New York Knicks: Is it a good idea to shoot more 3s during the 2021-22 season?

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reportedly wants his team to shoot more 3-pointers during the 2021-22 season. New York Knicks beat writers asked point guard Derrick Rose on October 10th why the team shot 52 threes during their preseason game versus the Washington Wizards.

Rose stated that the team shot 52 threes at Thibodeau’s request. Rose followed up that statement by saying that Thibodeau believes that shooting more threes will create easier shots for the rest of the team.

Thibodeau’s strategy appears to be reasonable as the team was 27th in 3-point attempts last season, averaging 30 per game. New York’s lack of 3-point attempts contributed to opposing teams having extra defenders below the 3-point line, guarding the basket.

For instance, Rose had the ball at the top of the key midway through the second quarter of a home game against the Chicago Bulls. He waited until Taj Gibson came up to set a screen to initiate the pick and roll possession.

Rose went over the Gibson screen and began to drive towards the basket. As Rose approached the basket, he got surrounded by three Bulls’ players, forcing him to take a contested floater. Rose would end up missing the shot to end the possession.

Taking a contested two-point shot was not unusual for the Knicks as they accounted for 44.5 percent of their total field goals, averaging 38.5 per game. Unfortunately, the team was inefficient in contested two-point attempts as they finished in the bottom 10 in field goals, shooting 47.3 percent.

Consequently, the organization wants to shoot more threes to get defenders away from the basket, which will increase the likelihood of them taking more uncontested shots. New York was significantly better with uncontested shots, shooting 55.7 percent from the field last season in 17.5 attempts per game.

The New York Knicks plan to shoot more 3s this season. Let’s take a look at how they can implement this modern new approach.

However, if the Knicks want the plan of shooting threes to work, they need to make sure that their worst 3-point shooters aren’t taking those shots. For instance, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett were in the top 5 in 3-point attempts for the team last season, averaging 5.5 and 4.3 per game, respectively.

Both players combined to account for 32.7 percent of the team’s total attempts. Fortunately, they were able to excel in the role, shooting over 40 percent from the 3-point line. Despite their success from the 3-point line last season, 87.3 percent of their attempts were uncontested as they averaged 4.8 and 4 per game, respectively.

Most of Randle’s and Barrett’s threes were uncontested because they were below-average shooters before last season. Barrett shot less than 33 percent from behind the arc before last season on at least 3.5 shots per game. Randle has been slightly worse, shooting 29.5 percent on 1.5 attempts per game.

The Knicks would be better off if players like Evan Fournier, Alec Burks, and Kemba Walker took the lion’s share of those 3-point attempts because they have been above-average shooters for their entire careers.

All three players have shot at least 36 percent from behind the arc since 2013 on a minimum of 2.9 attempts per game. Their consistency from the 3-point line is more likely to force defenders to stay closer to them, as at least 64.6 percent of their threes were uncontested last season.

In conclusion, Tom Thibodeau’s strategy of shooting more threes will only work if he has the right players taking the majority of those shots.