8 Goals the New York Knicks Must Accomplish Before Season's End
April is closing in, and the New York Knicks are nearly closed out of the NBA playoffs, but that doesn't mean the work is done for their 2015-16 season.
There's groundwork to lay, young talent to groom and—after a season spent on the losing end of some blowouts, nail-biters and posterizing dunks—scores to settle.
Get Grant Finishing At The Rim Regularly
Rookie Jerian Grant is a dribble-drive-style point guard, not a jump-shooting guard. So while the fact that his pull-up jumper only falls 29.4 percent of the time is unfortunate, it's not a deal-breaker.
The bigger problem for Grant is that his field-goal percentage on drives to the bucket is only 39.8 percent. That figure needs to be closer to 50 percent, but Grant's ability to finish at the rim has been inconsistent. Fast, powerful moves to the hoop ended in limp shot attempts where rock never even kissed iron.
Luckily, the rookie has been finding the bottom of the net more often lately.
In particular, he can build on his performance in the Knicks' 128-97 win over the Phoenix Suns on March 9, when he scored his 14 points by sinking one jumper, a pair of free throws and five of his six layup attempts. Grant's drive field-goal percentage over his past 10 games was 54.5 percent, and keeping that figure above 50 should be his goal for the final 13 games.
Finally Beat The Cavs
The Cleveland Cavaliers bring out the best in the Knicks...until the fourth quarter, when they cram the Knicks' best right back down their throats.
On three occasions this season, the Knicks contested the Cavs tightly, held them well under 100 points and yet lost after a low-scoring fourth quarter. Cleveland kept New York to 17 fourth-quarter points in the 96-86 defeat on Nov. 4 and 12 points during the close losses on Nov. 13 (90-84) and Dec. 23 (91-84).
So when the Cavaliers return to Madison Square Garden on March 26, the Knicks need to write a different ending. A powerful team-wide performance in the clutch leads to a decisive victory for New York. Kristaps Porzingis posterizes Lebron James with a nasty dunk and posts a picture of it on Instagram.
One thing we'll repeat as-is, though: Lou Amundson denying Tristan Thompson's dunk.
Tighten Up The Transition Defense
The transition game is a problem in both directions for the Knicks. While a productive transition offense can't just be whipped up in the final weeks of the season—if they had the personnel, the skill, the strategy and the inclination, they'd have done it by now—transition defense is largely a matter of effort and therefore can be improved in the time remaining.
Since the All-Star Break, it's gotten particularly bad. They're letting opponents score 15.3 fast-break points per game while only scoring 8.5 themselves.
What's the problem? Poor execution? Sheer laziness? Faster opponents? Greater fatigue, as interim head coach Kurt Rambis pushes players to longer stretches on the court than Derek Fisher did?
It's probably some combination of all of them, but whatever the recipe for disaster is, the Knicks need to spend the next month mixing up a cure.
Diagnose the Paint Defense Problem
More critical, and harder to solve than the issues with transition D, is the Knicks' inability to protect the paint. In the time remaining, they may not repair all their interior defense problems, but they should at least determine how to begin repairing them. Are they issues that require new players or coaches? Or are they errors that can be fixed in practice and by demanding better dedication?
They can be too willing to switch, often giving opponents favorable matchups. Their guards struggle to dodge picks, and their bigs struggle to catch up with roll men. They have no answer for driving guards like Isaiah Thomas, who was partly responsible for the Boston Celtics' 60 points in the paint on March 4. They're a step late on intercepting inside passes under the hoop or above the rim, making them vulnerable to open layups and alley-oops.
The Knicks must get smarter and tougher on interior D next season. How they do so is a question to begin answering now.
Settle Old Scores
The Knicks won't get another whack at all the teams that bested them, but there are still chances to right some wrongs.
New York has opportunities to steal back victories from some squads that narrowly beat them earlier in the season. Freshest in Knicks' fans memories is the 108-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 24. New York faces Indy twice more before the season's end. They also have another crack at the Washington Wizards, after they lost 111-108 on Feb. 9.
The Knicks also have rematches with two teams that dealt them humiliating beatdowns. They owe the Toronto Raptors a better show after the abominable 122-95 drubbing on Feb. 22. They have two shots at the Bulls, who kicked off the year thrashing the Knicks 108-81 on Jan.1.
