Knicks: David Fizdale should help Kristaps Porzingis reach new heights

Kristaps Porzingis should thrive under newly hired New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale because of how he uses big men

Is Kristaps Porzingis soft?

There may be nothing more demoralizing for an NBA player than being labeled “soft and sweet”. Those were the very words of Wesley Matthews after facing Kristaps Porzingis in a game late January this year and ones that followed the likes of Pau Gasol, Andrea Bargnani and Kwame Brown throughout their careers.

What Porzingis has in height, coming in at 7-3 feet tall, he lacks in muscle mass, weighing in at 240 pounds. In the words of Stefan Bondy of the NY Daily News, Matthews was pushing Kristaps around in their January matchup:

"Matthews was pushing him around, hip tossing him, cursing at him, fighting him for position in the post."

Due to his frame, he routinely fails to generate enough strength back down the defender in the post, forcing him to shoot contested turn around jumpers time and time again.

However, one could argue that Kristaps is on the precipice of eradicating the soft label from his legacy with his new head coach David Fizdale and the offensive system he runs, the pick-and-roll.

What is the pick-and-roll?

Within the pick-and-roll, a perimeter player walks the basketball up to the 3-point line, generally, and waves for the big man to set the screen. The big man then stays in screening position until he analyzes his defender to determine the next move.

If the defender comes up to double team the ball handler, he would start the process of rolling to the basket. On the other hand, if the defender stays underneath the screen, the big man pops or performs a slide step to get in position to shoot a jumper. Marc Gasol, Blake Griffin, Clint Capela are all big men that have succeeded in the pick and roll.

Could he shortly lose the label?

During his lone season as head coach for the Memphis Grizzlies, David Fizdale would often use his big men as screeners within the pick-and-roll, an offensive system that stands to reduce Kristap’s time in the post.

If David Fizdale decides to continue the strategy as the coach of the New York Knicks, Kristaps can start swapping the soft label underneath the rug. Kristaps playing the role of a screener significantly diminishes the amount of time spent in the post because he just has to pop out or roll to the basket depending on what the defender does.

It resultingly decreases the chances of getting manhandled by a defender in the post while at the same time increasing the likelihood of Kristaps Porzingis getting more wide open looks at the basket.

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The more time Kristaps Porzingis spends in the role, the quicker people will forget about the label and focus on the number of open looks.