{"id":561014,"date":"2026-01-26T02:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T02:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/561014\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T02:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T02:15:21","slug":"miles-mcbride-landry-shamet-proving-key-knicks-defensive-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/561014\/","title":{"rendered":"Miles McBride, Landry Shamet proving key Knicks defensive assets"},"content":{"rendered":"

For both Miles McBride and Landry Shamet, 3-point shooting is what most associate them with.<\/p>\n

They are shooting 43.7 percent and 43.5 percent from deep, after all. Their ability on the other end of the floor often gets lost in the discourse.<\/p>\n

But their defending is crucial, and something the Knicks can hardly replicate.<\/p>\n

\u201cShots fall, sometimes don\u2019t. It\u2019s not as much of a controllable as your effort,\u201d Shamet told The Post after the Knicks\u2019 112-109 win over the 76ers<\/a> on Saturday in Philadelphia. \u201cOn the defensive end, you gotta find ways to \u2014 coaches and good coaches say it all the time \u2014 you gotta find ways to win games when the ball\u2019s not going in. I think you just take pride in our principles and just try to guard. It\u2019s a pride thing, a personal thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MilesMiles McBride #2 of the New York Knicks defends VJ Edgecombe #77 of the Philadelphia 76ers during the Saturday game. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Coach Mike Brown has long praised and identified McBride and Shamet as the Knicks\u2019 two best point-of-attack defenders \u2014 particularly when they were injured and the Knicks defense was shredded without them. It is the biggest weakness on their roster \u2014 Mikal Bridges has struggled in the role, allowing ball-handlers to break down their defense, get into the lane and hurt them.<\/p>\n

Notably, it was McBride and Shamet \u2014 not Bridges \u2014 who were on the floor at the end of the game. Yes, Bridges was struggling badly with his shot<\/a>, going 3-for-16 from the field. But it also became clear that McBride and Shamet were better equipped at guarding Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.<\/p>\n

Maxey and Edgecombe torched the Knicks in the first two matchups between the two teams this season \u2014 both 76ers wins at Madison Square Garden. McBride missed the first matchup, and Shamet missed both of the first two.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a coincidence Saturday\u2019s results were much better, with both healthy and in the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re huge,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAgain, you don\u2019t stop those types of guys [Maxey and Edgecombe], but to have a guy like Deuce coming off the bench, have a guy like Landry \u2014 both those guys are physical at the point of attack, whether those guys are trying to get over pick-and-rolls or trying to get over [dribble handoffs] or even pindowns. And to have that type of relentless pursuit with athleticism and strength and toughness and the mindset is phenomenal. And obviously, we need those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges has been miscast in that role since the Knicks traded five first-rounders to acquire him last year. He has good straight-line speed, but is not as quick laterally. McBride and Shamet are both stronger as well, helping them keep ball-handlers in front of them.<\/p>\n

It would not be surprising if McBride and Shamet continue to see more late-game minutes at Bridges\u2019 expense.<\/p>\n

\"PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia 76ers\u2019 Tyrese Maxey, left, drives to the basket with New York Knicks\u2019 Landry Shamet, center, defending during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were huge,\u201d Josh Hart said. \u201cI think Sham got two offensive fouls drawn from blowing up handoffs or stuff like that. So he was huge. Dude was great all game. Obviously that\u2019s a tough match over there with Tyrese. So give those guys a lot of credit. He did really well and we need that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With better pressure at the point of attack, it better masks Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns\u2019 defensive deficiencies. Without constant penetration into the lane, OG Anunoby can operate where he\u2019s best \u2014 acting like a free safety in football where he can be disruptive in passing lanes and create turnovers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

It can be contagious as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just coming in \u2014 if you\u2019re coming off the bench you\u2019ve got fresh legs,\u201d Shamet said. \u201cYou\u2019ve been observing and watching what\u2019s been going on in the game. \u2018How can I integrate myself as quickly as possible to what\u2019s going on without any drop-off\u2019 or \u2018how can I elevate what\u2019s going on?\u2019 Sometimes it\u2019s just as simple as ball pressure and picking up full court one or two times. Like I said, if you can start the domino the trickle down effect is real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown had begun to sound a bit like a broken record when he constantly mentioned missing McBride and Shamet in that role. But clearly there was a reason for it.<\/p>\n

It can be a game-changer for the Knicks.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For both Miles McBride and Landry Shamet, 3-point shooting is what most associate them with. They are shooting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,4988,1260,2715,6,191,678,207,3817,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-561014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-landry-shamet","11":"tag-mikal-bridges","12":"tag-miles-mcbride","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-philadelphia","16":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","17":"tag-philadelphia76ers","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115958994847192406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}