[NYTimes] A Kristaps Porzingis Appearance Reminds the Knicks of Better Times (Wednesday, March 14, 2018 2:37:20 AM)
The forward is still months away from rejoining the team after undergoing A.C.L. surgery, but he addressed the news media before Tuesday’s game against Dallas.
[NYTimes] Ice Cube Fires Big3 League’s Commissioner Amid Scandal (Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:01:36 PM)
Reports that Roger Mason Jr. had been fired as the league’s commissioner were confirmed when he leveled some big accusations against the league‘s founders.
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 11:06:06 PM)
NEW YORK (AP) Dallas has been so bad that Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t aware the Mavericks hadn’t won on the road in more than a month.
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 7:19:51 PM)
Losers of seven straight and 15 of 16, the New York Knicks host the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden with a chance for at least temporary relief against another one of the NBA’s worst teams.
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 7:49:01 PM)
Injured New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis has no specific timetable for his return from ACL surgery, but he’s confident that he’ll eventually return to All-Star form once he gets back on the court.
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 10:28:00 PM)
Rick Carlisle called out his name to go in the game. This was Sunday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas. This was the fourth quarter against Houston. This was the moment he craved.
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 8:19:00 PM)
Kristaps Porzingis was a couple of weeks away from playing in his first NBA All-Star Game when he tore his left ACL. The Knicks franchise player vowed he will return to that level at least.
[NYDN] Knicks continue their freefall for a top pick with loss to Mavs (Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:53:07 PM)
The Knicks steady climb toward another 50-loss season continued on Tuesday.
[NYDN] Kristaps Porzingis’ MSG return gives Knicks glimmer of hope (Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:52:32 PM)
That simple, singular act certainly represented hope and optimism.
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 8:28:08 PM)
This was trying on that old jacket and finding a wad of bills you had stashed and forgotten about. It was that predicted Nor’easter turning into a mere March shower. It was something positive, something upbeat for the Knicks, who haven’t had too many grin-filled moments lately, unless you consider one win, now in 17…
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 6:07:02 PM)
Kristaps Porzingis, who was back at the Garden for the first time since tearing his ACL, received a pregame ovation from the crowd, but nothing changed. The Knicks’ tank rolled on and now more lottery pingpong balls suddenly have come into view. Although Enes Kanter was back starting at center, the Knicks lost their eighth…
(Tuesday, March 13, 2018 4:06:57 PM)
Looking dapper in a beige sports jacket and sounding upbeat, Kristaps Porzingis was back at the Garden on Tuesday night for the first time since tearing his ACL — and he said he’s confident he will return to All-Star form. But the fallen 7-foot-3 Latvian said he couldn’t give an estimate as to when he…
71 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.03.14)”
Happy Pi Day!
Huge loss last night.
I feel like we’re going to get to #7. Our beloved dumpster fire burns hotter than all the other dumpster fires except maybe Memphis.
We have only 5 more games that would be considered remotely winnable – 2 vs Charlotte, which is a better team than us, can’t hope to move up in the lottery (5 games ahead of us), and has 2 teams who don’t have their picks behind them (so Charlotte is unlikely to move back also). Then we have a game each against Orlando, Chicago, and Detroit. If we can somehow just win 1 of those 5 games I think we will have a good shot at 6 or 7.
Brooklyn is interesting – of course they don’t have their pick. They have 2 games against Chicago, so no matter how that shakes out it probably helps us. They have 1 game against Memphis and 1 against Dallas. They play Boston on the last day of the season, and Boston may sit everyone since they are pretty much locked into the #2 seed. Brooklyn could win another 4-5 games this season without any real upsets, which would give them 25-26 wins.
Sacramento also has 4 eminently winnable games – Dallas, Phoenix, Memphis, and Atlanta.
Dallas has 4 winnable games – Sacramento, Orlando, Brooklyn, Phoenix
It honestly would not be ridiculous to think we could get to 5 or 6. If we can’t beat Dallas at home, we might not be able to beat anyone.
Fingers crossed. Things going against that: we don’t seem to be trying to lose, Hornacek and Hardaway especially. If someone gets the hot hand for a couple of games, we may win. Also, we haven’t benched anyone. Kanter, Lee, Hardaway, and Trey may outplay another team’s tank.
