Lin, Anthony provide puzzling pieces in New York

Things have gotten really interesting in New York lately. The New York Knicks were looking really foolish for waiving Chauncey Billups before the season started but are now looking like geniuses with the emergence of Jeremy Lin.

On top of waiving Billups they were depending on a rookie point guard and a second year shooting guard to get them over the hump until Baron Davis was deemed healthy enough to play. Davis who was picked up by the Knicks after being released by the Cleveland Cavaliers during the offseason has been nursing a herniated disc in his back for the past couple of months.

The Knicks also picked up point guard Mike Bibby during the offseason hoping that he could give them some quality minutes but that hasn’t happened. At this point in his career Bibby can’t defend or get past anyone making him nothing more than a spot up jump shooter.

The Knicks were operating without a competent point guard to start the season and were having a hard time winning games even with Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire on the court. They had begun to take a serious nose dive in the standings before Lin came along and helped orchestrate a six-game winning streak.

A really amazing feat considering that neither Anthony nor Stoudemire was available for most of that streak. Anthony was out due to a groin injury and Stoudemire missed four games because of a death in the family.

Now the Knicks have a plethora of riches at their disposal. Both Anthony and Davis are healthy and available to play. Stoudemire has returned to the lineup and the Knicks signed free agent shooting guard JR Smith within the past week giving them more depth.

On top of that Steve Novak who had been buried deep on the Knicks’ bench increased his value with the team by shooting lights out during the time that Anthony and Stoudemire were out. Jared Jefferies also raised his profile during that stretch. Now all of a sudden a team that struggled to field a competent starting unit is two-deep at virtually every position.

Neither Novak nor Jefferies is a threat to unseat starters Anthony, Stoudemire or Tyson Chandler but it is good to know that those guys can play so well when called upon. There is a bit of a backlog at the guard spots though. With Lin, Davis, Smith and Landry Fields eating up most of the minutes at the two guard spots, it will be hard for guys like Bibby, Iman Shumpert, Toney Douglas and Bill Walker to find playing time.

But that is a situation the Knicks will gladly accept. It beats the alternative of having to start Shumpert or Douglas at the point. The situation that will be most troubling for the Knicks moving forward is figuring out how to get Anthony and Lin to share the ball.

Anthony is a volume scorer and it seems that Lin is also. Both need the ball in their hands to be effective which means that both will have to make adjustments in order to accommodate each other on the court. Although Anthony has said that he can play with Lin, Anthony hasn’t scored 20 points in three full games that he and Lin have played together. How long will it be before Anthony starts complaining about his touches?

Don’t expect to hear any fuss from Anthony as long as the Knicks are winning though. Coach Mike D’Antoni should be able to get Anthony, Lin and the rest of his players comfortable playing with each other once the All-Star break is over. If he can get the pieces to fit then the Knicks could be a dangerous team heading into the playoffs but if not then D’Antoni could be picking up the pieces somewhere else next season. 

Roosevelt Hall is an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2 and also writes for Shatter The Backboard. He can be contacted at RHall@shatterthebackboard.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.  

Also check out these stories:

Contestants please: sizing up the All-Star game in Orlando

 

Discipline, experience keeping the Spurs on top

 

Stoudemire for Howard revisted: Would Howard want to join the Linsanity?

 

John Elway hedging his bets at quarterback