Knicks Breakdown: Fixing the Knicks

The Knicks certainly turned in a diseased performance in their 101-89 loss to the Jazz on Wednesday.

In fairness, Eddy Curry and Quentin Richardson were sick with the flu, and by the time they realized they had no energy to contribute, the Knicks spotted the Jazz a 12-2 lead.

From their departures on, the Knicks played the Jazz at a much healthier clip, only being outscored 88-87.

Still, the Knicks have been plagued with selfishness, scandal, and awful play the entire season. The game vs. Utah revealed plenty of reasons for their malaise, yet offered several glimpses of a possible cure.

Lets' look at the symptoms...

The Knicks

Jamal Crawford (8-22 FG, 3-7 3FG, 7-9 FT, 9 AST, 3 REB, 3 TO, 1 BLO, 22 PTS) is starting to get it.

Far less reckless than he’s been in the past, Crawford excelled when the Knick offense ran through him. Discounting a half court heave to beat the third-quarter buzzer, and a fourth quarter desperation jumper with the shot clock expiring, Crawford shot an impressive 10-20.

Of those attempts, Crawford was able to get them off on isolations (4-8), stand-still jumpers (2-4), curls around screens (2-5), penetrations off of curls (0-1), a right hook (0-1), and a three where he never set his feet(0-1).

Crawford’s shot selection was efficient, as he only forced two shots and two passes.

Most impressive was Crawford’s playmaking abilities. Instead of firing the first open shot he’d take, Crawford was willing to penetrate where he made wonderful passes to Knick cutters all game long.

On one play he drove by Brewer, drew the defense, and made a wonderful look-away pass to David Lee for an uncontested layup. On a fourth-quarter fast break, Crawford raced up the right sideline, but still found Jared Jeffries cutting a long the left baseline for an easy layup.

His most impressive play came during the third quarter when a quick outlet pass found Crawford all alone in the left corner. Instead of forcing a three, he took his time and found Zach Randolph cutting under the hoop for an easy layup.

Ronnie Brewer’s length gave Crawford some trouble, but JC was still able to hit a number of tricky pull-up jumpers over his outstretched arms. No other defender other than Brewer had a prayer of contesting Crawford’s drives and pull-ups.

When stationed at the top of the key, Crawford showed good instincts as a ball reverser. Crawford’s defense was rarely tested by Ronnie Brewer, but Crawford has the length and leaping ability to be an effective defender.

Crawford has a wonderful right to left crossover which he’ll unleash for a deadly pull-up jumper.

If he played for a team with more offensive creativity, Crawford would thrive as a second option. On the Knicks, he’s their only commodity who can both create for himself and others.

Zach Randolph controlled the defensive glass (8 REB), and forced the Jazz into foul trouble with his abilities to create angles in the low post. Randolph also has the ability to hit mid range jumpers and will take weaker defenders off the dribble if they can’t body him up.

Randolph even made two exceptional passes out of double teams leading to Jared Jeffries and Fred Jones layups.

Jared Jeffries (4-4 FG, 2-4 FT, 5 REB, 1 STL, 10 PTS) made several wonderful rotations, hit two long baseline jumpers, ran the court, defended Mehmet Okur well despite Okur hitting two tricky jumpers off the dribble, hustled, bustled, and was a nuisance to the Jazz throughout the game.

Nate Robinson is slightly less reckless and is improving as a passer (4 AST).

On Malik Rose’s second rotation, he played excellent prevent defense on Carlos Boozer in the post, rotated nicely to block a Ronnie Price layup, and stepped in front of Price nicely on a layup attempt, though in the eyes of the referees not moving and having your opponent slam into you constitutes a blocking foul.

Rose’s intelligence, willingness to defend, and calm attitude amidst pure chaos is refreshing and appreciated. Rose is still a winner hidden deep within Madison Square Garden.

David Lee is the most energetic Knick, and he was willing to box out and attack any loose ball (12 REB).

With Stephon Marbury out of the picture (for good?), the Knicks’ ball movement was generally crisp, recording 20 assists to go with 33 buckets.

The Nix

Jamal Crawford is a soft rebounder, and his frailty keeps him from being more than a second option and an average defender.

Mardy Collins (3-8 FG, 0-1 3FG, 1-1 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 5 TO, 7 PTS) lacks the wherewithal and the athleticism to be an NBA player.

