NY Knicks: Reggie Bullock has quietly become a key role player for NY
By Tyler Harris
Reggie Bullock has been a reliable shooter for the NY Knicks
Bullock’s role on this New York team is pretty simple, in theory – spot up and knock down the catch and shoot three and defend the opposition’s best wing.
That’s not so easy in practice, but Reggie has done an admirable job all season long.
The beautiful thing about Reggie Bullock as a basketball player is that he knows who he is. He understands his own game at a high level and he knows his strengths – how to play to them – and he knows his limitations.
You can’t say that about every NBA player, there are many who struggle to come to grasp with that exact notion.
Bullock is a fine player but he has his offensive limitations, he’s not the sort of player who can create shots for himself off the dribble or get to the rim at any rate.
Reggie takes just 13% of his total shots at the rim and just 22% from the mid-range – per Cleaning the Glass. Meaning the remaining 65% are all three-point field goal attempts, which ranks in the 81st percentile for wings.
Bullock’s strength on offense is three-point shooting and the spacing he brings as a threat from deep, and he plays to that strength.
He’s a perfectly good complementary offensive player. Bullock has made a total of 97 three’s this season, which ranks second on the team behind Julius Randle’s 101.
Of those 97 3-pointers made, 92 have come on a catch & shoot situation – he hits those at a 43% clip off the catch, which by anyone’s standards is a pretty decent rate.
Which got me wondering, where would that rank in comparison to other guards/wings in the league?
Here’s a list of this seasons best catch & shoot three-point marksmen from the guard/wing spot (minimum 150 3PA) – per NBA stats:
As you can see, he’s in some pretty good company here – there are some pretty great three-point shooters amongst that list – shout out to my fellow countryman Joe Ingles at a crazy 54%.
Oh and Joe Harris also deserves his plaudits too while I’m at it.
One player that didn’t quite make this list is Danny Green from the 76ers – 111 made catch & shoot threes at a 41.1% clip. I make mention of Danny for the pure similarity between his and Reggie’s roles on their respective teams. Green is even more of a three-point specialist as 78% of his shots come from deep (95th percentile per Cleaning the Glass).
As mentioned before, 65% of Bullock’s shots come from deep.
Reggie can make a genuine case for being in the top catch & shoot marksmen of this season, and that’s a pretty nice development for the Knicks.
Now onto the D part of 3&D:
Reliable Defense
We’ve looked at the value that Reggie Bullock provides on offense, but it’s his value on the less flashy end of the floor which is where he has won the trust of Coach Thibodeau.
Bullock is often tasked with the difficult assignment of guarding the opposition’s best offensive wing. It’s a challenging task but it’s one he hasn’t shied away from – and whilst it doesn’t always show up in the box score or in the advanced statistic metrics, he has done an excellent job.
But his impact on defense can be quantified to an extent…
When Reggie is on the court, New York gives up 2.3 points less per 100 possessions, which ranks in the 68th percentile in the league – per Cleaning the Glass.
The only players on the Knicks’ who have a better rating in that category are Frank Ntilikina, Alec Burks, Taj Gibson, and Derrick Rose.
Furthermore, teams also shoot 1.3% worse from three-point range whilst Reggie is on the floor. He also holds his direct opponent to just 36.4% from three – per NBA stats.
Bullock is starting to get the recognition he deserves for his sneaky good season and important role on this Knicks squad. The connection between him and his teammates is noticeable, which brings me to my next point on the next slide- the Bullock/Randle on-court chemistry: