When the Knicks journeyed through Texas just over two weeks ago, one of the standout story lines was Iman Shumpert.
Shumpert torched the Spurs for a career-high 27 points in a stunning upset. The next night, he lit up Houston for 26 in a close loss. Two nights later in Dallas, he preserved a Knicks victory by scoring seven points in 50 seconds during gut-check time after the Mavs shaved a 19-point deficit to six.
In all those games, he defended like, well, Iman Shumpert when he’s defending.
Since then?
“That’s something we’ve got to sit down and talk about here in the next couple of days, because I need Iman to not only defend, but I need him to just play all-around, like he was playing on that Texas swing,” coach Mike Woodson said after Shumpert went scoreless Friday in a 109-95 loss to the Clippers.
In seven games since surging through Texas like a flash flood, Shumpert has shot 30.2 percent, scoring 5.2 points a game. Conversely, opposing starting guards he has defended in those seven games have shot 45.1 percent and scored 14.7 points. And that includes the Suns’ Gerald Green shooting just 2-of-16 with four points on Monday.
“We haven’t tied his hands,” Woodson said. “He’s still playing the minutes and he’s got the freedom to play. I don’t know if he’s down on his confidence or what.”
Shoot down the confidence angle, Shumpert insisted.
“I’m not losing any confidence,” he said. “I think the same shots are coming, you just got to knock them down. Everybody will say something about confidence or something going if you miss a couple of shots. You’ve just got to keep shooting.”
That was the identical advice offered by two of Shumpert’s shot-making teammates, Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith. Neither sees a change a Shumpert’s approach nor a drop in confidence.
“I don’t see anything,” Anthony said. “The five games we won, he was playing extremely well. At the end of the day, Iman will be another big piece to our team’s success. We need him to play the way he knows how to play.”
“He’s not one person to lose confidence,” Smith said. “He’s just got to keep shooting. He had a hell of a month shooting last month and early this month. He’s got to keep playing through it and if the shot’s not falling, do something else. He’ll get that. He’ll understand it.”
Woodson sounded as if he was prepared to stick with Shumpert. While showing some exasperation about the Knicks’ latest failure, he suggested lineup changes might jumpstart the Knicks. But he quickly dismissed a Smith-for-Shumpert proposal.
“I’m not ready to pull the string on that,” Woodson said. “I’m not throwing Iman to the curb. I just got to give him some love and try to build his confidence back up, because we need him.”