As any Knicks fans or basketball fan who’s watched just about any Knicks game so far this season knows Amar’e Stoudemire has not been the player he was last year or at any point in his career.

There are a multitude of reasons for the poor play that we’ve seen Amar’e exhibit so far.

They are as follows:

1. Lack of a true point guard

2. Lack of spacing for Amar’e to work with

3. Almost non-existent use of the Pick and Roll (his forte)

4. More of his shots coming from out of his high percentage range

The start to this season for Amar’e has essentially been a perfect storm of everything that could have possibly gone wrong.  Though his shot attempts are down compared to last years they are actually in line with the rest of his career.  What is down in a glaring way is his FG percentage.  Amar’e coming into this year had 6 straight years of above 50% FG percentage if you skip over his injury plagued 05/06.  That FG percentage is a direct result of everything mentioned above and is also why his scoring average has dipped below 20 a game so far for the first time in 8 seasons. (more…)

Toughness, rebounding, on ball defense, you know, all the things the Knicks are missing.  What we need at this moment, with THIS team, more than anything, is exactly what one player, who is available, brings.

creepiest Jeff Foster picture we could find...

If you have been on Twitter, and you follow me (@ralphguerrero, by the way), then the one thing you are absolutely sure of is that there is one player I feel the Knicks need to get to a hold of. I have been saying it for weeks now.  Jeff Foster.  I have been clamoring on Twitter, Facebook and every talk radio show I could get on!

Now it seems like is everyone is catching Foster fever as well.  Various major media reports are coming in now that the Knicks are very high on Foster.  Word is they might even go as far as to offer him the full mid-level exception.  The number of years is not known yet, but we know they will be very hesitant to go more than one year and dip into next years cap space. (more…)

By Michael Naclerio

GRADE B:

While the Knicks drafted players who fill two of the team’s holes last night – center and guard/size and defense – it still remains to be seen whether they did so in the most effective manner. Buying into the second round was a wise decision but the player they nabbed might not even see playing time under Mr. Mike “I hate Rookies” D’Antoni. With the 17th pick, the Knicks elected to pass over Chris Singleton of Florida State, who was considered by many to be the premier defensive player in the draft. Instead, they opted for George Tech combo guard Iman Shumpert. As the draft got closer, the noise that Donnie Walsh and Co. had become enamored with this guard’s defensive and offensive abilities kept getting louder and louder. (more…)

by Michael Naclerio

Amidst the whirlwind that is the Knicks front office right now, the CBA negotiation and an offseason that requires a number of holes to be filled we contemplate the upcoming draft. Although Donnie Walsh will not be signing back on as Knicks President of Basketball Operations, he will remain with the team as a consultant through the next season and will still contribute to selecting the Knicks upcoming 17th pick in the NBA draft this Thursday. Although Donnie’s involvement may slightly ease the minds of the Knicks fans (as long as the player the Knicks choose does not rhyme with Hordan Jill), many are still hungover about why Donnie was let go in the first place. (more…)

by KnicksTweets contributor Ralph Guerrero:

So Donnie Walsh is stepping down as President of Basketball Operations of the New York Knicks.  He will be retained as a consultant for the next year.  A consultant?  Really?  The man who stripped millions of dollars off the books?   The man who made putrid contracts disappear like his name was Houdini.  The man who saved the Knicks from salary cap hell.   Yet because he wanted to be assured that he was really calling the shots; now he is relegated to the “consultant” title? (more…)

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For the month of February, the Knicks are not showing any signs of securing the 6th spot in the NBA playoffs.  Over the course of the last two weeks, we’ve seen them go 2 – 6, with losses that only occurred because of lackadaisical play by all.

It’s great to be vocal via the media, but there is far too much PR hype in play and not enough quality play on the court.  At 27-26, the Knicks now are faced with the daunting task of trying to win at least 40 -43 games to solidify a playoff berth.  If not for the fact that two potential playoff teams will have sub-500 records, the Knicks are not showing anyone that they are for real. (more…)

Our 3rd installment of Tuesday’s With Keith, featuring rants of Knicks fanatic Keith Parris is all about defense (or the lack thereof).  Enjoy!

After a subpar week (1-2), the Knicks now look toward another 3-game set this week with the Clippers, Lakers, and Nets. Realistically, if all things fall right, they could come away with 2, possibly 3 wins. The Lakers can be had, if the Knicks execute, play in-their-shirts-defense and the attack the basket, rather than settle for jump shots. (more…)

Before I begin, I want to say that performance by Mosgov was enjoyable for many reasons. What is unfortunate is that it took Turiaf in foul trouble and the team virtually being shorthanded for him to see significant playing time.  He responded brilliantly and in doing so hopefully woke up D’Amphoni and his sorry coaching staff. I heard an analyst say “that this move made the coaching staff look like geniuses,” when in fact it made all D’Amphoni’s arguments about trusting his bench mute.  These are rookies, who will make mistakes. That’s what learning/coaching (teaching) is about…addressing those mistakes in practice, in the huddle during timeouts, or during the game.

In a week when the Knicks came away with a 3 – 1 record, including a strong win vs the Heat. The team still needs to address those glaring weaknesses that exposed them in the Atlanta game.  Failure to box out the opposition, sloppy ball handling, passing and decision-making. Failure to properly utilize the bench, lack of strategic timeouts when the opposing teams were making runs or the Knicks were in a shooting slump.

Charles Barkley reiterated what I’ve been speaking to since the day the Knicks brought D’Amphoni into the fold, his system as it is cannot win a championship without significant emphasis being placed on defense, rebounding, shot selection, etc.

What is also at issue but brushed aside when D’Amphoni is probed for a reaction, is what is wrong with his bench that he will not stretch it to both utilize fresh bodies and insure those same bodies get game time experience that could be invaluable in the post season, when more is better than less.  Again, in order for the Knicks to make a significant dent in the post season and not be one-and-done, then the bench not only will play a crucial role but a significant one.

While I like what I saw Sunday night, there is still tweaking that needs to be done. You build on the strengths; you identify the weaknesses; you adapt and you succeed. So get it together D’Amphoni! The clock is ticking, the season moves on. Learn to adapt your style and encourage your players to play to their abilities, not the level of their competition, because it’s been shown that that doesn’t always equate to a “W” when the final buzzer sounds……