The New York Knicks and Steve Novak have a lot of pieces to stitch together this upcoming season. Sorry, if I frightened you but no Stoudemire did not hit another fire extinguisher.
Instead most of the team has been hitting the court with legend Hakeem Olajuwon.
The player who should reap the most from having “The Dream” as a tutor is actually Steve Novak. His effectiveness is dependent on penetration inside the paint and low post play.
Novak needs to be free on the outside to knock down another prolific 47 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. That can only truly happen when the defense is forced to keep an eye on the paint.
Tyson Chandler, who is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and Stoudemire were not post players last year. Without a presence in the post or penetration into the paint Miami was never forced to cheat off Novak or double team.
If a shooter cannot create his own shot he needs ball movement to survive. Nothing creates space more than a double team because someone will always be open. That’s the rule of thumb.
Many of you may be saying, “Well, what happened during the season?”
That’s easy to answer because we all should remember Jeremy Lin happened during the season. Lin attacked the paint forcing defenders to cheat on guys like Novak and J.R. Smith.
Newly added Raymond Felton should bring some of that aggressiveness Lin seemed to be born with. Accompany that with a strong post presence and Novak should see daylight often this year.
We all seem to overlook that Novak didn’t shoot poorly during the Miami series. He was just unable to shoot enough to be effective.
I’d rather have a guy like Novak who will only put up quality shots. Then when Marbury used to cross the half court line and take shots from the K in Knicks.
This season being Novak’s 7th year as an NBA player means he has a lot left in him. His almost 9 points a game last season was the best of his career. Which is even more impressing considering it was a lockout year.
Novak is due to make $15 million over the next 4 years for a reason. The Knicks have a plan and he is a part of it.
Sources: Huffington Post and NYpost.com
Follow me: @BuddhaLeeRaye
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September 23, 2012