Frank’s the youngest Knick to hit 200 assists! The last rookie to do it was Pablo.
Maybe we should be hoping for Villanova to get upset early to get Mikal Bridges out of the tournament and off the TV asap. If he has a big tournament, we can say bye bye to that idea.
To all you pessimists, I told you we can lose every game for the rest of the season and get that 6th seed. Don’t ever give up hope!
Great thread last night. I didn’t watch the game, but from the thread, did Frank actually look decent at pg last night? I notice there were no ZMan posts about sending him to China.
Frank looked real nice at PG then Hornaceck played him only like 6 mins in the second half.
We learned two things.
We also learned that Porzingis is probably an elite defender in the middle with all the help, blocked, and altered shots. If he learns how to pass out of double teams and improves his shot selection I’d be more than willing to accept 7 rebounds per night.
This team can’t beat or stop ANYONE without KP in the lineup. I realize we started to decline before he went down, but some of the losses with KP in the lineup were with Hardaway out where he was really struggling on offense without much help. It’s comical how bad this team is without him. We are literally probably the worst team in the NBA.
Then again, maybe we all just underrated Jack. lmao
He can DEFINITELY pass well.
We know what he has to work on, but he’s got elite defensive potential and is a very good passer.
A KP, Frank, and Mikal core to go with a solid free agent signing in 2019 would be really nice.
I’m hoping Sexton has a big tournament and gets overdrafted, pushing Trae or Mikal to us.
I think Miles is the one who ends up shooting up mocks in the tournament. No one really needs Sexton(especially not in front of Trey) in the top 9.
The utter collapse of the defense is a couple things, but Porzingis is certainly a big part of it. Since Kristaps went down we’ve had – by far -the worst DRtg in the NBA. Given that we’ve added Mudiay and Burke, two awful defensive players to the mix instead of Baker and Jack, and we’ve played more minutes with the atrocious Beasley/Kanter frontcourt pairing, I don’t think it’s as simple as Kristaps=league average defense, No Kristaps= league worst defense, but he’s definitely a big part of that. I’d love to leap up to 3rd in the lottery and find out what a Porzingis/Jackson front court could do to teams.
Horny saw what he needed to see from Frank and then knew what he had to do 🙂 Bench him in a close game at the half 🙂 🙂 General Patton would be proud! Expert leadership….
Well, caterpillars do become butterflies.
Aside from Frank’s un-aggressiveness and lack of a handle, there’s so much more to it. PG has to be a quarterback and run the offense and do everything that goes with the role – supreme confidence, court awareness, hitting people in their spots, not hitting people who want the ball that are not in their spots, and a thousand other nuances.
He’s definitely improved in certain ways (pushing the ball), but it just doesn’t seem in his nature. I just can’t envision him becoming a starting PG on a good team.
We’ll know for sure when he comes back next season.
Maybe better to groom him as a versatile 2 guard.
If this is a stealth tank, and the trade for Mudiay was to assure losses, and Hornacek’s lineups are to give the appearance of trying while ensuring losses, and Courtney Lee’s diatribes are to make it seem like the team cares or is trying while still losing….then this is the most brilliant plan ever. Perfectly executed.
Probly not, tho.
Derrick Rose is very confident. He must be an excellent PG! Why did we let him go?
With Frank, I think we should totally disregard his good passing statistics, because without confidence, he’ll never be as good a PG as Derrick Rose. Numbers mean nothing.
We absolutely will not.
PG has some shot creation responsibilities but you don’t necessarily need them to be the main facilitator if you have others in your lineup who are also capable… They just have traditionally been because the smallest guys on the court are usually the best ball handlers….
denver has jokic leading the team in assists and murray is more of a sg than a pg…. our problem is that we don’t have any good passers on the team… it’s a bunch of catch and shoot guys… we had that problem with kp also and will remain so until we get someone who can credibly create shots for others….
it doesn’t necessarily have to be a pg… but it’s a lot easier to find a pg than someone like jokic… but you should be trying to find multifaceted players in the draft.. through trades and FA…. and passing is one of those very key skills that we are missing… it’s why we settle for a ton of long 2s because we can’t get easier shots….
