New York Knicks: 3 Things to watch for on opening night
By Adam Kester
New York Knicks: How different is the offense?
We saw quite an uptick in 3-point attempts in the preseason. The Knicks shot 41 threes per game in the preseason.
Last season, they attempts 30 per game, the 4th fewest in the NBA.
The New York Knicks were one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the NBA last season, they just didn’t take many attempts. Believe it or not, this is an even better shooting team than last season.
Evan Fournier’s stats and metrics suggest that he is, at worst, an equal 3-point shooter to Reggie Bullock. Kemba Walker is now replacing Eflrid Payton.
The team’s two rookies, Miles McBride and Quentin Grimes, both project as potentially high-end shooters in the NBA.
Much of the philosophy should stay the same. This is still a team that should keep the pace relatively slow.
A lot of the league’s best offenses are slower, but they feature a lot of ball movement, and that’s where the New York Knicks need to make an improvement from last season.
The Knicks were among the top teams in isolations per game and they didn’t have the best personnel to do so.
That doesn’t mean Julius Randle or Derrick Rose isolations weren’t effective. They were just too redundant. The offense needed some new personnel to help spice things up.
Now, with the added playmakers in Fournier and Walker, the Knicks have more options. They have more passers and more shooters. Let’s see if they keep up the same 3-point shooting pace from the preseason.