HOUSTON — Andrew Nembhard blew past Jalen Brunson and was greeted by a bear attack.
OG Anunoby, as he often does on the perimeter, left his project and lunged at Nembhard with a swift, two-handed swipe generated from a wrestler’s crouch.
“He pounces,” Josh Hart said. “He’s in a spot. He anticipates. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Nembhard, a Pacers guard, wanted no a part of Anunoby within the second quarter of last week’s Knicks victory.
He retreated along with his dribble, taking a pair steps behind the 3-point line before abandoning all plans of testing that side of the defense.
Nembhard switched to a pick-and-roll with Karl-Anthony Towns’ man, Myles Turner, and the sequence ended with an Indiana turnover.
“Nembhard was like, ‘Woah,’ ” Hart recalled Friday. “He was surprised.”
It’s easy to trace Nembhard’s thought process.
He fell into the bear trap in the primary quarter.
That point, Nembhard got a small step on Mikal Bridges and drove left into the center, committing a turnover because Anunoby lurked and lunged on the ball with that trademark low center of gravity.
“I don’t see it as gambling. I see it as being aggressive,” said Anunoby, whose wingspan is fairly big at 7-foot-2 on his 6-foot-7 body but looks even longer when he’s lunging to swipe a dribbler’s legs. “And making the offense uncomfortable. Not only allow them to do whatever they need. Just attempting to make them back up or pick up their dribble.”
Aggressiveness, calculated risk, whatever you wish to call it, Anunoby has earned the advantage of the doubt.
Through five games, and particularly within the three victories, he’s again demonstrated the defensive versatility and instincts that compelled the Knicks handy him the richest contract in franchise history at $212.5 million.
More so than Bridges — who has also been a solid defender because the ugly opening night in Boston — Anunoby is each strong and quick enough to modify on 90 percent of the NBA players, give or take. Within the win over Miami on Wednesday, for example, he defended Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Terry Rozier.
“[OG] does some wild stuff on that side of the ball,” Brunson remarked.
Two nights later, coach Tom Thibodeau was absolutely gushing after Anunoby helped force the Pistons into 22 turnovers.
“We know the way useful he’s to us,” Thibodeau said. “To me, he’s invaluable.”
Anunoby’s natural comparison is Luol Deng, a straightforward leap due to Thibodeau connection.
Deng was Thibodeau’s “invaluable” wing defender in Chicago, greater than a decade before Anunoby assumed the position.
But Thibodeau doesn’t do comparisons fairly often, and he avoided it with Anunoby.
“Each guy is exclusive, and there are things about him which might be so unique and different: His size, his strength, his speed, his anticipation, his ability to read and to see things ahead,” the coach said. “Whenever you see things ahead, it makes you quicker. And that results in lots of disruption. And he knows the way to read plays. If someone is loose with the ball, he’s very lively along with his hands. Disruptive off the ball but additionally excellent on the ball, and he’s super long. So he can fly by you and he can come back into the play and still impact the shot.
“His pick-and-roll defense is exclusive. After which the undeniable fact that he can switch onto everybody. That’s what makes him very unique. And to me, it’s great for our team.”
In a lineup with two offensive-minded stars in Brunson and Towns — who each carry defensive deficiencies — Anunoby’s presence covers up warts.
That was the intention of mixing Bridges and Anunoby on the wings, a duo brilliantly labeled Friday night by Hart as “Wingstop,” a play off the chicken-wing chain.
The large concern with Anunoby throughout his profession has been his health.
He’s missed not less than 30 games in three of the past 4 seasons.
Only five contests into this campaign — with two rest days before Monday’s contest in Houston — it’s thus far, so good. Anunoby is third in minutes at 35 per game and leads the Knicks in steal attacks.
“I’ve never seen a person swipe on the ball with two hands,” Towns said. “I’ve never seen that. His athleticism, his anticipation. But in addition just technique. The way in which he implements that into one play just isn’t something lots of NBA players can do.”
