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Assessing the Knicks season Part III: Poor Performers
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Where the Knicks failed this season was coming up with a solution for the now. Walsh has done all within his power to assure that the future is what matters, and that seems to be the only viable explanation for the disappointing season of the team. It was necessary to trade away Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, just as much as it was necessary to bring in Chris Wilcox and Larry Hughes later on.
Nevertheless, Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. The Wilcox and Hughes trade did not yield good results as the team spiraled down harder than before the trade deadline. With this said here is the final installment of the three part series, looking at the poor performances of the Knicks this season.
For more consideration:
- Part I: Top Performances
- Part II: Average Performances
Stephon Marbury – No argument here that he was the biggest failure of the season, if not the entire tenure while with the Knicks. Marbury was extremely overpaid ($21+ million) and never saw the light of day on the court this season. He came into camp with the hopes of playing and D’Antoni wanted him to earn his role and respect back onto the court. He didn’t, and when asked to rejoin the team, he refused. Suspensions, docked pay, and banishment from the court left the team without Starbury and a point guard that could have helped backup Duhon. Thankfully his departure to Boston ended the reign of terror, and hasn’t looked very good in green yet. We also can’t forget him paying for his own courtside seats in L.A. Marbury is an easy assessment of poor performance, but also a poor attitude and contributor to the nonexistent success of the Knicks this season.
Eddy Curry – Curry came into camp last summer completely out of shape to run the D’Antoni offense and his season never got on track because of that. Bad knees, personal issues, and being overweight did not salvage the season and the Knicks were left without a big man. Like Marbury, Curry is extremely overpaid and rode the bench for all but three games this season. Even in those three games he combined to play for less than ten minutes of real time. Curry will be heading to Detroit to work on conditioning this summer but when the Knicks had been looking for an answer of whom their big man is or will be, Curry did not stand up. His contract is too large to dump and his stock price has fallen drastically. The only thing the Knicks can hope for now is a revitalized 2009-2010 campaign.
Danilo Gallinari – Unfortunately the Knicks’ coveted first round pick did not live up to the expectations. Coming into the season with a bad back forced Gallinari out of all but 28 games this past season. His eventual back surgery and being shut down for the remainder of the season qualifies Gallo as a poor performer (although I am not happy about it). What we saw out of Gallo was a great shooter with a good young knowledge of the game who can play both sides of the ball. The problem is we didn’t see enough to warrant him as a true gem for the future. We instill our faith in D’Antoni and Walsh for making the selection and hope to see the results in the future, but right now there is a big uncertainty if he can play a full season and at a high level. The young stud who shares my birthday will have a lot to prove in his first full year next year (hopefully) and that will put my woes to rest.
Chris Wilcox – I have to admit I expected a lot out of Wilcox when he came to New York over the trade deadline. Sure his contract was expiring and it was definitely a temporary move to help free up salary space, but at 6-10 I would have thought he would play more of a role off the bench. The Knicks lacked size and defense which I anticipated Wilcox to come in and help. He didn’t and his minutes were much lower than I would have liked to see. It is safe to say Wilcox’s time with the Knicks is over as Walsh begins to clear house and set up shop for the future, but his role on another team with more significant minutes could be beneficial for that team’s success.
With this I conclude my analysis of the Knicks season on a player-by-player basis. Next week maybe it’ll be time to take a look at this wild playoff season and move forward as the team will get ready for the NBA lottery and draft in June.
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