People will remember this much though: Nets 96, Knicks 89.

After a terrible shooting performance in the fourth quarter and overtime, the Knicks continue their streak of poor showings in the second game of back-to-backs falling to 1-3 in such games.

For a great portion of the game, Carmelo Anthony looked like the Carmelo Anthony the Knicks believed they traded for just a couple years ago. When the game was on the line though, iso-Melo ensued, and iso-Melo failed.

It wasn’t just Melo, who played 50 minutes, to blame though.

Raymond Felton shot an abominable 3-19 from the field, scoring just eight points in his 42 minutes. It wasn’t so much as Deron Williams’ stunning defense as it was Felton missing open shots. An indirect effect of Kidd’s back spasms and DNP was that Felton (and to a lesser extent, Prigioni) would have to take on a greater role at point guard.

The only glimmer of hope from the whole game was Tyson Chandler’s grittiness. Put back after put back, key defensive plays, and an overall 28 points on 13 shots (screaming efficiency) was the reason New York had a chance to win the game down the stretch.

The Nets did an excellent job containing J.R. Smith, Steve Novak, and Carmelo Anthony down the stretch.

The Knicks will visit Milwaukee on Wednesday night as they take on the 7-5 Bucks. On the road, the Knicks are 4-4.

The recent hurricane has hit New York residents, knocking out power in some two million households across the tri-state area. Some players – namely Dwayne Wade and LeBron James – have asked if the NBA and the city of New York should even be playing the game to begin with… a valid question. Steve Novak believes the game to be a distraction and should be held.

Amar’e Stoudemire will be out for six weeks spanning a quarter of the season. Will it be a positive, considering STAT’s 2011-12 performance, or a negative? Was the contract the Knicks handed Stoudemire that bad?

Hurricane Sandy has brought unexpected questions. Amar’e Stoudemire has brought more expected ones.

The good news is that the Knicks will only be without STAT for two or three weeks. Kurt Thomas will likely fill in as the starter; Chris Copeland will probably get a shot to prove his value to the team.

Stoudemire struggled last season, desperately trying to find any bit of chemistry with Melo. This year, the Knicks are relying on their six-foot eleven-inch former star to revitalize his performance if the team plans on finding any success in the postseason.

• The search for the fifteenth Knick is on. So far we have (in no particular order): Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Carmelo anthony, Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith, Ronnie Brewer, Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Jason Kidd, Pablo Prigioni, Iman Shumpert, Steve Novak, James White, and Chris Copeland (non-guaranteed).

• Three of those aforementioned Knickerbockers are competing at the Olympic-level. Chandler and Anthony are both playing for the United States while Pablo Prigioni is on Team Argentina. Today, Argentina is playing at 3 p.m. and USA 5:15 p.m. EST.

• Surprise, surprise… the Knicks will play 82 games this season! The complete schedule, filled with The return to “scheduling normalcy” is something that I am accepting with open arms. We can say goodbye to the back-to-back-to-back, and say hello to the many nationally televised games that the Knicks will play this season. You check out all the details here.

• Speaking of the schedule, the Knicks have been notoriously bad on Friday nights in the past couple of years and some have taken to blaming Robert Randolph, the poor artist to record the “Friday Night Knicks” soundtrack, for these losses. Our friends over at Posting and Toasting raised enough hell to get Randolph to write a new track. How sweet!

And that’s all for now. Excited to see this season develop in Knicks land. Should be a fun one.

Whether it’s by the Rockets or the Knicks, Jeremy Lin will get paid $25.1 million over three years. To match or not to match, that is the question.

Every mainstream reporter has, for the past 48 hours, stated via sources that the Knicks are unlikely to match Jeremy Lin’s offer sheet. It has been a foregone conclusion that New York will not match, just as it had been a foregone conclusion just a week prior that the team would match any offer up to “one billion.”

Two tweets last night could be seen as a slimmer of hope for those in the “Keep Lin” camp.

