Tom Thibodeau wants more scoring from Knicks, especially threes
New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin dunks against the Orlando Magic in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Last season, Tom Thibodeau put a goal in place for the Knicks: Try to attempt between 37 and 40 three-point field goals per game. When the dust cleared on the disappointing season, this was at least one goal that they basically reached. They put up 36.9 threes per game, which pushed them to 10th in the NBA, up from 30 a year before that ranked them fourth-worst in the league.
So Thibodeau, despite a reputation as a defensive coach, came to camp this season with a new goal.
More.
Thibodeau wouldn’t put the number out publicly Monday, but when asked if it was about 42, he smiled and said, “Forty-two is a little low.” When 45 was pitched to him, he said, “Still low.”
In the Knicks’ first two games of the season before hosting Orlando Monday night they had attempted 75, ticking up slightly higher per game than last year, but still 10th in the league.
“Yeah, we nudged it up a little bit,” Thibodeau said. “But it’s how can we create more of those opportunities. It’s not just threes; I’m watching what’s going on in the league. So we have to make sure we’re not falling behind in that area. But it’s also your layups, your easy baskets, attacking the rim, the free throws and then the corner threes.
“Just watching what transpired, year to year, what’s going on in the league, what happened in the playoffs. Who were the teams that got to the final four? How were they playing? I anticipated what was going to happen in preseason and it did. I think scoring is continuing to go up. So you know the shots that people are trying to get to and how do they get to them.”
The Knicks don’t have a roster filled with sharpshooters. Evan Fournier set a franchise record last season with 241 made threes in a team-high 619 attempts. Those attempts ranked him eighth in the league with Steph Curry not surprisingly leading with 750. But RJ Barrett put up 404 and shot 34.2% and Julius Randle took 390 and shot 30.8%.
“This is my 11th season,” Fournier said. “Last year was my 10th season and it was my first time shooting more threes than twos. You have to go with the flow of the NBA. Just look at the Magic tonight. They all can shoot, 1 to 15 — Mo Bamba, Bol Bol, \[Wendell\] Carter Jr. All them guys.”
The 7-foot Bamba has taken 14 shots in Orlando’s first three games — 10 beyond the arc. It’s a trend across the league that what used to be shots for guards or small forwards are now shots for all. The Knicks signed center Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent and in the first two games five of his 15 attempts were outside the arc.
The Knicks still start three players in Jalen Brunson, Randle and Barrett who excel at getting to the rim and maybe even have a penchant for the mid-range shot, which is almost a profanity in today’s NBA. Mitchell Robinson has never attempted a three in his career.
“I think it’s going to take a while,” Fournier said of adapting to the increased goal. “First of all, I think we have a team that isn’t necessarily made towards taking threes and being more aggressive to the rim. It’s hard when you’re wired a certain way to do things that are different.
“Even for myself, shooters love threes, but I’m not thinking, OK, I have to shoot more threes. I’m just trying to take what the game gives me. I think it’s going to take a couple of months to understand.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
