The New York Knicks and Miami Heat’s respective trajectories this season are showing nearly opposite trends.
Brimming with hype during the offseason, the Knicks were close to being labeled as a superteam thanks to their heavy summer haul. Meanwhile, there wasn’t that much optimism around South Beach when the post-Dwyane Wade era commenced for the Heat.
But as the season unfolded, the circumstances became different. New York struggled heavily and fell into a dysfunction abyss, while the Heat brushed off a slow first two or so months of action to emerge as one of the NBA’s best teams of 2017.
Derrick Rose, one of the main reasons for the preseason hype in New York gave his thoughts on the Knicks’ struggles and, in an attempt to put things in perspective, even went as far comparing his team to that of Miami.
“I think that we're more talented,” Rose told reporters at Friday's shootaround. “But it shows that basketball is a team sport.”
“Any year in the league it's about whoever catches a rhythm,” Rose said. “No matter how your season is going, or where you're at in your season, you can always catch a rhythm and they caught theirs at the right time, winning 12 or 13 games (in a row). And they've been playing great basketball ever since then. We never caught that luck this year.”
On paper, Rose may have a point. The Knicks boast of a roster with more decorated names, while the Heat’s starpower pale in comparison. But that’s about it.
Erik Spoelstra’s coaching made wonders for the Heat, instilling a well-balanced attack coupled with a no-nonsense and nothing-is-entitled type of attitude that the players bought into resulting in an impressive run.
Outside of the on-court comparison, a more troubling picture emerged for the Knicks as their front office and coaching staff got exposed. It’ll be very difficult for them to make their team more attractive come summertime and they’ll all be pinning their hopes on a unicorn in Kristaps Porzingis being an attractive enough lure for free agents to want to come play in New York.
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