The Next Official All things Frank Ntilikina Thread

[ChaosHamster]

France plays Lithuania today, finally a tough match-up. Hopefully Frank builds on his confidence.

[VECTORMAN]

I'm the opposite of Sham. All of this back and forth about Frank just makes me love the kid even more. I love to see people overcome the odds.

Thing is, the odds are actually in his favor with his very young age, his elite physical tools, his feel for the game, his work ethic, and his fighting spirit on the defensive end. He has the makings of a great pro athlete. Clyde_Style makes a good point when he says his defensive tenacity actually proves there's a lot of fight in him. He's just gotta keep working on his offensive game, keep getting reps, and it will all come together. As he becomes more of a man and becomes more comfortable in his surroundings, he's going to be much less afraid to look for his shot.

The real odds against him are how patient both Knicks fans and the organization are willing to be. As we know, patience is not a strong suit for either party.

[spree2kawhi]

Frank plays intelligently. If you want to maximize his strengths, he's your point guard and there is no but. France does that and he's been fairly good so far. Note that he's not their only point guard.

That said, your best lineup should be:

Frank - who has become an elite distributor by now, but is still not blowing me away offensively. I am not convinced, but - if he makes it at all and if he hits his 3 - he is my starting point guard as I would always want my team to play with his mindset. Pretty much like France did it.

Dotson - who is a very good shooter, which is key next to Frank and RJ

RJ - who is just not a shooting guard and really shouldn't be

Randle - who is mobile enough, strong enough and a good enough shooter to be a matchup problem especially at the 4

Robinson - obviously, as long as he has no foul trouble


Knox is the prototypical bench plug to me and could thrive big time as the go to bench scorer next to Randle or Portis at the 5

Smith jr. is not reliable to me and I couldn't ever want such a point guard.

Trier can change his name into Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams. Ideally he lives up to it. He'd be my shot creator off the bench after we traded Smith for a future first round pick.

Elfrid Payton is my backup point guard and a good one at that.

Edit: Overall, this is a versatile, but bad team.

[Chanel Bomber]

::screams from the rooftops::

If Tony Allen and Roberson can have roles on winning teams, there's no reason Frank can't have that on the Knicks. And this idea that there's no way he can't improve his three-point shot is dumb. If he does improve 3-point shot and eventually hits league-average, that's a great player to have. At the very least I'm encouraged by what I buy what I see in FIBA play.

Of course, then reality sets in and you remember that last season was a waste for Frank's development. Between fiz giving him the shortest leash out of any young player on the roster and the injuries, I don't have a ton of hope for Frank getting consistent minutes this season. I fear he ends up helping another team down the line instead of the Knicks.

Frank's shot isn't nearly as bad as some people say

If you remove both Novembers, his career 3pt% would be 34%. Which is league average. He just shoots so terribly in November (18% combined) that it drags down what would otherwise be solid shooting to bad

That's why I don't like the Allen and Roberson comps, cause Frank's shot is significantly better than theirs, and he's still younger than both were when they came into the league.

Right, my point was using them as a baseline. Fans constantly talking about how he can't be on the floor if he can't shoot. Well, there are 2 great defensive guard/wings who prove that statement wrong. Meanwhile, he's a better playmaker than both and his shot doesn't look broken at all. I don't have a ton of confidence in fiz seeing the light, but I'd love him to prove me wrong.

Difference is Tony Allen and Andre Roberson were both smart and active cutters. They cut to the basket aggressively to finish inside so they could be a factor off the ball despite their broken jumpers. Frank doesn’t seem to have the same understanding of how to move without the ball and how to find openings on the floor. He’s far too passive on the court, even off the ball. And while Frank is a better passer than both, I think it’s a stretch to categorize him as a playmaker, although he does have some interesting upside as a secondary ball-handler/playmaker down the line.

He’s been a complete liability both on and off the ball offensively. That’s the reality. He and the Knicks should focus on the simplest things: improve his ability to cut to the basket and improve his jumper off the catch. He can definitely have a positive impact and help us win games if he becomes respectable in those areas. But if he can’t do those things, then he might not get a second NBA contract.

Some of y’all preach patience but the fact is that he didn’t show any signs of improvement in his second season. In fact, he regressed defensively and his scoring efficiency went from bad for a rookie to historically bad. My point is, I think it’s fair to expect some form of improvement in his third year in the league. I’m not even expecting him to become a « good » player (I understand he might take longer to develop and that’s fine), but he needs to grow up now and show some signs that he gets it offensively. And don’t blame it on Fiz if he can’t crack .400 FG%. This victimization of Frank is lame tbh.

