Let me begin by saying that no, I do not believe the Knicks are better without Carmelo Anthony on the floor. If you seriously believe that, you're an idiot. He's a super star and you need at least one super star if you want to have any chance at winning a title. With that being said, the Knicks cannot win a title with their style of play.
What am I talking about? The Knicks live and die by the three point shot. That's not even debatable. If the three isn't falling, the Knicks aren't winning the game. Sure, when they're on and they're hitting threes they almost look unbeatable. But when the threes aren't falling they look like just an average middle of the road basketball team.
Also, the way they play defense causes them a lot of problems. They play that rotating style of defense and this causes significant mismatches regularly. Sometimes you'll get Felton on a center or Chandler on a guy like Kyrie Irving, these are big time mismatches. The Knicks don't have a guy like LeBron running around who can guard all five positions. They are above average athletically with the exception of J.R. Smith.
The Knicks are obviously going to make the playoffs and obviously they are capable of winning a playoff series. But I don't see them winning much more than that. If they get into a second round match up with Indiana, the Pacers will win that in five games. You can't rely heavily on the three ball and inconsistent defense and expect to win a title. Maybe sometime in the future, but the Knicks just can't win a title this season.
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