2019-20 Game Thread: The Super Cool, Rebranded Knicks vs. The Loser, 1997-Branded Wizards

“We don’t want to remind people of shooting deaths!” Boo! That’s so 1997 branding, Wizards!

Be like the Knicks! They have a marketing guru! The dude’s a freakin’ GURU! And the Bureau of Guru-ing is a really serious deal. You have to work at that licensing. You can’t just put on an expensive T-Shirt and start calling yourself a guru.

So get with the times, Wizards!

Be more like the Knicks!

But you can’t, because they’re in New York. They have blood in the ground! You don’t have that in DC! Well, you sometimes do, but that’s why you changed the name of the team.

So hooray, rebranded Knicks!

Their awesome marketing should make this their fifth win in their last six games, with their lame duck head coach doing his best to, you know, not get fired despite being told he definitely is getting fired.

Let’s go? Knicks!

97 replies on “2019-20 Game Thread: The Super Cool, Rebranded Knicks vs. The Loser, 1997-Branded Wizards”

Let’s not overlook DSJ having 4 rebounds in 4 minutes. He’s clearly gunning for Wilt’s record.

DSJ then nearly looses it and dishes, comes back and fouls.
Mercifully he’s now benched

if knox was framed for a murder committed in yonkers during that stint would he have an alibi

I don’t know about Knox’s alibi but RJ’s three point shooting is a crime.

Also, pretty jealous of whoever had the comment about Mitch looking like he is dunking on a nerf hoop. Because that is exactly what it looks like.

I like Harkless. Not sure why everyone has been trying to get rid of him. Maybe just signed too big a contract but I have seen much worse players.’

And blood in the ground right? Isn’t he a Johnnie?

God Damn, I’ve got more game on the short court at the Morman church, and I’m 50.

“God Damn, I’ve got more game on the short court at the Morman church, and I’m 50.”

Dude with 3 wives can’t guard you Zip.,….is what any one of you guys could have replied. commmon guys.

RJ’s shooting should improve over a few offseasons?

The guy who ‘fixed’ DSJ’s shot is gone, right?

Bullock 2 for 12 … maybe Payton should talk to him about the dangers of having a retractable awning haircut

“God Damn, I’ve got more game on the short court at the Morman church, and I’m 50.”

Dude with 3 wives can’t guard you Zip.,….is what any one of you guys could have replied. commmon guys.

nice 🙂

still at work…got the game recording though…just saw the score – are we winning this game?

This game is a couple of hours of my life I’m never going to get back.

the guy who took the half court shot for money was wearing a Knox jersey…jeez…now we know who the one buyer was….

Honest question.

If we tried to trade Knox could we get a good 2nd rounder for him?

It almost feels like you should have to pay someone to take Knox or DSJr.

Watching the Knicks tonight makes me think Morris should get a few MVP votes

What the hell is the deal with Mitch’s minutes tonight? He was great when he was in.

Edit: misread the foul situation. Still stupid!

miller does a weird bullpen thing where he sometimes brings a guy in cold for crunch time after not playing all game. did it with frank once, did it with dotson tonight.

That Portis ejection was hilarious. Seemed like nothing. Maybe knicks fans have been…lobbying…the refs for more Portis ejections?

it’s funny that we absolutely cannot beat the shit wizards at home. Glad I gave up on this one at halftime

I knew I should have watched “Married at First Sight” tonight.

It’s looks like Luka and KP finally both had a good game together

Brandon Clarke with 27 points on 14 shots, none of them threes.

He wasn’t a lottery pick.

Brandon Clarke with 27 points on 14 shots, none of them threes.

He wasn’t a lottery pick.

Not going after him with our Dallas picks was a mistake.

I’m glad Melo got a job because it never felt right for him to be sort of run out of the league like that. It was too disrespectful for a player with his career. But it’s time for him to understand when it’s time to quit. If not, it will start feeling like a former great boxer that can’t seem to figure out when it’s time to stop lacing them up just to avoid the embarrassment.

This wasn’t one of Portis’ best nights. But he was the only Knick with a positive plus/minus. He was plus four in fifteen minutes. The next best was Harkless at -2 in twenty five minutes.

ptmilo: KP and luka shredding

That was one of KP’s best all around career games. He’s having quite a stretch of games. “Mr February”. The Dallas fans have been going crazy trying to figure out why those two guys weren’t playing well together. KP said they were working on it. Maybe the Doncic injury was a good thing. It got KP back in shape and confident again and gave Doncic a chance to see what he likes to do.

just wanna thank everyone for their feedback on tonight’s game…between that and the final score, felt very okay to hit delete…

Interim head coach Mike Miller responded after the Knicks newly-hired branding consultant, Steve Stoute, explained: “There had to be a change. The change will bring a new coach and new coaches that are going to develop these younger players.”

