New York Knicks: Analyzing Enes Kanter and his career changing offseason

New York Knicks center Enes Kanter went into the summer determined to get into better shape. Based off social media, he certainly has accomplished his goal.

Enes Kanter is trying to get into better shape this offseason with the New York Knicks season rapidly approaching.

Now, I understand it is a hot take, but outside of Kristaps Porzingis, Enes Kanter was the best player on the Knicks last year.

There were a number of possessions where Kanter kept the Knicks afloat by hauling in a medley of offensive rebounds.

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Behind Boban Marjanovic, Enes Kanter led the league in offensive rebound percentage, which is no small feat.

Most of Kanter’s buckets came from cleaning up misses or manufacturing his own shot in the low post. A true offensive workhorse, Kanter’s trouble came on the other end of the court

Kanter’s criticism has come from different areas. The main one has been that he is a terrible defender.

Kanter’s defensive rating last year was 110.7. To put that into perspective, that means if Kanter played 100 possessions, he would give up 110.7 points.

For even better reference, his defensive rating ranked him 448/540 for all eligible players. That is definitely not where you would want him to be.

When playing defense, the main idea is staying focused on that side of the ball, and being in very good shape. Offense skills are honed by each player through shooting and ball handling drills.

Defense comes naturally to some people, offense does not. As much as I like to believe Kevin Durant is a natural shooter at seven feet tall, it was through rigorous training that he developed these skills

Kanter has turned himself into a fitness freak, gearing up for the season ahead. We’ve learned from Tom Brady, that taking care of the body is almost as important as throwing with receivers in football, or spot shooting in basketball.

Now, Kanter being in better shape doesn’t determine that he will be a better defender. The idea is that Kanter is putting himself in the position to succeed on the less glamorous side of the ball.

Kanter’s new-found stamina is coming at the right time. The Knicks finished 23rd in the league in defensive rating. They are already without Porzingis for half the 2019 season.

So, defense is paramount for the Knicks and Fizdale. Lets hope that Enes the Menace can progress this Knicks defense.

Here is just one of the many posts that reflects his hard work and transformation:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmw3yk1HAQm/?taken-by=eneskanter11

Hopefully, the cliché comes to fruition and the hard work does pay off.

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