The New York Knicks are making their final fixes to the team before the postseason begins to take place, but there are still some holes for the squad.
ESPN analyst Zach Kram believes that the Knicks will struggle with defending stretch big men.
"Ironically, given that Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns is the NBA's best stretch big, New York struggles to corral opponents' shooting centers on the defensive end. The Atlanta Hawks are the only team that allows more points directly off pick-and-pop plays than the Knicks, who often leave big men open beyond the arc or get forced into difficult rotations in an effort to cover the entire perimeter," Kram writes.
"Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau rarely asks Towns to switch — he's done so on just 2.7% of screens he's faced this season, per Second Spectrum, which ranks in the 2nd percentile of players with at least 200 picks defended — but that means a simple pick-and-pop in a five-out offense can stress the Knicks' defense past the breaking point."
The Knicks aren't going to be able to completely change their defensive mentalities with the playoffs starting in two weeks, but they could make some slight adjustments in order to work against specific matchups.
Each team will have different challenges that will test the Knicks, and some of them could really look to expose this part of the defense. The Knicks will have to rely on their shorter lineup, which will likely have OG Anunoby or Josh Hart take care of the stretch big men, in order to keep the defense sound.
The Knicks will likely need to be prolific on offense in order to keep things kosher, and their strategy might be to turn things into an offensive track meet if they want to pull out some wins in the playoffs.
