New York Knicks: The Biggest Issues Through Six Games

5. Absence Of Identity

Everything that follows this slide will come down to this same principle: the New York Knicks lack a team identity. There have been intriguing signs of progress in the development of such a critical factor, but not enough progress has been made for the wins to pour in.

According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, starting point guard Derrick Rose acknowledged the absence of an identity on defense.

"“You got to build that (defensive identity),” Derrick Rose said. “I’ve played on teams where before Thibs got there to Chicago, we didn’t have an identity. And he came and he changed the culture there, and he changed the identity. And we could do that here. We have to and we’re going to. But like I said, it takes time.”"

Developing that identity will go a long way towards defining the success that the Knicks will either experience or fall short of in 2016-17.

The Knicks are a veteran team, but there are a number of young players on the roster who need guidance. There’s also a measure of inexperience amongst the veterans in the sense that most had yet to play together before the 2016-17 season.

The Knicks have 10 new players, three new starters, a new sixth man, and a new head coach, which has inevitably resulted in early chemistry issues.

Once the Knicks determine what type of team they’re going to be, the rest should fall into place. Nevertheless, this is a broad point that doesn’t entirely summarize the individual issues that need to be addressed.

Nothing will be more influential to the Knicks’ success or failure than finding a team identity.