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Authored by Christopher Reina - 13th November, 2007 - 2:34 pm
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In Tuesday’s New York Daily News, Frank Isola reported Stephon Marbury’s tenure with the Knicks may soon be ending or at the very least evolve into a reduced role. He also was missing from Tuesday's practice, and Isiah Thomas announced that Mardy Collins would be taking his slot in the starting lineup against Phoenix.
Marbury’s turnover in the closing seconds of Sunday’s loss to Miami while the Knicks held a one-point lead was ubiquitously costly.
His AST/TO ratio (2.83) is 24th in the NBA, but is still better than Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Raymond Felton, Jameer Nelson, Kirk Hinrich and is more than a point better than Jamal Crawford.
Marbury has had slow starts in the past and his trade value is nil unless it is to take on even more severe salary problems, so to even consider a buyout would be an absurd proposition. Starbury may be dead, but Marbury certainly still is very useful. Because of the way the Knicks are built offensively, a Marbury that realizes his limitations may even be preferred to the Jersey Starbury of old where he could penetrate at will and elevate to the hoop and finish.
During the Larry Brown season, Marbury struggled terribly in November and December, trying to make sense of what was expected of him. It came to a head when he went 0-for-7 in a December 28th loss at Orlando. But the Knicks started the New Year with a 140-133 victory in triple-overtime against the Suns in which Marbury scored 32 points, and they went on to win five more games in a row.
A Saturday loss to Toronto was following a MLK day loss to Minnesota at home in which Marbury jammed his shoulder on a pick by Wally Szczerbiak, and the season was lost.
Last season, Marbury averaged 10.1 points and 4.5 assists per game in November, but he recovered and finished well, averaging 23.1 points and 5.7 assists in 41 minutes per game in 14 March games. In wins, Marbury averaged 18.3 points (shooting 45.7% from the floor and 41% from three), while dishing out 6.4 assists. In the losses he averaged 15 points (38.5% FG/31% three-point) with 4.8 assists.
Marbury then went on to have a tumultuous summer where he exhibited bizarre behavior, suggested playing in Italy when his contract is up in 2009 and also embarrassingly testified in the ABS/MSG civil suit.
More than being completely shot (see Steve Francis), at his age and physical condition, Marbury only seems to have his legs every other game or so. He averaged 21.1 points and 7.2 assists per game last season when coming off three or more days rest.
This fact leads to the part of Isola’s report in which he suggested Marbury’s minutes might be greatly reduced, a fact of aging in the NBA which he wants no part of.
His presence, along with Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson gives the Knicks one of the most un-athletic, lead-footed starting fives in the NBA.
I would bring Richardson off the bench (injured or not) and start Renaldo Balkman at the three indefinitely (you still have the off-the-bench jump-start factor from David Lee) because the alternative (benching Marbury) would mean either sliding Jamal Crawford over to the one or mean starting Mardy Collins.
(The Marbury/Crawford/Balkman/Randolph/Curry rotation has a +6 in their limited time together.)
Collins, who has been all but forgotten by Isiah Thomas because of a heel injury, is an upgrade athletically and a big upgrade defensively but is still a developing shooter, and opposing point guards would be able to collapse onto Randolph and Curry even more aggressively than they do with Marbury on the floor. Marbury’s three-point shot (.444 for the season) still needs to be respected.
Last April, Collins averaged 44.1 minutes per game and responded by averaging 14.8 ppg/6.7 rpg/5.8 apg/2 spg, making him an effective player in multiple facets of the game, but he shot 39% from the floor, 31% from three-point territory and 66% from the line.
Thomas should give Collins more floor time (which he did on Sunday) both to develop the second-year guard and also to rest Marbury. The potential of Marbury’s perimeter shot (which is now the most valuable aspect of his game and what the Knicks need the most due to Randolph and Curry in the block) and his reliability handling the ball (Sunday’s game excluded) makes him clearly the preferred option. |
