The New York Knicks are lumbering through the most frustrating stretch of their season. On both sides of the ball, it’s been a complete mess for Mike Brown and the blue and orange.
New York’s slide is increasingly concerning, highlighted by a defensive rating in the bottom five of the NBA and a pedestrian 45.5% from the field. While defensive struggles have plagued this core for the past two seasons, inefficient shooting compounded by poor shot selection and quality continues to fuel the slump.
If those issues don’t improve soon, an uncomfortable question may grow louder outside Madison Square Garden: Are the Knicks really championship contenders? While it may seem premature, the Knicks are being hindered by the same issues that plagued them under Tom Thibodeau, raising concerns about this group’s long-term ceiling.
Poor shot quality is haunting the Knicks
According to Basketball Index, New York ranks among the worst teams in shot quality, meaning the Knicks take some of the toughest shots on a regular basis. Two of the most dominant forces in modern basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, rank among the best in shot quality, making their offenses almost slump-proof.
Although the Knicks are an elite shot-making team and widely outproduce teams of similar shot quality, when New York’s offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, it doesn’t rain, it pours.
In terms of shot quality, the Knicks rank in the same tier as the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks; teams that will make your stomach turn in all the wrong directions.
New York’s offense needs to wake up before it’s too late
Overall, the Knicks still have one of the best offensive teams in the league; there’s no real question about it. However, when shot selection continues to hurt the flow of attack, it shouldn’t be a surprise when New York falls into extended slumps and ultimately runs into similar issues in the playoffs.
One of the best ways to bounce out of slumps is to play clean basketball that will give your offense easy looks. If the Knicks can’t produce high-quality looks regularly, the offensive ceiling needs to be capped.
Multiple players grade out with poor shot quality
Outside of Jalen Brunson, an offensive wizard who can bend the rules of basketball to his liking, New York’s poor shot quality has hindered the efficiency of many key players. Brunson, although taking some of the most challenging shots in basketball, still converts at an elite level.
Credit to Miles McBride as well, a player who takes some of the toughest outside shots the league has to offer, but still converts at an elite level. His three-point shooting evolution has been a revelation for New York and its offensive dynamic.
For example, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek have poor shot quality, grading very low in that category. In return, their efficiency has taken a hit. Towns is having the worst season of his career in terms of field goal percentage, and Clarkson and Kolek are both shooting below 46%.
Surprisingly, OG Anunoby’s shot quality is fantastic; however, he simply can’t hit shots. Over his last ten games, Anunoby is shooting 40.3% from the field and 28.3% from downtown.
The point being, New York simply needs to be better on offense. If it’s players who need to take higher-quality looks, or players who need to hit open shots, the Knicks need to be better. If New York can create better looks across the board, their offensive production will improve and morph into that offensive powerhouse we’ve seen time and time again.