New York Knicks: Why We Shouldn't Have Bought into the Hype

The New York Knicks hype got ahead of itself. It's the way of the teams with huge fanbases and particularly those with an enormous media presence. Right now anything to do with the New York Knicks, the Los Angles Lakers or the Miami Heat has to be taken at about 70 percent face value. 

Then in addition to that there's the whole "ring" thing. Anytime a player is coming off a nice championship run. It's what I like to call Larry Brown disease. Not Larry Brown, the NBA coach. Larry Brown the former Dallas Cowboys corner back. 

Brown is a bit of an extreme example but it illustrates my point. An above average corner who had a splendid Super Bowl in 1996, Brown became a sought after free agent. The Oakland Raiders signed him to a huge sum of money and Brown promptly played like he'd always played. 

Tyson Chandler is better than Larry Brown, but in some ways their stories match. No one would have pegged him as the biggest prize of the free agent market. For example, in this Bleacher Report article he was projected fifth before the postseason started. 

In this article on emptythebench.com, Brian Spencer describes Chandler in this manner. 

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Seems like a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away when Chandler (2nd overall) and Eddy Curry (4th) were both drafted straight out of college to be the twin faces of the Chicago Bulls franchise. Those best-laid plans never quite panned out, obviously, but while Curry has eaten his way out of the league, Chandler has developed into a solid, reliable center who can counted on for 10 and 10, along with a blocked shot or two.

The keyword there is “solid”: what you see is what you’re going to get at this point, which is pretty much the case with all seven of these players, save for (maybe) J.R. Smith. With Caron Butler’s bloated $10.5 million dollar contract coming off the books, as well as DeShawn Stevenson’s $4.1 million, the Mavericks should have the funds to resign him if they so choose, but they already have a whopping $34.6 million over the next 4 years tied up in Brendan Haywood. I’d be surprised if he returns to Dallas. Through 57 games, Chandler is averaging 10.4 points, 9.4 boards, and 1.1 blocks.

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Note the repetition of the word "solid." 

The reality is that Chandler's value got inflated by the fact that he won a ring with the Dallas Mavericks, and then that over-inflated value became over-hyped expectations when the New York media got a hold of things. 

Consider that Joakim Noah, who averaged more points, more rebounds and had better defensive numbers (.82 PPP compared to .85 for Chandler) has a new contract that's kicking in for $3 million less than Chandler's. 

The unwarranted hype surrounding Chandler caused the New York media to gloss over glaring weaknesses on the team, such as a lack of a proven backcourt presence that was not yet eligible for social security and a bench that made Miami's look deep

The Knicks were looking at a team that ran on a philosophy of facilitating without a facilitator. They had two offensive stars who tend to be "stoppers" on offense more than on defense. When the ball gets into their hands it stops moving. 

They also added an outstanding help defender, a quick player with high intensity, but don't run a defensive system that can really be "helped." 

New Yorkers weren't looking at the half-empty glass as half full, they were looking at the glass that was three quarters empty as nearly full. 

Some of the problems will be marginally resolved if and when Baron Davis can play and Iman Shumpert returns. Some, but not enough. 

The Knicks are still a year from being a real contender. It's not something that just chemistry can fix. There are real holes in the lineup and it's going to take personnel, not time to fix that. That's going to mean another offseason before they join the elite.