Are the Knicks This Good? Basketball Die-Hards Weigh In

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

Tyson Chandler (6) provides the Knicks with a strong inside presence, while Raymond Felton (2) has helped Knick fans move on from losing Jeremy Lin at point guard.

The Knicks stand atop the Eastern Conference with a 14-4 record and have already demolished the Miami Heat on two occasions, including a 112-92 rout Thursday night in which Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks' best player, did not suit up. The Knicks were expected to be a competitive team this season, but no one can really say he saw this kind of basketball coming.

But can it continue? Are the Knicks smart enough, deep enough and resilient enough, given the advanced age of many of their players, to keep this up for a whole season and end up playing for the title? Is this a fluke, or not?

A cast of basketball die-hards — some of them on The New York Times's staff — weighs in with its thoughts.

Harvey Araton

New York City born and bred, Araton is a Times reporter and the author of "When the Garden Was Eden: Clyde, The Captain, Dollar Bill and the Glory Days of the Old Knicks."

The Knicks have enough of two essential ingredients — interior length and overall basketball I.Q. — to ensure upper-echelon status in a transitioning Eastern Conference that might include change at the top if the wheels on Dwyane Wade have begun to wobble.

Wade was a stunning study in ordinariness Thursday night as the Carmelo Anthony-less Knicks againriddled Miami with size, spacing and 3-point shooting. It's clear they have found an excellent coaching fit for Anthony in Mike Woodson, along with a deep complementary cast — what Miami lacks — that isn't yet complete.

The Knicks can count on Anthony to score every night. Tyson Chandler,Rasheed Wallaceand possibly Marcus Camby should keep the lane well-policed. In carefully dispensed minutes, Jason Kidd has injected the half-court offense with his trademark canny calm, while shooters like J.R. Smith and Steve Novak benefit from the Kidd-inspired ball movement.

But if there is one player who could mean the difference in a 50-victory, second-round playoff run and mind-bending title contention, it is the resurgent Raymond Felton. If he continues to shoot over 40 percent from behind the 3-point line while dishing out almost seven assists a game and keeping his turnovers down, the first chapter of ownerJames L. Dolan's autobiography will be titled, "Jeremy Who?"

In addition, Felton had pick-and-roll success with Amar'e Stoudemire in 2010-11 and will be Woodson's liaison in reintegrating Stoudemire without jeopardizing the A in chemistry this class has posted.

Granted, it's a long season (and the last one didn't even begin until Christmas). Wade could shake off the cobwebs. Derrick Rose could return to the Bulls. And Andrew Bynum could be a difference-maker in Philadelphia. The Nets may continue to grow. But the Knicks have made the jump and are low-level playoff wannabes no more.

Dan Barry

A Times columnist, Barry was a left-handed forward — who couldn't go to his right — for the St. Cyril and Methodius parish traveling team in Deer Park, N.Y.

How good are the Knicks? You really wanna know? Well, since you asked: They're good, especially when Carmelo Anthony plays team ball. But they're not that good.

Yet.

The Knicks are good in the way they move the ball most of the time, as they did against the Miami Heat on Thursday night, around the top of the key, resisting the impulse to shoot in favor of finding the open man, confusing LeBron James so much that he nearly swallowed his mouth guard. You could see the extra furrow in James's many-furrowed brow as he thought:

The Knicks? Passing?

Nick Laham/Getty Images

The Knicks' hot start has come behind a resurgent Raymond Felton.

They're good in the way that Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd have made the pick-and-roll a natural option, rather than the in-the-moment expectation that Tyson Chandler is suddenly being asked to learn a pas de chat move from "The Nutcracker."

They're good on defense, as on Thursday night. Late in the fourth quarter of a blowout in their favor, they challenged James, even stripping the ball away in the final minutes. Knick teams of the recent past would have politely stepped aside for opponents moving toward the basket, the way that Penn Station commuters accommodate those rushing for a train. Instead of "Ball don't lie," it was more, "Beg your pardon."

So that's all good. But J.R. Smith was taking — and mostly missing — 3-point shots from Weehawken when the game was already won; bad form, suggesting lack of discipline. Rasheed Wallace still looks like his firstborn has been taken from him every time he fouls someone hard; hematoma don't lie.

And that "title belt" gesture that Steve Novak performs? It could also be a gesture suggesting a truss, given how old the Knicks are.

For the love of DeBusschere, it's only early December. A truly good team is still looking for the open man in the spring; still hustling on defense; still turning the pick-and-roll into an exquisite form of basketball ballet.

Tony Gervino

Gervino was the longtime editor of Slam magazine.

This one's easy, and almost unbelievable to admit: the current Knicks team deserves to be called great.

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