Through the first five games of the new season for the New York Knicks, most fans are probably feeling some déjà vu from the way last season ended in the playoffs. Stagnant offense, poor spacing, and too much isolation spelled the Knicks demise in the playoffs against the Heat. In the first fives games of this new season, it feels like there has not been a single adjustment offensively since Game Six against the Heat last year. So what is the problem?
Randle's Shooting Woes
The playoffs this past year was easily the roughest stretch of basketball Julius Randle played in his entire tenure with New York. He averaged only 16.6 points on 37.4 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from three. What makes this an even tougher pill to swallow is Randle had his best regular season of his career last year. He averaged a career high 25.1 points on 45.9 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three.
In the first five games this season, Randle has unfortunately picked up right where he left off in the playoffs. He is averaging a mere 13.2 points on a staggering 27.6 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from three.
Of course, it is only five games in the season, and plenty of high caliber players are also off to difficult shooting starts. For Randle, the struggles from the playoffs continuing into this year makes his shooting a bit more alarming. However, the bigger issue at hand here may be the changes or lack there of in the offensive attack this offseason.
Knicks' Offense Looks The Exact Same
Randle certainly had as big of a part as anyone in the Knicks elimination last year in the playoffs. His issues shooting did not just come from his shot being off, it came from the Heat exposing the lack of shooting and therefore spacing in the Knicks offense. The Heat were all too willing to close gaps in the lane last year at the expense of giving perimeter shooters a bit of a cleaner look. The Knicks simply could not shoot well enough to make the Heat pay last year.
After the 95-89 loss against the Cavaliers on Wednesday, Randle made his thoughts clear as to why the offense is struggling to start the season.
“Spacing,” Randle said. “Everything is just pretty packed in. We’re just looking at a lot of bodies out there whenever we’re catching the ball. We’ve just got to figure out a way to open it up a little bit.”
Tom Thibodeau had a bit of a different outlook on the reason behind the loss to the Cavaliers.
“We didn’t make shots tonight,” Thibodeau said. “But if we defend and we rebound and keep our turnovers down, we’ll be in position to win.”
These comments embody the main issue at hand for the Knicks offense. A Thibodeau coached team will always put defense and rim protection first. Because of this, Mitchell Robinson is by far the most important player for Thibodeau on the defensive end. Robinson has proven to be a great rim protector and rebounder, and he fits what Thibodeau wants to do defensively to a tee.
The problem with Robinson is he is a liability on the offensive end. He is not a great screener, and his only scoring ability comes from his vertical threat of a lob. Because of this, he can really only operate from block to block on offense. This allows the opposing center to set up in the paint and play help defense much more easily.
For Randle, he has become more and more reliant on the jump shot. Part of that has to be due to the crowd that exists in the paint when Robinson and even Hartenstein are on the floor. There are certainly better decisions Randle can make with his shot taking, however his offense will always be limited because of the team's defense first mentality.
For New York, it is not just Randle who has struggled shooting. While the numbers are not as drastic, Jalen Brunson is averaging 20.6 points on only 37.9 percent shooting compared to 49.1 percent last season. Teams are clearly sending more pressure at Brunson and Randle in hopes of making others hit shots, and so far it is an effective defensive strategy.
Through fives games, the Knicks rank dead last in points per game at 103 and field goal percentage at 40 percent. Of course, some of this is due to small sample size. Brunson and especially Randle will shoot better even if adjustments are not made to the offense. However, if adjustments are not made to create more spacing, the offense will continue to hold this team back and create some ugly games.
Even with these astonishingly poor offensive numbers, New York has still managed a 2-3 record. The defense has played incredibly well to this point as in three of the five games, the opposing team did not crack 96 points.
The Knicks can truly make some noise this year if they can figure out a way to make this offense a bit more dynamic and create easier looks. They will look to get back to .500 Friday night against the new look Bucks.
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- Knicks start playoff march with first round matchup against 76ers - April 18, 2024
- Knicks lose Julius Randle for remainder of season as playoffs approach - April 6, 2024
