Although the 2021-22 season may indeed be a disappointing year for the Knicks, after all, this Knicks can still break into the playoffs in the previous season, which also allows New York fans to experience the basketball atmosphere of the playoffs again after many years, but the Knicks in the 2021-22 season can not return to the playoffs, but for the next 2022-23 season, the Knicks will still have a lot of optimism.
For example, the 2022 draft, free agents and summer league will be held in the coming months, and more importantly, the Knicks can use this time to continue to grow young players in the team, which is also the key to making the Knicks a better team in the new season.
So in this offseason, Obi-Topping is largely a young player who deserves the Knicks' attention, and he will be one of the young players who has the opportunity to show his talent in the new season.
Can Obi-Troping help the Knicks break through in the new season?
On the face of it, Obi-Topping's overall stats over the past season don't seem to be as appealing, or his performances don't give fans a particularly good future. Obi-Topping has played in 72 games this season, averaging nine points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
However, in the past 2021-22 regular season, Obi-Topping is mainly a dynamic player on the team bench, and he can indeed contribute to the Knicks' best-five-ball dunk performance on the court, and even won the championship in this year's All-Star Weekend dunk contest.
Although Obi-Topping's overall stats are indeed not so exciting, there are still many signs in his game that he will play a more important role in this Knicks squad next season. On the one hand, with only 17.1 minutes per game averaged next season in 2021-22, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau hasn't really given the young player enough playing time, or Obi-Topping hasn't really entered the core of Thibodeau's tactical system.
However, it should be noted that in the past 10 games in which Obi-Topping started this season, he has averaged 9.3 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game, which has definitely not disappointed fans or Thibodeau managers. In at least these 10 opening games, Obi-Topping has not only proven his worth to the Knicks coaching staff, but also let fans see his value in this future Knicks squad.
However, before the arrival of the new season, the Knicks still have a lot of problems to solve, mainly Julius Randle in this Knicks to stay, in the final analysis, Obi-Topping's status in the Knicks tactical system can be improved to a large extent depends on Randle's retention.
But no matter how the Knicks' lineup changes this offseason, if Obi-Topping wants to continue to be a better player in his future career, he needs to solve the problems he has encountered in the past season's games, and if he can really grow, he may undoubtedly become a more important player in the Knicks tactical system.
That being said, what exactly does Obi-Topping need to make this offseason?
The ability to create scoring opportunities for yourself and your teammates
In the second half of the past season, Obi-Topping has actually shown his ability to create scoring opportunities, but this is certainly not enough to make Obi-Topping a better player, he needs to continue to hone his own offensive ability in the offseason this year, and make the ability to create his own offense and create scoring opportunities for his teammates an important part of his future games.
Obi-Topin has shown his natural prowess on the offensive end, and if he can make the ball in his hands more valuable and can read the defense better, then the sky will indeed be his ceiling.
In the Knicks' final game of the regular season, Obi-Topping had a double-double of 42 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists on 16-of-28 shooting with 40 minutes of playing time, and not only that, Butby Topin was able to perform on 6-of-14 shooting from outside the three-point line.
In the five games that replaced Julius Randall in the starting lineup, Obi-Topping averaged 27.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and played with 55.1% shooting and 46.3% three-point shooting. During this time, the Knicks can also achieve a record of 3 wins and 2 losses, which is enough to prove that Obi-Topping's explosive performance can indeed become a key part of the Knicks' victory.
With Julius Randle sidelined by injury, Obi-Topping was finally able to get some free play in the Knicks' offensive system, and he was even able to perform on the court in a move he hadn't seen in a season. For example, Obi-Topping can complete the turning movement on the field and the impressive shot of the ball-holding fast attack score.
Obi-Topping's performance completely changed the rhythm of the team's offensive end, because he is the type of player who likes to quickly advance to the frontcourt in the transition offense, and the fast-paced way of playing is exactly what the Knicks, who have only been 29th in the league in the regular season, have lacked.
But as we mentioned, if Obi-Topping had more of an offensive turn that created points and even scores for his teammates, while showing better confidence on the court, it would have been entirely possible for him to take the Knicks to new heights when paired with teammates like young Emanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett.
So whether Obi-Torpin can take this step this offseason is still a very important thing for the Knicks, because it will completely open up space for the Knicks offensive end and make it more difficult for defenders to guess Obi-Troping's next move on the offensive end.
Stability of the three-pointer
Since entering the league, Obi-Troping has always been willing and capable of shooting outside the three-point line, and in the second season of his career, Obi-Topping averaged 2.3 three-point shots per game, shooting only 30.8% from three-point range, which is certainly not a good performance in the modern league, but in the second half of the season, Obi-Topping also showed the prospect of a stable performance outside the three-point line.
In the last 10 games of the season, as Obi-Topping's playing time has improved, he can also have very high shooting efficiency, and in these games Obi-Topping has averaged 5.8 three-point shots and 44.8% three-point shooting per game.
In these 10 games, the three-point shot on the catch accounted for 40.8% of the total shots, and he averaged 49.1% of the three-point shooting rate of 5.3 catches per game.
So looking ahead, being able to play like this in these 10 games will also be the key to improving the ability of Obi-Topping, and if he wants to be a player who can make a big impact on the Knicks, then he must first find his rhythm on the offensive end, especially outside the three-point line.
And outside the three-point line, Obi-Topping needs more attention to the performance of the three-pointer in the bottom corner, after all, from the Obi-Topin shooting point distribution map this season, we can also see that most of his three-point shots are in the bottom corner position, and only in the two bottom corner positions, Obi-Topin has been able to have 36.1% three-point shooting rate and 31.8% three-point shooting rate this past season.
So if Obi-Topping wants to be the player who plays a bigger role in the Knicks' tactical system, he wants to make the opposing defender feel threatened from outside the three-point line, which will also open up space for the Knicks, so that RJ Barrett can also have better space to impact the basket. Because of this, Obi-Topping, who can better improve the stability of shooting outside the three-point line, will become a player of greater importance in the Knicks.
Rebounding ability
After his college career, Obi-Topping was not considered a good rebounder, at least NBA scouts know that rebounding is the problem with Obi-Topping's game, which is why he needs to improve in this regard.
So how can Obi-Topping play in rebounding after the second season of his career? So far, Obi-Topping is still the league's still-proven rebounder, who has only picked up 7.8 rebounds per 36 minutes this past season.
Considering Obi-Topin's high mobility and bounce talent on the court, rebounding should be Obi-Topping's area of expertise, but at the moment he is not a player who can do well in rebounding. Even if he doesn't get enough playing time to prove his ability to pick up enough rebounds, his prospects are not optimistic from a statistical point of view.
Because of this, Obi-Troping definitely needs to learn the ability to pick up rebounds from Knicks interior star Mitchell Robinson in this offseason. You know, Mitchell Robinson has been the better player in rebounding this season, averaging 8.6 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per game.
Considering that Mitchell Robinson may enter the free agent market this offseason, the Knicks need Obi-Troping to be the player who can perform in both defensive and offensive rebounding next season.
Write at the end
In the long run, stability is still the key to Obi-Troping's success or failure in the 2022-23 season, and even in the limited playing time of the past two seasons, Obi-Toppin has not yet played a stable performance, which is why Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is less willing to give Obi-Topping more playing time.
But as Obi-Troping has shown some potential in the final stages of the 2021-22 regular season, he still has a lot of talent that excites New York fans, and whether he can improve this offseason will also determine his future in this Knicks.