Justin Terranova talked with play-by-play legend Marv Albert, who will be calling the Knicks-Nets opener from Barclays Center on Thursday night. The TNT broadcaster said he is not confident the Knicks duo of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire will figure out how to play together.
Q: Do you think some Knicks fans will convert to the Nets?
A: Knicks fans are so passionate. They are there every year even without success. Now it’s reached the point where they are a playoff team. It might be hard to look at their fan base to make a move to be a Nets fan, but I think there are enough basketball fans in Long Island [and] Queens where the Nets will do very well. Of course, you have to win, but that’s why I thought Billy King did an excellent job revamping the roster.
Q: Where do you think the Nets stack up in the Eastern Conference?
A: I think they are a playoff team, but not a top-four team. I don’t know about the Knicks being top-four, either. It’s hard to crack a good part of that group with Miami, Boston, Indiana and even Chicago, as long as Derrick Rose comes back all right.
Q: What’s your biggest concern with the Knicks?
A: It’s whether Amar’e (Stoudemire) and Carmelo (Anthony) can play effectively. It hasn’t happened to this point. I don’t know it if can. Are they better with Amar’e coming off the bench? Will he accept that? With Carmelo, who is a great talent, but you wonder how far you can go in the playoffs with Carmelo. We saw that in Denver. With the isolation and him being the main scorer, you look back at NBA history teams with guys like him don’t usually win championships.
Q: Is it a matter of adjusting their games or do these guys just not work well together?
A: Their games are so similar I really don’t see how it can mesh. It may mesh on certain occasions, but over the long haul of 82 games and a playoff run, I think it’s very difficult. I look at Carmelo as someone who will have his greatest success on his next team as someone who comes off the bench as an instant-offense guy. and is not on the floor for 38-40 minutes.
Q: Are the Heat the favorite again?
A: I’d say so. With what Miami demonstrated last season and if (Chris) Bosh is able to move over to center, similar to what (Kevin) Garnett did for the Celtics, you can get away with that now because there aren’t a lot of back-to-the-basket centers nowadays.