One from the well connected Alex Kennedy, 9:00 PM:

The New York Knicks haven’t given Jeremy Lin’s camp any indication what they’re going to do, according to source close to the situation.

The other from Rod Boone, 10:17 PM:

More Melo on ‪#Lin‬: “With Jeremy, I know he definitely wants to be back in New York & Dolan definitely wants him back.”

Carmelo Anthony has never been a pro at dealing with the media. If it is true that Lin wanted to be a Knick and Dolan wanted him to be a Knick, what is the holdup? Why is Lin not yet a Knick?

On a similar note, over here almost 10,000 people (may very well be at 10,000 when you click this) have signed the petition to keep Jeremy Lin a Knickerbocker. Do it.

*

It’s hard to take blame for something.

It rarely happens in the sports world and rarely happens in any world.

However, you are at fault for the current state of the Knicks. And so am I, along with every other Knicks blogger who begged for Carmelo Anthony’s arrival. And every Knicks-gloryifying friend you have who wanted to rock that #7 jersey with pride. And every person that worships, follows, or cares about the Knicks in the slightest way who wanted Carmelo Anthony on the Knicks.

James Dolan is a businessman. He believes that he should take what the people believe in, in this case Carmelo Anthony, and monetize it.

This becomes a problem, however, when what the people believe in does not equate to wins.

In theory, two players that have won many games as the best players on their respective teams – Amar’e Stoudemire as a Knick and Carmelo Anthony as a Nugget – should be able to win more games together.

Superstars are adored in the NBA. Fans buy their jerseys. Fans want them on their team. Good businessmen also, therefore, should want them on their team.

So while the world should rightfully blame James Dolan for “loving” Melo, realize the reason he does have such affection for Melo is because Melo makes James Dolan money.

(What Dolan is failing to realize, of course, is that profits would be even higher if the Knicks have the best possible team on the floor and that’s why he should truly delegate his power to the general manager. But of course, that would be too much to ask.)

Yes, Dolan is who I place blame on chiefly. It’s only because you and I have an obsession with a flawed player does this happen. You, and I, collectively gave James Dolan that power.

*

Before Mike D’Antoni and Carmelo Anthony had ever played a game together, their styles clashed. We were just standing in the stands hoping it would work.

When it didn’t, we got frustrated.

And we prayed for a point guard savior in the form of Baron Davis.

When Jeremy Lin came along, Carmelo Anthony was sitting on the sidelines.

When Anthony came back, wins were far away.

The truth of it is that Mike D’Antoni and Carmelo Anthony were two different people who had two different ideas of how to play basketball.

Anthony never showed he could play in D’Antoni’s system. The organization, also known as James Dolan, had more stocked in Carmelo Anthony succeeding than D’Antoni.

*

Now, a new era of the Knicks has started with Mike Woodson at the helm.

Carmelo Anthony will now get to play his style of basketball: isolation heavy.

Succeeding could ruin Mike D’Antoni’s legacy. Failing could ruin his own.

That’s the current state of the New York Knicks.

Right now the team is at a scary place. The fan base is ready to collapse on a coach that does not deserve blame, his star players are reserving to their less-than-stellar versions of themselves, and the team as a whole is on a five game losing streak.

When they had won seven in a row, reporters and fans alike were calling for their slot in the Finals. Now, the same people are calling for their arrival in last place.

Everything that went right for a solid three weeks, has now gone wrong.

This is your 2011-12 New York Knicks.

So, about a week ago, I asked him who he thought Jeremy Lin made better on the basketball court. I told him I was thinking of two particular players.

He replied with, “Landry Fields, Bill Walker, and Steve Novak”, and he was right. I told him I was thinking of Jeffries and Chandler. He told me I was right.

And that’s probably the best thing about Lin from the perspective of a Knicks fan. He makes everyone better. Why not Carmelo Anthony?

We’ll find out tonight.

In fact, right now, a lot of people blame Mike D’Antoni for not inserting Lin into his starting lineup when he was originally signed for a non-guaranteed amount of approximately $800,000. (That money was guaranteed on Tuesday.)

