Before the start of the season, we clearly did not expect to have to draw up such a negative assessment of the Knicks’ 2021-2022 year. At the same time, hopes were well founded, after a very good season for New York which surprised everyone by finishing 4th in the East in 2020-21. It helps when a leader – elected MIP – responds. Yes Julius, we’re talking to you. But the facts are there, the troop of Tom Thibodeau disappointed enormously this season, by proposing a choppy and incoherent play, in spite of the arrival of new recruits. Debrief.
WHAT TRASHTALK HAD ANNOUNCED
A Julius Randle MIP, a Tom Thibodeau COY, basically a more than satisfactory season despite the stoppage in the first round of the Playoffs against the too well organized Hawks. The sequel promised to be full of ambitions. We expected continuity, a good defense with Thibodeau sauce and reinforcements in attack, thanks in particular to the arrival of Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker in the offseason. Along with developing youngsters in the names of Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin and RJ Barrett, who would get the crowds pumping at Madison Square Garden, the mecca of basketball. TrashTalk bet on a regular between 43 and 48 victories and at least an 8th place in the East, with the possibility of coming for a 4th position. After a great season, expectations are bound to rise.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
Ouch ouille ouille, the season is disappointing, and especially frustrating on the side of New York. It all started pretty well with a big home win snatched after two overtimes against the Celtics. Vavane also starts very strong with 32 points at 13/25 shooting and 6/13 from the parking lot in front of his new fans. The Knicks are on five wins in six games but the dynamic does not last long and the dynamic, like Julius Randle, quickly weakens. The objectives are already revised downwards, and we say that any hope of Playoffs will have to go through the play-in tournament phase. Being part of the top 10 in the East did not even seem to be in the debates before the start of the season, it becomes in fact a mission for the troop of Tom Thibodeau which struggles to win matches. The Knicks fail to chain at least two straight wins from early November to late December: Julius Randle is far from his standards of last season, Kemba Walker is disappointing, Evan Fournier is not consistent and RJ Barrett is struggling to Preheat. The fans are seriously worried because the results are bad, and the youngsters cannot develop because of the too little playing time given to them by Tom Thibodeau. Obi Toppin is the first concerned with monthly averages which do not pass the bar of 19 minutes on the floor, and that until March. Absolutely no advantage is taken from the situation.
The Knicks start 2022 with two losses and then five wins in six games with a seductive RJ Barrett. He scores 25.5 points on average in this series, with 50% success from afar. Vavane took the opportunity to smash his career best in the game against the Celtics with his 41 pawns, 15/25 shooting and… 10/14 from the parking lot, at Madison Square Garden. Isn’t that beautiful? This is one of the few gifts received by New York fans this season. If after this beautiful ten days, we thought we saw a reinvigorated Knicks team in place for the future, it was ultimately nothing. Tom Thibodeau’s troupe continues with its worst period of the season from mid-January to early March, in which Julius Randle and his pots teammates lose 17 games out of 20 played. A month and a half felt like thirteen. The Knicks are the 26th-ranked offense in the NBA (106.5 points per game). But during this black series, it is above all the defense that loses control. For 20 games, the rampart of last season forgets to filter 113.3 pawns per evening (against 106.6 on the whole regular). Despite the rise of RJ Barrett, the team took on a lot of water defensively and the air pockets of Julius Randle and Evan Fournier didn’t help. And hop, here’s how to go from a record of 22 wins and 21 losses to a very dirty 25-38. The play-in race is logically moving away, especially since the train of the East is progressing rather quickly this year.
However, there is better on this end of regular with 12 wins in 19 games, a found defense and some young people who show themselves. The 22-year-old fullback Immanuel Quickley is capable of brilliant shots. He averaged almost 15 points in March and was able to confirm this progress in April, with 20 pawns and a big playing time of 33.6 minutes per game. His peak? A 34-point card against the Raptors. The other New York sophomore, Obi Toppin, also showed up on the end of the season. This thanks to a Julius Randle left at the bottom of the bench. The winner of the Dunk Contest 2022 (competition that will not go down in history) performs in the last matches of the regular with 27.2 points on average at 55.1% shooting success and… more than 46% of the parking lot, he ends his season with a 42-point game against this same Toronto team. Young people play more liberated and the Knicks start to win to finally finish 11th in the East, with 37 wins for 45 losses. The Hornets, 10th, have 43 successes p for 39 losses. At this distance, it would almost have been better to tank. And Kemba Walker in all this, oukilépassé?
