When I designed Frank’s Forum, I have a few “super themes” and one of them is sports. I am passionate about sports and the teams that I follow. One of those teams is the New York Knicks, and they are at the mid-point of a very interesting season.

The team is in first place in the Atlantic Division, but has had some issues for stretches during the first half of the season. Some stretches have been plagued by inconsistent play, lapses in defensive intensity, and injuries to key players.

It is a well known fact throughout the league that the Knicks are too reliant on the 3 point shot in their offensive scheme. The Knicks attempt more 3 point field goals and make more 3 point field goals than any other team in the league. (www.nba.com)

Anyone who played basketball on any level, even recreation league, is probably familiar with the term “falling in love with the 3” and the Knicks certainly have done that this season. That over-reliance on the 3 point shot can create some offensive scoring issues, when your top players invariably hit a cold stretch, and they cannot get that particular shot to go in with regularity.

A good example of that is a player like Steve Novak; he is a great long range shooter particularly from 3 point range. However he does not do much else, he is an average defender, does not really contribute any rebounds, and is an average passer. So when his 3 point shot is off, then you really have a problem with getting any output from his minutes on the floor.

The defensive lapses are a big issue for the Knicks too; I think their overall defensive play is much improved over recent years. I think Mike Woodson is a big part of that with his coaching emphasis on defense and his expectations for his players’ defensive play. That being stated, they have stretches as a team where they have struggled on defense, and that has resulted in them giving up too many points in some of these games, particularly against top caliber opponents.

The injuries have not helped this team either, and while they are part of any sport, it has impacted the Knicks depth. The injuries to Raymond Felton and Rasheed Wallace have been a big disruption to the depth of the team in the first half of the season.

The injury to Raymond Felton earlier this season was a key issue to the Knicks for many reasons: it caused the Knicks to play Jason Kidd more minutes than they had intended for a longer portion of games, it forced other players who were deeper on the bench to play extended minutes, and it altered their style of play dramatically.

The Knicks got Jason Kidd, a veteran NBA guard who is 39 years old, to enhance their roster with an experienced player to mentor the younger guys and to play a key role in the playoffs. They had to thrust him into a much different role when Felton was injured.

Their style of play was altered without Felton as their point guard because Felton is able to get very effective penetration to the rim area. This skill provides the Knicks with several options where he can either take it to the basket for a scoring opportunity, or pass the ball to an open teammate with a clean shot.

The other guards on the Knicks roster do not have that same capability of getting that deep into the opposition end of the floor, so they had to alter their offensive approach and run other play sets. Most of that new play set featured Carmelo Anthony in isolation type plays from strategic areas on the floor.

I will continue my analysis in a separate blog post featuring the Knicks injury to Rasheed Wallace, and contribute my thoughts to their outlook for the second half of the season.