The Knicks season got off to a rough start with double digit defeat in Indiana 107 to 121. New York had no answers for Domantas Sabonis or at their own point guard position once Immanuel Quickley left the game with a hip pointer. On the bright side, RJ Barrett had a brilliant first half and solid, if quieter second half. There were flashes of offensive promise in others as well. First half ball movement saw a multitude of players shooting in rhythm and passing well. But increased ball pressure by Indy and poor point guard play meant an ugly second half. It took one half of one game and we were back to an all too familiar situation, watching a ship without a sail.
It’s the first game of the season and I’m holding my breath over an injury to a rookie 25th pick. The Knicks have shooters, rim runners and wings but they need a point guard to bring it all together. Immanuel Quickley has shown promise in that role, nobody else has been able to stand out in it so far. Let’s revisit the action and see how everyone did.
Elfrid Payton: It was a disappointing night for the Elfrid Payton who never seemed to get going in the Knicks offense. Payton faced a tough defender in Malcolm Brogdon and wound up with more turnovers than assists. To make matters worse, Brogdon also hung 21 points on Payton and the rest of the Knicks’ point guards. In the first half, the offense ran better through Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. For a PG who doesn’t do much scoring, being the third best playmaker in a line-up with subpar defense won’t cut it.
Payton put up 7 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds over 22 minutes of play. He shot 3/7 from the field, but did notch his only three point attempt of the night. The point guard also turned the ball over 5 times, leading to easy transition baskets for the Pacers more than once.
I’d rate the performance 1 out of 5, an outright bad game from the starting PG. He was thoroughly outplayed on both ends of the floor, hidden in the first half by stellar wing play and exposed when those wings came back down to Earth.
RJ Barrett: After showing promise throughout the preseason, RJ Barrett turned in a great performance for the start of his season. The best part is that he got going by making a pair of three pointers. The three ball had been RJ’s only preseason weakness, but he was perfect from deep on the night. Barrett knocked down his first 9 attempts and mixed in enough playmaking to keep defenders off balance. The sophomore’s touch around the basket seems much improved and his strength inside stands out more than ever.
Maple Mamba spent 34 minutes and finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists to just one turnover. He could barely miss, going 11/15 from the field and 3/3 from three-point land. The efficiency meant that Barrett maximized nearly every touch he got, but his second half production did see a drop off with the team’s ball movement fading overall.
Barrett gets a 4.5 out of 5 on this one, losing a perfect score for fading in the second half. The high marks remain because he was easily the Knicks best player even at points where Randle and Burks were going off. RJ feels poised to lead this team in just his second year.
Reggie Bullock: It was a streaky performance for Reggie Bullock, more cold than hot. He started the game missing a couple of easy looks, then proceeded to hit consecutive shots before going ice cold for the rest of the night. When the ball movement was humming, Bullock’s off ball movement really popped. Julius Randle found Bullock cutting along the perimeter for an open three and then again cutting back door soon after. But once the passing slowed down, Bullock was invisible.
Bullock compiled 11 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound on 4/10 shooting and 3/8 from three. His ability to find open space on the floor can be extremely valuable when the team is in rhythm. Unfortunately, this team’s rhythm comes and goes like the wind.
With most of his impact coming in a single spurt, Bullock gets a below average 1.5 out of 5 from me. His value on the floor flashed in that quick barrage of points but the fact that he was forgettable the rest of the way says it all.
Julius Randle: There may be hope for Julius Randle yet as he turned in a performance with plenty of good moments although there were still some glaring mistakes. Randle led the Knicks in assists, often drawing attention his way before rewarding cutters. When the big man saw a defender in isolation, he made them pay inside. There were still moments of tunnel vision and some bad turnovers, but it’s clear that Randle is looking for his teammates more than ever. He trusts his wings to make find open space.
For 35 minutes, Randle put up 17 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. He shot 7/15 from the field and 0/2 from three, there weren’t many forced shots. Randle did force some possessions without shooting though, adding 5 turnovers. There were stints in the second and third quarter where Randle was forced into a tough match-up defending Domantas Sabonis. He was far from perfect, getting into foul trouble, but his defensive effort deserves a shout out.
Randle gets a 3.5 out of 5. He played a much more controlled game than Knicks fans have been used to. Having a big man that can playmake is important for an offense lacking in PG play, but old habits die hard and we saw enough mistakes for Randle to dip below 4 and force me to use decimal points.
