How much trouble are the Knicks in if OG Anunoby can't stay healthy?

New York Post

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00:00Now, Knicks had another big injury in their last game in the homestand.

00:03O.G. Ananobi left the game with a hamstring injury.

00:07It's a hamstring strain.

00:08The reports came out that he will be reevaluated in two weeks.

00:11Now, that's just being reevaluated, Howard.

00:14But he did leave another game with another hamstring issue.

00:17That's going to raise some red flags.

00:18How worried should Knicks fans be about his durability

00:20and then what it means for the defensive floor?

00:23Because he's been absolutely their best defensive player

00:26through the first 12 games of the season.

00:27He's been their best defensive player for the last couple of years

00:31since they got him, I think, right?

00:33I mean, this is tough.

00:37Look, I don't want to get hyperbolic here.

00:39I'm not trying to be hot takey.

00:41But in some ways, O.G. Ananobi is as much or even more irreplaceable

00:45than Jalen Brunson.

00:46You can find other ways to score on this team.

00:48Not long-term.

00:49Obviously, you need Jalen Brunson if you want to be a contender.

00:51You can find other guys who can handle the ball,

00:53who can make plays, and who can score.

00:55It's hard to find anybody else who can do what O.G. Ananobi does

00:59and who can basically guard five positions

01:00and is one of their top rebounders

01:03and is just so strong and so athletic

01:06and can do so many things.

01:08Obviously, great scorer in the open court, good shooter.

01:12He's become an offensive force for them as well.

01:14I just don't see where you replace him.

01:17He's not replaceable.

01:20And they don't have that many defensive wings to pick up the slack.

01:27I was looking up and down the roster,

01:29thinking about just kind of the domino effect,

01:31like who do you shuffle in

01:32and what's the domino effect of,

01:34all right, O.G.'s not here.

01:35You shift bridges to some of his assignments.

01:38He's probably one of your better wing defenders.

01:41It's probably more Landry Schammett

01:44and more Deuce McBride and some others.

01:46You've got a lot of guards,

01:47but you really don't have a lot of guys

01:50at the forward spots who can pick it up.

01:52And on top of that, Mitchell Robinson is still limited.

01:56He's under this load management program

01:58after his off-season surgery.

02:00So not a lot of places to go for defense,

02:03not a lot of places to backfill the front court.

02:07I think they're going to miss O.G. quite a bit.

02:10I get the sense of what you're saying there, Howard,

02:12is that in a way,

02:13almost the O.G. injury concerns you more

02:16than the Brunson injury

02:17because that's how I feel about it.

02:18I know it's weird to say

02:20because Brunson's the best player,

02:22but because of what you said

02:24in O.G.'s defense being virtually irreplaceable,

02:28I do think his injury is more concerning

02:30and also that now we're talking about,

02:32and this is no shade to these players,

02:33we're talking about Pacom Dottier, right?

02:36Whereas possibly maybe getting some minutes there

02:38if needed.

02:39I'm not saying you would.

02:40I think maybe you're shifting Josh Hart

02:42to the starting lineup.

02:43He talked about Deuce McBride,

02:44Lantry Shamit getting some more minutes.

02:46I've even heard some fans tweet at me

02:47and say, Mohamed Diora.

02:49And I'm like, that's asking a lot.

02:52I see your face, Howard.

02:53That's asking a lot.

02:53I think I'm going to Gershon Yabusele

02:56before some of those guys.

02:57But yeah, I mean, and he's one,

02:59look, Yabusele was one of the big

03:01off-season pickups, right?

03:02And he's been kind of a footnote

03:04in Mike Brown's rotation so far.

03:06So this is, I think,

03:07certainly going to be his opportunity

03:08to show that he is valuable enough

03:11that he should stick.

03:13They're going to need him.

03:14They just don't have a lot of big bodies

03:16and certainly not tested big bodies.

03:19The guys who just mentioned,

03:20all the youngsters,

03:21fans always love the young guys.

03:25There's a reason those guys

03:26aren't playing much.

03:27Yeah, and they still have to grow.

03:29So I guess that brings me to this.

03:30If Brunson and Ananobi are limited,

03:34it looks like they both will be out

03:35for an extended period of time.

03:36That's what it looks like right now.

03:38Who's the player that you believe

03:39must shoulder the biggest load

03:42offensively for the Knicks

03:43during this period?

03:45You know, it's interesting

03:46because I think they almost have to

03:47like lean even more into their

03:49identity as an elite offensive team.

03:53I don't think they can make up

03:54for this defensively, right?

03:56You cannot replace OG

03:57as we've just been discussing.

03:58It's almost like you need to score

04:00even more or more efficiently.

04:02So leaning that much more

04:03to your offensive identity,

04:04that may mean, excuse me,

04:07a lot more of, you know,

04:10same suspects, Bridges,

04:12Shamit, McBride.

04:15You're just going to need

04:16to be that much more potent

04:18because you cannot replace

04:20what you've lost

04:21with OG Ananobi defensively.

04:25Carl Anthony Towns, you know,

04:26we always want more defense from Cat.

04:30And again, if Brunson is out,

04:33you know, if your question is

04:34where do they turn to for more offense,

04:36you know, Cat is your other

04:37elite offensive player.

04:39He does not create on his own very much.

04:42You know, he's a big,

04:43you got to get the ball to him,

04:44but I would certainly look

04:46to feed him quite a bit.

04:47And he can, you know,

04:48make plays himself as well.

04:51You know, he's a very capable passer

04:52and playmaker.

04:53You can play through him a bit.

04:55But I think, you know,

04:56Towns and Bridges are the guys

04:58who are going to have to pick up

04:59a lot of the slack offensively

05:00without Brunson.

05:01And then defensively,

05:02you know, they're just going

05:04to have to be on a string.

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