2019-20 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Sixers

The Knicks continue their playoff push tonight by hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at the Garden.

Let’s hope that Marcus Morris has a really good game and the Sixers are impressed enough to work out a deal for him. Of course, knowing the morons who run the Knicks, they’ll say, “See! Morris is so good we need to keep him to continue our playoff push!”

The Knicks are only eight games out of the playoffs!

Let’s go? Knicks!

101 replies on “2019-20 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Sixers”

call me crazy, but I feel like the knicks will have a bit of a rebound from their horrendous performance against the suns…

probably won’t win, but, I expect them to play much better…

ugh, frank looks like he’s spacing out tonight…

elfrank paykina hasn’t looked too good the last few games…I wonder how DSJ is doing…

i can’t passably do any of the stuff popular in the knickerblogger finer things club so i’ve forwarded the recipe to a higher power and all i can do is pray.

this is the most energized i’ve seen mitch in a while. meanwhile clyde almost retired on that transition turnover.

Mitch is good at dunking

Berman had some dick comment about how the other teams are taking away Mitch’s dunking game and, to a certain extent, it’s true, but only because the Knicks don’t look for him on purpose, which they obviously should.

Haha, Marcus Smart makes a ridiculous 11-21 three pointers and the Celtics still lose to the Suns

we’ve done an impressive job of hanging around in a game we have 0.0 chance of winning

That’s why isolation basketball is so dumb. “I have to shoot the ball, even if I’m double-teamed.” “Me, too.”

I wish we had the assets to trade for Ben Simmons after the Sixers lose in the playoffs this year

Mitch also fucked up on Harris on the go-ahead three. Why he was on Harris is beyond me, though, but still, gotta get up on your guy, my dude.

just finished the game, and, my big takeaway for the night – I wonder if julius randall drinks before games…maybe even during the game…

he just does stuff at times that make me think: that mother fucker has got to be buzzing…

I dunno, at the end of the game, I was impressed by how embarrassed he seemed. Showed some real maturity.

so our starting lineup for game number whatever was elf, reggie, morris, randall and taj…actual nba capable basketball…

all generally considered either the 4th or 5th best starter on previous teams…maybe beat suited for bench roles – still actual nba level talent…

of course they’re all playing together on the knicks for the very first time, with a new nba coach, with no idea whether they’ll be here next season or next month…

all and all, I guess not too bad a night…

From Berman

Mitchell Robinson shows flashes, but coaches have recently adjusted to his alley-oops and don’t guard him on the perimeter.

Gee, I wonder who kept repeating that Mitchell has to expand his game with some relatively efficient post ups and/or mid range shots or eventually the best defensive teams and teams with tough matchups for him would make adjustments and limit his one trick pony act on offense.

There’s nothing wrong with what he does, but when you are a one trick pony you tend to become more of a 3rd or 4th option on offense unless you have a favorable matchup or are facing a weak defensive team. He needs to be more.

Also, if you notice, they are starting to run plays that drag him out of the paint on defense to limit his impact as a shot blocker. That’s another reason why you need to be more diverse on offense. You have to punish their stretch offensive strategy by being more dominant on offense against that matchup.

Gee, I wonder who kept repeating that Mitchell has to expand his game with some relatively efficient post ups and/or mid range shots or eventually the best defensive teams and teams with tough matchups for him would make adjustments and limit his one trick pony act on offense.

Not sure how much these ‘adjustments’ are actually affecting Mitch. His USG% is down slightly but his TS% is significantly higher compared to December. This extra attention paid to him on defense hasn’t affected his O all that much.

His rebounding has gone down this month. Maybe that’s related to getting pulled out of the paint more? This is the bigger concern IMO.

Over the last 10 games Mitch is averaging 14.5 points per 36, which is lower than his season average of 15.6 per 36. I guess the league has it solved.

Also, if you notice, they are starting to run plays that drag him out of the paint on defense to limit his impact as a shot blocker. That’s another reason why you need to be more diverse on offense. You have to punish their stretch offensive strategy by being more dominant on offense against that matchup.

Are you talking about KP or MR here? At least you can’t guard MR with a 6’6″ guy because of his total lack of a post game……..

Might as well goal post shift away fro Luka is just OK, amirite?????

