Quentin Grimes took just one shot in Tuesday’s In-Season Tournament loss to the Bucks, and after the Knicks were eliminated, the third-year guard sounded off on his role with the team within the starting lineup.
“It’s just hard when you go the whole quarter without touching the ball, the whole second quarter without touching the ball, and then you get one shot and you got to make it. So it’s tough going out there and just standing in the corner the whole game,” Grimes said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Then you got to make the shot when you shoot the ball one or two times per game. It is what it is.
“It feels like if I don’t hit the shot, I’m coming out. So every shot I shoot probably weighs like 100 pounds if I don’t make it, and our defense, it ain’t cutting it, so I know I ain’t going back in.”
The 23-year-old, a former first-round pick, was expected to add some much-needed 3-point efficiency to the Knicks starting lineup, but so far this season, Grimes is shooting just 34.5 percent from downtown, barely above league average. After playing over 20 minutes a game in 10 of the first 11 games this year, Grimes has now played over 20 just once in his last four. Since returning from injury, he is shooting just 17.9 percent from the floor and 19 percent from beyond the arc while attempting just 0.6 3-pointers per game.
Grimes is valued for his point-of-attack defense, which is needed in the backcourt alongside Jalen Brunson, but Tom Thibodeau skirted the topic of potentially moving Grimes to the second unit when asked about it Tuesday night. So, until a change is made, Grimes will have to capitalize on the few offensive opportunities he is given, which he feels has been diminished due to a fully healthy Knicks lineup.
“I just know last year RJ [Barrett] missed a lot of games. Jalen missed some games,” Grimes said. “So I had the ball in my hands a little bit more. I knew I wasn’t coming out,” Grimes said. “I knew I was going to be in there and get more shots, play the whole first quarter, the whole third quarter. I knew I had opportunities to get the ball and get my shots up. Now it’s just a matter if the ball come my way, really.”