3. To be a playoff team, the New York Knicks need to play some defense.
When asked if there’s anything he would change about today’s game, the great Oscar Robertson once said “Okay so you made a dunk. Instead of screaming about it get back down the floor on defense!” Robertson’s point was not that he did not enjoy a highlight-worthy dunk, but that he believed the defensive end of the floor was being neglected too often.
This year’s New York Knicks could learn something from Robertson’s quote. Through fourteen games this season, the team is allowing 116.4 points per game, good for 24th in the league. Even in the modern NBA, that is a lot of points to overcome. Unless the team is willing to commit to getting stops, it will be next to impossible to score enough points to come out on the winning side of games on a nightly basis.
Opposing teams are also shooting 24.4 free throws per game against them; that is 22nd in the league. Sending teams to the free throw line often is a good way to give up easy points and dig a hole that is hard to climb out of. Furthermore, committing that many fouls on a nightly basis will indicate poor rotations and lazy efforts.
Referees are human too, so if a rotation is missed and a careless swipe is made, they are likely to blow the whistle even if no contact has occurred. If the Knicks want to win, they are going to have to talk on defense, move their feet, create fewer fouls and stop giving up easy shots. Without these adjustments, teams will continue to put up astronomical numbers against them all season.
The New York Knicks have an experienced enough roster to secure one of the top six seeds in the Eastern Conference and avoid having to participate in the annual play-in tournament. The question that remains is, are they willing to make the adjustments that will create a winning culture? They must commit to defense, their second unit must contribute, and they have to knock down open shots.
Doing these things will result in a playoff birth. The talent to win is there, the only steps left to take are dedication and execution.