Novak Article

[wojosdojo]

Great read and more love / pub for Novakane. Hope he can keep it up in the playoffs (hopefully against the Heat)!!!

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/17611/former-suns-gm-steve-kerr-wanted-novak

[Tigidal]

"96 out of 100 threes" in a 2006 pre-draft workout???  Amazing.

[Silkk the Shaka]

"96 out of 100 threes" in a 2006 pre-draft workout???  Amazing.

Exactly what I was about to post.  Unreal.  I've never seen a better open shooter in my life.  Get him set, give him an inch of space and he'll bury it in your face.  Glad he finally got his shot.

[We R Final Four]

At same camp(Spurs I believe), starting at free throw line had 3 chances to make shot.  If made took a large step backwards. They say Steve was between half court and opposite top of the key before he missed 3 in a row. Tracy McGrady called him best shooter in the NBA (HOU) before most people had even heard his name.

[Slim]

How awesome was last nights game where his DEFENSE in the last minute saved the game. (While Melo was on the bench). Also, I loved it when Hubie Brown would say "automatic" before Steve's shot went in.

[tower912]

In the Knicks games I have watched this year (just to watch Steve, honestly) his help defense and positioning is pretty good, his rebounding has been adequate.    He still can't guard an athletic forward one-on-one on the perimeter, but he understands where his help is and tries to steer his guy toward the help.    On a scale of 1-10, his defense has gone from a 2-3 to a 5-6.

[MU82]

Finished season at .472 from behind the arc, easily leading the league.

I can't remember which dipsh*t on ESPN wondered aloud a couple months ago why some guy named Novak was on the court when the Knicks needed a 3 to tie, but I hope he knows who Novak is now.

As an aside, I often wonder why an opponent EVER leaves a dead-eye 3-point shooter wide open. Some teams double-team even mediocre low-post players and leave guys like Novak open. It's stupid. One guy will struggle to even make a 2, Novak makes almost half of his 3s. It should be pretty simple math.

If I'm playing against the Knicks in the playoffs, I never let Novak's defender double down on Amare or Tyson Chandler. The only way Novak scores is if the opponent lets him score. And if they do, shame on them.

[CTWarrior]

If I'm playing against the Knicks in the playoffs, I never let Novak's defender double down on Amare or Tyson Chandler. The only way Novak scores is if the opponent lets him score. And if they do, shame on them.

Novak's defenders do hang around him quite a bit and as a result it does open up the lane for his teammates.  As long as he can avoid being abused on defense he should be a valuable 20+ mpg for years to come.  It will be interesting where he ends up next year, as I don't think the Knicks will be able to afford him.  I always thought (and I'm pretty sure I've read this here before and a lot of you agree) that he'd be a really valuable role player on a very good team.

[MU B2002]

If I'm playing against the Knicks in the playoffs, I never let Novak's defender double down on Amare or Tyson Chandler. The only way Novak scores is if the opponent lets him score. And if they do, shame on them.

He's talking to you, Eric Spolestra.

[wojosdojo]

Novak's defenders do hang around him quite a bit and as a result it does open up the lane for his teammates.  As long as he can avoid being abused on defense he should be a valuable 20+ mpg for years to come.  It will be interesting where he ends up next year, as I don't think the Knicks will be able to afford him.  I always thought (and I'm pretty sure I've read this here before and a lot of you agree) that he'd be a really valuable role player on a very good team.

Whats it going to cost to buy Novak for next year? $2million? He's making around $800k this year and the team is paying Amare and Mello big numbers (saw the other day Garnett make $21 mil?!?!). Do they even have enough for Lin next year? One thing I wont question is that Novak will see his largest paycheck of his career next year.

[wojosdojo]

I can't remember which dipsh*t on ESPN wondered aloud a couple months ago why some guy named Novak was on the court when the Knicks needed a 3 to tie, but I hope he knows who Novak is now.

Find out so we can tweet him up.

[wheresthecake?]

Find out so we can tweet him up.

Scott Van Pelt or @notthefakeSVP

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Steve gets a shoutout from Bill Simmons.

24. Steve Novak

Random guarantee: A Novak/J.R. Smith shooting barrage will swing one of the Knicks-Heat games. And you know Carmelo is winning one (at least) by himself. That means the series is going six games ... at least. (We'll see if I have the balls to pick New York by the end of this column. Don't think I'm not considering it.) By the way, the dorkiest moment in NBA history is a 75-way tie between every big Novak 3 when he gave himself the Aaron Rodgers belt this season.

[🏀]

Shaq just took Novak for his fantasy player of the day.


"Novak? Come on"

[Hoopaloop]

For a guy that can't create a shot or move without the ball, that is pretty good.

[CTWarrior]

For a guy that can't create a shot or move without the ball, that is pretty good.

During commercial break in Dancing with the Stars last night (watch to make your wife happy, stay for Maria Menuonos, Brooke Burke and Katherine Jenkins), I went to catch score of Knicks-Heat and Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley were discussing Novak at length, saying how even when he doesn't score he opens up the lane by not allowing help to come.  They went on to say that he was a specialist, and given his limitations in the other aspects of his game to do what he does requires not that he be a really good shooter, but that he be one of the "ten best shooters in the world" and that he was, in fact, one of the 10 best shooters in the world.

[Windyplayer]

Exactly what I was about to post.  Unreal.  I've never seen a better open shooter in my life.  Get him set, give him an inch of space and he'll bury it in your face.  Glad he finally got his shot.

Pun intended?

[jmayer1]

For a guy that can't create a shot or move without the ball, that is pretty good.

No matter how many times you repeat that, you're still wrong. Novak shoots by far most of his shots off the catch and shoot, maybe more than anyone in the league. PRN was right, Novak is a guy that is never going to do much creating off the dribble.

[brewcity77]

They went on to say that he was a specialist, and given his limitations in the other aspects of his game to do what he does requires not that he be a really good shooter, but that he be one of the "ten best shooters in the world" and that he was, in fact, one of the 10 best shooters in the world.

Calling Novak one of the 10 best shooters in the world is giving 9 other guys too much credit.

[MarsupialMadness]

He can't move once he gets the ball in his hands, that's his biggest problem.  Defensively he's improved a lot with more PT this year, but he's a liability if he doesn't get a shot off.  If he has the ball for more than 3 seconds, defenses know that flocking him will result in a TO more times than not.

But he is deadly from beyong the arc.  Agree that you can't give him any space to shoot, and teams that do are playing with fire.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

No matter how many times you repeat that, you're still wrong. Novak shoots by far most of his shots off the catch and shoot, maybe more than anyone in the league. PRN was right, Novak is a guy that is never going to do much creating off the dribble.

The more he repeats something that is so obviously wrong the more his deteriorating mental condition is revealed.

I don't know how he types with those padded, three fingered Mickey Mouse gloves on.

[leever]

defenses know that flocking him will result in a TO more times than not.

They can't show the defense flocking him on TV, right?  At least, not the early games.

[AZWarrior]

They can't show the defense flocking him on TV, right?  At least, not the early games.

Oh, oh just flock off with all the bad play on word thingies!

[Bocephys]

You're all being a bunch of flockers about this.

[cheebs09]

It's only a game flockers