Knicks Morning News (2018.08.29)

  • [ESPN] Knicks fan sells off allegiance, will root for Lakers
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 6:23:25 PM)

    An angry New York Knicks fan sold his fanhood for a total of $3,450 and will root for the Los Angeles Lakers this season.

  • [NYPost] Knicks publicly fight back against turncoat fan
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 6:36:34 AM)

    If the Knicks hoped publicly taking a shot at an “attention-grabbing gentleman” would shrink that attention, they were wrong. After a longtime Knicks fan announced he was auctioning off his NBA loyalty on eBay, so exasperated was he by rooting for the woebegone franchise, the Knicks released a statement to Bleacher Report that showed they…

  • [NYDN] Ex-beau sought in woman’s brutal stabbing on Queens street
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:45:00 AM)

    A vengeful ex-boyfriend stabbed the mother of his children more than 20 times as she stepped out of a livery cab in Queens, leaving her badly hurt and bleeding in the street, cops said.

    The 31-year-old victim somehow survived the brutal Tuesday morning assault — though her lung was punctured and…

  • [NYDN] Woman torches hotel room and garbage cans in Times Square inn, police say
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:45:00 AM)

    A woman lit a room ablaze in a Times Square hotel, then torched trash cans on two other floors Tuesday, police said.

    The firebug made her escape amid the chaos at the Staybridge Suites, as firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze that left two people hurt, officials said.

    The ponytailed woman, who…

  • [NYDN] George Foreman III’s boxing gym EverybodyFights brings punch to NYC
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    He’s got a famous name and a knockout approach to running a boxing gym.

    EverybodyFights, founded in 2013 by George Foreman III — son of two-time heavyweight champion George Foreman, Sr. — allows boxers and gym-goers to get all their training done “under one roof.”

    Foreman created his gym concept…

  • [NYDN] Queens City Councilman wants Belle Harbor public school named for John McCain
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    Queens City Councilman Eric Ulrich wants to rename a local elementary school after the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.

    In a letter sent Tuesday to schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, Ulrich (R-Queens) called for the renaming of Belle Harbor’s popular Public School 114 in honor of the Vietnam War…

  • [NYDN] EMT son of FDNY chief still on job after ignoring 911 calls and 3 arrests for posing as cop
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    The troubled EMT son of a high-ranking FDNY chief remains on the company payroll despite a string of arrests for pretending to be a cop and a documented history of blowing off 911 calls, the Daily News has learned.

    Robert Gala, 25, was caught forging his partner’s signature on a patient’s report…

  • [NYDN] President Trump’s silence on Jacksonville shooting is deadly
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    Perhaps the hapless President was too busy these past few days making sure the White House flag was raised to full-staff in dishonor of Sen. John McCain to bother to remember to offer solace or even comment on the latest deadly mass shooting on his watch.

    We expected it, we deserved it, but we…

  • [NYDN] EXCLUSIVE: Detective facing 25-day rip, one year probation, for challenging fellow cop to ‘Smoker’: sources
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 3:00:00 AM)

    An NYPD detective who challenged another cop to a department-approved boxing match will be forced to lose 25 vacation days and be put on a year’s probation, the Daily News has learned.

    An administrative trial judge recommended the heavy penalty on Tuesday, shocking Detective David Terrell, who…

  • [NYDN] The impeachment delusion: Democrats dreaming about impeachment would have no clue what hit them
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    It’s actually surreal to think how easily the media can dupe people into thinking that President Trump is going to be impeached and possibly removed from office.

    For the last five-and-a-half years of the Bush administration, the Democratic Party howled that Bush “lied us to war to enrich his friends.”…

  • [NYDN] What impeachment is for: We talk about the tool incorrectly
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    We’ve been talking about impeachment all wrong, and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea shows why.

    Last week, Cohen — until recently President Trump’s personal lawyer — pleaded guilty to two felonies that directly implicate Trump. Cohen admitted that he had arranged “hush money” payments to two of Trump’s…

  • [NYDN] The good yeshivas and the bad
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 2:00:00 AM)

    Doubtless, Hasidic schools care for their students. But what they ultimately deliver is open to question, and scrutiny by the government.

