New York Knicks: Five greatest areas of concern post-November

The New York Knicks are just a .500 team after the first full month of the season. There’s plenty of areas to be concerned.

There’s always drama surrounding the New York Knicks. A big difference this season is that the drama is coming from things happening on the court.

The Knicks are 9-9 (.500) after the month of November. Kristaps Porzingis took a giant leap forward in the offseason, and the Knicks should be excited about their future.

As far as 2016-17 goes, there are plenty of areas to be concerned. They spent a lot of money this summer to contend and right now they’re just in the eight seed.

After President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson proclaimed this year’s team a win-now squad, the expectations for success were immediately raised.

Carmelo Anthony wanted help on offense and Jackson, in turn, gave him the most talented roster he’s had during his time in New York.

Nearly a quarter of a season is in the books and so much hangs in the balance for this team that they need to improve sooner rather than later.

These are five areas the Knicks should be concerned about.

Joakim Noah

There’s no better place to start than with New York’s $72 million center. Joakim Noah has been injury-prone, mediocre on defense, and offensively inept. Who saw that coming?!

No one expects Noah to put up big scoring numbers. He didn’t even do that in his prime. But when you’re forcing your team into a 4-on-5 situation on offense you need to be the best defensive player on the floor.

He always was in Chicago. The Knicks paid the former Defensive Player of the Year big money for great defense and great rebounding, and so far they haven’t gotten either one.

Noah’s averaging his lowest rebound total (8.1) since his second season in the NBA and he’s allowing opponents to shoot 58.3% while defending the rim.

The Knicks are 3-0 without Noah after Wednesday night’s win, and Jeff Hornacek has already shown a willingness to bench his starting center down the stretch. If Noah’s slump continues, he could be moved out of the starting lineup entirely.

Rebounding

Per Basketball-Reference, the Knicks are ranked fifth in offensive rebound percentage (they miss a lot of layups) but just 29th in defensive rebound percentage.

New York’s rebounding weakness was exposed in their loss to Oklahoma City when they gave up 17 offensive rebounds and lost the battle on the boards 63-47. Enes Kanter and Steven Adams pushed New York’s big men around like rag dolls and did whatever they wanted in the paint.

The Knicks have a big front court — Joakim Noah (6-11), Kristaps Porzingis (7-3), Carmelo Anthony (6-8), Kyle O’Quinn (6-10), Willy Hernangomez (6-11) — by today’s NBA standards so they should not be losing the rebounding battle every night.

If things continue this way, the front office may need to acquire a big man.

Defense

After starting off the season 2-4 the Knicks appointed the lead assistant and media punching bag Kurt Rambis as their defensive boss.

It’s the kind of thing only the Knicks would do. Since the switch, they’ve gone 7-5, but their defensive numbers could be better.

They’re still allowing 108.5 points per 100 possessions (down from the 115.3 in those brutal first six games) and opponents to shoot .448 from the field.

Per NBA.com’s hustle stats, the Knicks are 28th in deflections and 27th in total shots contested.

Losing on the Road

After a pathetic Nov. 17 loss at Washington to the Wizards, Brandon Jennings called out his team for their performance on the road. The Knicks have played just two road games since and split the pair.

It’s not east to win on the road in the NBA, but the good teams get it done. The splits between New York’s home and away games are drastic.

In 10 games at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks have an offensive rating (points produced per 100 possessions) of 110.1 and a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 107.5.

In 8 games as the visitor, it’s like they’re a different team. The Knicks offensive rating dips to 105.1 and their defensive rating soars to 114.8.

If you want to contend, and the Knicks are desperate to, nothing makes a statement like a big road win.

Until the Knicks beat a good team on the road, no one will take them seriously.

Ball Movement

The Knicks offense is still inconsistent. It has moments of brilliance before becoming stagnant and isolation based.

Per NBA.com, they’re third in the league in passes made per game, but just 15th in assists and 22nd in assist to pass percentage.

Through 18 games, Jennings leads the team in assists with 4.9. Rose is right behind at 4.8.

Rose is in the top 20 of the league in passes made per game, but his average assist number and poor turnover number (2.7 per game) contributes to a lack of offensive harmony for the Knicks.

They still tend to drift too much towards iso ball in certain situations. That’s something that’ll need to change as the season progresses.

Chip Murphy covers the NBA for Elite Sports NY. You can find him on Twitter @ChipperMurphy.

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