The New York Knicks have exceeded most people’s expectations this season under new head coach Tom Thibideau and one of the primary reasons for that is the former 2020 25th overall draft selection, Immanuel Quickley.
Through the first 33 games, the Knicks find themselves with the 6th best record in the Eastern Conference (16-17).
In the space of one offseason, they have gone from a perenially bad defensive team to one of the best in the league (thanks Thibs and Co).
Their defensive identity is noticeable and a key to their game, they play hard and are competitive on most nights – which is something you couldn’t say about Knicks teams of past years…
This season we have seen the transformation of Julius Randle into a first-time All-Star, the evident growth in both RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson’s games, and have witnessed a new young star on the rise in Immanuel Quickley.
Immanuel Quickley is lighting it up in his first season on the Knicks.
Immanuel Quickley, the Knicks’ rookie sensation has taken the league by storm, capturing the hearts of Knicks fans and drawing praise from peers with his crafty play, three-point shooting, a penchant for drawing fouls, and of course, his patented floater.
He has quickly (no pun intended) earned himself the label as one of the steals of the draft, and made those who doubted his game look silly in the process (looking at you CBS Sports HQ!).
There are some in the media as well as us here at Daily Knicks who are already comparing Immanuel Quickley to some of the NBA’s elite.
Of course, as with any rookie, Immanuel Quickley has had his ups and downs, but perhaps what is most impressive about the young guard is his work ethic and his unwavering confidence in his own ability.
Here we discuss the trials and tribulations of Knicks’ precocious neophyte, Immanuel Quickley.
Knicks’ rookie Immanuel Quickley is putting up historic numbers.
Immanuel Quickley is currently ranked 4th in rookie scoring with 12.2ppg, 39% from the field, and 5th in three-pointers made with 49 (37% on 4.6 attempts per game).
It is worth noting that Immanuel Quickley is producing these numbers despite playing significantly fewer minutes than his rookie peers, ranked 11th overall in total MPG per rookies ( an avg. of 18.9mpg).
Coach Thibs has yet to really unleash his rookie phenom. In his 29 games, this season Immanuel Quickley has only played 25+ minutes on five occasions and has only reached 30 minutes once.
His scoring potential is still largely untapped in his condensed role.
A glimpse into “IQ’s” per 36 numbers provides some insight into what his scoring potential might be in an expanded role, with averages of 23.3 points & 4.8 assists per game.
Compare those figures to fellow rookies Lamelo Ball (18.9p & 7.7assists), Anthony Edwards (17.9p & 3.3assists) and Tyrese Haliburton (15.8p & 6.4assists). Not bad at all!
Although it might be somewhat unrealistic to expect that kind of production at this point of his career, it’s not hard to see that the offensive potential is very much there, whether he can find the consistency and efficiency required for that level of production to earn those kinds of minutes is for him to prove.
Through his first 29 NBA games, the rookie guard has spent most of his minutes (74% per cleaningtheglass.com) as the Knicks’ lead ball-handler off the bench, providing a spark for the second unit by utilizing his creativity on offense.
Whether it’s with his signature floater, his ability to get defenders in the air and draw fouls (he is deadly at the FT line, 93.8%), or stepping back and draining deep three’s, IQ has proven to be a tough cover in the early stages of his NBA career.
Not only has he proven his ability as a scorer, but he has also shown flashes of his playmaking potential, particularly in the pick & roll where he draws the defense in and perfects the lob pass to rolling big men such as Robinson, Noel, or fellow Rookie Obi Toppin.
His playmaking ability was questioned coming out of college so that contributed to him falling to pick 25 in the draft. Some mock drafts had Immanuel Quickley going in the mid to late 2nd round.
Maybe, we’re yet to see the best of IQ’s playmaking abilities.
Knicks’ PG Derrick Rose has helped elevate Immanuel Quickley’s game.
On February 8th, the Knicks completed a trade to acquire former MVP and Coach Thibs’ favorite Derrick Rose from the Pistons.
The addition of Rose looked set to bolster the Knicks backcourt, complimenting IQ by taking some of the defensive focus away from him and allowing him to play a bit more off the ball, utilizing his ability as a spot-up shooter.
Daily Knicks quickly (again, no pun intended) sang the new backcourt tandem’s praises and fell in love shortly thereafter.
In a small sample size so far (8 games) the Rose/Quickley backcourt has had its moments, looking like an efficient & productive second unit pairing, creating easy shots for one another.
Equally, they have also had their moments where they struggled to make an impact, poor shot selection, and ball movement at the core of those struggles.
The pair would certainly benefit from some more time to adjust to playing together.
Since the Rose acquisition, (and prior to Thursday’s Kings game – more on that later) IQ has struggled to find his shot consistently, shooting a lowly 31% from the floor (albeit his 3-point shooting has remained steady at 37%), his points and assists output have also decreased somewhat (11.1 points and 1.9 assists).
