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Iman Shumpert is Not a Forward

My man Jared Dubin (@jadubin5, to basketball Twitter) wrote this article a while back for my site on About.com.

It is still relevant today… but for different reasons.

Iman Shumpert is a shooting guard.

He may not be one right now due to the extenuating circumstances surrounding the Knicks and their lack of a true point guard, but that’s where he should spend the majority of his career. It’s better that we — and more importantly, the Knicks — recognize this now and proceed accordingly, because wasting precious minutes of his career playing out of position any more than he already has will harm and stunt his development.

via New York Knicks – Iman Shumpert is Not a Point Guard.

I’m not a doctor or an athletic trainer or even a basketball coach. I don’t know why Shump – and by extension, the Knicks – have been struggling of late. But to make an educated guess, I don’t think the three-guard lineups Mike Woodson has been using of late are helping matters. The Felton/Kidd/Shumpert grouping means:

Someone is guarding a much bigger player. (Felton on Rudy Gay? Really? On purpose?)
Shumpert is playing out of position on the offensive end. (Is he really the guy we want setting up for a corner three?)
And Jason Kidd is playing too much.

Not sure how to fix this… maybe shake the rust off of Ronnie Brewer and use him at the three more often. Or put Stoudemire back in the starting five and play Anthony at back at the three to start games. Or start Shump at the two and bring Kidd off the bench with JR Smith.

Stoudemire, Woodson and What’s Next for the Knicks

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Amar'e Stoudemire (© Michael Ivins)

The Knicks will play two more games – minimum – this season… but 2011-12 is effectively over. They aren’t beating Miami… not with the mummified corpse of Mike Bibby logging significant minutes at the point, and not with Iman Shumpert’s knee and Amar’e Stoudemire’s left hand in tatters and Jeremy Lin in street clothes.

Let’s face it… even if the Knicks’ top nine players were completely healthy, they’d have a hard time beating Miami. Erik Spoelstra’s club can effectively neutralize Anthony – both as distributor and scorer – with the LeBron James/Shane Battier defensive tandem. Without ‘Melo as primary scoring threat, the rest of the Knicks’ offense falls apart. Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler and Steve Novak can’t create their own shots – they need someone else to break down the defense and create openings. Bibby can’t do that. Neither can Baron Davis, who is probably playing at about 60 percent of his capacity right now. J.R. Smith can drive, but he’ll make as many bad passes as good.

What does that leave? A whole lot of contested jump shots.

Maybe the Knicks steal a game at Madison Square Garden. Maybe ‘Melo goes into hero mode, or someone else – Novak? Smith? – gets white-hot from three. But that’s about the best possible outcome for the Knicks at this point.

That out of the way, we can look to next season. What will the 2012-13 Knicks look like? General manager Glen Grunwald – just recently freed from the “interim” tag – has a lot of questions to answer. Questions like…

How Do You Fix This?

Monday night’s bout of bone-headdery won’t have any lasting impact on STAT physically – early reports say that he has no ligament or tendon damage, so we’re really just looking at a bad cut. The bigger impact could be to his role as team leader and one of the faces of the franchise.

Theoretically, a trade might be the best thing for the Knicks and for Stoudemire. That would allow Anthony to move to the power forward spot full-time – where he has thrived this season – and free up the paint for Chandler. Problem is, Stoudemire has about $60 million – uninsured – remaining on his contract. It might not be impossible to move him, but it’ll be pretty darned close. So let’s assume that STAT is back with the Knicks next season.

Chandler and Anthony will be back as well. And combined, those three will be making roughly $53 million – with the salary cap in the neighborhood of $60 million. So let’s throw out the “Anthony and Stoudemire and Chandler can’t play together” talk right now. They’re going to be playing together for the next two seasons at least… the trick is figuring out how to help them play well.

That brings us to Mike Woodson.

