Steals: Dennis Smith Jr.
There is a huge misconception when it comes to defensive abilities at the guard spots. Being a good defender doesn’t always entail getting steals and vice versa.
Sometimes, the best of defenders never average over 1.0 steals per game as they prefer to stay glued to their player instead of over-committing and risking a wide-open shot. It’s all a matter of defensive maturity.
When we compare the three key point guards on the New York Knicks’ roster, we can safely state that Frank Ntilikina is miles ahead of both Dennis Smith and Elfrid Payton. Yet, he is not getting nearly as many steals as those guys do.
Last season, Smith averaged 1.3 steals per game and could be on track to be the team’s leader in the steals department.
Blocks: Mitchell Robinson
Did you really expect Ignas Brazdeikis?
Robinson literally took the league by storm last season, as he averaged 2.4 blocks per game in just 20.6 minutes of playing time(!). His defensive prowess allowed him to swat away more shots than Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis, who are known to be defensive colossi.
Every fan of the game of basketball is excited to see what Robinson can accomplish by getting a starter’s share of playing time.
To play the devil’s advocate, it would be a tad of a misinformation to mention his blocking stats without tattling his biggest weakness: his fouls committed per game.
In those 20.6 minutes per game, Robinson committed 3.3 fouls per contest, leading to a per-36 average of 5.7 fouls per game. His willingness to leap off the floor often enables older, smarter players to draw quick and easy fouls off the — what used to be — a rookie.