How New York Knicks will fare against Eastern Conference foes next NBA season? (Part 1)
With every passing day hopes of seeing the next National Basketball Association season are diminishing as the negotiations between the players union and franchise owners fail to make any progress. However, that does not mean that
there will be no basketball whatsoever. The league will return to action and when it does, one team that will be rearing to make an impact will be the newly refurbished New York Knicks.
Since the free agents market didn’t take place due to the work stoppage, therefore the squads of the best five teams will remain intact, with just the inclusion of the fresh talent that teams drafted back on June 23, 2011 night.
The Knicks drafted 21 year old point guard, Iman Shumpert with their 17th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft that night.
New York achieved a 42-40 record in the east during the preceding season and shrilled past the Philadelphia 76ers to grab the sixth spot in the conference. While the best five teams in east were, Chicago Bulls at No. 1, Miami Heat
at No. 2, Boston Celtics at 3, Orlando Magic at 4 and at 5 it was Atlanta Hawks.
So without much shakeup in the rosters, let predict how teams these best five teams will do against the Knicks in the upcoming season. Will the Knicks be able to do well this time than the previous season or they will remain out
of the top five lists this time again.
New York Knicks vs Atlanta Hawks
In the previous season, New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks met on four occasions and the result of the series was 2-2 that ignited the rivalry which no one was anticipating, it was discovered when it reached the boiling point after
the brawl between Shawne Williams and Marvin Williams ended in the suspension of both players.
Although the Knicks holds a star studded line-up, but still no one can under estimate the Hawks, as they possesses multitalented players on both inside and outside offense. These players have a store that is no short of skills,
moreover they had apt timing in providing assists and making steals from the defensive end.
However, Carmelo Anthony, who joined the Knicks early this year, was too hot to handle for the Hawks, as the scoring machine had several options in his book to beat every tactic of Atlanta.
In addition to Melo, another star in the Knicks roster, Amar’e Stoudemire was hard to impede from pouring in the basket in the absence of a solid centre. Although Josh Smith and Al Horford caused some hurdles for Amar’e, but it
wasn’t enough to upset the 6 foot 10 power forward, who can also play at the centre position. As a result of his domination over the Hawks, Stoudemire was able to wreck with an average of 25 points per game against Atlanta, in the four game series during the
regular-season.
Similarly point guard Chauncey Billups, dominated the double team of veteran Kirk Hinrich and new addition Jeff Teague. However, Teague gave a tough time to Billups with his swiftness. However, the Hawks have an upper hand over
the Knicks in the long range shooting, as they have got the services of Joe Johnson in that region.
However, to keep Johnson’s effect at minimum, the Knicks could introduce freshly drafted Iman Shumpert, who is a good defensive stopper and can make the difference. Although the Knicks aren’t that strong on the defensive end, but
their offense is their real power and an alarming thing for their opponents. So watch out Knicks beat the Hawks in the next season’s standings.
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