Carmelo Anthony

New York Knicks: Brandon Jennings Acknowledges Need For Ball Movement

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:58 p.m. ET

Fansided, Maxwell Ogden/FanSided via Daily Knicks

New York Knicks sixth man Brandon Jennings is siding with the numbers when it comes to the debate about how the team should approach offensive execution.

The New York Knicks run isolation plays with the third-highest frequency of any team in the NBA. In contrast to what one would expect from a team that places a heavy emphasis on one-on-one basketball, New York ranks No. 21 in the Association in field goal percentage on isolation plays.

Following the Knicks’ 119-114 loss to the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day, sixth man Brandon Jennings seemed to express his support of the need to move the ball.

Carmelo Anthony recently stated that the Knicks need to, “Stay with,” their approach to isolation basketball. His reasoning was that, “If something is working you don’t want to go away from it,” although the numbers imply it isn’t working.

According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Jennings liked a tweet from the Bullyup.com Twitter handle that criticized New York’s refusal to move the ball.

Jennings signaled the rips were merited. After the Knicks mustered only 11 assists Sunday, Jennings liked a tweet from the Bullyup.com Twitter handle criticizing their style: “KNICKS Rely way too much on a jumpshot, they need to move the [ball].”

The numbers support Jennings and the previously alluded to tweet.

Not only is New York in the bottom 10 of efficiency in isolation, but it’s losing far more often than it wins when it refuses to move the ball. 30 games into the 2016-17 NBA regular season, the sample size is big enough to value.

Thus far in 2016-17, the Knicks are just 1-9 when they fail to accumulate at least 20 assists.

By comparison, the Knicks are 15-5 when they record at least 20 assists.

Jennings has been the primary facilitator for the Knicks in 2016-17, as evidenced by his average of 5.4 assists per game. New York is 3-1 when Jennings has at least 10 assists and 9-2 when he records at least seven dimes.

Once again, the numbers support the belief that the Knicks are a better team when the ball is in motion instead of sticking to one player’s hands.

New York has far too many gifted scorers to abandon isolation offense, but the Knicks must continue to make opponents chase the ball.