Knicks still missing pieces but are playoff contender

The waiting was supposed to be over this season. Two years of capology and excavating the payroll are not supposed to result in a pause and stammer from Amar'e Stoudemire, the lone marquee player the Knicks signed with all that salary-cap room, when he's asked about the playoffs.

"Last year, the Knicks' record wasn't that good , so anything better than that, to me, would be a step in the right direction," Stoudemire said with painstaking caution. "But again, playoffs is something we're looking forward to and we're trying to get to that point."

Can they finally get there in this season of the seven-year itch? It has been that long since the Knicks were last a playoff team in 2004, when they were swept by the Nets.

The Heat was built in a day, but the Knicks' renaissance is going to take a little while longer. The cap flexibility is there for the next two summers - if not sooner (read: Carmelo Anthony) - to add players to upgrade the roster to be able to take on Miami Thrice. But for now, the aim is a bit lower: elbowing through the mediocre bottom two-thirds of the East to snare one of the final playoff spots.

It's certainly within reason to think the Knicks can accomplish this. They have a bona fide All-NBA player in Stoudemire, arguably the best power forward in the league, who will do what he's done his entire career: put up gaudy scoring numbers. Until third-year forward Danilo Gallinari proves he can score consistently, it'll be primarily a one-man game on most nights.

"Pretty good one-man game, though, isn't it?" coach Mike D'Antoni said with as much optimism as he could muster.

That all depends on how effective the Knicks can be at point guard with Raymond Felton, who said he has watched video of Steve Nash, the former two-time MVP who was tailor-made for D'Antoni's Seven Seconds or Less system. Felton isn't the shooter that Nash is, but he can score, and Nash video shows many ways to do it other than perimeter shots.

"I definitely learned a lot from looking at it," Felton said. "But at the same time, I still got to do it my way."

His way will work as long as it's the fastest way. The Knicks have to play at an up-tempo pace as much as possible if they're going to cover up their deficiencies against the elite teams and overwhelm weaker teams. Felton and second-year guard Toney Douglas will be the sparkplugs at both ends of the floor.

The presence of 7-1 Russian rookie Timofey Mozgov also should make a difference, if just by his length alone. If you remember, the Knicks had 6-9 David Lee as their center for most of the last two seasons. Wilson Chandler returns to offer his usual versatility and 6-11 Anthony Randolph is a project who, if he develops, could have a major impact at both ends of the floor.

There remains a hole at shooting guard, where Douglas, Chandler, veteran Roger Mason Jr. and even impressive rookie Landry Fields will get a chance to claim minutes. D'Antoni said he wants to play as much as a 10-man rotation most nights, but with so many new faces, roles still need to be established.

It's possible, D'Antoni said, that he could "tinker all the way into January" with the lineup. By then, Kelenna Azubuike, who is recovering from knee surgery, could be ready to play.

It is at that point of the season that the Knicks might be ready to make the long-awaited playoff push. The trade deadline arrives Feb. 24; by then, the result will be the added firepower of Carmelo Anthony or the reality that the Knicks must dance with the girl they brought with them.

Either way, the result has to be a playoff berth for them to reach their goals.

"That's our yardstick this year," D'Antoni said. "I would love to be able to downplay it and we will have some rough spots. The only thing I ask is, we've just got to be a little bit patient early . . . But yeah, I think we've got enough talent here. We should do it."

The Dolan family owns controlling interests in the Knicks, MSG and Cablevision. Cablevision owns Newsday.