New York Knicks need a more aggressive Kevin Knox

Kevin Knox has not been a focal point of the offense for the New York Knicks so far this season, unlike last year. It may be part of the reason as to why the squad has a disappointing 0-3 record thus far.

The New York Knicks were trounced by the Boston Celtics on Saturday, losing by a final score of 95-118. Despite owning a five-point lead at halftime against the Celtics, the Knicks appeared discombobulated on both ends of the floor in the second half, as they were outscored 44-72 in the last two quarters.

Aside from rookie RJ Barrett scoring a career-high 26 points in the defeat, there were no other positive takeways from what was a poor performance from New York during their home opener.

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Kevin Knox, the team’s second-year forward, struggled to find the bottom of the net against Boston. In 26 minutes, he managed to score just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field.

The Celtics are a very good defensive team, which certainly may have played a role in his sub-par outing from a scoring standpoint. That being said, Knox still failed to assert himself offensively, he needs to be taking more than seven shots regardless if he is coming off of the bench or not.

The former University of Kentucky standout has attacked the basket scarcely so far this season. Knox is averaging just 3.0 free throws per outing in 2019-20. While four games is obviously a small sample size, it should nonetheless be a point of emphasis for the former lottery pick to earn himself trips to the stripe more frequently.

Adding this to his game could cement Knox as someone worthy of being in the starting lineup, and it is a part of his game that he must become adept at in order to live up to his All-Star caliber potential.

If New York wants to see the 20-year-old develop into an elite scorer, the coaching staff needs to encourage the youngster to look for his shot more. Over the course of the first four games, Knox averaged just 8.3 shots a night, a far cry from his 12.2 attempts as a rookie.

Lessening the young man’s involvement in the offense will only hinder his development and it could potentially lower his confidence, which could be problematic for a player of his age.

Also, it is worth noting that when Knox has decided to shoot the ball, he has been able to knock down shots with accuracy thus far. He made seven of his first eight 3-point attempts over the first two games and has been 2-for-8 since, still a solid 41.2 percent mark from deep on 4.3 attempts a game, and is shooting 48.5 percent from the field.

In an loss to Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, Knox hoisted four triples and made all of them. Considering he is scoring efficiently, the Knicks would be wise to draw up more plays for the 6’7″ forward.

Even if this was not the case, for the sake of his growth as a player, more touches and involvement in the offense will only benefit Knox as he figures out how to become a consistent scoring option in the NBA.

Calling on him to score during moments such as the third quarter of Saturday’s game against Boston will aid the Arizona native in becoming a more mature basketball player. By that point, the Celtics upped their defensive intensity and began to take control of the game and this led to them gaining a lead that they would refuse to give up.

The Knicks’ sophomore could learn valuable lessons from having pressure on him to create for himself and others during crucial points in games. Coach David Fizdale should throw Knox in the fire more often, meaning place him in tough situations, like when the opposing team has been on a long run and New York needs a basket, for example.

Maybe the most important thing that Knox needs in order to become a better player is simply experience. In order to improve, it is key that he becomes accustomed to the NBA game and its differences from college hoops. He will only be able to reach his full potential if he is consistently on the court, and shooting the ball often as long as they are shots created within the offense.

Knox has arguably the highest ceiling of any player on New York’s roster outside of RJ Barrett. It is clear that he is a natural when it comes to scoring, even though he has yet to become a reliable go-to scorer, which is predictable considering Knox’s age and inexperience.

In order for him to take steps towards becoming the great player that Knicks fans envision he will be, aggressiveness should be the name of the game for Knox in 2019-20.