New York Knicks: Can #KnicksTape make a comeback?

It’s now officially the off-season, and before you know it, April turns to May which turns to June and the 2011 NBA Draft is upon us. The Knicks hold the 17th pick and select Iman Shumpert, a 6’5” combo guard out of Georgia Tech who built a reputation for being a pesky defender and a constant source of energy on the court in his three years in college.

He was a super athlete who could jump out of the gym and had the potential to guard NBA-level wings from the moment he stepped into the league. He was sure to be a useful player right away for New York.

However, one could argue that the biggest thing Shumpert did for the Knicks wasn’t necessarily on the basketball court, but in setting a culture for the team, something that both the fans and team could get behind. The Knicks also pulled off a trade for a reigning champion in Tyson Chandler and signed Steve Novak, who went on to shoot a ridiculous 47% from three that next season. They had the stars and they had some pieces around them, they just needed a bit more.

The start of the shortened 2011-2012 season comes on Christmas Day, and we’re finally able to see what a full season of the Melo-led Knicks looks like. It gets off to a pretty shaky start due to Carmelo and head coach Mike D’Antoni butting heads on basically every decision, the tensions grew, some things happened, and the saga eventually ends with D’Antoni just straight up resigning as head coach on March 13th, 2012, leaving after having coached them to an unimpressive 18-24 record to that point.