I don’t blame Woodson for what has happened in games one and two. I don’t think he’s been out-coached as much as I think the Knicks have been out-personnel-ed. But I’m also not sure that Woodson is the man that can remodel the Knicks’ high-priced frontcourt into a winning combination. He had some success in Atlanta running everything through Joe Johnson, and some in New York running everything through ‘Melo. But as Mike D’Antoni learned early this season, running an office through Anthony is not the way to get production out of Stoudemire.

Given Jim Dolan’s well-established fascination with big names, I suspect the job is Phil Jackson’s – assuming the Zen Master wants it. And Jackson’s legendary triangle offense might actually be an ideal set-up for this roster. Anthony would take the Kobe Bryant role. Stoudemire becomes Pau Gasol, and Chandler channels Tyson Chandler. Iman Shumpert could potentially be the point guard in that set-up… modeling his game after Ron Harper or Derek Fisher.

If it isn’t Jackson, I’d be more than happy with either Van Gundy brother… though I worry that bridge wasn’t just burned… it was exploded like the one that used the cross the River Kwai.

Filling the Roster

The next problem – and the one getting a lot less press – is this:

Here’s a list of players – besides Stoudemire, Anthony and Chandler – that are under contract to play for the Knicks next season and expected to participate in training camp:

Toney Douglas
Jerome Jordan

(I’m excluding Shumpert, who will be rehabbing that ACL until December or so, to make a point. The team has an option to retain Josh Harrellson as well, and it seems a mortal lock that they’ll do so.)

Here’s a list of Knicks that will hit free agency this summer:

J.R. Smith
Baron Davis
Mike Bibby
Jared Jeffries
Steve Novak
Landry Fields
Jeremy Lin

Fields is the only one of those free agents that the Knicks can exceed the salary cap to sign via the Larry Bird clause. Smith could choose to stay – he’s got a player option for $2.5 million – but that seems unlikely; he’ll make more on the open market.

Also worth noting: the Knicks don’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft.

Grunwald is going to have to fill roughly half the roster… and he’ll have to do it using the mid-level exception, veteran minimum deals and maybe a second-rounder or two. He did a masterful job assembling this year’s bench with similar constraints… but this year offered unique opportunities, with Baron Davis becoming available via the amnesty clause and J.R. Smith returning from China at mid-season.

The decision on a coach has to come first; Grunwald’s roster needs will be very different if the Knicks succeed in luring the Zen Master out of retirement. If Jax is the coach… maybe Jeremy Lin isn’t the number one priority. Maybe it makes more sense to try and get Lamar Odom on the cheap instead.

No matter what happens next, this promises to be yet another interesting summer.

Note to the Knicks: This is No Time to Panic

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The Knicks 6-10 on the season – a worse record than the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers. They are in the the midst of a six-game losing streak. They dropped all four games on last week’s homestand – three of them coming against teams that seem destined for the lottery. Carmelo Anthony is shooting way too much. Amar’e Stoudemire isn’t shooting enough. Baron Davis should be back soon – but is reportedly rusty, needs work on his conditioning, and will be brought along slowly. The Sixers could be the most-improved team in the league, and the Celtics are showing signs of life after an impossibly poor start.

As Andy’s pal Woody might say, “This is the perfect time to panic.”

Tom Hanks’ voice isn’t the only one calling for panic moves. Fans at Madison Square Garden are calling for Mike D’Antoni’s job. Stephen A. Smith is suggesting they trade Amar’e Stoudemire for Dwight Howard… others have pushed a Carmelo Anthony for Deron Williams deal (as if either of those trades have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening).

With all due respect, I have to side with Mr. Lightyear. This is no time to panic. Here’s why:

Panic moves created this situation

James Dolan panicked at the trade deadline and gave up too much to get Carmelo Anthony. Glen Grunwald panicked when he realized Chris Paul wasn’t going to be an option and spent a bunch of money on Tyson Chandler, even though doing so left him without a point guard. Another panic move gave the point guard job to Baron Davis – even though Davis wouldn’t be available for the first month of the season.

Panic moves are rarely ideal. The last thing the Knicks need is another stopgap solution.

