Losses piling up for Knicks, but blaming Melo is short-sighted

The prophets said that this would come to pass, and now it has come to pass.

The New York Knicks have wobbled off course, and Lin-sanity has wobbled right along with them.

They all lost in Dallas on Tuesday night, in a game that wasn’t as close as the 10-point margin indicates, and every flaw this upstart contender has was clearly on display. After the dizzying heights of the rise of Jeremy Lin, a fall like this was inevitable. No player outside of the realm of the LeBrons and Kobes could keep up the pace Lin had, and this team couldn’t keep winning eight of every nine games, Lin or no Lin.

On the other hand, this was inevitable, too: Carmelo Anthony shot 2-for-12 ... and that became the universally-accepted reason why the Knicks lost.

America’s basketball Nostradamuses (Nostradamii?) called this weeks ago. When Lin was ruling the world, it was while the expensive, under-performing, under-delivering Melo was nursing a groin injury. It was taken as fact that his return, and his presumed desire to be at the center of the offense at all costs, would spoil everything.

Thus, while the campaign to select Lin as the league’s MVP picked up speed, the math equations that would solve the Knicks’ problems were quickly computed. Knicks + Lin = Excellence; Knicks + Lin + Carmelo = Disaster.

Taken to its extreme: Knicks – Carmelo = Joy in the five boroughs, a trip to the Finals and, possibly, a Lin candidacy for President this fall.

As usual, simple math aside, it wasn’t, and isn’t, that simple.

In fact, the Knicks are now faced with the most complicated task they’ve faced in years, and that includes their task of blending in Anthony a year ago when they acquired him from Denver for half the roster.

They now have a relative embarrassment of riches—not the kind the Heat or Bulls or Thunder have, but come on, you’ve seen both the Knicks and the Eastern Conference lately. They have the All-Star forward they mortgaged their future for; and they have Amare Stoudemire, the player they believed would be a cornerstone and a star magnet when they gave him a huge free-agent contract.

They have a supporting cast around them, including players who understand the concept of protecting the other basket. And they have the kind of point guard, distributor and floor leader a group of that caliber needs to thrive.

Problem is, it took the Knicks nearly two years, including two months of this season, to put them on the court at the same time.

So, forget math (and forget easy, short-sighted prophecy). The course the Knicks have to master is chemistry, and they can’t learn it by cramming.

They also can’t learn it by throwing out one of the elements of the equation. The idea that this team is better off without Carmelo Anthony? Stop it. Right now. He wasn’t the problem before he got hurt and before Lin found his opportunity and his game. He isn’t the problem now.

Well, 2-for-12 is a problem, the “12” part maybe even more than the “2”. But making nothing but big plays in the fourth quarter last Sunday in Boston, including creating and hitting the shot that forced that game into overtime ... not a problem.

Also, Lin having the ball in his hands and handling the responsibility of getting the best shots, whether it’s for him or someone else ... also not a problem, even if those turnover numbers stay high. Like him or not, love the hype or hate it, the Knicks play right when he’s on the floor.

Of course, nobody has a bigger responsibility in all of this than coach Mike D’Antoni. He’s the one who has to make it all fit, the one who is coaching, basically, the third version of the Knicks in the span of less than half a normal regular season. But it’s the most loaded version.

He’s aware that he’s expected to make the best of it. He’s aware that the pressure remains high to keep making Lin the star and to make Anthony sit and wave towels. He’s aware of some cold, hard numbers: 8-15 before Lin became the starting point guard of last resort; 8-1 with Lin running the show; 7-1 with Lin in and Melo out; 2-4 since Melo returned.

He also knows that between now and next Wednesday’s trade deadline, the Knicks have few dates with the league’s bottom-feeders, as they had at the height of the madness—and as they decidedly have not since then. Wednesday night takes them to San Antonio; next week means Philadelphia and Portland at home, and Chicago on the road.

Creating the preferred blend under those circumstances will be a challenge. So as the Knicks work on it, observers can work on repeating this mantra:

It’s not Melo’s fault ... it’s not Melo’s fault ... it’s not Melo’s fault ...