Although he's officially listed as a point guard, New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale isn't planning on limiting Frank Ntilikina to one position this season.
As part of a recent interview with Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, Fizdale noted that he studied Ntilikina while he was playing for France at this year's FIBA tournament. Coach Fiz feels that the 21-year-old is great both on and off the ball, and he doesn't want to limit his range on the floor:
“It's really what I always said about him: he can be on the ball, he can be off the ball.” Fizdale said, referring to Ntilikina. “It's limiting to pigeonhole Ntilikina at one position.”
Ntilikina impressed the Knicks this summer. However, Fizdale says that the team will have a “wide-open” competition to determine the starting point guard. Players in contention include Ntilikina, Elfrid Payton and Dennis Smith Jr.
Fizdale said wide-open competition between Dennis Smith Jr, Elfrid Payton and Frank Ntilikina – although front office not committed yet to whether they will pick up Ntilikina's 4th year option (Oct. 31 deadline)
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) September 30, 2019
Ntikilina dealt with injuries last season, which forced him to miss a substantial amount of time. He made 43 appearances with the Knicks (16 starts), racking up averages of 5.7 points on 33.7 percent shooting from the field (28.7 percent from beyond the arc), 2.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 21.0 minutes per outing.
The Knicks are a team that will be looking for improvement. Last season, New York finished with the worst mark in the Eastern Conference (17-65).
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