You can’t make a good decision without more information

This team’s most obvious problem is the lack of a true point guard. Well… that problem could be partially solved as soon as Wednesday, when Davis will reportedly make his Knick debut. It’s probably a mistake to cast Davis in the role of savior; he’ll be rusty, and he won’t be able to play big minutes right away. But as Alan Hahn pointed out on his blog today, the last time Stoudemire and Anthony were healthy and playing with a real point guard, the Knicks reeled off a seven-game winning streak.

Before making any major changes, the Knicks really need to see how Davis impacts the team.

Options are limited

Say the Knicks fire Mike D’Antoni. Who are they getting to take over? Maybe they can convince Phil Jackson to coach the team some day – but I don’t see the Zen Master as a mid-season replacement. And I don’t think Jeff Van Gundy is coming back… well… ever. So firing D’Antoni probably means having Mike Woodson or Herb Williams call the shots for the rest of this season, and then a full-on coaching search (read: going to Jackson’s cabin in Montana and begging) this summer.

Same goes for the trade market. Who can the Knicks deal and get anything approaching a decent return? Stoudemire’s contract, health issues and poor play to this point would make him a very tough sell. Anthony’s contract is equally massive, and his play raises a very different set of doubts as to whether or not he’s the lead dog on a good team. Chandler? Stuck here until March. Shumpert? Might generate some interest, but why deal the least expensive, most promising guy on the roster? And what are you going to get for Toney Douglas or Landry Fields?

Continuity Matters

Every year, it seems, the Knicks attempt to re-make their roster on the fly at mid-season… and every year it sends them into a tail spin. I don’t know if it’s a Mike D’Antoni issue or an NBA fact of life, but it seems clear that major personnel shake-ups during a season do not lend themselves to winning basketball. (We’re considering the 2011 Denver Nuggets as the exception to that rule.)

The Knicks will have enough trouble getting Davis comfortable with Stoudemire, Anthony, Chandler and the rest. Other major changes will just complicate that process.

Changes I would make

That doesn’t necessarily mean I’d stand pat for the rest of the season, as this team does have some fairly obvious holes that need filling. The biggest is still point guard.

One of the best things about having multiple superstars on a team is the ability to have one take over while the other is on the bench. I’d love to see the Knicks run more plays specifically for Stoudemire when Anthony gets a breather. The problem is, Davis can’t play 48 minutes, and when Anthony is out, Davis may be too. I’d like to see the Knicks add a solid backup point guard capable of running the pick and roll with STAT and the second unit, whether that’s a Jamaal Tinsley or an Anthony Carter or similar.

And overall depth will continue to be a worry, especially with Josh Harrellson out for six weeks. Kenyon Martin’s name has come up quite a few times, and he’d make a lot of sense when he’s freed of his Chinese League obligations. (I’m not as big a fan of the J.R. Smith idea, mostly because I think Landry Fields has been playing better of late and Iman Shumpert will be getting minutes at the two once Davis is healthy.)

Knicks vs. Bobcats: Problems Time Won’t Solve

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This was supposed to be a stretch of schedule that would allow the Knicks to rack up a few wins against lesser opponents. But the real “lesser opponent” has been Mike D’Antoni’s club; his Knicks have dropped consecutive games to the Raptors and Bobcats.

The Charlotte loss was particularly ugly. With Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert back in the lineup, the Knicks were closer to full strength than they’ve been since opening night (when Shumpert sprained his knee). The frontcourt many described as the NBA’s best – with Tyson Chandler centering Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony – was in place. And yet, the Knicks were absolutely torched by Boris Diaw (27 points, 12-15 from the floor, 3-3 from three), Byron Mullens (16 points, 6-8 from the floor) and Gerald Henderson (24 points, 10-13) and allowed Charlotte, as a team, to score 118 points – 17 more than their previous season high.

What happened?