Mitchell Robinson: It’s tough to blame Mitchell Robinson too much for the foul trouble he incurred when everybody else that guarded Domantas Sabonis ran into the exact same issue. The refs weren’t particularly helpful either as Robinson’s second foul in the first quarter looked like a clean block. Mitch had some nice blocks and rebounds when he did get extended time on the floor, but the early foul trouble seemed to hurt his rhythm. The big man still has to learn not to go for pump fakes and generally how to deal with stronger guys in the post.
Robinson played 21 minutes for 3 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks on 1/2 from the field and 1/2 from the line. While he did pick up some nice blocks and shots defended, Mitch struggled against Sabonis even when he did stay out there. Strength is probably his biggest issue as a defender, even moreso than his tendency to be too aggressive at times. The aggression can turn into production, being overpowered is much harder to overcome.
This performance rates an unfortunate 1.5 out of 5. The foul trouble forced Robinson to pull back a bit and that reduced his effectiveness. The super athlete’s motor and mobility set him apart from other rim running bigs, but if he can’t be aggressive then his flaws stand out more.
Immanuel Quickley: Despite a modest statline, Immanuel Quickley’s impact felt bigger than his numbers. That’s because everything seemed to come together after Quickley checked into the game. IQ is aggressive in ways that other PG’s on the roster haven’t been. He attacks downhill off the dribble and if that isn’t available, he’s moving the ball to someone with a better angle to attack. The most telling thing about the 25th pick’s game is how the Knicks offense struggled just about the moment he left the floor.
In his 12 minutes of play, Quickley amassed 5 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound on 1/3 from the field, 0/1 from three and 3/3 from the free throw line. Despite the limited statline, there were glimpses of IQ’s best attributes in this game. He drew a foul on a three-point attempt early in his stint on the floor and his lone field goal showed off soft touch around the basket as he floated a lay-up just out of Domantas Sabonis’ reach. IQ also added a steal, his aggressive motor translates on both ends of the floor.
IQ gets an incomplete instead of a score though. Myles Turner landed on the rookie in a scramble for rebounding position that caused a hip injury. Quickley was unable to continue and the team simply collapsed from there. He was on his way to a nice score though, the Knicks started rolling when he came on and fell apart without him.
Alec Burks: After a huge first half, Alec Burks saw his role shift in the second half and was far less effective. Burks came on as the back-up shooting guard to start the game and he thrived in the role. Burks knocked down jumpers all over the floor, quickly becoming a favorite passing target for Knick ball handlers. His quick release is one thing, how fast he can reset his feet for a jumper is another beast altogether. On top of that, Burks knew when to shoot and when to move. He attacked off pump fakes, dribbles to pull-ups and off-ball cuts just as well as he did with the three ball.
In 32 minutes, Burks put up 22 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 6/12 from the field, 2/4 from three and 8/9 from the free throw line. But similar to RJ Barrett, the majority of his production came in the first half. In the second half, Burks became the defacto back-up PG with Bullock and Barrett on the wings. It was obvious that he wasn’t comfortable in that role and the offense looked out of sync despite having its best first shooters on the floor. Burks never got his first half momentum back.
Despite the quiet second half, Burks’ explosion in the first half and overall efficiency warrants a 4 out of 5. He was a 20-point scorer on just 12 attempts, that’s undeniable production. He was also a solid defender, adding a steal and a block to the mix. Bullock’s early inconsistency could mean Burks starts sooner than later.
Frank Ntilikina: It’s never a good sign when the head coach chooses to run a three Shooting Guard set before he trusts his third string point guard. But that’s what happened to Frank Ntilkina in this one. The contract year guard came in after the Knicks had lost momentum and only had five minutes to show something. Frank was aggressive, but did little to change the direction that the game was moving in. I won’t rate a performance that lasted just 5 minutes, but Frank was trending in the wrong direction.
Kevin Knox: There was a brief stint where Kevin Knox grabbed some nice rebounds and pushed the ball up in quick transition attacks. He was a little bit out of control but showed off his promising tools of size and athleticism. Unfortunately, that short run was about all for Knox being very visible out there. The only other thing he stood out for was struggling as Doug McBuckets ran him through screen after screen.
Knox played 18 minutes and picked up 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals along with 2 TO’s. The young prospect shot 2/5 from the field and missed his only three-point attempt. The second unit lacking a PG hurt all of the wings, Knox included but he has the ability to assert himself when he’s playing at full speed. Unfortunately, I think a lot of that energy went into chasing around McDermott and he wasn’t particularly effective in that function outside of one nice block.