“I don’t really have a reaction to it,” Miller said. “I found out about it from someone else after the fact, and didn’t really have a reaction to it. (Right now I’m) locked in and doing what we do here. My job right now is to get this team ready to play. My focus is on these players.”

I’d vote for this guy for president.

This team is god awful and the non-basketball stuff going on is even more depressing. There should be more talk about the daft in which we have three solid picks.

Guys I’d be happy with using our first pick (assuming it’s in the 4-6 range): Okongwu, Haliburton, Hayes

Guys I’d be happy with using our second pick (assuming it’s in the 25-29 range): Jahmi’us Ramsey, Tyler Bey, Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley

Guys I’d be happy with using our third pick (assuming it’s in the 31-35 range): Aaron Nesmith, Devon Dotson, Trevelin Queen, Tres Tinkle (unfortunate name)

I haven’t looked too hard yet so this is very preliminary. Any thoughts?

We’ll probably wind up trading up for Cole Anthony, but we can pretend!

As a guy that spent the better part of the early 2000s ranting about the evils and blatant cronyism of Halliburton, I think it would be only too fitting if the Knicks drafted some guy named Halliburton, just to fuck with me some more. (Is there nobody named Trump Tower available in this draft??)

On the brightside:

Payton has been playing on another level recently

RJ hit all 6 FTs

Frank played more than Dennis

Mitch.

I think it’s blatantly obvious we need a legitimate #1 or #2 scorer.

By that I mean a guy that had a diversified enough set of offensive skills so that he can finish at the rim, shoot 3 pointers, create his own shot off the dribble. make FTs etc.. and get us 20 points per 36 on most nights even if it’s a tough matchup. He should also be efficient enough based on TS% to at least be mildly above average if he’s a #2 option and higher if he’s going to be #1. Finally, he should at least be an average defender, but if he’s better than that, break out the bubbly.

Since we also don’t have PG, it would also be nice if that player also happened to be a PG, but that’s not a requirement. Other than Mitch at C, I don’t see any positions locked in stone. Even if RJ develops over time, he’s not necessarily a SG. He could be a SF.

These kinds of players are the toughest to find. That why even #2 options often get max contracts. They are well worth it due to the shortage of players that can do all those things effectively almost every night against every defense.

I’m far from a draft expert and haven’t even seen any of these kids play yet. But strategically, we probably won’t draft high enough on our own to get the kind of #1 or #2 option that I am describing. Since we have 3 extra 1st round picks, I think the correct move is to use 1 or even more of them to get a player like that in the draft by moving up or via trade.

>>“I don’t really have a reaction to it,” Miller said. “I found out about it from someone else after the fact, and didn’t really have a reaction to it. (Right now I’m) locked in and doing what we do here. My job right now is to get this team ready to play. My focus is on these players.”

I’d vote for this guy for president.<<

I'm approaching Mugatu levels of astonishment by the reactions Miller gets from some corners when he does basic things (like, in this case, quote from the same coach speak boiler plate that any coach under pressure would use).

They're the same face! Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I invented the piano key necktie. I invented it!

“(Is there nobody named Trump Tower available in this draft??)”

Nope, but that UVA wing Jared Ivanka is very devious with the ball in his hands….

But strategically, we probably won’t draft high enough on our own to get the kind of #1 or #2 option that I am describing. Since we have 3 extra 1st round picks, I think the correct move is to use 1 or even more of them to get a player like that in the draft by moving up or via trade.

We know. The problem is, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, the availability of such a trade. Because you are correct about the difficulty of acquiring the kind of player you’re talking about, teams simply do not trade them unless there’s a very compelling reason to do so. There is no one who projects to be on the trade market that fits your description.

As for the draft, only Edwards projects to have even an outside shot of fitting your description. Obviously, we should draft him if we can. Otherwise I think there’s no way we could package even all 3 picks for him, putting aside for a second whether or not it would be wise to do so.

We absolutely need a high-volume, high-efficiency scorer, but it’s also fine if we don’t get that player immediately. If the guys we pick are productive players in some form or fashion, good things will happen. What’s the rush to cover our “needs?” Our team sucks, we need good players first and foremost.

The Knicks shot 3-23 from 3 last night. That’s pretty much the takeaway. Two bad teams played and one missed all their shots. That and I guess DSJ turned the ball over 4 times in 6 minutes. The minute allocation wasn’t that good by Miller, but that’s a winable game if guys make shots they can make.

