Giannis Antetokounmpo's Bucks at Knicks: Can New York 'Just Be Average' in One Key Area?
New York Knicks fans would not dream of their team being on the same level as Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, who visit Madison Square Garden on Wednesday to begin a four-game homestand (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
But do Knicks fans have the right to ask coach Tom Thibodeau's team to at least be "average'' in one key phase of the modern game?
“Yeah, I think we’re going to get to the league average. I do believe that,” Thibodeau said recently.
That key area? It's three-point shooting, an area in which to begin this NBA week the Knicks are positioned firmly in last place. There are reasons, after all, the Knicks sit at 10-11, lingering at the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture
It's one thing for New York to keep beating up on teams like the Pistons (as happened on Tuesday), but they've proven far from worthy of hanging with penthouse-dwellers like Milwaukee (14-5).
Struggling to hang with recent champions is one thing. But being the worst in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 31.6 percent?
That's hard to justify.
In the modern NBA, many teams literally won't give a big man substantial minutes if he can't shoot from the perimeter. But guards and wings? If a team plays a couple of those guys who cannot succeed from the arc with any regularity ... that team will struggle to be a winning one.
Did we mention that Thibodeau's bunch is 10-11?
The NBA average from three-point range entering the week is 35.5 percent. Boston is tops at 40.3 percent. Is that the reason the Celtics are 17-4, the only East team better than the Bucks?
It's on the list, yes.
If the Knicks could fix one guy, it'd be small forward RJ Barrett. He's hovered below 27 percent for the season and recently suffered through an eight-game stretch during which he shot 19 percent (8-for-42).
Should the coach tell Barrett to simply quit shooting? Hard to do when his career high is 40.1 percent (2020-21), meaning ... this is fixable.
Should the coach play Evan Fournier, who sits there in mothballs every night even though he set a franchise record last season with 241 triples?
Thibodeau recently praised some aspects of his offense, rattling off numbers about fast-break points and second-chance points and the like. Those answers are fine answers ... but they aren't answers to the actual question.
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