NBA Playoffs: 7 Ways NY Knicks Must Evolve To Make It Out Of the First Round

Last season, an oft-heard statement among New York sports fans and analysts was that the Knicks were back.

It’s a subjective statement, to say the least.

There were those who felt the Knicks were officially back when they went on an early season eight-game tear.

The streak featured Amar’e Stoudemire scoring 30 points or more nine consecutive times nearly beating the defending Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics in an epic contest.

The game was decided by a go-ahead jumper from Paul Pierce that looked like he pushed off to get open for.

There were those who felt the resurrection occurred when Carmelo Anthony came over in a trade from the Denver Nuggets.

There were those who felt the franchise’s “return” happened when Amar’e Stoudemire put down his signature on a $100 million contract and declared; “The Knicks are back.”  

There are also those who still think the Knicks haven’t returned. 

Regardless of when or if the Knicks actually came back last season, they were unable to record their franchise’s first postseason win since 2003. 

Still, after the franchise’s struggles over the previous few seasons (especially during Isiah Thomas’s tenure as President of Basketball Operations and head coach), last season’s squad brought hope for the future and accumulated the most wins for a Knicks’ team since 2000-2001.

2010-2011 was also their first season without paying a single dollar in luxury tax fees since 1999—a stark contrast from previous seasons. Now, to keep climbing the ladder of success, their progression must continue.

Here are 7 ways the New York Knicks must evolve to make it out of the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Improved Defense

Defense was the Knicks’ most glaring weakness last season.

They were the NBA’s third worst scoring defense, allowing opponents to score 105.7 points per game.

They also had the league’s fifth worst defensive field goal percentage and sixth worse defensive three-point field goal percentage.

By no means do the Knicks need to become an elite defensive team; they just need a transformation from atrocious to at least mediocre.

It’s true that defense wins championships, but games are still won by the team with the greater point total.

If the Knicks can pair up their top-tier offense with so-so defense, they’ll be good enough to make it out of the postseason’s first round—that’s how D’Antoni’s teams in Phoenix did it.

In the hopes of improving their currently lackluster defense, the Knicks hired former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson as a defensive assistant and counterweight to Mike D’Antoni’s offense-first philosophy.

Woodson, a first-round draft pick of the Knicks in 1980, spent six seasons in Atlanta from 2004-2010, helping improve the team’s win total every season.

He also spent time as an assistant to Larry Brown, including during the 2004 NBA Finals when Brown’s Detroit Pistons’ stifling defense helped defeat the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers and their future hall of fame quartet of Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal and Gary Payton. 

The Knicks have capable individual defenders. The problem is that those players don’t bring a consistent effort to that side of the ball, and the team doesn’t play good defense collectively.

Woodson’s hire could help solve those issues. Prior to his arrival in Atlanta, the Hawks were one of the NBA’s worst defenses. Woodson changed that fairly quickly, turning the Peach state’s professional basketball franchise into a solid defensive team.

Of course, Woodson’s hire could also not help the Knicks’ defense, since the players will be the ultimate decision makers as to how much effort they exude.

I’m not saying Woodson can’t motivate the team to play defense, but it would be nonsensical to think his presence automatically equates to that.

Improved Rebounding

Last season, the Knicks were ranked 20th overall in rebounds per game.

They had the NBA’s third worst rebounding differential, allowing opponents to out-rebound them by an average of 3.5 per game.

The Knicks were often slow boxing out, causing their work on the glass to require more energy than if they would have looked to box out once a shot headed towards the basket.

It’s feasible to believe Mike Woodson will try improving this area along with the team’s collective defensive ability and effort.

Because the Knicks are deficient in interior size, Amar’e Stoudemire must increase his rebounding output. Stoudemire has never been a proficient rebounding big man but must become one for the Knicks to take that next step.

It’s true that he often had to play center and deal with bigger and more aggressive players last season, but if he can average 11-12 rebounds per game then the Knicks could use Carmelo at power forward and Amar’e at center more often—which would potentially create some huge mismatches for their offense.

Carmelo must also increase his rebounding output. He’s always been a solid rebounding small forward—averaging 6.3 per game for his career—but needs to take it a step further. His teammates in Denver were better rebounders than his current ones in New York, so he’ll have plenty of opportunities to average near double-digits.

Get Carmelo Anthony to Reduce His Ball-Stopping so the Offense Can Flow Better

Throughout his entire career, Carmelo Anthony has been a heavy isolation player prone to dampening the fluidity of his team’s offense.