We could use a lucky break. We’d all be a lot more excited about things right now if we were watching Ja Morant play every day instead of squinting at RJ Barrett and trying to see a prospect. Razor tho.

Hubert, of course you’re 100% right. I was being tongue-in-cheek. At the same time, given everything happening in just the last month (timing of Mills’ firing right before the deadline — but huzzah anyway; plans to hire a POBO with no previous experience in the job; hiring a brand guru; that self-same guru giving a literally unbelievable interview; the classic ‘we disavow this person we just hired’ MSG missive; and of course the terrible play by a ragtag team of random vets and hardly improving youth), someone stepping over the incredibly low bar by saying what he’s supposed to say (while, if you tilt your head to one side and squint your eyes a bit, maybe throwing just a bit of shade) feels like a rock in a swirling river current of human waste.

“We know. The problem is, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, the availability of such a trade. Because you are correct about the difficulty of acquiring the kind of player you’re talking about, teams simply do not trade them unless there’s a very compelling reason to do so. There is no one who projects to be on the trade market that fits your description.”

You never know when one will become available.

Very good players, even young ones that are in the process of becoming that kind of player, sometimes get tried of losing and push their way out the door (cough cough). It happens with guys in their later 20s all the time.

My point being, we are unlikely to get that kind of player drafting outside the top of the lottery. If we are lucky, we’ll get a very productive role player. That’s all well and good, but we need to get a #1 and #2 and we have to have realistic expectations about how good they are going to be and how much we have to pay. There are only a handful of guys like James. Giannis, Leonard, Davis, etc.. that are going to play great on both sides, Those guys are worth massively more than the max. Others are so ridiculously good on offense, you can sacrifice a little defense. Some are very good on both sides without being super elite on either.

If you want a very good player, you have to pay even if he’s not an all time great player.

We have picks and space. We have to make a move soon.

You worry about how to beat those other teams later with matchups, better depth, coaching strategies injuries, cheapness or mistakes on the part of other teams etc..

If you don’t, you’ll be buried in lottery hell and mediocrity for a decade waiting for your own savior to come.

I guess I’m just not sure what idea you’re trying to sell here. Yes, if someone becomes available we should consider whether or not it makes sense to trade for them. I don’t see how this is an interesting conversation to have as long as it’s entirely hypothetical–it all depends on the player, the cost, and so many other things.

Until then, it makes a lot more sense to think about the draft picks we actually have and how we can maximize their value.

This really isn’t the draft to package all your picks to move up. I’d rather have the two late picks than use all three to draft Anthony Edwards.

This really isn’t the draft to package all your picks to move up. I’d rather have the two late picks than use all three to draft Anthony Edwards.

I agree. I’m not enamored with Edwards. However he is considered a cut above most, so I doubt whoever can pick him would make the trade anyway.

But yeah, we have two potentially foundational players and even that is pretty unclear. We need darts. No trade ups.

I’m fine with the concept of trading up in the draft, but I look at this draft and I don’t see much unfortunately. Wiseman is such an unknown at this point, Edwards’ shooting percentages are worrying and then nobody really knows who’s the next guy up. I love Haliburton’s statistical profile but now he’s injured and out for the season… I wouldn’t touch LaMelo with a ten foot pole or Cole Anthony too.

There’s just so many prospects that can’t shoot in this draft that it scares me a lot. I’m done with drafting guys that can’t shoot, so Haliburton would probably still be my favorite, but it’s looking a bit grim.

I haven’t looked at the prospects much, but anthony edwards is a promising athlete who doesn’t score efficiently. He’s very young though.

“This really isn’t the draft to package all your picks to move up. I’d rather have the two late picks than use all three to draft Anthony Edwards.”

I like Anthony Edwards, but he’s the kind of character actor you can usually find in the later first round of most drafts. I’d trade up for a sure-fire star like Tom Cruise, though, and maybe even for a solid #2 like Val Kilmer.

You never know when one will become available.

By that I mean a guy that had a diversified enough set of offensive skills so that he can finish at the rim, shoot 3 pointers, create his own shot off the dribble. make FTs etc.. and get us 20 points per 36 on most nights even if it’s a tough matchup. He should also be efficient enough based on TS% to at least be mildly above average if he’s a #2 option and higher if he’s going to be #1. Finally, he should at least be an average defender, but if he’s better than that, break out the bubbly.

can you give a few examples of guys who fit this definition AND what you would trade for them if they became available. just saying we should trade for a very good player one level down from lebron and kawhi if available is not even technically considered communication under the geneva convention.

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