The Knicks are currently on pace to eclipse 50 wins this season, and finish as one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference for a second year in a row.
The superstar acquisition that fans had been starved to see materialize since Carmelo Anthony has worked out immensely so far, with Karl-Anthony Towns currently coming in at sixth on the Kia NBA MVP Ladder.
So, why does the feel around Madison Square Garden seem like one of gloom?
At this time last year, the vibe in New York couldn’t be much higher. The Knicks were in the midst of a 15-2 run sparked by the acquisition of OG Anunoby, and the Knicks looked like one of the best teams in the NBA. At times this season, they have also looked like one of the best in the league, particularly on offense, yet this group hasn’t been embraced and bought in on like its predecessor. You can feel it in The Garden, where last year was a consistent party and this year carries a sense of tension at times in the stands. What is keeping fans from being all in on these Knickerbockers?
Taking a closer look at the roster, its deficiencies, and the natural escalation of pressure given the team’s trajectory, we can find some clear answers.
Let’s start with the most glaring catalyst for a changing vibe around any team in sports: expectation. Last year, coming off a second-round loss to the Heat, many fans were simply hoping for another trip to the playoffs, and a chance to win a postseason series in consecutive years for the first time in over two decades. Now, with a busy offseason that included trading for Towns and Mikal Bridges, the expectations have skyrocketed to where anything less than a trip to the Eastern Conference Final would feel like a failure. It’s an expectation that Knicks fans have craved since the turn of the millennium, but with those expectations comes a certain angst when doubt creeps in about whether or not this team can actually satisfy those expectations.
Suddenly, losses like Monday night against the Pistons feel a little more annoying, deficiencies like defending the 3-pointer and lack of depth become a little more glaring, and looking ahead to a potential playoff series against teams like the Celtics or Cavs become easier to slip into. Last season, the Knicks felt like they were enjoying a season where every achievement felt like a surprise present. This year, the clock feels like it has started to tick, and as soon as the stable roster with the talent to contend was finally constructed, the hourglass turned to make it all worth it with a title.
Does that growing expectation take some of the fun and enjoyment out of watching the Knicks every night? In a sense, yes. Every loss can send a fan down a wormhole of what it could mean come May or June. But it’s what any team with title aspirations deals with, and while Knicks fans may have forgotten that mindset, it’s important to remember the old cliché, that pressure is indeed a privilege.
Now let’s get to that “soul” of the team argument that any Knicks fan on social media hears so much about. Last year, the Nova Knicks were built on toughness, stingy defense, and team basketball, which made them so easy to fall in love with. This season, the defense has lagged behind, Josh Hart has alluded to individual “agendas” after losses, and that gritty feel of last year’s group has faded.
Welcome to the realities of a championship contender.
The truth is, even if last year’s Knicks were among the most lovable of this generation, they had a ceiling. That group was not winning a championship with Julius Randle as the second scoring option. That defensive identity, which New Yorkers always adore and identify with, doesn't win titles in the modern NBA. This year’s starting five is one of the best scoring groups in the league. What they did in the second quarter in Oklahoma City earlier this month remains one of the most impressive displays of offense by any team in the league this year. That wasn’t happening without adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. That wasn’t happening with Randle in the fold.
Yes, fans miss Donte DiVincenzo and the Nova Knicks feel. But New York did add another former Wildcat in Bridges, who has shown his potential after a slow start to the season (look no further than his Christmas Day outburst against the Spurs). This team still has its heart and soul in Jalen Brunson and Hart. It just takes time to get rolling when two new players are added to a starting five before the season. We’ve seen the Knicks click on the offensive end. Now they just need to learn how to trust each other and find that same cohesion on the other end of floor, and the feel around the team will be like it was a year ago, only better.
Sure, Randle and Donte DiVincenzo represented the identity of the 2023-24 Knicks, but they also represented their shortcomings as a group (do you expect Randle to have made this defense look better?). The Towns trade was necessary, and clearly raised the team’s ceiling moving forward. Leon Rose and company simply need to find the right pieces to bring it all together.
Which brings us to the next likely antagonist for the angst around these third-place Knicks: where are the solutions? Outside of Mitchell Robinson’s return (which is hardly a guarantee given his injury history), what can the team add to solidify itself as a real title threat? The Knicks desperately need bench scoring and defensive help, but after parting with loads of draft capital to assemble this roster over the past calendar year, the hope of acquiring another big name that fans clung to for years is no more. The potential bench upgrades don’t inspire much hope. So, fans are forced to simply trust that this group, mainly as constructed, will figure it out and get rolling, and go on its own 15-2 tear like last year. or will they wilt under the weight of Tom Thibodeau’s minutes workload and go out with a whimper in the postseason? Fans are writing several ways in which this season goes haywire, as is the case with raised expectations for a franchise that hasn’t experienced a championship in over 50 years.
The expectations have indeed changed, and even if that has taken some of the enjoyment out of the viewing experience, it was necessary for this team’s attempt at taking the next step, though it seems like the buy-in from the fanbase has suffered as a result.