Reassessing the Knicks After the First Quarter of the Season
The New York Knicks’ starting lineup
Opening Night: Kemba Walker | Evan Fournier | RJ Barrett | Julius Randle | Mitchell Robinson
Now: Alec Burks | Evan Fournier | RJ Barrett | Julius Randle | Mitchell Robinson
Let’s rip off the bandaid. On November 29th, the Knicks beat the Hawks without Kemba Walker, who was resting on the second night of a back-to-back. The Knicks started Alec Burks in his place, allowing the defense to embrace more switching in the scheme. It was very effective in slowing down Hawks’ star Trae Young.
The following day at practice, Knicks Head Coach Tom Thibodeau announced that Walker would no longer be in the rotation. Out of the starting lineup to allow for more defense in that unit. Unavailable to a bench already deploying two offensive-minded guards. This means Cardiac Kemba is left out of the rotation in his home city.
It sucks, man. And it’s also the right move. Walker has just not been able to be an effective player this season, clearly hampered by knee injuries over the years. There have been a lot of stats pointing out just how ineffective, but let’s just leave it at that. Kemba will get at least one more chance in the NBA. Someone, somewhere will sign him to a vet min when he’s a free agent. I can see some kind of fit with teams like the Sixers or the Lakers.
As for the rest of the starting lineup? They’ve been consistent with their inconsistency. Evan Fournier has nights where he’s scorching hot or frozen cold. The issue is that when he’s not on offensively, he still provides nothing defensively to a team that prides itself on that end of the court.
RJ Barrett looked like he’d hit his stride a few weeks ago. He averaged 25 PPG/6 RPG on 51.7 FG% and 50 3FG% over a five-game stretch in early November. It did not last. By mid-November, he produced averages over four games of 8 PPG/5 RPG on 26 FG% and 16 3FG%. I think he’s going to figure it out in the long run. I’m not sure if this is the roster to utilize him, though.
Julius Randle has also dealt with ups and downs. On November 11th, Randle put up 20 points, 16 rebounds, and five assists while shooting 13-19 from the field and 1-2 from three. The Knicks lost by six. Just five days later, Randle goes 3-8 including 0-2. The Knicks lost by 21. A lot of his inefficiency has to do with shot selection.
He’ll force up a contested two when the shot clock is winding down and the Knicks haven’t found their offense. His best asset is bullying defenders in the post, but oftentimes he’s catching the ball too far outside of the paint. He’s effective as the roller in PNR with an offensive guard, like Rose or Quickley, but he doesn’t have that option in the starting lineup. Kemba was supposed to help there (and kind of did, but not enough to plug the many other holes). Like Barrett, I think he could benefit from a floor general to set up the offense.
Man, I love Mitchell Robinson. He’s leading the league in true shooting percentage. And the dude is elite defensively. He’s 10th in total blocks per game and has played fewer minutes than anyone in the top 10, 73 less than the player closest to him. The issue is just that, he’s in limited minutes. While he’s been able to suit up for 19 of 23 games, he always seems to be ailing and playing non-starter minutes. Fortunately for the Knicks, the bench unit is the best of the best.