If De’Anthony Melton actually falls to the second round (color me skeptical), we should scoop up that dude and not think twice about it.
My favorite part of these tank games is that our roster is so generally bereft of talent and our coach is such a fool that you genuinely can’t tell whether we’re trying to win or lose:
Does Kanter only a few minutes in the second half because we’re trying to lose, or because Kanter actually kind of stinks and we’re trying to win? Does coach Horny think that benching Mudiay down the stretch in favor of Burke is helping him win or lose? Does Frank get marginalized in the second half after a productive first because Horny is a moron or because he’s trying to lose the game? These are the mysteries I ponder as the Knicks lose a quarter 26-12 at home to the 22 win Mavs.
@9
I really hope Sexton actually sucks completely, because I’m afraid of the Knicks overdrafting him if that happens.
On the issue of passing, it really bothers me that our two starting wing players have like 12% ast%, they contribute very little to the creation of shots for everybody else. Ntilikina can definitely pass, we’ve seen him dish pretty good ones on the pick and roll specially, it’s just that it’s hard to create much when your handle is not good enough to get into the proper positions and punish mismatches.
I still think Frank’s career as a starting Point guard hinges completely on if, and by how much, he can improve his handling ability. The lack of an elite first step had never stopped good guards from creating points if they manage to shoot decently and get to the right
spots. As of now he has good shooting fundamentals but can’t hit anything and has good court vision without the complementary tools to turn that into assists consistently.
Our ability to rise in the draft hinges on one or more of these tanking teams getting hot and beating a few favored opponents. So far there’s been no sign of that. I looked at each of their recent records. The nine tanking teams are a pathetic 5-59 against non-tanking teams since the All-Star Break. They have all been brilliant at finding ways to lose every game.
I just don’t think anyone but Chicago and maaaybe Dallas will scrape together enough wins to pass us.
These teams will start playing each other a lot soon. We can definitely move up 2-3 spots.
Yeah, this is why it will be tough to live with Frank as a starting PG. He could maybe develop into a low-end starter on a team with a free-flowing offense, but this is not that team. THJ and Lee don’t move the ball around or create for others. Kanter is purely a finisher. Zingis has shown zero ability to draw the defense and kick to an open man. Those are probably the four other starters next year. We really need a PG who can penetrate, finish at the rim, and make quick decisions in the lane. Frank has demonstrated no ability to do any of that.
To move up 2 spots we would need to pass Dallas. Dallas has 4 games left against tanking teams and we have 2. To pass Dallas in the standings, we would need them to go 3-1 in those games while we go 0-2. That’s possible but unlikely.
To move up 3 spots we would need to pass Sacto (4 games against tanking teams) or Brooklyn (5 games). If we go 0-2, that would still require Sacto to go 4-0 or Brooklyn to go 4-1 to pass them. Very, very unlikely. If you consider each of these games a coinflip, passing Sacto is a 1-in-64 chance.
The Knicks will be picking Trae Young or Michael Porter Jr with the #6 overall pick. I’d be pretty upset with any other outcome. Last night we proved that we can lose against anybody. To lose a home game to a Dallas team with only 7 road wins on the season to that point means we will be plummeting. We’ll probably end the season 26-56, and if that isn’t good enough for a top 6 pick then the NBA has a serious tanking issue it needs to address.
Next years tank is gonna be historic if KOQ leaves and Lee plays like 34 year old should.
While true, the team is going to be bad next year, regardless, so why not just see if Frank can learn how to do it? The return is huge compared to the risk.
I predicted 26 wins, so I feel pretty good about where we are. I mean, bad, but good.
I was going to predict 30 wins, then thought of how over-optimistic I had been the previous season and downgraded accordingly.
I say screw tanking…call Pop before draft and offer him our 1st & both 2nd round pics, plus Frank & Kanter’s possibly expiring for Leonard.
KP & Leonard will dominate EC for a decade with Timmy as a decent 3rd option. Add a Rondo type pass first PG and/or Avery Bradley defensive stud and we’re all set to make a run and fill the void LBJ leaves in the east.
Who’s with me?
I’m still riding the Mikal train, but if Young somehow falls to the Knicks, they’ve really got to take him. I’m a bit concerned about his size and how he’ll fare over a long NBA season, but the talent is so exciting.
