Half Way Through the New York Knicks First Season With Amar'e Stoudemire

For the New York Knicks, the 2010-11 NBA season has been a rather up-and-down campaign.

Initially, after a rather successful offseason highlighted by the signings of Amar'e Stoudmire and Raymond Felton, expectations were very high.

However, the team stumbled out of the gate, earning a dismal 3-8 record through its first 11 games.

Nevertheless, New York managed to right the ship, proceeding to torch its opponents throughout the course of a 13-1 run, which set their record at 16-9.

But then the Knicks' schedule began to toughen up, as they were soon to face Eastern Conference powerhouses like the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, followed by a matchup against the league-leading San Antonio Spurs and a Western Conference road trip which included a game at the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

And while they lost to many of their more highly-touted opponents, the Knicks still managed to go 6-6 during this stretch, putting their record at 22-15.

But with their January 19 loss to the Houston Rockets, New York is currently in the doldrums of a four-game losing streak and own a record of 22-19 at the halfway point of the 2010-11 season.

And with upcoming matchups against playoff teams like the Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks over the next two weeks, the Knicks' schedule doesn't look to get much easier.

Still though, the franchise is currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, and is a full five games above the next team.

So despite their less-than-desirable play of late, there's still hope for the Knicks.