<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">For the first time this season, the Knicks have a problem that other teams might actually envy. With guards Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson returning to active duty for tomorrow night's game against the Sixers, the Knicks have more talented players than they do spots in their rotation. The key to solving the problem involves finding enough minutes for rebounding machine David Lee and limiting the amount of shots from the backcourt. With everybody on the opening day roster available except guard Steve Francis, who is out for a while, the Knicks will be playing from a full deck. The team is on pace for a 10-win improvement over last season's debacle; with the right rotation, they could be in the mix for a low playoff seed down the stretch. Lee is averaging 10.7 in both points and boards, while playing 30 minutes a game and shooting 61.5% from the field. He's a big reason that the Knicks are the top offensive rebounding team in the NBA right now. The Knicks grab an average of 32.8% of their own misses, and Lee's hustle accounts for numerous second and third shots, an especially good thing for a team that ranks 18th in the league in Effective Field Goal percentage, a stat that accounts for the different risk/reward ratio of three-pointers. The Knicks' poor shooting also highlights the team's primary offensive quandary. The team's most efficient scorers are in the frontcourt: Lee, center Eddy Curry, and fellow power forward Channing Frye. But the backcourt takes the lion's share of the shots. In Richardson's absence, Lee was often played at small forward, a poor fit generally for a player who is 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds. He struggled defensively against smaller, quicker opponents, and on offense he was often called to position himself well outside of his shooting range (which to be fair isn't much more than five feet away from the rim).</div> Source
