Practice was over. At least technically it was. But the teaching continued.
Iman Shumpert, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and coaches Mike Woodson and Herb Williams remained on the court at the Knicks practice facility yesterday going through an extra session of the high pick-and-roll defense.
It’s amazing how something that sounds so simplistic can be so complicated. The Knicks had used the final portion of their formal practice to rehearse the essential principles of attacking, reading and reacting. But mastering the techniques has been a struggle.
Opposing point guards from Jrue Holiday in Philadelphia to John Wall in Washington to the Clippers’ Chris Paul have been burning the Knicks lately using the pick-and-roll. Hence, the extra session yesterday in preparation for tonight’s game against the Raptors at the Garden.
“It’s not that hard,” Shumpert said of defending the pick-and-roll. “I think we make it harder than it really is. We’re just overthinking it too much. We just have to get back to being aggressive and talking aggressive. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
Shumpert might be right. The way the Knicks questioned each other yesterday, however, it seemed they weren’t close to being on the same page. It looked like training camp all over again. The high pick-and-roll is not easy to defend, which is why the Knicks need to keep Shumpert and avoid any temptation of trading him for more offense.
With so few pieces on the Knicks roster worth exchanging, Shumpert’s name is surfacing in trade rumors. Let’s hope they’re just rumors.
It’s way too early to give up on Shumpert for several reasons. The second-year player is the Knicks’ best perimeter defender, which isn’t saying much playing next to Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd — not exactly Darrelle Revis in sneakers. Trading Shumpert would only weaken an already challenged defense.
Plus, we haven’t seen the best of Shumpert this season. It’s been less than a month since he returned to action following knee surgery and he’s still not 100 percent.
“His lateral movement is not there yet,” Woodson said of Shumpert. “Just watching him on tape, that was so fluid last season. But that will come. The more he plays and the more he gets his confidence back in being able to push off and move, it’ll come.”
Shumpert’s footwork, balance and timing should get better. Last season, he was the Knicks’ best defender in front of Tyson Chandler. This year, he has done more chasing than stopping.
“I think right now he’s just reaching a little too much defensively and he’s getting beat instead of moving his feet,” Woodson said. “To me, that’s a guy who hasn’t had much court time.”
Shumpert needs to improve his play if the Knicks are going to be a factor this season. They don’t need his scoring as much as they need his defense. When he starts to play instinctively instead of thinking so much, he’ll begin to play like he did last season.
“I’ve just got to get more aggressive on both sides of the court … a lot more talking, a lot more playing, just having fun again,” Shumpert said. “I think early on in the year, all across the board, we were way more aggressive and now we’ve just been real passive. It’s something we have to correct and we know we have to correct.”
The Knicks look like a team that will stand pat as the Feb. 21 trade deadline passes. First, they’ll get through tonight’s game and exhale during the All-Star break before the final two months of the regular season.
“I feel good about the makeup of our ball club,” Woodson said. “We’ve just got to rethink some things and get back mentally focused on what’s at hand and come back ready for the final push.”
That includes Shumpert, who still has far too much upside to consider trading.