The talent the Knicks are putting on the floor are finally matching the aspirations of their fans. They have a ways to go and are uneven from night to night, but are competitive enough to beat any team on any given night and they are now past the presumption stage on Carmelo Anthony.

Amar'e Stoudemire has been far better than most were willing to allow when they signed him in the summer. Raymond Felton shot his way out of an All-Star bid in December and January, but he has been better recently. Landry Fields was a complete surprise and the pre-injury/pre-trade rumor development of Wilson Chandler was genuinely encouraging even if this looked like a walk year for him regardless.

New York has been very good on offense, using Stoudemire in the pick and roll and their spacing with the four out/one in has led to wide open jumpers and lanes to the bucket. They aren't the best or even second best SSoL team we have seen and are a different breed of it because of the differences between Felton and Steve Nash, along with Stoudemire's development as a jump shooter and passer, but it is unquestionably effective and has given Chandler, Fields and Danilo Gallinari opportunities to overachieve offensively. Even though they play at a fast pace and take the first open shot they find, they are better in the halfcourt and are typically ineffective in transition on offense.

Defense remains a problem, as the Knicks rank 23rd in points allowed per 100 possessions. They are strong in transition on defense and lead the NBA in blocked shots, which is shocking considering they were consistently last over the past decade. The Knicks suffer from ineptitude on defense in closing out on shooters and are also bad in containing ISOs and guards on the pick and roll.

The system isn't designed to play high-caliber defense for 48 minutes per night, so we'll see how they do in the long run in those final six minutes when the game is on the line.

Desperation Meter: If you pose this question to Donnie Walsh in the morning and then Jim Dolan in the afternoon, the two answers will be disparate, but I am in full agreement with Walsh that giving up much more than Wilson Chandler and Anthony Randolph in order to acquire Carmelo Anthony 30 games (plus the playoffs) earlier than they would if they wait for the offseason is unwise. The Knicks only have so many assets to unload and they remain interested in Chris Paul for 2012 and Stoudemire is better served playing power forward beside a defensively gifted center.

New York is far from guaranteed a playoff spot, but their chances are at least favorable with a present three-game cushion. The Knicks have been patient enough to focus on the long-term for years now, and a little more patience would allow them the potential to be great instead of merely good.

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