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Ultimate Standings: Knicks climb slightly but still pricey

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New York Knicks

Overall: 114
Title track: 101
Ownership: 105
Coaching: 100
Players: 111
Fan relations: 105
Affordability: 118
Stadium experience: 83
Bang for the buck: 117
Change from last year: +7

Voters in the 2016 Ultimate Standings don't appear to have much faith in Phil Jackson, whose Knicks remain in the bottom 10 of all teams. New York did move up seven spots this year, after a 32-win campaign in 2015-16, Jackson's second full season as team president, but it'll take a lot more Ws than that to make up for those ticket prices.


What's good

Madison Square Garden remains one of the Knicks' few strong selling points, though fans still ranked the arena in the bottom half of all teams. The bright side: Stadium experience is the only category in which New York ranked inside the Top 100. Sure enough, the Knicks seem to find a way to fill the building, even when they struggle. Case in point: New York was one of seven NBA teams to report 100 percent attendance in 2015-16. Among those seven, they were the only club with a losing record.


What's bad

Not surprisingly, the Knicks fare poorly in bang for the buck (117th); very few wins and very high prices will do that. Knicks fans spent plenty of money on the team last season: New York's average ticket is the most expensive in the league, at $130. That's more than $25 more than the second-most expensive, $48 more than NBA average and an astonishing $99 more than the league's cheapest average stub (Surprise! The Knicks are 118th in affordability, worst in the NBA). Considering that they won just 32 games and failed to reach the playoffs for the third straight season, the Knicks faithful didn't get a great return on their investment.


What's new

If there's one area where fans feel a slight amount of optimism, it's on the sideline. New York jumped 16 spots to No. 100 in coaching, which measures strength of on-court leadership. Jackson replaced the jettisoned Derek Fisher and interim Kurt Rambis with former Suns coach Jeff Hornacek in the offseason. Although cautiously hopeful, fans weren't overly impressed by the Knicks' new faces, which include Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee. New York ranks 111th in players -- good for a 10-spot increase from last season but still pretty poor when you consider there are 122 franchises ranked.

Next: Phoenix Suns | Full rankings