NY Knicks: Analyzing the preseason studs and duds

NY Knicks Preseason Dud #1  – Alec Burks

Alec Burks was certainly a fan favorite in New York last year, playing the much-needed role of a veteran spark plug scorer off the bench.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Burks regresses this year, and I think the preseason may have shown how he’ll be utilized less heading into the regular season.

Burks played in three preseason games, averaging 9.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21 minutes per contest. While Burks is certainly a solid rotational player off the bench, I don’t think his per-game stats will get much higher than what we’ve seen throughout the preseason, qualifying him for the ‘dud’ label.

Maybe ‘dud’ is a strong word to describe Burks’ preseason performance, yet I believe the thirteen-year veteran will not have as much of an offensive role as he had last year.

Walker and Fournier are likely to eat up a lot of the backcourt minutes, and RJ should be on the floor just as much at the small forward position. Quickley will garner more minutes off the bench after an impressive rookie season, and Derrick Rose will run the point with the second string.

Burks is projected to slide to the 3 on the second unit, but I don’t see enough touches for him on this team for him to replicate his success from last year.

While it’s only three preseason games, Burks put up some fairly pedestrian stats. I wouldn’t be surprised if he became more of an afterthought in this offense, compared to being the focal point for stretches at a time when the starting unit went cold.

Burks will still have his fair share of games where he gets red-hot from the field, but this team has improved too much offensively for him to receive the same amount of touches as last year. That much was clear through the preseason, and I predict it will continue to be the case heading into the regular season.