    According to a study released by the United Jewish Appeal in 2013, 45% of the children in the New York metropolitan area’s Jewish households lived in or near…

  • [NYDN] Rotten to the core: NYCHA must be saved from disastrous mismanagement
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 1:10:00 AM)

    Before they get their well-earned heave-ho to the unemployment line, let’s thank the NYCHA employees who pursued personal pleasures on government time and cajoled colleagues into their on-premises orgies for exposing — no, not that!

    These reprobates did a public service by presenting a headline-ready…

  • [NYDN] Bill would end rent increases tied to capital improvements
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 1:00:00 AM)

    ALBANY — In a move they say will protect tenants, two state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would prohibit rent increases tied to major capital improvements.

    Instead, the bill introduced by Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and Assemblyman Brian Barnwell (D-Queens) would offer building…

  • [NYDN] Time to learn: Charter kids are hitting the books already
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 1:00:00 AM)

    The first day of school for the nation’s largest public school system is Sept. 5, but thousands of kids across the five boroughs are back in class already — in charters.

    Some 114,000 kids here attend the government-funded, independently run, open-to-all-by-lottery schools, the vast majority of…

  • [NYDN] EXCLUSIVE: Tenant activist to subpoena senators and real estate interests
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 12:50:00 AM)

    ALBANY — A tenant activist named in a $40 million defamation lawsuit by a group representing landlords is set to subpoena several current and past state senators, real estate industry donors and lobbyists, the Daily News has learned.

    The subpoenas being sent on behalf of Michael McKee, who is the…

  • [NYDN] Readers sound off on subway safety, summer songs and the Topless Parade
    (Wednesday, August 29, 2018 12:00:00 AM)

    Subway gates will save lives

    Bronx: Earlier this month, a 5-year-old boy was hit by a subway train in Brooklyn and critically injured. This is one of many, many instances of people being hit by trains in NYC. It does not have to happen. The solution is to install gates or barriers on the subway…

  • [NYDN] Body found in fish tank in missing man’s San Francisco home
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 11:20:00 PM)

    SAN FRANCISCO — Officers found human remains in a fish tank inside the home of a man who was reported missing weeks ago, San Francisco police said Tuesday.

    Investigators discovered the remains on Aug. 17 and are awaiting the results of an autopsy and identification of the body, police Commander…

  • [NYDN] Legal marijuana industry tries to shake ‘stoner’ stereotypes
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 10:35:00 PM)

    LOS ANGELES — Michelle Janikian, who writes about marijuana for publications like Herb, Playboy and Rolling Stone, says after she tells someone what she does for a living, she usually spends the rest of the conversation “trying to act so friendly and mainstream” so they don’t think she’s stoned.

  • [NYDN] Jacob deGrom is brilliant again through eight innings, but Mets and Cubs game gets suspended in extra innings
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 9:25:00 PM)

    Jacob deGrom threw eight stellar innings of one-run ball and had an RBI single, but this time it wasn’t the Mets who rained on his parade. At least not entirely.

    Though the Mets still couldn’t give their ace enough run support for a victory — but what else is new — it was a Chicago thunderstorm…

  • [NYDN] Daily Horoscope — August 29, 2018
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 9:00:00 PM)

    Via Tarot Astrologers

    General Horoscope for August 29, 2018

    We can maintain a positive attitude about work, but inwardly we may lose confidence as our dreams slip out of our grasp. The courageous Aries Moon continues to fuel the fires of enthusiasm, but the flames grow dimmer if we don’t make as…

  • [NYDN] New study shows condition of NYC public housing remains subpar while private apartments have improved
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 9:00:00 PM)

    Public housing apartments in New York City are in far worse condition than nonpublic housing — and have remained in a deteriorated state over the past four years — while private-sector units improved, a new study set for release Wednesday has found.

    The Citizens Budget Commission analyzed Census…

  • [NYDN] Greg Bird doesn’t help his case with 0-for-4 night as he tries to figure it out at the plate and keep Yankees starting job
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 8:50:00 PM)

    It started with Greg Bird unable to catch a routine throw to first, and it didn’t get any better for him.

    The struggling first baseman had an extra-base hit stolen from him on a leaping grab on the warning track and lined into a double play at first. With two chances to bring in the game-winning…

  • [NYDN] Neil Walker continues to come up clutch in his chances, launching pinch hit, walk-off home run to save Yankees
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 8:30:00 PM)

    Neil Walker came here looking for a chance. The second baseman was one of the players frozen out in last winter’s cold MLB free agent market. Signed near the end of spring training, he was hoping for an opportunity to play, and with the Yankees he thought there would be a chance to win.