I don’t know if Amar’e Stoudemire is struggling with the Knicks’ defense, or if he’s still getting over that sprained ankle, or if he’s just a bad defender – probably a combination of all three – but he’s a big part of the problem at this point. Stoudemire was routinely caught switching to smaller players, which left Charlotte’s jump-shooting bigs with wide-open looks.
Landry Fields looks just as lost now as he did in the playoff series against Boston. My take? Fields is a smart guy (Stanford grad and all that), he seems the team is in disarray, and he’s desperately trying to find ways to help, maybe trying to do too much. I like the fact that he’s trying to create off the dribble and set Chandler up for easy baskets, but his feeds into the paint are ending up in photographer’s row more often than not. (My esteemed colleague Tommy Dee of TheKnicksBlog thinks Fields is playing out of position and would be better suited to coming off the bench at the three. I’m not sure he’s wrong – and if Iman Shumpert continues to play well, we may see Fields with the second unit before long.)
Tyson Chandler hasn’t had much of an impact on the defense to this point. The fact that he’s being asked to cover for poor defenders at both forward spots could be part of the problem – in Dallas, he really only needed to clean up after Dirk Nowitzki. But the Knicks’ defensive scheme – if it can be called that – seems to call for players to switch on every screen and every pick-and-roll. Chandler can’t protect the paint if he’s constantly getting caught defending the likes of DJ Augustin one-on-one.
The offense wasn’t as big a problem as in recent games – 110 points should be more than enough to beat Charlotte, after all – but big issues remain. In theory, Toney Douglas and Carmelo Anthony are primarily responsible for initiating the offense. Well, those two combined for ten assists in the game… and eight turnovers. A 5:4 assist-to-turnover ratio probably isn’t ideal.

Here’s my biggest concern: you’ll see a lot of reporters and bloggers mention these issues and then throw in a caveat like, “they haven’t had much time to learn Mike Woodson’s defensive schemes” or “they need time to jell.” And I don’t buy that excuse. Last year’s Miami Heat – especially early in the season, when they couldn’t figure out how to get LeBron James and Dwyane Wade going simultaneously – needed time. This team needs something else. More practice time won’t help the fact that they continue to come out flat against weaker opponents.

Or that they seem to feel the same way about playing defense that many men feel about changing poopie diapers.

Put it another way… Dwayne Casey just took over the Raptors – a team led by defensively-inept Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon. And through six games, his Raptors are holding opponents to .398 shooting from the floor – best number in the NBA. Why don’t the Raptors need more time to jell and learn a new defense? Maybe Bargnani and company are playing bettter D because they’ve actually committed to it, a commitment not in evidence among most Knicks last night.

On the Bright Side:

Iman Shumpert continues to impress. Shump chipped in 19 points (6-10 from the floor, 4-6 from three) with five boards, three assists and two steals in the game. He was one of just two Knicks to finish the game in plus territory (Bill Walker was the other) and is already a big enough fan favorite to inspire his own chants at MSG.

He made a few mistakes on both ends of the floor, but at least he’s making mistakes of aggression. And though he limped off the floor in the fourth quarter after getting tangled up with Charlotte’s Gerald Henderson, the report is he was just suffering from a cramp; he should be good to go for Friday’s game against the Wizards.

How to Fix Things:

To me, the two biggest problems are the Knicks’ impossibly slow starts and the defense. To fix the former, I’d try Shumpert in the starting lineup in place of Fields. The rookie’s energy is infectious on both ends of the floor, and Fields’ “let the game come to me” style might be better suited to adapting to the flow of the game as it progresses.

If you’d rather move Fields to small forward in the second unit… maybe try a second-quarter grouping with Fields at the three, Stoudemire at the four and Harrellson in the middle… I wouldn’t argue. Jorts’ three-point shooting could create more space for STAT to operate and maybe allow Fields to get back to attacking the basket, like he did in the first half of last season.

On defense… this crazy “switch 14 times on every possession” might work when you’ve got someone like Jared Jeffries – capable of defending multiple positions – on the floor. But using Chandler in that role is a big mistake.

In the fourth quarter – when the Knicks actually slowed Charlotte down enough to make the final score respectable – it appeared they were in a sort-of matchup zone. To me, a zone – even a basic rec-league 2-3 – would make a lot more sense given this team’s current personnel, as it would allow Chandler to stay home and protect the rim more.

