Evan Fournier, brought to the Knicks on a four-year, $78 million contract this past offseason, has played five fourth-quarter minutes over New York's last seven games.
That's far from a volume of playing time expected for a regular starter and big free agent signing, but the 29-year-old has taken a significant step back since his hot start to his Knicks tenure, and he isn't shy in admitting that he needs to be better.
"Very inconsistent, obviously," Fournier said of his season so far. "Kind of like what we've been doing as a team, to be honest. We've had really good games and really bad games. In 17 games, you've got some of my best and some of my worst already. From that standpoint, there's only one thing for me to do, to keep working and have a winning attitude and do everything I can."
Fournier's first six games offered promise for the Knicks, averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the 3-point line. He drilled multiple clutch triples in the team's double overtime win against the Celtics in the season opener, but that has been the high-water mark of his season so far.
The last seven games have been troubling, with Fournier averaging just seven points per game while shooting 37 percent from the field and a lowly 23 percent from downtown.
As a result, Fournier hasn't been relied upon in crunch time, being benched completely for the fourth quarter in six of those seven games. Fournier said he hasn't discussed the benching with Thibodeau, because he doesn't feel a discussion is needed. He simply needs to play to his career norm.
"There's no discussion, but I'm a 10-year vet now," Fournier said. "I watch the game, I can feel the game, so I don't need to be finessed. I don't need soft-talk…it's okay, my feelings won't get hurt. I want the team to play well, and I want to play well."
The Knicks will certainly need Fournier to turn things around so they can start taking care of business against inferior teams like the Magic and pull themselves out of mediocrity. Fournier was arguably the team's biggest addition to last year's playoff team, but he has been a liability of late.
Fournier isn't hiding from his need to improve, but he doesn't plan on being in this funk for long.
"I always try to look at myself first and how I can do things better to be out there, obviously," Fournier said. "I'm obviously not happy to be on the bench. But I want to be out there. I know what I'm capable of and I know what I can do to help this team win.
"I have no doubt that things are going to become better for myself and the team. I have no doubt about that."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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