Robin Lopez's playing time has been inconsistent all season. The last couple of games have exemplified that.
He closed against the Magic, guarding Nikola Vucevic. Then, he sat almost the entire fourth quarter of Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers, playing under 20 minutes in the matchup.
Lopez is down to 23.5 minutes a night, his lowest average since his days in Phoenix, and he's doing it after signing a four-year, $54 million contract this offseason. Now, we're starting to get grafs like these from Marc Berman of the New York Post, which should make the world wonder what Lopez's future in New York will look like:
The Knicks coach has said one issue is finding more ways to get Lopez to score within the triangle. A low-post center is an important piece in forming the triangle.
Ironically, in the two losses, Lopez’s field-goal percentage was solid. He shot 10 of 15, and had three blocks against Cleveland. That’s a good sign. And he says he’s starting to understand the triangle better.
“I’m starting to see the opportunities,’’ Lopez said. “I’m starting to see when I’m supposed to look for me – on the block. When I’m supposed look for the pick and roll, where the cuts are going to be. I know it will get better. I’m getting a better idea of what I’m supposed to do offensivel
Here's the follow-up question, though: What type of player were the Knicks expecting to get after watching Lopez in Portland? At some point, the issue has to fall on the team and not on the center who has never been a low-post threat in his life.
Lopez is posting up more this year than ever before. His slow, low-hanging hook shot will go in, but it's not a volume attempt. That's not his game. It's never been. His offensive value comes as a screen-setter. That doesn't mean run pick-and-roll all the time, but it does mean he's best off when his team puts him in a position to lay picks.
They could be ball-screens, pin-downs to set shooters free, flare screens to do the same. Anything. Let RoLo screen. He's wonderful at it, and it's his best offensive value. Yet, the Knicks set as few screens as any other team in the league, and Lopez rarely receives the ball in pick-and-roll scenarios. That's how you get him points. More importantly, that's how you help him open up opportunities for the team to get buckets. But the Knicks are taking an imperfect player with niche traits and trying to turn him into something he's never been.
Lopez is worth the contract he signed this summer if a team uses him the right way. But between Fisher's inconsistent substitution rotations (not just with Lopez, but with the whole team all year) and the Knicks' weirdly stubborn way of using him, Lopez looks like far less of a contributor than he actually should be on this team.
The Knicks are a bit stuck in their ways. They don't run Carmelo Anthony-Kristaps Porzingis pick-and-rolls because it's not part of the offense (even though they should just make them part of the offense). They're not too into some modern NBA concepts, whether that means running Langston Galloway off screens to get him threes or creating drive-and-kick scenarios for others. It's disappointing, and now it's affecting Lopez. But considering the way the Knicks have pushed their offensive principles in the past, it's unlikely to change anytime soon.