THE ROCKET SEASON IN A FEW ARTICLES
IMAGE OF THE SEASON
Isn’t he beautiful there Kemba? A hopeful image that made many Knicks fans smile. Yes, we used the imperfect, because Kemba Walker has his place in the disappointments of the season on the side of New York. He arrived with the ambition to take the lead and dictate the game of Tom Thibodeau’s squad, but his level has, it seems, remained for three years in North Carolina. His game is not fluid, not consistent, there are no connections with his teammates and Kemba is not successful in shooting. The point guard is a starter every time he plays, but stays on average “only” 25.6 minutes on the floor (the lowest total of his career) and his stat lines have never been so low. He signs personal records in the negative in terms of points per game (11.6), assists (3.5), rebounds (3), or even steals and blocks. So obviously, when you have fewer minutes, it doesn’t help, but if Kemba plays less, it’s because he’s not at the level he was able to display during his career. He presents a calamitous January and February, at 7.8 and 8.3 points per game respectively, with parking averages at 24% and 30%. It was too much for the New York staff who decided to dismiss him in mid-February, and Kemba Walker’s move to the Knicks turned into a sad failure, like the franchise’s season.
WE WERE WAITING FOR IT, IT HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT
RJ Barrett was coming off a good sophomore season, so we were waiting for confirmation of his progress. He did better than that on regular. The 21-year-old fullback starts his season in the ranks of the previous one, averaging around 17 points per game in October and December, but a small dip in November when he is below 13 points. From 2022, the darling of New York takes on real responsibilities and raises his level of play. He takes more shots every evening and gains in success. He scored 21.8 pawns per game at 43.6% success in January, including a very clean 40.2% from the parking lot. A progression which continues in February, however tainted by a small ankle injury which makes him miss a few matches. The Canadian only plays six but averages 28.3 points, including a 46-pawn card for the Heat’s reception, his career high. He confirmed in March by taking more than 20 shots per evening and posted an average of 24.6 points with more than 40% success. Mister Barrett takes the reins of the team on more and more matches and the disappointing performances of Julius Randle centralize the role of the sosophomore, to the benefit of his emancipation in the franchise. He finally achieves a 2021-2022 season with 70 games on his clock, at 20 points on average against 17.6 last season. However, he has a lower shooting success percentage this season with 40.8% compared to 40.1% last season. This is the black point of his regular.
WE EXPECTED IT, IT DISAPPOINTED
Julius Randle is the 2020-2021 MIP, and the leader of a team that aimed this season to wait a few more weeks to take stock. We expected a lot more from the interior of the Knicks. If last season was one where the team lived in perfect harmony, the same cannot be said for this regular and Randle is the main cause. On the floor, he scored 20.1 points against 24.1 last season, and that already makes a huge difference. He is also much less impactful for his team, misses more shots, especially at 3-point where he was a real danger last season. On this regular, it runs at 30.8% parking success, with almost as many attempts, for 41.1% in 2020-21. The interior, which was described as dominant, is nonchalant this season. He is much less present on both sides of the pitch and his relationship with the fans has completely deteriorated, as evidenced by his thumbs down sign sent to the MSG public. He had quickly apologized, but we cannot say that he is as much adored as last year, quite the contrary. For many fans, Julius Randle is now too much in this franchise, first on the pitch where he enjoys the highest average time on the court with 35.3 minutes, impinging on the development of youngsters like Obi Toppin. The MIP also takes up a lot of space in the Knicks’ payroll. Thanks to his big 2020-21 season, Julius Randle signed an extension to his contract last August, with $ 117 million over four years. This necessarily prevents the arrival of potential recruits to reinforce the workforce, especially since Julius Randle no longer has the same impact on his people as before. Franchise star one year, problem for this one another, how tough is this NBA.
THE FOLLOWING
The summer moves will be the turning point of the future of the franchise, both for next season and for the next. A highlight: how to manage the Julius Randle case mentioned a little earlier? If he already has one foot out, a franchise will have to align himself with prices that suit him. In any case, it would surely give a good breath of fresh air to the Knicks workforce and free up playing time for youth development. Obi Toppin could be the 4th starting position in the event of departure from MIP 2021, RJ Barrett would take the keys to the truck of a team in reconstruction which could have great ambitions with talented players, including Evan Fournier who can do better than this season 2021-22. But who knows? What if Julius regains the dominance shown last season? If he left on a regular one where he is the leader of a competitive team with an RJ Barrett who explodes everything? One idea seems much more plausible than another, but neither can be ruled out. Tom Thibodeau, despite his difficulties in finding consistency in the game and in the rotations of the Knicks, should remain at the helm according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. A future filled with questions, which could give rise to surprises and we can’t wait to see the movements of the offseason, which will set the tone for the future of New York.
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