Why It Hurts to Watch the New York Knicks

It's only been 16 games so far for the New York Knicks. There's time to turn things around.

But they better start quickly.

Coming into the 2012 season with much more optimism than any season in recent memory, this Knicks team hasn't only severely underachieved to this point, they've succeeded in becoming a very difficult team to watch.

It's frustrating for sure.

What's gone wrong so far?

Pretty much everything. I could probably write a novel detailing the Knicks' issues, but there are certain things that have made this team so frustrating.

First of all, there is the defensive effort that is continuously not there.

As great as Amar'e Stoudemire can be at the offensive end of the floor, how many times do we have to watch people blow by him at will?

That's not even the most frustrating part on the defensive end of the floor.

Is there any team in the NBA that is slower rotating out to open shooters?

That answer is a clear no.

If you continue to allow NBA talent open looks at the basket without hands in shooters' faces, the opposition will continue to knock down shots against you.

Point the finger at Stoudemire here as well, who makes no effort at all on getting out on shooters. To be fair though, he isn't the only culprit.

The second pass kills the Knicks whether it's kicking it out to a shooter or dropping it down in the paint. Tyson Chandler can't cover everyone.

Could they have made things any easier for Timofey Mozgov on Saturday night?

Mozgov's 16 points against the Knicks was 12 over his average coming into the game and they were the 16 easiest points he will ever score in the NBA.

It's a never ending problem that isn't being corrected.

Watching the Knicks play defense is beyond frustrating.

Then there is the offensive end of the floor where the same problems rear their heads every game.

How many open shots can Toney Douglas miss before Mike D'Antoni sits him down? Also why is Douglas getting major fourth quarter minutes over Iman Shumpert?

If you are going to commit to the rookie, commit all the way.

Then there is the constant fourth quarter Carmelo Anthony jump shot fest.

This also has gone way beyond frustrating.

Ninety percent of tight fourth quarters sees the ball not move and Anthony settle for a ridiculously tough jumper with four hands in his face.

That's not the way you win games.

Anthony has the talent to take over games, but superstars can't forget about the other four guys on the floor late in games. Chucking up 10 for 30 performances on a consistent basis is awful for this team.

Especially when you have to watch Danilo Gallinari score a career-high 37 points in a very efficient manor while the guy he's traded for takes bad shot after bad shot.

It's frustrating and hard to watch.

We aren't going to get into the coaching or the style of play that doesn't work to help Anthony and Stoudemire co-exist. That's another rant for another day.

Right now though, it's very painful to watch this team make the same fundamental and sometimes lazy mistakes over and over again.

This team should be much better. Unfortunately they're not.