[HarthorneWingo]

If DSJ jumper is legit, he should have no problem with RJ.

Here’s a preview of whats to come...

That's college, son. Now, he's playing against grown men.

Lol you’ll come around on RJ eventually. I was one of his biggest critics throughout the college season but he won me over.

I do agree with you however that he isn’t/shouldn’t be the primary facilitator. Our best bet right now imo is DSJ. If DSJ shows little to no improvement this season, expect the Knicks to target Cole Anthony/RJ Hampton/Theo Maledon in next years draft.

I was going to post the highlights of RJ’s first two summer league games but after watching them myself, I just couldn’t do that to the fam bc it’s so brutal. lol

Thing is, RJ has never been a consistently good shooter from 3 dating back to high school. Yeah, he’ll have his 28 point games and shoot well from 3, but then he’ll have 2-7, 1-4 type games.

Anyhow, I’m having fun “busting” on him but I do want all of our players to succeed and be the best possible players they can be ... so we can trade them for better players.

[HarthorneWingo]

France v Lithuania is on at 8 a.m. EST. Anyone have a free streaming site where I don’t have to fill out all the credit card info?

[MadGrinch]

Frank plays intelligently. If you want to maximize his strengths, he's your point guard and there is no but. France does that and he's been fairly good so far. Note that he's not their only point guard.

That said, your best lineup should be:

Frank - who has become an elite distributor by now, but is still not blowing me away offensively. I am not convinced, but - if he makes it at all and if he hits his 3 - he is my starting point guard as I would always want my team to play with his mindset. Pretty much like France did it.

Dotson - who is a very good shooter, which is key next to Frank and RJ

RJ - who is just not a shooting guard and really shouldn't be

Randle - who is mobile enough, strong enough and a good enough shooter to be a matchup problem especially at the 4

Robinson - obviously, as long as he has no foul trouble


Knox is the prototypical bench plug to me and could thrive big time as the go to bench scorer next to Randle or Portis at the 5

Smith jr. is not reliable to me and I couldn't ever want such a point guard.

Trier can change his name into Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams. Ideally he lives up to it. He'd be my shot creator off the bench after we traded Smith for a future first round pick.

Elfrid Payton is my backup point guard and a good one at that.

Edit: Overall, this is a versatile, but bad team.

what happened to marcus morris in this scenario?

[B8RcDeMktfxC]

France v Lithuania is on at 8 a.m. EST. Anyone have a free streaming site where I don’t have to fill out all the credit card info?

check your PMs

[remi_222]

beginning of the game perfect for France with an amazing Defense (5 blocks, 4 steals) 26-14 after the first quarter.
Frank is a bit confused with the pressure ! 0/2 shoots, 1 foul

[remi_222]

3 fouls for Frank ! 3min remaining on the first quarter ! Frank bashing time will be back i guess

[thebuzzardman]

France v Lithuania is on at 8 a.m. EST. Anyone have a free streaming site where I don’t have to fill out all the credit card info?

check your PMs

Can I get that too? Just in case I can't find the one earlier in this topic fast enough!

[thebuzzardman]

nbastreams.xyz

[movingon]

Can we trade Frank for Nando de Colo? That dude is cold blooded.

[remi_222]

Half time 50-40 France. Its a stressful game, intense defense, so the french game is based on what we know how to do the best which is playing with Fournier, De Colo. The off ball movement is super present which gives less opportunities for Fournier to penetrate or to give inside to Gobert.
The game will come to Frank in the 2nd half, he just needs to continue what he has to do : DEFENSE and make Fournier comfortable !

[Fat Kat]

Are they pronouncing Frank’s name incorrectly?

[movingon]

Are they pronouncing Frank’s name incorrectly?

NO!

[Fat Kat]

Are they pronouncing Frank’s name incorrectly?

NO!

I guess the NBA announcers are

[Clyde Frazier]

Are they pronouncing Frank’s name incorrectly?

They definitely are. It's "NEE-LEE-KEE-NA" not "NIK-I-LEE-NA" which is what they're saying.

[NYKnickerbocker]

First time trying to watch a game, and this stream **** sucks lol

[mpharris36]

First time trying to watch a game, and this stream **** sucks lol

so choppy