Kevin Durant could be headed for an MVP season in 2014. (GETTY IMAGES)

Say goodbye to 2013 and hello 2014. New Year’s Day is one of my favorite days of the year because whatever mistakes or bad experiences you had during the old year the new year offers you a fresh start.

I’m sure a lot of NBA teams would love to have a fresh start.

The new year also means some fresh opinions and bold predictions. The past year brought us a second straight Miami Heat championship, a fourth MVP for LeBron James and a devastating injury to Kobe Bryant.

What will 2014 bring to the table? Here are five bold predictions:

KEVIN DURANT CLAIMS HIS FIRST MVP

If there’s anyone who can derail the LeBron MVP monopoly it’s KDTrey5. The injury to Russell Westbrook may keep the Oklahoma City Thunder from finishing with the best record in the Western Conference, but it could very well raise Durant’s profile. KD should win his fourth league scoring title, that’s almost a given. With Westbrook reportedly sidelined through the All-Star break, the ball will be in KD’s hands most of the time during this stretch and he should post astronomical numbers even LeBron won’t be able to touch.

SPURS WILL FINISH BEST IN THE WEST

The Spurs may not be the most exciting or sexiest team in the league, but they remain the most efficient. All they do is win, win, win. The Blazers and the Thunder are the early clubhouse leaders, but both teams could hit a rough patch. Portland’s starters are logging heavy minutes, and it could take its toll down the stretch. OKC won’t have Westbrook for six weeks, so it will be hard pressed to maintain its fast start. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Spurs just keep on rolling.

UTAH JAZZ SELECT JABARI PARKER

If the Jazz are lucky enough to win the draft lottery, they will most likely select Duke freshman forward Jabari Parker. The teenage All-American was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Utah has the largest Mormon community in the U.S. And the church’s headquarters is based in Salt Lake City. Having Parker play in Utah would be like LeBron James landing in Cleveland. A marriage made in heaven.

CARMELO ANTHONY HEADS TO L.A.

Melo has already announced that he will test the free agent market this summer, making the Knicks extremely nervous. Melo could re-sign with the Knicks for more money, but that would be the wrong move. The Knicks are far from winning a championship and the roster is not getting any better. So, what Melo should do is leave the dysfunctional Knicks in favor of the dysfunctional Lakers. Anthony is one of the few players in the world who can tolerate Kobe Bryant, and it won’t be long before Anthony claims L.A. as his own. The final deal-maker here could be Melo’s wife, La La. The allure of Hollywood could be too much to pass up.

MIAMI PULLS OFF THREE-PEAT

Pat Riley will finally be able to own the word he copyrighted more than 20 years ago. Riley was the mastermind behind the three-peat title, but his Lakers fell one title short. In 2014, with the help of Spo, LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh, Riley will get a taste of the three-peat for the first time. It’s a feat that’s only been done four times in NBA history: Bill Russell’s Celtics, Michael Jordan’s Bulls (twice), and the Shaq and Kobe Lakers. A third straight NBA championship will definitely cement LeBron’s legacy as one of the game’s all-time greats.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Andrea Bargnani was wide open on the wing, but Melo ignores him and takes a contested shot. Bargs has been a much better shooter (50.9% to 42.4%) than Melo this year, and there’s a wide open lane for him to either drive or make an entry pass if he doesn’t want to shoot. Just an awful play by Melo.

Amare Stoudamire, never known for his defense, inexplicably made one of the worst defensive plays you’ll ever see. Pistons guard Peyton Siva got the ball about 8-9 feet from Amare, near the 3-point line. Amare looked at him but then turned his back to look at the hoop, assuming Siva was going to shoot. Siva puts the ball on the floor and drives right by Stoudemire, but N.Y. was bailed out on the play when the rookie point guard was called for travelling. Watch the play:

New York is now 3-8 for the season, losing to Detroit, 92-86, on Tuesday and falling to Indiana in overtime, 103-96, Wednesday. Anthony scored 30 points against the Pacers, but needed 28 shots to do it. Anthony has made just 18 of his 48 shots in his last two games.

