New York Knicks: Frank Ntilikina should be starting after career night

Tantalizing New York Knicks point guard, Frank Ntilikina, has had an interesting year to say the least. However, he earned his right to stat some games now.

After three straight games of riding the bench and getting some time against the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks point guard Frank Ntilikina was finally able to show his potential on Sunday night.

Ntilikina finished with 18 points and hitting 7 of his 11 shots, including 4/4 from down town in a 119-107 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

After a slow start to the game, which included 0 points on 0/2 shooting in the first half, Ntilikina showed the offensive potential we have been waiting for all season long.

He is showing that he can not only get to the basket but can pull up from long-range as well.

While defense has always been Ntilikina’s strong suit, his lack of offense has been the main reason why Knicks Head Coach David Fizdale had decided not to play the 20 year-old Frenchman as of late.

Some may take this offensive outburst as an anomaly in his development in the scope of more than one full season in the NBA.

However, I think that Fizdale should be giving Ntilikina the opportunity to show what he can do and insert him into the starting lineup.

Emmanuel Mudiay has started at point guard the past 14 games for the Knicks, and has been decently productive, averaging 12.1 points per game.

While I don’t necessarily think that Mudiay should be benched based on his performance offensively, he has been largely unable to stop the opposition defensively.

This is why starting Ntilikina is so important and should be done immediately.

He is able to hang with the best point guards in the league defensively with his large wing span and his overall defensive skills that set him above Mudiay and Trey Burke, who is currently injured but hasn’t been playing all that well either.

If Ntilikina can continue to show flashes of offensive potential like he did against the Hornets on Sunday night, he absolutely should be the starter going forward.

The Knicks are a better team when he is on the floor and if they want someone as young as he is to develop into a star in the future, he should be starting in the present.