Coming off last year’s surprising season, with the emergence of Julius Randle as a star and the vaunted Knicks defense the city was excited for a deep playoff run this season.
But something strange has happened.
Just a couple of weeks into the new season the Knicks and the fans are shook.
With the vast improvement of the roster the Knicks don't even look like a playoff team.
Knicks fans are in a quandary as much as the Knicks coaching staff searching for the problem that is source of their angst.
Well Knicks fans, look no further than your defense, particularly in the backcourt.
The Knicks so far this season according to nba.com is ranked 26th out of 30 teams.
So far, this season opposing teams bench players are coming into Madison Square Garden and having career scoring nights, mostly from the backcourt.
The Knicks have the worst defense against the 3-point ball of any team.
Where is the intense defense? Where is the guy that forced shooters to rush shots or completely run away from the three-point line?
Where is the guard big and strong enough to switch to a big player and still manage to force difficult shots?
Well Knicks fans, that guy is now playing for the Dallas Mavericks and his name is Frank Ntilikina.
The other night due to injuries Frank was forced to play against the Spurs and despite only having six points Frank was the margin of victory for Dallas.
Frank's defensive energy, toughness and size made his minutes a +24 against the Spurs and sealed the deal in victory.
This was never appreciated by New York as an organization or fan base and now the team is spiraling out of control and one of the worst defensive backcourts this team has had in decades.
Tonight, against LaMelo Ball and the smooth Gordon Hayward Knicks fans, who you got to even make the game difficult for those dudes let alone stop them?
In Frank you had a guy who could handle defensively any teams best point guard, shooting guard and small forward on any given night.
In Charlotte, just as against most teams this season, the Knicks have no one who can give any resistance to those positions and the Knicks get ate up especially when RJ Barrett is having another of his inconsistent shooting games.
Last season in Knicks chatrooms, discords, and forums it was so interesting seeing these low basketball IQ fans dogging Frank. Some of them even going so far as questioning his sexuality because they only measure dominance by the number of points a player scores.
Little did they know or understand that they had the equivalent of Dennis Rodman but in the position of guard.
Like Dennis, the guy’s mere presence and annoyance on defense is enough to be the margin of victory even when his point total is in the single digits. All because there was no flashing field on the scoreboard showing how many points that man prevented.
New York Knicks fans your ignorance brought this all on yourselves. Good luck at even making the playoffs this season all because you people don't know as much about basketball as you think you do. But believe me, you are going to learn this season.
Frank I am so happy for you. Find peace in your game and continue to ball out.