The Wizards came into their game against Minnesota desperate for a win, and squeaked out a tight come-from-behind victory, 104-100, after trailing by 12 at halftime. They were playing well over .500 ball with Wall in the lineup last year before ending the season on a six-game losing streak. The team traded for center Marcin Gortat before this season started, eying a possible No. 6 or 7 seed in the playoffs. But poor shooting (43.3%, 20th in league) and awful defense (104.1, 26th in league) has plagued them so far.

Wall (14 points, 16 assists) kept up his top-notch distributing, now second in the league at 9.8 assists. Nene had 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and was 7-for-12 from the field. Bradley Beal poured in 25 points to lead Washington in scoring. Kevin Love had 25 points, 11 boards and four assists for the T-Wolves.

The Rockets destroyed the Celtics, 109-85, behind newly emerging stud power forward Terrence Jones (24 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and 10-for-12 shooting). In his last five games, Jones is at 12.2/10.0/2.4 blocks, 53.2% as the Twin Towers lineup of Dwight and Omer Asik has quickly been discarded — Asik now seeking a trade. The ragtag Celtics shot 32.3%, as their starting backcourt of Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford combined to go 6-for-30 (20%).

Sacramento got by Phoenix, 107-104, at home as DeMarcus Cousins (more below) was montrous inside and Ben McLemore (19 points, five rebounds) and Isaiah Thomas (19 points) chipped in as well. A shin bruise kept Eric Bledsoe out for the Suns, but Gerald Green (23 points, four assists, two blocks) had a fine effort in his place.

In a rather forgettable game, the Heat beat the Hawks, 104-88, even though Dwyane Wade rested. Atlanta had 24 turnovers in the game, and the only performance worth noting for either team was 15 points and 10 rebounds from Hawks backup PF Mike Scott — no relation to the Houston Astros star pitcher from the mid 1980s who shares the same name.

The Michael Jordan Award  — DeMarcus Cousins —  27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 9 FTM, 4 steal, 2 block, 0 treys, and 9-for-18 shooting…While the consistency isn’t quite there yet – three of his first 10 games this year have been sub 12 points and sub 8 rebounds – Cousins (21.8/9.7 this year) is slowly becoming a regular 20/10 guy who can sprinkle in a few dimes, thefts, and fly swats. I’ve seen him make very nice passes before, but this year he’s only averaging 1.5 assists per game after coming in at 2.7 last season. But regarding steals (1.9) and blocks (1.5), he’s been splendid so far. He’s also shooting 47.8%, a career-high. As for his team, they’re now starting rookie SG Ben McLemore and ex-UCLA defensive specialist Luc Richard Mbah a Moute at SF, after trying guys like Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Marcus Thornton in the starting lineup alongside Cousins and Vasquez, the only Kings to start all year.

The Nikoloz Tskitishvili Award —  Markieff Morris —  3 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 FTM, 0 steal, 0 block, 0 treys, and 0-0 shooting in 11 minutes…He also accumulated five fouls in those 11 minutes. The inconsistency of the lesser players in the NBA is fascinating. Remember a week or so ago and I was talking about how impressive this guy was over his last four games (22/8, 69% shooting). Now, in his last three games, he’s grabbed just 10 total rebounds while making only four of 17 shots. His twin brother Marcus (they’re both Suns) was quite nice for Phoenix last night, though. He poured in 19 points in only 24 minutes, though it was rather hollow – 3 rebounds, 0 dimes, steals, and blocks.

The Allan Houston Hollow Man Award — J.R. Smith — 18 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 FTM, 1 steal, 0 block, 2 treys, and 7-for-15 shooting in 34 minutes…J.R. has only played five games so far this year after sitting out the first few games while still recovering from left knee surgery. The early returns are ugly, like most of this season for N.Y. He’s shooting 27.9% on 68 total shots, with just 11 dimes.

Todd Robinson is the publisher of Speedburner on Sports. Click here to read more of his articles.

Carmelo Anthony confronts Kevin Garnett after the two got tangled and words were exchanged. (GETTY IMAGES)

For someone who is supposed to be a most valuable player candidate this season, Carmelo Anthony still acts like an immature high school teenager.

Anthony was suspended one game by the NBA on Wednesday for confronting Kevin Garnett after the New York Knicks’ loss to Boston on Monday. Anthony, who was angry about Garnett’s choice of words during a fourth-quarter altercation, went toward the Celtics’ locker room after the game and later waited for Garnett outside Boston’s team bus. Are you serious? This is like sophomore stuff? Not even a high school senior will do this kind of thing.

