"NYK will surprise the NBA"...I believe 'em too. 19-20 NYK Offseason Thread

Ironman

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S0ur² said:
I don't think he's gonna get many minutes this season if Frank shows improvement.
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What? No way man lol that brotha had tht Garden on fire everytime he stepped on the court. an summer league it looks like he may have gotten a 3 ball too. Plus he trained with Harden this year so hopefully he's picked up some useful non flopping skills.
 
nyknick

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Starters:
DSJ
Dotson
Morris
Randle
Mitch

2nd:
Payton
RJ
Knox
Portis
Gibson


Dotson and Mitch would balance the lineup pretty well. Randle, DSJ and Morris would get most of the looks and Dotson would contribute off the ball especially if he improves his 3 point shooting even more.

I would rather have RJ and Knox coming off the bench and having Payton out there with them to control the game and facilitate for them. Even though it would be somewhat controversial for RJ to come off the bench I feel like it would be better for him and Knox to be out there on their own with Payton rather than wait for their turn with Randle, Morris and DSJ.

But we don't know Dotson's injury situation so it might make the decision easier for Fizdale if he's not ready yet.
 
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Derek Lee

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Mitchell Robinson, New York Knicks
Robinson burst onto the scene as the rare big man with the fast-twitch explosiveness to regularly reject jumpers -- a potential second-round steal for the Scott Perry/Steve Mills regime. He obliterated 22 3-pointers, five more than any other player, in just 1,360 minutes. There are maybe two living humans who can do some of the things Robinson does on defense.

He also fouled the bejesus out of everyone. Clever ball-handlers baited him with eyebrow fakes and give-and-go trickery:


New York's coaches have hammered in a simple message: Be the second jumper. Don't leave your feet until you see the other guy get air.

"I hear that," Robinson says. "But with some guys -- Steph Curry, James Harden -- you can't wait."

Jumping too late can be a problem around the rim. Robinson sometimes leaves the glass naked hunting no-chance-in-hell blocks.

"That can be fatigue," he says. "When you're tired, you drop your arms." He reaches and hand-checks. He tries to blow up pick-and-rolls by shoving the screener -- a gambit he says he learned from Amar'e Stoudemire -- but refs caught on. "I can't get away with it every time," he says.

He is not as good as he should be covering both ball handler and roller at once. He sometimes takes poor angles. His footwork can be mechanical:

Robinson has shown progress, but it may take longer than optimists expect.

On offense, he is a raw rim-runner thirsty for lobs. (You can sometimes catch Robinson leaping for a lob when no one has thrown one.) He seldom sets actual screens, preferring to slip early into the lane. He sometimes rolls full speed with his head down instead of starting and stopping to make himself a target. New York seemed fine with most of that, and Robinson sucks in a ton of attention -- creating open looks for shooters.

Laying the wood now and then would be nice, though. Teams learned Robinson's tendencies, and started moonwalking in sync with him:

He fared well enough when he played amid decent shooting. The Knicks compromised that by signing Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and Marcus Morris. Robinson will rim-run into walls.

Randle and Robinson can run some big-big pick-and-rolls. Randle will bulldoze one-on-one, draw help, then drop the ball to Robinson for dunks. When he's not involved in the pick-and-roll, Robinson is dangerous lurking along the baseline; Dennis Smith Jr. likes finding him there:

The Portis-Robinson pairing intrigues; Portis shot 39 percent from deep last season.

Robinson anticipated the need to evolve. "I'm going to shoot midrangers, maybe a couple of 3s," he says. He has started practicing basic playmaking from the elbows, though he concedes his jumper has been a higher priority. It is unclear what Robinson might do if opponents trap New York's point guards on the pick-and-roll, and force them to hit Robinson far from the rim. He averaged about half an assist per game.

But Robinson represents a reason for hope after New York's free agency whiff
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Lowe: NBA's six most intriguing players
 
BAMBA

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Again, I feel like there is zero chance RJ doesn’t start (barring injury of course.)
 
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