[NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: Team Unity or Dad’s Rants: Lonzo Ball’s Hard Decision (Tuesday, January 09, 2018 12:42:32 AM)
LaVar Ball has created another uproar, this time by saying the Lakers’ coach “has no control” of the team. Shouldn’t his son draw some kind of line?
[SNY Knicks] Knicks assign Dotson to G-League for showcase (Monday, January 08, 2018 8:39:12 PM)
The Knicks assigned rookie guard Damyean Dotson to G-League Westchester on Monday so he could play in the G-League Showcase from Jan. 10 to Jan. 13.
[SNY Knicks] Daily News Live: Will the city turn on Kristaps Porzingis? (Monday, January 08, 2018 5:42:59 PM)
The panel discusses Porzingis’ big night against Dallas and if he needed it to help fix his reputation following his ‘tired’ comments.
[SNY Knicks] Knicks in ‘serious talks’ on deal with G-league guard Trey Burke (Monday, January 08, 2018 5:15:00 PM)
The Knicks are reportedly in “serious talks” on a deal with guard Trey Burke, who has spent this season with G-League Westchester.
[SNY Knicks] Jarrett Jack continues to play above expectation this season (Monday, January 08, 2018 4:06:39 PM)
Jarrett Jack isn’t supposed to be having the season he has generated so far, but the Knicks are not complaining in the slightest.
[SNY Knicks] Ntilikina gets upper-hand in first matchup against Dennis Smith Jr. (Monday, January 08, 2018 10:31:33 AM)
The matchup between point guards Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr. was on full display Sunday night, and Ntilikina has taken the first win.
(Monday, January 08, 2018 6:39:27 PM)
Was this “Bullyball” or “Willyball”? “Bullyball” was the term Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek used to describe a philosophical change taking place as the team attempts to manage four traditional centers on its roster. The Knicks are hoping to solve the center glut by the Feb. 9 trade deadline. The strategy might also be termed “Willyball”…
(Monday, January 08, 2018 1:43:40 PM)
The Knicks didn’t want lightning-quick Westchester Knicks point guard Trey Burke to head to Wednesday’s G-League Showcase, a four-day event in Mississauga, Ontario, where all of the league’s talent will be on display. They didn’t want Burke to have a chance to show what the Knicks already know: He’s ready for an NBA roster. Burke,…
(Monday, January 08, 2018 9:22:04 AM)
No taunt. Michael Beasley denied he was glaring at the Miami bench in overtime as he tripped over Wayne Ellington at AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday, spraining his left ankle. Beasley missed most of the overtime in the Knicks’ loss, then missed Sunday’s win in Dallas. He wore a walking boot after the game. Replays appeared…
[NYDN] Knicks in ‘serious talks’ to reach deal with Trey Burke: report (Monday, January 08, 2018 12:13:18 PM)
The Knicks clearly don’t want to lose Trey Burke, as the two sides are in “serious talks” to strike a new deal, according to Yahoo Sports.
[NYDN] Porzingis fighting off physical defenders, perception he’s ‘soft’ (Monday, January 08, 2018 8:20:56 AM)
Kristaps Porzingis’ road trip started with a concession to exhaustion and ended with Wesley Matthews calling him ‘soft’ and ‘sweet.’
(Monday, January 08, 2018 9:37:43 PM)
Go big or go home?
57 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.01.09)”
I’m pretty meh on Trey Burke.
Followed him a bunch as a Michigan fan — was fine/good at the college level.
But in the pros — he’s too small, not quick enough to really get into the lane, not athletic enough to finish over NBA defenders. As a result most of his shots are low-percentage stepbacks which he’s ok at but not exactly what I would call good shots. Defensively he’s pretty much a disaster, consistently ranking among the worst defenders at the PG position by RPM. I guess he’s not worse than Sessions and I guess he’s younger and maybe more upside, but it seems a pretty lateral move. If they give him anything other than a minimum with a team option for year two (to protect us against him upping his value and then leaving) I think it’s a bad idea.
They should probably give Burke triple the minimum along with a player option so nobody scoops him up next year.
Steph Curry has been amazing since coming back from injury. Last 5 games:
38 pts. on 17 shots
32 pts. on 19 shots
29 pts. on 20 shots
45 pts. on 21 shots (!!)
