Say what you want about John Starks, but that man was all ******* heart.
I dont get how you could claim to be a Knicks fan back in the day but also have an "eternal disgust" for a man who left everything that he possibly could have on the court every single ******* night that he played. Yes he had his flaws, yes he could be a hot head, but John Starks more than any player I can think of in Knicks history UNDERSTOOD the importance of being a New York Knick. I will eternally love him for that.
But considering that you are able to leave the Knicks behind after a couple of bad moves, I guess you dont understand the concept of having heart, and appreciating what a player like John Starks brings to the table.
As to your other points I believe you could win a championship with J.R. Smith playing under control. And Phil Jackson has proven that he could handle disruptive personalities like JR EXTREMELY well. So I have faith in that.
Having said that we can and will not win a ring with JR playing second fiddle to Melo. But with Melo leading the way, a couple of key acquisitions here and there who fit the system (namely Marc Gasol, who I believe would be perfect here), the development of our young players, and better defensive cohesiveness, I think that JR is totally capable of winning a ring coming off the bench and providing scoring off the bench as long as hes not relied on as much as he was last season... Kind of like Vinny Johnson in Detroit but with Dennis Rodman's personality.
Anyway the Knicks dont need to build a superteam. I dont think it would work here. We need to try and resemble what the Lakers did in Phil's second stint.
As I said before I see us as the 2005 Lakers right now when Phil came back.
The 2005 Lakers had 33 wins and brought Phil back after a one year hiatus. The 2006 Lakers improved greatly with a very similar roster and won 45 wins, a very real goal for this team IMO, and took the Suns to 7 games in the first round.
Melo in this case would be our Kobe. We dont need to bring a Shaq-type superstar to win with him, but if we could bring in Marc Gasol, who would be a PERFECT fit for this system, to play second fiddle to Melo IMO we could build a title team. Marc has Pau's offensive passing abilities and shooting touch but he is not as agile as Pau was. However, Marc has a better overall post game and is one of the best (if not the best) post defenders in the NBA right now. I do not consider Marc Gasol to be the best center in the league right now, but in this system if you gave me the choice of any center in the league, I would take Marc Gasol. He is built for this system.
Along with that, I think Calderon is a tremendous fit and while he is not a top 10 PG in the NBA by any means, he as well might be a top 10 PG fit in this system. That is why I believe Phil made this move. We need players like Shump and Tim to take leaps in their games, a couple of players as well, but it all comes down to how Melo can play in this system. I honestly have high hopes for Melo in the triangle as I have said before.
If the Knicks can pick up Marc Gasol next summer like the Kobe-led Lakers traded for Pau, I dont think the Knicks are far off from being a championship contending team. Alot needs to go our way and were not there yet. But I think Phil came here because he sees the potential that I am talking about to win soon with this roster. I also think he realized how important Melo is to this entire equation. He is the Kobe-esque star necessary to make this whole thing work and if we give him more help like the Lakers were able to do for Kobe, I honestly trust that Melo is capable to carry us to a championship.
The triangle will make Carmelo a better teammate than he has ever been before, and it will set him up for much more one-one-one opportunities and efficient scoring chances than he had last season with the double teams and contested jumpers (and still shot 45-40).
Also, unrelated but Melo won "Most Clutch Athlete of 2014" at the Kid's Choice Awards... I love Melo as much as anybody but
