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Carmelo and Amar'e Will Win Championship In New York
By Clay Travis

(Fanhouse)

06:03:20AM (ET) Wednesday,February 23,2011.

At long last the New York Knicks are relevant again. After years of punchless collapse, after Isiah Thomas nearly ran a storied franchise into basketball oblivion, the Knicks are back. Kind of.

Carmelo Anthony isn't the savior of New York Knick basketball, but he is a missing piece that will allow the creation of a championship-contending team. Was he expensive? Yes. But did the Knicks overpay? Not if being relevant is the goal, they didn't. Carmelo is the third piece in the puzzle that will eventually lead to the return of meaningful playoff games, probably this year, at Madison Square Garden. (The days of Patrick Ewing seem long ago now, don't they?)

Carmelo is the third piece in a four-part puzzle that may well deliver a championship to the Big Apple. First, came the addition of Coach Mike D'Antoni. Next, came Amar'e Stoudemire -- and the miss with LeBron -- now comes Carmelo Anthony, a player without LeBron's panache or talent, but a player that will help to make the Knicks a bona fide contender in the Eastern Conference for the next four or five seasons.

Especially, be still your beating heart Knick fans, once the Knicks make a serious run at Deron Williams, Chris Paul or Dwight Howard. That run at the fourth piece to the championship puzzle may require salary cap juggling, but it will happen. And when it does, the long national nightmare of Knick fans will be over.

Look the Knicks still have big holes to fill on this roster. Most glaringly at center. And depth. God forbid anyone gets hurt. But how many NBA teams in this era have perfect rosters on paper? The Lakers, Celtics and ... Imperfection will get the Knicks to the playoffs this season and with any luck, and a good match-up, they could have the opportunity to advance to the second round, something the Knicks haven't done since 2000.

More--->Carmelo and Amar'e Will Win Championship In New York -- NBA FanHouse


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