Did Jalen Brunson's absence EXPOSE Knicks' playmaking depth?

New York Post

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00:00Jalen Brunson's list is questionable for tonight's matchup against his old squad,

00:04the Dallas Mavericks, and that's down in D-Town.

00:07The Knicks are still searching for their first road win of the season.

00:10So let's talk some Knicks basketball with Alex Chitaros of Knicks Fan TV.

00:15Alex, let's go straight into this one, man,

00:17because everyone's talking about if Captain Clutch is going to be back in the lineup tonight.

00:21He got some work in pregame on Monday before that heat loss,

00:25and if all goes well, it looks like he is going to play tonight.

00:28This is a guy that's averaging 28 on the season,

00:31but his player prop bet tonight is set at 26.5 against the Mavs.

00:37Are you taking the over or the under on his return from that same ankle

00:41that he missed some time with last season?

00:44I would take the under on this one.

00:47I know it's not a lot of time that he missed,

00:50but still, you want to give players a little bit of flexibility

00:53when they return to get back into some sort of rhythm.

00:56We don't know the pain that he's doing with and what his pain tolerance is,

00:59so I wouldn't feel too confident in going with the over.

01:03I mean, look, there's always a possibility because, look, this is his former team.

01:07He played against Dallas.

01:08He's back in the city that he started in when he entered the league.

01:10There's always that possibility,

01:12but I would lean on the cautious side in saying that, you know what?

01:16He's coming back from an ankle injury.

01:18Let's give him a little breathing room for him to work back his magic.

01:21Well, with Brunson down, it doesn't look like the Knicks have that guard that can create.

01:28So you think the Knicks need to pick up the phone and maybe call a guy or call a team

01:33where they can acquire another guard who can create and make plays

01:36to get other guys involved in the offense?

01:39I know Deuce McBride is a shooter, and there's still question marks on Tyler Collick.

01:43Yeah, I mean, I think it's still a little too early in the season to, you know,

01:48pull the panic button and say we don't have enough guards that can create for themselves.

01:51We still got Jordan Clarkson.

01:53He's been playing phenomenal.

01:54I mean, every time he gets the opportunity to step on the court,

01:56he's been, you know, averaging double digits,

01:59scoring-wise being a highly efficient scorer, shooting over 50% from the field.

02:03And on top of that, he does have some playmaking as well.

02:05He's played more control than we've seen him at other stops throughout his time in the league.

02:10So I'd give him still some time to see what Jordan Clarkson can do.

02:13Obviously, Deuce McBride, not going to be your guard that gets downhill frequently enough

02:18like Jalen Brunson or even Jordan Clarkson.

02:20But still, you want to give some guys the opportunity to, you know,

02:24show what they can do throughout the regular season.

02:26But if the season continues and we see that we don't have another guard

02:29that can do that consistently outside of Jalen Brunson,

02:32then maybe, yeah, you start looking for another guard that can do that.

02:35And who knows?

02:36Maybe Tyler Collick decides to impress man and come through on the clutch.

02:40He was Big East Player of the Year at Marquette, man.

02:43I watched him at the Garden one night in college, and he was, I mean, he was nice with it.

02:47And he's a fan favorite, so hopefully he can kind of turn that corner,

02:51play himself into some more minutes.

02:53But we talk about this team's identity under Mike Brown offensively.

02:57We see them chucking up a lot more threes this season.

03:00But on the defensive side of the basketball, I was about to say football,

03:03on the defensive side of the basketball, their three-point defense is almost one of the worst in the league.

03:11Do you think that's something that's fixable without slowing down that high-paced offense that Mike Brown brought in?

03:18I think it is something that is tweakable, not fully fixable, because what we saw last year during the regular season,

03:26because let's remember, Brandon, this is an issue that was under the same thing under Tom Thibodeau with this team

03:31and with the same starting six, seven, whatever you want to call it, right?

03:35And when you look at what they did last year, they were still in the basement of three-point shots allowed and made against them, right?

03:44Now, they ranked what was 23rd last year during that regular season,

03:49and what they were able to do during the postseason was jump up to being top 10 in three-point defense.

03:56Now, the percentage dropped from 37 to 36, so that's why I say it's a tweak.

04:00They could drop it down by a percentage.

04:01They can jump up in the rankings a bit throughout the postseason,

04:06but it's not something that I don't think is going to be fully fixable based on the roster that you have here.

04:11And if you're going to have OG missing some time as well at this point,

04:14I don't think that they're going to fully cure that as well.

04:17Also, let's keep in mind that if Mitch is not going to play every single game,

04:21which is also a big impact as to why they were able to guard the three,

04:25because if you're going to turn people away from the paint,

04:27then they're going to start to shoot a little bit more threes, right?

04:30And then if you're going to shoot more threes, you can stay home on the perimeter.

04:35But since Mitch is going to be in and out this regular season,

04:38OG's dealing with an injury as right now,

04:40and we can't predict the future as who else will be in and out of the lineup.

04:43I can't say that this three-point defense will be fully fixed,

04:47but once they get to the postseason,

04:49I do believe that Mike Brown will have these guys fine-tune everything,

04:52stay home on defense, and that's where we're going to see Mitchell Robinson.

04:55I think all that will come together,

04:56and I think their three-point defense will be much better than what we're seeing during the regular season.

04:59All right, keep it what the kids call a buck with me on this one,

05:04because the Knicks are 0-4 on the road this season, 0-1 on this road trip.

05:11The Rangers can't win at the Garden, but the Knicks can win at the Garden and can't win on the road.

05:16It's really weird between these two teams.

05:18The next three for the Knicks are away games,

05:21so tell us, what is this team going to tell you about themselves and their identity these next three away games?

05:29Let's slow the panic button down a little bit, Brandon.

05:32Let's slow the panic button down.

05:33You've got to win games on the road in the playoffs.

05:35Hey, man.

05:36I hear you.

05:37I hear you, but I think it's still too early.

05:39It's only four games.

05:40It's only played four games on the road this season.

05:43Let's give them a break.

05:44I think tonight against Dallas, they're going to get their first road win.

05:48But look, I do agree with you that you've got to prove yourself you've got to win on the road,

05:51but I think this team is still finding themselves out.

05:54I mean, they're doing a great job at home, right?

05:56But I think, look, tonight they're going to get their first win on the road against Dallas.

05:59Dallas is just a team that's very much in the basement as of right now.

06:04I'll be kind to them.

06:05I'll be kind to them, Brandon.

06:06But this weekend, Saturday, against the Orlando Magic,

06:09that's going to be the bigger test because we saw what they did to them in the Garden.

06:13Can New York take it to them on the road?

06:15That will be the biggest test.

06:16And then to me, when you start seeing how the Knicks are playing against physical teams on the road,

06:20that will kind of give me a better barometer of where to gauge this team

06:25in terms of like physicality and the capability of rising to the occasion.

06:29I'll take my hand off the panic button then.

06:31I'll put it back into my pocket.

06:33But when they lose tonight, though, I'm hitting it like it's bingo.

06:38I'm putting my hand down like it's bingo.

06:41And I wouldn't blame you, my man.

06:42All right, all right.

06:43Appreciate you hopping over with us as always, my guy.

06:47Appreciate you as always, Brandon.

06:48Thank you for having me on.

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