Even throughout the five month long guessing game that was conducted by writers, analysts, and fans alike, the general consensus always remained that ultimately, Anthony would leave the Denver Nuggets to join up with Amare Stoudemire in the Big Apple.
Monday night all the assumptions and rumors became reality, when the Nuggets shipped off Anthony along with former all star point guard, Chauncey Billups, and formidable role players Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Renaldo Balkman to the Knicks in return for Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and a 2014 first round draft pick.
Knick fans have to be rejoicing today. And well they should be. They just got one of the most dynamic players in the game; a pure scorer with as deadly a mid range jumper you will find, and a knack for getting to the basket that puts him up there with some of the best players in the league.
But let's be honest. Does this team really scare the Heat? Is Anthony, Billups, and Stoudemire a good enough trio to compete with Miami's big three?
If you're a Knick fan, surely your answers' an emphatic, "YES!".
If you're a Heat fan, your answers' probably a sarcastic, unworried, "Please".
My answer would be, "Teams that don't play defense can't beat great teams."
Statistically, the Knicks are the second worst defensive team in the league, allowing 105.9 points per game.
Judging by his history, it seems Knicks head coach Mike D'antoni's philosophy has always been score as much points as possible; run at full speed the whole game, shoot lots of threes, but don't worry too much about defense.
Sure, the Knicks are second in the league in scoring at 106.2 points per game, but so were the Phoenix Suns when D'antoni was the head coach. And that team didn't play a lick of defense either. Aside from a couple of very good seasons, the suns never truly had the makeup of a championship calibre team.
The other five top scoring teams in the league along with the Knicks, are the Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, and San Antonio Spurs. Aside from the Spurs, none of these teams are viewed as a serious contender to make it the NBA finals.
Compare that to the top six teams in defense: The Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat. Of those six, the Celtics, Bulls, Magic, and Heat all have been recognized as legitimate finals contenders.
What does it all mean?
It means you need to play defense to have a chance.
Anthony hasn't played much defense up to this point in his career. I don't see much changing with a switch to a D'antoni system.
The Knicks are finally good enough to make some noise. They'll get fans at the Garden excited, they even have a good shot to win a playoff series. But until defense is emphasized, or until they go and grab a dominant defensive center such as Dwight Howard, I'm not worried.
I don't think the Heat are either.
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