Anthony didn’t believe he would be suspended because he said he was just looking to talk to Garnett, not fight. But NBA executive vice president of operations Stu Jackson ruled otherwise.

”There are no circumstances in which it is acceptable for a player to confront an opponent after a game,” Jackson said in a statement. ”Carmelo Anthony attempted to engage with Kevin Garnett multiple times after Monday’s game and therefore a suspension was warranted.”

Jackson said Anthony confronted Garnett ”in the arena tunnel, near the players’ locker rooms, and in the parking garage.” The incident by the bus, with New York police and Knicks coach Mike Woodson nearby, was captured on videotape. Anthony and Garnett received technical fouls with 9:03 remaining in the Celtics’ 102-96 victory, arguing with each other from the baseline to midcourt after a physical exchange on Boston’s previous possession. It was Anthony’s eighth technical foul this season, which is the most in the league.

After the game, Anthony went the wrong direction toward the Celtics’ locker room in hopes of finding Garnett. Anthony said he was upset because of what Garnett said, though wouldn’t elaborate on what it was. Whatever was said, it certainly didn’t warrant a gangster-type move by waiting for Garnett out in the parking lot.

”There’s certain things that you just don’t say to men, another man,” Anthony told the Associated Press. ”It’s over with for me. Whatever happened last night, happened. The words that was being said between me and Garnett, it happened, can’t take that away. I lost my cool, I accept that, but there’s just certain things that push certain people’s buttons.”

Anthony was clearly affected by Garnett, shooting just 6 of 26 from the field. He said the All-Star forwards eventually spoke and sorted out the matter.

For Anthony to be considered a legit star in the NBA, he has to clean up his act. He can’t be going around picking fights with a future Hall-of-Famer outside the arena. Whatever happens on the court should stay on the court. Anthony’s reputation definitely took a major hit after this incident.

Knicks star forward and early MVP candidate Carmelo Anthony scores 22 of his 30 points in the first quarter against the L.A. Lakers. (GETTY IMAGES)

Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant formed a close friendship when they were teammates on the United States Olympic team in 2008 and 2012.The two superstars found a common ground in the fact they both know what it feels like to be publicly scorned for shooting too much.

Anthony went through a tough period last year when the media and Knicks fans felt like the team had a better chance of winning with Jeremy Lin and that ‘Melo needed to tame his game become more of a facilitator.

Sensing a fellow shooter had become gun shy, Bryant had a message for Anthony last summer.

Ignore the critics, he said. Stop worrying about fitting in and get back to a scorer’s mentality.

”You have to do what you do best,” Bryant told him.

That’s what Anthony did in a spectacular first quarter Thursday night, and by the time he was done Bryant and the struggling Los Angeles Lakers had no hope of ending their slump.

Anthony scored 22 of his 30 points in the period, and the New York Knicks held on after he departed with a sprained left ankle to beat the Lakers 116-107 in coach Mike D’Antoni’s return to Madison Square Garden.

”I was zoned in. I was locked in,” Anthony told the Associated Press. ”Tonight was one of those games where I had that feeling. I wanted to get it going and I had that feeling going early in the game. My teammates were feeding off of that.”

Firing in 3-pointers and moving the ball to open shooters, things they often struggled to do under D’Antoni, the Knicks won for the eighth time in nine games and improved to 9-0 at home for the first time since the 1992-93 season.

”I wanted to beat them. I wanted to beat the Lakers, especially protecting our home court,” Anthony said. ”It had nothing to do with Mike. I wanted to protect our home court and win the basketball game.”

Statistically, Anthony is not having his best season. His 27.9 scoring average is just a shade below his career best of 28.9 in 2006-07 when he was playing for the Denver Nuggets. But what makes this year different is the way Anthony has reshaped his body and has become more active. Far too often he would settle for jump shots, but his year he’s attacking the basket more and — dare, I say it — playing more defense.

