The New York Knicks have a glaring problem capitalizing off passes, but is there a solution?
An embarrassing 115-89 loss to the Orlando Magic peeled back the latest layer of good will, the New York Knicks opened 2018-19 with. Head coach David Fizdale brought in positive momentum, and fought through close games in the opening games of the season.
No one predicted expected a playoff team, but a group that stayed competitive, even against some of the NBA’s elite; that happened, for the most part, against the Golden State Warriors in a 128-100 defeat.
The Warriors, always known for their ball movement since Steve Kerr became the head coach in 2014, remain elite in this in 2018-19, with 31 assists per game, a 10.0 Assist to Pass Percentage, 65.9 Assist Points Created and 32.0 Assisted Adjusted — each number leads the NBA, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
While an incredible standard for the Knicks to reach, they sit near or at the bottom in almost every passing statistic.
- 18th in Passes Made Per Game (277.4)
- Last in Assists Per Game (19.1)
- Last in Secondary Assists Per Game (1.8)
- 29th in Potential Assists Per Game (37.6)
- Last in Assist Points Created (40.9)
- Last in Assists Adjusted (18.9)
- 28th in Assists to Pass Percentage (6.9)
- Last in Assist to Pass Percentage Adjusted (6.8)
David Fizdale on the Knicks being last in the NBA in assists: “It makes me want to yack.”
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) November 13, 2018
Of course, the focus can turn towards point guard, since Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay and Trey Burke combined for just 9.5 assists per game. Burke is the only threat of the group to create offense with his shot or pass out.
Though, as Jonathan Macri of Knicks Film School noted, it’s not that the team doesn’t pass, even if their numbers sit in the middle of the pack — they have few players to capitalize on scoring opportunities.
Ahead of Wednesday’s game, the New York Knicks sit 23rd in field goals made at 39.4 and 27th in field goal percentage at 43.1. Those numbers are not only influenced by Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 41.6 shooting percentage but five other rotation players: Trey Burke, Mario Hezonja, Frank Ntilikina, Lance Thomas and Kevin Knox.
All five shoot 40.3 percent or worse from the field, and Ntilikina, Thomas and Knox sit below 35 percent.
New York’s leaders in field goal percentage — Enes Kanter, Mitchell Robinson, Noah Vonleh and Emmanuel Mudiay — are neither shot creators or reliable enough to make baskets around the court. Allonzo Trier has shown this ability, but also a streakiness to his game to open his rookie year.
Is there a solution to this? Maybe not, but in a developmental season, why not experiment with a new look?
One avenue is to emphasize strengths, like head coach Gregg Popovich does for the San Antonio Spurs. He not only reverted DeMar DeRozan to two point-heavy basketball, but highlighted his ability as a playmaker when the Spurs needed one, sans Dejounte Murray and Derrick White.
The result: a current career-high of 6.6 assists per game and a 31.3 assist percentage. He’s 14th in the NBA in usage percentage, as well, for players appearing in 10 or more games.
Who’s ahead of him? Tim Hardaway Jr. at 29.1 percent. He also assists on a career-high 16.3 percent of plays while on the floor.
The aforementioned lack of scorers may not let Hardaway as the ball-dominant guard become a success, leading to him as the best perimeter threat for the distributor to pass to.
However, the Knicks have found a majority of their early season success when Hardaway’s usage is high, and it’s no coincidence that it’s so low when they lose by wide margins, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
When Hardaway crosses a 29.1 usage percentage, the Knicks are 2-3. Below it, they are 2-6. Either way, not terrific, but they still have more success when the 26-year-old from Michigan becomes their focus.
Three of New York’s four wins also happened when Hardaway assisted on over 20 percent of their made shots, and a solid 33.3 percent in the mostly-competitive game against the Warriors.
For any concern with turnovers, Hardaway sits third on the Knicks in turnover percentage at 8.7 in at least 10 games played. That’s with him being used more than Burke, Mudiay and Ntilikina.
The ball placed in Hardaway’s hands more often allows the offense to run through its best player, rather than the traditional one-guard. He offers New York’s best opportunity to create offense and potentially open the floor for others, despite the lack of shot-makers.
With the season already on a downward slope, and nothing set in stone for the lineup this early in the season, the New York Knicks have little to lose to see if a difference from the norm works.