Knicks Officially Add Woodson to Coaching Staff

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The Knicks officially announced Mike Woodson as the latest addition to Mike D’Antoni’s coaching staff today. Here’s the official word from the team’s publicity department:

NEW YORK, August 29, 2011 – The New York Knickerbockers announced today that Mike Woodson has joined Head Coach Mike D’Antoni’s staff as an assistant coach. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“I was extremely encouraged after meeting with Mike that he would be a great addition to our coaching staff and we are pleased to welcome him back to New York,” D’Antoni said. “Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team and we are confident that he will help us as we continue towards our goal of building a championship team.”

Woodson joins the Knickerbockers after serving as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks for six seasons from 2004-2010, where he guided the Hawks to the playoffs in each of his last three seasons. In six seasons in Atlanta, Woodson amassed a 209-286 (.419) coaching record in 492 games while posting an 11-18 record in 29 playoff games. Prior to joining the Hawks, Woodson served as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks (1996-99), Cleveland Cavaliers (1999-2001), Philadelphia 76ers (2001-03) and the 2003-04 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons.

“I consider Mike D’Antoni to be one of the top coaches in our game and I am thankful for this opportunity,” Woodson said. “I’m excited to re-join this great franchise where my professional career started and will work to build off of the success they had here last season.”

Woodson was drafted by New York with the 12th overall selection in the 1980 NBA Draft out of Indiana University and averaged 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 786 career games over 11 NBA seasons with New York, New Jersey, Kansas City-Sacramento, L.A. Clippers, Houston and Cleveland. In his rookie season with New York, Woodson averaged 4.7 points in 81 games under the legendary Red Holzman.

Theoretically, Woodson becomes the “defensive coordinator” of Mike D’Antoni’s staff – a specialist that Knicks management and Phoenix Suns management have been pushing for years and that the notoriously offensive-minded coach has been resisting for just as long. But that’s just part of the story. The good part.

Here’s the scary part.

Mike D’Antoni is entering the final year of his contract. Woodson becomes the de facto “coach in waiting.” He has no ties to D’Antoni. He does have ties to acting general manager Glen Grunwald, and to (shudder) Isiah Thomas; Woodson, Grunwald and Zeke were college teammates at Indiana.

The first time the Knicks lose three straight… or drop a game to an inferior opponent… just brace yourself for the inevitable “Isiah Thomas is trying to convince Dolan to give Woodson the top job” stories.

Frank Isola may have one written already.

NEW YORK, August 29, 2011 – The New York Knickerbockers announced today that Mike Woodson has joined Head Coach Mike D’Antoni’s staff as an assistant coach. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“I was extremely encouraged after meeting with Mike that he would be a great addition to our coaching staff and we are pleased to welcome him back to New York,” D’Antoni said. “Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team and we are confident that he will help us as we continue towards our goal of building a championship team.”

Woodson joins the Knickerbockers after serving as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks for six seasons from 2004-2010, where he guided the Hawks to the playoffs in each of his last three seasons. In six seasons in Atlanta, Woodson amassed a 209-286 (.419) coaching record in 492 games while posting an 11-18 record in 29 playoff games. Prior to joining the Hawks, Woodson served as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks (1996-99), Cleveland Cavaliers (1999-2001), Philadelphia 76ers (2001-03) and the 2003-04 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons.

“I consider Mike D’Antoni to be one of the top coaches in our game and I am thankful for this opportunity,” Woodson said. “I’m excited to re-join this great franchise where my professional career started and will work to build off of the success they had here last season.”

Woodson was drafted by New York with the 12th overall selection in the 1980 NBA Draft out of Indiana University and averaged 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 786 career games over 11 NBA seasons with New York, New Jersey, Kansas City-Sacramento, L.A. Clippers, Houston and Cleveland. In his rookie season with New York, Woodson averaged 4.7 points in 81 games under the legendary Red Holzman.