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The New York Knicks are 9-5 and in third place in the Eastern Conference, but for many, it's been a somewhat disappointing start to the season, as crazy as it might sound.
The Knicks are 7-3 over their last 10 games, so they deserve some credit for what they've been able to do on both ends of the court without Jalen Brunson for multiple games.
One unfortunate part of the Knicks' season is that star center Karl-Anthony Towns hasn't been playing the type of basketball he's used to.
Towns has had some decent games, but he’s scoring just 21.5 points per night, which would be the second-fewest he's scored since the 2018-19 season.
Towns is also shooting just 42.9% from the field and 31.7% from 3-point range, which would both be career lows in his NBA career, which started in 2015-16.
How can Karl-Anthony Towns improve?
Former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins believes there's an obvious fix to some of this. He believes that Towns spends too much time hanging around the perimeter searching for his 3-point shot and needs to be under the basket more.
“I don’t agree with his words because Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most skilled bigs we have ever seen. I just don’t like the Karl-Anthony Towns in this system because he’s hanging around the perimeter too much,” Perkins said.
“The underrated part of Karl-Anthony Towns is that he has low-post work. I think you have to have a balance. I believe in the first half, the Knicks were like 3 for 21 from three. And Karl-Anthony Towns had seven shot attempts, and two of them were in the paint off of pick-and-rolls and dunks. I just think when you have a guy that gifted, at some point, you have to say, ‘No, we gotta go to work,’” Perkins added on the Road Trippin’ Podcast.
It's tough to say Perkins is wrong, but it might also be unfair to say he's 100% accurate in his assessment.
The reality is that Towns is a very good 3-point shooter, and he helps open up the Knicks’ offense.
If he can mix that in while being under the basket and scoring around the rim, it'd give the Knicks an even better chance of winning it all this year.
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