NY Knicks: 5 Reasons They Must Shore Up Front Line to Contend with Miami Heat
With or without Donnie Walsh, the show must go on. Regardless of who may be calling the shots in the front office, anyone with ties to the Knicks organization knows which offseason moves are of high priority this summer and beyond.
Although the Dallas Mavericks had their way with them in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat have already arrived and will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. As long as Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are together and healthy, they have a chance to win no matter what teammates surround them.
If New York intends to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference and hold their own against the defending champions, they must be able to exploit the Heat’s weaknesses—particularly at the starting center and point guard positions. However, possessing a more potent bench is equally as important.
As far as center is concerned, Miami has a whole lot of them—five to be exact—and the majority are over the hill from a basketball standpoint. Erick Dampier and Jamaal Magloire are approaching retirement and likely to leave, while an aging Zydrunas Ilgauskas and unproven rookie Dexter Pittman are signed through next season. Scrappy fourth-year player and playoff starter, Joel Anthony, is the only one the Heat have committed to a contract through 2015.
The Heat are extremely thin at the power forward position; besides Bosh, 17-year veteran Juwan Howard is probably on his way out the door, and the team is sticking with blue-collar Udonis Haslem until 2015.
It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize the Knicks are in desperate need of a starting center and a quality big man to relieve Amar’e Stoudemire of some minutes. While either, or both, of these acquisitions are by no means the recipe for an instant ring, New York will immediately evolve into a serious contender that cannot be taken lightly come playoff time.
In the grand scheme of things, New York has some financial wiggle room to strengthen the front line. The Knicks are only obligated to four players totaling $41.07 million on the books through the 2012-13 campaign. In comparison, the Heat have six secured at $65.7 million.
With an active offseason or two, the Knicks’ featured post players should be on par with, if not better than Miami’s talent down low. Realistically speaking, while they currently lack a true “Big Three,” New York can be expected to compete with the Miami Heat—not to mention the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls—in the very near future.
Let’s examine the following slides to determine why it’s so vital for New York to improve upon the current state of affairs inside the paint in order to have success against Miami.
Bosh is soft
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No offense to Chris Bosh, but he’s not exactly a tower of power. Coming off his best year in which he averaged 24 points, 10.8 rebounds and a block per game for the lowly Toronto Raptors, Bosh did it all.
No longer the center of attention in Miami and flanked by two top 10 scorers in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Bosh’s scoring was bound to take a hit. However, inexplicably, a guy who had arrived in South Beach toting a career average of 9.4 boards only grabbed 8.3 a game. In fact, he didn’t even average a full rebound more than James.
The bottom line is Bosh has never been a bruiser and prefers a catch-and-shoot baseline jumper to battling for position in the post.
As a rookie, Bosh swatted 1.4 shots each time out. He might’ve been hungry to prove himself at that stage of his career. At any rate, his shot-blocking efficiency has steadily declined, culminating in a career worst .6 per game this past season with the Heat.
In four games versus Miami this past season, Amar’e Stoudemire averaged 23.5 points and 9.8 rebounds—at the center position. Imagine what Stoudemire is capable of playing in his natural power forward spot with a front line running mate slightly more imposing than Ronny Turiaf. Head-to-head, Stoudemire would eat the weaker Bosh alive.
James can only guard one superstar at a time
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Arguably the best lockdown defender in the league, LeBron James defined exactly what this means with his performance in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls.
In his previous two postseason series matchups with the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose sliced and diced his opponents for 29 points a night. In five games versus the Miami Heat, the 2011 MVP returned to earth.
In terms of size, James is an above-average small forward at 6’9” and 260 pounds. Rose, on the other hand, is 6’3”, 190 pounds and lightning fast. This didn’t faze James, who made it his personal challenge to guard Rose throughout the series.
En route to a 4-1 shellacking of the Bulls, James helped limit Rose to 23 points per game on 36 percent shooting.
James possesses the unique combination of quickness, size, and strength which enables him to guard anyone. In actuality, he is probably the only player in the NBA who can legitimately guard all five positions.
If need be, James can certainly vacate his standard duties of guarding Carmelo Anthony and slide down to Amar’e Stoudemire. However, adding a couple more formidable components to the Knicks front line would undoubtedly open things up for the rest of the team.
