This current Knicks team is very similar to the 2011 Mavericks

Thats cool.

 

Yeah, if you look at the team it's pretty much exactly the same.

I think they can cause some real damage in the playoffs, and if they keep playing the way they are they'd be my dark horse to win the whole thing. I think it will all implode when Amare comes back though. He's going to ruin the rotation and offset the groove, much like Gasol (albeit with even less trade value).

 

Shumpert is the x-factor. His perimeter defense and slashing ability will be crucial for the knicks.

 

I believe Chandler orginally made this statment.

 

They don't have anyone like Dirk to will them to a title.

 

I'd say Melo fits that bill, at least with how he's been playing lately.

 

and now David Aldridge has picked it up on nba.com

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/featur...a-lot-like-dallas-mavericks-so-far/index.html

 

Melo isn't on Dirk's level.

For all the crap he took, most of which he deserved, he was an impact player. In his prime he was only behind, Kobe and LeBron IMO. He had a bad habit of shrinking in the past, but he seemed to grow a pair in that run.

Melo is a volume shooter, that doesn't command as much attention defensively, nor is he as good defensively as Dirk was, despite Dirks rep.

Melo has only had an OK, adjusted Plus-minus, while dirk, with the exception of one freak season, has consistenly had by far the best number on his team.

Dirk had to play out of his mind to win that title, a level Melo just isn't capable of playing.

 

I still think they'll fold come playoff time.

 

That's rediciulous. Check Dirk's stats, and you'll see that he generally doesn't have a drop off in the playoffs vs the reg season. Sure he's had a few bad series, but basically every player this side of Michael Jordan has some bad playoff series in their resume. And while Dirk was godllike in the clutch during that playoff run, overall it wasn't his most impressive playoffs. Statistically it was his sitxth or seventh best playoff run. He just finally had the team to win it all.

Besides that, no I don't think that the knicks will win the title. Rather, they will be one of those "Hey, remember, back in December, when we thought the Kncks were gonna win it all this year?"-stories.

IMO, Carmelo simply is too inefficient to be the top scorer on a title team. As a quick pointer, Carmelo's best playoff PER for a single season is 24.3. His average playoff PER is 19.8.

As a quick comparison, to put things in perspective: Dirk's best playoff PER for a single season was 28.4, his average playoff PER is 24.7.

That's a totally different level.

 

Kidd is definitely the glue that holds them together. If he stays healthy I can see them getting deep into the playoffs but I don't believe they will beat the Heat in a 7-game series (despite what the regular season has shown so far).

Also, I really wonder how Amare's return is going to change the situation.

 

This team isn't like the 2011 Mavs for one big reason. They ALL get injured way too much. Amar'e and Melo will both miss so much time and Chandler will end up getting hurt too. Kidd is gonna have to do too much which he can't do anymore and Felton is too heavy to stay healthy all year (a la Baron Davis). They built a good group of vets pretty quickly for NBA standards but DAMN THEY'RE OLD!

 

dirk was great in the playoffs. thats the ultimate difference. melo is good for like two games in a series to take over. not on dirk's level. other than that, they look like 2011 mavs.

 

Aside from Barea and Terry being more sound players than Felton and JR Smith, Carlisle is just in a different league than Woodson when it comes to making adjustments. It's an overused phrase, but in this case it really is "not even close".

Also, the Heat without a doubt are better than they were two years ago.