BlueKnickers wrote:Knixkik wrote:martin wrote:Knixkik wrote:martin wrote:Knixkik wrote:3rd in offense and 7th in defense. If we can get that defense to 5 by end of year, it will be a contender for sure.
Even 3 and 7 is perfectly adequate! And yet the defense does have room to grow. With Deuce coming back too!!
I love deuce. But he takes Diawara’s minutes. Maybe that doesn’t matter this season. He is just a rookie. But the only priority besides winning a title should be developing that guy.
Deuce and Mo play different positions LOL
Deuce and Shamet will battle minutes
Disagree. Mike brown is playing his best 9 guys. Position really doesn’t matter especially at the 2,3,4 positions.
Martin is correct though. Diawara will not generally guard the same players that Deuce will guard because now the NBA is interchangeable and positionless.
This is why I carefully laid out Shamet's size and strength when talking about him and Deuce.
Even though Deuce has a good sized wingspan relative to his height, he has struggled to guard players 6'5" and higher. IOW, he really matches up with guards primarily whereas Shamet can matchup with small forwards and guards.
If there is any overlap between Diawara it is with Shamet, not Deuce.
If Diawara continues to evolve as much as he has been lately he will never lose minutes to either Deuce or Shamet. The only competition for minutes would be between Shamet and Deuce.
And Diawara's length is massive compared to either of those two. With time, as Diawara matures and gains strength his defensive potential is to guard the 3-5 positions with occasional switch-offs on guards, but it is not the other way around for Deuce. Shamet is a tweener.
The way I see it is this. The Knicks are likely over the second apron next year. Assuming the same 5 starters, you have Mitch at backup center or a direct/ cheaper replacement. Then you have Alvarado who is a backup PG. He’s coming back. So that leaves 2 rotation spots when the team is fully healthy. McBride, Shamet and Diawara all operate as 3&D players throughout the 2-4, just different sizes. Deuce obviously isn’t playing the 3 or 4, but when he’s in, they play Hart or Bridges up a position. Same with Shamet except he’s playing more of a wing. And Diawara is a 3-4. So either way only 2 of them are likely coming back with the Knicks up against the wall. Diawara has to given the upside. So that leaves shamet or deuce. At this point it’s hard to keep everyone in this new apron era.