New York Knicks: Statistical Explanation Of What’s Holding NYK Back
4. Protecting The Paint
The New York Knicks should have one of the most dominant defensive interiors in the NBA. Kristaps Porzingis is a 7’3″ shot-blocking Goliath with unprecedented coordination and athleticism for a player his size, and Joakim Noah won Defensive Player of the Year in 2013-14.
Instead of dominating the defensive interior, however, the Knicks have been one of the worst teams in the Association at protecting the paint.
New York is allowing an average of 46.2 points in the paint per game—the third-worst mark in the NBA. Oddly enough, the Knicks haven’t experienced many issues with actually protecting the rim itself.
Instead, the Knicks’ problem has been being unable to keep the opposition out of the paint and rotating quickly enough to adequately contest shots at the rim.
New York’s poor rotations have played a major part in their inability to stop sending opponents to the free throw line. The fix will be a combination of the perimeter players keeping their assignments in front of them and both Porzingis and Noah rotating quicker onto guards.
There’s nothing more important to quality defensive rotations than communication. New York must be more vocal on defense.