Can New York Knicks Turn Their Season Around?
The city of New York sure hasn’t had something to cheer about lately in the realm of basketball. The Brooklyn Nets have been disappointing by a lot of people’s standards.
They have been so underwhelming that the team is planning a full-scale fire sale of all of their star players in order to acquire future draft picks and assets in a rebuilding effort.
So if the Nets are looking at a rebuild because of how they have performed this season, what should the New York Knicks be looking to do then?
The Knicks have been abysmal to start the season, going 5-20 and showing little to no signs of life even during their home games at Madison Square Garden.
So why have the Knicks been awful this season? It starts with the offense.
Even though we will get to the defense in a second, it has been common knowledge that the Knicks have struggled defensively for a number of years, as they lack the discipline and commitment by their players on that end of the floor.
However, scoring points has been something that this team has actually been able to do thanks to the shooting weapons this team possesses like Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Unfortunately, these players have not wanted to cooperate with one another. In fact, there are even reports that Anthony and Hardaway Jr. have been involved in verbal confrontations with one another over style of play.
In terms of sharing the ball, the Knicks rank 15th in the NBA in assists per game, while ranking 16th in total turnovers per game.
Passing the ball certainly hasn’t been this team’s strong suit, and with the lack of a true point guard to run the offense, it has been difficult to get everyone to buy into moving the ball, leading to a lot of isolation offense by the team’s three main scorers.
The trio of Hardaway Jr., Smith and Anthony average roughly 37 shot attempts per game, a number that is quite high between three players who have not exactly been the most efficient of scorers during their respective careers.
Anthony has shot 45.5 percent from the field for his career, while Hardaway Jr. and Smith have both shot 42.4 percent in their careers. Neither of these numbers is an efficient percentage, which means head coach Derek Fisher should certainly take another look at who should be taking all of these shots during the game.
Speaking of Fisher, he has not exactly been the most vocal coach in the NBA. Fisher is trying to implement general manager Phil Jackson‘s triangle offense, which revolves around a constant inside-outside motion of the players depending on where the basketball goes.
Needless to say, the system hasn’t been effective, as both Amar’e Stoudemire and Samuel Dalembert are not quality passing big men, and the perimeter players haven’t exactly succeeded at being unselfish either. Smith has even come out and said publicly that he thinks the system is too complicated.
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As far as rebounding, the Knicks rank 29th in rebounds per game, a number that actually is not all that surprising, given the Knicks’ frontcourt rotation.
Stoudemire is long gone from being an elite rebounder, and the age of Dalembert along with the inexperience of heavily-played forward Quincy Acy has not been a winning equation for getting aggressive on the boards.
Without a consistent rebounding attack, teams have been able to take advantage and take away any second chance opportunities the Knicks could have from picking up any of their misfired bricks.
Defensively, the rebounding problem doesn’t help there either. Limiting offensive rebounds and cleaning the glass are two very important aspects of defensive basketball, and without the personnel that can accomplish those two tasks effectively, there’s going to be a struggle when trying to be a competent defensive unit.
The defensive rating for the Knicks is 110.7, good for 27th in the league. Simply put, the Knicks can’t stop anyone, from jump shooters to guys getting in the lane. If a game comes down to the Knicks getting some stops, the win isn’t happening.
So can the Knicks actually turn this season around? Well, Jose Calderon has missed quite a bit of time due to injury, but his recent return should help to get the Knicks moving the ball a little more on offense.
The Knicks have capable shooters, they just need to pass the ball around in order to get better looks rather than rely on one guy to carry the team on that end of the floor. Standing around on offense won’t solve anything, no motion no scoring, it’s that simple.
Defensively, there’s no hope for this team unless they could swing a trade for a low-post man that could help limit another team’s easy opportunities at the rim.
Unfortunately for New York, that kind of player isn’t relatively available, and anyone that fits that mold will cost the Knicks a pretty penny because other contenders with assets like the Cleveland Cavaliers are also looking for the same type of player.
Jackson surely wanted to win more games at this point in time than the Knicks actually have in order to build momentum going into free agency. Asking the Knicks to be a better team is a foolish thing to do unless some serious changes are made.
The Knicks’ best bet is to take advantage of the situation and hope that enough losses pile up to get a high draft pick come June. There are plenty of big men available in next year’s draft that could help the Knicks next season, and the team has some perimeter guys that could be moved for more assets or even a better point guard such as Rajon Rondo.
The long-term future of the Knicks hasn’t been compromised. The short-term future? Well, just hang in there fans. Better times are coming, I promise.
*Statistics courtesy of ESPN and Basketball-Reference.