On December 9, sixteen days before the NBA season had even began, the Warriors cut Jeremy Lin for cap reasons. Just two days later, the Houston Rockets picked him up off waivers. His role was to backup Kyle Lowry, who unfortunately and also somewhat ironically just went down with a hyperextended elbow injury last night. The day the season started for the Knicks – December 25 – the Rockets waived Lin to make space for Samuel Dalembert.

By December 27, the Knicks claimed Lin off waivers. I would like to think that my reasoning at the time was somewhat rationale. I argued that Lin was not a long term solution, nothing to get excited about, and not “likely to be the Knicks point guard in April or May…” In the original post, I noted how Lin’s game revolved around “the pick and roll and quality defense”. I should have known then that he had the chance to blossom in a run and gun system. Like many others, I ignored the somewhat obvious signs.

(For the record, the audience on that post was extraordinarily critical. Looking back, rightfully so.)

Starting on December 28, Jeremy Lin consistently played during the end of games, always when the outcome had already been decided.

Those who blame Mike D’Antoni for not playing Lin from the get-go need to analyze Lin’s first five games as a Knick, when he did get play, just failed to show his full repertoire. Lin’s most infamous games came against the Kings, when he played just 3:51 and picked up four fouls and two turnovers.

On January 17, the Knicks assigned Lin down to their D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks. In one game with the BayHawks, Lin posted a triple double – 28 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds.

On January 23, Baron Davis, then lauded as the Knicks’ savior, returned to practice. It appeared as if the season rested on the veteran’s shoulders. The same day, Jeremy Lin was recalled from the BayHawks and joined the Knicks.

From January 24 to February 3, Lin played in four separate games, combining for a total of 38:47, 23 points, 15 assists, and two steals. Most of that was in garbage time. He played over 20 minutes only against the Rockets, finishing with nine points and six assists.

However on February 4, Lin got the chance to show his hand due to Knicks injuries and lack of success from other “point guards”. This resulted in Lin’s first stellar performance, which occurred against Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets. By this time, Baron Davis had already reached another setback. Lin finished with 25 points and seven assists, combined with just one turnover in 35:52 of play.

On February 6, he dominated the Utah Jazz to the tune of 28 points and eight assists. He played every minute of the second half, missing just three minutes and eight seconds from the game entirely. Seven of his eight turnovers came in the second half as well, where he likely felt fatigue and tiredness.

On February 8, with expectations mounted, Lin did not stop rolling. Against John Wall, the Harvard point guard scored 23 points and dished 10 assists. He became the first player since LeBron James to score more than 22 points and dish eight assists in his first two career starts.

The most amazing thing, to me at least, is that all three games have resulted in wins, even without the help of superstars Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony in two of them.

And now it’s February 9. The toughest part from here on out will be sustaining his level of productivity. Onward and upward for Jeremy Lin.

*

So why has Lin been so successful? I posed some variation of this question on Twitter last night and got some really good responses. Credit is listed in parenthesis.

• D’Antoni and His System. Many are scared to give him credit, but it is under his system where Lin is succeeding. The running and gunning and the seven seconds or less and the offense actually work. I think that shocks some people. Lin could arguably be the best point guard D’Antoni has coached in his tenure in New York. While he hasn’t had a talented bunch, it does say something about Lin. (@ConnorHuchton, @jombi89)
• Previous Point Guards. The point guards that have ran the show this season for D’Antoni – Douglas, Shumpert, Bibby, Melo – have done a horrendous job. They don’t do the things that Lin has a natural tendency to do. This has helped New York and its fans to praise Lin for being the point guard that can save this team. (@Shlish)
• Skills. A few brought up his inherent basketball skills – like the way he gets to the basket with ease, how he finishes through contact, finds the open man, avoids turnovers, has a natural defensive prowess, and knows the right decisions to make off the pick and roll. (@Blumonkeebiz, @TheCfaithful, @Citizen_Insane_)

Have another reason you think Lin has been as good as he has? Post it in the comments.