After an exciting opening day win against Boston, New York promptly dropped four of their next five games and were left scrambling for answers. One of the chief concerns was a lack of consistent offense. Three out of those four losses during that stretch contained brutal offensive outputs. Fans and observers alike questioned whether the Knicks were destined to be a train wreck all season. However, recent wins against Washington and Detroit (I know, I know, not exactly Murderer’s Row) have shown that New York is at least taking steps in the right direction.

The Knicks major problem on offense has been the lack of a true playmaker to fit Mike D’Antoni’s spread pick and roll system. While eliminating a vast majority of that pick and roll action was certainly an option, it would perhaps move away from New York’s biggest strength; explosive roll men. Amare Stoudamire and Tyson Chandler, while not Nick Collison-esque screeners, are incredibly dangerous because of the speed and effectiveness they display diving to the rim after a ballscreen. Rookie Josh Harrelson can also be a force screening on the ball in Glen Davis-type way, using his big, wide body to get the on-ball defender caught up on the screen and allowing the offense to play with a man advantage.

Even though their ballhandlers will never be confused with Steve Nash, the pick and roll is still a dangerous action for them due to the aforementioned screening trio (and even Carmelo Anthony). So instead of crossing their fingers and hoping someone on their roster becomes a pick and roll savant in a shortened season filled with little to no practice time, the Knicks have decided to run the action itself more frequently. In a sense, they have replaced the quest for quality with pure quantity. Everyone has a green light to run a pick and roll and they look to run pick and rolls early, often and with an added emphasis on ball movement out of them.

In the first quarter of the Detroit game, New York had every member of their starting unit, minus Chandler, handle off a ballscreen (yes, even Stoudamire). In the following video showcasing the first half of the first quarter, you’ll see the following screening combinations (with the ballhandler listed first and the result of the possession in parenthesis):

Possession 1: Shumpert-Chandler (Melo 3pt FG)
Possession 2: Shumpert-Anthony, Stoudamire-Chandler (Shumpert 3pt FG)
Possession 3: Shumpert-Chandler, Fields-Stoudamire (Fields shooting foul)
Possession 4: Anthony-Chandler (Chandler dunk)

In just four trips down the floor the Knicks used six screening combinations (from about every area other than the middle of the floor) that resulted in ten points. Here a video of them:

Thanks to this diverse approach, New York cruised to a 25-18 lead with three minutes left in the quarter. However, they started the second quarter with only a one point advantage thanks to series of possessions that lacked any real flow.

In the first clip of the following video, Carmelo Anthony has a great opportunity to run a corner pick and roll with Chandler off of ball reversal from a transition drag screen between Toney Douglas and Josh Harrelson. Melo, instead of making the Pistons defend another tough action, holds the ball and ends up shooting a contested 3-pointer in the corner.

The second clip contains a step-up screen between Chandler and Douglas. This time the ball doesn’t even change sides of the floor and the Knicks get a contested mid-range two (one of the worst shots in basketball) as a result. The next play has plenty of ballscreen action, but the ball is moved more with the dribble than the pass and the result is a Melo isolation post up with very little time left on the shot clock.

The final clip is the last possession of the quarter. With twelve seconds to play with, the Knicks choose to simply post up Anthony on the right side of the floor. Take a look:

The result of those four possessions? A scintillating zero points. It is clear that when they don’t get to a second pick and roll or lack crisp ball movement/reversal, the Knicks are far less dangerous, even though Anthony is so dangerous in isolation.

That being said, it doesn’t mean the Knicks need to stray away from creating isolation opportunities for their big stars. In fact, an equal opportunity system with a commitment to ball movement will actually make things easier on both of them to get their points, Carmelo in particular. In the following video, we’ll see the Knicks swing the ball to the corner out of transition, reverse it back to the other side of the floor while looking for isolation post-ups from both Stoudamire (strongside) and Anthony (weakside). The result is Anthony re-posting against a shifting defense for a paint score. Check it out:

Obviously, the second quarter shooting spree that blew the game wide open will make any offense look good. But once Mike Bibby stops with the illusion that he’s still an NBA player, New York will have to find consistent sources of points outside of Anthony. Their quantity versus quality approach may just do the trick. If their stars (particularly Anthony) continue to buy in (and most importantly, move the ball), New York could have a system that helps them maintain success on the offensive end of the floor.

Follow Brett on Twitter