Anthony’s renewed commitment has been the driving force behind the resurgence of the Knicks. New York is now a serious challenger to Miami in the Eastern Conference and Anthony has taken the lead in the MVP race. The key will be how head coach Mike Woodson will use Amare Stoudemire once he returns from the injured list. It is no secret that ‘Melo and Amare don’t mesh well on the court together, so Woodson must find a happy medium in which both players can thrive and be comfortable.

Carmelo Anthony made 10 of his 12 3-point shots against Nigeria. (FIBA)

The most impressive part about the United States’ 156-73 destruction of Nigeria in the preliminary round of the men’s basketball tournament at the 2012 London Olympics was Carmelo Anthony’s 37 points in 14 minutes.

Think about it. Melo made13 of 16 shots from the field and was 10-for-12 from behind the 3-pointer arc (a couple of feet shorter than the NBA line). He did all that in 14 minutes! That’s not even a complete half of basketball. Had Anthony played another 14 minutes he could have easily reached 60 points, which would have broken Oscar Schmidt’s single-game mark of 55 points.

Anthony set the U.S. Olympic mark for points in a game in less than three quarters, breaking Stephon Marbury’s old record of 31 points set in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The U.S. also set the Olympic record for points in a game and points in a half (78), as well as most 3-pointers (26), field goals (59) and best field-goal percentage (71).

“Well, obviously, we just shot better than any team in a game that I have ever coached,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Our guys just couldn’t miss tonight, and they shared the ball.”

The U.S. had a record-tying 41 assists, including 11 assists from Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers). Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) scored 21 points, Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), who played in the first half only, had 16, Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) had 15; Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) finished with 14; and Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets) had 13 points and was 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

“Well, the support system that we had, that I had with my teammates, you can’t explain that,” Anthony said. “The way that they tell me to shoot the ball, encouraging me to make shots, take shots, but then just to feel it every time, that touch, it’s kind of hard to explain it. If you’ve never done it, you really wouldn’t understand what I’m talking about just in terms of shooting the ball and shooting it well.”

The USA opened with a 13-0 run and had nearly set the record for team 3-pointers made in the first 10 minutes, shooting 11-of-14 from behind the arc in the first quarter – four of those came from Anthony, and three were by Durant. Nigeria tried to slow the pace with timeouts at 7:16 and 2:06, but its efforts were in vain as the first-quarter buzzer sounded on the USA’s highest scoring quarter of the tournament, 49-25.

“It’s funny to see, man, Durant said. “What Carmelo did was unbelievable. Hopefully we keep it up. We passed the ball well, our guys were knocking down our shots, our point guards made sure we got open shots and we were able to knock them down. So, it was a fun game.”

The previous U.S. Olympic high had been 133 points set by the 1996 squad against China, and the previous all-time Olympic high was 138 points, which was recorded by Brazil in a win over Egypt in 1988.

“It’ll go down in history,” said Andre Iguodala, whose 3-pointer with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter broke the scoring record. “It only matters if we achieve our goals. We’re trying to get better as a team going forward. That’s three games down and a few more to go. Our mission is to get the gold and we’re trying to peak at the right time.”

FIBA.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LeBron James is one of five holdovers from the U.S. national squad that won gold in Beijing. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

LeBron James looks around the room at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas where USA Basketball is holding its Olympics press conference and he likes what he sees.

It doesn’t matter that his Miami Heat buddies Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are not a part of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team because of injuries, and it doesn’t matter that Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose are not here. The 12 men set to defend the gold medal in London this month are fast, athletic, versatile, and supremely confident.

Joining LeBron on Team USA are five holdovers from the Redeem Team that won gold in Beijing: Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Deron Williams. The Beijing Five will be the foundation of a squad that also boasts Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Andre Iguodala, and Tyson Chandler — members of the 2010 U.S. squad that won the gold medal at the world championships in Turkey. Rounding out the 12-man roster are two newcomers: James Harden and Blake Griffin.

“We’re happy to be back together. We’ll continue to work toward our goal to bring home a gold medal. But we’re not gonna take the easy way out,” James said. “We’ll work hard every single day, build our habits throughout this trip and when we get to London we’re going to prepare the right way and play the right way.”

The U.S. squad kicks off its exhibition tour with a game against the Dominican Republic on July 13 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. It plays four more exhibition games before heading to London. The U.S. opens Olympic competition on July 29 against France, which is led by Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum.