With an arsenal of weapons already on the floor, a capable post scorer to complement Stoudemire would render the Heat virtually defenseless—especially considering Miami has never filled the void in the lane left by Shaquille O’Neal.
While the Bulls only have one premier scorer in Rose, New York has too many offensive options between Anthony, Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups for Miami and James to focus on shutting just one player down. Since the Heat’s two best defenders, James and Dwyane Wade, essentially roam the perimeter, the Knicks could have a heyday around the basket.
Offensive openings for Anthony, Billups
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If the Knicks were to ramp up their post presence to include a dynamic duo of Amar’e Stoudemire and an athletic young center, Miami would be forced to insert extra defenders in the key. More often than not, this means LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the most versatile defenders, are providing the help.
As a result of the collapse inside, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups will see an increase in open opportunities from the outside. Since both of them essentially have unlimited range, this situation will bode well for the Knicks.
Also, considering Stoudemire’s passing from the post is surprisingly astute, the Knicks can utilize his vision by running the give-and-go with their other offensive threats. The same can be said for whatever additional big men they acquire assuming they’re skilled with the ball as well. Neither Ronny Turiaf nor Shelden Williams nor Jared Jeffries is adept in this respect.
Clog the lane and prevent drives
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You’d be hard-pressed to find any better finishers at the rim across the NBA than Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, and they both happen to represent the Miami Heat. Once either player gets a head of steam, you know he’s at least going to the foul line—typically to shoot the and-one.
New York has lacked that intimidating defensive game-changer for far too long. The last imposing player to man the middle for the Knicks was probably Marcus Camby, and that was a decade ago. But, even he couldn’t stay healthy. By default, I guess it’s Patrick Ewing.
Amar’e Stoudemire really should be commended for shouldering the load in the paint this past season—not only on the offensive end, but the defensive side as well. He really stepped up his overall game to another level as he truly embodied what it meant to become the face of New York sports.
Although he’s a notoriously poor defender, Stoudemire averaged 1.9 blocks and just under a steal per game in what was ultimately a defensive standout season.
One of the more memorable plays from the 2010-11 campaign imbedded in the minds of Knicks fans happened in Miami during Carmelo Anthony’s first game versus the Heat in a Knicks uniform.
Back on Feb. 27 with the Heat trailing 87-86, James, who hadn’t yet embraced his role as a closer, drove left directly at Anthony. Getting off a clean shot with nine seconds left in regulation, it appeared as if James would get another one of his patented runners in traffic to drop. Suddenly, Stoudemire hovered above the crowd to spike the ball off the backboard, closing the door on Miami’s comeback aspirations in the process.
Indeed, this was an amazing play and an unbelievable endeavor on Stoudemire’s behalf, but he should not be relied upon as the last line of defense. Bringing in a shot-blocking center could do wonders to derail the Heat’s confidence, since their most prolific scorers would have to rely on the jump shot—something that’s not always there when they need it.
Decrease Stoudemire’s workload
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As Knicks fans, we’re grateful for everything Amar’e Stoudemire has accomplished during his brief residency in New York. From backing up his comment proclaiming Knicks basketball is back his first day on the job to carrying the team as an MVP candidate over the course of the first three months of the season, Stoudemire’s effort has not gone unnoticed.
However, one thing we all can admit is we’d like to see Stoudemire get some well-deserved rest so he’s available and fresh for a postseason run.
After stringing together an unprecedented nine straight games of at least 30 points by mid-December, a span in which the Knicks won eight of nine, Stoudemire became visibly drained. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Stoudemire hit a wall, and so did the Knicks.
The necessity to play Stoudemire at center due to a lack of depth at the position wore him down; the physical demands of facing bigger, heavier players took its toll on the ever-energetic Stoudemire, and New York’s record suffered along with him. By the end of the season, Stoudemire was banged up and struggling to recuperate from a severely sprained ankle as the playoffs approached.
Hopefully, by next year he’ll have a dependable center next to him so that he can return to power forward—the place where he’s most effective—full time. The addition of a multifaceted backup power forward would allow Stoudemire to sit more frequently too.
The last thing you want to hear is your star player publicly stating he’s tired. It’s a rarity for any athlete to reveal this to the media, much less a franchise player.
More importantly, the Knicks require Stoudemire to be ready when called upon. Against high-stakes opponents, such as the Miami Heat, we need him to rise to the occasion and alter the outcome when it matters most.
