1 stud and 1 dud from Knicks’ discouraging loss to Pacers
Despite defeating the Pacers in blowout fashion on Friday night, the Knicks were not so lucky this time around. After holding the lead for the majority of the game, the Knicks were defeated 109-100 on Wednesday.
This was not a very good game for most players on the team, as the majority of them struggled to shoot at an efficient rate. Despite this, some players on the team still stuck out in both a good and bad way.
Obviously, it is just the preseason, so there is no reason to be worried about some of the players who didn’t play well. The 2-1 start to the preseason is still an exciting thing to see as for the most part, the Knicks’ “Big Three” has meshed together quite well.
Regardless, it has been a fun start to the preseason, and with the regular season starting very soon, fans must be ready for what will come.
RJ Barrett continues his fantastic preseason with Knicks
It was pretty difficult to choose between Julius Randle and RJ Barrett for the stud of this game. However, with the improvements we have seen from Barrett thus far in the preseason, I decided to go with him.
Barrett has had himself a very good preseason throughout the first three games, averaging 21 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.0 APG while shooting 49% from the field and 40% from three in only 25 minutes per game. Again, it is just the preseason, but it has been nice to see Barrett seemingly show improvements thus far.
On Wednesday, Barrett racked up 21 points, four rebounds, and three assists while shooting 7-for-14 from the field and a disappointing 1-for-5 from three. However, Barrett shot 6-for-7 from the free throw line. This really excites me, as not only in this game, but in the other two preseason games as well, Barrett has shot 93% from the line.
Free throws are something that Barrett has struggled with since his rookie season. While he is not necessarily bad from the line, he is not very consistent and has needed to be better. Obviously three games is not a long enough stretch to determine if he has improved or not, but it has been nice to see how much better he has looked.
The only knock I can really give Barrett outside of his lack of three-point shooting was his off-ball defense. There were a couple noteworthy plays in which Barrett got caught watching the ball and lost his assignment.
Throughout the preseason, we have seen Barrett be much more aggressive and creative when getting to the rim, which has not only led to an increase in free throw attempts, but also more success at the rim.
It has been a very promising start to the season for Barrett thus far. If he is able to keep this up and translate this play to the regular season, I am sure that Barrett will finally silence those who have doubted him.
Immanuel Quickley really struggled in this game for the Knicks
Despite racking up 12 points, Immanuel Quickley did not play all that well as he shot 4-for-18 from the field and 2-for-7 from the three-point line, making for a really disappointing game for the 23-year-old.
In addition to his poor offensive play, Quickley also looked really rough on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously defense is not Quickley’s calling, however, to see him struggle like he did was not a good thing.
Two things Quickley has always struggled with throughout his career are efficiency from the field and consistency. So far, Quickley is still struggling with this. Throughout the first three preseason games, Quickley is shooting 14-for-41.
While this game tanked Quickley’s shooting percentage, he has still not been the most consistent, which kind of worries me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very high on Quickley, and I think he can be a very good player in this league. However, if he does not fix his inconsistencies, it will be quite hard for this to happen.
What worries me even more is that while Quickley often struggles from the field, he is usually much better from the three-point line. However, in the first three games, Quickley is shooting 6-for-17.
Again, as I’ve said multiple times, it is just the preseason, so I’m really not that worried. However, players like Quickley and Barrett have a lot to prove this season. While I’m a lot less worried about Barrett, Quickley still needs to become much more consistent.
