It doesn't sound as if he is being coached all that well, but this on Posting and Toasting about his play in loss to Argentina.
| Ntilikina was actually the best player for France and had a barrage of great moves. Scoring for himself and creating chances for teammates, keeping a flicker of hope alive. Alas, his teammates elected to take solo voyages, leading to the whole expedition crew’s unceremonious demise. |
This could get really interesting in the battle for the 2 spot. Dell has Barrett going to start at the 3 but I don't see it, with Knox and Morris at home there. Maybe if Knox goes back to sucking--but I don't expect him to.
We shall see how Knox shoots the 3, drives to the hoop, and rebounds.
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—lack of aggression on offense
—poor outside shot
—injury prone
The question now is, whether his FIBA experience is something that can be converted to the NBA or whether it will be shown to be fool’s gold.
1) Second Year Players Kevin Knox And Mitchell Robinson Taking The Next Leap
2) Barrett shining'
3) Julius Randle Embraces The Number One Option. As they note, he will probably play very little 5 this year, with lots of traffic there.
4) Finding a long-term option at pg. As they note, the last Knicks point guard to hold the starting spot for consecutive seasons was Jose Calderon from 2014-16--and he was past his prime. The piece may be underestimating the uptick from Smith, who spent all summer working on the shot they say he doesn't have. If he has it now, that could be a very big deal.
5) Gaining Assets For Veterans At Trade Deadline. That seems like a likely way to go, especially if the younger players move up--and if a contender has a key slot open up due to injury. Having so much youth, and so many players on one-and contracts, could generate massive flexibility under the right circumstances. And if Frank can actually play, the amount of surplus takes another step up. Same may be true for Brazdeikis, if he is more than a "tweener."
Many reputable people still like Frank’s potential. There’s probably a valid reason why. Not that he has any trade value but I’d think frank would be scooped up in a minute if he was available.
Stranger things have happened. Frank might play much better in year 3.
5) Gaining Assets For Veterans At Trade Deadline. That seems like a likely way to go, especially if the younger players move up--and if a contender has a key slot open up due to injury. Having so much youth, and so many players on one-and contracts, could generate massive flexibility under the right circumstances. And if Frank can actually play, the amount of surplus takes another step up. Same may be true for Brazdeikis, if he is more than a "tweener."
Don’t we have to exercise an option on Frank soon or he becomes a free agent?
It only matters if it translates on the court, and it rarely does because the nba is about athletic ability and hand to eye coordination, neither of which can be learned
True in some cases, except:
--Frankie very specifically had to work on adding muscle mass and muscle tone, which everyone knew he did coming out of the Euroleague as a baby. The question, then is how much the added strength would add to his game, as a still-growing 21-year-old. Do you know the answer? I don't.
--Smith is in a very specific category of player who has historically come into the league as lousy shooters. The category? Great leapers, many of whom went through high school, street ball and college able to go over anyone who was guarding them. As a result, many came into the NBA with lousy shooting tecnique. Some of those leapers turned into quality shooters, some didn't. But, it was always clear that they had technique problems that needed to be fixed. Examples? Trevor Ariza succeeded. Iman Schumpert didn't. Landry Fields might have except he was a head case with injuries. Starks mostly succeeded. It tends to work better for great leapers who are also very good athletes. Will it work for Smith? I predict "yes."
Maybe it's a NYC & endless media. FIBA is big but not likely the same as the DAILY questions after every game & practice. I bet you get a lot more unconditional love playing for your country than NBA fans. We have no idea how this effects people, yet it's HUGE every single time no matter how often we ignore it or say it shouldn't be the case / they are pros etc
Patience is fine but it's time he starts improving and not being 0 value (even his D at least isn't what it was rookie yr, if it's all that good save maybe specifics like PnR D at this point). He also needs to improve his motor. If you're a D player and struggling to get time, that's not an option (really any player but esp fringe)