Carmelo Anthony thinks Knicks will be better than last year

The Knicks shocked a lot of people last season when they won 54 games, and grabbed the 2nd seed in the East. Trailing only Miami in wins in the Eastern Conference, they heaved 3’s all the way to the 2nd round of the playoffs, only to be ousted in 6 games by the Pacers. Carmelo Anthony has confidence in his team, and he told the New York Post that they can be better:

"We were the top two seed last year,’’ Anthony said. “I think nobody expected that. This year we expect to do the same thing. I actually see this team be better than last year’s team. I won’t get into all the details [why]. But we feel that. We feel we have improved as a unit.”"

The Knicks made some interesting moves this off-season, sending Steve Novak and a first round pick to Toronto for Andrea Bargnani; they signed Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih, and drafted Tim Hardaway Jr. Those moves don’t exactly blow anybody away, and some are even head-scratchers at best. It’s not that the Knicks got worse, but they stood around while the East got better. The Bulls got Derrick Rose back, The Pacers acquired Luis Scola, Chris Copeland, and get Danny Granger back, and heck, even the Cavaliers made some good moves. They could be as good as last season’s team, but there is a great chance they won’t finish with the same record.

The Knicks shot 2371 three pointers last season, and made a record 891 of them. That is where they made their money, and it worked for the most part. They also led the league in isolation plays, and that stalled their rhythm. When they faced the Pacers, they went away from the free-flowing ball movement, and the iso-heavy team got ripped apart. Melo has talked about wanting to play more pick and rolls, and that could help the ball movement and help Raymond Felton as well. Coach Mike Woodson will need to integrate all the new parts, and restructure his offense if they want to improve, but don’t expect the Knicks to be better than last season.