New York Knicks News and Rumors: Predicting Starting Line Up for 2014 NBA Season
The last NBA season was a disaster for the New York Knicks, who finished 37-45 and missed the playoffs.
You don't have to remind Knicks fans their team hasn't won a championship since 1973, which was during the Richard Nixon administration. With so much success coming from other sports in the city in recent years, it's time for the local basketball team to deliver the goods.
There's a lot of questions that still remain with this Knicks squad. They have a brand new head coach in Derek Fisher, who has never coached a single NBA game in his life, and a questionable defense.
With all of that being said, the starting lineup still has to be determined, but this lineup looks like the most likely to take the floor at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks this coming season:
Center: Samuel Dalembert
This will be the toughest position to determine for the Knicks. The team traded away Tyson Chandler to the Dallas Mavericks to save money, and the next Patrick Ewing is not walking through those doors anytime soon. Fisher will have to decide between Samuel Dalembert and Cole Aldrich.
Aldrich is a lot younger, but he lacks experience. Aldrich has only started just two games in his four-year career on the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Dalembert is a serviceable center who has been in the league since 2001.
Power Forward: Amar'e Stoudemire
Stoudemire has been with the Knicks since 2010. His arrival began very well, but his on-court performance has been declining in recent years. All four years with the Knicks, we've seen Stoudemire's points per game average decrease and he's been battling injuries.
Regardless, the Knicks are still paying Stoudemire a lot of money and he's their best power forward. It would be great if Fisher could find a correct way to implement Stoudemire in this triangle offense. When Stoudemire wants to, he can play great defense and he's a good passer for a forward.
Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony
There's no debate on this one. Anthony is one of the best scorers in the NBA, and he's shown he loves playing at Madison Square Garden. Somehow, someway, Phil Jackson convinced Anthony to stay in New York during the Knicks' rebuilding process.
Anthony is obviously one of the best scorers in the league, but his defense and passing could improve. Playing alongside Stoudemire hasn't resulted in the dynamic duo many expected, but with Jackson and Fisher on board, the Knicks could be heading in a new direction.
Shooting Guard: J.R. Smith
This is a tough position to decide. Both Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr. will make a strong case for the role. Fisher may even want to go with Anthony at this position, in the same way that Michael Jordan was used in the Chicago Bulls triangle offense.
Smith is a streaky player. According to Smith, he's "one of the best shooters the game has ever seen." Not many, if anyone, will agree with that crazy statement, but Smith can still hit three-pointers. In his 10-year career, Smith has hit 100 perimeter shots in a season seven times. Last season, Smith made a career-high 189 three point shots. He's not the next Ray Allen or Reggie Miller, but Smith will do.
Point Guard: José Calderon
Talk about an underrated player, and a terrific addition. Calderon is widely considered the greatest Spanish-born point guard of all time. Calderon has the most assists, steals and three-pointers in NBA history by a Spain-born player.
Calderon still has a long career ahead of him, and will definitely fit in well with this team. It will be interesting to see how Calderon and Anthony will develop with one another on the court. Calderon is also one of the best free throw shooting point guards in the NBA.
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