As the Knicks' struggles continue, so do the labors of Immanuel Quickley.
Mired in a dreadful sophomore slump, Quickley missed all five of his 3-point attempts in Monday night's loss and finished scoreless in 14 minutes of work while shooting 0-for-7 from the field, as his brutal shooting struggles have now stretched beyond the past month.
"With shooters, confidence is a big part of it," head coach Tom Thibodeau said when asked of Quickley's struggles. "Confidence and concentration are probably the two most important things."
Quickley doesn't appear to be playing with either of late, shooting 27 percent from the floor and 24 percent from downtown over the past 17 games. He is still averaging four 3-point attempts per game, but his efficiency has plummeted. Still, Thibodeau wants his youngster to keep shooting and rediscover his stroke.
"He's a diligent worker," Thibodeau said. "He's in there morning, day, and night shooting. Just gotta stay with it and continue to improve your shot and it will come around. It's a part of it."
Prior to Quickley's current slump, he had been shooting 37 percent from long range over a 28-game span. After a surprisingly productive rookie campaign, Quickley appeared to be ascending towards a fixture on the Knicks bench, but he has cratered of late. Still, the Knicks believe he is just a couple baskets away from breaking out again.
"The big thing is to get him to see what he's done well in the past, and put the work into it," Thibodeau said. "Usually, when you do that and find a way to get easy baskets - right now, he's working pretty hard to get a shot - some easy baskets will help him too. Try to find a way to get some easy baskets to go in, and he'll take off."
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