Knicks - Pelicans PG: RJ CAME TO PLAY

[Adelheid]

defensive rating takes pace out of its calculation though.

Fair enough. Without being that into all of this, I still think the commitment to taking a lot of 3's (long rebounds) and getting out in transition leads to more scoring, so defensive rating will take something of a hit.

I'm not that worried about it. I think it's a combination of things. Small sample size mostly, pace somewhat, Kemba and Fournier for Elf and Bullocks, but I don't think they matter as much as some think they might.

Elf and Bullocks were good defenders, but it's a little exaggerated

Oh I'm not campaigning for either of those guys back. We clearly upgraded and when you have an option to trade for more offense over slightly worse defense you sign up for that 100 times out of 100.

But outside of Philly its not like we have played a powerhouse offensive team either. 2 games again ORL and 1 game against NOP with no Zion or Ingram. And we still have struggled a bit more then I would have hoped defensively.

Obviously if we stay in the top 3-5 in terms of offense defense wont matter much.

Evan defense aint bad though certainly not lockdown

[GONYK]

defensive rating takes pace out of its calculation though.

Fair enough. Without being that into all of this, I still think the commitment to taking a lot of 3's (long rebounds) and getting out in transition leads to more scoring, so defensive rating will take something of a hit.

I'm not that worried about it. I think it's a combination of things. Small sample size mostly, pace somewhat, Kemba and Fournier for Elf and Bullocks, but I don't think they matter as much as some think they might.

Elf and Bullocks were good defenders, but it's a little exaggerated

Oh I'm not campaigning for either of those guys back. We clearly upgraded and when you have an option to trade for more offense over slightly worse defense you sign up for that 100 times out of 100.

But outside of Philly its not like we have played a powerhouse offensive team either. 2 games again ORL and 1 game against NOP with no Zion or Ingram. And we still have struggled a bit more then I would have hoped defensively.

Obviously if we stay in the top 3-5 in terms of offense defense wont matter much.

The Knicks' defensive rating right now is almost identical to what it was at the end of last season

[mpharris36]

Fair enough. Without being that into all of this, I still think the commitment to taking a lot of 3's (long rebounds) and getting out in transition leads to more scoring, so defensive rating will take something of a hit.

I'm not that worried about it. I think it's a combination of things. Small sample size mostly, pace somewhat, Kemba and Fournier for Elf and Bullocks, but I don't think they matter as much as some think they might.

Elf and Bullocks were good defenders, but it's a little exaggerated

Oh I'm not campaigning for either of those guys back. We clearly upgraded and when you have an option to trade for more offense over slightly worse defense you sign up for that 100 times out of 100.

But outside of Philly its not like we have played a powerhouse offensive team either. 2 games again ORL and 1 game against NOP with no Zion or Ingram. And we still have struggled a bit more then I would have hoped defensively.

Obviously if we stay in the top 3-5 in terms of offense defense wont matter much.

The Knicks' defensive rating right now is almost identical to what it was at the end of last season

I understand, its also a lot easier to play defense this year with the refs overcompensating with limiting foul calls for non basketball related moves. With guys like Harden/Trae/Lillard not getting those same fouls.

Read on Twitter

considering OFF ratings are way down and TS% is also down like 2pts from last year. We also haven't played the most dominant schedule.

Its a very small sample size but we clearly are worse defensively and that is with Mitch back being really helpful shutting down the paint otherwise it could look a lot worse then last year.

I'm not terribly concerned right now because our offense isn't just slightly better its taken a major leap where we are considered one of the top offenses in the entire league. So its a trade off for putting a really strong offensive unit out there. I just wouldn't downplay the defense especially when it comes to playoff time.

[GONYK]

Oh I'm not campaigning for either of those guys back. We clearly upgraded and when you have an option to trade for more offense over slightly worse defense you sign up for that 100 times out of 100.

But outside of Philly its not like we have played a powerhouse offensive team either. 2 games again ORL and 1 game against NOP with no Zion or Ingram. And we still have struggled a bit more then I would have hoped defensively.

Obviously if we stay in the top 3-5 in terms of offense defense wont matter much.

The Knicks' defensive rating right now is almost identical to what it was at the end of last season

I understand, its also a lot easier to play defense this year with the refs overcompensating with limiting foul calls for non basketball related moves. With guys like Harden/Trae/Lillard not getting those same fouls.

Read on Twitter

considering OFF ratings are way down and TS% is also down like 2pts from last year. We also haven't played the most dominant schedule.

Its a very small sample size but we clearly are worse defensively and that is with Mitch back being really helpful shutting down the paint otherwise it could look a lot worse then last year.

I'm not terribly concerned right now because our offense isn't just slightly better its taken a major leap where we are considered one of the top offenses in the entire league. So its a trade off for putting a really strong offensive unit out there. I just wouldn't downplay the defense especially when it comes to playoff time.

In 2003, there were 12 teams with a DRTG of under 101. I would be absolutely shocked if that were the case in 2021.

I think teams are just adjusting to the new rules and having crowds back.

Now are the Knicks worse defensively? Probably. But I think we even out in the 12ish range, not in the bottom 10.

[K_ick_God]

Goes without saying but blowing leads and keeping others teams close will obviously lead to a significant amount of L's.