With Carmelo Anthony exploding in the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at the four spot, the New York Knicks face many problems.
At long last, he exploded. Not that we haven’t seen him explode prior, but Carmelo Anthony just looked right in the third quarter of his team’s 93-77 win against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at The Garden.Melo looked comfortable. He appeared to be at ease.
This wasn’t the case in the first half, one which the New York Knicks managed to pour in just 36 points against a Dirk Nowitski-less Mavs squad.
We already know what happened. Head coach Jeff Hornacek showed great conviction when his Knickerbockers took the court in the third quarter. Rather than Joakim Noah trotting out there, Hornacek called upon Justin Holiday. This means the Knicks — for the first time in a long time — played small ball.
- 5: Kristaps Porzingis, 7’3
- 4: Carmelo Anthony, 6’8
- 3: Justin Holiday, 6’6
- 2: Courtney Lee, 6’5
- 1: Derrick Rose, 6’3
It was a lineup welcomed by all Knicks fandom. For years, since Mike Woodson capitalized on Melo’s strength as a power forward, onlookers have been calling for the lineup.
Anthony and the Knicks responded in a renaissance type fashion. Melo led the way with 17 of New York’s 31 third quarter points, ultimately blowing the doors off the undermanned and outgunned Mavs team.
The positives are many. First and foremost, Anthony is a flat-out better four man in today’s league. Since nearing the age of 30, he’s been better off looking to out-muscle bigs rather than out-quick wings. Additionally, defensively, New York is a much better unit with Melo at the four. He simply cannot keep up with quicker small forwards.
Most importantly, though, the Association is a place that has rapidly gone down in size while increasing speed. It’s a 3-ball bonanza run by the little guys in the league. No longer are there Patrick Ewings or Hakeem Olajuwons being force fed in the post.
On the other side of the token, as great as the flurry of this small-ball momentum was, this action now creates several problems in Knick-land.
Join us as we sift through each issue:
The Personnel Doesn’t Match Up
There is one serious issue with New York moving to a small-ball starting lineup. The personnel, specifically the bench, doesn’t makes sense.
First-Team:
- 5: Kristaps Porzingis
- 4. Carmelo Anthony
- 3. Justin Holiday
- 2. Courtney Lee
- 1. Derrick Rose
Bench:
- 5: Joakim Noah / Willy Hernangomez / Marshall Plumlee
- 4: Maurice Daly-Ndour / Kyle O’Quinn
- 3: Lance Thomas / Mindaugas Kuzminskas
- 2: Sasha Vujacic / Ron Baker
- 1: Brandon Jennings
There are entirely too many bigs coming off the bench. More importantly, the guys who are ahead of the curve and need more minutes are all bigger (aside from Brandon Jennings).
How can Noah, Willy Hernangomez, Lance Thomas, and Mindaugas Kuzminskas all receive ample playing time night in and night out? It’s an impossibility through the small ball lineup.
Worse yet, the two Knicks small forwards — Thomas, Kuz — can’t play the two spot. This means the Knicks have just three backup guards on the roster if Holiday is in the starting lineup.
What Will Come of Joakim Noah?
The four-year, $72 million man was benched and the New York Knicks flourished thanks to that action.
What will happen to Joakim Noah if Hornacek continues to roll with the smaller, more realistic lineup?
Rewind the clock one year. Noah turned “unhappy” when Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg benched him in favor of rolling with a quicker starting lineup.
Via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times:
A source said on Tuesday morning that Noah remains unhappy with his current standing in the organization, and “still hasn’t moved past losing his starting job’’ late in training camp. The source went onto say that Noah “hasn’t been a distraction by any means, but isn’t the biggest [coach Fred] Hoiberg fan these days.’’
It’s extremely unlikely that Noah would create issues in New York, especially if winning comes. But the fact that he does, indeed, have a history of unhappiness after a benching, must be firmly planted in the back of all minds.
Noah can be a valuable, energetic force off the bench for the Knicks. It makes perfect sense on many levels.
Jax’s Vision Now Seems Off
Lastly, and certainly not least importantly comes the real issue at heart.
Should small-ball — with Melo at the four and KP at the five — take hold of Hornacek’s vision and catapult the Knicks to success this season, it would mean Phil Jackson’s vision needs a trip to the eye doctor.
We all understand Jax has had “issues” in catching up with the rest of the league. On numerous occasions, he’s shockingly come out criticizing the new age of 3-point ball. His doubts about the Golden State Warriors and small ball, in general, have risen a ton of eyebrows around the Association.
His choosing of personnel correlates with these comments.
Hornacek didn’t have a chance in choosing his own starting lineup. Thanks to the headline-busting acquisitions of both Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, his hand was forced in playing KP at the four and Melo at the three. Additionally, the bench is loaded with frontcourt players.
For a brand new head coach who loves preaching uptempo pace and beyond the arc scoring, Jax’s vision for the personnel simply hasn’t matched up. A smaller three-man — ideally, a guy who can also play the two — would fit Hornacek’s principles like a glove. Better yet, it would have fit the new age NBA.
While it was only one solitary half of basketball that the Knicks went small and dominated the warning signs are out in full force that this is their destiny.
Small ball wins games in the NBA in the year 2016. And for Melo, it allows him to dominate at his current aged 32 body. It’s as simple as that.