Without a go-to scorer on the Westchester Knicks, can John Jenkins help push the team’s offense in the second half of the season?
When the 2016-17 season kicked off, it was expected that Chasson Randle was going to be the go-to scorer for the Westchester Knicks. As the season progressed, he was exactly that.
Randle scored 20-plus points three times in his first five games and displayed an efficient shooting touch.
In his 11th game with the Westchester Knicks, the Stanford product nearly broke the franchise record for points in a game with 38. Along with that, he shot an efficient 12-of-19 from the field and 9-of-11 from 3-point range.
Randle almost matched the same production the following game, as he totaled 36 points on 13-of-24 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
Randle maintained his scoring ability until his last game on Jan. 7. Three days later, he received a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. After his first two 10-day contracts expired, Randle received a three-year deal with the 76ers.
With Randle no longer on the team, however, who is going to step up in the scoring department?
Since then, many players have been able to fill the void. On some occasions, the Knicks were able to get contributions from their assignment players: Maurice Daly Ndour and Marshall Plumlee.
Von Wafer has come through on many occasions, as well.
Following Randle’s last game in Westchester, the Knicks’ offense clicked on all cylinders. Not only did the team get a solid contribution from their entire team—seven players scored in double figures but they had one of their best defensive performances against one of the top teams, the Maine Red Claws, in the Eastern Conference.
Despite going 2-2 in their first four games without Randle, the Knicks have been on a recent losing skid. They lost six of seven games following their meeting with the Erie BayHawks during the NBA D-League Showcase.
During that stretch, Westchester couldn’t reach the 100 point mark in four of seven games.
To help shore up their offense, the Westchester Knicks added shooting guard John Jenkins. Despite not playing 30-plus minutes for more than year (Oct. 29, 2015), he stepped in against the Sioux Falls Skyforce and posted 24 points, three assists, three rebounds, and three steals.
It hasn’t been easy for Jenkins to be an efficient scoring option due to lack of consistent playing time, but he’s remaining aggressive.
“It’s been tough. It hasn’t been easy,” Jenkins said. “I haven’t played this many minutes in probably in over a year. Three times playing 30 minutes, it’s been a long time coming, so I just tried to be aggressive and get my teammates involved early and make it easier on me down the stretch.”
In the short time Jenkins has been in Westchester, he’s shown that he can be a viable scoring option for the Knicks. As the former first-round pick showed against the Northern Arizona Suns, he can be a solid 3-point option for the team.
With the attention he should gain in the second half of the season, he showed his willingness to pass the ball and make plays for his teammates. That’s something Jenkins is looking to improve on.
“The biggest thing is playmaking ability,” Jenkins said. “Come off screens and making plays for others. To continue to have the ball in my hands down the stretch and win games.”
In their Feb. 11 meeting against Northern Arizona, six players scored in double figures, which included all five starters. 36 of their 114 points came at the hands of Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee, who were on assignment that night.
That’s a huge contribution from their assignment players, but it’s hard to determine when Westchester will have Ndour and Plumlee in the lineup.
Despite starting off the season on a positive note, Westchester has struggled in 2017. The Knicks came into 2017 with a 10-7 record, but have gone 4-13 in the new year.
With the Knicks in the midst of the All-Star break, the team is hoping the break gives them a little more time for practice.
“We’ve got the All-Star break, which is coming at a good time. We need a break. We need the guys to get away for a few days and we need to practice,” Westchester head coach Mike Miller said following their win over the Northern Arizona Suns. “Today is the 11th of February. We’ve practiced one time in February due to travel, due to the snow day, due to the schedule of how the games stacked up, so we practiced one time in February. It makes it tough.”
“Naturally there’s a little slippage when that happens, so we need a little bit of time to get back to work,” Miller continued. “We added John Jenkins. He’s played three games and practiced once, so I think he’s done very well for not really having a chance to figure out exactly what we’re doing in our packages; a little smaller because of that. Now we need to use our time to get where we’re where we feel like we’re at strength.”
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With 16 games remaining, the Knicks need their offense to step up. They hope the eight-day break will be beneficial, as the team will be looking to build momentum towards a winning streak.
The last time the Knicks won connective games was Dec. 16 and Dec. 18. In both of those games, the Knicks posted 120-plus points, which were two of the highest scoring outings of the season.