Knicks Season Starts Tonight

Highlights From the Knicks Game 4 Playoff Win Over the Heat Last Year

Old. Overrated. Pretender. New York's second best basketball team. These are all phrases that have been said repeatedly about the new-look New York Knicks this offseason and tonight will be the first chance for the team to defend itself. The defending NBA champion Miami Heat are in town after ending the Knicks' season just a year ago, and this game will be a good measuring stick for a team with a lot of questions surrounding it.

After making many questionable moves in the offseason, like letting Jeremy Lin"sanity" slip away to the Houston Rockets for nothing, and signing Raymond Felton for a big deal instead. Felton had a good tenure in New York in 2010 before being traded in the Carmelo Anthony deal, but he had one of his worst years in the league thus far last season with the Portland Trail Blazers. Felton came into last year overweight and out of game shape, however this preseason, many of the Knicks stated that Felton was playing on a chip on his shoulder and wants to be in NY.

The Knicks continued their questionable offseason by getting significantly older. Jason Kidd (38), Marcus Camby (38), Rasheed Wallace (38), Kurt Thomas (40), and Pablo Prigioni (35), headline the old acquisitions and this would have been a very solid starting lineup a few years ago, but now many analysts around the league are laughing at the group. That being said, these guys bring grit and experience, two things that are overlooked in the now young and flashy league. These guys can really help the Knicks establish an identity early on, and mold some of the younger guys into winners. However, they need to perform this season for the Knicks to be successful.

The final question surrounding the team was a two-part one, will Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire ever be able to coexist and will Stoudemire finally be healthy? The first part of the question is now on hold because the latter part of the question, as Stoudemire is out six-eight weeks with a left knee debridement. This is the same knee that STAT had surgically repaired in Phoenix a few years back. This could be more than a health issue for Stoudemire though, because if Anthony thrives without him for the beginning of the season and the Knicks are winning, they may look to move Stoudemire.

One Last Thing: With all of the questions surrounding the team, they are still a good enough team to make the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference but New Yorkers want more than that now. The team has made the playoffs the past two seasons, but have gone 1-8 in those games. If Carmelo and the Knicks can stay above .500 without Stoudemire, STAT should come in and help, and then Iman Shumpert will return in January and provide a huge spark to the older team. Simply put, this team has the players to go deep into the playoffs, they just need to go out and show everyone.

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