New York Knicks: 5 Statistics to Help You Remain Optimistic
5. Defending the 3-Ball
In 2014-15, there was no worse team at defending the 3-point shot than the New York Knicks. New York allowed opponents to shoot a league-worst 38.0 percent from beyond the arc, which is as terrible as it sounds.
It got so bad for the Knicks that previous head coach Derek Fisher essentially admitted to reporters that New York didn’t realize how important defending the 3-point shot was.
Fisher says the 3-pt shot has become too big a part of the game for Knicks to downplay that shot on defense anymore.
— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) October 8, 2015
A year later, the Knicks are one of the best teams in the NBA at defending the 3-point field goal.
New York is downright atrocious at preventing penetration, but its aging perimeter has held its own against jump shooters. Opponents are converting just 33.6 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc against the Knicks, which is a massive improvement.
New York has gone from No. 30 in opponent 3-point field goal percentage in 2014-15 to No. 6 in 2015-16.
Clearly, the Knicks still have holes on defense. Defending quick point guards appears to be New York’s achilles heel, which thus places the team in danger of allowing open jumpers and creates wider lanes for pick-and-roll operation.
True as that may be, this dramatic improvement against the 3-ball is a testament to Phil Jackson‘s impact. Just as he did as a coach, the executive version of Jackson is focused on improving upon weaknesses.
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