Schmeelk: The Numbers Lie -- The Knicks' Defense Is Still Horrid
By John Schmeelk
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The statistics are very misleading.
If you just look at a couple of basic box score numbers, it appears the Knicks are playing pretty good defense this season. Teams are only averaging 98.4 points against them -- 17th in the NBA -- and shooting 44.7 percent from the field (16th).
But those numbers are illusions hiding a simple fact: the Knicks' defense is still one of the worst in the league and the only reason those numbers look good is because the Knicks play slower than any team in the league, and foul more than most.
Pace measures the number of possessions a NBA team has in a game, and right now the Knicks rank dead last, with only 91.27. It's almost a full two possessions per game behind the Utah Jazz who are 29th, and a mind-blowing 12 behind the league-leading Golden State Warriors.
The Knicks were the second slowest team in the league last season, and fifth slowest two seasons ago under Mike Woodson, but even those teams averaged more possessions per game than this version of the Knicks. What makes these numbers even more staggering is that the team has been playing with their fastest player, Shane Larkin, as their starting point guard, while the older and slower Jose Calderon has been out with an injured calf.
The defensive stat that accounts for pace, is defensive rating, which counts how many points a team gives up per possession. In that category, the Knicks are the fourth worst defensive team in the league, giving up 108.7 points per 100 possessions. That means if the Knicks played at the pace the Warriors were playing at, they would be allowing about 110 points per game. All of a sudden that points per game statistic looks awfully meaningless.
The field goal percentage against is also extremely misleading. The Knicks are putting opposing teams on the free-throw line 27.6 times per game, fourth most in the league. They foul way too much.
The Knicks also struggle against the 3-pointer, allowing a league-high 42 percent. Combine that with the fact the team allows the 13th most 3-point attempts per game, and it makes the overall field goal percentage that much more meaningless.
The last time the Knicks finished with a worse defensive rating than they have right now was back in 2009-10 when Mike D'Antoni was starting a roster that had been liquidated in order to clear cap space to get LeBron James.
Heading into this season, if the Knicks were going to make a significant improvement it was going to have to come on the defensive end. They were never a talented defensive team, and they only got worse there over the summer with the trade of Tyson Chandler for Calderon, but there was an expectation of some improvement with the departure from Woodson's often mindless switching defense strategy.
That hasn't happened. Derek Fisher has not been able to work his way around a flawed roster that features a slew of big men that would rather try to squeeze into the back seat of a Mini Cooper than defend the rim.
But that's not to say it won't improve. On Monday night during the 91-85 loss to the visiting Hawks there was a sign that Fisher might finally be putting out a lineup that works defensively. The Knicks played one of their best defensive games of the season (granted they were helped by missed open threes and layups) with Carmelo Anthony starting at power forward, where he is a far better defender. That starting five, Larkin, Iman Shumpert, Tim Hardaway Jr., Anthony and Samuel Dalembert , might be the best combination the Knicks can put out there to give good offense production with a solid defensive base. The lineup of has a defensive rating of 75.8 in 22 minutes so far this season. That's a decent sample size for this early in the season and it's a lineup Fisher should run with for the foreseeable future.
The Knicks are still searching for answers on both ends of the floor, but the lack of improvement defensively, where better effort and scheme should make a big difference, has been the biggest disappointment so far. Fisher's constant lineup shuffling shows he is still looking for answers, but perhaps he might have found the start of one Monday night.
For everything Knicks, Giants and New York sports follow John on Twitter at @Schmeelk
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