Is OG Anunoby’s shooting slump a concern for Knicks?

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In an offseason of multiple surprise blockbuster trades, the Knicks re-signing OG Anunoby to a five-year, $213 million contract was understandably buried below the lede. It was almost a formality given New York traded two homegrown talents to acquire him the year prior. And while the price point has been debated in light of his injury history and offensive ceiling, his defensive impact and reliable three-point shooting made him such a strong fit that the deal was almost a no-brainer.

Still, taking home the second-largest salary on a competitive team — north of $40 million annually — comes with expectations. And while Anunoby’s defense has lived up to the hype and more, this recent shooting slump has held him and his team back on the offensive end as of late.

Is it run-of-the-mill seasonality, or something of real concern?

Anunoby opened the season in incendiary fashion, averaging 19.1 points on 52.4 percent shooting from the field and 42.2 percent from three over 17 games, capped off by a career-high 40-point performance against the Denver Nuggets. Since then he’s averaged 13 a night over nine games, shooting 38 percent from the field and 23.6 percent from downtown, recording four single-digit contests, which he hadn’t done since opening night.

His shot diet hasn’t changed materially from beyond the arc — he’s mostly getting open catch-and-shoot looks, just not connecting like he was. Up until the Denver game, Anunoby was well above a 40 percent clip on his spot-up attempts, and has been sub-30 percent since, even on wide open looks.

Break his deep looks out by location and there’s been some shifts. He leaned heavily on the above the break threes during his hot streak and has divided up his attempts more evenly since. Still, his shooting percentages have drastically fallen from every spot, so it’s likely nothing to do with geography.

This falloff appears below the arc as well. Anunoby shot 70.6 percent from the restricted area and 41.7 percent from mid-range up to the Nuggets game, compared to 60.8 percent and a startling 0-5 since, respectively.

This likely indicates something larger impacting his…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/og-anunoby-shooting-slump-concern-154806119.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-12-19 15:48:00

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