New York Knicks: Start Langston Galloway
It’s time for the New York Knicks to start and finish games with Langston Galloway at point guard. It may save Phil Jackson‘s crew from missing the playoffs.
The 2014-15 NBA regular season was the single worst in New York Knicks history. The franchise set a franchise-low for wins and a franchise-high for losses, played a vast majority of the season without recognizable names on the roster, and somehow managed to miss out on the No. 1 overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Aside from landing Kristaps Porzingis, the silver lining from 2014-15 is that it brought Langston Galloway to the main roster.
Galloway is one of the more popular players in New York, and with good reason. He doesn’t get the most extensive of playing time, but when he’s on the court, he gives an all-out effort that’s both infectious and positively influential.
It’s time for New York to honor those contributions by making Galloway a member of the starting lineup.
Season averages of 8.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.0 3-point field goal made per game aren’t exactly awe-inspiring. They’re accumulated in a fluctuating 25.1 minutes per game, however, with a currently undefined role that fails to illustrate how valuable a player Galloway can be.
Simply put, Galloway isn’t the type of player who wins you a championship, but he’s the type of player you win championships with.
Triangle Offense Point Guard
Langston Galloway is the perfect Triangle Offense point guard. He’s not really a point guard, nor is he a shooting guard, but he’s a high-quality defensive player who’s comfortable playing off-ball and downright lethal as a shooter.
A modern adaptation of the system will place a bigger emphasis on his ability to facilitate, but Galloway’s never been given a chance to prove that he can or can’t contribute in that capacity.
In 2014-15, the cast of players surrounding Galloway was so poor that it’d be asinine to hold anything against him. In 2015-16, he’s come off the bench as more of a 2-guard who spends spot minutes running point behind Jose Calderon and, earlier this season, Jerian Grant.
If Phil Jackson and Kurt Rambis hope to create a modern interpretation of the Triangle Offense, however, then Galloway is the perfect player to start until season’s end.
Galloway’s inclusion in the starting lineup would lead to an immediate improvement in defensive consistency along the perimeter. He and Arron Afflalo are far more compatible, in that regard, than Afflalo and Jose Calderon have proven to be.
For what it’s worth, the Knicks’ only two five-man lineups with a positive average +/- include Galloway.
Realistic Upside Comparison, Part I
The New York Knicks are going to look back on the Derek Fisher era with some measure of disappointment. That’s understandable considering he went 40-96 in 136 games, had a number of off-the-court controversies, and ended his tenure by losing 10 of 11 outings in the face of saying it doesn’t matter if New York makes the playoffs.
Thus, Knicks fans must take this comment as a player-only type of comparison: Langston Galloway is reminiscent of a prime Fisher.
Fisher was never a great player, and his numbers suggest that he was carried by his teammates. As anyone who actually watched the games will tell you, however, Fisher played a pivotal role for the Los Angeles Lakers—a team he won five NBA championships with.
He wouldn’t get many touches, but when he was asked to shoot the ball, it was in the biggest of moments with the game—and oftentimes, the season—on the line.
Galloway has no postseason experience, but he’s already proven to be a clutch maestro. He made a number of big shots in 2014-15, has carried that success over into 2015-16, and never seems shaken by elevated pressure.
Beyond his possession of the rare clutch gene, the reason for intrigue with Galloway is that he can be a better all-around player than Fisher was in the more basic of moments.
Realistic Upside Comparison, Part II
In clutch moments, Langston Galloway shows the same impenetrable confidence as past Triangle Offense point guards such as Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr. As an all-around player, however, Galloway has the potential to be vastly superior to both.
The player whom Galloway’s upside best compares to is former Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek.
Galloway, like Hornacek, is a dangerous shooter who can torment teams off-the-catch or create off-the-bounce. He’s also a high-caliber defender who, like Hornacek, was 23 years old as a rookie.
Hornacek developed into an All-Star, and that may not be in the cards for Galloway, but the impact can be similar.
Whether or not he reaches Hornacek’s level in terms of quality of play, Galloway can contribute across the board as Hornacek did. He can play from both guard spots, facilitate when asked to, defend multiple positions, and catch fire from beyond the arc.
If nothing else, Galloway can start in the modern NBA as a selfless and skilled contributor who willingly sacrifices for the betterment of his team.
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Langston Galloway isn’t the type of player who wins you a championship, but he’s the type of player you win championships with.