3 goals for Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson in 2022-23
Goal No. 3: Become an even better defender
There are a lot of NBA qualities we already know Jalen Brunson will provide. He’s an established winner. He’s a proven playmaker. Brunson can create his own shot and will give the Knicks another scoring threat.
But the only question mark is his defense. And Tom Thibodeau commands good defense.
Now, this is not a knock on Brunson’s effort on defense. After all, at 6’1″, his height limits his ability to guard bigger guards. However, there’s always room for improvement.
Last year, Brunson saw his biggest leap in steals per game since entering the league in 2018. Knicks fans would be thrilled if it went up again.
After all, steals per game is the easiest way to measure how effective a point guard is on defense.
Going deeper into the analytics, Brunson’s defensive rating in 2021-22 was 111.8, fairly close to a few other guards in Kyle Lowry and Jordan Poole. Defensive rating measures how many points a player allows per 100 possessions. That alone tells us that while Brunson may not force a lot of takeaways per game, he does a decent job at keeping the offensive player in front of him.
However, there’s always a next step a player can take, and if Brunson can become a better defender, I’m sure Knicks fans would be even happier about having him in New York.