If you pay extra attention to Mitch you would expect his usage to go down but his efficiency to stay the same because opponents took some shot opportunities away from him and he didn’t replace those shots with something different. (He doesn’t have anything different at the moment). The numbers suggest this is what happened but it’s a weaker effect than I would have expected. Like Strat, I am in favor of his adding diversity to his offensive game, such as short jumpers and have said so before. This will actually lower his efficiency because even if he’s good at them he won’t hit 70% or more of them. But if he shoots say, 50%, on them it will still help the team because those shots will replace some worse shots by other Knicks.

Mitch doesn’t get passed to enough. It’s a sign of stupidity- coach and vets. Also FO for not asking for less Taj more Mitch, but I don’t expect anything competent in the Longview from those losers.

When your highly skilled center is being dragged out of the paint and away from easy alleyoops, that’s a sign of a coach who is not running the proper plays to pnr, cut, and force switches to MAKE it happen.

But I think it’s all mostly due to ISO vets who, like the Afflalos of years past, don’t pass well and dribble the ball into the ground before scowling and forcing a shot that ultimately, in or out, means less than nothing.

I love it that when KP was with the Knicks, the whole defense of his terrible shooting was “he doesn’t have Point Guards who can get him the ball in the right places!!”, and now Mitchell Robinson, a rim running center playing with freaking Elfrid Payton and Frank Ntilikina, is just bad and needs to diversify his game.

At least ruruland was consistent in his approach.

I don’t agree with most of that at all. All the guards look for Mitch but he’s often defended. Both Ntilikina and Payton often run pick and rolls with Mitch.

It’s true he gets dragged out of the paint by some teams but that’s when he’s on defense, not offense, so it doesn’t take away from lob opportunities.

I do agree that vets isoing takes away some opportunities for him, but I’m not convinced it’s because they can’t pass. It’s clear the coach calls for some iso plays. I also would wonder how easy it is to run plays for Mitch. You have to practice them and maybe he’s not very good at certain types of plays yet.

Mitch doesn’t get passed to enough. It’s a sign of stupidity- coach and vets. Also FO for not asking for less Taj more Mitch, but I don’t expect anything competent in the Longview from those losers.

When your highly skilled center is being dragged out of the paint and away from easy alleyoops, that’s a sign of a coach who is not running the proper plays to pnr, cut, and force switches to MAKE it happen.

It’s totally strategy and it’s totally moronic. The worst thing is that during his best years here, the Knicks would often not look to Melo first on offense. They would look to Tyson Chandler, who would pass out when the defense collapsed on him and then Melo would shoot (he had plenty of times where he would just isolate from the get go, but more often, the offense would start with Chandler under their smart coach, D’antoni and the coach smart enough to keep most of D’antoni’s sets when he took over).

Most/a lot of the (I can’t guarantee it was the majority, but it was close) plays in the Knicks’ only 50 win season in the past twenty years started with a Felton/Chandler pick and roll.

But like most things that the Knicks do, when something works, they never repeat it. After all, what’s the challenge in that?

Gee, I wonder who kept repeating that Mitchell has to expand his game with some relatively efficient post ups and/or mid range shots or eventually the best defensive teams and teams with tough matchups for him would make adjustments and limit his one trick pony act on offense.

There is nobody here who toots his own horn about being “right” all the time more than you. Strangely enough when you’re dead fucking wrong about something we never hear “gee I guess I was wrong about that one.” Doncic should be playing like dog shit right now considering his enforcer/space creator is on the bench nursing his papier-mâché knee but somehow Luka is playing great ball. How is that? I thought he missed the non-boxscore charms of The Great Latvian.

Guess who said all of that was bullshit? Everybody! Score one for everybody except you.

His rebounding has gone down this month. Maybe that’s related to getting pulled out of the paint more? This is the bigger concern IMO.

Without checking the numbers, his positioning has improved some but he’s also going after rebounds and blocks far less aggressively. It’s really just about getting his fouls under control, seems like they’re trying to give him a lower baseline level of aggressiveness and then build back up from there in a more effective way.

Some of his decline in rebounding may be due to who we played. He faced Gobert, then Howard/McGee, the Harrell in quick succession.

Mitch was awful in the last minute. First he went back towards the paint and left Harris open for his 3 that put the Sixers up 2. Clyde talked about it during the replay.

Then on offense Mitch eliminated Morris’s space by trying to set a screen for him in the already clogged area towards the baseline, forcing Morris to pass to Randle, who was immediately double teamed and turned it over.

On this last sequence you can see Mitch looking at Morris, who was guarded by Simmons, and thinking what should he do – and having no clue. He chose the worst possible option. Not good, in the bbiq department.

