Knicks Mid-Season Report.

So I know it's a bit past the mid-season mark, but All-Star Weekend is getting ready go down over the next 3 days, so we can just call this "mid-season". The Knicks started out the season red-hot and had many people surprised at what they were witnessing. They were playing tough defense, distributing the ball well, and hitting 3s nonstop. But, it seems as if this team has cooled down as of late and has been struggling to return to the dominant form they once knew. The Knicks are still holding down the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference currently at 32-18, but their lead is no longer as comfortable as it once was. There are a few problems that certainly need to be addressed with this team if they want any chance of making a deep run in the playoffs.

The first issue is that this team hasn't shown that it is tough enough consistently so far. They lack a strong inside defensive presence, and a real juggernaut that can handle the ball inside when the 3s aren't falling. A lot of people are pointing to the fact that Tyson Chandler has had a bit of a decline this season in his role playing, but the reality is that other players need to step the fuck up. Stat has shown that he can work his inside post-game, but he hasn't yet consistently returned to his old dominance despite his strong performances. His post defense also isn't very strong either. As the Knicks push towards the playoffs, they're going to have to show that they can beat teams like the Heat, Bulls and Pacers, who have all shown that they are mentally and physically tough teams on both sides of the ball. The Knicks can no longer afford to play soft, and it seems as though they might be in the hunt to trade for another big man down low to provide some much needed support.

The next is ball movement. This problem really has me puzzled because at the beginning of the season, the Knicks were sharing the ball and finding open men on the court and hitting an absurd amount of shots. That strength has really faded away lately as we are seeing the Knicks revert back to playing iso-ball with Melo which results in everyone else standing around doing nothing. Opposing defenses are keying in on this quickly, and it has caused great stagnation within our offensive sets. The Knicks MUST get back to distributing the rock more evenly and taking advantage of the good shooters we posses because we will have absolutely no chance on offense in the playoffs relying on Melo to put on a show as he's double and triple-teamed.

Defense has surprisingly been an issue as well. I say surprisingly because the Knicks were playing extremely tough D in the beginning of the season and they've seemed to really shy away from that as of late. J.R. Smith has pointed to the fact that defense is all about effort, and that the Knicks simply haven't been putting in enough effort on D. I must say that a lack of effort is simply inexcusable and that comes down on Mike Woodson and of course the players as well.

I'm not going to hit the panic button just yet because we practically have another half of basketball yet to play, but the Knicks need to start solving the issues they have very quickly unless they want to see themselves on the losing end of another first-round out. Anyways, I truly hope that my team gets it together because I can't bare to watch another disappointing year!! Smooches.