NY Knicks: Player grades for scorching hot month of April
By Adam Kester
New York Knicks. REGGIE BULLOCK. A. Reggie Bullock has elevated his game in April.. F
NY Knicks: Reggie Bullock has been a perfect complementary piece
Reggie Bullock fits the mold of the wing player that every team wants. A role player on the perimeter who can defend different positions and hit catch-and-shoot 3s at a high rate – That’s exactly what Reggie Bullock has been for this team.
Hitting 3s at a 45.4% clip in April, Bullock has been the quintessential 3-and-D wing for the NY Knicks. He doesn’t miss games, he’s rugged, plays hard, and loves to play within his role. There may be limitations to Bullock’s game but he doesn’t let them stop him from being an impact player every night.
Bullock takes on some heavy defense duties and almost always delivers (Except against Devin Booker). He’s a leader on this team and he’s only gotten better as the season has progressed.
B-. . G. New York Knicks. ELFRID PAYTON
This has actually started to become a nice stretch for Elfrid Payton here at the end of April. Why? The team is finally starting to limit his role.
Payton is still the team’s starting point guard and I don’t see that changing. It’s beating a dead horse at this point, but Thibodeau clearly likes his physicality and having him set the tone with the other starters. I think the coaching staff has started to lean more heaviliy onto this newfound rotation where Payton starts the game but doesn’t close it. It’s working.
His play as been solid but I don’t want to forget how detrimental 30+ minutes from him can be – Prior to the last game against the Bulls, he was the only Knicks with a negative +/- in the month of April.
However, as our DailyKnicks contributor Jeremy Goldstein wrote, this is the “big 15.” We win and lose as a team and Payton has been a part of playoff-bound squad.