After getting off to a good start this season, the New York Knicks find themselves in a bit of a free fall and whatever made their wheels turn in the beginning is no longer doing it for them.
Their starting lineup has been really bad, and it’s looking like the team will need to make a drastic change to it to get back on the right track. Currently, it consists of Kemba Walker, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. Of course. this only applies when everyone is healthy, something the centers have shown isn’t a guarantee.
Behind the scenes, some Knicks stars are expressing frustration with the way the season is trending according to a report from SNY’s Ian Begley. This doesn’t exactly come as a surprise considering how far the team is sliding, and the report came before they dropped their road game against the Chicago Bulls.
Knicks Frustrated
The Knicks are sitting at 9-8 on the season, which means they are still over .500, but it feels like a matter of time before that’s not even the case anymore.
With games against the Lakers, Suns, Hawks, Nets, Bulls and Nuggets coming up, the stretch ahead for the Knicks is grueling. If players are frustrated with the way things are going offensively, then they will have to get it all fixed against the best the NBA has to offer.
“It’s interesting to note that a couple of top players have privately expressed some frustration about how things are playing out on the offensive end,” says Begley. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why they might be frustrated.”
Randle has looked good this season, averaging 20-10-5, but he’ll need a bit more help than that if the team is going to make a second trip in a row to the playoffs.
Barrett looked like he was ready to take a huge step forward in his third year, but he’s been struggling mightily. In his last 10 games, he’s shooting just 31.1 percent from the floor, something that’s not going to good for the team’s longterm success.
Can it Get Turned Around?
GettyObi Toppin celebrates with Derrick Rose.
While we’re 17 games into the season, it’s still early enough to get things turned around. Slumps can happen to any player, so Barrett’s play shouldn’t be too concerning to fans because he’s shown he has the ability to play.
Randle continuing his strong performance will anchor the Knicks team and it’ll hopefully continue to open up more opportunities for the players around him. The big question marks are revolving around Walker and Fournier. The team’s new signings in the offseason haven’t looked great so far, and it’s not clear if it’s a matter of building chemistry or something else entirely.
With an absolutely brutal stretch of games coming out, this could make or break the team’s season, so hopefully they can come away with some sort of optimism going forward. The Knicks didn’t spend all of this money in the offseason just to miss the playoffs.
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