Don't Pull The Plug On The Knicks

The star crossed history of The New York Knicks added another chapter to it's overstuffed memoirs on

Monday Night. Amare Stoudemire picking a fight with a glass encased fire extinguisher takes it's place alongside Bernard King blowing out his knee, John Starks shooting 2-18 in game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals, and Patrick Ewing blowing a lay-up to win game 7 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers.

By doing his Mike Tyson impersonation (with the fire extinguisher playing the part of Mitch “Blood” Green) Stoudemire not only ensured the Knicks being on the receiving end of a sweep at the hands of The Miami Heat, his act also continues to call into question the holy union between he and Carmelo Anthony.

Insiders will tell you that Amare's frustration is not just linked to losing to the Heat, it's rooted in his disillusionment over not being the man in New York anymore. Look I'm not here to defend the indefensible, Knick fans should be irate and Stoudemire has to do a better job controlling his emotions, but before blowhards like Mike Lupica and Mike Francesca tell you that Stoudemire or Anthony or anyone else should be sent out of town please continue reading.

I said coming into this lockout-shortened season that the team that was going to be hurt the most by it was the Knicks. Think back to last year, they get Carmelo and Chauncey Billups mid-year, but they had to give up pretty much their entire roster, minus Amare to do it. So for pretty much the rest of 2010-2011 season it was the big three and nine guys you never heard of. Subsequently they get swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics.

If there was any team that needed a summer league for it's rookies and a training camp for it's veterans to learn how to play together it was this crew, but as we all know the labor strife between the league and the player's union wiped that out. Once a deal was in place the front office had to scramble to sign Tyson Chandler as a free agent, and amnesty Chauncey Billups'contract (something at the time I thought was a mistake). New Year, no training camp, no practice time in between games what could have went wrong? Mike D'Antoni resigning that's what.

Yet and still with those things as a disadvantage the Knicks had plenty of highlights this year particularly the discovery of Jeremy Lin. Lin is the point guard the Knicks have been searching for for awhile, and maybe the main reason you keep this team together. Lin is the classic pick and roll point guard with his ability to get in the lane and create for himself and others. He is also tailor-made for Stoudemire, no one will ever confuse Lin with Steve Nash, a two-time league MVP, but it is no coincidence that Amare had his best years as Nash's wing-man.

When those two don't have the pick and role game going, that is the time to let Anthony do his thing as the best pure scorer in the league. Anthony has shown that he is more than capable to carry the scoring load when asked especially this year when injuries to Stoudemire and Lin have left the team shorthanded.

The Knicks when healthy and when cohesive are as talented as any team in the league. Anthony, Stoudemire, Lin, Chandler as a defensive stalwart, and great on the ball defenders like Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert, assuming he makes it back from knee surgery. Throw in Mike Woodson who should get that job full time, and an entire offseason and training camp to work together and there is no doubt New York can rival the other big boys in the east Miami and Chicago. The only question is will the front office bow to some public pressure to break it up or stick to their guns and bring everybody back.