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No matter how you try to slice it, there is nothing good about being mediocre. Frankly, the product sucks; the fans and players alike become disinterested, and you're left with a team you can't be proud of. Watching a basketball slide through Arnett Moultrie's clasped hands night in and night out eventually begins to wear on you.
Both the Sixers and Knicks are the epitome of mediocrity this season, New York's being rather coincidental. One organization has a plan to remove themselves from that label, while the other may spend years dwelling in it. I'll let you decide who is who.
There is no dysfunction like the Knicks, especially this season, a year where they were (attempting) to challenge Miami for the Eastern Conference crown. Let's go down the lineup, a starting five which, even in March, Mike Woodson still cannot stop tinkering with.
- Raymond Felton: He is having a career worst season, both on and off the court. Felton's shooting 39% from the floor, cannot play a lick of defense, and recently found himself sitting behind bars after his soon to be ex-wife had him arrested on gun charges. Who knows, he may go to jail. He's under contract through 2015, with a player option for 2016. Don't think he'll pass that up.
- J.R. Smith: Smith has never made basketball look so anesthetically pleasing. His selection is horrifying; 36% of his shots come in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, because of course they do. And the wrath of J.R. still hasn't come to a halt yet, because he's coached by a man without the backbone to bench him.
- Carmelo Anthony: Left to carry the team with zero support. It is almost comical to think he would want to stay and player another five years there.
- Amare Stoudemire: Still somehow starting, despite the stats showing that the Knicks play best when they go small. He's owed over $23 million next year, which does not look pretty, irregardless of the fact he'll be on an expiring deal.
- Tyson Chandler: The oft-injured big man is still productive, but not necessarily anything special at this point in his career.
