Games of the season to develop Mitch, Knox, Frank and DSG. Get them as much playing time as they need. Fun fact, Mitchell is sporting the 6 highest block percentage in NBA HISTORY as of right now (small sample size I know).
He says he can't wait to have Smith and Ntilikina on rather floor togetherness. Smith has a lot of "combo" guard to him and playing next to a defensive minded guard who can also handle the ball makes a lot of sense. I'm curious myself. At 6-5 or 6 Frank can easily guard shooting guards.
He says he can't wait to have Smith and Ntilikina on rather floor togetherness. Smith has a lot of "combo" guard to him and playing next to a defensive minded guard who can also handle the ball makes a lot of sense. I'm curious myself. At 6-5 or 6 Frank can easily guard shooting guards.
I have been thinking about that as well. Two combo guards really. If Frank can develop a 3 point shot (big if) it could work well. If not, then not so much.
the knicks will win again. No matter how bad a team is they dont usually lose 15-20 games in a row. I just know we are going to win on a night when smith scores 35 and everyone is going to freak out about the tank, lol. We will win soon, then lose like 9-10 in a row again, rinse repeat. Its gonna be close at the end with the bottom 4 teams, they are all so bad.
Smith is pretty impressive. Athletically he is great. I get his issues in that he isnt a great distributor and he is score first, that said, those guys can be damn good too. Im interested in seeing him the rest of the year.
He says he can't wait to have Smith and Ntilikina on rather floor togetherness. Smith has a lot of "combo" guard to him and playing next to a defensive minded guard who can also handle the ball makes a lot of sense. I'm curious myself. At 6-5 or 6 Frank can easily guard shooting guards.
I have been thinking about that as well. Two combo guards really. If Frank can develop a 3 point shot (big if) it could work well. If not, then not so much.
I'm more optimistic that he'll be able to develop as a half-decent shooter (even a mid range spot up shooter would help his value tremendously) when he's not in charge of running the offense. Mike Schmitz wrote this a couple of days ago in a column about deadline buy low candidates which included Frank.
Quote:
Over 78 games in 2017-18, Ntilikina used 259 pick-and-roll possessions, accounting for 39.5 percent of his offense -- the 18th-highest rate in the NBA, per Synergy data. Ntilikina's so-so wiggle, slow pull-up jumper, issues finishing around the rim and indecisive approach hurt him in these situations, resulting in a ball-screen scoring attack that ranked in the 24th percentile of the NBA. While he has been less ball-dominant this season, pick-and-roll still makes up 33.9 percent of Ntilikina's offense, and unsurprisingly, his shortcomings have continued. Although he has always been talented, Ntilikina played for a stringent coach at Strasbourg in Vincent Collet, and his shot-creation skills were never quite as groomed as they could have been.
As many suspected during the pre-draft process, he's not an offense-generating lead guard, and he would be much better suited on a competitive team where he can thrive in a role as a defensive-minded guard. Though his standstill 3 has abandoned him this season, Ntilikina actually ranked in the 58th percentile out of spot-ups last season. He finished just a few percentage points under the league average on corner 3s as well, according to Second Spectrum data.
Ntilikina is an ideal fit next to a big playmaker such as a Luka Doncic or James Harden. The addition of a ball-dominant guard like Smith (or Kyrie Irving, in free agency) may help salvage Ntilikina's tenure, but a fresh team may be best for the 20-year-old.
Ntilikina figures to thrive playing off of a high-usage shot creator. It's important to keep in mind that Ntilikina is still younger than 2018 one-and-done lottery picks Deandre Ayton, Mo Bamba and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He never had the ability to thrive as a ball-dominant guard for the Knicks, but he could eventually return tremendous value on a competitive team that prioritizes his defense, smarts, age and physical upside.
Smith is pretty impressive. Athletically he is great. I get his issues in that he isnt a great distributor and he is score first, that said, those guys can be damn good too. Im interested in seeing him the rest of the year.