Any time you are citing Berman as someone who agrees with your view point you have already lost your argument.

Any time you are citing Berman as someone who agrees with your view point you have already lost your argument.

Well, unless your argument is “What Steve Mills is thinking on a subject.” 😉

I still don’t understand how you can watch this team and think what you need is andre drummond

But Berman is one of the strat certified guys! He actually watches games and talks to people who watch games!

I mean, Mitchell Robinson is the least of my concerns for this franchise. He’s 21 and under a ridiculous cheap contract for a while still. If he never improves he’s still a valuable piece, so I really don’t care. Yeah it would be cool if he became Anthony Davis, but why exactly are we looking to shit on the one good young player we do have whenever he makes mistakes?

Also, Mitch’s two big mistakes at the end of the game were right after he had a big dunk to cut the lead to one with less than a minute left. I don’t even know if he’s really at fault for the Harris play, as that had to be a set defensive play, right? But yeah, he definitely fucked up by cutting off Morris’ angle (Morris fucked up, too, of course, as did Randle), but still.

we have a handful of okayish pros who’ve never all played together before, we’re on our second coach of the season (between the two of them they had about 100 games of head coaching experience prior to coaching the knicks), we have another handful of young guys that either can’t or can barely order alcohol with a meal…and, you have a practice facility half a state away from where you play…

yeah, it’s so weird they don’t all consistently execute better…that’s why god put the cavs on their schedule…

I’m not trying to say Mitch sucks, he’s obviously very talented and productive. But he’s a long way from being a player to build around, and has a lot to learn.

Which makes total sense when you remember he’s 21, halfway through his second season and did not play for an entire year because of the college thing, which is why we were even able to draft him in the 2nd round.

It seems to me that having to be game planned for, even a little, is a plus not a minus

And then saying, “Oh, he’s being game planned for, I guess we just have to stop going to him” is also, in and of itself, a minus for the team.

obviously it ain’t happening this season, but, until mitch starts being able to hit a 18′ jump shot the paint is gonna stay awfully crowded with an extra defender when he’s on the court…

or, they figure out a way to run an effective pnr game with him…

I just know mitch has got a sky hook in him from the post…

such is the joy in rooting for mercs, kids and a clueless front office…

or, they figure out a way to run an effective pnr game with him…

Which you’d think would be exceedingly simple, right? Since he’s such a good roll man, and yet…

Stuff like this really belies the very concept of appealing to authority, right?

I mean, appeals to authority are stupid, period, but especially in the NBA.

My wife won’t go near it, so I guess I’ll have to wait for home video. It really looks good, though.

Try to see it in the theater unless you have an asskicking home theater setup. The big screen makes a big difference.

I’m a bit of a war history buff so maybe it got me more than someone with less background knowledge.

Try to see it in the theater unless you have an asskicking home theater setup. The big screen makes a big difference.

That’s definitely what it looks like.

Can’t believe Doug McDermott’s career game didn’t come against us. 9-10 and 6-7 from three and a +20 in 21 minutes.

He’s no Wayne Ellington or Reggie BulLOCK

Man, the Pacers are gonna be a load when they get Oladipo back, right now they’re sitting at 28-15 after an impressive road win over Denver last night. And Sabonis with the triple double, he has to be at the top of the all underrated list.

No one is going to want to meet Indiana come playoff time.

The Pacers have as underrated of a front office as there is out there. Sabonis, Turner, Brogdan and TJ Warren are all signed long term to cap-friendly deals and Oladipo is not a cap-crippling deal either. They seem to be ahead of everyone else on the non-max deal win curve.

The Pacers made so many good incremental moves over the years, the Paul George trade, drafting Myles Turner, the Brogdon trade, drafting Aaron Holiday, getting Warren for free essentially, getting shooters around their core with McDermott and Lamb… and still something very strange would need to happen for them to be contenders to reach the finals.

It is a good example of just how hard it is to build a contender through incremental moves, smart trades and smart low 1st round picks. It’s been a while since they made an actual bad move, which is probably the Tyreke Evans signing in 2018 or letting Bogdanovic leave for nothing, and they’re still not really contenders.

They definitely are not contenders yet, but Sabonis and Turner are both young enough to improve, Brogdan and Warren are strong 2-way players and they have a nice bench. Add a healthy Oladipo to the mix and who knows? If Giannis tweaks a hammy around playoff time, the East is pretty wide open.

