1. Prioritize Defense
The New York Knicks spent the past 16 years building around offensive-minded players. Every one those players, including Carmelo Anthony, Jamal Crawford, David Lee, Stephon Marbury, and Amar’e Stoudemire, boasted great potential.
Unfortunately, it’s also a list that symbolizes how the franchise sacrificed a proven formula for glamour and aesthetics.
With a defensive-minded star in Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks have an opportunity to make up for lost time and return to what worked with the likes of Willis Reed and Patrick Ewing. To the Knicks’ credit, they’re playing significantly better defense in 2017-18 than they did in 2016-17.
After ranking No. 25 in the Association in defensive rating a season ago, New York checks in at No. 14 entering the new calendar year.
After allowing an average of 109.9 points per 100 possessions through the first eight road games in 2017-18, New York is down to 105.1 over the past seven. Clearly, allowing 105.1 points per 100 possessions isn’t the end goal for a team that hopes to one day win a championship.
Allowing 4.8 fewer points per 100 possessions over an almost equal sample size is undeniable progress, however, as well as something the Knicks can turn into something greater.
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Rather than making defensive intensity a focal point during practices and timeouts, it should become second nature for the New York Knicks in 2018.
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