Knicks' Struggles are Painful to Watch

What is going on with the New York Knicks?  It was back during the very entertaining free agency summer of 2010, when Amare Stoudemire stepped out onto a New York city street and proclaimed to the media, "the Knicks are back."  It was the perfect marriage, Stoudemire and D'Antoni were reunited and the Knicks were going to be the eventual rival to the Miami Heat in the East.

Fast forward to now.  The 2012 playoffs are underway and the Knicks find themselves down 0-3 to a Heat team that looks so superior to the Knicks it is almost depressing to watch.  Stoudemire in street clothes on the bench, hand wrapped and not looking like he could be able to return by game 4.  The  fact is that the Knicks are now 0-7 and staring 0-8 in the face during post season since acquiring Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.  D'Antoni has long since resigned and the Knicks struggles seemed to have been lessening until now. 

The Problem:
So what is wrong with the Knicks?  It's not a simple answer.  The problem lives with in Stoudemire's head.  It has to.  Here is a guy that came to New York and expected it to be his team, his city, and he and his former coach were going to accomplish winning a championship together.  Something they did not do in Phoenix. 

Instead the Knicks pursued Anthony and a deal got done that sent guys like Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, and Wilson Chandler to the Nuggets.  Looking back it seems that the Nugs made out better in the deal. 

The Knicks are now Melo's team.  He seems to be running the show on the court and in the front office.  I don't care who you are, but no one likes change at work.  It is very difficult to swallow your pride and move forward.  Stoudemire is clearly not handling this change well.  He hasn't been the same player since the arrival of Melo and the Knicks are suffering now in the post season because of it. 

After a blow out loss to the Heat in Miami on Tuesday, Stoudemire's frustration with the loss and the entire situation with the Knicks in general boiled over and Amare's hand met the glass of a fire extinguisher case.  So, with the season all but over for the Knicks, the organization needs to begin to move forward.  This off season will be crucial for New York and Stoudemire.

The Fix: 

The Knicks need to find a way to move Stoudemire this off season.  Allow him to move on and go to a place where he can be the guy.  Maybe if Tim Duncan retires after the season, the Spurs could be a good landing spot.  The Knicks can move forward with Chandler, Lin, and Melo and perhaps some more glue guys in a Stoudemire trade. 

The Knicks also need stability in the front office.  They should remove the interim title from Mike Woodson and allow him to stay on board as head coach next season.  It seems that Melo likes and respects Woodson's coaching style, plus Woodson is a damn good head coach and proved that during his time in Atlanta.  He made a run of the mill Hawks team into a very respectable playoff team in the East. 

Show some pride in these few remaing playoff games.  Don't get swept by the Heat.  The Knicks have no chance at winning this series, but they cannot allow themselves to get swept in back-to-back years.  They need to force a game five and try to at least build some momentum for the off season.