Next we have the New York Knicks, who despite adding Amare Stoudemire via free agency and pulling in a king’s ransom for David Lee have struggled out of the gate at 3-6. What in the name of John Starks is going on here?

Oh, and has anyone seen mystery-man Eddie Curry, the $10 million man? Get in shape, for goodness sake!

Here we go….

3. NEW YORK KNICKS: 3-6

KEY TEAM STATISTICS:

Points per game: 102.4 (9th)

Opponents points per game: 105.3 (25th)

Offensive rating: 103.8 (23rd)

Defensive rating: 106.8 (14th)

TEAM LEADERS: Scoring - Amare Stoudemire (20.3), Rebounds – Amare Stoudemire (8.1), Assists – Raymond Felton (7.7), Steals – Toney Douglas (2.0), Blocks – Wilson Chandler (2.2)

Did we really expect the Knicks to jump out of the gate that much better than last season? I don’t know about you, but I think New York will eventually regret signing Stoudemire to a max deal when they could’ve locked up David Lee for less. I realize that acquiring Amare was important to show the fans in NY that they didn’t strike out on the 2010 free agency front but did they have to basically swap Lee for Stoudemire?

If someone other than Raymond Felton were running the show I can imagine that New York would be getting more bang for their buck – Stoudemire is shooting a paltry .448 from the floor without Steve Nash throwing brilliant passes his way – but all is not lost and I’m sure the pick-and-roll will improve between these two with time.

Oh, and Amare, please start using your athleticism and drive to the bucket – you once averaged over nine trips to the line per game – you might be the game’s best finisher so make your opponents work harder!

Grab some boards too, while you’re at it. Allowing Kevin Love to morph into Elvin Hayes the other night was not becoming of you.

Defensively the Knicks have improved significantly from last season, rising from 27th in defensive rating to their current 14th. That is a difference of five points per game for them, which would be fantastic if they weren’t scoring nearly five points less per 100 possessions than last year.

What gives?

Well, we’re talking about a Mike D’Antoni system here, and no matter how great the pace (2nd in the NBA) of their offense if they can’t hit the three and create transition buckets they’ll fail. Right now they are struggling on both fronts.

I was not on board with everyone who felt D’Antoni’s Suns teams were inexplicably terrible on defense - they were pretty average if you look at defensive rating back then, not bottom-feeders - but they also had a plethora of long-range marksman and the legendary Nash, so that system worked beautifully.

Currently only Felton is shooting greater than .350 from downtown (I don’t count Stoudamire and his seven attempts) and until Danilo Gallinari (.333) and Toney Douglas (.304) start making a better percentage of their long bombs this offense will continue to struggle.

Speaking of Gallinari, this guy appears to be just another player in the Bargnani mold, although at least D’Antoni is playing him in the small forward slot. His rebounding positioning is atrocious and when he has to finish hard he seems to lack the body control to finish plays at times (maybe he’s just afraid of getting owned down there?). Let’s not talking about defensive positioning either, folks.

Toney Douglas has been quite a revelation this season (13.7 points)with several explosive scoring performances, although those have been prevented recently by defenses keying on him more and Wilson Chandler continues to fill it up (17.0 ppg), although at a much less effective rate than last year.

Lastly, Raymond Felton hasn’t proven himself a terrible starter, he’s simply not a run-and-gun type of PG who can deliver passes on the money on pick-and-roll plays and in transition. We’re comparing him to Nash when it comes to Stoudemire’s production, for goodness sake!

My “MIA” player for the Knicks is old San Antonio Spur and clutch playoff guy Roger Mason – what has happened to you, buddy? From playoff starter alongside Tim Duncan to an eight-minute guy on the Knicks bench? Funnier things have happened, I guess…

Eddie Curry is making over $10 million this season to ride pine, by the way. Insanity, I tell you!

If the Knicks are going to make run for the post-season they will need to defeat squads other than Washington and Toronto and I’m not so sure they’re capable of that yet.  

Predicted record after 25 games: 12-13 

Coming up next: The New Jersey Nets