I’m sorry, but this is revisionist history. The average Knickerblogger prediction was 28 wins and almost no one predicted over 30.

I didn’t bother calculating the average, but since Vegas was just over 30, I predicted around that amount, and I recall others predicting in that area that’s what I thought was the range here.

Everyone thought they would be mediocre but despite Hardaway missing a month, KP missing games, and Kanter coming into games on crutches for awhile, we are still on schedule to beat that. You never know until you play.

If management doesn’t make stupid trades or free agent signings, we’ll get a couple more picks, and probably be better next year. I don’t get too mad about Hornacek not playing the kids more. You can’t run a professional sports team well without making players compete for minutes. Compared to D’Antoni or Thibadeau, he plays the young players a lot and has a deep rotation. That’s good enough for me.

In practice, we haven’t done that. Lee and Jack are top 5 on the team in minutes per game and Beas, LT and KOQ are also top ten. WHG is nailed to the bench, Dotson has barely played and Doug McD could also use a load of extra playing time. Now we’ve caked up a 25yo point guard and nailed him straight to the be bench too.

I’m now at the point where I genuinely hope we go 0-5 on the rest of this trip to force us to shift gears and see what we’ve got under age 25 for next year.

This is real life not fantasy basketball, you play the game on the on the floor not on paper, and manage real people’s emotions, money and lives, not names on a spreadsheet.
Losing culture and winning culture are real things, ask San Antonio, Boston, Miami, Orlando, Sacramento and others.
It shows every day, the Heat just kicked the ass of the media darling Bucks and their young “MVP candidate”, the Spurs with Aldridge, a bunch of no names and three 35-or-more veterans, missing Leonard for basically all season, are 30-16.

The Knicks lost a bunch of incredible games (Today, Det +21, Cle +23, NO +19, 3 games vs CHI all at the last shot or OT, Atlanta, the OT in Miami and I’m missing some), reverse that and they’re in playoff contention, give this team to Spoelstra and Riley, Stevens and Ainge or Popovich and Buford and they’re in play for the 5th or 6th place at least.

After today I’m pissed off at Hornacek for his rotation choices but the players must be ashamed to lose a game like that.
Maybe the “veterans” must play until the trade deadline, after that I hope management will raise the white flag and start playing the “young core”… And looking around for a new coach (please not Jackson).

Last one: KP played great? Alas he can’t get a fucking rebound when the game was on the line and Memphis scored the two key baskets of the game on offensive boards.

Most of us (including myself) predicted we would probably win a little over 30 games.

I’m sorry, but this is revisionist history. The average Knickerblogger prediction was 28 wins and almost no one predicted over 30.

Why is something that was obvious in October now the preferred plan? It’s very frustrating to read the “wait til February ” crowd come to grips with reality.

It was far from obvious early in the season when Porzingis was putting up 30 a night, we didn’t know Hardaway would go down for month, we had no idea what Frank could do because he missed summer league and pre season, and we thought Willy was going to be a significant contributor. If KP only regressed a little and Hardaway was healthy, we’d probably be a 6th seed.

It’s also not smart to throw a 19 year old rookie to the wolves after missing all that preparation and allow him to get embarrassed and discouraged because he’s not ready.

Most of us (including myself) predicted we would probably win a little over 30 games. Just because most of us thought that does not mean we were definitely right. You play, see how the players are doing, see what our record is, process new information, and then adjust.

I keep saying this, but this is not fantasy basketball where everyone is just a name on a spreadsheet.

There are benefits to winning and competing that include experience for players like KP, attracting players in trades, attracting players in FA, keeping agents and players happy, and the locker room calm. Players are in option years, players are competing for playing time, agents get pissed off, the ownership wants to maximize earnings, management and coaches are trying to keep their jobs etc.. These are real people and you have to manage them just like you do in any other business or all hell breaks loose. A guy like Noah is pretty much a saint. He’s probably still the best C on the team and can’t even get dressed. Anyone else would be screaming and causing chaos in the locker room.