Last season, the Knicks employed three point guards — starter Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni. All contributed significantly.
Kidd is gone, having moved over one borough — and several sideline chairs — to serve as Brooklyn’s head coach. The Knicks imported Beno Udrih from the free-agent pool and though he hardly owns Kidd’s resume, he has a Spurs championship pedigree.
“You can’t replace a guy like Jason Kidd. But Beno is a great point guard, very underrated. He’s going to do great things for us,” Felton said.
But where will the Knicks look for the other things Kidd supplied? The leadership, the defense, the court savvy?
From the three guys on hand, that’s where.
For starters, coach Mike Woodson said Friday he is looking for Felton to take a lot more command of the team.
“I’m asking a lot from Raymond, to be more of a leader,” Woodson said. “Pablo and Beno both have leadership qualities. They’ve been on teams where they’ve run their teams and they’ve been pretty successful.”
Felton, acknowledging his designs on “being more vocal,” learned a lot about leadership from Kidd last season. It wasn’t as if Felton, who missed a month with a broken pinkie, was feeling his way. But you have a guy like Kidd around, you learn.
“He was a big leader, just his presence,” Felton said of Kidd. “He really didn’t have to say much. He said things when he needed to. He was always in my ear helping me out.
“Of course you miss a guy like that. He basically was my mentor last year, a great teammate, a great guy. But I’m not a rookie. I’m a nine-year guy.”
Defensively, Kidd always was a notch above at point. Last season, despite his age, Kidd was 13th in the league in steals, first in steals per turnover.
“Kidd did a lot for us on that end,” Woodson said, “But I’m trying to put the emphasis on all our perimeter people to play better. If we do, we can stay away from rotations and things of that nature which is a problem for every team.”
So replacing Kidd’s defense will be tough, but it’s not as if the Knicks are helpless. Defense is a team thing anyway.
“Play team basketball,” Udrih said of the overall approach. “That is what we are about. That is what wins championships.”
Udrih got two in San Antonio.
“I feel me, Pablo, Jason did a great job. Collectively, all of us,” Felton said. “Me and Pablo were aggressive on the ball, especially Pablo. I feel we didn’t lose a beat from that standpoint. Beno is a great point guard. He knows how to defend. So we’re going to have the same defense at point guard.”
One probable difference will be the small alignments Woodson favored. Felton and Kidd. Felton and Prigioni. Kidd and Prigioni. From mid-March, Felton and Prigioni formed the starting backcourt.
But Woodson has a heavier stockpile at two guard with Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. Woodson said the alignments will work themselves out.
“Beno is basically replacing Kidd but having Hardaway, J.R. and Iman, three guys that can play 2-3 as well, there’s a logjam,” Woodson said. “We’ve just got to let camp play out and see who’s doing what and what’s going to determine minutes.”