Kurt Rambis basically called Knicks bunch of ball hogs
It didn't take Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis much time to give his real thoughts on the roster he took over Monday when the team fired Derek Fisher and put him in charge.
During the pregame presser before Tuesday's Knicks-Wizards game at Madison Square Garden, Rambis constantly hit home one point: connectivity. The Knicks, in his mind, hadn't been connected enough, especially of late.
Connected means reading the floor. It means making the right passes. It means covering for each other on defense. But Rambis was basically using "connectivity" as a code for the first 10ish minutes of his presser. Then, he got a little more telling when he unleashed this quote, essentially saying the Knicks were playing too selfish a brand to find success:
A lot of times, our guys are ignoring those simple basketball principles. Sometimes, they’re trying to search for their own shots too much and not allowing the team to find the best shot for themselves on each possession down the floor. And it’s frustrating for players when the right pass that should’ve been made to an open guy isn’t made because one guy tries to create his own shot at that particular juncture, so that player gets a little frustrated and it kind of perpetuates itself. So, when teams are connected and you see the teams that are, those elite teams, they do a great job of moving the basketball. That puts so much pressure on the defense to have to defend everybody and react to that ball. The ball can travel a lot faster than any player. So, we’ve got to get that process where guys are happier when their teammate makes a shot than when they make a shot.
The 23-31 Knicks rank in the bottom 10 in assist rate this season, but Rambis wasn't necessarily talking about the entire year. This was more about the last 10 games. Actually, he consistently mentioned the team needed to find a way to regather its success from a surprising 22-22 start.
"It’s not a matter of change. It’s just getting back," he said to begin his pregame presser Tuesday evening. "At one point in time, we were headed in the right direction."
The Knicks have lost nine of 10 since that 22-22 start, over which time the squad's assist rate is almost identical to its full-season one. They've actually thrown more passes during that stretch, too, according to NBA.com's SportVU data. But that doesn't necessarily disprove Rambis' point.
Knicks fans have complained plenty about the constant Arron Afflalo post-ups, though they might kvetch less if Afflalo kicked out for open shots more often. Carmelo Anthony, while still posting some of the best passing numbers of his career, is still prone to the contested shots, as well.
You can put some blame on the offense, too, though. The Knicks prioritize the midrange shot as much as any other offense in the league. Only the Timberwolves have attempted more jumpers from the midrange area. And when you're running plays and actions that give defenders less room to cover when they're trying to close out on you, you're going to take more shots with a hand in your face. You're going to take more shots that look like bad ones when the ball leaves your hands.
Rambis can change that, and the Knicks offense was better and more efficient early in the season, but the fact that he was so open about it only 24 hours after taking over for Fisher does give a little insight into some of the perceived issues from within the organization.