3 Reasons to believe in the New York Knicks 3-point success
By James Ryder
Some New York Knicks have tet to reach their shooting potential
While the Knicks as a whole have been incredible with their shooting from downtown, there is still new heights they can reach in this area believe it or not.
Julius Randle hasn’t been at his best at times. He is averaging 21 points, which isn’t much to blink at, but if you have watched some of his recent performances, it is clear that he still has his best games ahead of him. His 35.7% three point percentage isn’t bad either, but I definitely expect it to improve.
RJ Barrett is still developing his off-the-dribble shooting. The pull-up three-point shot has been an effective part of his arsenal during the offensive tear he’s gone on lately. It is fair to assume more time needs to pass before he is doing that consistently, but his work in that area is already paying off. It also hasn’t stopped him from being a very good catch and shoot player and his overall percentage so far is a fantastic 41.7%.
Immanuel Quickley has struggled immensely. IQ is shooting 27% from the field and just 21% from three. He’s got a classic case of sophomore slump. I don’t think anyone should panic though. Like I said before, Quickley at his best has a great case as the teams best shooter, so him returning to form will make an already deadly shooting team mind bogglingly dangerous.
Lastly, Obi Toppin has been fantastic in transition and with his cutting and finishing, but still hasn’t found his 3-point range besides in the corners. Through 8 games he is doing worse than last year, shooting 15.4%. That is a disastrous number to look at, especially when you consider that is the part of his game I think most fans look forward to seeing him improve on in year two.
I have confidence Toppin will figure it out soon enough. Even if he is a liability shooting the ball, the Knicks should still have plenty of firepower going forward and they still haven’t reached their ceiling as an offense.