    This year…

  • [NYDN] Republicans resist plan to rename Senate building for McCain
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 8:30:00 PM)

    WASHINGTON — A proposal to rename the Senate’s oldest office building for John McCain ran into resistance Tuesday from Republican senators reluctant to take away an honor already bestowed on an earlier Senate titan — and a leader of Southern senators during a tumultuous era in the nation’s history.

  • [NYDN] Roger Federer, escaping the heat in night match, breezes to first-round U.S. Open victory over Yoshihito Nishioka
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 8:15:00 PM)

    Strange as it seems, Roger Federer, widely considered the greatest tennis player ever, has not hoisted the champion’s trophy at the U.S. Open since 2008.

    If he’s going to be severely tested at this year’s Open, the stress will come later. Tuesday night, he took full advantage of both an evening…

  • [NYDN] J.D. Martinez does not back down from Instagram post with Hitler photo: ‘I stand by the second amendment’
    (Tuesday, August 28, 2018 7:55:00 PM)

    J.D. Martinez is standing by his Hitler Instagram post, maintaining that he was defending the second amendment.

    The Red Sox slugger spoke to the media on Tuesday, according to multiple reports, responding to his social media post from 2013 with the quote, “To conquer a nation, first disarm it’s…

  • 26 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.08.29)”

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    When another C like Shaq, Kareem, Wilt etc.. eventually shows up and dominates the paint the game will change again. There’s a trade-off between size and speed, shooting range (space) and rebounding, etc.. Right now there’s no one around that can punish opposing Cs in the paint and on the boards enough to overcome the disadvantage of not being able to guard quicker more nimble and better shooting Cs on the perimeter or stretch the opposition. They are rare, but when someone shows up that can, the math will change and teams will have to build themselves to try to stop him.

    In the end it’s really about athleticism and peak performance, in a way.

    A guy like LeBron can be 6’8” and do pretty much whatever a Center does, guard the rim, rebound, score inside, post up, plus he can do everything else. Giannis, KD are also examples of guys who could very much play full time Center because of their height and length, but it’s just a waste of their immense talents. I’m sure if a coach gets one of those guys and tell them ok, you’ll protect the rim, rebound and score inside, they would excel at those roles too, but the role is just less valuable than everything else they can do.

    The way I see positionless doesn’t mean “role-less”. There will still be guys responsible for bringing the ball up, initiating offense, protecting the rim and the perimeter, rebounding, shooting etc, it’s just that transcendent superstars break the mold of assigning those roles to fixed positions. In those Heat teams it’s fair to say LeBron would be the PG, SF and Center of the team all at the same time, as his production fit all of those positions in terms of what the roles for each are supposed to be traditionally.

    As long as a team fulfills the necessary roles in a good balance, it doesn’t matter where it comes from. Your best shooter can be your center if the other players are responsible for adequate rebounding, rim protection and inside scoring.

    @ Stratomatic, spot on. Shaw couldn’t guard the pick and roll and didnt even bother for the most part to contest three point shooters but he punished you inside, demanded double and triple teams and put your entire front line in foul trouble. That’s the only way to beat small ball and/or skinny athletic bigs with a 3 point shot like KP, Giannnis, etc. Neither would be able to play nore than 20 minutes a game against Shaq cause he’s put them in foul trouble. I was looking forward to that New Orleans experiment last year with two bigs…would have been interesting to see how that would would payed out in a seven game series.

    Never have I wanted summer to end as badly as I do now. Between the oppressive heat and being forced to watch paint dry (aka baseball) I cannot wait for September when football comes back and NBA training camps start.

    “Wake me up, when August ends”

    but you just listed 3 of the best players of all time. How often do they come along? And would they really have no drawbacks? If you put Shaq on Houston last year instead of Capella, do they really beat GS? he would to some extent take the ball out of harden’s hands. And, how does Hou afford him, Harden and Paul? And, if GS went with their death lineup….who is Shaq guarding?

    Cousins is the poster child for NBA offensive change. His numbers would have jumped off the page in 2002, but since he’s playing in an era when top guards shoot >.620 TS% for >20 PPG, he’s just not going to be as valuable.

