A Memo to Tom Thibodeau

Memo to New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau: You need to start point guard Derrick Rose  instead of Elfred Payton on Friday, and it’s not even that hard of  decision. Payton is giving you nothing in a starting role, and his defense is also suspect. Rose gives you instant energy and that’s what you need on the road. You made the right decision on Thursday when you started Rose in the second half, and we know what happened, he scored 26 points and your team evened the series. Start Rose in Game 3, and bring Payton off the bench, it honestly makes perfect sense.

I am not sure it takes much more convincing but in case you need a little more to agree with me, I will lay out the numbers in just a second. However, if there is one thing we can say for sure it is that Elfrid Payton should be out of the rotation. The only argument is whether or not it is Rose, Immanuel Quickley or Alec Burks who enters the starting rotation. Now, onto what we have seen recently from Elfrid Payton. In the 2 playoff games so far, he has no made field goals and the Knicks have been outscored when he is on the court. Dating back to the regular season, he hasn't played more than 22 minutes since late April and has scored in double digits once since April 14th. In that same time frame, he has eclipsed 5 assists just twice. Now to be fair the steals have been relatively consistent but early in this series he has seemed lost on the court.