And here’s what should then happen. First, Frank starts at the two alongside him. Young and Frank could be a very exciting young pair whose games complement each other nicely.
Of course, Mudiay and THJ would need to go. I’d keep Burke as the backup pg and use Ron (assuming he can stay healthy) as the backup two. With Frank and Ron at the two, I’d be emphasizing D at that position and hope that both can shoot better. Worth a shot b/c the Knicks will be tanking.
THJ might be hard to move, but try somehow to parley him into a useful three or four. Mudiay? I doubt they can get anything back for him, but playing him over Young would be foolish. Maybe they could flip him for a disappointing 3/4 on another team?
Ah, to dream.
No argument. Given our short-term situation, let’s throw Frank out there and see if he can get better. I’m just pointing out that the team’s weaknesses are accentuating his weaknesses, making his long-term viability as a starter lower.
If I had to bet on whether Frank will be a starter in 2020-21, I’d bet no. But let’s give him a shot, for sure.
The problem with the idea we can get to 6th is that when the other tanking teams play each other they can’t both win… If they all take games off each other there’s a danger we get closer to all of them and pass none.
I doubt we’ll lose out all the way, so sign me up for Chicago winning all their tank-offs to get us to 8. No need to be greedy.
Well… Popovich, for one.
Ntilikina’s value is 100% “upside,” Kanter is totally unnecessary if not counterproductive for them, and the Knicks will do everything in their power to end up with the 12th pick in a draft with 5 viable options at the overall #1.
Then add the speculation that Kawhi’s injury is career-threatening a la Danny Granger, that Porzingis will be coming back from an ACL tear that will almost certainly affect his confidence to play in the paint, that Rondo is old and plays a style of PG that is no longer viable at the top levels, and Avery Bradley is perhaps the most overrated wing since Carmelo Anthony, posting a positive BPM (of 0.2, 2015-16) just once in his career AND is coming off a significant injury that required surgery.
So basically this is a terrible series of moves for everyone.
you know jack is thinking that…
no doubt we are a proven commodity in terms of losing…
when it comes to being “not successful” – our game is strong…
a paragon of futility…and yet still, the nba’s most valuable franchise…so why bother…
The losing will all be worth it when the Knicks start 2019-2020 with Trae Young, Frank Ntilikina, RJ Barrett, and Kristaps Porzingis as their franchise foundation.
It’s both hysterical and sad that the Knicks got blown out by one of the worst teams in the NBA on their own home court and the general mood of the forum is better than usual. I’ve been all in on the tank since right around when KP went down, but last night was a little distressing for me. Sometime in the 3rd quarter it hit me that some of our players must be worse than I thought.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2764419-report-andrew-wiggins-unhappy-with-role-behind-karl-anthony-towns-jimmy-butler?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national
Oh we’re definitely trading for Mr. Andrew Wiggins now.
That would be an ugly day around here.
@37
So he’s not only a very bad basketball player, he’s also completely delusional about his own production? Sounds like a future Knick!
You see a bad player with a giant ego, the Knick front office sees a superstar in waiting.
As soon as Wiggins becomes the consensus most-untradeable contract in the league, we’ll deal our 2019 pick for him.
It’s crazy how close the playoff standings are in both conferences. The top two seeds are locked in, but otherwise the seeds are all in flux. Seeds 3-10 are separated by 4.5 games in the West and seeds 3-8 are separated by 4 games in the East.
I can just see it now…
“What an amazing deal!”
“They were going to be capped out anyways!”
“Yes, he makes $25 million a year, but he might improve!”
“If he just starts to do the things that he does poorly well, then he’ll be good!”
Path to greatness:
1. Dolan hires Isiah
2. Isiah goes all-in on a Wiggins trade
3. Greatness
Also:
“Gravity effect bruh”
@42 Also good news for us since teams will be trying to win down to the last game.
The only one who can save us from ourselves is Stan Van Gundy
Of all the damn problems this team has, from the owner, GMs, coaching, roster balance, injury, lack of talent, defiance to the advantages of tanking, reluctance to stop trying to win each season, shot selection, lack of set plays, rebounding issues, lack of pick and roll options or interest, no penetration to the basket, horrible perimeter defense, horrible interior defense, no good reason I should care about this team, and what the fuck is a “Knickerbocker” anyways, Frank Ntilikina is at the bottom of the list.
