The Knicks looked dead and buried 10 days ago.
But now that Jeremy Lin has breathed life into the franchise, the title talk is back on.
The Knicks aren't a contender right now. But they have as much talent as almost any team in the league, and if things break right, they could be in the mix come May.
Carmelo lets Lin lead
This is the first, second, third, and fourth most important thing for the Knicks to figure out.
The conventional wisdom is that Carmelo's ball-stopping tendencies will stifle Lin's impact and derail the offense. But Carmelo played with ball-dominant point guards in Denver (Chauncey Billups and Andre Miller). So it's not like he has no idea to play off the ball.
Can Melo resist the urge to isolate himself on the wing and go 1-on-5 like we saw earlier in the season?
Lin doesn't fall off the face of the Earth
Oh yeah, Lin can't be a flash in the pan.
The good news for Knicks fans: the things that Lin does well (reading the D on the pick-and-roll and collapsing the defense) aren't fickle skills.
But then again, it's almost a guarantee that he won't average 25 and 8 for the rest of the year.
Baron Davis plays 20 minutes a game as a backup
Depth is a huge issue for the Knicks. But if Lin keeps being Lin, then all New York needs is a semi-competent Baron Davis to have a respectable bench.
The team's second unit would be Davis-Shumpert-Jeffries-Novak. That's not the best bench in the world, but it's at least dynamic.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See Also:
- Shares Of MSG Are Going Berserk Due To Jeremy Lin
- Here's The One Big Thing That Everyone Is Getting Dead Wrong About The Jeremy Lin Story
- Here Are 10 Strange Jeremy Lin Stories That You Missed Over The Weekend