The Allonzo Trier conundrum: A break down of the Knicks least talked about prospect.

[HarthorneWingo]

I'm just bored. I think they'll win 38-42 games.

You let your schtick take over your soul.

I stopped about a week ago. Catch up Lew Alzheimer.

I'm getting ready for training camp, so it's Mostly Serious Buzzard.

Acerbic Sarcastic Buzzard is spotted between mid season (if the Knicks suck) and the end of summer.

Lew Alzheimer

[malik959]

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[frothbrain]

brickley is a b tier trainer.

[ITGM]

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Keep sleeping on this man!

[F N 11]

Least talked about. Will have a chance to start at the 2 spot. However I think bench assassin role can for him well.

[Orange Mamba]

I think people are sleeping on Iso Zo (myself included). Just thinking about his advanced offensive game and ability to create his own shot/shots for others, i don't see why he couldn't potentially break out next year

[moocow007]

People are still stuck on Carmelo Anthony wasn't Lebron James so let's burn everyone that is remotely like him frame of mind.

As far as Trier goes. He's clearly an NBA caliber offensive player. It's not hard to argue that he may have been one of the most NBA ready all around scorers in the 2018 draft class.

So scoring isn't a problem.

Trier also has shown that he is not phased by the pressure of playing in the NBA and playing in NY under the beams of Broadway lights. That has to be considered too as a plus.

He has short arms but when you combine his aggressive physical style, his strong athletic build AND his excellent offensive feel (people keep saying he has low BB IQ not sure why...he has terrific feel for offense) his shortish arms isn't as big of a deal.

Him being able to create for himself so we'll is an indication he sees the lanes and the openings and the timing to look for his own shot. He has a "natural" feel for the that "dumb chuckers" dont have. Again "dumb chuckers" don't show the type of feel creating for himself like Trier has CLEARLY CLEARLY shown.

What Trier has issue with is he will cheat on defense in anticipation of getting an early jump on offense. He also gets myopic once the ball is in his hands. Those were his big negatives at Arizona. It's not he can't play defense or his arms are too short...it's that he's so zoned in on attacking the opposing team on offense that he'll so for the steal and leave his team exposed. He's not just standing around defensively. It's not he can't pass or find his teammate, he's just more geared in attack mode. If he was then ok we're probably in trouble, but he's aggressive, just aggressive in a way that is not ideally condusive to good team defense. Better chance that he can learn to tone down the juice a bit, not always go for the spectacular and instead share a little more (and the OP showed he was improving there) and stay back with his man.

Realize Sean Miller called Trier one of the most intense, competitive and hardest workers he's ever coached. That tells me that if you can right his focus that there's a lot of good to work with.

His current trajectory is Lou Williams, JJ Reddick, Jamal Crawford. Guys that are ideally suited for the 6th man role as far instant offense off the bench. Guys that you can bring in and know they can create their own instant offense. Guys that can help snap cold offensive spells. Guys like that still have a lot of value even if they aren't starters or stars.

The notion that the Knicks should get rid of him is silly and myopic. At the end of the day you win by scoring more points than the other team. That's achieved by EITHER scoring better or defending better (not just defending better). A guy that, after just his rookie NBA season has shown an elite ability to score is value. The Knicks would be morons to let him go for nothing.

But as with Anthony, folks blame the player for the teams **** construction that couldn't utilize the strengths of it's players while minimizing it's weaknesses. Blame the player for not being better some fantasy standard (Carmelo wasn't Lebron, Trier isn't [fill in name of a top notch two way guard]) and, as a result call him worthless.

Knicks biggest problem for the last 20 years has been their front offices inability to build teams. And when you have **** front offices that are clueless about build a real team, you need your Carmelo Anthony's to (unrealistically) be Lebron James, your draft picks to all be Superstars and All-stars and guys like Trier to be as good defensively as he is offensively. Then when they aren't or dont want to we want to burn them at the stake and toss them out the door.

You guys want to know why players don't want to sign here? Cause of everything I said here about unrealistic everything

The individual players haven't been the main problem, it's been the players but together to form a cohesive functional team that has been their problem. It's one thing to make a mistake on a player (trade, draft, signing) here and there, it's another to consistently make mistakes building a team.

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[Scalabrine]

I don't know where Trier's place is on this roster yet. We have so many guys on his level that we want to get minutes that I don't really see how any of them are gonna get the minutes we want. DSj, Payton, Ntilikina, Barrett, Trier, Ellington, Dotson and Bullock (when he comes back) are all either 1's or 2's and it's not like we have a ton of minutes available at the 3 either with Knox and Morris there. I understand that we will have injuries but when we are healthy I imagine that 2 or 3 of those guys wont be getting minutes.

As for Zo, I see more CJ McCollum in him than Harden. CJ also came into the league at 22 and their year 23 numbers are pretty much identical. That seems like a more realistic ceiling than James Harden to me.

