Since RoLo isn't like Pau or Bargs with a mid range and more game he won't be doing any the stuff they do. He's squarely in the Low Post and setting screens business. The other thing to remember is that the Triangle is actually extremely flexible and so you can tailor things to the strengths of your players. People keep making the false statement that there's no PnR in the Triangle when in fact there's ALWAYS been PnR in the Triangle. They simply don't feature it as a main staple of the offense. Like the 3 pt shot it's in there but it's not the sole focus of the offense.

Here are some post ups RoLo had against Moz. He also repeatedly beats Moz down the floor.

yellowboy90 wrote:I think people have answered the question. He has more offensive ability than Tyson. He can actually play outside of 3ft. Close to 80% of Tyson's FGAs are inside of 3 ft. Lopez gives slightly more diversity because he is not trapped in the restricted circle

Bonn1997 wrote:He can average 10 or 11 efficient points a game but is that going to just get cut in half or worse in the triangle?

I'd say 12-14 points per game is about right.

He'll clean up around the rim and, if in a strict Triangle, will run a strong portion of the offense from the high post. A lot of the bigs for the Knicks last year (aside from Amundson, who actually did pretty well considering he wasn't there in the preseason) didn't know when to make the automatic pass from the high post. That hesitation really cost the Knicks a lot of open looks.

Lopez will not wow you. However he is solid across the board. He has no real "exploitable" weakness, he just doesn't have any A+ out of this world niche in his tool set to be dominant in a specific area. He knows how to move well off the ball, his instincts are good, he has pretty soft hands for his size, despite being hurt a bit last year, he's pretty durable and he can read the court.

He can do well playing with smart players but knows how to play well with limited players. ( Lillard is great, fantastic even, but in a very narrow focus)

The problem will still be Melo. If Lopez and Grant can work a nice inside/out two man game at times, once that gets some traction, and fans start cheering, then Melo will have none of it.

If Lopez becomes a fan favorite, Melo will do EXACTLY what he did to Chandler, let every opposing wing blow past him intentionally and force the pivot to try to compensate over and over again until it mentally wore the guy down to a nub. Like wearing down an eraser on the back of a pencil. Fans cheer for Grant or Zinger, Melo will sulk and give even less effort on D ( which I thought was not possible, but there is even a level of ineptness on defense less than Melo's typical Don't Care/Don't Try/Screw You/What About My Branding? crap.

If Greg Monroe scores 20 a night if he was a Knick, but gave up 50 from his truly pathetic defense, who cares if he scores 20 a night?

Lopez can score 12 a night but factor into why the Knicks didn't give up another 45 points if they had Monroe there instead.

Value happens outside of just counting stats and outside of just points and rebounds. I realize some people here just don't care. They'd rather have the Knicks get a 20-12 empty stats guy and lose by 30 each night than focus on actual fundamental team basketball.

CrushAlot wrote:

Uptown wrote:Tyson was traded for reasons beyond the bb court imo...

Yep.

Yup- Phil came aboard while Tyson had given up, was dogging it and was leading a mutiny against the coach- that was Phil's first impression of him, and is probably why he decided his attitude was part of the problem. I used to like Tyson, but I got sick of his disappearing act and finger pointing and lack of personal responsibility. He could easily of had a role in the triangle, but it wasn't about that.