NY Knicks: 3 ways Frank Ntilikina can become NY’s version of Marcus Smart

Frank Ntilikina should focus on being more aggressive for the NY Knicks.

If you take a look at Frank Ntilikina’s stats over the past 4 years and compare them to Marcus Smart’s stats from his first 2 seasons, there’s not much separating the two players.

Neither man is going to take over a game and get you 20+ points per night consistently.

The difference is, Marcus Smart has shown that with increased opportunity, he can at the very least be a reliable 4th or 5th option on the offensive side of the ball when asked to do so.

Frank is listed at 6’4 but I’ve seen him standing next to RJ Barrett before who’s listed at 6’6 or 6’7 depending on where you go to look…and Frank ain’t no 6’4.

The kid is probably around 6’5 or even 6’6 where Marcus Smart is every bit of 6’3 that he’s listed at.

Smart is listed at around 220 pounds where Frank is listed at 200 pounds but I refuse to believe he took his bookbag full of textbooks off when they weighed him.

We’ve seen countless times where Frank just seems afraid to penetrate into the restricted area.

If you’re going to get away with avoiding as much contact as possible in the NBA, you gotta develop a killer mid to long-range game, which Frank has not done.

Coach Thibs asks a lot of his point guards as they’re an extension of himself on the court, and one thing he has always asked his guards to do is drive.

Marcus Smart had been blessed with the size of a prototypical NFL linebacker, so when he gets past his defender, he goin’ Sizzler in the painted area.

Frank should try to put on some weight but also work with the development staff over the summer to maybe work on a floater or something that can weaponize him in the paint.