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When you’re the defending champions, there are not many holistic things to complain about.
Sure, the Knicks started 0-3 with a very unsettling offense, but all they needed was their medicine (the Nets and Bulls) to get back to .500?
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Worried about losing to Philadelphia twice in October? Joel Embiid’s plantar fasciitis has already acted up; calm down.
Any “problems” this early in the season are either short-term, regarding the looming extension talks, or good problems, which are more conundrums than actual problems.
The biggest of those conundrums has to do with the Knicks’ rotation, specifically with their copious amounts of guard depth.
Jalen Brunson is the head of the snake, but after him? There are a lot of players with minutes who could fluctuate on any given night.
Tyler Kolek and Jose Alvarado duel over backup ball-handler minutes. Jordan Clarkson and Deuce McBride grapple over bench two-guard minutes. Landry Shamet’s strong play is actively pushing starters Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart over their minutes with the three entrenched parts of the team’s nucleus.
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It does qualify as a good problem to have, as injuries will undoubtedly give each of these guys ample opportunity over the course of 82 games, but when they’re all healthy, like they are right now? It probably gives Mike Brown a bigger headache than watching Andre Drummond attempt layups.
All of these guys provide something that the Knicks could use more of, but have warts that can limit their playing time.
Kolek is the best true playmaker, but he’s a poor defender, and his jump shot has been consistent throughout his young NBA career. This basically also describes Alvarado, but the defense is better from the New York native.
McBride has stretches where he’s the team’s best rate shooter and is a tremendously pesky point-of-attack defender… but is that not what the team is getting out of a taller two-guard in Shamet?
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Clarkson has been a sparkplug every game he’s played this year, but the 35-year-old showed his maddening inconsistency in his first year in New York.
It’s created an extremely volatile rotation, which isn’t…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-bench-guard-conundrum-164555818.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-06 16:45:00
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