As we continue our theme of Knicks gloom and doom today, I thought I'd take a moment to review some clips and images of New York's ugly home loss to the Spurs yesterday.
The loss itself to the defending Western Conference champions is nothing to be ashamed of, but the way in which the Knicks went about it, and the troubling signs we've seen from them in the majority of their games so far this season, with or without Tyson Chandler, could spell disaster as they navigate a tough upcoming stretch of schedule.
Without further ado, let's hit the film...
Three key issues become clear to me when watching the Knicks play, even in small snippets. On offense, they have no one to consistently take pressure and defenders off of Carmelo Anthony. On defense, they're embarrassingly lazy and have no anchor at the back with Chandler out, and they don't rebound the ball well at all.
On the first issue, here's an example of the attention Anthony is receiving from opposing defenses on a nightly basis right now:
On this play, like so many others, Anthony is swarmed by extra defenders immediately after he catches the ball, often times while the ball is on its way to him.
Here's another example from Sunday afternoon:
Given the three defenders (four if you count Danny Green) preoccupied with Anthony, I don't think the Spurs are too concerned with the other Knicks on the floor. 'Melo may do himself no favors, since opposing defenses often know they can bait him into a tough shot with little risk that he'll move the ball to one of his open teammates (Remember that Anthony didn't receive a single vote among 30 NBA GM's when asked which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments), and Mike Woodson's iso-heavy sets are predictable, but it's also tough to conquer modern NBA defenses, no matter who you are, without teammates to take the pressure off of you.
You'd assume that the return of reigning Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith would help, but smart defenses like the Spurs will likely be content to let Smith chuck away given his propensity for poor decision making. Andrea Bargnani was supposed to be the guy to spread the floor and take pressure off of Carmelo, but it appears the last few years of subpar shooting from Bargnani have finally convinced defenses he may not be worth the extra attention.
While he's off to an average start from behind the arc this season (7/20 for 35%), Bargnani actually hasn't cracked the 35 percent barrier in four years, and it was really just a matter of time before opposing teams figured it out.
Check out how concerned the Spurs were with Bargnani as a three-point threat yesterday, which is to say, not very:
That was just one of many examples from Sunday where Tim Duncan looked about as concerned with Bargnani on the perimeter as he would be with you or I out there, and it's a trend I've noticed more and more this season. Teams aren't giving Bargnani the respect they used to as a three-point threat, so until he re-establishes himself out there or Smith catches fire again, the attention on Anthony won't let up.
On the defensive side of the ball, things were already concerning with Chandler's fantastic defensive presence in the fold, now they're just downright embarrassing at times.
Danny Green's three-point barrage (6-of-9) is one thing, but the Spurs' ball movement can make statues out of even good defensive teams, so I'm not going to pick on that. New York's effort and defensive presence on basic plays yesterday, however, was comically lacking.
Here, Kawhi Leonard grabs a rebound under his own basket, runs the length of the floor, easily gets past what should have been a three-man trap on the sideline consisting of Amar'e Stoudemire, Metta World Peace and Tim Hardaway Jr., and then gets to the opposing basket virtually untouched:
If that's not enough to make your blood boil as a defensive-minded coach, check out these lazy defensive attempts from Carmelo Anthony and Andrea Bargnani.
First, Anthony's idea of help defense is to simply turn and face the opposing player driving straight down his team's throat:
Next up, Bargnani attempts to help Beno Udrih stop an easy Tony Parker drive to the basket by extending his left hand about an inch away from his body...
Almost, Andrea, almost. God forbid you leave Tiago Splitter open at the top of the key, where he almost never shoots from.
From a rebounding perspective, there isn't much to see. The Knicks currently rank 28th in rebound rate and Bargnani has somehow managed to lower even his career-low, as the seven-footer is grabbing just 6.9 percent of available boards while he's on the floor.
Put it all together and it's a recipe for disaster for the Knicks. They run a predictable offense with little ball movement or off-ball movement to draw defenders away from their offensive star, they will continue to play porous defense while relying on players known for their allergy to defensive effort, and they look like they're going to be eaten up on the boards most nights.
Yes, the Spurs are going to embarrass teams from time to time again this season and will continue to expose teams' weaknesses, but the problem for the Knicks is that these weaknesses have already been exposed by the likes of the Bobcats in the early going, and the schedule doesn't lighten up for at least another three weeks.
Unless Bargnani or Smith magically morphs into a legitimate second offensive option or Cole Aldrich emerges as a defensive and rebounding savior, it's safe to say we could probably produce a similar Film Study post on the Knicks every Monday for the forseeable future.
We won't, but the Knicks will do a fine job of providing the content should we feel compelled.
All clips courtesy of MSG Network and NBA Game Time
