Why the Knicks need to let Immanuel Quickley get his shots up
By Adam Kester
Immanuel Quickley opens up the offense for others
Let’s start by sticking to the shooting for just a bit longer because it means more than just scoring. Quickley’s extensive range will only stretch the floor for his teammates. We’ve seen the improved floor spacing open up the corner threes for the Knicks this season.
Between Julius Randle’s post-playmaking and Derrick Rose’s driving, this team has found some ways to create open shots. What happens when the Knicks playoff opponents zero in on Randle’s playmaking?
It’s impossible to completely eradicate Randle from the game, but we have seen some good teams be able to slow him and the Knicks down. The team has been prone to long offensive droughts that have killed some games for them.
Recently, we’ve seen Derrick Rose be able to pry the team out of their offensive funks with his driving ability and oftentimes bail the team out. Rose is able to both hit tough shots and create offense for others. It’s time to throw the Knicks’ other multi-dimensional ball-handler into the fray.
I’m not going to get into whether or not Immanuel Quickley’s positional label is a “point guard” because frankly, it doesn’t matter. Just throw him in the backcourt and he will make plays. Let him cook.
BBall Index, a website that does a great job at charting players, has Immanuel Quickley’s “archetype” as a primary ball-handler. He’s not just on the court to hit open threes, he’s there to create offense for the whole team. Just him being on the court makes the defense have to shade towards the perimeter. His presence unclogs the paint for both Randle and Rose.
Quickley’s impact on the court passes both the eye test and it shows up on just about every “on/off” statistic possible.