IMO, the Pacers are doing everything right despite the disadvantage of not being a prime destination for free agents. The keep upgrading the team year after year in sensible ways using the best available option to them at the time (free agency, trade and draft). They also obviously evaluate talent well, are patient developing the young players, value the players they add well, and fit the pieces together coherently. It’s all very simple when you have competent people making the decisions. (hahahaha)

IMO, they still aren’t a serious contender, but they are probably only a star player way from giving “hell” to anyone in the playoffs.

Man, the Pacers are gonna be a load when they get Oladipo back,

It may take awhile for him to get back to his prior peak (assuming he comes back 100%). He’s been off the court for a year. That’s a long time. At least he seems to targeting a date that will give him plenty of games to slowly round into form for the playoffs.

Can’t believe Doug McDermott’s career game didn’t come against us.

He would be a nice role player on a team that badly lacks shooting and proper spacing if I could think of one. #nevermind

Should Indiana be making a move for Towns? Obviously they would need to move Sabonis or Turner, but he’s the one superstar on the market and could elevate their offense to the next level

I don’t think Oladipo moves the needle as much as people here think he might. He had one stellar season and otherwise been mediocre on *insert favorite metric* with middling efficiency. Was he injured last year before being sidelined?

I think they should be making a move for Towns, even if it costs them something like Turner or Sabonis, Holiday plus multiple picks… but I don’t think the Wolves are taking that offer.

There’s little precedent for a guy at Towns level of production hitting the market at age 24 and just having signed a 5 year deal, Anthony Davis is probably the closest comparison lately but with only one year left on the deal, which scared all the non Lakers teams out of a trade because he wouldn’t re-sign. I honestly have no idea what Towns will command on the market, but my idea is that it should start at least with a player around star level plus at least 2 firsts, as long as he hasn’t asked for a trade yet.

Oladipo is overrated but fine for a mid-tier playoff team, which is apparently what Indiana has aspired to over the last thirty years. His next contract is going to be a terrible trap for a desperate, poorly-managed team and I suspect it will be IND.

Incredibly, they have not had a pick better than #10 since 1989, which is partly from being a playoff “contender” with startling mediocrity for such a long time. Since that time, they have not performed worse than 32 wins and their best teams are 61, 58, 54, 54, 52 wins — some strong contenders, but they only made the final round once. My point is that they may feel (perhaps correctly) that they need to do whatever’s possible to keep this “superstar” in a flyover state, and for a high-flying 2-guard with a bum knee through age 33, that will be a major mistake.

Makes me sad that there’s not MLK day game at MSG today for the first time in many, many years. I used to work in the financial services industry and would get the day off, and would often take my kids to the game. Always a fun atmosphere with tons of kids there, and the MLK tribute at halftime was a beautiful thing.

Kind of a sad reflection of where we are as a franchise, basically irrelevant to the NBA.

I didn’t see it but I’m not surprised. This is any team that needs improvement.

Weird that I think this Kyrie/MLK shit is totally misinterpreted.

When I was out for those 7 weeks and not saying anything, but still people are out saying things about me, it’s inevitable. You know they crucified MLK for speaking about peace and social integration. You know, you can go back to historical leaders and great people in society who do great things and they are still gonna talk shit about them. It is what it is.

Then he follows it up by saying that it’s just a game, just entertainment.

I think he’s saying that people get roasted while being more virtuous than a bunch of athletic entertainers, so it’s bound to happen to lesser men (like him).

Yeah, on this specific one people are just reaching to hate on Kyrie. For me it’s obviously that with MLK day, he was attempting to say “hey, people roasted even him and other great historical figures, so obviously they’ll be fine with roasting an athlete”. I mean, of course when you’ve said a ton of insane shit already people will not give you the benefit of the doubt, but it definitely seems people have been harsher than usual on him. He just should simply choose not to talk sometimes, but we all know he won’t do it.

I think I can sign on that take on it Jowles. I’ve certain hear variants on “they crucified Jesus” so yeah he is probably awkwardly saying greater people than me have had to put up with worse than I have. Be that as it mayu I’m hoping he didn’t just put this out unprompted.

both kyrie and KD picked a really bad city to come be wierd and “misunderstood” at…

you can get away with certain shit in cleveland, okc, even the bay area…

try being a weird dick in boston or new york, folks will feast on the carcass of your psyche…

give it another month or so and he’ll shut down again like he did in beantown and figure out it’s best to stay quiet til the team starts winning…

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