Starting lineup

[taowave]

I think you are off on the PG rotation..

At least I hope you are..

With this basically being the rotation thread, here is what I roughly expect Fiz to come up with:

C Kanter 30 - Robinson/Vonleh 18
PF Thomas 20 - Hezonja 24 - Knox 4
SF Knox 24 - Ntilikina 14 - Lee 10
SG Hardaway 32 - Lee 10 - Trier 6
PG Burke 20 - Trier 14 - Ntilikina 14

Mudiay might be in play at the start of the season, but unless he a) improves or b) someone else struggles, I think Lee will overtake his spot in the rotation very quickly.

THJ is in for a big season; Kanter too if he can stay on the floor for 30 minutes, i.e. Fiz continues to have a defensive scheme around Enes that works. If the latter happens, Kanter might even challenge for the top scorer crown in KP's absence (and I still call dips on any "Kanter is better than..." threads). Although at Fiz preferred pace, Kanter's current top conditioning could become an issue later in the season. Lance is just the placeholder until KP comes back or a bench player (Hezonja the first candidate, if we don't go really small) makes a hard push for the starting spot. Knox has the SF spot locked up, because there is no one on the roster coming for his position, but his minutes might vary on his production.

Ntili should get as much playing time, being able to play with anyone, but likely comes in from the wing first, so we can keep the other ball handlers (Burke/Trier) in the line-up. Based on last season and pre-season I expect Burke to get the PG starting spot at first, but so far he hasn't looked as the one being able to log starters minutes at that spot. Trier looks primed to be a sixth man weapon off the bench, but obviously for a rook, consistency will be a question mark. Anyway I see Ntili leaping ahead of the other guards as Burke's potential successor at the one. Robinson and Vonleh will likely compete all season for back-up center minutes.

Everyone else (Mudiay, Kornet, Dotson, Baker) will likely have to hope for a need of change or injuries.

[gradyandrew]

Any news on Courtney Lee? Will he be playing or is he still injured? Has he been practicing?

[spree#8]

Lee has practiced the last two days, but will likely sit out the opener having missed preseason.

[Don Che]

Frank is starting over Knox?....ballsy

[gradyandrew]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2499 ... zdale-says

Return of the two PGs! Someone in the Phillippines is going to be happy!

Interesting comments by Fiz.
1. He doesnt sound anything like hes going to tank it. It almost sounds more like hes going to go thibs and play his best guys more.

2. Lack of agency on the coach's part. He says its about the culture, stats, and other players. I get that he wants to be the guys best friend and doesnt want to damage Knox's confidence so he gets a pass for now.

3. Positionless basketball is here. I hope we'll see a lot of pressing by the team, Enes is the only starter that plays in the halfcourt, everyone else is a full court guy.

4. That bench- wow! There are going to be some rough stretches.
i

[Don Che]

Frank had a better preseason than knox.

Tim will guard 3's and crazy enough he defended average last year which he guarded 3's anyway.

Knox will have to out play tim or burke....or even Lance.

he has a lot of time to work it out.

I would of benched burke but I cant say that Knox earned the spot so I dont have any issues with it.

going to the game tonight so let's see what these kids got

[NewlyKnicked]

So the starting lineup is Burke-THJ-Frank-Lance-Enes.

Fizz chose to go with the guys that made the most impact in the preseason. I respect that even though it means Knox starts on the bench. We'll see if the kid can react and earn that spot OR if it cripples his confidence (if it does the latter, then I guess Knox wasn't going to make it big anyway). At least it's consistent with the "nobody has a garanteed spot" speech.

Just like you, grady, I'm concerned with our bench tho. It's probably going to be a lot of an Iso-zo show with little to no defense. Hopefully Lee will be there to bring some experience and maturity. He shou organize a little that young bunch, but he hasn't been a very vocal leader so far in his career

[taowave]

I look at it as ThJ is starting over Knox at the 3...

Frank is playing the 2, alongside a score first PG in Burke..Frank is basically Eric Snow for now...It's the best way to get Frank comfortable to eventually/hopefully shift to the 1..He's not quite ready to handle the 1 right yet,and Fix knows it..

Frank has nothing to do with Knox

Frank is starting over Knox?....ballsy

[Don Che]

yeh i went a bit more elaborate saying a similar thing regarding this.

Tim is the 3...Frank will be the main perimeter distributor which I think is great. Knox is gonna have to outplay Tim or Thomas

which may be hard for him to do as a rook

but overall i can say off the eye test....Kanter/Thomas and Frank earned their spots.

Burke just proved hes better than Mudiay. And we heard good things regarding his camp and leadership.


either way we are gonna lose but you gotta make guys earn it.

