The Knicks have played poorly thus far in the 2017 season. So to fellow Knick fans who are having a hard time finding the good among their 1-3 record, here are 5 stats to show what is going right.
Kyle O’Quinn’s 5.8 blks/36 and 10.1 reb/36.
Bryan’s Gibberman’s analysis notwithstanding, O’Quinn’s early season numbers are downright Manute-like. It’s impossible for him to keep up with his current Eatonesque frequency, and he’ll likely settle on half that number as the season progresses. But hey we should enjoy the rate in which he’s turning shots away for now.
Carmelo Anthony’s 54.2% ts%.
While Knick fans seem content to be point fingers at Rose, Noah, Hornacek, Phil Jackson, Billy Crystal, etc., to blame for this season’s poor start, Melo has quietly upticked his efficiency. Although we’d love to see it go northward of 56%, we’ll take him being at the league average given that he’s on the downside of his career agewise.
Kristaps Porzingis’ 5.7 ft/36.
It’s fairly obvious that playing out of position is taking it’s toll on young Zinger. While the team uses him as their 7-3 perimeter defender, his rebounds are down and his personal fouls are up. But Porzingis is getting to the line more often, as his free throw rate is almost doubled (.271 to .435) from last year. Being able to rack up free points is a good skill for a young developing player to acquire.
Noah’s 12.0 reb/36, 8.8 ast/36.
Sure he’s sporting a Y-league worthy 3.2 pts/36 and 31.9% ts%, but at least Noah is rebounding normally. As for his assists, in his last 3 years as a Bull, Noah averaged 5.6 ast/36, so it’s not completely out of line with his career trends.
Ndour 25 minutes, Baker 23 minutes.
It’s a good sign that Checkers isn’t ignoring the tail end of his roster. Although one could argue that given the Knicks’ play, there has been plenty of Müllzeit to empty the bench. And if this doesn’t seem like enough play for these hopefuls, just remember if D’Antoni was still the Knicks coach we might not even know that these guys existed until February.