On April 1, the red-hot Robin Lopez will have the chance to redeem himself when he meets the Brooklyn Nets and his brother Brook on the hardwood again. When the twin centers faced off on Feb. 19, RoLo allowed BroLo to score 33 points and nab eight rebounds. Next month he'll get a chance to flip the script.
New York can also try again to keep the Charlotte Hornets' electric backcourt in check. Kemba Walker, Courtney Lee, Jeremy Lin and Jeremy Lamb have discombobulated the Knicks guards all season, but New York has a chance to save face on April 6. If the Knicks scrape out a W, it will also ease some of the sting of that Nov. 11 Porzingis buzzer-beater that was waved off by referees.
Get Porzingis Back in the ROTY Race
Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves might already have the Rookie of the Year title sewn up. Yet Kristaps Porzingis, who was the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for November, December and January, could get back into the fight.
KP let the Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner swipe the East's ROTM title from him in February by playing a bit soft, a little skittish. What he needs is to be more aggressive.
In March, Porzingis has been suffering with some illness but also showing a bit more of the toughness that won buckets, hearts and ROTM honors early in the season. If he wants to remind anyone that he deserves a nod, he needs to confidently look for his shot, create his own opportunities by going to the hoop on the inside and protecting the paint with ferocity.
His teammates can help by feeding him more, but ultimately KP has to prove he can be a star with or without assists.
Convince Afflalo To Stay. Unless...
Arron Afflalo has not been as consistent of a scorer or as tough a defender as the Knicks might have hoped. Nevertheless, he's still the team's best post-up shooter (with the possible exception of Carmelo Anthony) and a solid veteran in a league that's short on talented 2-guards. The team would be wise to hold on to him for another season, for his play as well as for his trade value.
Yet Afflalo has a player option in his contract. He could opt out and leave New York at the end of this season. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, he just might:
"“I really don’t know what I’m going to do,’’ Afflalo told The Post. “We’ll definitely have to address that when that times comes. Of course. I had a great first-year experience here. Obviously some ups and downs. One of those things I have to have a discussion with management and see how things go.”
[Phil] Jackson alluded to Afflalo as a player who may have fallen victim to fatigue because of the heavy workload, indicating he may see him more as a backup next season as he looks to upgrade the modest backcourt.
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Even after Afflalo had recovered from his most recent minor injury, an abdominal strain, Rambis started Sasha Vujacic in place of him this week. If he can be ousted by the likes of Vujacic, will he stick around the five boroughs waiting for better free agents to arrive?
On the flip side, Afflalo walking might be good news if the extra $8 million in the coffers helps them sign soon-to-be free-agent shooting guard DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors.
Keep Melo Talking!
Carmelo Anthony has upped his leadership on and off the court. Recently, he's also become more outspoken in the media. In true Melo form, he hasn't said anything disrespectful or outrageous, but what's refreshingly un-Melo is that he's been more open and assertive. The new Melo isn't afraid to weigh in on business matters.
On Phil Jackson coaching the Knicks just for home games, via the Daily News' Frank Isola: "Nah, nah, nah. I don't think that should be accepted. I wouldn't accept that if that was the case."
On who should be the head coach, via ESPN.com's Ian Begley: "I think you consider Kurt [Rambis] (for the full-time) job. ... But I think you still have to at least listen to other candidates out there."
On the Knicks' front office recruiting free agents, via Begley: "It's in their court. The ball is in their court. They have an opportunity, we have an opportunity to do something this offseason. We gotta do something. It's there."
On his role in recruiting free agents, via the Daily News' Stefan Bondy: "Put me at the head of the table. And let’s go to work."
This isn't significant because it makes happy reporters and catchy headlines. It's significant because it shows that Melo is stepping into the next phase of what it means to be "the face of a franchise."
He's challenging his front office by saying, "I'm doing my part, now you do yours." It's another piece of the transformation from star scorer to team leader, and as the offseason beckons, it's the role the Knicks might need him to play most of all.
All stats from NBA.com/stats and up-to-date as of March 17. Follow Sara Peters on Twitter @3FromThe7.
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