{"id":1885,"date":"2016-10-25T09:52:13","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T13:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2016-10-25T09:52:13","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T13:52:13","slug":"new-york-knicks-season-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/10\/25\/new-york-knicks-season-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Look For in New York Knicks Season Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

What to Look For in New York Knicks Season Opener<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The New York Knicks<\/strong> season opener is tonight\u00a0and the preseason is\u00a0behind them. The Knicks already face tests coming\u00a0into the first game of the season. How will New York\u00a0look in its\u00a0first game? The Knicks admit that they may\u00a0not look very good.<\/p>\n

Are the Knicks Ready to Lose in Order to Win?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played a few games and practiced together but it\u2019s gonna take us some time to actually figure this whole thing out,\u201d said sophomore power forward Kristaps Porzingis<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Will the whole team be prepared to lose games in order for the bigger picture to come together? Point guard\u00a0Derrick Rose<\/a><\/strong> brings a lot of attention for his “super-team” comment. However, thanks to the hindsight of preseason, we see how far the Knicks have to go.<\/p>\n

Rose more recently stated, “And the expectations I think of us, we just want to win. When you’ve got a group like that, it’s like, alright, I know everybody wants to do that, but we’re going to break this down as simple as possible, and try to win every game.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Will Rose grow frustrated as the team attempts to gel and players try\u00a0to prove themselves? Are the players\u00a0ready to sacrifice for each other and possibly sacrifice individual stats? The focus shifts to preparing to be a good team. Is the team ready to change gears now that the players\u00a0have a clearer picture of where they are?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not where we need to be in that department. That\u2019s the truth,\u201d center Joakim Noah<\/a><\/strong> said. \u201cWe\u2019re a work in progress. We got a lot of work to do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Carmelo Anthony<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>looks like a fortune teller. He discussed\u00a0this problem when he first sat down with Phil Jackson<\/a>. This was before the signing of Rose, Noah, and the roster changes that took place before preseason.\u00a0“I think we have to put things in kind of perspective and figure out what success means to this organization right now,” Anthony said.<\/p>\n

Preseason has helped\u00a0the Knicks and fans gain more perspective on what to expect in the season opener. There were a couple of plays that fans should take a second look at and expect to see.<\/p>\n

Defense From the\u00a0Preseason<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The defense is actually much improved. This play ends in a score for the other team, but\u00a0the rotation is\u00a0solid. Notice how the team effectively covers ground as the ball swings. Besides Porzingis biting on a\u00a0great crossover, this is a good sequence.<\/p>\n

View post on imgur.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n