Metta World Peace may no longer be with the New York Knicks after agreeing to a buyout with the team last month, but he still expects them to be one of the best in the league.
Despite the fact that the Knicks are just 28-40 and trailing the Atlanta Hawks by four games for the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference, World Peace believes they still have what it takes to win it all this season, provided they get into the playoffs:
If Knicks get in the playoffs , they will win it all I think.
— Real Talk With Metta (@RealTalkWithMWP) March 20, 2014
It’s true. I think Phil will enhance the coaching and the playing. And Knicks could come out on top. Ring for Melo
— Real Talk With Metta (@RealTalkWithMWP) March 20, 2014
Of course, that sounds about as unlikely as anything you’ll hear, and it would have been laughable if he said these things as early as just two weeks ago. It it worth nothing, though, that New York has won a season-high seven consecutive games and is finally starting to look like a relevant team again. None of the teams faced during the winning streak had a winning record, but that changed on Wednesday after beating the Indiana Pacers at home 92-86.
And of course, the team also acquired Phil Jackson this week, although it’s highly unlikely that his presence would make any immediate difference.
The biggest difference for the Knicks has been the play of Amare Stoudemire, who was finally inserted into the starting lineup a couple of weeks ago. Since the change, they have gone 7-1 (he missed one game to rest his knees), and the power forward has been averaging 18 points on 51.5 percent shooting from the field to go with 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while playing playing just 27.7 minutes per game.
Despite his rejuvenated health and the Knicks’ recent success, they only have 14 games left to play. In order to make any kind of noise in the playoffs, they’ll have to make it there first and hope that the Hawks – who have won four consecutive games – and Charlotte Bobcats (4 1/2 games ahead) start dropping games at an alarming rate. Seven of the 13 remaining games for the Bobcats are against playoff-bound teams, while nine of the 15 remaining games for the Hawks are against teams with a winning record. The Knicks have it easy for the next four games against some of the worst teams in the league, but seven of their final nine opponents are locks to be playoff teams.
It’s not impossible, but they do have their work cut out for them.
Tweet of the Day: New York Knicks FINALLY Usher In Phil Jackson Era
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
Well, he chose to leave because he didn’t like role with the team. Left money on the table.
I think Ron Artest predicted a championship earlier in season. Something wrong with MWP for him to be praising the team that just booted him – but then we already knew that.
ATL has won 5 straight. They are 5 ahead of Knicks in the important loss column. Bobcats have 6 less losses than Knicks.
What about tiebreaker? I think Bobcats have controlled the Knicks this season, but don’t they have to play an extra game if there is a tie for 8th?
Phil Jackson’s only impact will be to trick Melo into re-signing, and possibly taking a discount. He could mess things up though, if he tries to pick a coach who isn’t in the mainstream. His next impact would be if LeBron wants to put together players around him, next July and succumb to the Mecca of Basketball. Likely Knicks would have to trade away their remaining cap space next June – might require offering Tim Hardaway as compensation, so that another team with space, would take JR/Felton.