Why I Hate Watching the New York Knicks Play Basketball
Watching the New York Knicks play basketball is an exercise in futility.
There are definitely teams that are better than the Knicks, but there are also plenty of teams that are worse. The Knicks sit in basketball purgatory. They have a young and constantly developing superstar, but they also have two aging stars who still seem more committed to their individual brands.
So I repeat: there is no NBA team that is more frustrating to watch than the New York Knicks.
Anyone who doesn't believe that defensive effort starts with your star should look no further than New York.
The 7-foot 3-inch Kristaps Porzingis is an excellent shot blocker and plays with effort. He and his front-court cohorts have led New York to be the 2nd-best shot-blocking team in the league with 5.9 rejections per game as a unit. As far as the rest of the team...
In their New Year's Eve game against the Rockets, the Knicks witnessed James Harden shred their defense and post a never before seen stat line of 53-points, 15-rebounds, and 15-assists.
I chalked the performance up to the otherworldly powers of James Harden. With Porzingis out, the Knicks have absolutely no rim-protection. So obviously the poor New York defense would have no answer for Harden's ability to score from inside and outside the paint.
But a few days later, when I saw the headline "Meeks, Ibaka, Gordon combine for 67 points"[in a game against the NY Knicks] I knew that this was something that warranted deeper research. Jodie Meeks, Serge Ibaka, and Aaron Gordon are three players on one of the lowest scoring teams in the NBA. These three players on average combine to score 36 points per game, so what was it that the Knicks did that allowed these particular guys to score 31 points above their collective average?
The New York Knicks lose ALL the "effort plays": For starters, the New York Knicks lazily close out on shooters. Their head coach Jeff Hornacek admitted it recently, and it today's NBA that is especially foolish. They don't protect the paint particularly well, oh, and they also get beat off of the dribble a ton. But they are bad at defense anyway you look at it, and one could argue that the high amount blocks they get is related to how often they let opposing guards get into the paint.
The video below is from last night's game and it shows Aaron Gordon's 22 pts.
The video starts at 0:22 seconds, and I chose to start with Gordon's highlights because they showcase New York's biggest issue this year which is protecting the paint. As of today, the Knicks are 22nd in the league in opponent points in the paint, giving up 45.3 points per game down low.
These are my notes from Gordon's performance last night:
0:24-Lance Thomas watches the ball quite a bit, which leads to Gordon getting an easy off. rebound and lay-up against Joakim "Franken"-Noah who stands in one spot most of the time on defense.
0:35-Aaron Gordon's shoulder is lower than Carmelo Anthony's shoulder when he catches the ball. That indicates that Gordon will win this one-on-one battle. At this age I expect 'Melo to get beat off the dribble anyway, and he does. He expects rookie Willy Hernangomez to be there quickly to help him, but you should be able to guard your man one-on-one at the pro level. There is only so much help until your defense is compromised. Also isn't Anthony the Knicks best player?
"Closing out on shooters" is a basketball term that refers to running out to the player who is about to shoot the ball and putting a hand in his face to make scoring harder. More advanced steps in this process involve slowing your momentum to avoid letting a player drive past you, but if you don't sprint out to your assignment to start your team is usually at a huge disadvantage. The Knicks know a lot about this disadvantage.
Notes from the above Aaron Gordon video, continued:
1:02-Lance Thomas (I hate picking on a guy from Duke) commits a cardinal sin by gong underneath a screen, thereby giving Gordon a wide-open 3-point shot. He makes it.
My final thoughts on the Knicks effort on close outs are...this entire video of Jodie Meeks scoring a season-high 23-points. Really just watch where the guy who is supposed to be guarding Meeks is each time.
The New York Knicks are in the midst of a 5-game losing streak. And their already porous defense is really missing the young Latvian Kristaps Porzingis, and they have given up 244 points in the last two games without him.
If the NBA playoffs started today the New York Knicks would miss the postseason. This would be a shame after all of the early season talk of this Knicks team finally turning a corner. If Anthony and Rose could start to foster some sense of trust on the defensive end, or at the very least give a greater effort in their individual defense then this team would 100% be a fixture in the NBA playoffs. But because of the inconsistent of those two stars this team will most likely miss the playoffs yet again. Porzingis is great at defense, but NBA teams do not take on the defensive identity of 21-year olds.
Let the rebuild begin.
