Tyler Kolek knows exactly where the path runs in New York, and it starts with a sharper scoring mindset.
The third-year guard is likely to open the regular season on the outside of the Knicks’ rotation, but he seems to be attacking that reality by borrowing from Jalen Brunson’s approach. Kolek has no illusion that he can be the next JB.
Brunson is one-of-one, and Kolek himself doesn’t have the same kind of physical force. Still, he’s clearly studying the parts of Brunson’s game that can help him force his way into the mix.
At a recent House of Sports event, Kolek explained what stands out to him about Brunson’s offense.
“Jalen is amazing in the midrange, amazing on floaters, finishing at the rim,” Kolek said (via Knicks Film School’s Jonathan Macri.) “I feel like taking that aspect of the game as a smaller guard, I need to be able to be really efficient in the paint and around the rim, and that’ll open up everything else.”
That kind of self-awareness matters, because the biggest issue in Kolek’s game isn’t complicated: he needs to be more aggressive. He said he was “a bit too passive” in the second half of last season, and that tracks with the numbers. Among players who handled the ball on as many offensive possessions as he did, only three averaged fewer true shot attempts per 100 possessions.
That’s the hurdle. Kolek has the passing feel.
He has the handle. He’s also a better shooter than he sometimes gets credit for, hitting 38.1 percent of his spot-up threes last season.
But if defenses don’t have to respect him as a scorer, they can stay comfortable.
The Brunson blueprint makes sense because it’s not really about copying a star’s style. It’s about finishing possessions once he gets into the paint and making defenses pay for giving him a lane.
Kolek has already shown he can get downhill. Brunson was the only Knicks player last season who averaged more drives per 75 possessions.
The problem is what happens after Kolek gets there.
Only 31.5 percent of his drives ended in a shot attempt, which ranked fourth-lowest among 171 players who finished that many of those possessions. That’s not about a lack of skill so much as a lack of conviction. Kolek shot 65 percent at the rim last year and showed he can keep his dribble alive in traffic, so the ingredients are there.
If he starts turning those drives into real scoring threats, the Knicks may have a harder time keeping him buried behind Deuce McBride, Jose Alvarado, and Landry Shamet. Kolek is the best passer in that group and, the source says, on the entire team.
Make defenders step up on him, and the assists come easier. Draw contact, and the scoring chances get cleaner.
Brunson is the clearest model because he shows what happens when a smaller guard plays with relentless aggression. He’s bigger and stronger, but the lesson for Kolek is obvious. If that edge starts showing up in his game, his defense and playmaking could be enough to push New York into rethinking its secondary guard rotation.
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