The New York Knicks Must Finish the Season Strong

With 25 games left in the season for the New York Knicks, playoffs are starting to look like a far reach. With the right mentality, they could just make it.

The New York Knicks are expecting a playoff push for the remainder of the season. However, they only just ended their seven game losing streak against a youthful Timberwolves team. The last time the Knicks won was Jan. 22 against Phoenix.

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With inconsistencies like this, the playoff push seems impossible. The Knicks are about six games out of the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, and they have 25 games left in the season. They just lost to the Nets who have been struggling all year to gather wins, and that’s just not acceptable. Phil Jackson didn’t make any moves heading into the trade deadline, so the Knicks were unable to optimize their roster.

For all those hoping Jose Calderon would be shipped off and replaced with a better guard, that won’t be the case until the summer of 2016. In the meantime, Knicks fans will just have to deal with Calderon’s presence, or lack thereof.

So what exactly can we expect from the Knicks in the closing games of the season?

Jimmer could fill a scoring void for the Knicks Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

One thing to expect is Jimmer Fredette. Like Derrick Williams, in a sense, Fredette hasn’t managed to find a home in the NBA. He started out on Sacramento some time ago, became practically irrelevant, and has now made it to his fifth or sixth team — I’m not certain because I only know he was with San Antonio during preseason.

He just won D-League MVP, which says something about his desire to play at the professional league. His scoring touch is a big upside for the Knicks. Calderon can score when he wants to and Galloway is a bit streaky, so it pays to get someone who’s been scoring pretty effectively in the minors.

New York Knicks /

New York Knicks

The only risk is Fredette does not play like a point-guard, and would be better suited at the shooting-guard position. He’d be extremely undersized, which takes away from the perks of his shooting. At this point, though, the depth at the guard positions would still benefit the Knicks. Besides, there are plenty of other players on the roster that could draw attention and leave Fredette open outside of the arc, which would hopefully lead to some much need 3-point shooting.

I think Kristaps Porzingis will have a solid 25 games if he can stay out of foul trouble. He started the season struggling with fouls, worked his way out of that problem, and he’s suddenly fallen back into a hole.

His defensive presence is a must for the Knicks. Though Robin Lopez can block shots and keep big men from scoring down low, it pays to have both Porzingis and Lopez active to protect the paint at a much better clip. With the exception of Kevin Seraphin, there aren’t many other bench players capable of protecting the rim like the former two.

Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

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He’s been playing like the Rookie of the Year candidate all season, so to let foul trouble keep him from growing is unacceptable. Kurt Rambis should take extra time to work with Lopez and Porzingis so he can teach them the proper defensive techniques. Porzingis especially needs some guidance because he is skinnier and likely weaker than a lot of the guys he’s guarding. Proper defensive composure goes a long way, and Kristaps’ blocking prowess shows that.

His offensive skill is also bound to erupt. He only contributed six points against Minnesota because of foul trouble. In his previous four games, he scored in double-digits. He is highly capable of draining threes and working in the post. Now he just has to stick to it.

Carmelo Anthony needs to keep playing the way he is because it’s like magic. His passing has been an extreme help to the Knicks all year. In his last five games — excluding the game he missed against Memphis — Anthony has had four or more assists and he continues to lead the team in assists per game. The team surrounding him has to provide for him, though. He’s trusting his players to score from his passing, so they need to follow through or his effort is for naught.

Next: New York Knicks: Looking ahead to the post-season

It’s all up to Phil Jackson, Carmelo and the supporting cast to make these next 25 games count. Kurt Rambis is the interim head coach, and he’s got some big shoes to fill following a seven game losing streak under Derek Fisher, in part.

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