So, About This Whole Point Guard Thing...
Time for the Knicks to be on the right side of history
The Knicks played their third preseason game last night, falling to the Atlanta Hawks 100-96. There are some nights where the game is much closer than the score indicates. Last night was the opposite.
New York looked like a bit of mess on both ends throughout much of the evening. On one hand, this was to be expected, as (cue broken record) they’ve overturned over half the roster and the only holdovers are children, at least by NBA standards.
On the other hand, they can’t go into real games looking like they have so far. The Knicks’ schedule starts out with a testy first nine games, gets easier for about a week and a half, and then turns into the last 20 minutes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for about two months.
With that in mind, we can only hope that when it comes to the most important position on the floor, they choose…wisely:
One Big Thing: We’ve seen enough. Frank Ntilikina should get the starting gig.
No, we haven’t seen enough from Ntilikina himself this preseason to warrant such a proclamation. He’s 6-for-21 from the field, for crying out loud.
We also haven’t seen enough from Dennis Smith Jr., for whom Halloween came early last night:
Great cosume!
(BTW, Fiz said he informed Elfrid Payton before the game that he’d be sitting so he could get a longer look at DSJ and Frank)
No, what we’ve seen enough of is the blueprint for how this team is going to be at its best, at least given the current roster: Run the offense through Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, and defend like hell at the point of attack.
Smith, even when he’s going well, has not shown himself to be a valuable off-ball player. In fairness, of course, neither has Frank. But Ntilikina’s outside shot seems closer to a real thing at this point, and he’s clearly superior in the other aspects of point guard play that David Fizdale allegedly values.
(Is it Fizdale’s destiny to open up the “School For Point Guards Who Can't Run an Offense Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too”? I think so.)
The one exception is penetrating and drawing attention with individual fancy-shmancy primary ball handler stuff, but again, with Randle and Barrett out there, you can make it work. Meanwhile, Smith Jr. can come off the bench and do his poor man’s Russ impression to his heart’s content. Gumdrops and Candy Canes for everyone.
Will Frank’s shot ever come around to make this an actually functional NBA lineup? I have no earthly clue. But I do know that if I’m punting on the chance to find out, I’m not doing so for whatever piddly shit return New York stands to receive if they trade Ntilikina right now.
On that note, Detroit scout and OAKAAK Malik Rose was in the building last night, just days after a Pistons scribe Vincent Ellis theorized that they could look to steal Frank on the cheap.
Steve and Scott, if you’re reading this (a man can dream…) just say no. Sometimes the best move is the one you don’t make. This is one of those times.
Give the kid a chance. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.
But it’s worth a shot.
Unpopular Opinion: I’m not 100% sure I hate Bobby Portis starting.
Whoever ends up being the point guard - Frank, DSJ, Payton, Clyde, Stanley, Michael Scott, Gizmo from Gremlins, my left shoe – whoever, they aren’t going to be a threat from outside. Portis, despite his many, many deficiencies, is at least a credible deep ball threat.
I’d much prefer him to limit these to corner attempts, which should be fine. Let him chill out there on offensive possessions, with Morris or Knox at the foul line extended and Frank, RJ and Randle running some actions on the opposite side of the floor.
The downside is that with Portis, you have no choice but to switch everything, but with Ntilikina as your 6’7” point guard (no I don’t care what the official measurements were. He’s 6’7”, dammit) that’s fine. Switch away.
As for Mitch, he can still get his 25 minutes a night and close games (sorry Wally, but the Knicks did not have their best defensive lineup on the floor to close last night’s game. Put down the pipe.)
Like with Frank starting, this is worth a shot.
Key Stat: 33.
That’s how many times the Knicks got to the line last night, which was the only reason they were in the game. I can’t see a scenario where getting to the line a ton isn’t going to be a huge part of their formula for success this year, not with the paucity of truly elite shooting on this roster.
Last season, they finished eighth in the league in free throw rate. I say they’re even higher this year.
Made Me Smile: Kevin Knox, looking the part.
I know he was only 2-for-8, but Knox once again looked like a different player. His added strength is manifesting itself in several ways, and he might be the best shooter on this team from deep. With his size, if he can extend his range a few feet outside the 3-point line, it could do wonders for this offense.
On that note, I haven’t given up on the idea of him starting for Marcus Morris. This team has four guys who clearly operate better with the ball in their hands: RJ and Julius, who are going to start, and Smith Jr. and Morris, who might actually work quite well together off the bench.
Not sure if it’s worth the defensive trade off, but like we’ve said a few times already, it’s worth a shot. If he can pass it a little bit, it makes the decision that much more difficult:
Unleash the beast.
Other notes:
Mitch looked more like himself last night. I honestly don’t know if coming off the bench is better or worse for his development at this point. He should 100% be considered a franchise cornerstone, and they need to play the long game with him. If that means going against backups for parts of this season, so be it.
Bobby Portis is something to behold on defense. Oh my. My oh my oh my…
Wayne Ellington is a shooter and he will hit shots at some point. Don’t take last night’s 1-for-7 effort from deep as an indiction of what’s to come. If he makes two more, they win that game. I think he makes them more often than not.
RJ Barrett had six dimes, which was wonderful. So excited to see him take his lumps this year. It’s going to be fun.
Final Thought:
I’m officially really curious to see what happens with Trier.
I wrote about this last week and I’ll say it again now: I think it’s really telling that he’s been the odd man out thus far. I’m not sure if it’s an indication of how the organization sees his long term ceiling, if it’s something with the attitude he brought to camp, or if it’s merely a numbers game and he’s gotten the short end of the stick.
Regardless, I’ll be watching. I cannot fathom Trier his someone who will sit quietly and happily on the bench for long. Let’s see what happens.