wargames wrote:Thibs not playing Frank more was negligence and I am sure he leaves this FA
When you are a young veteran player, you aren't given minutes anymore, you must earn them.
Knox, back then, as a rookie had some ugly moments. But he was a rookie. You have to GIVE rookie players minutes even if they don't earn them because they need some experience to learn how to play in the modern NBA and function at this level of competition/game speed.
Frank N is not a rookie anymore. He's a young veteran. He's no longer in a position to be GIVEN minutes.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/ntilila01.html
He has 211 total games played, 55 of them starts and over 4100+ minutes of experience. He's had four seasons in the league. Yes, to be fair, the pandemic caused some complications for young players, but he was drafted before the pandemic hit. That means he had time during the Delete 8 layoff to work on his skills even more. He's never suffered any major injury so that can't be rooted as a cause for a lack of production.
Frank N wants more minutes? He SHOULD EARN THEM.
A starting job was sitting there for FOUR SEASONS ( more if you factor in the pandemic timeline) for him to just take. It's not like there wasn't opportunity to take a starting job and make it his and play in a way where the Knicks would want him long term and offer him a nice fat extension.
How has this all turned into a "Blame Thibs" moment? Blame Thibs for what? That Frank N didn't do jack **** his entire Knicks career? That's his fault? You know what Frank N could have done to help his cause? Attack the rim every once in a while. Play off the ball with urgency and passion. Be a relentless dog of a player like a Patrick Beverley in terms of just grit and will power and a basic "Ride Or Die" attitude.
No one gives you jack **** in this life nor the NBA. You go out there and take it. And I waited patiently for close to three full seasons before I started truly criticizing Frank N. I gave him a window of opportunity to try to be fair to him in terms of his development.
Frank N leaves? Good. Good luck to him. Here's an empty cardboard box. He can pack his **** and GTFO. This isn't just about his lack of production. Sometimes a player gives you all he has and can't do any better. But this is not the case here. It's a lack of production based on playing like a total ****ing *******. He had some big games against Dallas. Why? Charged up because some people said DSJr should have been drafted ahead of him. Why not play with that kind of chip on his shoulder in every single game then? Watching Frank N hand off the ball and loaf around when he should be digging hard to find an open shot is insulting. Steph Curry is a superstar and a future HOFer. See how hard he works off the ball even now. Even when he had ankle problems. Even when he was a rookie. Curry had plenty of reason to loaf it and no one could say a thing. But he doesn't play like a total ****ing ******* like Frank. Curry knows no one is going to give him jack ****, if he wants success, he will go out and seize it with his own two hands.
Frank N just doesn't want it bad enough. That's not a crime in life. But it's a crime to this team when you put on that beloved Knicks jersey.
Some people here will think if Frank N succeeds with another team, that it's a black check mark against the Knicks franchise. But in order for Frank N to have success with another team, he'll have to actually play with passion and relentless effort. Which would only prove he could have done it with the Knicks but he just didn't give a ****. Every player has excuses as to why they can't do better. I didn't have the right coach. I wasn't in the right system. No one gave me enough of a chance. But everyone has some kind of conflict. No one has a perfect path to success. You make the the most out of what you have in front of you.
But the Knicks just can't develop young players!!!
NO, that's not the truth. The reality is NO FRANCHISE CAN DEVELOP ANYONE WHO DECIDES TO PLAY LIKE A TOTAL LAZY ASSHOLE.
6/2/2021 9:35 PM