New York Knicks: 5 Things Holding Them Back

The New York Knicks burst onto the scene early during the 2012-13 NBA season. This season, not so much. The Knicks are currently 1-3, but easily could be 4-0. Every game so far has been determined by 10 points or less and in each loss, they had a chance to take the lead in the final minutes. The struggles are not solely on one side of the ball either. The Knicks have been extremely inconsistent offensively and defensively. Yes, it is very early in the season. And yes, the Knicks are missing J.R. Smith. These, however, are the five things holding the Knicks back so far into the season.

Anthony got a first-place MVP vote last year, but he’s not playing anything like it right now. Photo Credit: Bridget Samuels, Flickr.com

Ice Cold from Downtown

The New York Knicks made a living at the 3-point line last year. Carmelo Anthony, Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd and Steve Novak were making it rain from behind the arc. This year, not so much. The Knicks are shooting a meager 30 percent from distance for a total of 29 3-pointers. In comparison, the Knicks shot 44 percent for 51 triples through their first four games last year

Turnovers

Coach Mike Woodson demands 10 turnovers or fewer in each game, which is a demand that is not coming to fruition. Through the first four games, the Knicks gave the ball away 67 times thus far–22 times against the Milwaukee Bucks, 15 against the Chicago Bulls, 16 times against the Minnesota Timberwolves and 14 against the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2012-13, the Knicks took care of the ball better than anyone else. They only averaged 12 turnovers a game. So far it has been a different story for this Knicks team.

Slow starts
In their last three games, the Knicks have dug a hole early. At the end of the first quarter against the Timberwolves and the Bulls, the Knicks were behind by double-digits. The Knicks have crawled back in both games, but it is not a predicament they want to find themselves in. Mike Woodson told reporters, “That was the difference in the game. I thought the second, third and fourth quarter we played pretty good basketball, but you just can’t come out on your home court and dig a hole.”

Defense inconsistent
This New York Knicks team has the talent to be great defensively. It has yet to give up more than 20 points in any fourth quarter and held the Bulls to 11 points in the final quarter. That, however, has not been the case during the other quarters. Time after time there has been defensive miscommunication and lack of hustle transitionally. In the first quarter of the Timberwolves game, the Knicks gave up 40 points. The ability to shut down other teams is there, they just have to be consistent.

Isolation
The Knicks have relied so heavily on isolation plays to Carmelo Anthony that Anthony feels like he is shooting too much now and feels the need to pass more . Who knew that was possible? Anthony said on Monday, “Maybe I’m a little bit passive out there, trying to do things that’s out of the norm and trying to make people better at wrong times.” The truth is that Anthony has already put up 89 shots throughout the first four games. He is shooting 37 percent from he field and 30 percent from behind the arc. Anthony will soon even out, but will the Knicks?

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