Knicks keep sinking

November 9, 1:15 PMNew York Knicks ExaminerAlex Suskind

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Mike D'Antoni can't be happy at the way his Knicks have started the season
AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek

Rough weekend.

At 1-6, the New York Knicks aren’t winning anybody over. Lackluster efforts on both Friday and Saturday night have placed this team in the bottom depths of the league. But there is some consolation in their poor start to the season: they are thankfully not the New Jersey Nets, who at 0-7, currently sit in last place in the NBA. Immune to the power of billionaire Russians (aka the Nets’ newest owner Mikhail Prokhorov), New Jersey has managed to sink lower than the team that plays nine miles away from them at Madison Square Garden.

But at this point, you could argue that it would even be difficult for the Knicks to defeat the lowly Nets. Although both teams are very similar statistically, Lawrence Frank’s squad is much better defensively (at least on paper, where opponents are scoring 99 points against the Nets to the Knicks' ghastly 110).

Anyway, none of it matters at this point. Knicks fans––the few that were still paying attention to this team––have likely jumped ship, and are now waiting until the end of the season where a big name free agent comes in to solve everything. But therein lies the problem: one player will not make a difference on this team, even if that player happens to be LeBron James (although, New York would win a hell of a lot more games then it has already).

Sure the Knicks have a few talented players that they should hang on to next year (David Lee, Al Harrington, and maybe Larry Hughes if they can get him at a decent price). While this would theoretically answer the “second scoring option” question that would arise if someone of LeBron’s stature arrived in the Big Apple, it still leads to a whole host of additional queries and conflicts:

This team needs a point guard.

This team needs a defensive-minded center or power forward.

This team needs a solid bench.

While Chris Duhon has shown some positives early into this season, he is simply not cutting it as the catalyst for this team and for D’Antoni’s system. The coach needs a point guard who can shoot (Duhon is currently shooting a revolting 25% from the field), defend, and pass. Although Duhon has managed to complete these tasks with some success (that is, minus the poor shooting), it is nowhere near the consistency D’Antoni is looking for.

In the frontcourt, David Lee is by far one of the Knicks’ best players. However, a six-foot-nine center in the NBA won’t work in the long term (and it’s not like Darko has been showing any progress). Signing a big man, someone who can rebound and at least put a body on the Dwight Howards and Kevin Garnetts of the league, would help alleviate a whole host of problems the Knicks have up front.

Finally, a capable bench is definitely something the Knicks’ are lacking right now. Sure, Al Harrington is coming off the bench, but Nate Robinson seems to be the only other player that provides a spark for this team when he enters the game. And while Toney Douglas hasn’t shown a lot of improvement, it is still too early to tell what type of impact he could have in the league.

Even if the Knicks get a big-time player next season, they still have a ways to go in fixing this team. For now, New York has a long season ahead of them. And if they continue on this road, it is not going to get any prettier.

The team hosts the Utah Jazz tonight at 7:30 p.m.