2021-22 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Timberwolves

The Knicks host the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are now MOSTLY healthy, so this might not be as easy of a win as it should normally be, but at the same token, the Knicks really need to win this one.

Kemba Walker returns to the Knicks tonight. It’ll be fascinating how he is used tonight. I guess Grimes loses playing time, right?

Let’s go, Knicks!

242 replies on “2021-22 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Timberwolves”

Somehow Vegas has us as 3 point underdogs tonight.

Not a good sign, makes me think we might get our asses kicked

I think we might just see how bad this whole “tanking for superstars” thing is tonight

About the player that is going to have a career high in points tonight, my money is on Edwards.

It’s time to blow things up and hope we get a top pick, a star player is actually available in our slot, he eventually pans out, and knickerblogger doesn’t whine for 3-4 years because the 19 year old we drafted is still 5-6 years away from his peak at 22 when we have to pay him.

I will ask you for the millionth time: what are some good examples of players whose teams didn’t think they were worth an extension after their rookie deals who went on to prove those teams wrong?

Mitch has his hands full with KAT but it’s nice to see him more involved on offense…

Mitch is slightly more skilled at converting non-lob looks at the rim than we give him credit for

I’m not sure how much rim protection this version of Taj gives us compared to Obi. It’s still probably more, but hard to believe it’s worth the tradeoffs.

I have a feeling this game is going to be almost identical to yesterday with the difference being Minnesota is going to score much more than 97 pts.

According to Katz, RJ went straight to the locker room.

Maybe he just needs to take a dump…

Watching the NBA TV coverage. Anyone got a good link for the MSG broadcast for us outside the US?

TheClashFan:
Not a good start for RJ.

Yeah, this is that kind of game where — whoops — they have interior D, so block-block-turnover-block.

But Rowan must learn, so …

Love you Quick, but the thing where you pump fake a good look and then sidestep into a worse one is starting to drive me a bit crazy

pepper:
even worse…Randle looks at the guy in the corner…like it’s their fault

Glad I’m not the only one who noticed…

I’m on a board meeting call with the game on in the background and the sound off. Are they booing Randle? Because they should…

doing my best Robert duvall….in the helicopter in ‘nam….sniffs the air…”I love the smell of mediocrity in the evening”

Raven:
I’m on a board meeting call with the game on in the background and the sound off. Are they booing Randle? Because they should…

RJ’s awfulness is overshadowing all, so far.

For the second straight night Breen is singing the “opponents aggressive defense” song and I’m a bit tired of this refrain, it’s the fucking NBA, you’re suppose to know how to dribble, pass, shoot and manage good defenses…

Max:
For the second straight night Breen is singing the “opponents aggressive defense” song and I’m a bit tired of this refrain, it’s the fucking NBA, you’re suppose to know how to dribble, pass, shoot and manage good defenses…

Amen to that

I know we’re not deep into psychobabble here, but this is the type of game where I think Thibs should quit scowling and toss out some encouragement. They’re already hanging their heads on the turnovers, but at least they’re looking. Coach should remind them they know what to do before we get down by 20.

RJ looks so much better going down hill tonight. Need a bit more of he and Kemba getting to the bucket.

Bing Bong Hits:
RJ is slow. The guy has absolutely no speed whatsoever.

And obstinate. Man just won’t pass. Head down, plow ahead, lose the ball/get blocked.

This is going exactly like the Charlotte game. One team just looks way better than the other

RJ once again just can’t keep a good string of games going… he has a few good ones and then the clunkers inevitably come.

Raven: And obstinate. Man just won’t pass. Head down, plow ahead, lose the ball/get blocked.

Him and Burks once they make their move it’s done deal. Burks a little better but … yea RJ … ugh

Bruno Almeida:
RJ once again just can’t keep a good string of games going… he has a few good ones and then the clunkers inevitably come.

Last two teams are bigger taller faster. I also think RJ played ~ 40 minutes in his better games. That’s gotta catch up to him. Doesn’t he lead the league in minutes played? He should not.

We leave too much room … breen said it yesterday.. closeouts stink … we’re either too slow or out of position …

It’s pretty simple. We can’t hit one pointers, two pointers, or three pointers, and we have 13 turnovers already, so we can’t even shoot any pointers. No shots, no buckets.

EDIT: Sorry, Just looked it up. Barrett is not even close to leading the league in minutes. I thought Breen said he was last game.

Z-man:
I think Breen said RJ led the league in shitty minutes played….

Sadly, that’s the best post of the game so far…

Just watched Sing2 with kids and missed 1st half except last 5 minutes … we don’t even look like we belong on the floor with the mighty timberwolves

We’re star struck by edwards … we’re allergic to energy … I saw Randle decide he just didn’t want to help on D… literally let guy drive right to bucket … afraid to leave towns … what comes first .. defending free run to basket or ur man … I dunno I guess

Not sure I want to waste my incense and dance halftime ritual on this game. May be too far gone. Oh, what the hell…

Max:
I am torn between daring to watch the beginning of the 3rd or going to sleep…

dude…hit the sack…way more benefit than watching this crap…

The tried and true formula holds true- the louder the “defense” chants the higher the probability of an opponent 3 pointer going in

They’re still in this thing! I like that they’re not retreating into themselves.

