Rookie shooting guard Toney Douglas should get more of a look for the Knicks the rest of the way. The rookie has played in 32 games (2 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 13.4 minutes, 6.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Douglas was a first round pick for the Knicks and they have to reason to give him a few minutes the rest of the year seeing how this year is going down the tubes.

The Knicks aren’t playing their rookies that much this season and I believe it’s because they have an eye on making the playoffs this season in the very weak Eastern Conference and that’s a good thing. Back-up shooting guard Toney Douglas is the one rookie the Knicks have who should probably be playing more right now. He has played in 25 games (2 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 13.0 minutes, 6.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game this year. Power forward Jordan Hill has played well when he has gotten the chance to play which hasn’t been too often. Hill has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 8.4 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game on 52.8% shooting from the floor. Back-up small forward Marcus Landry is buried on the depth chart right now. He has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 6.4 minutes, 2.8 points and 1.0 rebound per game. I can’t see the Knicks playing any of these guys much more unless they suffer injuries, go on a long losing streak or make some trades to open up playing time for them.

The Knicks don’t look like a team that’s going to win many games this season so they should get the rookies a lot of minutes this year. 23-year old PG/SG Toney Douglas has been electric off the bench for the Knicks so far this season. He has played in 9 games (1 start) for the Knicks so far and he is averaging 16.1 minutes, 9.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Douglas is also shooting 50% from the floor so far for the Knicks. This kid needs to keep getting his minutes as he can put the ball in the basket. 22-year old power forward Jordan Hill has only played in 5 games (0 starts) so far for the Knicks and he is averaging 7.0 minutes, 5.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He, like Douglas, appears to have a nice upside. 24-year old SF Marcus Landry has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Knicks this season and he is averaging 5.5 minutes, 2.3 points and 1.0 rebound per game.

Knicks’ fans roundly booed the drafting of small forward Danilo Gallinari last June and he has done nothing to win them over. He has played in 2 games for the Knicks this season and he has averaged 5.7 minutes, 1.0 point, 0.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Gallinari is hurt right now and it will be interesting to see if he does anything positive as a rookie for the Knicks this season.

The Knicks didn’t know what they had in forward Wilson Chandler until he started playing near the end of the season. Chandler played in 35 games (16 starts) for the Knicks this season and he averaged 19.6 minutes, 7.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. The Knicks will no doubt let Chandler play more next season as they found out that he has some game.

The Knicks should start getting first round pick Wilson Chandler some more playing time. He has played in only 13 games (1 start) this season and he is averaging 7.1 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He is only shooting 40% from the floor and 42.9% from the free throw line this season. It’s hard to get into a rhythm when you are sitting on the bench all of the time. The Knicks have nothing to lose by giving Chandler some playing time to see what he can do.

The Knicks are loaded with veteran, highly paid big men which hurts rookie Wilson Chandler’s chances of getting on the basketball court. Chandler has played in only 5 games this season for the Knicks and he is averaging 6.4 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Don’t look for Chandler’s playing time to increase unless the Knicks make a bunch of trades.

The Knicks just had too many players on the roster so they decided to cut rookies Jared Jordan and Demetris Nichols. Jordan played in six games in the pre-season and he averaged only 4.5 minutes, 1.0 point, 0.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Nichols played much better than Jordan. He played in 5 games in the pre-season and he averaged 7.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He also shot really well as he hit 57.1% from the floor, 66.7% from three point range and 80% from the free throw line. Look for Nichols to get a shot with another team at some point this season.

The Knicks rookies didn’t get much playing time early in the season, but they played a lot late because of the injuries that decimated the Knicks roster and they did o.k.  Forward Renaldo Balkman played in 68 games this season and he averaged 15.7 minutes, 4.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Balkman hit 50.5% from the floor but he needs to improve at the free throw line where he only hit 56.7%.  He will be a decent reserve in the future for the Knicks because he’s a very solid rebounder.  Guard Mardy Collins was only known for his fight with Carmelo Anthony until late in the season when he finally got some playing time.  He played in 52 games this season and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  He needs to improve his shooting as he only hit 38.2% from the floor and 27.7% on three-pointers.  Forward Randolph Morris signed on late with the Knicks and he played in 5 games and averaged 8.7 minutes, 0.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  He may have a future with the Knicks and was a good signing for them.

The Knicks rookies have not played very well this season.  Renaldo Balkman has played in 44 games and he’s averaging 13.2 minutes, 3.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists.  The Knicks do like the defensive effort that Balkman gives every night, but he needs to work on his offense.

Guard Mardy Collins best play of the season was when he fouled J.R. Smith hard to start the big melee in New York.  Collins has played in 26 games and is averaging 4.5 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists.  He’s also only shooting 33.3% from the floor.  That shooting % must come up if he wants to earn more minutes.