Hamilton: Questions That Knicks Fans Need Answered

If the Knicks were contracted today, history would be written as saying that Stoudemire and Anthony couldn’t play together, and that is the biggest farce that Knicks fans have bought since they believed that Larry Johnson was actually fouled on the infamous 4-point play.

Stoudemire rose to prominence playing off the ball with Steve Nash in Phoenix and excelled at finishing looks created by Nash. He became more ball-dominant and more of a creator when he joined the Knicks, and he did so out of necessity. In his absence, and back when the Knicks were busy getting off to an 18-6 start, Anthony played the role of facilitator with poise and grace. He sucked in double-teams, found shooters and routinely found Chandler for alley-oops.

And since Stoudemire has returned, he and Anthony have shown flashes. What the Knicks really need for any type of sustained success is for Woodson to give Chandler, Stoudemire and Anthony an opportunity to learn to play with one another and give them the opportunity to close games out together.

J.R. Smith relies too much on his jumper to be regarded as a dependable number two scorer in the playoffs; his points should be gravy.

Stoudemire’s ability to space the floor and finish looks created by Anthony is what will take the Knicks to the next level. That will only develop if Woodson scraps the notion that the two can’t co-exist and gives them more minutes together.

And yes, doing that is possible even if Stoudemire is on a minutes restriction.

Has Mike Woodson done a good job of coaching this team?

All things considered, he has. Woodson inherited an interesting situation in New York after Mike D’Antoni resigned. Woodson led his team to an 18-6 finish over the course of last year’s lockout truncated season and led the team to an 18-6 start this season. In other words, he started out his Knicks tenure 36-12 — and that’s pretty damn good.

Woodson may not be the best Xs and Os coach out there, but an often overlooked and underrated aspect of coaching is having the ability to mesh the talents of different players together and motivate stars to play for you. Through the first 24 games of the season, Woodson had Anthony in the MVP conversation and Smith looking like the Sixth Man of the Year. Stoudemire has excelled in his bench role and Woodson’s approach and personality seems to resonate with his team.

That said, it’s impossible to ignore some of his faults. Since the Knicks began the season 18-6, they are just 19-16. Injuries have played a part, but so has Woodson’s comfort with going to Iso-Melo basketball for long stretches and allowing Smith to chuck shots almost whenever he feels like it. Woodson admitted that he made a “coaching mistake” by benching Stoudemire for most of the final 8 minutes against the Miami Heat last Sunday. He did so citing matchup issues.

Why then, did Tyson Chandler spend the balance of the fourth quarter next to Pablo Prigioni during Thursday night’s loss to the Thunder? Down the stretch, Woodson went with four guards—Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert and Smith—and Stoudemire. Having Chandler on the floor as an alley-oop threat would have helped floor spacing down the stretch of the game, not to mention his defensive presence. So, yes, seeing that lineup on the floor for the balance of the fourth was odd and so goes the life of a coach… If you are wrong, you are second-guessed. So second-guess away.

And none of that takes into account the joke of a final “play” the Knicks ran for what would have been the game winning basket. Smith holding the ball and attempting to create his own shot off the dribble with Russell Westbrook guarding him?

And this comes on the heels of a lesser talked about but equally important play call down the stretch of the Heat game. With the Knicks trailing by four with about four minutes remaining, out of a timeout, Kidd dribbled out the shot clock at the top of the key while his teammates failed to execute their assignments. Kidd ended up trying to create his own shot off the dribble and got the ball thrown back in his face for a 24-second violation.

Those are just two recent examples of Woodson’s poor late-game playcalling. If the Knicks are to make a run this postseason, he will need to do better. And he will also need to better manage his rotations, especially since Kenyon Martin looks like a keeper who can contribute.

The final 23 games of the season will tell us a lot about these Knicks and their coach. But not as much as the playoff run the team expects to make. Whether or not they will fulfill the lofty expectations placed upon them is a question that will remain unanswered for at least another six weeks.

Here’s to that.

Moke Hamilton is a Senior NBA Columnist for SheridanHoops. Follow him on Twitter: @MokeHamilton