Knicks guard Allonzo Trier discusses his team’s double-overtime loss to the Bulls.
Chris Iseman, Staff Writer, @chrisiseman
ATLANTA — With a record of 3-8, the Knicks' first 11 games of this season has included some inconsistency, but also some things for them to be encouraged by.
Here are five questions facing the Knicks, who play Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, three weeks into the season:
How will David Fizdale get Damyean Dotson minutes with Kevin Knox back?
After not playing the first two games, Dotson stepped in when Knox sprained his ankle, and has been stellar. He's averaging 13.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 34 percent from the perimeter. He's also played solid defensively, showing the ability to be a consistent two-way player.
Knox played five minutes Monday against the Bulls and was expected to be play longer Wednesday against the Hawks.
While Knox will likely still be coming off the bench for the time-being, he's going to end up seeing significant minutes. Dotson has been solid, but when Knox was healthy earlier in the season, Dotson never got into the game. Of course, that was before Fizdale switched up his lineups.
How Fizdale juggles Knox and Dotson's playing time remains to be seen.
What kind of offensive player is Frank Ntilikina?
This seems like a question that remains unclear. Part of the reason is because Ntilikina's scoring has been inconsistent.
For the season, he's averaging 7.5 points while shooting 34.8 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from the perimeter. Ntilikina is averaging 3.8 three-point attempts per game.
After starting the first five games at small forward, Ntilikina had two double-figure performances when Fizdale switched him back to point guard, scoring 17 points against the Warriors and 16 against the Nets.
In four games since, Ntilikina is averaging just 4.3 points on 24.1 percent shooting from the field. He's 0-for-13 from three-point range in his last four contests.
Fizdale said he believed the five games at small forward helped Ntilikina's aggressiveness because play making wasn't his main focus. Ntilikina did show some progress, but his scoring has dipped.
Ntilikina has shown potential to be a good offensive player, but hasn't done it on a consistent basis yet.
Can Mario Hezonja become a consistent player?
Hezonja's first games of the season were up and down. He averaged 8.8 points and shot 36.7 percent from the field (25 percent from the perimeter), but he had some rough performances included in that stretch on both ends of the floor.
The forward has looked better the past three games, averaging 12 points, five rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 44.1 percent, 33.3 percent from the arc.
The question is, can he perform that way consistently?
At times, it looked like Hezonja was trying to do too much offensively and he was taking poor shots.
Fizdale has said he wants Hezonja to focus on being solid every game.
How will the Knicks resolve Allonzo Trier's contract situation?
Trier has played well through the first 11 games, averaging 11.5 points and shooting 49.4 percent from the field.
Fizdale has shown that he also trusts the rookie, leaving him in late in games and putting the ball in his hands. It doesn't always work out — such as in Monday's double-overtime loss to the Bulls — but Trier's ability is clear.
On a two-way contract, Trier can only spend 45 days with the Knicks. That will get him to around mid-December.
At that point, the Knicks will have to make a roster move to keep him.
It remains to be seen how they would create that spot.
Will Enes Kanter remain a reserve?
In the six games since Kanter lost his role in the starting five to Mitchell Robinson, Kanter is averaging 14 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. He had a monster performance off the bench Monday against the Bulls, racking up 23 points and 24 rebounds.
Kanter appears to be frustrated about not starting, but there's no indication that it's going to change anytime soon.
Fizdale said last week that the Knicks need to develop their young players who are part of the team's future. That includes Robinson, who's a much better defensive player than Kanter.
How the Kanter situation winds up remains to be seen.
Email: iseman@northjersey.com
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