Coffee’s coming,
Kemba and Frenchie leading the charge with some scoring and good passing after moving the defense…

He’s a pest to refs but not in that good kinda way … just keep playing hard bro … you’re a load to handle if you just play hard …

Our last two possessions … was There a rule that I don’t know about onlynfournier can shoot

Well you don’t see a Knicks quarter like that every day…

Right? What a ride!

Thibs’ decision to aggressively double Towns and Edwards totally swung the game alongside another insane game from Fournier. We’ll see if they can close it out. Still would bet on the T-Wolves pulling it out, but we’ll see!

You can’t say that this isn’t an entertaining game! I’m loving the Knicks’ energy in the second half.

Jaylen Nowell is the guy who Greg Monroe didn’t know his name when Monroe signed with the Wolves and had a good game.

If Towns is going to wear his mask during the game, he shouldn’t leave it under his chin…

Raven:
If Towns is going to wear his mask during the game, he shouldn’t leave it under his chin…

LOL!!

I think it’s 100% worth to punch a guy right in the mouth for that play … I’d gladly take the L…

Wow, I’d be soooo pissed if a Knick got called for that this late in the game.

That foul call when a defender sticks his arm out and the offensive player purposely swings up into it has to be looked at by the NBA. It’s horrendous

d-mar:
That foul call when a defender sticks his arm out and the offensive player purposely swings up into it has to be looked at by the NBA. It’s horrendous

Used to be a shooting foul … baby steps not enough

I’m just having a bad day… entire house is Covid positive, I am the latest … I feel obligated to work and I’m grumpy… pardon my cynicism

If you’re Thibs, would you keep your hair on the top or just shave it all off?

Brian Cronin:
If you’re Thibs, would you keep your hair on the top or just shave it all off?

Shave or at least just cut super short with clippers.

Not sure what the hell Fournier was thinking … Burks had a very makeable shot and didn’t earn his keep

This is quickly becoming my most hated Knicks season ever and that’s saying something.

My incense and dance ritual was not match for all those turnovers and missed free throws 🙁

The sound you hear are the gates closing on our season…

Laurel and Hardy 12-31 FG, Laurel (or is he Hardy?) with 7 turnovers (13 in two games!).

Relax!

Minnesota Dumbasses 112

New York Dumberasses 110

Right? That explains it so well.

Well at least we have the kids. How’d the kid development go? Let’s see…

Randle, 39 min
Barrett, 37 min
Fournier, 37 min
Kemba, 30 min

BigBlueAL:
This is the 2013-14 season all over again but without Beno Udrih to blame.

And Bargs was at least unintentionally funnier to watch than this dumpster fire.

You can talk about missed free throws and those trio of turnovers but I thought ref #45 (I think his name was Brian Forte) cost us the game. Not only was he awful, but he by himself fouled out both our centers. I didn’t think the Wolves were aggressive enough to warrant any of those ticky tack bullshit he was calling.

Also they could’ve called a foul on the Wolves when Fournier turned the ball over (based on what they were calling on the other end) AND they definitely should’ve called the push on Barrett by Russell when he almost turned the ball over.

The foul-a-thon in the 4th changed the game and put Minnesota back. Yes Randle needs to hit the free throw to tie and we can’t go 3 possessions with turnovers but that #45 was straight garbage.

Keeping with the theme for the season RJ was much worse than Julius tonight but Randle will probably get most of the heat.

Gonna be an ugly day on Knickerblogger tomorrow. House is cold so I’ll probably tune in just to stay warm from all the hate.

l2m report should show dlo fouling rj on the reviewed out of bounds play and the deflection that turned into p bev free throws. it might also say rj should have been arrested for that ridiculous unforced interception he threw with 1:25 left.

i just couldn’t do it, i changed the channel with about 2 minutes left…

i’ll just leave this here:
God, grant me
Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
and Wisdom to know the difference

It was really the bench (with a big assist from RJ) who sunk the Knicks. It looks like Grimes may have passed IQ on the depth chart- I guess we’ll find out once Reddish is healthy.

Just a Bush:
i just couldn’t do it, i changed the channel with about 2 minutes left…

i’ll just leave this here:
God, grant me
Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
and Wisdom to know the difference

amen

Based on the rhythm of this season, I’m confident that we will play inexplicably well in the next two games to beat the Pelicans and Clippers.

Hubert:
Based on the rhythm of this season, I’m confident that Thibs will have a stroke in one of the next two games against the Pelicans and Clippers.

slightly edited…

This Clippers team is insane. How can they win games without either George or Kawhi?

Early Bird:
Sounds like RJ has turned back into a pumpkin?

His last turnover was one of the worst I’ve ever seen, he literally just threw the ball to an opposing player. And it was a critical time. Just inexplicable

Brian Cronin: This Clippers team is insane. How can they win games without either George or Kawhi?

