With training camp opening Tuesday, we take a look at five things to watch for the
New York Knicks:
1. Melo, the Knicks and the triangle: Training camp will give the Knicks an opportunity to learn the nuances of the triangle offense without worrying about wins and losses.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes
Carmelo Anthony and his teammates to adapt to an offense that's predicated on ball and player movement. Over the past two seasons under Mike Woodson, the Knicks ran an offense that was heavy on isolation.
Having point guard
Jose Calderon, who is widely known as a strong shooter and distributor, should help ease the transition. So will having Phil Jackson on hand and assistants Kurt Rambis and Jim Cleamons on Derek Fisher's bench.
2. Shooting guard competition: Who will Fisher choose to start at shooting guard?
J.R. Smith,
Iman Shumpert and
Tim Hardaway Jr. will compete for minutes at the position.
Hardaway Jr. is coming off of a strong rookie season on the offensive end but had a tough time on defensive, which is common for rookies.
Shumpert is a strong defender but struggled to produce consistently on offense.
Smith finished the season strong but ran afoul of both the NBA and the Knicks on and off the court.
With no leader at this point, it will be worth keeping an eye on this battle throughout camp.
3. Dominant defense? Fisher made it clear on Friday that his top priority in camp will be to improve the Knicks on defense.
“We’re going to prioritize defense,” he said. “A lot of focus will be on what we do offensively and how guys are going to fit into it or buy into it, whether or not our players like it or don’t like it, but successful teams play defense. There’s no way around it."
The Knicks struggled mightily on defense last season, finishing 24th in defensive efficiency, a measure of points allowed per 100 possessions. They also ranked 28th in points allowed per shot.
New York will likely have to establish a strong team defense. Obviously, all strong defensive teams play great defense collectively. But the Knicks may have to rely on the strength of a five-man unit even more than other teams because they lack strong individual defenders on the roster.
Shumpert is one of the top young perimeter defenders in the NBA. But the Knicks traded away their top interior defender,
Tyson Chandler.
4. Battle for minutes at power forward: Shooting guard isn't the only interesting training camp competition. As Jackson noted Friday, the Knicks have several candidates who will battle for minutes at power forward. There's
Amar'e Stoudemire,
Andrea Bargnani, Anthony (who has played extensively at power forward the past two seasons) and PF/C
Jason Smith.
If the Knicks want to play with a smaller lineup, they can go with Anthony at power forward. If not, maybe they start Stoudemire alongside Anthony and
Samuel Dalembert on the front line?
5. Fisher learning on the job: Fisher will be making a big leap from player to NBA head coach.
Fisher has veteran assistants Rambis and Cleamons on staff, which should ease his transition. But there will invariably be bumps in he road for Fisher, who has never coached on any level.
Fisher said Friday that one of his biggest adjustments will concern communication. More specifically, Fisher wants to be able to effectively communicate expectations to his players.
"Just understanding the level of communication required to make sure players are clear, the team is clear, about expectations, about what it is you want to see, how you want things happening out on the floor," Fisher said.
One other adjustment?
"Realizing that you’re responsible," he said, "for everyone."