Derrick Rose has also struggled, averaging just 10.9 points (on 38% shooting) and 3.9 assists per game.
So what has been the cause of Immanuel Quickley’s recent struggles?
Is it inconsistent minutes? Opposing teams adjusting more to his game? The ‘rookie wall’? or learning to play alongside Rose?
It’s most certainly a combination of all of those things:
- As we all know, Coach Thibodeau loves his vets and has a short leash when it comes to rookies. In a recent 6 game stretch, Immanuel Quickley’s playing time went from 21 minutes (4 games straight) to 9 minutes and 13 minutes in the next two – It’s tough for a player to get something going consistently with fluctuating minutes, IQ has managed this well so far.
- Defenses are absolutely adjusting to his game, teams are putting more focus on him, taking away his floater, forcing the ball out of his hands, and doubling him when they can (a pretty nice compliment for a rookie).
- The ‘rookie wall’ is a very real thing. IQ played a total of 30 games for Kentucky last season at college, he’s already played 29 games for this Knicks this season and we’re not even halfway done – Adjusting to an NBA schedule isn’t easy for a rookie.
- Sharing the court with Rose. Adjusting to playing and developing on-court chemistry with a new teammate isn’t easy in the middle of a season, learning to play with one another effectively will take some time and they’ve shown glimpses already. I think they’ll figure it out. (more on IQ and Rose below).
To get a better look at how IQ has fared next to D-Rose in the small sample size so far, let’s have a look at some of his stats prior to the Sacramento game:
The Floater
- All-Season: 40/93 (43%)
- Post Rose Trade: 4/20 (20%)
All Field Goals and Three Pointers:
- All Season: 82/200 FGM (41%) & 33/91 3PM (36%)
- Post Rose Trade: 21/66 FGM (32%) & 13*/35 3PM (37%)
* 46.15% (6/13) of IQ’s 3PM have come off Derrick Rose assists since the trade (per NBA.com/stats)
The overall shooting numbers aren’t too pretty for IQ playing with Rose, however, the attention that Rose naturally draws from defenders should be of big benefit to Immanuel Quickley as the two get more comfortable playing with one another.
We have already started to see some of this in effect with IQ’s three-pointers assisted by Rose.
It should be noted that the struggles haven’t been isolated to just IQ and Rose alone, the entire Knicks bench unit has had its struggles of late, failing to provide that offensive spark the team desperately needs from its reserves.
The Knicks and Immanuel Quickley molly-whopped the Kings.
There’s nothing like a game against the league’s worst defensive team, the Sacramento Kings, to help break out of an offensive funk — and break out of a funk they did…
The Knicks scored a season-high 140 points including 77 in the first half.
Elfrid Payton missed his first game of the regular season with a hamstring complaint and Derrick Rose was inserted into the starting five in his place, leaving the rookie IQ as the primary ball-handler and offensive initiator on the bench unit.
Rose looked great with the first unit, making each of his first 7 shots on his way to an efficient 18 points and 6 assists.
Julius Randle did what we have come to expect of Julius Randle with another strong game, Alec Burks drained 5 three’s and heck, we even got a Frank Ntilikina sighting (he looked fantastic btw).
But perhaps more importantly (in the context of this article) Immanuel Quickley bounced back from his recent cold stretch in a big way.
Quickley started the game on fire, scoring 18 points in just 9 first-half minutes.
He got to the free-throw line with ease, his floater was falling again and his three-point shot looked smooth as ever.
Immanuel Quickley finished the game with 25 points on only 10 FGA (Elf could never) including a perfect 12/12 from the line.
All of that coming in only 20 minutes of game time, talk about efficiency!
So in concluding, Quickley, much like any rookie before him, is going to go through his ups and downs as he adjusts to the rigors of an NBA schedule and as defenses start focusing more attention on him.
He’s already shown he has the mindset, determination, and hardworking nature to bounce back from rough stretches and not-so-great moments.
It’s likely his role going forward will continue to be playing alongside Rose on the second unit, which should create some pretty great open looks for him, naturally one would expect his shooting numbers to improve too as the pair get more accustomed to playing off one another.
However, an interesting thought…
Perhaps separating Quickley and Rose would actually work to the benefit of both and the team.
Playing Rose with the first unit would certainly help a starting unit that at times lacks offensive firepower, and letting Immanuel Quickley take the reins full time of the offense with the second unit could help to unlock some more of his offensive potential.
Coach Thibs seems set on a circa 20 minutes a night allocation for IQ at this point so a role as the primary ball-handler could help him find his offensive rhythm on a more consistent basis, allowing for the Knicks to utilize his scoring ability and creativity to the fullest.
All in all, the Knicks got a good one with Quickley, the kid is going to be great.