David Lee played awful help defense; his baseline rotations were consistently late, and he allowed Paul Millsap to cut right past him for a layup. Whenever Millsap or Carlos Boozer attacked Lee’s body, they were able to shove him out of the picture for easy looks at the basket.

And while Lee is generally a good finisher, twice he hung in the air too long on dunk attempts allowing Milsap and Okur to each block his assaults on the rim.

Nate Robinson is still too reckless to sufficiently trust. Twice he overpenetrated and threw the ball into the stands, once trying a wraparound past around Carlos Boozer that had absolutely no chance of reaching its intended target. And Deron Williams abused the mighty-mite in the post whenever he had the chance.

Malik Rose’s first rotation was dreadful. Rose was lost on his rotations, on one sequence staring at Jared Jeffries as Carlos Boozer split them for a dunk. Rose also fired a couple of awkward looking hook shots and missed a contested layup.

But what would you expect from a man given sporadic rotations and in a system that doesn’t utilize his talents at all?

Maybe if the Knicks had a more fluid offense that emphasized cutting and passing, Rose would be more productive.

Zach Randolph set sloppy screens, played no defense, and took himself out of the game if an offensive set wasn’t run through him.

Randolph still holds the ball too long on offense, preventing any chances of harmonious ball movement and team execution.

Randolph's most egregious sin of all came in the second half with the Knicks ferociously cutting into a Jazz lead. Instead of abusing Boozer in the post, as he’d done the entire third quarter, he caught the ball deep on the right wing, held the ball several beats, jabbed a couple of steps, and fired a hopeless step back 20-footer.

Ugghhhh!

The Fix

First of all, Stephon Marbury should be given permanent exile from the Garden. Is it any wonder that Isiah’s claims of the Knicks not moving the ball enough have disappeared with Stephon out of sight and out of mind?

He’s quit on his teammates in the past, and he’s quit on the Knicks twice this year. It’s time for the Knicks to quit him.

Isiah Thomas also has to be given the boot. He’ll blame everyone and everything for his team’s failures—the media, the fans, the players, the city—but will never point the finger at himself.

No wonder the team has no leadership and no accountability.

The Eddy Curry/Zach Randolph experiment is a failure and should be broken up. Since Randolph will rebound, Curry is the one who should be shipped out. Besides, playing removed from the pressures of New York should be a boon to Curry’s career.

He’d thrive in resurrecting the franchises in Sacramento, Seattle, Milwaukee, or Indiana.

The Knicks have too many small forwards who can’t score. Quentin Richardson is the only physical defender the Knicks have, and the only guard who’ll fight for rebounds in traffic. He’s a keeper. Renaldo Balkman is more athletic than Jared Jeffries, but Jeffries can guard more positions on the court than Balkman. They’re practically interchangeable, but I’d take Balkman.

Fred Jones and Jeffries are the ones to be shipped out.

David Lee should be traded for a shot blocking center and a point guard. Delusional Knick fans think he’s the second coming of Dave DeBusschere, but he can’t create his own shot and is an awful defender.

The Knicks should be able to get a nice package for him.

Nate Robinson is a firecracker who’ll win games with his athleticism and lose games with his brash and reckless play. Not a bad weapon to unleash when the Knicks need chaos.

They still will need a backup point guard though. Maybe they should do over their decision to release Dan Dickau and keep Mardy Collins.

So this leaves a potential starting lineup of Randolph, Crawford, and Richardson, with Balkman, Robinson, Rose, on the bench. Throw Wilson Chandler and Randolph Morris into the rotation (might as well see if they can play, right?), and try to pry any shot-blocking center, pass-first point guard, and an offensive-minded small forward.

Something along the lines of Andre Miller, Dan Dickau, James Jones, and Ronnie Turiaf wouldn’t look too bad.

A coach that will bring utmost professionalism and accountability is another must. Bernie Bickerstaff would be the perfect choice, but he’d never accept an offer to associate himself with the NBA’s loony bin.

Maybe Herb Williams can get a full-time shot at coaching the team.

These solutions, plus whatever draft picks the Knicks obtain will help the healing process immensely. Sadly, even with drastic measures, the Knicks may never recuperate from their toxic past.

But something better be done quickly, because if the roster remains the same, the diagnosis for the Knicks future looks fatal.