Last season, the Knicks broke every NBA 3-point-shooting record known to man and machine. They took more (2,371) 3-pointers and made more (891) than any team ever.
But now, their two best deep shooters, percentage wise, Steve Novak (.425) and Chris Copeland (.421), are gone along with Jason Kidd (.351), who was spectacular from deep early. No worries, the Knicks say. They still have Iman Shumpert (.402), Pablo Prigioni (.396), Carmelo Anthony (.379), Raymond Felton (.360) and J.R. Smith (.356).
Plus, they have imports Andrea Bargnani (.361 career), Beno Udrih (.352) and Metta World Peace (.342 career). But maybe most importantly, they still have coach Mike Woodson’s commitment to the 3-pointer.
“I’m not going to ever take that away,” Woodson said. “We got a lot of guys who can make them. The difference this year versus last year is we have guys who can post the ball and play inside out, like World, Melo, Bargnani. I might even post J.R. some and Iman. We’ll see.”
And though he is unproven, rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. can be a factor.
“We’ll miss Novak, but we’ll try to fill that void with Bargnani. We’ll miss Jason Kidd. But we have Tim Hardaway. He can definitely shoot the ball. He’s been shooting the ball extremely well this training camp so far,” Anthony said.
The Knicks had a lengthy session Sunday, but without contact. Shumpert, who skipped two practices with a sore right shoulder and then was limited for a third, was back on the court.
“He’s back shooting the ball. We held him back [Saturday], got his treatment so he’s back out on the floor,” Woodson said. “He could have had contact, but we stayed away from contact.”
Anthony wanted to see Derrick Rose play against Indiana Saturday in a preseason game, but he couldn’t.
“We couldn’t get it in the hotel. We was in the hotel, we was held hostage,” Anthony said, laughing. “I heard he looked good. I’m happy for him.”
Anthony reacted to World Peace’s praise of his “killer instinct” on the court.
“That’s just my mindset as a whole,” Anthony said. “Whether I show it emotionally, I don’t think I have to do that. My thing is to get out there and do what I have to do to win the basketball game to try to make everybody better. Having a killer instinct actually comes from within. I don’t actually have to show that I have a killer instinct. Either you have it or you don’t.”