Totally agree with this. Clyde compared him to a young Russell Westbrook the other day which I thought was an interesting comparison. It took Westbrook some time to fully reach his potential.
In his first couple of years in the league he looked a lot like Smith, an incredible athlete with a lot of talent who was inefficient and at times, all over the place. Westbrook was a better defender but Smith has a higher eFG% than RW did and has been better from 3. Westbrook was a better FT shooter (although oddly not this year).
Forget double digits. We are approaching a 20 point deficit halfway through the first quarter. Haha.
I was thinking the same thing.
I wish they would try to get Robinson involved offensively outside of just put backs.
He's making a case
No time to be messing around here with a nice easy L coming tomorrow..
Noice.
Knicms wanted to draft him but he would not give them his medicals so they passed...
he needs to be in the gym practicing his free throws, the way he attacks he has to be a good free throw shooter
Smith played extremely well, free throw shooting hurt but he really didnt force got to the rim with ease...
Jordan played ok, nothing great...
Mitch is active but he gets winded to quick, he is always crashing the glass though
Beautiful
Need to keep that foot off the gas and get ready to hit the brakes hard on Monday!
Need to stay focused and go 0-4 heading into the break...
If Chicago went winless for the rest of the season I'm honestly not sure the Knicks could win more games then them.
I have been thinking about that as well. Two combo guards really. If Frank can develop a 3 point shot (big if) it could work well. If not, then not so much.
Smith is pretty impressive. Athletically he is great. I get his issues in that he isnt a great distributor and he is score first, that said, those guys can be damn good too. Im interested in seeing him the rest of the year.
Quote:
He says he can't wait to have Smith and Ntilikina on rather floor togetherness. Smith has a lot of "combo" guard to him and playing next to a defensive minded guard who can also handle the ball makes a lot of sense. I'm curious myself. At 6-5 or 6 Frank can easily guard shooting guards.
I have been thinking about that as well. Two combo guards really. If Frank can develop a 3 point shot (big if) it could work well. If not, then not so much.
I'm more optimistic that he'll be able to develop as a half-decent shooter (even a mid range spot up shooter would help his value tremendously) when he's not in charge of running the offense. Mike Schmitz wrote this a couple of days ago in a column about deadline buy low candidates which included Frank.
As many suspected during the pre-draft process, he's not an offense-generating lead guard, and he would be much better suited on a competitive team where he can thrive in a role as a defensive-minded guard. Though his standstill 3 has abandoned him this season, Ntilikina actually ranked in the 58th percentile out of spot-ups last season. He finished just a few percentage points under the league average on corner 3s as well, according to Second Spectrum data.
Ntilikina is an ideal fit next to a big playmaker such as a Luka Doncic or James Harden. The addition of a ball-dominant guard like Smith (or Kyrie Irving, in free agency) may help salvage Ntilikina's tenure, but a fresh team may be best for the 20-year-old.
Ntilikina figures to thrive playing off of a high-usage shot creator. It's important to keep in mind that Ntilikina is still younger than 2018 one-and-done lottery picks Deandre Ayton, Mo Bamba and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He never had the ability to thrive as a ball-dominant guard for the Knicks, but he could eventually return tremendous value on a competitive team that prioritizes his defense, smarts, age and physical upside.
Smith is pretty impressive. Athletically he is great. I get his issues in that he isnt a great distributor and he is score first, that said, those guys can be damn good too. Im interested in seeing him the rest of the year.
Totally agree with this. Clyde compared him to a young Russell Westbrook the other day which I thought was an interesting comparison. It took Westbrook some time to fully reach his potential.
In his first couple of years in the league he looked a lot like Smith, an incredible athlete with a lot of talent who was inefficient and at times, all over the place. Westbrook was a better defender but Smith has a higher eFG% than RW did and has been better from 3. Westbrook was a better FT shooter (although oddly not this year).
With that being said, DSJ seems to try out there on defense and isn't a complete black hole.
Here's a story in the Post about DSJ and Frank playing together.
DSJ and Frank together - ( New Window )