Knicks Morning News (2019.03.21)

  • [Hoops Rumors] Knicks Notes: Hardaway, Ntilikina, Smith
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 7:01:27 PM)

    Tim Hardaway Sr. blames Kristaps Porzingis‘ desire to go elsewhere for his son’s trade to Dallas, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Tim Hardaway Jr. was sent to Dallas along with Porzingis at the end of January in a deal designed to open up cap room for this summer. He had just signed a […]

  • [Newsday] Knicks Notes: Hardaway, Ntilikina, Smith
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 7:01:27 PM)

    Tim Hardaway Sr. blames Kristaps Porzingis‘ desire to go elsewhere for his son’s trade to Dallas, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Tim Hardaway Jr. was sent to Dallas along with Porzingis at the end of January in a deal designed to open up cap room for this summer. He had just signed a […]

  • [NYDN] Donovan Mitchell reminds Knicks of draft blunder as Ntilikina watches
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 8:05:17 PM)

    The biggest Knicks draft mistake in recent years was wrecking their space Wednesday night, pummeling them into further embarrassment.

    Donovan Mitchell was passed over by New York in 2017 when it took Frank Ntilikina eighth overall. Now Mitchell’s a bonafide star leading the Jazz to the playoffs…

  • [NYDN] Kobe Bryant reveals Knicks fantasy that could have altered history
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 5:13:03 PM)

    Add Kobe Bryant to the list of superstars who claimed a desire to play for Knicks but only ended up torturing them as an opponent.

    “I always kind of dreamed about playing in New York and what that would have been like,” Bryant, the Laker Lifer, told The Athletic. “It’s true. As a fan, the Garden…

  • [NYPost] Donovan Mitchell lights up Knicks as Ntilikina sits again
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 6:17:29 PM)

    Frank Ntilikina, the Knicks’ 2017 lottery pick, was held out again while the Westchester County product the franchise bypassed that draft year, Donovan Mitchell, got a chance to be a hero. Before his parents and 200 friends and family from the tri-state area, Mitchell lit up the Garden in his homecoming for 30 points in…

  • [NYPost] ‘Funky’ Porzingis situation forced my son off Knicks: Tim Hardaway Sr.
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 1:15:49 PM)

    Hall of Fame finalist Tim Hardaway Sr. realizes his son likely would still be a Knick if Kristaps Porzingis had wanted part of David Fizdale’s program. The Jan. 29 trade left his son “disappointed’’ and the father surprised the 7-foot-3 Latvian didn’t want to play for Fizdale, whom Hardaway Sr. had known in Miami. While…

  • [NYTimes] Jazz Clobber the Knicks
    (Thursday, March 21, 2019 4:35:19 AM)

    It was the fifth straight lopsided victory for Utah.

  • [SNY Knicks] Knicks Takeaways from Wednesday’s 137-116 loss to Jazz
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 9:56:36 PM)

    The Knicks couldn’t handle the Jazz on Wednesday night, losing 137-116 at Madison Square Garden for their second consecutive loss.

  • [SNY Knicks] Knicks should hope D’Angelo Russell is the blueprint for Dennis Smith Jr.
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 9:17:54 PM)

    Across the Brooklyn Bridge, D’Angelo Russell is an emerging star with the Nets, but that wasn’t always the case. Dennis Smith Jr. is following the same path, and the Knicks should hope it’s the same as Russell’s right now.

  • [SNY Knicks] Injury bug strikes Knicks as Jazz come to town
    (Wednesday, March 20, 2019 6:25:05 PM)

    The Jazz come to Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks tonight, but New York will be without a few key contributors in this one.

  • 12 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2019.03.21)”

    I pity Farfa for having to recap another blowout. I was away last night. Seems like Knox had another good game on offense but was a big problem on defense. How’d he look?

    I pity Farfa for having to recap another blowout. I was away last night. Seems like Knox had another good game on offense but was a big problem on defense. How’d he look?

    It was one of those weird things where the game got really loose really quickly, so there was no pressure on offense. That said, even without any pressure, he DID hit some shots. He has legitimately been shooting the ball pretty well this month, which, hey, if you’re going to have a good shooting month, the last month of the season is probably the time when it gives you the most hope going forward, ya know?

    But on defense….wow, it was like he wasn’t even really there.