It’s the most points Batum has scored in 6 years and on impossibly good efficiency (16 FGA and 3 FTA). This can’t continue, but the Pacers kind of suck too. Shooting 50% from 3 on big volume as a TEAM will not continue.

Also, strat’s post about Kidd teaching the Mavs to play the game “the right playoffs way” is totally ridiculous. They’re down .5 possessions per 48 minutes relative to league average. An invention in prose, nothing more.

I’ve caught a few Wolves games on league pass. Every game I’ve seen their execution at the end is always so, so bad. And Russell must be good at some things when I’m not watching him but I’ll have to take the box scores word for it. I can only imagine the Wolvesblogger.net folks being even more on the edge of insanity than even we are here.

There was also a foul on a Wolves inbound play where we got a tip and the Wolves player shoved one of our guys to the ground. It kind of looked like a dive but I don’t think it was. Given all the other bullshit calls they made that was a strange missed call.

RJ needs to get his shit together. This yo yo shit will not stand.

milkshake sounds real good…anything exotic, or simply strawberry or vanilla stuff…did a see’s candies run sunday, trying hard not to induce some kind of diabetic shock 2 days later…

i think i’m getting to a spot where i may just start doing more smoothies in the evening instead of heavier shit…

nothing special…vanilla…with a few trader Joe’s peanut butter cups tossed in…my son was hankering for one…definitely not the ideal late night snack…my wife made like 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies this weekend…been munching on those like pez

Fell asleep midway through the 2nd quarter. Then i read Max saying he’d better go to sleep given the sh*t show, and i thought “well, nice game to have skipped”. But in the 2nd half we were doing what we do best – comebacks – and i kept reading feeling hopeful about the chance to win the game, only to be as frustrated today as you guys yesterday with the choke job and the L. 🙁
But at least it was an entertaining game with all the ingredients we usually have… bad refereeing, foul trouble, dumb plays, no D, running into double teams with the eyes on the ground, and last but not least, a lot of turnovers… oddly enough we must have gotten a lot better at FTs in the 2nd half, because we shot above 70% for the game but in the stretch i watched we seemed to be missing a lot… and then we had also clutch shots, good D, a french man that gets hot and nails the win by scoring more than 18 pts (oh, wait), a star in beast mode, incense, dance… what a ride… but in the end we weren’t rewarded for the effort…
…after reading all this, wasn’t sure if i was sad for missing (a good part of) the game, but this definitely made me swing… the peroxide dyed blonde that i now can only imagine! 😀

KJG, wishing you and your family a speedy recovery, with at most mild symptons. That way in some days this will be in the past and you’ll be more protected than ever from this invisible enemy.
How’s the rest of the KBers that had covid are doing? No one with long covid related problems, right?

Donnie Walsh: I can only imagine the Wolvesblogger.net folks being even more on the edge of insanity than even we are here.

Hmm, don’t know, i’d say that’s really a close call. 😛

cybersoze:
Then i read Max saying he’d better go to sleep given the sh*t show, and i thought “well, nice game to have skipped”.

Instead I stayed up until the end, I filed it under entry #9734 in my “Bad Decisions Due To Knicks Fandom” file…

At the same time I’m very proud of myself, I didn’t break anything, I didn’t scream or curse out loud, despite Barrett and Co. repeated provocations.

Progress.

And fuck them all.

Old and unathletic, directionless, poorly coached.

Mediocrity — thy name is Knicks.

That game sucked. It was not fun, other than Evan going nuclear for a bit.

Yet like so much of the season, it’s a Rorschach test for anybody — including members of our front office — who suffered through it. You can see moments where it seems obvious we need to at minimum punt on the season (i.e., trade Burks, maybe trade other vets if there’s a market for them), if not just blow things up and start over. And then you see moments where the team seems like it’s one more move — or just a fully healthy roster — away from resembling last year’s squad. I’d probably punt, but it’s hard to imagine Leon doing that unless the upcoming road trip is an utter disaster prior to the trade deadline.

Sure glad Thibodeau put in Burks rather than Quickley or Toppin after Taj fouled out; you never know what might have happened otherwise, they might have turned the ball over three times down the stretch and not made a basket the last four minutes or something.

Quickley’s back on Thibodeau’s dumbass, stupidass probation again. There’s really little reason to have him around as the head coach anymore; he’s served his niche purpose already.

I have the same feeling Alan, they tease me with “moments” since the start of the season only to implode for whatever reason.

Maybe, just maybe, going 2-8 or 3-7 before the trade deadline can push Rose to sell and re-stock, but if we stay around .500 I can’t see a chance.

E, all merc’d out:
Sure glad Thibodeau put in Burks rather than Quickley or Toppin after Taj fouled out; you never know what might have happened otherwise, they might have turned the ball over three times down the stretch and not made a basket the last four minutes or something.

That was the moment I did understand we’re going to lose. And Burks was in one of his worst games as a Knick!

Max: That was the moment I did understand we’re going to lose. And Burks was in one of his worst game as a Knick!

Another weirdo security blanket veteran. The guy is hopeless. I’ve seen enough. Time for him to go.

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