New high-tech data shows challenges Knicks, Carmelo face

I’m a big proponent of teams getting information — use traditional scouts, use advanced stats, both coaches and general managers should be getting as much data as they can to help inform their choices.

But that information doesn’t always provide easy answers. Just ask the New York Knicks.

One wealth of new information some teams have tapped into is from STATS LLC, the company that puts 10 cameras in an NBA arena and can track and record every move a player makes. Want to know how well a player shoots after two dribbles vs. a catch-and-shoot, they can give you accurate data and overlay it with spots on the floor. It can measure a player’s speed, leaping ability, everything and give a team good scouting information on an opponent.

And good scouting on a team itself. Which brings us back to the Knicks — STATS has cameras in Madison Square Garden and shared a slice of the information with Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated. Information that raises questions for how the Knicks run their offense with Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amare Stoudemire all on the floor.

Of all players who drove the ball at least 40 times in camera-recorded games last season, Anthony proved to be the most efficient of anyone in the league. The Knicks scored 1.66 points per possession on trips that included an Anthony drive (from 20 feet out to 10 feet in) at any point in the possession….

But here’s the thing: Despite all those touches and more isolation plays than any player in the entire league (as a share of his total possessions, per Synergy Sports), Anthony only pulled off only 3.1 drives per game in the sample size. That mark was equivalent to the numbers for Chandler Parsons and Luol Deng, a bit below those for Kevin Durant (3.6) and Paul Pierce (3.7) and about half to one-third of the number that most point guards recorded.

Read Lowe’s entire piece but the numbers crystalize the problem — Anthony is better when he gets the ball farther away from the basket and drives than when he shoots a contested 20-foot jumper. Which is obvious, but Anthony takes a lot of contested jumpers.

As he did in the Olympics, Anthony was more effective as a power forward who could stretch the floor and drive the lane with the Knicks.

But there is not a lot of room for Anthony to drive into the lane when you have Tyson Chandler hanging out near the basket and now Stoudemire in that area after having worked on his post game all summer with Hakeem Olajuwon. Stoudemire struggled from the elbow last season so him going to post more makes sense for him.

It’s a question of spacing and getting guys the ball where they can succeed. Last season the Knicks scored just 95 points per 100 possessions when ‘Melo, Stoudemire and Chandler were all on the floor, and that was near the bottom of the league. That has to change for the Knicks to succeed. Change like more Carmelo at the four, except that is Stoudemire’s position and if you move him to the five what about Chandler?

Philadelphia coach Doug Collins loves puzzles (crosswords in particular) and loves to say that fitting NBA talent together is a fun and challenging puzzle on any team.

But Mike Woodson and the Knicks have a more challenging puzzle than most.