Novak aka Novakaine (coined by W Frazier) While much of the credit for the Knicks' resurgence goes to point guard Jeremy Lin, Novak has been a valuable contributor. Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson. Batman had Robin. Lin has Novak. Novak has been a spark off the bench for the Knicks. He has provided instant relief for their offensive woes. He has resuscitated the Knicks when they were left for dead. Novak has had a journeyman career in the NBA. Before joining the Knicks, he played for four different teams in his first five years in the league. Now, on the biggest stage in the world, Novak is shining. He is averaging a career-high 8.0 points per game and has become a vital player off the bench. He is fourth in the NBA in three-point shooting (46.9%) and sixth in shots made (2.2). Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-11046644 I love his 3 pt shot!
Lin was the first PG they had up there that was smart enough to understand what he had with Novak on the floor. Novak was ridiculously undervalued. The best the Knicks played last season was when Lin and Novak were on the floor. The second Melo came back playing with Amare, the play of the team took a couple steps down.
Steve Novak was a DEPLORABLY BAD defender was his first few years in the league. I don't think he was undervalued, MAYBE not always put in good positions, but he was certainly a minus player. Novak alone could cause an entire team defense to collapse. Him on the floor, his team would give up 5 buckets on 9 trips down the court and maybe 2-3 fouls called when they didnt get a bucket, total sieve. With the hope he'd maybe get "hot" when he was in. If Novak goes 0-2 from 3, he's a minus player. I'm actually crediting Novak for putting in true WORK to be dependable enough on the work now. He's really come far and EARNED every bit of what he has now.
I agree with you. The funny thing is, nobody expected him to ever improve on defense. They said he's too slow, too clueless, too lazy, etc. Everybody, including me, thought that the only way he could stay in the league was to get a shot at being a 3pt specialist with no regard to his defense.
