Insider Projects MAJOR Knicks Change...

Knicks insider Fred Katz has projected that the team makes a MAJOR change to the rotation and Chris Gallagher breaks down what the change could mean, and why he agrees with Katz that it will happen.

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[Ariel-bh]

Fred Katz' job seems to be imagining himself the Knicks coach and GM...:

Julius is tough, but he's bad at closeouts and rim protection, Thibs' priority on defense, especially important bc Jalen, Deuce and now Tyler are all short which other teams aim to capitalize on (though Brunson is tenacious and Deuce extraordinarily tight on D ) with lots of screen-switches, forcing the 5 to hedge more backing up to cover both the other team's 5 and the mismatch. Mitch has the ability to block those mismatched drives to the basket and Jericho and Precious the athleticism to reach the shooter if going mid-range (Sims can even reach the perimeter, best of any 5 in the league at this).

Can't see this for more than a few minutes and only in certain situations forced more by need and the other team's lineups.

Going small (leaving 6'10" Sims, 6'9" Diakete and leaping Obi, Jr. on the bench) with a manhandled ihart, an ineffective, frankly awful jhart and an undersized Deuce got us blown out by 30 points three times. That strategy KILLED us in the playoffs against IND's more athletic and taller frontline MORE than even the injuries (tho' granted with a real 5 in ihart).

Thibs hopefully learned something from his poor coaching performance that series(to be more generous, think Thibs saw that series was already lost and a hopeless cause once OG went down and JB was forced to play injured on a bad foot (sticking with jhart after an ab pull was either a sign of throwing in the towel or just plain fanaticism in a short-rotation philosophy!), so why throw the kids in when the team was already so undermanned and demoralized, especially by G6 when it became evident IND had out-toughened us and we just couldn't keep up, practically powerless defending the rim and stopping the paint, IND outrebounding us, beating us badly off the screens and driving to the basket at will as if ihart or anyone else weren't there at all!) but seems Fred Katz hasn't.

If the last few years has shown us anything, priority needs to be sustaining health. Having the very vulnerable Randle, OG and Mitch for too many minutes banging with bigger, heavier and often stronger (at least for JR and OG) centers too often, too long, too hard (ask Precious if he wants to play the 5; he's already said he sees himself as a forward bc he's right, he's not a center) is a recipe for injury and the same long-run outcomes. For all the criticism directed at Sims, he's been a durable 5 despite getting injured himself and being undersized at center, a detail ever more important now that ihart decided to leave us.

[facemuch]

I’ve literally been commenting the minutes thing since the Mikal signing. Julius is 6th man / back up 5. You feed Mikal from tip and get him cooking - Julius gets us through the mid game, JB closes. It’s the only way unless there is a Julius trade. I’m still in the KAT or Jabari smith JR camp, we need a 5. Knicks aren’t playing 48 mins of Mitch and sims . Impossible.

[dorkasaurus_rex]

We need Kolek out there to up our overall assists and to make plays when Jalen Brunson is sitting down.

He's by far the best option for this very badly needed role. Rookie or not, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.

[BX_SOUL]

I can see the nova Knicks with Julius killing it💪🏼

[rockey]

It's a terrible idea to have an already bad defender in Randle play center. But I'm sure there will be a mix match when taller centers have to defend him.

[Coolagain]

Knicks need to add others 7 FT plus all talented style Centers urgently no more under sized power forwards to be center The will match up sized problem with NBA teams also over playing Knicks roster will course major injuries again have that Knicks learn anything from pass mistake their hold Knicks line up had injuries not smart coaching strategies we Knicks fans don't want that bad coaching again, coaches, training and GM's game plans poor planning kill team future goals stop the under sized signing of player Knicks need height 6'11 and 7ft's plus with a long wing spen scoring defense, rebound with court smarts and great ball passer to his team mates three point scorer again with defense etc..

[Laurence-wrey]

Fred ain’t Tom.t so I don’t think why he’s opinion on what Tom does with minutes and rotations