    The league TS% was .520 in 2002 and is .565 now. That’s a huge gap, and if Shaq came back with the same stats, he’d be significantly less valuable than he was. Still would be a great player, but he wouldn’t outpace his peers nearly as well.

    Uh, Shaq is #16 in career WS/48 leaders of all time. Right between Stockton and Steph. His average is a .280. He is also, all time:
    #3 PER
    #40 TS
    #5 eFG
    #27 TRB % (#33 ORB %, #39 DRB%)
    #21 Blk%
    #20 Defensive WS
    #15 Offensive WS
    #19 BPM
    #16 VORP

    Dunking, blocking, and rebounding are still an important thing right? I say he’s a top-3 player in today’s NBA.

    Jowles, Shaq is a game changer. Not sure stats account for that. Meaning, he changes that way other teams play vs. him, forces their lineups, their play calling on offense and their defensive schemes.

    In Shaq’s prime he was good for well north of 200 dunks per season. Dunks are efficient shots, and he would have gotten lots of them regardless of when he played.

    Not to mention that he would get A LOT more calls in today’s NBA. Draymond would have 5 fouls in 20 minutes.

    I think he’s a top 20 player all-time.

    @9

    I mean, did you even read the post right above yours? The stats absolutely do account for his ability as a game changer.

    If the numbers were any better than they already are he would be a top 5 player of all time.

    Shaq would be a fantastic player in any era. The point is that player comparisons should not exist in a vacuum, meaning Shaq’s insane production was made even more meaningful relative to his peers at the time, when stats were considerably lower across the league comparing to today’s game. Meaning he would be relatively less ahead of his fellow NBA players if he produced those numbers in 2018. I still think he would be a top 5 player in the league and the best big man in the game, probably ahead of Davis,but the impact of his production wold be relatively lessened in today’s NBA.

    As much as you anti-stat guys want to think, nobody sees numbers as monolithic proof of one thing or another, the numbers have to always be relative to averages and benchmarks.

    And to the argument that Shaq changed he way the game was played in relation to how he’s guarded and how people attack him, that is meaningless to a certain extent.

    It is meaningful if we’re comparing Shaq to just a regular dude in the NBA. It gets meaningless when the comparison is with other top level superstars, as they all have a similar effect. James Harden, Giannis, AD, Curry, all of those guys change the way opposing teams play in very meaningful ways, but also extremely difficult to quantify ways. What is more meaningful, Curry’s extended range on 3 pointers or Harden’s ability to get defensive big men into foul trouble early? I have no idea. Both are extremely meaningful and change the way the game is played, and both have obvious impact on their production, we just don’t have a way to figure out exactly how. That doesn’t mean stats are meaningless, and it doesn’t mean the eye test is more valuable than stats, just that it is something to take into consideration.

    I thought that perhaps now v. 20 years ago the 3 point percentage was going to be much better, It really isn’t. It had been in the .350 -.360 range most seasons. What has changed is the # taken per game. It was in the low to mid teens from 94-95 (It made a huge jump from never over 10 that year to never under 12) – 06-07. Then it sat at 18 for a few years finally hitting 20 in 12-13. In the last three years it was 24.1, 27.0 and 29.0. Pace has also skyrocketed. Somewhere in there is a point to be made, I think, other than I can copy down numbers.

    I think we are off of strat’s argument a little bit. He said a guy like Shaq could change the game today. If that means change how the game is played, 1 guy can’t do that, and I agree with Cock’s point that if you had an old school center, it would not be as efficient today as in the past to feed the ball to the post. I’m guessing we will see this on GS this year, where Boogie should be the 3rd option on offense.

    If change the game means beat GS; I still don’t think so. One guy or two guys isn’t going to do that. If you get a C as skilled as Shaq then he’s going to get paid like Shaq. You can’t just put him on a contender today without thinking of the $$. I think the question is, if you took one of today’s contending teams, replaced their C with Shak, and then made other moves so the $$ would work, could they beat GS?

    If you could trade Capela for a similar level wing player then just insert Shaq Im sure the Rockets are enough to beat the Warriors. Just Capela for Shaq does it already, they would miss the defense but Shaq would dominate massively on offense and reshape the offense into an inside outside unstoppable machine, where there’s a massively efficient shot every time being taken.