    I hope Farfa knows he doesn’t have to write about these games. You’re an aspiring writer, and we love your work. I can’t speak for everyone, but if you’d rather cover the champion’s league quarterfinals or write about Italian beaches, I would read that, too. I’m not even watching these games any more. They’re dreadful.

    Can you watch the NCAA tournament over there? Maybe it would be more fun for you to write about games where a potential Knick like Ja Morant or Jarrett Culver is playing.

    Or keep doing it. You rise to the challenge every time. It just makes me feel bad to be a part of a group that compels a talented writer to write about this drivel.

    “It’s my understanding Porzingis wanted to leave and when Dallas put the deal together, they wanted Tim in the deal. They didn’t want other guys. They wanted Tim a while back. It wouldn’t get approved if Tim wasn’t in the deal.”

    Oh, definitely, Tim Hardaway Sr., Dallas insisted on getting THJ back. Definitely. That’s clearly what happened.

    But on defense….wow, it was like he wasn’t even really there.

    And that’s the bigger concern. He may never be a consistently efficient offensive player, but he has a lot of varied skills on that end, and some of his problems there are likely to go away as he puts on more muscle and simply gets more used to the size and speed of the competition. There are nights where you can see him being a definite plus on offense. And there’s a symbiosis: in games where he’s shooting well, he tends to put more effort into grabbing rebounds, pushing the ball up the court, even passing. (I did see the hilarious highlight of him trying to throw Mitch the ball at midcourt and Mitch just ducking. Mitch knows his limitations.)

    So what’s the defensive issue? Is it also about his inconsistent motor? Is he just too slow and clumsy? Is there any reason for optimism, or does he at best top out as a pretty good volume scorer whom you have to hide on the other end?

    Stratomatic "I'm tired of the Knicks paying lip service to DEFENSE. Get defenders & two-way players. Then play them!says:

    That’s the second time I’ve read that Dallas actually likes Hardaway. Maybe they are convinced they can improve his shot selection and use him more effectively, but at that price I’m not buying that they “wanted” him to be part of the deal. Maybe they just don’t hate him as much as we do. He played fairly well in Atlanta. Maybe they can get him back to playing like that. More likely is that he’ll eventually be a 6th man and hang around while they search for a 3rd star, more depth, and develop KP and Doncic. It’s going to take a few years anyway and then his contract will be over.

    Stratomatic "I'm tired of the Knicks paying lip service to DEFENSE. Get defenders & two-way players. Then play them!says:

    So what’s the defensive issue? Is it also about his inconsistent motor? Is he just too slow and clumsy? Is there any reason for optimism, or does he at best top out as a pretty good volume scorer whom you have to hide on the other end?

    1. He’s not quick enough to stay with some SFs and not strong enough to hang with the toughest PFs

    2. He makes a lot of poor decisions on when to switch and where to go

    3. No intensity

    Okay, so the first of those can be fixed as he puts on muscle, assuming the coaches recognize he should be a stretch 4 and not a slow 3. The third can in theory be fixed with good coaching and training, especially since Knox has shown the capacity to increase his intensity on offense.

    I’m not sure what, if anything, can be done about the decision-making, though. That was Amare’s problem, even before his knees got really bad. He had all the athleticism in the world, and there was a time in Phoenix when he was trying on that end. He just had no clue what he was doing, except as an occasional weakside shotblocker.

    Stratomatic "I'm tired of the Knicks paying lip service to DEFENSE. Get defenders & two-way players. Then play them!says:

    He’s so damn young and physically immature it seems way too premature to write him off in any way, but defense is 50% of the game. If you are bad at half of it, you better be great at the other half. He has a long way to go to become a good player.

    I’m not advocating it because we should be trying to develop him. But if we were playing players based on merit he would have gotten very few minutes and the Knicks probably would have won 5 more games.

    I’m getting curious about next year. With all that cap space it’s not going to be hard to add a player that’s better than him (unless he makes a huge leap). I wonder if they’ll keep playing him big minutes when they are actually trying to win games. It will look bad for Mills/Perry if their star pick is buried on the bench.

    I’m sorry, I’m struggling to visualize any existing or alternative reality where the need to win the game to get into the playoffs, gain experience through trail by fire, and/or having a massively depleted bench due to a rash of injuries and a wildly contagious disease can lead to playing Kevin Knox 47 minutes. Can someone help me with understanding how that was a decision, much less a good one?

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