New York Knicks
The 2021-22 New York Knicks can be defined by a regression back to being the same ole Knicks.
What did we learn?
Julius Randle was not able to replicate his stellar 2020-21 Most Improved Player campaign.
Year 2 Thibs was too real.
Bing Bong was an all-time high — we should have known that it would only come crashing down. It was set up too perfectly for Bing Bong to Ping Pong.
The bench was still good, but the starters that Thibs ran into the ground were not (except for second half of the season RJ Barrett). There were so many box scores that showed the same thing: serious negatives for all of the starters and huge positives for all of the bench guys.
The Knicks would get in a big hole early, and the bench would bring them back. Or they would get a big lead and blow it in the fourth quarter.
D-Rose meant a lot to this team and losing him to his ankle injury and surgery was detrimental. It was also alarming to see how much Reggie Bullock and Elfrid Payton’s defensive oriented-ness actually meant to everything this team did last year.
But even more concerning was the New York fall from grace for Julius Randle. From Most Improved Player and 2020-21 All-Star to grappling with his own fans. Storming off the court after a win? That ain’t it, bruh. Doris Burke said it best: “Play hard and play well, and they will cheer for you.”
These Knicks lost their defensive identity (until they found it in March), and Randle stopped making all of the ridiculously tough shots that he always takes.
Over the first four months of the season prior to the All-Star Break, the Knicks defense was a pedestrian 17th after being in the top-5 during all of the 2020-21 season. And the offense? Even worse at 22nd. Bringing in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier was supposed to bolster the offense, but that didn’t happen either.
The Kemba Walker homecoming experiment failed. Thibs pulled the plug, pulling Kemba from the rotation entirely, before the calendar even showed December, just after Thanksgiving. But thanks in large part to injuries and the protocols, Kemba was back in the lineup and putting up a triple double on Christmas to the grand delight of MSG. From out of the rotation completely to Eastern Conference Player of the Week, we did not understand why the Kemba situation had to be so ALL or nothing. It was great to have him back out there playing and smiling again. Two months later, Thibs pulled Kemba once again, this time shutting him down for good.
Alec Burks in the starting lineup over Kemba did make a noticeable difference:
In 434 minutes with Burks, the Knicks starting lineup had a net rating of 0.0
In 428 minutes with Kemba, the Knicks starting lineup had a net rating of -13.8
Burks was the Knicks best 3-point shooter this season, 40.4 percent on 4.8 attempts per game. However, Burks shot better on 3s than he did 2s, a lowly 37.8 percent inside the arc.
After the All-Star Break is when the Knicks finally found their way. From All-Star to the end of the season, the Knicks had the #1 defense in the league! There was even a stretch of winning 9 out of 13 games. But by then, it was far too late. The Knicks had already endured a season from hell. They won one game in February which included a stretch of going 3-15. If only the Knicks had turned the corner sooner.
But the light switch flipped for RJ Barrett. He became so much more aggressive with an attacking mindset, and with his defensive chops to boot. The Knicks have a really good young two-way player on the wing. That is more than some can say. Barrett could become a quintessential 3-and-D wing, a true star in this league.
Thibs didn’t play Quickley or Toppin enough early on. You gotta develop the talent and let them play! How else are they going to learn when they get pulled after every mistake? Playing Quickley and Toppin more was another big reason why the late-season Knicks excelled.
Quickley had a 20-10-10 triple-double, the first triple-double by a Knick off the bench since Mark Jackson in 1991, per Statmuse. Toppin set his career high in back-to-back games to close the season, scoring 35 points against the Wizards and 42 points against the Raptors, both Knicks wins. If only they had been given their freedom sooner.
The grand irony is that the far too late late-season turnaround cost the Knicks better odds in the lottery, where they eventually landed 11th.
This season was just so Knicks.
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Additional Notes
Never forget that Mitchell Robinson blocked KD’s jumper, Mitchell Blockinson!
Quentin Grimes and Deuce McBride were two rookie slivers of sunlight shining through the dark, ominous clouds of the beginning of this Knicks season.
Leon Rose traded for Cam Reddish and Thibs hardly played him, too. Then Reddish got hurt and shut down.
There is a very real curse on the teams that get rid of Theo Pinson. How could the Knicks let him go?! He was the bench mob extraordinaire.
Hey, at least James Dolan didn’t make a scene this season and wasn’t his usual nuisance self.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
This one seems easy: The Knicks can be 6% worse than last season, yet the roster has been upgraded. Over 41.5 wins.
Knicks 2021-22 record: (37-45)
Nope, and it didn’t feel NEARLY as close as it ended up being.
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What’s Next?
The #11 pick in the 2022 draft. AJ Griffin from Duke is getting all the buzz.
Fix the Julius Randle situation. Winning cures everything.
Can Leon Rose somehow find a way to land Donovan Mitchell?
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Favorite Knicks Highlights of the 2021-22 Season:
BING BONG.
Christmas.
Barrett’s buzzer beater against the Celtics.
This Knicks season will always have Bing Bong, Christmas and Barrett’s buzzer beater against the Celtics.