32 pts. on 17 shots
When it comes to efficiency, there’s still no one better in the NBA.
does anyone here feel like, if we were gonna go with an old nearly washed up PG, we should have made a play at jameer?… i think timing was off on availability…
I would have preferred Jameer to Jack, but he has been pretty bad this season too.
Curry is just insane, he is currently averaging the highest ts% in his career (.671) while shooting a slightly worse percentage from 3 than his career average, simply because he’s shooting .591 (!!!!) on 2 pt shots. How the hell is that even possible for a 6’3″ PG.
people say the dumbest things on bleacher report:
“Say, for example, Walker was shipped to his hometown New York Knicks, along with [Marvin] Williams, for rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina, Joakim Noah and New York’s 2018 first-round pick. That would save Charlotte about $4 million next season while giving it an intriguing young point guard to install as Walker’s successor. It would also help Charlotte’s first-round pick move into the top five in the lottery, giving the team a chance to land a star in a top-heavy draft, as well as another pick in the middle of the round.
“Noah’s contract is another of the many albatrosses born in the summer of 2016, but subtracting Williams and adding him so it can get a young point guard and a first-round pick would at least give Charlotte a chance to start over—and avoid the tax while doing so. The Knicks could pair Walker with Kristaps Porzingis, which would be an awfully fun pick-and-roll tandem at Madison Square Garden.”
I think Burke and Ron will fight for minutes until Timmy comes back (with Burke succeeding). Will be nice to see off ball Frank.
Yo, is Ray Felton available?
Don’t forget the FTA — that 45 pt. game had ~7 extra tSA due to free throws. Still, 45 points on 28-30 tSA is incredible. His best game was clearly the 38-point game: 0 turnovers and 38 points on just 18 tSA in 25 minutes (!!!!!!!!!!!!!). His TS% was over 1.000 that game. Incredible that they only won by 13.
He’s a freak of nature.
Let it be known that today is the 1 year anniversary of this exchange between Breen and Clyde:
Breen: “Did you know, Clyde, that Tim Frazier is only the third Frazier in NBA history?”
Clyde: “…I thought you were gonna say he’s my son”
Lol. That is really funny.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/1/9/16866612/luka-doncic-trae-young-steph-curry-generation
Good piece. Who would the Sixers take if they end up with the top pick? Doncic would be my guy. Loved watching him in Eurobasket.
Well any team that doesn’t take Luka Doncic at #1 deserves to be relegated to the G-League. There’s literally no argument, predicated on production, that doesn’t result in Doncic being the top prospect, in my opinion. Maybe that will change with the statistical analyses that’ll crop up later in the year, closer to draft time, but what Doncic is doing is pretty much unprecedented–he might really be the best prospect since AD or even Lebron.
Seems that way to me but I guess there are doubts…
Doncic and Simmons look like remarkably players, no?
Still, I take Doncic and have 48 minutes of Doncimmons every night.
Just watch the Hawks get the #1 pick and draft Bagley, and the Celtics get #2 from LA and draft Doncic.
And a Celtics dynasty is born……)-:
Seem like a lose-lose for us at this point if the Lakers don’t turn it around. Either Philly or the Celtics are gonna get another superstar talent while we end up with like Miles Bridges or something.
@11
Yeah, I read that article. Interesting. Sadly, the Knicks will have no shot at either of those guys, but there are still some pretty interesting players available in the top 10 or so.
It seems like more NBA coaches are speaking out about ESPN giving LaVar Ball a platform to rip Walton. SVG, Carlisle, and Kerr in particular seem pissed, and now some media pressure for the Lakers to do something about it. Might they trade Ball?
there really isn’t any way doncic shouldn’t be the #1 pick… ayton and bagley from my estimates… have disappointed even though they are putting up dominant scoring numbers… they both come up short on the defensive end and i don’t really see that changing…. doncic is way more perimeter oriented than ben simmons is and probably more of a 2 or 3 whereas simmons is a 3/4…
trae young is in the discussion but he is so far of an outlier i’m not sure if there’s more to the numbers… this is the same system that produced buddy hield who… maybe not as gaudy as young.. put up pretty impressive numbers in his own right…. i think he’s a pretty clear #2 at the very least…
I think Bagley has a big chance of being first simply because he’s American, will play in the NCAA tournament and probably go far and, to be fair, his stats are really good.