Based on official NBA positions, Chandler is the only true center in the lineup but head coach Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t think it’ll be a disadvantage.

“I’m excited about our opportunity to achieve great success,” Krzyzewski said. “This team has great versatility and athleticism, but I think even more than that the team has great camaraderie. They’re good guys. They’re good guys who are proud to serve their country and play for their country, and hopefully bring back the gold.”

Krzyzewski says Paul (point guard) and Chandler (center) are the only two players on the roster who have set positions. The rest of the group will be asked to play multiple positions and he expects to use a variety of unconventional lineups.

“The lineups that we will have during the ballgame will be real interesting,” Krzyzewski said. “You can have a lineup in there even LeBron James as the point guard, with Kobe and Westbrook and Carmelo and Durant. Whatever you can think about could happen with this team.”

This “small ball” concept is nothing new to Coach K and Co. He used Anthony and James at the power forward spot in Beijing, and he had Durant playing the big forward spot almost exclusively at the 2010 world championships.

The “smaller” lineup could also benefit Team USA on the defensive end, as they can apply more fullcourt pressure and force teams into turnovers that could lead to fastbreak points and easy layups. About the only concern with the unconventional lineups is the rebounding, but Coach K is hoping crashing the boards will be done by committee.

“The rebounding we’ll have to get from all five positions,” Krzyzewski said.

“We have a roster with great rebounders. We can all rebound the ball,” Bryant said. “Chris is a phenomenal rebounder, I can rebound, LeBron can rebound. Kevin Love is the best in the league. So we have guys who can crash the boards.”

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James aim for gold in the Summer Olympics in London. (GETTY IMAGES)

No Derrick Rose. No Dwight Howard. No Dwyane Wade. No Chris Bosh.

Is USA Basketball in trouble? Hardly.

The talent pool is still very deep and whomever the U.S. sends to London they will be heavily favored to win an Olympic gold medal. The team convenes in Las Vegas on July 5 to start training camp, then has five exhibitions with international teams before opening Olympic play against France on July 29. Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski won’t be doing any intense MMA exercise programs in Las Vegas to keep the squad fresh and injury-free after a grueling NBA schedule.

“I feel very confident about our roster going forward. … Adversity gives people opportunity and guess what? It’s going to open up a couple of roster positions,” USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said.

USA Basketball plans to announce the 12-man Olympic roster on July 7. NBA TV will air the announcement live.

The 16 finalists contending for 12 roster spots include: Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks); Anthony Davis (New Orleans Hornets); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); LeBron James (Miami Heat); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Clippers); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets).

Anthony, Bryant, James, Paul, and Williams are holdovers from the 2008 Beijing Games so they should be locks to make the squad. Durant, Westbrook, and Love were key members of the 2010 U.S. squad that won gold at the world championships so there is a very good chance they’ll be on their way to London. And with Bosh and Howard out, Chandler is the only true center on the team.

Former Kentucky star Anthony Davis, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2012 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets, was among the finalists until Saturday when he severely sprained his ankle during a workout with his new team. The Hornets almost assuredly will advise the 6-foot-10 Davis to not participate in the selection process, knocking another big man out of the mix.

That leaves Gordon, Gay, Iguodala, Harden, Odom, and Griffin to battle for the last three spots.

Iguodala, Gay, Odom, and Gordon were on the 2010 U.S. squad that captured the gold medal at the World Championships in Turkey. Gay can play either forward position, which will come in handy because of the lack of big men on the roster. Iguodala is a defensive specialist who doesn’t need to dominate the ball to be effective. It will be very difficult for the coaching staff to leave him out.

Gordon impressed the coaching staff with his physical toughness and ability to consistently knock down 3-point shots. Gordon is built like a running back and can handle the physicality of international play. But Gordon doesn’t defend as well as Iguodala, and because the roster is already loaded with scorers, a specialist or glue guy who can guard multiple positions could be more important than adding a player who can only play shooting guard.

Griffin is new to the international scene, but he is a huge fan favorite. If this was an all-star competition, Griffin would be a lock. His lack of experience (and lack of a jump shot) is a big red flag, but there is going to be a tidal wave of pressure from fans and team officials to put Griffin on the squad strictly from a public relations standpoint.

