Kanter not buying into coach Fizdale’s ‘Sixth Man’ comment
ATLANTA — Knicks center Enes Kanter doesn’t want an award. He wants the playoffs.
Kanter’s postseason sentiment contradicts coach David Fizdale’s remark last week. Fizdale said the league’s youngest team isn’t “chasing victories” when he boldly started 20-year-old project Mitchell Robinson, who had barely picked up a basketball before he was in 10th grade, over Kanter.
Before Monday’s doubleovertime loss to Chicago dropped the Knicks to 3-8, Fizdale praised Kanter’s work, saying he’s “a guy that’s going to have his hat in the Sixth Man of the Year award.”
Seemingly disrespected by the demotion, Kanter wasn’t going to embrace the idea after he played like a bull in a china shop, racking up 23 points, 24 rebounds and seven assists as a scoreless Robinson had limited playing time. Endorsing Fizdale’s comment would acknowledge his Knicks starting days are over, as he plays out the final year of his contract.
“I don’t worry about trophies,” Kanter said. “My thing is, we promised this city the playoffs. So my thing is, just go out there and my job is how am I going to make my teammates better, whether I’m first unit, second or third unit?”
After Sunday’s game versus the Wizards, in which he was yanked midway through the fourth quarter for Robinson despite notching another doubledouble (18 and 14), Kanter tweeted a single period, likely indicating he’s speechless.
Fizdale admitted it’s “definitely an adjustment” for Kanter, who started all last season. That Fizdale struck after just five games was surprising considering Robinson missed games in the preseason with an ankle sprain, never played college ball and was seen recently as needing G-League polishing.
Robinson’s chances of slamming into the rookie wall are strong, and he looked lethargic Monday in the second night of a backto-back.
While Fizdale has talked about making this Robinson move permanent to “generate” their defensiveminded philosophy (he’s a terrific shot-blocker/alterer), the Knicks coach has been known to flip-flop.
(See: Kevin Knox as projected starter.)
Fizdale has had his issues with a European, traditional low-post big man before in Memphis’ Marc Gasol which led to Fizdale’s firing as Grizzlies’ coach last season.
➤ Frank Ntilikina is in a funk as he meets Atlanta’s rising rookie Trae Young (19.1 ppg, 7.9 assists) Wednesday. After a rousing start after being shifted from the wing to starting point guard, Ntilikina can’t buy a 3-point shot. In the past four games, he’s 0for-13. Ntilikina also hasn’t hit double figures in any of those contests, including a goose egg against Chicago on Monday when he was benched for the fourth quarter and two OTs. His scoring average has plum- meted to 7.5 points. Meanwhile, point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who has been in the rotation the past three games, racked up 16 points and scored a brilliant, game-tying, coast-tocoast layup in the final second of the second OT. The questionable foul he committed with 0.2 seconds left on Zach LaVine’s layup attempt shouldn’t be held against him.