I’ll give Kevin Knox a 2 out of 5 on this one. I thought about a 1.5 based on the fact that Knox got outplayed by his match-up in McDermott but the third year forward was often on the floor without rim protection to help him. He would chase McDermott off the jumper but didn’t have help behind him. Knox also gets the benefit of having flashed some interesting play in transition. When Knox got defensive rebounds, he either dribbled up the floor or looked to complete an outlet pass. It’s little wrinkles to his game like that which keep me intrigued about his upside.
Obi Toppin: I realize it’s early, but the Obi Toppin situation looks like a rookie being played to his weaknesses instead of his strengths. Knicks fans know that feeling all too well from seasons past. Toppin was hesitant last game, whereas in this one he made faster decisions but far too often settled on a jumper. More worrisome, Obi’s post-ups were only effective when he passed out and he was rarely the roll man for PnR plays that predominantly went to Randle or Robinson. The game didn’t come easily to Toppin and his numbers reflect that.
Obi put up 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 24 minutes of action. He shot just 3/12, all deep makes at 3/7 from the three-point line. That three-point shooting mark isn’t bad, but the misses were ugly and compounded by the fact that he also attempted midrange jumpers that never fell. The 1 assist tally is hiding a better passing game though. Obi threw some beautiful passes that eventually led to scores but didn’t show up as assists. His lone assist came on a defensive rebound that he dribbled to half court before delivering a chest pass between multiple Pacer defenders right into RJ Barrett’s hands on the break. It was picture perfect!
Despite some nice passes, Obi gets a 1.5 out of 5 on this one. I will give him credit for a pair of blocks that he picked up. He tried to protect the rim even when he wasn’t well positioned to do so. But an inefficient night from the field and general lack of impact in places other than scoring left the rookie with a weak performance that we know he’s better than. I expect improvement, though it may be a while if he’s not given opportunities to get going off easy looks rolling to the hoop.
Nerlens Noel: Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was how little Nerlens Noel saw the floor. Mitchell Robinson ran into fast foul trouble and Noel was the first man off the bench to cover. The problem is that Noel ran into the exact same issues that Robinson had. The defensive big man had trouble containing Sabonis and quickly found himself in foul trouble of his own. There wasn’t much time for anything else to jump off the screen for him.
Noel finished with 2 points, 3 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in just 9 minutes of action. He was 1/2 from the field with 2 turnovers as well. The Knicks got outplayed inside no matter who was on the floor and Noel was unable to change that in any meaningful way.
One more minute and this is probably a 2 out of 5 performance. But Noel gets an incomplete for a brief but ineffective stint. Tom Thibodeau needs at least one of Mitch and Nerlens to go out there and provide the defense they’re famous for. Matched with Myles Turner and Domantas, neither player provided the necessary resistance.
Tom Thibodeau: It would be easy to give Tom Thibodeau a pass on the night after losing his defensive anchors to foul trouble and his offensive glue piece to an injury. The team hit on all cylinders when Thibodeau’s full rotation was out there, but a lot of that banked on a rookie point guard and some outlier performances. Sans IQ, Thibodeau found his offense relying on Julius Randle passing well and RJ Barrett shooting the ball well. Those are big asks from players who generally haven’t been consistent in those areas.
The success of Quickley and struggles of Elfrid Payton make it easy to question the starting line-up as well. Payton has never paired well with RJ Barrett and it was especially visible in the second half when the Pacers turned the pressure up. Experimenting with Burks at PG to give RJ and wings better spacing also looked like a flop. It’s a creative idea that I didn’t hate trying, but it flat out failed.
Thibs gets a 2.5 out of 5 for this one. He gets the benefit of a doubt due to limited options, though I’d have liked to see him go small to try and run Indy’s big men off the floor. The Knicks transition play was great in the first half and vanished in the second. Maybe some Obi at the 5 could have opened the floor more effectively than Burks at the 1…it certainly had a chance to get Obi some easier looks.
Final Thoughts: The biggest disappointment of the offseason was that the Knicks hadn’t done enough to address PG needs. We’ve had a pleasant surprise from Immanuel Quickley but his injury showed how precarious the Knicks’ situation is. Without IQ’s emergence, the doom and gloom would probably be turned up a few more notches. Elfrid Payton hasn’t looked like the answer and coaches don’t appear to trust Frank Ntilikina or Dennis Smith Jr.
It’s not all sour though. When the Knicks have good ball movement, the offensive weapons start to show. This team is flashing better shooting, fast breaks and defensive play when things clique. They just need an orchestrater that gets things rolling fast enough to keep opposing defenses off balance. That leaves us counting the days until Immanuel Quickley gets healthy and Austin Rivers debuts. The Knicks might be closer to competitive than we think, but we won’t know until we have a sure answer at Point Guard.
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