Clash of the Tankers

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

After heading into this season with playoff aspirations, the Knicks currently have the worst record in the NBA at 6-36, 2 games below the Timberwolves and 2.5 behind the Sixers. The state of New York is so bad that Monday’s win over the shorthanded Pelicans finally broke the Knicks’ franchise-record 16-game losing streak. To his credit, President Phil Jackson has recognized the organization’s best course of action would be to play for the draft and the upcoming offseason and has begun a tank job to make even Sam Hinkie green with envy.

Already in 2015, the Knicks have waived Sam Dalembert, then traded away J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert as part of the three-team Cleveland-Oklahoma City deal. All they received in the deal was a 2nd round pick and 3 players on non-guaranteed contracts who were immediately waived. More importantly though, they earned some financial flexibility, ridding themselves of J.R. Smith’s $6.4M player option for next season. The Knicks will have over $30M in cap space this summer, in addition to currently having the best odds at the first overall pick with the mismatched roster they’re now throwing out there.

Carmelo Anthony is battling knee soreness, and while he’s played two straight games (averaging 24.5 ppg) after missing the previous 6 contests, some personnel within the Knicks organization want him to shut it down for the year. New York also has 2 guys on 10-day contracts in the starting line-up in former St. Joe’s Hawk Langston Galloway and Lou Amundson. Langston played quite well in his first career start Monday, scoring 21 points behind 3-6 shooting from three. Fans in the Philly area are very familiar with his perimeter prowess from his time on Hawk Hill, and the Sixers will certainly have to be watchful of his movements behind the arc with other eyes diverted to Carmelo.

In actuality though, the Knicks have been disastrous on both sides of the ball, sporting the 5th-worst offense and 2nd-worst defense in the NBA. Offensively, the Triangle has been obtuse; it would appear that the state of the game has passed it by (although it could certainly be a more effective system with better players). The Knicks’ offensive sets have centered around taking what are almost universally acknowledged as the worst shots in basketball. New York is tied for the most mid-range shots per game in the league, while eschewing easy points around the basket or by getting to the free throw line (they take the 2nd-fewest number of shots per game from inside 8 feet, while also having the lowest free throws attempted rate in the NBA). It’s worth mentioning that the only times the Triangle has ever worked was when the team running it had Jordan and Pippen or Shaq and Kobe; most systems probably would have done just fine.

On the defensive side of the ball, while the perimeter defense isn’t any great shakes, it’s the play down low that has really hurt the Knicks. New York routinely allows opponents second-chance opportunities, with the worst defensive rebounding rate in the NBA. They also have little-to-no rim protection, recording the 2nd-fewest blocks per game. I’d look for the Sixers to have another big game from Nerlens Noel (especially given his comments about getting more touches the other day; squeaky wheel gets the grease). It’s also a shame Tony Wroten is injured, as this is the sort of match-up where he would excel with little resistance at the rim.

The Sixers are actually 1-point favorites! Sadly, a win tonight strikes a huge blow to their overall lottery (and thus long-term) prospects, with the Knicks representing their biggest competition for the worst record in the league. Still, although the roster may have been constructed with accruing losses in mind, the players on the court have (almost) always given their all. I would expect the Sixers to take care of business tonight, further distancing themselves from the ‘disgrace to the game’ labeling by the hot takes sports media at large.