New York Knicks

Shane Larkin is trying to be more aggressive

Published Nov. 13, 2015 1:09 p.m. ET

foxsports

Shane Larkin has never proven to be a worthy NBA talent ever since the Mavericks drafted him in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. Now though, in his third year and on his third team, Larkin is attempting to change his M.O. around the league.

The Nets backup point guard has actually gotten off to a decent start in Brooklyn, his best performance coming Wednesday evening, when he went for 15 points and eight boards in just 23 minutes. The show came during the 1-7 Nets' first victory of the season.

Larkin attributed that strong line to a new mentality. From Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:

To Larkin's credit, the numbers are backing up that new kind of aggression. He's averaging more shot attempts per 36 minutes than he ever has before. His 19.2 percent usage rate, meanwhile, is a career high and is a massive leap on his diminutive 13.6 percent from last season with the Knicks, when he almost never shot the ball.

“I was just being aggressive, playing my game,” Larkin said. “I don’t think I’ve really been as aggressive as I should be, and it’s worked to my favor.”

That lack of aggression was apparent in the box scores. Though Larkin was getting consistent minutes — he and Jarrett Jack have played virtually all of the meaningful minutes at point guard this season — Larkin wasn’t doing much in his time on the floor — shooting no more than five times in five straight games after having six points, eight assists and three steals in the season opener against the Bulls on Oct. 28.

But Larkin said that after shooting just twice last Friday against the Lakers, he made it a point to let it fly more often. He shot seven times against the Bucks in Milwaukee on Saturday night before going 6-for-10 from the field — including 3-for-4 from 3-point range — against the Rockets, something he said he hopes to continue when the Nets look for a second win in a row Friday night against the Kings.

“The last couple games I’ve been trying to [be more aggressive],” Larkin said. “I didn’t make shots in Milwaukee, but I took them, and that’s something I’m going to keep continuing to do and see how it goes.”