Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa took over the starting power forward position over the past 10 games in Julius Randle‘s absence and has played some of the best basketball of his career during that stretch, The Athletic’s Fred Katz writes. Achiuwa is averaging 14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks in his last 10 outings, including three games with more than 15 rebounds.
Achiuwa flew under the radar when he was moved to New York in the trade for OG Anunoby, but he’s been one of the team’s steadiest contributors after uneven stops in Miami and Toronto to begin his career, Katz writes. Playing under coach Tom Thibodeau has unlocked aspects of Achiuwa’s game, including effective fake dribble handoffs.
“You knew there was versatility to his game,” Thibodeau said. “But we didn’t understand the dribble handoff part of it, all those things. And the offensive rebounding is something that we liked from the start. We knew he was very effective with that.”
The Knicks will have some decisions to make once Randle returns to the lineup, but Achiuwa is making a strong case to be included in a fully healthy rotation, according to Katz.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein returned to the court on Thursday after missing three games with injury. However, according to New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, Hartenstein left the arena with “a little frustration” about his minutes because they differed from his ramp-up plan. Hartenstein said he was supposed to hit the 21-minute mark but he only played 11 in a win over the Sixers.
- Kyle Lowry made his debut with the Sixers on Thursday, scoring 11 points, four rebounds and five assists while receiving a standing ovation in front of his hometown crowd. “It was an amazing atmosphere and the ovation that I got was awesome. I was happy,” Lowry said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I was pissed that we lost and we were in that situation, but it was a great moment. Now for me it’s about winning basketball games.” Lowry was born in Philadelphia and played college ball at Villanova.
- When the Raptors acquired Immanuel Quickley, they added an athletic guard who can shoot the ball — an ideal complement on paper to star Scottie Barnes. While there have been some bright spots with the pairing, The Athletic’s Eric Koreen observes that it’s still a work in progress. Each player is playing individually well, but Toronto is looking for more synchronicity with the duo, per Koreen.
All the haters and clowns. Who just got all the answers. Tell us again how unimportant Achiuwa was in the trade with Raptors. Or how unimportant Flynn was for getting Bogdanovic and Burkes.
Got no problem with haters hating. It’s how you live. (Have a great life). But get informed to make a point. Aren’t you tired of showing how ignorant you are.
Gave up …Flynn, RJ, Quickley, Grimes, Two 2nd rd picks, one high 2nd rd pick …….. Fournier doesn’t even count since he wasn’t playing. And all you nons said he wasn’t worth anything, anyway.
For ………. We Got
Bogdanovic, Burkes, OG, Achiuwa
Why do you even bother to come here.
Always said he’d be a good fit backing up Randle. His best position is a 4. And he’s from the Bronx. So understands NY basketball culture. Also Thibs has helped him. Like he helped Mitch. He’s just learning the NBA. Takes yrs for the NBA gm to slow down. Have always preached patience with picks.
“And that confidence is well-deserved. Since joining the starting lineup, Achiuwa is filling the stat sheet, averaging 14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 40.4 minutes per game. Yes, Achiuwa is succeeding while playing over 40 minutes per game after averaging just 17.5 minutes through the first 25 games of the year with Toronto.”
link to clutchpoints.com
Feel better now?
Let it all out.
You know it’s never ending with that one
I ended U long ago ……. go read
Achiuwa is a fit as a rotation player with the Knicks. Don’t get overly excited about his recent stats. Knicks injury-riddled. It took him playing over 40 minutes a night to average 14 and 10. This was during “silly” season. You know, the week before the all-star game … half the league literally quits playing. It’s the time of year when Memphis can roll into Milwaukee with 10 dudes off the street, and beat Giannis and Lillard. The Knicks were playing games with Donte getting up 13 three-point attempts.
Knicks have done a nice job of slowly building up the roster. Once healthy ….. Thibs is still gonna play his guys. Julius and Mitch are gonna get their 35-38 minutes a night. Achiuwa will ultimately be the back-up. Hartenstein is gonna get paid nicely by somebody other than the Knicks.
Until Julius Randle can turn his regular season production into playoff production ….. Knicks don’t get past the 2nd round.
No one is excited. I’m only showing how wrong uneducated posters are. How ignorance can take over cause of hate.
I’ll be excited next yr when we can legitimately challenge for a ring.
He had some great games for the Raps too, especially in his first season there. The question still remains, can he do it consistently
I agree. Just remember it takes time to get the NBA feel. And you need mins to find it. He’s looking like a great fit as a backup to Randle. That’s all we need.
Always liked Achiuwa. On a side note, his sibling’s names rival his own.
Well, “Grace” is pretty straight-forward but the others? Still no match for God Shammgod.
He is really benefitting from having a clearly defined role I think. I firmly believe under Nick Nurse they allowed him too much freedom.
Yeah because let’s be honest we are all thinking about the movie “Precious” right?
TOR was a bad fit for Achiuwa due to their roster (more than their style of play, which, under Nurse, was somewhat similar to the NYK’s style of play). Achiuwa was a 4/5 on a team with Siakam (pure 4) and Barnes (yes, he’s a 4, not a 1 or a 3) that uses a C with them. So, Achiuwa had to play the 5 almost exclusively, but without the floor spacing that should surround a guy with his skill set when he’s playing the 5. He’s not a rim protector. He defends well horizontally not vertically. He’s a good small ball 5 (four perimeter guys), and also good as 4 playing next to a true 5.
I hope he stays in the rotation, but moreso that we can keep him after this year. He’s a RFA, so we do control it, but we have lots of business this off season.
To be fair I’m not sure if he would have developed in the same way under Thibodeau unless Randle got hurt. In fact, I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t have. It seems like a happy accident that Randle got hurt and he developed. And now he has to stay in the rotation, even when Randle comes back. Of course he will get less minutes, but he has to be part of the rotation.
Depth is not about playing. It’s about showing up when needed. Thibs always gets the best of players who are committed both ways. It’s about contributing.
It’s fit and usage more than development. He didn’t develop the vast majority of his skill set in the last 6 weeks. He’s just being put by the staff in a better position to show it. Randle being out affects that quantitatively, but not qualitatively. Just because fans don’t see it (or see less of it) doesn’t mean the coching staff doesn’t know it.
OK but the point being that I don’t think Precious would’ve gotten any playing time unless Randall was injured. He wasn’t getting any minutes when he first got here and Randall was playing.
Point taken. He’s played in every game since being acquired, but before Randle got hurt he was getting only low teens in minutes, mostly at the 5. If Mitch were healthy, along with Randle, perhaps he would never have gotten in the rotation.