New York Knicks: Past, present and the future – NBA Special Report (Part-3)
The New York Knicks however should not be disheartened by the fact that they will enter the two game stretch against a team, against whom they have not been able to win in their last eight attempts. It is true that they lost the
games, but the margin of the loss in each game was very close. Moreover, by the time the games will arrive, Carmelo Anthony and Amare’ Stoudemire would have settled into their roles and hopefully there will be no more injuries this time around.
From here on in, we will discuss just the teams, who are important and the most important of them all are the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks split the series against the Bulls last season. The first game that they won was due to their
excellent shooting and in the second, they didn’t have to face Joakim Noah in the backcourt.
Will they be able to repeat that against a team that is rearing to go and win it all this season is an intriguing question, one that can only be answered on the court.
However, the fact cannot be ignored that there are many draw backs in the Bulls team right now. The Bulls depend too much on Derrick Rose and he alone cannot save the team time and again. Secondly, they do not have a competent
shooting guard who can create his own shots. Thirdly, their roster is injury prone and that can hamper them again.
Talking about the last season, the Knicks were not able to claim a victory over the New Jersey Nets in all the games they played against them. Deron Williams, Jordan Farmar and Devin Harris were the main hurdles for them.
In 2011-2012, the teams will be seen playing against each other for four times. The main target for the Knicks will be to control Williams and Lopez. If successful in doing so, the Knicks will be able to contain their opponents,
who will be in their neighbourhood by then.
Atlanta Hawks is another team that can offer rigorous competition. Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford are solid on the offense and the Hawks do posses a mix of players who can raise the intensity when required.
Again solid defense is the key to out-perform the Hawks. For this purpose, different combo of the Knicks’ players should be used to guard the opposing teams’ players. The Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder rose as young and
vibrant teams last season, because they improved on their skills in defense. The Knicks will have to work really hard on this facet, if they are to make a deep run in the playoffs.
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Continued in Part-4
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