When the Knicks take the floor for tipoff against the Nets on Tuesday night, Kemba Walker won’t be part of the starting five, or part of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation at all.
The head coach announced Monday that the New York native is no longer in the Knicks’ 10-man rotation, and New York will look much like it did in Saturday’s win against Atlanta moving forward.
For many, the move away from Walker is a no-brainer. For others, it came quicker than expected. But regardless, Thibodeau believes the move will make the Knicks a better team, which they already gave a glimpse of in a gritty defensive performance against Atlanta.
“I just don’t like the way we’ve been trending, with the inconsistency of our team, and we’re gonna try and make a change,” Thibodeau said. “I want to get bigger, I want our defense to be more intact, so basically, that was it.”
The move to Alec Burks as the starting point guard certainly increases New York’s size in their starting lineup. The 6-foot-6 guard has six inches on Walker and a much bigger wingspan to help the defensive lapses that have materialized with the new starting five, while Thibodeau will keep Walker out of the rotation entirely in an effort to avoid losing size in his second unit, which would be on the shorter side if Walker, Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley were all sharing the floor.
“The size is the big thing,” Thibodeau said. “It makes us bigger. We’ve got small guards, so when you add him to the mix, it gives us size at that position and allows us to do different things that I thought were beneficial to the group. So the big thing is getting bigger.”
The defensive upgrade was also a major deciding factor for Thibodeau. When Walker was on the floor, the Knicks allowed a league-worst 116.3 points per 100 possessions, and when he was on the bench, New York posted a league-best 99.0 points per 100 possessions.
“We gotta do something different,” Thibodeau said. “We’re 20 games in, and want to take a look at something different.”
So, expect the Knicks to look nearly identical to how they did against the Hawks on Saturday in terms of personnel, with a hopeful Rose returning. But Walker won’t be in the fold.
“I like the way the team functioned, so it will be similar to what we did in the Atlanta game,” Thibodeau said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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