I think Doncic is clearly the number 1 pick, but you guys are underrating the hype that Bagley will generate and the lengths analysts / scouts will go to knock European prospects. They’ll talk for months about how Doncic’s athleticism is a question mark, how Bagley is the “safer” pick and so on.
I just hope for my sanity that Doncic doesn’t end up on the damn Celtics.
well i don’t think it has to do with being american per se…. gm’s historically have favored the taller prospects all else being equal and there’s a perception that they are all roughly the same…. oden got picked ahead of durant for that reason…
That was my choice.
can’t remember whether we’ve talked about this here but does anyone think we should have interest in Julius Randle? RFA this summer. Averaging 21/11/3 with TS 59 on 24.5 usage. Doesn’t shoot the 3 well (yet) but IMHO he would fit great next as a 4 next to KP at the 5.
I can’t imagine he will be too expensive given he will be an RFA at the end of the season. But the RFA market will be so tight that it might be a good way to have team control over an improving young player at a cheap price. Wonder whether Willy + Sessions contract for Randle + someone like Tyler Ennis might get it done. Ennis’s and Willy’s $ cancel each other out (but Willy’s contract runs longer) so it would not affect FA dollars for the Lakers.
Yeah I brought it up a few weeks ago and still think Randle would be a good fit with us. He’s a much better natural fit with KP eventually shifting to the 5.
Yes, I mentioned Randle as well, as someone we could possibly steal since he’s superfluous on the Lakers.
julius randle always reminds me of a slightly better version of o’ quinn…their per 36 numbers are fairly close…
considering the difference in their potential salaries going forward…i’d probably choose o’ quinn over randle…
I’m assuming that Randle defends the perimeter well so that makes me like him more. KOQ actively avoids defending 3’s most of the time.
I like Randle, he has shown a lot of improvement this year in his shooting and he’s at least a decent rebounder. I think for most teams he isnt very valuable because he’s undersized to play Center and can’t shoot threes, but with KP being this unique weird player that plays offense on the perimeter but defense inside he would be a nice fit.
I would be scared to give him much money because this is a contract year for him, but I think its a good fit for the right price.
@16 “Seem like a lose-lose for us at this point if the Lakers don’t turn it around. Either Philly or the Celtics are gonna get another superstar talent while we end up with like Miles Bridges or something.”
It’s like Groundhog Day all over again. As I tell my friends, rooting for the Knicks is Hard Work. It’s easy to be a Lakers, Celtics, Warriors, or Spurs fan, try being a fan of New York and you’ll see.
Randle is a bit of a mistery to me, decent player, shining stats, but… I don’t know… It’s been years that the Lakers and their “young core of future superstars” are hyped by media (ESPN in particular) but the only thing they do well is losing.
If Doncic fell to the Celtic we Knicks Fans must suicide en masse like lemmings.
The way he’s playing is unbelievable, in a far more competitive environment that the NCAA, and he was great in Eurobasket too.
I like the idea of Burke, I’m sure he’s not a star or even a starter oin a good team, but he should take minutes away from Jack and Baker, not Curry and Harden. At least he’s not “trigger shy”, with him and THJ we could finally start to approach the 25-30 3PTs a game that are mandatory in today’s NBA. Right now every opponent knows that we don’t shoot threes and act accordingly, packing the paint and going down on KP on PnR.
I’m intrigued by the potential backcourt of Frankie & Burke.
To think that we were in the first wave of the “modern” game it’s maddening, I really miss the Novak/JR/Melo/Kidd barrages of 3s…
I’m starting to worry about Willy, maybe last year was a fluke (and his defense and turnovers were terrible), maybe the problem is Hornacek or the management, I’m curious to know what my respected KB brothers’ opinions are.
