New York Knicks: Pros and cons of the Derrick Rose-Brandon Jennings backcourt

https://youtu.be/roNfwcXcwNo

Con: Struggles On Defense

Both Rose and Jennings have faced well-earned criticism for their defensive issues during their respective careers.

When Rose was in Chicago, defensive guru Tom Thibodeau found ways to hide his point guard’s deficiencies by putting him next to great defensive shooting guards. Much like the Knicks tried to do with Courtney Lee.

Jennings won’t be able to cover for Rose because he’s an even worse defender than the former MVP.

In Rose’s seven prior seasons he’s produced just one positive defensive box plus-minus number. Jennings hasn’t been much better with two in his seven seasons.

Coach Hornacek will have to regulate their minutes together wisely because as good as the duo might be on offense (113 points produced per 100 possessions) they’re worse on defense (119 points allowed per 100 possessions).

That’s through just 20 games. And 248 possessions. They’re still getting used to each other. Hornacek loves him some two point guard lineups. We haven’t seen the last of this duo.

• All stats are from Basketball Reference and NBA.com.

Chip Murphy covers the NBA for Elite Sports NY. You can find him on Twitter @ChipperMurphy.

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