Tyler Kolek will most likely begin the regular season on the outside looking in of the New York Knicks’ rotation. Not only does he know it, but he appears to be reveling in the opportunity to change it by imitating elements of Jalen Brunson’s scoring arsenal and aggression.
No, the third-year guard doesn’t fancy himself the next JB. Brunson is one-of-one, and even if he wasn’t, Kolek doesn’t have the capacity to play with nearly as much physicality.
Speaking with the media at a recent House of Sports event, though, the 25-year-old related parts of Brunson’s game to his own biggest issues that show he understands what’ll take to break into the reigning champs’ rotation.
“Jalen is amazing in the midrange, amazing on floaters, finishing at the rim,” Kolek said (via Knicks Film School’s Jonathan Macri.) “I feel like taking that aspect of the game as a smaller guard, I need to be able to be really efficient in the paint and around the rim, and that’ll open up everything else.”
If self-awareness turns out to be a metric for success, New York will have no choice other than to make extra room in its rotation.
Showing more aggression as a scorer is Kolek’s biggest area of development
As much as people focus on some of the turnover and shooting noise, consistent aggression remains the biggest hole in Kolek’s game. Even he admitted in the above interview that he was a “bit too passive” during the second half of last season.
Talk about an understatement.
Among everyone who spent as many of their offensive possessions on the ball as Kolek last season, only three players averaged fewer true shot attempts per 100 possessions. Though floor generals like No. 13 are hard-wired to pass as their first, second, and third options, this veers too far into exaggerated deference.
Weeding out that lack of aggression is paramount to Kolek’s development. He is a better shooter than people think; he drilled 38.1 percent of his spot-up threes last season. But he will remain easier for defenses to guard so long as he’s a relatively low threat to score.
Brunson is ideal inspiration for Kolek
Imitating Brunson’s mindset and approach would do wonders for Kolek’s offensive versatility. That’s not to say he needs to start wrong-footing defenders into oblivion. It is more about following through on his paint touches.
Kolek has already shown he can puncture the heart of defenses. Brunson was the only player on the team last year who averaged more drives per 75 possessions. But Kolek doesn’t look to score enough once he’s downhill.
Just 31.5 percent of his drives ended in a shot attempt—the fourth-lowest mark among 171 players to finish as many of these possessions. That volume isn’t a reflection of ability. Kolek doesn’t have the most bankable touch from the in-between, but he shot a Brunson-esque 65 percent at the rim last year, while proving he can maintain a live dribble in traffic.
Ratcheting up that aggression is clearly his best path to party-crashing a rotation that currently has Deuce McBride, Jose Alvarado, and Landry Shamet ahead of him. Kolek is the best passer of the bunch, and on the entire team. If he pressures defenses into playing up on him, it opens opportunities for others by default, and also increases the likelihood he gets easier scoring chances by drawing fouls.
Nobody in the league is a better source of functional inspiration for Kolek than Brunson. The reigning Finals MVP is both bigger and stronger, but he’s proof of what can happen when a smaller guard with a handle operates at 100th percentile aggression.
If that mentality can rub off on Kolek in any way, the rest of his game (defensive potential and playmaking) might just be enough for the Knicks to rethink their secondary guard rotation.
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