If I had to guess the Knicks most effective lineup, I would go with Lee Jeffries Gallinari Chandler and Hughes. Jeffries Chandler and Hughes bring the D, Gallo does it all, and Lee takes care of the offense and the resounding rebounding. I would be wrong though.
According to basketballvalue.com, the best 5 man unit on the team, and the 3rd best in the entire NBA (with at least 5% of the teams minutes) is Duhon, Hughes, Harrington, Jeffries, and Lee. With this group on the floor, the Knicks allow a mere 79.37 points per 100 possesions, which is the 9th best number in the NBA. Are these group of guys the 9th best defensive 5 man unit, ahead of groups like the Magic's Nelson, Carter, Pietrus, Barnes, Howard? Probably not, but it has to mean something.
On offense this group of 5 scores 133.87 points per 100 possesions. Theoretically, this means that if this team played 100 possesions together, the score over that span of time would be 134-79, and their overall rating is +54.5. In actuality, when on the court together this group has outscored their foes 83-50. Not bad for the group of vets. It is still early in the season, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on the numbers as the season progresses.
Looking some more at the 5 man units, it seems like whenever Wilson Chandler is in the game, the team struggles. If you look at the individual plus minus numbers, Wil is the rotation player who has the worst impact on the team. The team is 3.04 point per 100 possesions better on offense without Wil, and surprisingly 4.7 points per 100 possesions better without Wil on the defensive end.
The Knicks rotation players who make a positive impact on defense are in order, Jeffries, Hughes and Danilo. Lee, Chandler, Harrington and Duhon are in the red for defensive rating.
On offense Harrington, Hughes, Lee, and amazingly Jeffries are impacting positively, while Nate, Chandler and Duhon are bringing the negatives.
I'm no stat guru, and I am sure that the conclusions to be drawn from these stats are debatable. It is early in the season, and as the sample size grows thing will become more clear. But I would like to think that the Knicks 5 vets are the 3rd best unit in basketball, behind only the Magic group of Nelson, Redick, Barnes, Anderson, Howard; and the Warriors team of Curry, Ellis, Morrow, Radman, and Randolph.
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