The same can’t be said about Harden. The Oklahoma City guard is also new to the process, and could be an important player in the future. But he may have to wait his turn.

Odom has plenty of international experience and a reality show to boot. But he recently took his name out of contention for obvious reasons: he’s not ready to play.

Here’s how the 12-man roster should look like when Team USA convenes in London:

Guards: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon

Forwards: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, Rudy Gay, Kevin Love

Center: Tyson Chandler

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

The Knicks could be without star forward Amare Stoudemire for Game 3 against the Heat. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

It went from bad to worse for the New York Knicks on Monday night, and it brought a whole new meaning to the warning sign that says “Break Glass In Case Of Emergency.”

Moments after dropping to an 0-2 hole in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with the Miami Heat, Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire reportedly cut his left hand while punching a fire extinguisher case in the locker room.

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports wrote that paramedics and team doctors from the Knicks and Heat were immediately called to the locker room. Blood was visible on the carpet when the locker room doors opened for reporters. Stoudemire reportedly received stitches and eventually left the arena with his left hand bandaged and his arm in a sling. If you’re a Knicks fan, that’s not exactly the image you want to see. The Knicks are already having a hard time scoring against the Heat defense with Stoudemire in the lineup, and now it’ll only get harder.

Stoudemire later apologize for his actions through his Twitter account. He wrote: ”I am so mad at myself right now, I want to apologize to the fans and my team, not proud of my actions, headed home for a new start.”

Well, the good news is Stoudemire is not too hurt to tweet. The bad news is he may not be available to play in Game 3 when the series shifts to New York. The Knicks, who have not won a postseason game since 2001, are already playing without starting guard Jeremy Lin and rookie Iman Shumpert, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Game 1.

Knicks center Tyson Chandler told TNT’s David Aldridge that Stoudemire “has a laceration” and is “probably going to be out.” Then Chandler caught himself and softened his comment by saying, “I don’t know how bad it is.”

Chandler’s teammate Carmelo Anthony said he didn’t know what happened and had no idea what went on in the locker room.

”You never want to hear anyone gets hurt,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ”Hopefully [Amare] gets better. We want all their guns on the court.”

Point guard Jeremy Lin and head coach Mike Woodson have the Knicks is position to make a push for the playoffs. (GETTY IMAGES)

Mike Woodson has a reputation as a good coach around the NBA.

He was a solid head coach in Atlanta where he took over a team that won 13 games in his first season in 2004-05, but he was able to turn around the Hawks and had them making three straight playoff appearances by the time he was fired in 2009-10. Atlanta decided he wasn’t capable of taking them any farther and decided to let him go on May 17, 2010, after the Hawks lost to Orlando in the second round of the playoffs. It was the second straight year they had lost in the second round.

However, Woodson didn’t stay unemployed for very long. He missed out on the Detroit Pistons head coaching position when the team hired Lawrence Frank, but he was hired on Aug. 29, 2011, by the New York Knicks primarily as a defensive coach.

The Knicks needed a coach who would hold the players accountable. The Knicks players had been reportedly tuning out Mike D’Antoni and he had no choice but to resign. He saw the writing on the wall in Gotham.

The Knicks have now won eight of their last nine games with Woodson as the head coach. Sandwiched in there was a lazy loss to the Raptors, but in this shortened 66-game season, those will happen. In the nine games since Woodson has taken over, N.Y. has allowed 79 points four times and is allowing just 84 points per game. On Monday, they allowed just 80 points to the Bucks, who are led by the dynamic backcourt of Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings. And on Wednesday, they pulled off a huge win when they beat Orlando, 108-86. The Knicks job got a little harder with Amare Stoudemire sidelined indefinitely with a bulging disk.

The Knicks had a winning streak earlier in the season with Amare and Carmelo Anthony out when Linsanity took off. Melo had 28 points and 12 rebounds in the game against Milwaukee. He also had 26 points and five assists against the Magic. Maybe, he will finally realize his potential as a leader and take charge of this team. Other players will need to step up and perform under pressure, but with a coach who is preaching defense, this just might have a chance at working. Iman Shumpert had an excellent game against Orlando with 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Steve Novak also continued his breakout season with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

The players are responding to Woodson in a positive way and they are just 2.5 games out of first place in the Atlantic Division. The Sixers have nine of their last 11 games on the road and the Celtics have a killer schedule to close out the regular season with games against Miami, Chicago, San Antonio, Indiana, Orlando, and Atlanta. Coaching changes are always awkward in the middle of the season, but this move might be just the move the Knicks needed to make. And so far, the players certainly have shown a passion and fire they lacked under the other Mike.