[Knicksfan1992]

I don't know where Trier's place is on this roster yet. We have so many guys on his level that we want to get minutes that I don't really see how any of them are gonna get the minutes we want. DSj, Payton, Ntilikina, Barrett, Trier, Ellington, Dotson and Bullock (when he comes back) are all either 1's or 2's and it's not like we have a ton of minutes available at the 3 either with Knox and Morris there. I understand that we will have injuries but when we are healthy I imagine that 2 or 3 of those guys wont be getting minutes.

As for Zo, I see more CJ McCollum in him than Harden. CJ also came into the league at 22 and their year 23 numbers are pretty much identical. That seems like a more realistic ceiling than James Harden to me.

hmmm I really like the comparison of CJ actually. I didn't think of him probably because CJ's game has always been way "smoother" while Zo's game can be very herky jerky.

[will]

Only reason is because 'Zo was undrafted.
Mans can hoop!

[moocow007]

I don't know where Trier's place is on this roster yet. We have so many guys on his level that we want to get minutes that I don't really see how any of them are gonna get the minutes we want. DSj, Payton, Ntilikina, Barrett, Trier, Ellington, Dotson and Bullock (when he comes back) are all either 1's or 2's and it's not like we have a ton of minutes available at the 3 either with Knox and Morris there. I understand that we will have injuries but when we are healthy I imagine that 2 or 3 of those guys wont be getting minutes.

As for Zo, I see more CJ McCollum in him than Harden. CJ also came into the league at 22 and their year 23 numbers are pretty much identical. That seems like a more realistic ceiling than James Harden to me.

hmmm I really like the comparison of CJ actually. I didn't think of him probably because CJ's game has always been way "smoother" while Zo's game can be very herky jerky.

Trier is Lou Williams like. Herky jerky game, able to shoot outside or go inside. They even have the same one legged push shot.

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[HarthorneWingo]

Clyde loves saying "EYE-so Zo" and then he chuckles. lmao

[MadGrinch]

Trier has no future on the team for a couple of simple reasons .

if he against all odds has an impactful year , he will be a free agent and get a nice offer , the knicks won't match it because they want to keep the cap clean for big fish.

if he doesn't , he's a free agent and the team moves on

its not likely he has a good year , the backcourt is too crowded with players that fit what Fizdale wants more (3 &d types, shooters who move well without the ball in dotson, ellington and bullock,) and of course RJ Barrett

[spree2kawhi]

He can score the ball. Doesn't mean he can make the reads or see lanes other than his own when on the ball. It really doesn't mean that at all. It also doesn't mean he can be effective off the ball on offense and that at the same time is one of the hardest basketball skills to learn. The JJ Redick comparison is off, CJ is five times smarter on the court and maybe Lou Williams is a fitting comparison, but Trier will have to camp in the gym to make up that difference in shooting touch.

[thebuzzardman]

He can score the ball. Doesn't mean he can make the reads or see lanes other than his own when on the ball. It really doesn't mean that at all. It also doesn't mean he can be effective off the ball on offense and that at the same time is one of the hardest basketball skills to learn. The JJ Redick comparison is off, CJ is five times smarter on the court and maybe Lou Williams is a fitting comparison, but Trier will have to camp in the gym to make up that difference in shooting touch.

Watch the Mitchell Robinson rookie highlight tape. I bet half the lobs he catches in it are from Trier.

I'm not trying to gas him up; it's possible his game can have some flaws he needs to adjust. He's going into his second year, granted he's already 23 or 24 or whatever. But still.

He should be playing more than 6 mpg. Trier is the kind of player who should be getting at least 20 mpg.

I'll assume the Knicks are force feeding RJ minutes in preseason to speed up his development a bit, and that Triers minutes go up when the season starts.

[br7knicks]

He can score the ball. Doesn't mean he can make the reads or see lanes other than his own when on the ball. It really doesn't mean that at all. It also doesn't mean he can be effective off the ball on offense and that at the same time is one of the hardest basketball skills to learn. The JJ Redick comparison is off, CJ is five times smarter on the court and maybe Lou Williams is a fitting comparison, but Trier will have to camp in the gym to make up that difference in shooting touch.

Watch the Mitchell Robinson rookie highlight tape. I bet half the lobs he catches in it are from Trier.

I'm not trying to gas him up; it's possible his game can have some flaws he needs to adjust. He's going into his second year, granted he's already 23 or 24 or whatever. But still.

He should be playing more than 6 mpg. Trier is the kind of player who should be getting at least 20 mpg.

I'll assume the Knicks are force feeding RJ minutes in preseason to speed up his development a bit, and that Triers minutes go up when the season starts.

trier has changed my mind (for the most part) - but he's also showing a player that is completely different from last season. last season, both guys were younger versions of melo. once they get the ball, it means they need to shoot, regardless of time on the clock, other open players, etc.


he and knox are showing signs of growth, change, and intelligence - something they didn't show last season. i'm happy with those two, so far. i hope they continue to play well