New York Knicks: Lineup Change A Possibility If Issues Persist
New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek still believes it’s too soon for a lineup change, but he hasn’t ruled it out as a possibility.
The New York Knicks invested four seasons and $72 million into 2014 All-NBA First Team honoree Joakim Noah. In theory, it was a smart move to give a player who’d won Defensive Player of the Year just two seasons prior a deal for below max contract value.
In reality, the Knicks are still waiting for that $18 million per season value to arrive after 27 games of regular season action.
It’s far too soon to call the Noah contract a bust, and those who do so are reacting out of understandable frustration. His tenure is trending in the wrong direction, however, and it could potentially call for severe changes.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, head coach Jeff Hornacek said it’s too soon to pull Noah from the starting lineup, but knows he has to keep that possibility in mind.
“There is some concern with the starts we’re getting off to even when Derrick (Rose) is here. We’re giving up a lot of points in the first quarters,” the coach said. “So I don’t think we’re at that point (of changing the starting lineup) or panic time there. But that’s something we keep an eye on.”
That comment isn’t directed at Noah, per se, but it’s hard to imagine any other player being replaced in the starting lineup.
Thus far, Noah is averaging 4.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.0 offensive rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.7 steals in 21.2 minutes per game. He’s doing so on 46.4 percent shooting from the field, which makes the full list of statistics quite acceptable.
For perspective, Noah is averaging 7.5 points, 13.1 rebounds, 5.0 offensive boards, 4.4 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.1 steals per 36 minutes.
Unfortunately, Noah, a career 70.3 percent free throw shooter, is hitting just 30.6 percent of his free throw attempts in 2016-17.
Known for his defense, Noah is allowing opponents to shoot 0.4 percent better than their average field goal percentage when he’s the primary defender. He’s excelling when asked to step out and defend jump shots, but has trouble recovering to protect the rim.
Through 23 appearances, Noah is allowing opponents to convert at a rate of 56.5 percent when he meets them at the rim.
Noah has admittedly been more of an all-around defender and vocal leader than a rim protector, but that’s still a shocking number. Even more concerning is that New York has defensive ratings of 108.9 with Noah on the court and 107.7 without him.
Noah wasn’t necessarily brought to New York to be a rim protector, but he was meant to elevate the defensive intensity of those around him.
It’s too soon to write him off, but the pressure is mounting for Noah to step up and lead New York’s defensive efforts.
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