The season is over, a season where fans didn’t expect much other than a lower seeded playoff run. We got Amar’e Stoudamire, and while he was willing to be the leader and accept the challenge of winning in NY, we needed to see to believe, and he was all we could ask for in a player and more this season. We had our ups and downs, and nothing was more exciting than the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony. Although interference by the worst owner in sports Jim Dolan (featuring his BFF Isiah Thomas) caused us to trade more than we needed, we got the second star player we coveted and the future looks bright. We got swept out the playoffs by the battled tested Celtics, but squandered 2 great opportunities to steal games in Boston. injuries There’s a lot of work needed, and the right moves need to be made to get the Knicks to that next echelon of contending teams.

Pick up Donnie Walsh’s extension

This should have been done weeks ago, but our aforementioned horrible owner sees fit to drag these proceedings to the final hour. If he leaves, then all bets are off. I couldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to return to work for a guy like Dolan. No wonder Cablevision sucks as a provider!

D’Antoni must go in 2012

Because of this lockout, we will more than likely have to keep Mike for another year. I think he is a good coach, but I question if he is the RIGHT coach for this team. Those two games in Boston came down to coaching, and Doc Rivers schooled D’Antoni the entire series. It wasn’t even close! From the inbounds alley-oop play in game one, to the clock rundown play in game two, it was obvious that Doc made D’Antoni look like a rookie coach.

To be fair, he has dealt with major trades mid season his entire time here. next year, he’ll get a full season. Let’s see what he does, but I’m pretty sure there will be excellent coaches available after Mike D’Antoni’s contract expires. Coaches are just as important as players late-game.

A true Center/Big Man

We need someone who will do the dirty work. Who will rebound, defend, and score in the post. I cannot deal with the offensively challenged Jared Jeffries anymore! Someone in the mold of Marc Gasol/NeNe/DeanDre Jordan would be a great fit.

A Point Guard

Chauncey will be finished soon. You can already see that one injury can wrap him up for like 6-7 games. I think he’s good enough to pickup that extension, but we need another answer long term. Toney Douglas is more of a shooting guard anyway, and his decision making is suspect. CP3 and D Will are long shots, but with the 2012 free agency looming we will see.

Another scorer/shooting guard

Landry Fields had a great season, and yeah his game changed when Melo arrived, but he disappeared in the playoffs. We can’t allow that again. I’d rather have him coming off the bench, or platooning with another shooting guard.

In general, we need to regain the same defensive mentality that other Knicks teams have shown. We have a great core, but need to build correctly in order to attain that next step. The salary cap is killing us, but hopefully with Donnie Walsh we can find a way, as he did once before. The future is still looking good, and I hope we make the right decisions going forward.