New York Knicks Fix: Stop Settling And Start Getting To The Foul Line
The New York Knicks had already lost four straight games following a 2-1 start which included an impressive win in Cleveland.
But the way they extended that streak to five consecutive losses typified a glaring problem with the Knicks’ recent failings.
Their latest defeat came at home, on Monday night, to the Atlanta Hawks, during a game in which New York did enough to win in a variety of areas, yet lost again, due to one specific part of their game which they’ve been neglecting.
As far as getting to the foul line, no team has been worse in the NBA this season.
Through that loss to the Hawks (the second in as many games, over three days, against Atlanta), the Knicks were scoring a league-low 91.1 points per game.
However, that wasn’t because New York was among the league’s worst teams in several major offensive categories. The one that stands out as a glaring weakness, however, is a lack of opportunities to score free points.
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The Knicks’ 36.1 made field goals per game put them in the middle of the pack as of Tuesday night, and although their 43.8 percent field goal shooting won’t scare opposing defenses, there were still 10 teams shooting worse from the floor.
New York was also leading the league in 3-point field goal percentage before losing to Atlanta on Monday night, and the Knicks’ 23 assists ranked eighth in the NBA through Tuesday’s games.
Yet no team has drawn fouls nor gone to the free throw less frequently than the mid-range jump shot-happy Knicks.
Their 18.4 fouls drawn were the league’s fewest through Tuesday night, and their 11.9 made free throws on just 15.6 attempts were each NBA lows by nearly three makes and three attempts than the next lowest team (the Boston Celtics) in those respective measures.
In its last game, New York did a number of things well. The Knicks made nine more field goals (36-27) than the Hawks, had a healthy scoring edge in the paint (32-24), outrebounded Atlanta (40-38) and held the Hawks to just 38 percent shooting from the field.
But if you’re looking for the main reason New York lost, search no further than the personal foul and free throw disparity. The Hawks went 27-for-28 from the foul line on 26 Knicks fouls. New York, meanwhile, went just 7-of-12 at the charity stripe on 16 Atlanta fouls.
Star forward Carmelo Anthony led all scorers in that game with 25 points, but he missed each of his five 3-point attempts. What could have offset that deficiency is if Anthony had taken considerably more free throw attempts than the five he attempted in the contest. That was only the latest example of the way Anthony has a little more passive than in the past, when he would look to score in a variety of ways.
Part of the issue is that Anthony and his teammates are still adjusting to the Knicks’ new triangle offense, especially while waiting for injured starting point guard Jose Calderon to play his first game this season. Yet much of it is a team-wide problem of simply being content to settle for too many jumpers while lacking aggression or a sense of urgency with getting into the lane.
Despite being on the low end with trips to the free throw line this season relative to the rest of his career, Anthony easily leads New York in both free throw attempts and makes this season, which points to the whole team being culpable in terms of its inability to focus on scoring at the foul line.
Still, as the club’s unquestioned leader, Anthony has fallen far short in that area compared to what he had done over his entire career.
Only once in the Knicks’ first eight games this season, has he reached his career average of 7.7 free throw attempts per game. Anthony’s paltry 4.6 foul shot attempts per game are nearly two fewer than the career-low 6.4 he took as a rookie in 2003-04.
It’s also part of why Anthony, normally a dangerous perimeter shooter, has struggled more than usual from that part of the floor this season.
In years when Anthony has had some of his highest scoring seasons, including his only league scoring title two years ago, he also had some of his highest career averages for free throw makes and takes.
If Anthony can get back to becoming the the more balanced and aggressive player he used to be, it’ll open up his potent outside game and make him and his teammates better in the triangle. However, it’s also up to Anthony’s teammates to likewise be more willing to draw contact on their own.
Forward Amar’e Stoudemire told me after Monday night’s loss, that he’s all for a change in philosophy as it fits within the triangle offense.
"“I think the more we get the ball inside, we have a chance to attack the rim and put pressure on the defense,” he said. “[Whether] it’s penetration from [our guards] or post-ups, the more we can put the pressure on opposing defenses inside the paint, [it] will allow us to get to the free throw line a little bit more.”"
One of basketball’s oldest adages remains true — that when a player is having difficulty scoring, the easiest way to jump-start his offensive production is often by drawing fouls and getting easy points.
For a team ranked either last, or close to it, in scoring for much of the young season thus far, the Knicks should view their own collective offense the same way. They need to get to the line and get going offensively.