How They Drew It Up: Process, process, process
Welcome back to How They Drew It Up, a recurring series where Drew takes a look at some of the best — and worst — plays of the past week for the Knicks. In today’s edition: bad passes (but good ideas), hard screens, analytical defense, and more.
The Pulitzer Prize nominated basketball series is back and better than ever! That’s right kids, I dusted off the old keyboard to actually write an article for The Strickland. This actually may be my first article for the website. What a way to debut.
For those readers who did not come over from Posting and Toasting, the premise for the “How They Drew It Up” is straightforward:
Five clips will be analyzed and only five clips, except when there is a bonus clip… or two.
The series is a semi-recurring article discussing the happenings that occur on the basketball court when the Knickerbockers of New York play a game.
I would not necessarily call the article below “film analysis,” rather my takeaways, interpretations, and analysis of what I was watching. Actually breaking down film would require me to be a trained expert on the NBA and basketball. As I always say on the greatest podcast in the multiverse, don’t actually listen to me (and Shwin) because we are idiots.
Every now and then, there will be collaborations from other writers in the Strickland Universe.
The tone will mostly be jovial, unless Julius Randle reverts back to spinning into triple teams and turning the ball over. In that case, then the series becomes dark.
Simple, right? I certainly hope so. All the clips were pulled before the Jan. 2 game against the Indiana Pacers. You’re just going to have to wait for the next edition to see if anything from that game made the cut.
So, what’s will I pick to be the first clip in The Strickland reboot? None other than Kevin Knox II.
Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a bit outside
This Knox turnover was not as hilarious as the failed transition alley-oop to Mitchell Robinson, but this pass certainly gave me a big ol’ belly laugh.
It’s crazy to think that Knox was a high school quarterback; he has the same accuracy as JaMarcus Russell passing downfield to Darrius Heyward-Bey. At least this pass did not go into the upper deck?
In all seriousness, this is actually the right idea. The execution of the pass may have been comically bad, but Knox attacking the rim to draw the defense’s attention and kicking out to the opposite corner to Reggie Bullock is good basketball. I could nitpick and say that Knox potentially could have had a layup if he faked the pass, since Slenderman does appear to be looking as if he knows Knox is going to pass.
Nerlens Noel also needs to make some damn contact on the screen. I don’t know what it is about screening and the Knicks, but big men just have no desire to make contact. Please, just one time hit the pick-and-roll defender.
More good process, bad results
Not only are we going back to that historically bad Toronto Raptors game, we are going right back to Kevin Knox!
The shot clock is running down in the possession as the Raptors play a cowardly 2-1-2 zone. And as the legend Hubie Brown says, “The ball moves faster than your man.” Not sure if that’s the exact quote, but it’s close enough and addresses the same point. Quick ball movement and shooting are two foundational ways to break any zone defense. The ball is swung quickly to the left side, where Austin Rivers then drives to get into the teeth of the zone, making it tilt and collapse on itself. Rivers fakes the pass to Knox in the corner to kick out to Reggie Bullock, who then swings the ball to Knox, who pump-fakes and side steps into an open 3-pointer.
One of the key measures for success this season will be the consistent execution of “good process.” What I mean by that is performing basketball nuances such as proper spacing, moving without the ball, and not looking off open teammates to spin into a double team. Getting into the middle of a tilted 2-1-2 zone, kicking out to the perimeter, passing to the corner, and side-stepping the pump fake to stay behind the 3-point line instead of taking a Courtney Lee long-two is “good process.” I’d rather the missed 3-pointer from Knox than getting lucky on a contested fadeaway 18-footer and trying to replicate the shot later simply because it went in.
Hand up, man up
Despite RJ Barrett pressing too hard on offense rather than letting the offense come to him, he has been very active on defense and the boards. Just because you are struggling from the field, it doesn’t mean that you can lolligag at everything else. Barrett has been putting in work on defense, and does what any disciplined defender should do by keeping his hands up in the passing lanes here:
Barrett isn’t a stranger to these types of deflections and steals on passes to a diving player. It is always refreshing to see a Knicks wing committed to playing defense. Even though it is his shot-making and shot-creation that will ultimately define his ceiling, RJ Barrett building on his already above average defense will establish his legitimate two-way rotation player floor.
The beauty of minimalism
This wouldn’t be a proper “How They Drew This Up” reboot if I didn’t include a clip from the game Julius Randle outplayed MVP and All-NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo. I absolutely love that the previous sentence exists with zero sarcasm and actually happened in this timeline.
A trailing Randle gets the ball in the center of the court to initiate the offense. He makes a quick decision to drive, kick out to an open Alec Burks, and set a legitimate screen to keep DJ Augustin from being able to do anything. Burks gets a wide open, clean look and drills the 3-pointer.
What I love about this play and result is that it is so simple. The simplicity of it makes the play elegant. By simply making contact on the screen and forcing the defender to go under, Randle creates a beautiful shot. Basketball really can be that simple, and those types of simple plays are what Randle has been executing to start the season. Love to see it.
But, but, he was wide open!
Let’s wrap things up by also getting nerdy with shooting percentages. I know this might come as a shock to you, but certain shots and certain shot types have different expected outcomes. Another shocking revelation about NBA basketball is that in most possessions, your defense is going to give up a shot. Revelatory, isn’t it?
What I’m about to argue is that the clip below is actually good defense.
I know, Larry Nance Jr. had an open 3-pointer. How is this a good thing? Remember that whole “good process” thing in section 2? It applies here as well. Barrett is in no-man’s land guarding two guys on the perimeter because Darius Garland collapsed the defense. Garland kicks it out to Nance for the wide-open three.
Notice how RJ started to close out on Nance but instead backs off to take away the option to pass to OAKAAK Damyean Dotson in the corner? He consciously chose to not guard Larry Nance because Barrett knows that open corner threes are a higher percentage shot than above the break threes. He knows this because this is something Tom Thibeadou has been preaching since joining the team. The math supports this principle, making that open three “good process.”
Since your defense is most of the time going to give up a shot, would you rather Darius Garland taking an easy shot at the rim, Larry Nance taking an open three above the break, or Damyean Dotson taking an open corner three in this possession? Those were the three options presented to the Knicks defense in that possession, and they correctly selected, because letting career 32.4% 3-point shooter Larry Nance Jr. try to beat you shooting from behind the arc is a good bet.
