These numbers reinforce the impression that the Knicks are an average to below average team defensively, though they handle the most common defensive situations at an average level. The frequency of spot up opportunities they defend makes sense given the nature of ‘D’Antoni teams to allow mid range jumpers. The frequency of transition, and post up opportunities also speaks to opposing teams’ scouting reports on the Knicks – the book is to take it inside against their weak interior defense, and run at them given their weaknesses in defending transition.

It’s actually a bit of a pleasant surprise that the team defends isolation situations decently relative to the rest of the league, and the transition defense isn’t as bad as one might have expected. Poor post up and off screen defense, and below average defense on cuts, are entirely consistent with the early poor play: in the first 10 games, frequently all it took was a simple elbow screen or back door cut for the opponents to score on the Knicks with little to no resistance.

Roughly 60% of the shots attempted by Knick opponents in the first 22 games were jump shots, where their points given up per shot attempt placed them in the 37th percentile, which rated them "Average". The other 40 percent of shots attempted were around the rim or on post ups, where the rating was a more dire "Poor" (yet again reinforcing the weakness of the interior). Looking more closely at the breakdown of the jumpshots,  44 percent of those were 3 pointers, where the Knick defense rated "Very Good".

Over the next 20 games, it's reasonable to expect there will be improvement in interior and mid-range defense, given the recent improved communication on defense, Jeffries’ increasing impact as a help defender, Chandler’s improving athleticism as he returns to full form after surgery, and Gallo’s continuing willingness to mix it up inside. With no real shot blocker or interior physical presence, though, the team will continue to be vulnerable inside.

*  The Starting Backcourt Has Been Solid, the Backups Less So. Chris Duhon and Larry Hughes have been adequate to good defenders in most situations – not excellent, with the notable exception of Duhon’s isolation score, but good to very good in most areas. Hughes has lost a step from his days as an elite defender, but he still does well keeping the opponents’ best guards in front of him, and playing passing lanes outstandingly (11th in the league in steals/48 minutes). Duhon usually has the assignment of the opposing shooting guard and sometimes even a small forward, and manages the mismatches as well as he can – only when he’s posted up against (presumably much bigger players) does he give ground. 

Douglas and Robinson, on the other hand, haven’t fared as well in their limited minutes. Douglas is a tenacious defender, but as a rookie he (understandably) doesn’t yet have a good understanding of opposing defenses and tendencies, and overplays and gambles a bit too much. Nate's defensive issues relate partly to physical limitations, and partly to focus. I admit to surprise at Nate’s excellent performance defending the ballhandler in the pick and roll, though a closer look at the numbers shows that he still goes under the screen two thirds of the time and has benefited (in his limited time) to mostly being assigned to guards that don’t punish this tendency with strong outside shooting. Otherwise, both Nate and Toney struggle with getting out on shooters and being isolated against bigger or quicker guards. (Toney is, for now, the first guard off the bench, for a number of reasons I’ll discuss in a future post.) 

*  Defense From the Wing Players Has the Most Opportunity For Improvement.  Chandler and Gallinari are both coming off surgery and off season recovery, and their defense seems to have suffered for it in the early going: Gallo is “below average” in defending spot up and isolation (though “excellent” in post defense). Chandler is very good in defending spot up jumpers, but rates below average in isolation and defending the post, and is “poor” in defending the ballhandler on the pick and roll.  There's been an active debate on how good a defender Wilson really is, but regardless of where you stand, I thought he’d be better so far.

In fairness to both players, the frequent early shifts in lineups forced some awkward (even by this team’s standards) matchups, like Chandler on Howard or Gallo on Igoudala. Wilson also bears the responsibility of guarding elite scorers almost every game. In the case of both players, though, there’s been a tendency to lose focus, lose track of the man and/or the ball, and (in Gallo’s case) fail to close out on shooters adequately. The good news is that these are two young players that show the greatest potential for improvement, and both have good defensive instincts and care about defense. 

*  Al Harrington May Be An Underrated Defender.  I’ve said it in the past, lots of fans continue to say it – Al Harrington doesn’t make you think of strong defense. He doesn’t block shots, rebounds like a smaller player, and makes waves almost exclusively for his mercurial scoring. If you play close attention though, Al holds his own as long as he isn’t physically overmatched – it’s the team defense aspect of his play (awareness of cutters, managing switches, weakside help, etc) that can blow hot and cold. This year, he seems to be a more committed defender. He has good hands that allow him to disrupt penetration if opposing wings or inside players get in the lane, and fans are familiar with his ability to pull the chair in the post once or twice a game. The Synergy numbers bear this out: Al is “very good” in isolation situations and “good” defending the post, and is “average” in defending spot up jumpers.

Conclusion

In summary, there is lots of room for improvement, and the shorter rotations and growing experience of the younger players will be important in getting the players to continue to communicate better, and get the defense up to a level where the team can be competent enough to compete for a playoff spot. The Knicks are not going to turn into the Celtics or Magic by the end of the season, but it's possible to get to a level where they can survive a less efficient offensive performance, and be able to get stops reliably in closely contested games against the second and third tier teams they will be competing against for playoff position.

There’s a bit more to share regarding Nate Robinson specifically, and that will be the subject of a future post– especially as it pertains to his current exile.