[maxinquaye11]

^ I agree. We're going to lose either way (nooot) but at least coach fiz made good on his promise to fix mudiay, play positionless and start those who earned it. The culture change has begun and I'm in 2pg heaven. Now to find that old 2pg thread and revive it but first, let me change my nykfp profile picture.

I'm pumped! The max2pg is Back! (Amare voice)

The younger, faster, more athletic 2pg version of Felton and Prigioni!

And yes, Tim is more of the 3 than Ntili.

[Don Che]

either Fizz is shorter than i thought or Frank is growing by the second lol

[maxinquaye11]

Love the picture. It shows what roles all three are going to play. You can feel the coach-point guard communication and young padawan frank taking it all in like a sponge.

Now, Coach Fiz can go concentrate on coaching team defense while Burke and frank take care of the offense. Kind of like how it went with Woodson's 53win shallow offense but full accountability on defense.

[rebound]

Lance is a good placeholder until KP's retun in December.

[maxinquaye11]

Lance is a good placeholder until KP's retun in December.

genius move by the fiz

[NYGM]

Love the picture. It shows what roles all three are going to play. You can feel the coach-point guard communication and young padawan frank taking it all in like a sponge.

Now, Coach Fiz can go concentrate on coaching team defense while Burke and frank take care of the offense. Kind of like how it went with Woodson's 53win shallow offense but full accountability on defense.

Interesting Maxin, everyone is assuming Frank playing SF because his ability to defend that position better than THJ..

But offensively he's more in a facilitator role than THJ, so in escense he's more like a guard than a forward..

In reality we are playing 3 guards..

[shakespeare]

First-year Knicks coach David Fizdale announced on Tuesday that second-year guard/forward Frank Ntilikina will start in place of Knox when New York opens the season on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.

He also believes the Knicks -- as one of the youngest teams in the NBA -- weren't well equipped to handle a young player being handed a starting spot without earning it.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.espn.com ... atform=amp

Ntili shouldn’t start over Burke nor THJ, cause two players bring offensive games to the table. They are scorers.
At this point in Ntili’s career, he’s not a scorer. What he does is show defensive effort which is also needed on the court at all times.

Forum members like Don Che and myself had always hoped New York might draft a “point forward” that could play defense and be a facilitator. At the time, it never crossed my mental that Ntili could fulfill that role. Will he play some point guard and shooting guard? Probably so. But he shouldn’t be the “starting point guard” nor “starting shooting guard,” cause Burke and THJ are better players and better for the positions on this current Knicks squad.

Within the last month or so, I changed my outlook on Ntili and decided he could bring more overall value to the Knicks as a possible 3 & D player and passer.

Not being able to understand how it all plays out in the end is simply a sign that New York has talented youth on the team. Next year, if we draft another small forward in the Top 3, then the picture will become even more distorted. But relax, cause everything plays out in the end exactly as it’s supposed to be.

[NewlyKnicked]

From the Ringer: "Nick Nurse is the only coach in the league who flexes the starting center position: Serge Ibaka starts against teams with a perimeter-oriented 5, and Jonas Valanciunas starts against more traditional 5s."

I'm very surprised every coach/FO doesn't go by this simple philosophy.

1. Choose complementary players with different skillsets and strengths
2. Pay your scouts well
3. Use their info to adjust your lineups/strategies to the opposing team

It's easy to envision for centers as Nurse does, but you could do the same thing for all positions. Why do most team stick to one starting lineup? It just blows my mind

[NewlyKnicked]

The article to conclude: "Unsurprisingly, it’s led to career years for both bigs despite playing fewer minutes on average than in years past."

[Don Che]

Smart move for Nurse but I wouldnt make it the norm for all teams.

[nazrmohamed]

From the Ringer: "Nick Nurse is the only coach in the league who flexes the starting center position: Serge Ibaka starts against teams with a perimeter-oriented 5, and Jonas Valanciunas starts against more traditional 5s."

I'm very surprised every coach/FO doesn't go by this simple philosophy.

1. Choose complementary players with different skillsets and strengths
2. Pay your scouts well
3. Use their info to adjust your lineups/strategies to the opposing team

It's easy to envision for centers as Nurse does, but you could do the same thing for all positions. Why do most team stick to one starting lineup? It just blows my mind

Well for one it shows weakness and a lack of faith in what your strengths are as a team. To me you can adapt anyway you want to via substitution patterns. Your starting lineup is sho you are as a team. Changing lineups develops little consistency in terms of behaviors in groupings.

I wouldn't mind it for us because we can't even establish a starting 5 dt players being inconsistent from night to night. But my point is the day you find out who that grouping is of guys who consistently play a certain way each night, then it must be stuck to unless an individual player starts becoming inconsistent.