they started off horrible, like really horrible, like bottom of the pathetic Eastern conference horrible, and they were all but forgotten. Last night however, they made me wonder: Could the Knicks really turn this thing around?

Shumpert could be really, really good. Knicks, please
don't trade him (fingers crossed).

In last night's game, the Knicks impressively beat the Heat 102-92. It was a collective effort, and it reminded me of how well the Knicks were clicking last year at this very same time.Last night, Carmelo shot the ball well, Amare showed glimpses as a dangerous bench player, and the role players played up to their potential. Tim Hardway Jr. was an athletic freak, and is it just me or does Shumpert have some All-star level potential? I mean last week he dropped back to back 30 point games. The game was also the first time that Coach Woodson benched J.R. and played him ZERO minutes (Hallelujah!!!).  And….And, don’t forget: this was all done without their only defender, Tyson Chandler.

Realistically, this was probably just a blip on the radar. But for the first time all year, the Knicks actually made me think, and they actually made me believe (even if it was only for a second) that this team could actually do something.

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