NFL
By Monte Perez
The NBA Season is a marathon, not a sprint. NBA fans tend to panic if their team struggles early on. The Milwaukee Bucks looked terrible last year in the regular season and the Atlanta Hawks fired their coach, Lloyd Pierce, after a 14-20 start. Both teams made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The New York Knicks acquired Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker in the off-season. So far, the moves have paid off. The Knicks have a record of 7-4 and are 5th in the Eastern Conference.
Head Coach, Tom Thibodeau, appears to be evolving. At least 9 New York Knicks players have played in 10 games and Taj Gibson has played in 6 games. He is not loading up his starters with heavy minutes every night. He also opened up the playbook on offense and the team has responded. The Knicks are 3rd in 3-point FG attempts (13.9) per game and 6th in 3-point FG percentage (36.5).
Julius Randle continues to be the Swiss Army Knife for New York. He is doing it all. Randle is averaging 22.5 points, 11 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. RJ Barrett is becoming a complete player on both sides of the ball. He defends opposing teams’ best player, he is averaging 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Fournier and Walker are stretching the defense with their outside shooting and averaging 29 points per game combined. Derrick Rose, Obi Toppin, and Immanuel Quickley have all provided sparks off the bench.
This is a team that will have highs and lows during the season, but they should be fun to watch. Madison Square Garden will be rocking and sold out for most home games. The Knicks will compete for a top 4 seed, but they do not have a high ceiling, this is not a championship team. Knicks fans need to enjoy the regular season and hope for the best-come playoff time. I expect them to win 48-52 games in 2021-22. If Barrett can become a legitimate 20-point per game scorer, the Knicks could advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Something they have only done once over the past twenty years.
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