A question many had when the Knicks made the trade for Carmelo was how well would his style of play fit into Mike D’Antoni’s free-flowing and fast-paced offense?

Well, the Knicks’ scoring didn’t take a hit, but the offense certainly slowed down. To be fair, the drop in pace wasn’t solely because of Carmelo, since Chauncey Billups’ slowed down the tempo while Raymond Felton pushed the ball at almost any and every opportunity.

Still, Carmelo’s old ball-stopping habits continued to be featured in his offensive repertoire.

I’m not saying Carmelo should never run an isolation play again, I just think he should reduce them so opposing defenses can’t just lock in on him when he has the ball.

There’s no need for Carmelo to feel like he needs to make a vast majority of the team’s scoring plays (even if he is their best scorer), especially since he has another superstar in Amar’e Stoudemire, a former NBA Finals MVP in Chauncey Billups and shooters who can stretch the floor in Toney Douglas, Bill Walker and Shawne Williams.

Have Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire Run Pick and Rolls More Often

The Knicks’ two superstars did sometimes run the pick and roll with one another after becoming teammates this past February.

Next season, they need to run it more often. Carmelo has decent ball-handling skills and his 6’8” frame allows him to see over defenses better than most ball handlers who run pick and rolls.

His deadly shooting ability coupled with Stoudemire’s screening ability and athleticism could really put defenses into a bind.

Hopefully by the off-season’s culmination (whenever that might be), Carmelo and Stoudemire will have put in a decent amount of work practicing the play that could take their offense to another level.

Get Landry Fields' Confidence Back

Prior to Carmelo Anthony’s arrival in New York, Landry Fields was last season’s Rookie of the Year not named Blake Griffin or John Wall.

The Knicks’ second round selection out of Stanford averaged about 11 points (on over 50 percent shooting) and 7.5 rebounds per game.

After Carmelo began his career as a Knick, Fields’ game took a hit. His scoring, shooting percentage and offensive confidence all went down. While his rebounding also reduced slightly, it was less so than the aforementioned categories, and he finished the season leading all guards in the category.

Throughout most of this past postseason, Fields looked like a shell of his early season self. His numbers were abysmal—1.8 points per game on 20 percent shooting, 1.3 rebounds per game and an efficiency rating of 0.25—in a series where the Knicks’ could have really used his defense and rebounding.

Next season, Fields needs to bring back the form that made him 2010’s biggest draft steal. His versatility could really pay dividends, regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench.

I’m sure Modell’s Sporting Goods’ most famous sales associate won’t be happy if Fields' game doesn’t pick back up.

 

Re-Sign Jared Jeffries

I can say with a high level of certainty that a decent amount of both those who read this slide’s title and Knicks’ fans in general will groan at the thought of bringing offensively-inept Jared Jeffries back.

However, as previously mentioned, the Knicks need to improve their rebounding and defense—which Jeffries can help with. Plus, he’ll be cheap to re-sign.

Last season, Jeffries had the Knicks’ highest positive scoring differential rating (in relation to when he was on and off the court). By no means am I saying he’s the main factor behind the difference, but rather that the team benefits from his presence on the court.

Many Knick fans unfairly hate on Jeffries either for his lack of scoring ability or his missed layup against the Celtics in last season’s playoffs during the closing seconds of game 2.

He wasn’t brought in by the league’s second best scoring offense this past March to provide points; he was brought in to help some of the team’s weakest areas—defense, rebounding and height.

Ban Isiah Thomas from the Organization

Unfortunately, this is probably just wishful thinking.

Owner James Dolan and hall of fame point guard-turned-front office pariah Isiah Thomas really seem to be incapable of living without one another.

Thomas was a horrible President of Basketball Operations and head coach for the Knicks, embarrassing the franchise on and off the court in so many ways.

It was quite unnerving for Knicks fans to find out Dolan brought Thomas back as a consultant last summer. The move made the two years in between Thomas’s departure and return seem like two days.

It’s like a bad dream that gets really bad for a few hours then progressively good over the next 20 minutes and then reverts back into a nightmare that’s not as bad as it was initially but feels like could end up that way at any moment.

I could easily go on and on like the Energizer bunny about how terrible Isiah Thomas is and why he shouldn’t—or even be allowed to—have any contact with the Knicks, but I’ll spare you of it—since you likely share my pain or at least know how to use a search engine.

After all, doesn’t he have a College Basketball team to coach?