The New York Knicks are entering a new era of basketball with Phil Jackson running the team and Derek Fisher calling the shots every game. What that new era of basketball would look like, remains to be seen but a lot of that will have to do on how J.R Smith will turn out in the 2014-15 season. He won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award just two seasons ago but didn't quite show up as many people would expect him to last season.
Carmelo Anthony will continue to become the unstoppable force on the offensive end that the league has known him throughout his career but he needs the J.R Smith two years ago if the Knicks are to become a competitive team in the East. For head coach Derek Fisher, he needs to utilize Smith according to his strengths especially in the triangle offense. But what are Smith's strengths exactly? Shooting and driving to the rim per Evan Massey of Hoops Habit:
Smith is much more effective when he shoots the three or gets to the rim. Unfortunately for the Knicks, he settled for lesser quality mid-range jump shots last season. If he wants to fix his game this coming season, he will need to focus on getting back to what makes him most effective.
Indeed, Smith's success will depend heavily on how he will be able to utilize his shooting prowess into the triangle offense. Over dribbling has always been an issue for him in the past and that kind of play is a no-no in the triangle. What the Knicks, need therefore, is for Smith to become a spot three-point shooter and not a creator per ESPN New York:
The 28-year-old hit 45 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts last season, including 46.2 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s last season, per SportVU. That 3-point percentage was the sixth highest among players who attempted at least 1.5 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game, according to the stats site.
The triangle offense should make J.R Smith a more efficient scorer next season since it eliminates his tendency to over dribble while at the same time emphasizing his catch-and-shoot game which is already among the best in the NBA.
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