Knicks' Top Takeaways from 1st Month of 2021-22 NBA Season
Last season's New York Knicks were inspiring, relentless, fun and hard for opponents to hang with.
This year's group is different.
Not necessarily worse, if only because it's too early in the 2021-22 NBA season to make that call. But the offense leads the defense now, and that's an issue when the offense can be erratic.
Maybe the Knicks wind up being better balanced after the mentality change, but it could be some tough sledding before that point. For now, these areas stand out after the campaign's first month.
Julius Randle Is Trending the Wrong Direction
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Julius Randle could do no wrong last season. He gave the Knicks their first All-Star since 2018, paced them in almost every relevant stat category and essentially kept their offense from flatlining.
History hasn't repeated itself, though.
While the 26-year-old remains the highest name in a lot of counting categories, his efficiency has tanked. He shot 45.6 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three last season, but those numbers are now down to 41.2 and 35.1, respectively. Over their last six outings—four of them losses—the Knicks have lost his 200 minutes by 90 points.
Hopefully, Randle is just in a bad funk right now, because even with the offensive additions made to this roster, New York is built to go as far as he can take it.
Derrick Rose Is Best Point Guard on the Roster
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Kemba Walker's homecoming is a great story, and it's had some fun moments. His stats seem fine on the surface, as 12.2 points on solid efficiency (43.8/42.1/76.5 shooting slash) and 2.9 assists is good enough output for a complementary player getting 25.4 minutes per game.
But the 'Bockers are dramatically better when Derrick Rose gets behind the wheel.
New York's efficiency splits between Walker and Rose are cavernous. It has been 28.5 points worse per 100 possessions with Walker than without him, per NBA.com. With Rose, it's a 30-point swing per 100 possessions in the other direction.
If the gap doesn't narrow considerably, this could cause coach Tom Thibodeau to rethink his starting lineup. For now, though, the Knicks recognize the gap by giving Rose more run in the fourth quarter. He has logged 108 minutes in the final frame so far, compared to just 49 for Walker.
Obi Toppin Needs More Minutes
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Last season, Obi Toppin arrived in New York as the eighth overall pick with a polished skill set befitting of his lofty draft status. He just never got much of a chance to show it, since he backed up Randle, who, in addition to making his All-Star debut, led the NBA in total minutes and minutes per game.
Toppin never got enough floor time to really get in a groove, and he's at risk of seeing the same thing happen this season. His minutes are technically up, but he's still getting just 15.1 per night. That's in spite of the fact that his 18.6 points per 36 minutes are third-most on the team, per NBA.com, and his 56.1 field-goal percentage is best among the non-centers.
"It's all based on performance. It's not an individual thing. It's a team thing," Thibodeau said of the 23-year-old's playing time. "It's how the team is functioning and there has to be a balance to offense and defense. That factors into it as well."
That's a long-winded way for Thibodeau to say he doesn't think Toppin's defense is ready, but it's not like Randle is vying for an All-Defensive selection.
Toppin deserves a playing-time bump, especially if Randle can't snap out of his slump.
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