Darren Jacks is a contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email to djroxalot@hotmail.com.

Carmelo Anthony is struggling to fit in Mike D'Antoni's system. (GETTY IMAGES)

A month ago the New York Knicks were riding a seven-game winning streak and the entire basketball world was going absolutely bananas over Jeremy Lin. Fast forward to March 12 and the Knicks are now on a steep downward spiral like roller-coaster on Magic Mountain.

The Knicks are mired in a six-game slump, losers of eight of their last 10 games, and fading fast in the Eastern Conference. What’s the difference between now and February? I’ve got two words for New York fans: Carmelo Anthony.

According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the Knicks’ locker room is in turmoil as many of the players as questioning head coach Mike D’Antoni’s ability to lead this team. It’s not a big surprise that D’Antoni – who resigned on Tuesday amid reports that he had lost the respect of his players – is getting the bulk of the criticism, but a bigger chunk of the blame should go to the Knicks’ high-maintenance superstar Carmelo Anthony.

Since Anthony rejoined the team on Feb. 20, the offense that was moving and grooving with Lin running the show has become stagnant again, just like how it became stagnant since the Knicks acquired Anthony from Denver last season. This is what Knicks fans were afraid of when Anthony returned. With ‘Melo out, the Knicks put the ball in Lin’s hands, ran D’Antoni’s pick-and-roll sets and he was able to spread the wealth and keep everyone involved. With ‘Melo in, Lin has deferred too many times and has become hesitant, and when you hesitate in the NBA you are toast. Lin’s confidence has waned and he’s not playing with the same fire like he was a month ago because he doesn’t want to step on ‘Melo’s toes.

Sure most teams have loaded up on Lin and have figured out he doesn’t drive to the basket as fast going to his left (which is something Lin is trying to work through). This is where Anthony is supposed to step up and take pressure off Lin. Instead, the Knicks are back to the dreaded isolation plays and stand-still basketball that plagued them in the past.

When the ball moves, the Knicks are a dangerous team because: a) defenses can’t load up and defend just one side of the court, b) it makes it difficult for teams to defend the high pick-and-rolls and the drive-and-kicks, and c) it discourages one-on-one plays.

Anthony is a notorious ball-stopper and he’s struggling to fit in D’Antoni’s offense. And he certainly doesn’t mesh well with fellow All-Star Amare Stoudemire. It’s almost like they’re competing against each other for shots, which puts a lot of pressure on the point guards – whether it’s Lin or Baron Davis – to keep them happy. This is the biggest flaw in Carmelo’s game. He was a ball-stopper when he was in Denver, and he’s an even worse ball-stopper now that he’s the main attraction in New York.

Amare and ‘Melo both like to operate around the free throw line. But when they don’t get the ball on offense they tend to loaf on defense. It’s quite obvious that Anthony and Stoudemire have no interest in playing defense, something the Knicks were doing better with during their winning streak. During their winning streak, which occurred when both stars were sidelined due to injuries, defensive-minded guys like Jared Jeffries and Bill Walker got more playing time. With Jeffries and Walker, the Knicks were much improved defensively and neither player demanded the ball on offense, allowing Lin to run the offense freely without having to force feed the ball on the wings.

Anthony is a very strong figure on and off the court, so when there’s a tug of war for the basketball, he’s going to win more often than not. When he crosses halfcourt, he’s already looking for Lin to feed him the ball. At this stage of his young NBA career, Lin simply doesn’t have the credentials to wave off ‘Melo. And because D’Antoni doesn’t like confrontations, it ultimately led to his departure.

This is a huge dilemma for the Knicks because management has invested a ton of money on Anthony to excite the loyal fan base. But it’s obvious that for the Knicks to win a championship, they need to shed some of their me-first players and Anthony is right on top of that list.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.