Even in a weak Eastern Conference, it is almost certain that
the New York Knicks will once again start their summer vacation on April 16.
Whether it is Isaiah’s fault, Jim Dolan’s fault or Stephon’s fault – it really
doesn’t matter.
The fact of the matter is that whatever they are doing,
clearly isn’t working.
The Knicks proved that stacking talent doesn’t equal
chemistry. While they played terrible as a unit, you cannot deny the fact that
the Knicks have some very good players that could shine in a better system.
I could picture Jamal Crawford’s game flourishing in
Phoenix’s up-tempo system. Or imagine Nate Robinson playing in Golden State.
Or what if David Lee was a Piston?
While I see hope for a lot of the Knicks’ players, I
honestly worry about center Eddy Curry’s future. Is there a market for a slow,
overpaid center who is foul-prone, can’t rebound or block shots – despite
standing seven feet – and can’t play D?
I hate to throw Eddy under a bus, because from what I see,
he is a good person. But it is frustrating to see a man with his size and soft
touch fail to progress at all since he was drafted into the NBA in 2001.
Yeah, there was a stretch last year where he was looking
like he was developing, and he was putting up career high numbers of 19.5
points and 7 rebounds. But instead of getting better, his production digressed
to 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game – his worst production since his
second season in the NBA.
I mean, how do you average 4.7 rebounds if you are 6-11 and
300 pounds? You mean to tell me that you can only pull 1.5 more rebounds a game
than little Nate Robinson, who stands 5-7 and a half? I understand his minutes
are 10 minutes less (25.9 mpg) than what he got last year, but that is just
inexcusable.
Last week, Curry expressed that he felt that the game is not
made for big men anymore, and teams are starting to play small ball. While
there is truth to that statement, I think that is just an excuse.
Yeah, you are seeing more and more seven-footers who handle
the ball more and shoot more from the outside nowadays, but Eddy had a good
season last year. I fail to believe the league changed so much in one year,
that he can’t put up better numbers than that.
Of course you can’t compare his game to a Dwight Howard or
Tim Duncan, but look at someone like Shaq or Kendrick Perkins – two guys who
are slower, post-up players Perkins is a similar 6-10, 280 and he gets 6.1
rebounds and he plays less than Curry.
Shaq has slowed down considerably, yet he’s been pulling
down a lot of rebounds in limited minutes. And he just turned 36, Eddy is just
25, so what’s his excuse?
