New York Knicks: 8 Different Versatile Lineups D'Antoni Will Use
The 2010-11 New York Knicks feature the deepest and most talented roster of the last decade. With new additions Amar'e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton and the trio aquired from Golden State, the team will be featuring many fresh faces.
The new roster has already brought many questions about the projected starting lineup and how the rotation will pan out. Looking down the roster, there are more then ten players who are worthy of heavy minutes, giving head coach Mike Dantoni lots of options for the first time in his tenure as the New York Knick's coach.
Versatile players such as forward Anthony Randolph and Danillo Gallinari give New York the versatility to mix and match with many different lineups.
With this in mind, I would like to present to you the eight different lineups head coach Mike Dantoni will be able to put onto the court this upcoming season.
Projected Starting Lineup: Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, Stoudemire, and Turiaf
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Felton will be the obvious starting point guard along with Amare Stoudemire at the 4. If New York hadn't promised Amar'e that he would start at the 4, then he would probably start at center and Anthony Randolph would start at the four. At small forward young rising-star Danillo Gallinari will take the majority of the minutes, with newcomer Ronny Turiaf starting at the 5 because of his defense and rebounding. The Knicks are short on pure shooting guards, but Wilson Chandler will probably start there because newly aquired Kelenna Azubuike is still not 100% healthy. Azubuike is said to be 50/50 for the start of training camp, but New York's depth with Bill Walker, Roger Mason, and Landry Fields, will allow Azubuike to take it easy until he is fully back to health.
Tall: Roger Mason, Gallinari, Randolph, Stoudemire, Mozgov
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Guard Roger Mason has tremendous size (6'5) and great outside shooting ability. He has logged some minutes playing point guard in his last couple of seasons for the San Antonio Spurs, and I wouldn't be surpised to see him run the point when Felton or Douglas is hit with foul trouble. 6'10 Danillo Gallinari can play the shooting guard with versatile and agile 6'11 Anthony Randolph playing the 3.
As a matter of fact, head coach Mike Dantoni has already brought up the idea of using Danillo at the 2 and Randolph at the 3 in his starting lineup.
In this tall lineup, Stoudemire would play his natural position of power forward, while newcomer seven-footer Timofey Mozgov will give added length over other center Ronny Turiaf.
Fast Break: Felton, Douglas, Azubuike, Gallinari, Randolph
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Can you imagine the Knicks putting a lineup out with two point guards on the court at the same time? No, because the Knicks haven't even had one worthy point guard for the last decause, so two on the court at the same time would be mindblowing.
Deer-like Forward Anthony Randolph is one of the best big men in transition and Gallinari can certainly run the floor as well. This lineup would do damage against the slower and older teams such as Boston.
Rebounding: Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, Randolph, Mozgov
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A lot of critics were upset with the departure of David Lee for Amar'e Stoudemire. Yes, David Lee did average more rebounds than Stoudemire last year, but Lee was also the only player on the team that cared about rebounding.
Coach Dantoni has mentioned playing Gallinari at the 2 in order to help with the rebounding loss of Lee, and this lineup would surely feature many players with the size and rebounding ability that could make up for the void Lee has caused with his departure.
Defense: Felton, Azubuike, Chandler, Randolph, Turiaf
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Felton and Azubuike are great perimeter defenders, and Chandler is up there too with his defensive ability. Amar'e Stoudemire, unfortunately, lacks defense, but in a defense-oriented lineup that can easily be fixed with the implimentation of Randolph and Turiaf in the paint, who both posses great shot-blocking ability.
3-PT: Felton, Douglas, Mason, Azubuike, Gallinari
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Felton shot 39% from beyond the arc last season and would be a good fit in a 3-PT lineup. Toney Douglas also found much success from 3 last season, shooting 39% as well. New comers Roger Mason and Kelenna Azubuike would play the forward positions, both of whom shoot over 40% from beyond the arc for their careers. 6'10 Danillo Gallinari, who came in second last season with 186 3-PT field goals would man the paint.
Free Throw: PG-Douglas, SG-Mason,SF-Azubuike, PF-Chandler, C-Gallinari,
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In a free-throw concentrated lineup, New York could put out five members of the team who all shoot over 80% from the charity stripe, while keeping the proper size and defensive ability needed to play on defense as well.
Scoring: PG-Felton,SG-Chandler,SF-Gallinari,PF-Amare,C-Randolph
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If New York were to play a lineup that was concentrated on scoring, they would have no trouble finding the players needed for doing so. In putting out 22 PPG career scorer Amar'e Stoudemire, 14 PPG scorer Raymond felton, and two players who both averaged 15 PPG last season in Danillo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, the team would have more than enough options on the offensive end.
Although Randolph is not known for his scoring prowress as of yet, in the final two months of his rookie season, when he was given adequete playing time, he averaged 16 PPG.
