Knicks Knotes

2012-2013 Season Preview

The 2012-2013 season starts this Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets. I figured a preview is in order.

Depth Chart

Point Guard: Felton, Kidd, Prigioni
Shooting Guard: Brewer, Smith, Shumpert, White
Small Forward: Anthony, Novak, Copeland
Power Forward: Stoudemire, Thomas, Wallace
Center: Chandler, Camby

Keys to the Season

Depth - Coach Woodson has a problem, but a good one. From 1 to 15, each guy is capable of giving quality minutes.
Point Guard - A gigantic weakness last year has turned into a huge strength. Last year, the Knicks were so unstable at the point guard position, Carmelo Anthony was asked to carry the load. This year, we have three solid point guards with each bringing something unique to the table.
Defense - Hard to image considering the teams New York had under Mike D’Antoni, but with Woodson taking over the helm, the Knicks have returned to their roots of being a defense-first team. Toward the end of the last season, the Knicks established themselves as one of the better defensive teams in the league. With the addition of Wallace, Camby, Kidd, Thomas and Brewer, we should be even better.
Carmelo Anthony - This is Carmelo’s team. No excuses this year. He’s being asked to just do one thing this season and it’s what he does best: score. Yes, everyone wants him to be this all around player. Well, I’m not. I just want Melo to be Melo. Do you know how Anhony is going to be helpful to his teammates? If he commands a double-team every night. That’s how his teammates are going to benefit. Double-teams mean open looks for others.
Experience - We have guys on this team now that have been there and done that. Guys that know how to win games. The Knicks will be leaning on Kidd, Thomas and Wallace to keep the locker room stable and focused. The Knicks are old. Yes, the experience is the positive side of the coin, but old age brings the risk of injury.

Predictions

Felton will return to his old form. He won’t be averaging 19 and 9 like he did his first go-around, but he’ll be a lot better than his Portland days.
Prigioni will get more than a few votes for Rookie of the Year - he won’t win it because Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Andre Drummond do exist - but he’ll have a rock solid rookie season.
The Knicks defense will rank among the Top 10 in fewest points allowed.
Iman Shumpert will make an all-defensive team (if he plays more than 60 games).
Steve Novak will lead the league in 3 pt % and 3 pt made.
Carmelo will average 22 points a game this season. He will drop 50 in one game this season.
The Knicks will have a better record than the Nets.
Speaking of record, the Knicks will finish with 47 wins to earn the 5th seed in the East.
The Knicks will finally win a first round playoff match-up. After that? We’ll see what happens, haha.

Can’t wait ‘til Thursday.