    I think the larger point is great players reshape the game to suit their talents, and Shaq would be no exception. Bill Russell’s stats don’t tell you he’d be great in today’s league, but does anyone really think players like that wouldn’t figure it out and find a way to dominate? Their numbers would change accordingly. I’d take him as a foundational piece over Steph in a heartbeat, in any era, even if it doesn’t look like he fits today’s game.

    My gosh..can you imagine a Center like Dream in today’s NBA? Don’t get me wrong, any of the Centers listed in #1 would punish defenses. But Dream is the only one with the requisite foot speed and lateral movement to damn near negate small ball. I think that if AD stays healthy as a full time Center this season, he may be that guy. He doesn’t have the post game Dream had, but he has enough of one to slaughter in the paint- especially when his shooters are giving him room in the paint. I kinda expect Boogie to be that way once he’s healthy, but just not on defense.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    The league TS% was .520 in 2002 and is .565 now. That’s a huge gap, and if Shaq came back with the same stats, he’d be significantly less valuable than he was. Still would be a great player, but he wouldn’t outpace his peers nearly as well.

    If Shaq came back now imo he’d have a much easier time of it on offense. Back then teams were primarily built to defend big strong Cs. Now they are built to defend quicker more nimble Cs. They want their C to defend the P&R and even go out on the perimeter if the opposing C has range (which a growing number do). If they have a big strong C that can defend other big strong Cs, he’s probably riding the bench for the occasional match up when they need him.

    Shaq dominated other big strong Cs even when double teamed. Against some of the small ball Cs out there now it would be comical. Sure, he’d struggle a little more on defense, but the math would change. His edge inside would be so monstrous, the fact that he was getting burned outside a little would hardly matter.

    Stratomatic "Porzingis, Ntilikina, Knox & Robinson are going to lead us to the promised landsays:

    If you could trade Capela for a similar level wing player then just insert Shaq Im sure the Rockets are enough to beat the Warriors. Just Capela for Shaq does it already, they would miss the defense but Shaq would dominate massively on offense and reshape the offense into an inside outside unstoppable machine, where there’s a massively efficient shot every time being taken.

    +1

    Stats do a good job of capturing how productive a player was given his skillset, role, the system he played in, his teammates, matchups etc….

    Obviously, they are telling us a HUGE part of how good a player is (was). But they do not capture how productive a player would be in a different role (expanded or contracted), with different teammates, in a different system, and against different defenders. Stats tend not to change much from year to year, but that’s because roles and defenses don’t change much.

    I love Capela as much as the next guy, but he’s not a dominant enough offensive player to screw up Golden State’s lineups. In fact, Golden State probably makes Houston think twice because some of the lineups they can throw at Capela are a problem.

    Capela is guarding inside but GS is often killing them from the outside. If they put someone smaller on Capela, he can’t make them pay for going small by killing them back inside. He can score effectively and efficiently, but not kill them the way Shaq would. That’s the tradeoff math I am talking about. I’m not smart enough to calculate who is going to win these kinds of strategic match ups, but that’s what’s going on. The teams are trying to “out chess” each other and adjust if they are losing with a certain lineup.

    Shaq is obvious though. He’d score 40 a night now if given the ball and teams didn’t adjust.

    You know who defenses aren’t equipped to deal with? A 6’6” 280 combo forward who rebounds like a center and runs the floor/finishes at the rim like Russell Westbrook. We should draft that guy next year.

    Heh, the same guy that dubbed Zion a future NBA superstar before he registered for his phantom classes at Duke suggests that Shaq might have been less of a big deal today. Edibles, anyone?

    Young Shaq was a ridiculous beast. It is always helpful to have someone like that on your team, even with the free throw difficulties.

    Shaq and Harden v GS is a fun one. I would put my.money on the former.

    This conversation has made me realize that Curry is basically a modern day Shaq. There was no way to stop Shaq except to give him a bear hug when he had the ball close to the basket, then hope he missed the free throws. And there’s no way to stop Curry except to make him shoot from 30’ out, and hope he misses. (Both are roughly 40% bets:)

    And yet, here we are discussing whether Shaq is an all-time great, just as we will inevitably discuss, 20 years from now, whether Curry was an all-time great.

    Someone here was wondering if Shaq on a contender would have made a difference against GS. Hmm, I’d say he’d change the entire picture of the last few years if you paired him with LeBron in Cleveland.

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