Knicks' Quentin Grimes details how he plans to step up offensive game this season
CHARLESTON, SC - If you’re an NBA fan, it’s hard to miss JJ Redick these days.
He’s one of the top basketball analysts at ESPN. He’s on First Take; he works game broadcasts. He hosts a popular NBA podcast, The Old Man and the Three.
Redick’s media gigs probably fill up most of his schedule these days. But he still finds time to get on the basketball court.
And that may benefit the Knicks this season.
Redick spent two days working with Quentin Grimes this summer in the Hamptons. Grimes told SNY in August that the workouts were two of the best days of his offseason.
The third-year guard talked about the workouts in detail after Wednesday’s practice. Part of the work involved setting up the defender to improve the quality of your shot.
“How to set 'em up, how to come down, how to get even just two more feet of space cause that’ll open up more on my shot,” Grimes said. “…So just little things like sprinting all the way over to the deep corner instead of just maybe stopping at the break to get that extra bit of space. Because that’s the big part in the NBA: It’s not the big things. It’s the little things.”
Redick worked with Grimes on the nuances of the shooting guard position. Memphis’ Penny Hardaway worked with him on ball-handling.
Grimes said Hardaway helped him with "reading the floor better, coming off pick and rolls, making the right reads, attacking the basket, pull-up… transition threes. Being a primary ballhandler. Kind of getting that feel for when I get the rebound and push it all the way up court. Make a play for me and my teammates.”
Tom Thibodeau and assistant coach Darren Erman have encouraged Grimes to be aggressive when he sees an opportunity on offense.
He will start again at shooting guard for the Knicks. But with Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett in the starting lineup, it may be tough for Grimes to find more opportunities to shoot. If they’re there, he won’t be shy about taking them. But Grimes also has no problem playing a complementary role in the starting unit.
He talked on Wednesday about playing off of Barrett and the other starters.
“If (Barrett) drives, heavy driver, so if they collapse on him, he knows he can hit me if I’m shaking up, if I’m sliding to the corner. So I feel like our relationship is getting better,” Grimes said. “Julius, Jalen, they know. Like if Jalen’s driving, I can slide up, shake up, take a wing three, slide to the corner, stuff like that. These guys are slowly integrating (it) as we get to know each other’s game more as we go through practices.”
Grimes shot 38.6 percent from beyond the arc last season. He averaged 8.5 shot attempts in 30 minutes per game. The attempts may go up this season, but Grimes won’t be forcing shots if they aren’t there.
“I feel like it’s not really a matter of who has the ball, who doesn’t have the ball,” Grimes said when asked if he wanted a bigger role on offense. “Just spacing, making the right reads really.”
Grimes helped the Knicks establish one of the top offenses in the league last season. And he made a significant impact on defense, often defending the opponent’s best perimeter scorer. So his play this season will be crucial for a Knick team looking to make progress off of last season (47 wins, playoff series win). If they take a step forward, it will likely be due, in part, to Grimes’ play. If that happens, you can credit Redick and Hardaway for an assist.
THROUGH THIBS’ EYES
If you want to know how Thibodeau evaluates his defense, here’s what to look for:
“Are you keeping the ball out of the paint? Are you limiting your opponent to one shot? Are you challenging shots correctly? Are you working as a unit? Defensively, field goal percentage, rebounding, rebounding margin, three-point field goal percentage, those are the things that are important to me,” Thibodeau said on Wednesday. “And I think we were sixth in fast break points allowed (last season). Those are the things that really matter. I’ve looked at those things over - I haven’t seen a defensive rating system yet (that encompasses a team/players performance) and I’ve studied it pretty hard for a long time.
“To me it’s the trained eye; what are things that you value that you think are important to winning? Over time, field goal percentage has always been at the top of the list, rebounding margin is always at the top of the list. Do you challenge shots correctly? Are you making your opponent take the shots that you want them to take? Are you taking the value shots out of the game? Those are the things I mention.”
Here’s part of what Thibodeau looks for when evaluating individual players:
“How do you make the team function well? That’s the most important thing,” he said Wednesday. “To me, if you say ‘What’s the number one stat?’ I’d say net rating; how many points you’re scoring and how many points you’re giving up. When you look at that, you’re getting true value. How do you fit into it? Are you playing smart? Do you have great concentration? Are we eliminating mental errors as a team? Those are the things that are important because in big games all the little things matter.”
