he New York Knicks are looking good ! And you can't say: 'Well, they haven't beaten a good team yet' - they beat the Miami Heat, already.I know still too early to mark the Knicks as the number one seed in the east, but it's not impossible for the Knicks to be the 2nd seed team.
Putting the Heat aside, since we expect to be the one seed -- the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls -- who are expected to be the 2 and 3 seed in the east -- may be questionable.
The Celtics are older. And I know the Knicks are as well, but they have a young/prime star scorer in Carmelo Anthony. Boston's top scorers are Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who are a couple of years from retiring. I understand Celtics have Rajon Rondo whose young, their future and a big part of their team currently, but he's not a player who can carry a team.
Why is it a sure thing that the Bulls are going to be a 2nd seed team ? Derrick Rose won't be back until December from his ACL injury. How do we know he'll be a hundred percent when he comes back ? Bulls need Rose to be at his best when he returns; he's their star player. Without him, they go nowhere.
So it's not impossible for the Knicks to be on top of the standing with the Heat by the end of the season. They can very well win the Atlantic, as well.
New York's impressive 3-0 start, is coming by team chemistry. You don't see Anthony forcing and taking every shot, anymore. Instead of scoring 35-40 points and losing the game, he's scoring 20-25 and winning the game.
Another reason why is the Knicks depth in the point-guard position. With Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni, that's a lot. Prigioni is going to be the factor to this team's success, because he can so dangerous off the bench. Also, with this depth you don't have to wear Kidd whose older. And Felton has been unbelievable; I knew he'd be great for this team. Very underrated.
I know some may think -- when Amare Stoudemire returns, he's going to slow this team's chemistry. I don't think so. With the point-guard depth the Knicks have, he's going to get a lot of pick and rolls.
You have to remember, in early 2010 when Stoudemire was having that MVP-type season, he was playing with Felton. Felton gave him a lot of open spots to finish, that year. Then when Felton got traded to Denver, that's when Stoudemire wasn't the same player.
The Knicks are going to get better as they get players back, like Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert. Not only they get better, they get younger.
They don't play until Friday, against the Dallas Mavericks; I don't like the long layoff, but it is what it is.
What you want to see, is the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs meeting on Thursday November 15th, both undefeated. That would be fun to see.
