One of the weirdest complaints with the Knicks’ trade for Steve Francis has been the concern over rookie guard Nate Robinson’s role.
The answer? Why should you care?
The Knicks are in their current predicament, with the second-worst record in the NBA, partly because the 5-9 rookie Robinson has been a major part of the rotation. Now that has changed. “Nate The Great” will take a seat.
Larry Brown announced at yesterday’s morning shoot-around he will construct a three-guard rotation – Francis, Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford – that will bounce Robinson to the bench and shift Quentin Richardson to back-up small forward. The biggest casualties are Robinson, swingman Qyntel Woods and possibly David Lee, who has seen small-forward action.
Brown has no apologizes for de-emphasizing the roles of the rookies. “These kids, we’re 15-38, they’ve had a lot of chances to play,” Brown said, adding, “We have too many young guys right now.”
Brown wants to roll out Marbury-Francis-Crawford and play them for major minutes so the Knicks can decide if this trio works or if they have to make serious changes in the backcourt structure this summer.
Robinson’s popularity with the fans grew over All-Star weekend when he won the Slam-Dunk competition despite missing most of his attempts. Commissioner David Stern must have been very happy to see something positive happen to the Knicks, but now Robinson will be out of the limelight and on the bench where he should be.
Asked how Robinson’s massive ego will handle the demotion, especially after winning the dunk contest, Brown shot back,
“I’m proud he won the Slam-Dunk contest, but I don’t think they have a scoring system like that when we play a game,” Brown said. “He’s smart enough to understand when you have Marbury, Francis, Quentin and Jamal, you can’t play everybody.”
Robinson is an athletic marvel, but not a winning NBA player at this stage. He’s too selfish, doesn’t see the court well enough at point guard and gets picked out of plays consistently on defense.
At 5-9, Robinson likely will linger in the league because some team will want the excitement quotient. But he’s not in Brown’s plans and the Knicks will trade him whenever they get a legitimate offer.
“I think he should be a great defender someday,” Brown said. “The toughest thing for any college player is to defend. We don’t have shot-blocking behind them and we’re not a great defensive team. More young guys are more liabilities on the defensive end. With his physical abilities he should be a great defender [with the] same kind of gifts as Muggsy [Bogues] and [Earl] Boykins. He’s got to have the same kind of concentration. That’s got to be an opportunity for him. He should be a great defender.”
The trading deadline has passed, so Brown can shut up about guys he wants team president Isiah Thomas to trade for and start compiling wins with a talented starting trio of Marbury, Francis and Jalen Rose on the perimeter.
Last night, the “bling-bling backcourt,” Francis and Marbury, made their Knicks debut against the Nets at the Garden. Francis acknowledged there’s a big-time adjustment to be made. And even he doesn’t sound so sure how long this pairing will be together.
“Everybody has to sacrifice, not just one person,” Francis said. “It doesn’t make a difference who brings the ball up the court. It’s going to be an issue throughout [our] playing time together, but it doesn’t make a difference to me.”