FIBA World Cup: One Goal For Each Knick
The world today, New York tomorrow.
That's how four certain participants of the ongoing FIBA Basketball World Cup are likely viewing the international competition: a quartet of New York Knicks will move back to Manhattan shortly after the tournament stage wraps on Sept. 10. By now, Knicks fans are well aware of Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart's shared prescience on the American hoop effort while RJ Barrett and Evan Fournier are respectively repping Canada and France in the same group.
Brunson and Hart helped guide the Americans to a strong start on Saturday morning, as they took down New Zealand 99-72 in their Group C opener in Manila. Barrett and Fournier got their inevitable Group H matchup in Jakarta out of the way early, with the Canadians posting a dominant second half en route to a 95-65 shellacking.
National pride is the obvious motivator in competitions like the World Cup but there is much that each New Yorker can accomplish overseas before a fateful 2023-24 season tips off in Manhattan this fall. All Knicks has one major goal for each active participant ...
RJ Barrett: Play With the Big Boys
The unspoken label of "consolation prize" continues to haunt Barrett: the Ontario native is playing a major role in Canada's hardwood evolution but the undisputed top option is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Team Canada is riding a major wave of momentum after a blowout win over France, the most recent Olympic runner-ups on Friday in Jakarta.
Gilgeous-Alexander's double-double led the way but Barrett was a cold 1-of-10 from the field, an effort that will likely conjure up gruesome memories of his equally brutal box score from the Knicks' final stand in South Beach and render his strong showings in the tune-up slate null and void.
The World Cup is a prime opportunity for Barrett to figure out the fine art of serving as a complementing staple: Barrett flourished when he was the most consistent top option during the 2021-22 season, averaging 20 points a game in the midst of a disappointing postseason follow-up. His struggles during the last campaign were well-documented, but he did emerge as a strong No. 2 to Brunson for most of the postseason run while Julius Randle worked off the aftershocks of a late ankle injury. If he can bounce off of Gilgeous-Alexander well, Canada could be well on its way to its most lucrative showing in the World Cup yet.
Jalen Brunson: Be A Leader, Adjust to Adversity
Among the young Americans assembled in Manila, Brunson is one of the most intriguing cases: perhaps no one on the roster is riding a larger wave of NBA momentum, as his emergence as a top option on both sides of the ball paved the way for a landmark season with the Knicks. Working with the accoladed stars of the States is perhaps a consolation prize for his All-Star snub and it appears that he has already made an impression on American brass.
It's nonetheless surprising to some that Brunson was an immediate confidant for head coach Steve Kerr and earned entry into the starting five over All-Star and fellow point guard Tyrese Haliburton. The decision was particularly glaring in the Americans' final exhibition against Germany, which saw Brunson benched for the final minutes, allowing Haliburton to close at the one.
The World Cup invite is another leg of the Brunson breakout tour, one that's poised to groom him for a Knicks season packed with both potential and danger as they try to follow up their most successful season in a decade. No matter what happens, Brunson continues to take advantage of the ample leadership opportunities that Kerr and his staff have bestowed on him.
The soon-to-be 27-year-old isn't going to sneak up on anybody this year when he returns home and will be relied upon as the first choice in all facets of the game, including leadership, until an established superstar arrives. Brunson can also up his own case in that regard as he brings about guidance and facilitation to the high-octane American unit.
Evan Fournier: Dress to Impress (Somewhere Else)
New Yorkers probably don't want to hear from the long-exiled Fournier, but his pre-World Cup, anti-Knicks (more anti-Tom Thibodeau) discourse made an interesting point: if the team was so desperate to trade him, why not grant him a few minutes of action to impress potential suitors?
Playing time is the last of Fournier's concerns upon donning Les Bleu of France, as he's far and away one of the most trusted names on their roster. If the 30-year-old Fournier is concerned that his continued prescience on the New York roster ... or their bench ... will eat away at his dwindling NBA longevity, he must take advantage of every minute on Indonesian hardwood.
After the first day of action, Fournier has a chance to prove his worth in a macabre but fateful way: with France in an 0-1, minus-30 hole after standing on the wrong end of a blowout decision with Canada, Fournier's shooting abilities may be their best hope to climb out of the pool play hole: of note, Fournier had nearly half of the French tallies in a 43-40 halftime deficit but was held scoreless (on four attempts) during a third period that saw the Canadians inflate their lead to 20 in just 10 minutes.
Josh Hart: Build A Bigger Depth Star
The "Summer of George" was a metropolitan nightmare but the "Summer of Josh" has been an undeniable success: in addition to his inclusion on the World Cup tour, the nomadic Hart found a home through the four-year, $81 million contract extension that kicks in after this coming year's player option.
Every new-century Knicks transaction, even if another team or entity is pulling the triggers, draws scrutiny and Hart's promotions are no exception. Some wonder if he's worth getting around for nearly nine figures and others believe his spot on the American team could've gone to someone else.
But similar to the way he raised the Knicks' fortunes upon his arrival from Portland (the Knicks went 17-8 when he was on the roster and built significant distance between themselves and the Play-In Tournament), Hart's impact is quietly effective with the evidence present in the most important arena. In this case, it's the scoreboard: in the Americans' victorious opener over New Zealand on Saturday, Hart was a game-best plus-28 in 15 minutes and helped hold the Tall Blacks to 36 percent shooting from the field.
If the Knicks get this brand of Hart action come the fall, joining Isaiah Hartenstein, Immanuel Quickley, and newcomer (and collegiate teammate) Donte DiVincenzo back, they could be equipped with one of the deepest teams in the Eastern Conference, even if Thibodeau brings his polarizing nine-man rotation back.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Knicks? Click Here.
Follow AllKnicks.com on Twitter.
