This offseason, we at Gino's Jungle would like to think we have covered everything from A to Z when it comes to the Boston Celtics. With the regular season tip-off quickly approaching we decided it was time to take a look at the enemies. For the next five weeks we will be giving you the down low on all thirty teams in the NBA. We'll be doing this somewhat in conjunction with Celtics Blog's NBA team previews.
Team Name: New York Knicks
Last Year's Record: 29-53
What did they do this offseason?
After being one of the laughing stocks in the league over the past few seasons, the Knicks were looking at this offseason to be the one that transformed the franchise back into it's glory days. When LeBron James hosted his "Decision" on ESPN and decided to take his talents to South Beach, he not only left Cleveland pissed off, he also disappointed a lot of people in The Big Apple.
Even with LeBron's decision not to go to New York, the Knicks organization still tried it's best to put together a quality roster. The Knicks put all their hopes this offseason onto the shoulders of Amar'e Stoudemire and tried their best to establish solid role players around him. They added Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, Raymond Felton, and Roger Mason - just to name a few.
During the same time that they were adding player, they were also losing some of the better talents on their roster. This offseason the Knicks lost their all-star David Lee, as well as Chris Duhon and Al Harrington.
What will they be good at? Bad at?
This Knicks team will most likely wind up being a good three point shooting team. With Danilo Gallinari, Roger Mason, and Azubuike the Knicks could end up being one of those teams that are able to stay in games just because of a hot shooting night.
It looks as though the Knicks are going to struggle on the defensive end. Outside of Amar'e, if you look down their roster you won't notice a heck of a lot of defensive talent. Don't be surprised if teams are able to put up a lot of points against the Knicks.
What should we expect from the Knicks this season?
Although many of their fans would like to think the Knicks are going to be competitive this season, I beg to differ. Will they be a better team? Probably. The addition of Stoudemire gives them a go to player and a solid player to build around; however, I don't think they did a good enough job in putting players around him.
At best, I expect to see the Knicks battling for the 7th and 8th spot in the Eastern Conference this season. Talks of them competing with teams like Atlanta and Boston is nonsense. They may be able to beat one of the superior teams in a regular season battle, but when it comes down to it they will struggle to just make the playoffs.
The Expert's Take: Seth from Poasting and Toasting (On goals for the Knicks this season) Making the playoffs, for sure, but I'd add in putting up a fight. I'm too starry-eyed to be reasonable, but I really think this is a playoff team, and I'm even greedy enough to wish for at least the threat of an upset in round one. If this team could sneak in as a 7 or 8 seed and steal some games off someone like the Heat, that would be just about the best thing that's ever happened to me.
Final Prediction: 40-42 (8th or 9th in the East)
More Knicks Previews: Poasting and Toasting| Straight Bangin'| Knickerblogger| Bandwagon Knick
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