The New York Knicks must rely on their bench mob until their starters figure out their offensive and defensive issues.
The New York Knicks are 7-5, which is a better start than most previous years. But when watching this team, it’s somewhat of a head-scratcher how they got their record with their current playstyle. And the reason it’s a head-scratcher is because of the inconsistent play of the starters.
Two nights ago, against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Knicks’ first unit allowed the Bucks to get a 24-point lead in the third quarter. That was all after the Knicks kept the game within three points with 51 seconds left in the second quarter.
The game seemed to be all over with three minutes left in the third. But once the bench unit came in – Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, & Taj Gibson – they decided to put on a show and diminish the 24-point difference to take the lead for a brief moment in the fourth. However, the momentum would shift back to Milwaukee once the Bucks challenged the foul Giannis Antetokounmpo committed on Obi Toppin (just mind-blowing that the call was overturned). And from there, the game would be over once Pat Connaughton would hit back-to-back threes to seal the game.
Now after this past game, I could decide to wax poetic about the second unit all day long because they bring so much passion, energy, and grit to this team. But if there is anything that we can gather from that game (and this season thus far), it’s that the bench squad will have to hold down the fort until the starters get it together.
As of this moment, the bench unit has the second-best net rating of lineups that have played more than 50 minutes together this season – that is out of 39 total lineups. Furthermore, Cleaning the Glass has them with a +25.7 differential, which places them as the best lineup in the league. But this shouldn’t be shocking considering how the bench mob plays with such an upbeat tempo on both ends of the court, which can be overwhelming for other teams (we should remember that most of the bench’s damage is done against opposing second units).
On offense, they’re pushing the pace, scoring in transition, attacking the lanes, and swinging the ball around to the open shooter, all of which keeps opponents flustered on defense. And as for their defense, the communication and effort have been top tier. So top tier that the starters aren’t even in the same stratosphere (shoutout to Taj for anchoring the defense by directing traffic and doing the dirty work night in and night out).
So does that mean the Knicks should tinker with their lineups?
That is tricky. As I wrote recently, it will take time for this team to gel, especially the starters.
Derrick Rose has mentioned it will take time to adjust, especially for Randle. Kemba Walker made note that they’re still trying to “find their way.” Heck, even Stephan Bondy has written about how Evan Fournier and Julius Randle will take time to connect on the court at the start of the season.
Now while players and others may agree with this logic, Tom Thibodeau believes otherwise.
As you can see, Thibodeau believes that we are at a point during the season where the starters should be playing at a higher level. And I can’t disagree. It’s one thing to have a competitive team that has some hiccups and loses close games, but it’s another to get the breaks beaten off you. And we’ve seen Thibodeau himself compliment his team on close losses because he saw the effort and the brand of basketball that he’s looking for.
But the other night against the Bucks was the tipping point because we saw this team’s flaws shine their brightest.
Once again, the starting unit’s offense was too isolation-heavy, which led to little ball movement. In addition to that, the first unit continued to live and die by the three, which is too predictable for defenses to guard. As for their defense, they failed to close out on threes and communicate to make the proper rotations. All of this, combined with their lack of energy, would explain why they have a -14.4 net rating, making them the 35th of 39 lineups that have played 50 minutes or more together.
So does all of that mean lineup changes should be made? No, but we are getting close to it.
Lineup changes shouldn’t be made just yet because the team is still winning games and has a winning record even with some hiccups. However, if there are still miscues by the 20-game mark, then the coaching staff should make some modifications (the reason to wait until the quarter of the season is that teams can still turn it around halfway by then).
Just for some context on how teams can turn things around, let’s look at the overall standings from the 2020-21 season. Let’s begin with the rankings through about the first ten games of the 2020-21 season.
Now here are what the rankings looked like after 20 games through the 2020-21 season.
And this is what the seeding looked like at the end of the 2020-21 season.
The starters still have some time to turn things around, and there should be some sense of optimism that they can. We’ve seen this group win some games, against good teams for that matter, with their uneven play. On top of that, we’ve witnessed flashes from each player in different games while seeing their full potential in preseason. But until they can figure out how to get out of their rut, the bench unit will have to carry this team until then (once again).
Stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps throughout the 2021-22 NBA season. In case you missed it, catch the KFTV panel discuss whether or not Obi Toppin deserves more consistent playing time below.
