Sean B. Fitzgerald It doesn’t go something like this, it goes exactly like this.

Knicks/Celtics Wrap-Up

Just a painful series to watch. If you're a Knicks fan, that is. Games 1 and 2 were competitive but ultimately came down to a lack of experience in crunch time minutes. Which is something the Celtics have in droves. And they also make open shots. And defend better. And play basketball better in general.

But what's done is done. Time to move on. Time to figure out how exactly the Knicks are going to compete next year with little to no cap room. Lets see, both Carmelo and Amare are locked in. They also have a $13 million option on Chauncey Billups which may or may not be picked up. Obviously if Billups stays healthy for the entire year, it's worth the investment. However, we all watched him in suits on the bench far too much. So exercising the $4 million buyout may be in the best interest of the team. That way they can mold Toney Douglas further into a distributor at the point and spend money on a big, bruising center. Unless I am mistaken, Marc Gasol's contract is up after the season. Adding him to the starting rotation could very well make the Knicks a contender for the 2011-2012 season. However, the Grizzlies are playing very well right now and are on the verge of knocking the Spurs out of the playoffs. They would be stupid not to extend his deal as soon as possible.

We all knew that this wasn't the Knicks year. This was merely step one in a long process to bring the Knicks back to respectability. Yes, it would have been nice for them to win one game during this series. But the wins will come. The playoff wins will come. Carmelo is too much of a superstar to sit idly by and see otherwise.

I'm looking forward to next season.