HOUSTON — Andrew Nembhard blew past Jalen Brunson and was greeted by a bear attack.
OG Anunoby, as he often does on the perimeter, left his project and lunged at Nembhard with a swift, two-handed swipe generated from a wrestler’s crouch.
“He pounces,” Josh Hart said. “He’s in a spot. He anticipates. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Nembhard, a Pacers guard, wanted no a part of Anunoby within the second quarter of last week’s Knicks victory.
He retreated along with his dribble, taking a pair steps behind the 3-point line before abandoning all plans of testing that side of the defense.
Nembhard switched to a pick-and-roll with Karl-Anthony Towns’ man, Myles Turner, and the sequence ended with an Indiana turnover.
“Nembhard was like, ‘Woah,’ ” Hart recalled Friday. “He was surprised.”
It’s easy to trace Nembhard’s thought process.
He fell into the bear trap in the primary quarter.
That point, Nembhard got a small step on Mikal Bridges and drove left into the center, committing a turnover because Anunoby lurked and lunged on the ball with that trademark low center of gravity.
“I don’t see it as gambling. I see it as being aggressive,” said Anunoby, whose wingspan is fairly big at 7-foot-2 on his 6-foot-7 body but looks even longer when he’s lunging to swipe a dribbler’s legs. “And making the offense uncomfortable. Not only allow them to do whatever they need. Just attempting to make them back up or pick up their dribble.”
Aggressiveness, calculated risk, whatever you wish to call it, Anunoby has earned the advantage of the doubt.
Through five games, and particularly within the three victories, he’s again demonstrated the defensive versatility and instincts that compelled the Knicks handy him the richest contract in franchise history at $212.5 million.
More so than Bridges — who has also been a solid defender because the ugly opening night in Boston — Anunoby is each strong and quick enough to modify on 90 percent of the NBA players, give or take. Within the win over Miami on Wednesday, for example, he defended Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Terry Rozier.
“[OG] does some wild stuff on that side of the ball,” Brunson remarked.
Two nights later, coach Tom Thibodeau was absolutely gushing after Anunoby helped force the Pistons into 22 turnovers.
“We know the way useful he’s to us,” Thibodeau said. “To me, he’s invaluable.”
Anunoby’s natural comparison is Luol Deng, a straightforward leap due to Thibodeau connection.
Deng was Thibodeau’s “invaluable” wing defender in Chicago, greater than a decade before Anunoby assumed the position.
But Thibodeau doesn’t do comparisons fairly often, and he avoided it with Anunoby.
“Each guy is exclusive, and there are things about him which might be so unique and different: His size, his strength, his speed, his anticipation, his ability to read and to see things ahead,” the coach said. “Whenever you see things ahead, it makes you quicker. And that results in lots of disruption. And he knows the way to read plays. If someone is loose with the ball, he’s very lively along with his hands. Disruptive off the ball but additionally excellent on the ball, and he’s super long. So he can fly by you and he can come back into the play and still impact the shot.
“His pick-and-roll defense is exclusive. After which the undeniable fact that he can switch onto everybody. That’s what makes him very unique. And to me, it’s great for our team.”
In a lineup with two offensive-minded stars in Brunson and Towns — who each carry defensive deficiencies — Anunoby’s presence covers up warts.
That was the intention of mixing Bridges and Anunoby on the wings, a duo brilliantly labeled Friday night by Hart as “Wingstop,” a play off the chicken-wing chain.
The large concern with Anunoby throughout his profession has been his health.
He’s missed not less than 30 games in three of the past 4 seasons.
Only five contests into this campaign — with two rest days before Monday’s contest in Houston — it’s thus far, so good. Anunoby is third in minutes at 35 per game and leads the Knicks in steal attacks.
“I’ve never seen a person swipe on the ball with two hands,” Towns said. “I’ve never seen that. His athleticism, his anticipation. But in addition just technique. The way in which he implements that into one play just isn’t something lots of NBA players can do.”