Last but not least: how idiotic is for ESPN to send a reporter in Lithuania to follow two teens that left school because their father is a fool? Okay okay, I’m an old man, I couldn’t pretend to understand this new world… 😀
i was never a big fan of randle since defensively he’s usually been a liability… i’m not sure how much of that has changed….
offensively he’s good… but i’d be wary to pair two high usage next to each other on the front court…
i’d be more interested at nance.. who i think could be… and by most counts already… a real good reserve and probably go for much cheaper…
FWIW, food for thought on Randle:
https://sports.yahoo.com/rumor-lakers-frustrated-julius-randle-200002942.html
What would concern me about him is that the Lakers had a big team meeting during which, “Some Lakers vented about Randle…” Still, maybe he’d benefit from a change of scenery?
Not a huge Randle fan. Defensive liability and the eye test tells me he won’t age well. That’s always my fear with undersized fours.
willy is gettin eaten alive in practice… by every other big man we have… hence, he doesnt play… just a guess
Been trying to figure out how Doncic would end up on Boston since they traded the Brooklyn pick to Cleveland for Kyrie. Forgot that they got next year’s Lakers pick from Philly in last year’s draft. Why is being a Knicks fan so miserable?
Cleveland really could use O’Quinn. They’re pretty set with 3pt shooting, abysmal at rim protection (despite the daily Lebron highlight), and pretty bad at rebounding. Not sure they have a match for us, but maybe a 3-team deal…
With the Lakers looking to unload salary for their 2018 free agent pursuit, what about this trade proposal?
Knicks get: Nance, Deng (RIP), 2020 1st round pick
Lakers get: KOQ, Lance, McBuckets, Sessions
Lance ($7m) and Deng ($17m) both have 2 more years left. Nance ($1.5m) has one more year. Everyone else is expiring. So the Lakers save almost $12m in 2018 cap space and we get one year of Nance and the 2020 pick.
LA gets slightly better this year (which is good for them since they don’t have their 2018 pick) and we get slightly worse (which is good for us since we do have our 2018 pick). We also free up some center minutes for Willy.
Guys DeAndre Ayton absolutely deserves to be looked at as the #1 pick in this draft over Doncic because Doncic doesn’t project to be physically dominant at the NBA level. Ayton is built like a statue, has three point range, protects the rim, rebounds like a menace, and has a post up game. He’s maybe the perfect center prospect, and that’s important in a league trending towards height again. Doncic is awesome, but my man this draft is Ayton. If I’m Danny Ainge I’m salivating over the idea of having Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Ayton run pick and rolls with Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and Jayson Tatum on the wings. That’s a very scary team and they would be the new dynasty in the league.
https://streamable.com/b3fqa
Imagine if Porzingis did this once. Just once.
how did he not travel…must have some kinda glue on the bottom of his left sneaker…
I had to watch that a couple of times. That is as good a post move as you are likely to see. Get KP in the film room!!!
Headline on ESPN about Ball brothers combining for 29 points in Lithuania. Who gives a flying fuck?
Wierdly enough, I remember KP doing a move lke that, but not this season. Maybe the double teams are inhibiting him? Or maybe I remember wrong.
I’m for just about any trade that we win, but if I had my way we would focus on moving Kanter.
I’ve been all over the place on him this year, but I think I’m finally settling in on a firm opinion.
Statistically and visually it looks like he’s very productive, but I think both boxscore models and the eye test don’t catch some things (especially on defense) and weigh things incorrectly. Various kinds of on/off stats have a lot of noise to them also, but his entire career screams that teams play better when he’s off the court. Even this year we are better with him off the court. It’s a disaster when he’s on the court without KP (covering for him defensively). That can’t be all noise.
I can’t rationalize paying him more than 10x as much as Hernangomez when their games are similar, Willy is younger, and Willy probably has enough upside to be his equal or better.
I don’t think the team is thinking in those terms. I suspect that O’Quinn is more likely to be moved if they do anything, but I think moving Kanter while his value it fairly high should be the priority even if we have to toss that Chicago pick in to do it.
I don’t want to toss in picks just so we can be rid of anyone on the roster. It’s ok if we are getting someone who is young and fulfills a position if need. In addition, with Kanter rather than use a pick to trade him, we can just wait and see if he picks up his option.
