2016-17 Game Thread: Knicks @ Bulls

The Knicks travel to Chicago to take on Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah’s old team. You know that Rose is going to be extra pumped up for this game and will likely take 505 shots in it. Hopefully he makes at least 258 of them.

Let’s go, Knicks!

5 Stats To Show The Bright Side of This Knicks’ Season

The Knicks have played poorly thus far in the 2017 season. So to fellow Knick fans who are having a hard time finding the good among their 1-3 record, here are 5 stats to show what is going right.

Kyle O’Quinn’s 5.8 blks/36 and 10.1 reb/36.
Bryan’s Gibberman’s analysis notwithstanding, O’Quinn’s early season numbers are downright Manute-like. It’s impossible for him to keep up with his current Eatonesque frequency, and he’ll likely settle on half that number as the season progresses. But hey we should enjoy the rate in which he’s turning shots away for now.

Carmelo Anthony’s 54.2% ts%.
While Knick fans seem content to be point fingers at Rose, Noah, Hornacek, Phil Jackson, Billy Crystal, etc., to blame for this season’s poor start, Melo has quietly upticked his efficiency. Although we’d love to see it go northward of 56%, we’ll take him being at the league average given that he’s on the downside of his career agewise.

Kristaps Porzingis’ 5.7 ft/36.
It’s fairly obvious that playing out of position is taking it’s toll on young Zinger. While the team uses him as their 7-3 perimeter defender, his rebounds are down and his personal fouls are up. But Porzingis is getting to the line more often, as his free throw rate is almost doubled (.271 to .435) from last year. Being able to rack up free points is a good skill for a young developing player to acquire.

Noah’s 12.0 reb/36, 8.8 ast/36.
Sure he’s sporting a Y-league worthy 3.2 pts/36 and 31.9% ts%, but at least Noah is rebounding normally. As for his assists, in his last 3 years as a Bull, Noah averaged 5.6 ast/36, so it’s not completely out of line with his career trends.

Ndour 25 minutes, Baker 23 minutes.
It’s a good sign that Checkers isn’t ignoring the tail end of his roster. Although one could argue that given the Knicks’ play, there has been plenty of Müllzeit to empty the bench. And if this doesn’t seem like enough play for these hopefuls, just remember if D’Antoni was still the Knicks coach we might not even know that these guys existed until February.

Knicks Morning News (2016.11.04)

  • [NY Newsday] Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah return to Chicago in need of a win for New York Knicks
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 8:23:49 PM)

    With the Cubs having won the World Series for the first time since 1908, Chicago fans may be too emotionally (or otherwise) hung over to care that Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are returning on Friday night for the first time as Knicks.

  • [NY Newsday] Knicks can’t forget about Kristaps Porzingis, especially in a mismatch
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 11:17:00 AM)

    At 1-3, the Knicks are talking about needing to improve their defense going into Friday’s game against the Bulls in Cubs-mad Chicago.

  • [NY Newsday] Knicks’ defense burned by James Harden, Rockets
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 8:16:00 AM)

    All it took was one-and-a-half home games for the Knicks to hear their first boos of the season. Unless they find a way to stop teams, those boos will rain down more often and louder, and the team Phil Jackson built will have another disappointing season.

  • [NYPost] Does Carmelo Anthony feel his haters are coming back?
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 10:33:42 PM)

    Carmelo Anthony issued a 77-word Instagram post that seemed to suggest his doubters are emerging again but he still sees himself making it in New York. Perhaps sparked by a 1-3 start and growing discontent after three straight non-playoff seasons, Anthony wrote Thursday:

  • [NYPost] Knicks’ Derrick Rose opens about his one Bulls regret
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 10:26:15 PM)

    CHICAGO — Derrick Rose said his major regret about being traded by the Bulls last June was failing to win a title despite seven straight playoff berths and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Rose will make his homecoming Friday at United Center on the same day as the Cubs’ championship parade. “Not winning…

  • [NYPost] Knicks spiraling out of control as Rose, Noah return to Chicago
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 4:52:21 PM)

    CHICAGO — Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah arrive in the Windy City for Friday’s showdown against the Bulls at the worst possible time. Rose, the hometown hero, and Noah, the former Bulls stalwart at center, make their United Center returns with their new sad-sack Knicks looking like a complete wreck at 1-3. As Chicago holds…

  • [NYPost] 2 charged with killing former Knicks draft pick found dead in SUV
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 9:12:30 AM)

    New Jersey prosecutors have charged two men with killing former Knicks draft pick Michael Wright, whose body was found in his car in Brooklyn last year. Mark Holdbrooks, 59, and David “King Victor” Victor, 35, were picked up and held on $3 million each for the killing, Bergen County prosecutors said Wednesday. Holdbrooks was a…

  • [NYPost] Is the triangle to blame for Knicks’ horrible defense, too?
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 8:57:43 AM)

    Leave it to new Knicks shooting guard Courtney Lee to come up with one of the more interesting theories of the past three years on why Phil Jackson’s teams haven’t defended well. Following another inept defensive outing against the Rockets on Wednesday, when the Garden crowd booed the Knicks in their second home game, Lee suggested…

  • [NYPost] Derrick Rose’s low-key role in Cubs’ triumphant year
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 7:28:01 AM)

    Though he is a White Sox fan, Derrick Rose’s 3-year-old son, P.J., threw out the first pitch at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field on May 17.

  • [NYDN] Knicks’ struggles make Chicago return bittersweet for Rose, Noah
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 11:22:04 AM)

    You could understand if Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose get that longing, homesick feeling during their nationally-televised game in Chicago.

  • [ESPN] Friday’s Knicks News: Rose regrets not winning title with Bulls
    (Friday, November 04, 2016 5:39:51 AM)

    Friday’s Knicks News: Rose regrets not winning title with Bulls

  • [ESPN] Jimmy Butler: ‘Lots of love’ for Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah in Chicago return
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 5:55:46 PM)

    Jimmy Butler: ‘Lots of love’ for Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah in Chicago return

  • [ESPN] Hornacek: Knicks have to get Porzingis the ball
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 12:07:50 PM)

    Hornacek: Knicks have to get Porzingis the ball

  • [ESPN] Two charged in slaying of ex-Arizona F Wright
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 7:50:09 AM)

    Two charged in slaying of ex-Arizona F Wright

  • [ESPN] Thursday’s Knicks News: Noah benched in loss to Rockets
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 6:10:34 AM)

    Thursday’s Knicks News: Noah benched in loss to Rockets

  • [SNY Knicks] TheKnicksBlog Podcast: There’s No D in Knicks
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 2:18:29 PM)

    Anthony Donahue and Moke Hamilton aren’t in a particularly good mood after a tough start to the season. The guys discuss the Knicks’ recent losses to Detroit and Houston, and question Jeff Hornacek’s rotation through the first four games. Later, the guys go Around the League, and stop in Chicago and OKC.

  • [SNY Knicks] How can Porzingis snap out of this funk?
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 1:45:30 PM)

    Though the Knicks have struggled so far this season, the offensive production of Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose has been encouraging. The same can’t be said about Kristaps Porzingis, however.

  • [SNY Knicks] D’Antoni’s Rockets pick Knicks apart
    (Thursday, November 03, 2016 8:43:18 AM)

    NEW YORK, NY: It’s not just the lack of his once signature mustache that is different about Mike D’Antoni in 2016.