3 takeaways from Knicks’ disgraceful outing against Nets
1: The bench played very poorly again, and it’s starting to worry me
Following back-to-back disappointing games, the Knicks bench put up yet another stinker of a performance, shooting a combined 9-of-34 from the field and 5-of-22 from three.
The bench has always been the saving grace of the Knicks because when the starters disappoint, fans can rely on the bench to pick up the workload for the team. However, these last couple of games have worried me.
Most notably, Derrick Rose has really struggled this season, and these problems continued against Brooklyn, as Rose shot 0-for-4 from the field in 11 minutes of play. It is starting to become very apparent that Rose’s time on the Knicks may be limited.
Not only is Rose receiving a career low in minutes played so far, but his production on the court has really been lacking. While Immanuel Quickley has been struggling as well, it may make sense for the Knicks to prioritize his development and let go of the aging Rose.
As for the rest of the bench, Evan Fournier continued his poor play that we have seen all season, shooting 2-of-7 from the field and looking useless on defense as always. Obi Toppin struggled again, however, I am much less concerned about him than anyone else in the bench unit.
In addition to this, Quickley shot 1-of-8 and just didn’t look good at all. Quickley’s efficiency issues have really been concerning me, as this season he is shooting 33.7% from the field and 25.6% from three. That does not even include last night’s poor performance.
The Knicks simply cannot have the bench play this poorly if the starters are going to continue to remain inconsistent as the season goes on. With Tom Thibodeau’s apparent willingness to experiment with the rotation, we could see some changes be made soon if things do not improve.
