Uptown wrote:martin wrote:franco12 wrote:blkexec wrote:NYKMentality wrote:franco12 wrote:NYKMentality wrote:I agree. As a big Thibs fan I believe it's CRIMINAL how Knox has been ignored and neglected and left on the bench. He deserves playing time.
But Evan Fournier!
Evan Fournier is literally the only player who makes me not want to watch NY basketball.
I'd rather watch Eddy Curry play.
I dropped Fournier again from my fantasy team. Last time I did that, he busted out his next game. So maybe that’s a sign. But I’m done with him fantasy wise. And picked up thibs man Burks. Burks needs Rose or someone else to run point. He’s a better catch n shoot guard than a dribble up and pass PG.
Absolutely on Burks - he can’t run an offense. What is THibs thinking?
That Kemba wasn't running the offense and didn't play defense? And also opted out of playing back-to-back when Rose was out?
Kemba was terrible on the defensive end, no denying that. No argument from me when he got pulled from the starting unit. I will say that he and Randle were starting to develop some good chemistry on the pick and roll, unfortunately, they rarely ran it. At one point in 2017, Kemba was the best in the league in pick and roll offense. It's one thing to send Kemba to the bench, but to completely remove him from the rotation? This is a disturbing pattern with Thibs; he removed elf, completely from the rotation during the playoffs. Not only was Rivers removed from the rotation, but there were times when we was MIA on the bench. Now Kemba...
So again, look just beyond the first step of things. Thibs has a ton of decisions to make and they trickle down to other players and the rotation as a whole.
Thibs LOVES Rose off the bench and within a limit of minutes - he needs Derrick all year and can't bust him up. Thibs wants Rose to finish games if he is playing well. We KNOW this from the Atlanta series when he started and played heavy minutes and that was games every other day or more with a long rest before the series started. Rose got pushed too much. Thibs and everyone love Rose with the second unit.
OK, ideally if Rose is not starting - and that is the assumption and can't always happen - do you start IQ? Thibs doesn't think so and there is an arguement to IQ not being ready for full time PG minutes. IQ and Rose mesh really well too.
So, how are you giving minutes to Kemba with IQ and Rose coming off the bench IF that's the most ideal situation for Rose/IQ and the second unit? Or do you bust up the second unit to try to fix the SL with the possibility that you mess up all the rotations?
Also, you know what else is not happening? Kemba can barely get to the rim and finish compared to what he was previously doing. He is not a mid range shooter. His percentages at the rim are not good. So he is a stand along 3pt shooter who can't defend.
So the opposite question should be asked by all who want to see Kemba getting minutes? Why? Why does he deserve to be in the rotation (all COVID things being equal)? Cause of his rep 2-3 years ago? Cause he is coming home? When does Kemba have to prove to us that he is deserving?