That doesn’t mean I’m averse to trading Kanter, just that we should get something useful back
I would want something useful back also (preferably a SF that could start), but I think he’s coming back next year if we don’t move him now and ultimately we may not get anything for him or we’ll wind up overpaying for him – all while slowing Willy’s development.
It’s too bad he’s the most likely to be traded, because O’Quinn is our most well-rounded center. He does it all except shoot threes (and defend threes) but I think he’s strong enough to fit that undersized center mold.
When was the last time you saw Jokic do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRs3iA7sgUI
Guess who is the worst rim protector at the center position in the NBA. Yeah, that’s right, 40-year-old Dirk is better than him:
http://stats.nba.com/players/defense-dash-lt6/?CF=GP*G*30:FGA_LT_06*G*3&Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PLUSMINUS&dir=1&PlayerPosition=C
@48
Jokic’s rim protection struggles are very much actual, but in some respect I think the critique of his overall defense is overstated. He is, in fact, the worst rim protector in the league. But defensive rebounding is also a very important aspect of defense, and Jokic excels at it. He excels at it so much, in fact, that he rates very positively on DBPM and DRPM. This might be a flaw with a metric (both stats seem to heavily weight in favor of DRBs), or it may be the case that defensive rebounding is a really solid box score proxy for certain kinds of defensive contributions. The jury is out, I think.
Moreover, his on/off stats suggest that he’s a net plus despite the awful rim protection numbers. Opposing teams post a 1.048 PPP when he’s in the starting lineup versus a 1.117 when he’s out of the starting 5 lineup in exchange for Mason Plumlee. With raw one-man on/off stats, opposing teams have a 1.156 PPP when Jokic is off the floor versus a 1.069 PPP when he’s on the floor. Yes, he is slow footed, and yes, that does pose an issue, especially when you hit the playoffs. But his defensive ability is underrated. Or, maybe, rim protection is overrated as a proxy for individual defensive impact (how many times has elite rim protector KP successfully closed out on a 3pt shooter? Not many.) The true value of rim protection is hard to quantify, though, since it seems as if elite rim protectors tend to reduce the amount of 2pa in their zone of influence, which may result in a lower quality shot off the kick. But it’s hard to quantify just how significant that “reverse gravity” effect is, or it appears like it would to a layperson like myself.
Either way, even if Jokic is as bad on defense as advertised, he’s worlds better than KP from a total productivity standpoint and anyone who even takes a cursory look at their statistical profiles can see that.
Don’t worry, next November, KP will start strong again and people will say, “I’d rather have KP than Towns or Jokic.”
Looks like the Thunder have figured it out – figured out that they’re not a very good team
Silky, on off differences are affected by who replaces you. Jokic is replaced by Plumlee, while Kanter is replaced by O’Quinn, who is apparently the second best rim protector in the league. If O’Quinn was the backup center to Jokic, Jokic’s on off numbers would almost certainly be worse.
How do the Magic lose EVERY game? They’re 4-25 since an 8-4 start. Got smacked by an awful Mavs team today.
So many of their players just hit development walls. Fournier looked like he was putting it all together a couple of years back but he fell hard back last season and now this year, as well.
Gordon is having a good year. Payton and Vuc have been OK. They’re not without talent. They just can’t get their shit together at all.
Oh yeah, there’s some talent, but not enough talent. Gordon is a bit like KP in that, while yes, he’s having a good season overall, a lot of it was based on unsustainable superstar play early in the season. He’s fallen dramatically since then. And after that, Vuj is okay, but who else on that team is even an average player right now? Kind of Payton, but if so, just baaaarely. Everyone else is either mediocre or bad.
The Knicks have O’Quinn having a great season, Kanter having a good season, KP having a pretty good season and Lee having a slightly above average season (as was THJ when he was healthy). That’s why they’re doing a lot better than the Magic (of course, the annoying thing is that of the current healthy players who are having good seasons for the Knicks, they’re almost entirely players who won’t be part of the next good Knicks team).
Woohoo, Kyle O’Quinn, good job making sure the Knicks are just good enough to not get a good draft pick before you leave to go play somewhere else!
IIRC, we hired O’Quinn away from Orlando as a free agent. The current version of O’Quinn might have been helpful to Orlando. So there’s one area where we improved our team at the expense of theirs.