Every other player on the team is a bigger issue to me that he is. Mudiay sucks. Ron Baker has no reason to exist other than making a ‘scrappy play’ once a game. Trey looks like Derrick Rose to me, but still may be a good backup PG. Hardaway has poor consistency, defense, and shot selection. Lee has no reason to be on this team at the moment. Beasley is JR Smith at forward, especially at everything. KP is injured, and before that had major passing and shot selection issues. Kanter is singlehandedly showing us the holes in our advanced metrics. Noah is making a lot of money by being somewhere else. Lance does nothing except look like he’s doing something, and also has no reason to be on the team at the moment. O’Quinn could be good if he would stop going into Hulk-mode a couple of times a game. Dotson, Kornet, Hicks need playing time, and are serviceable in that respective order. Troy Williams jumps high and that’s all I know.
Frank, for his age, is great defensively, has good passing skills, and seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He needs to improve his dribble, and his shooting should improve by next year, or else he is unplayable. But there are no signs that these two things can’t improve, and I believe he has shown his handle to be good, and his shot is fundamentally good.
He is literally my least worry for next year.
I feel it in my bones that the Knicks will trade Frank, as he’s part of Phil’s legacy and he’s not a pointz, ankle breaking, baller type. As evidence, I present Exhibits A and B, Mudiay and Burke, respectively.
I’m thinking for Kemba, Dennis Schroeder or Reggie Jackson in a multi player/draft pick deal. Something like Kanter’s expiring, Frank and a #2 for one of those guys after we draft Miles Bridges. That would give us 3 ballers next season raining buckets on the league while we wait for KP to come back and make a playoff push.
No one should be worried about Frank right now. Worry about him when he’s ending year 3 and is still a bottom-5 player at his position, a la Mudiay, but the Knicks continue to give him burn and openly say they plan to extend him.
The big concern right now is Wiggins. He is exactly the player that a franchise like the Knicks sell the farm for. I would be shocked if he started the next year in a Wolves uniform. Rhetorical question: Who’s dumb enough to trade for him?
Orlando? Sacramento? New Orleans? And us, obviously 🙁
Unfortunately we all know the answer is Mills, Isiah, and Dolan. The question is whether Perry is just as dumb.
I’m on the 50 yard line on that.
Perhaps in a week from now – maybe two – a sharp entrepreneur will place a call to a sweatshop in China and place an order for the manufacture of several thousand Knicks replica jerseys with “Wiggins” emblazoned on the back.
Of course, there’s the chance that he’s making the wrong bet and those jerseys wind up dumped in some African country like those “Patriots 18-0” t-shirts of ten years ago.
Naaah…. probably not.
I guess Frank, Kanter and a #1 for Wiggins “works”
Ugh
As exciting as Trae Young would be, I’m so goddamned starved for post defense that it’d be pretty great to add Bamba or Carter Jr. Jeez, we really need about three lottery picks.
I like the idea of imitating Houston’s 2-pg lineup. I can’t imagine that Mudiay will ever be good enough to even be an average back up, but in theory, I’m fine playing him next to Frank if they can share ball-handling/shooting/distributing duties.
I’d rather see a Burke/Frank backcourt, and I wouldn’t hate on a Trey Young/Frank backcourt, but THJr. will eventually be a problem. He’ll help next year’s tank, but he’s going to annoyingly start until his final contract year when we inevitably package a pick with him to get him out of town.
Come to think of it, maybe the added bonus of selecting Mikal Bridges would be not having to see THJr. or Thomas at the 3 anymore?
I’m already puking at the certainty of a Mark Jackson coached Mudiay-THJ-Wiggins-Beasley-KP starting five
Noah and filler for Wiggins makes too much sense
Let’s not blow our brains out about Wiggins just yet. Besides, I don’t think we even have enough pieces to satisfy the Wolves. They likely gave him that ridiculous contract because they are big on him. I doubt he comes cheap.
Well, the Knicks do need a three real badly…
🙂
It just blows the mind that Wiggins is pouting about his role.
I dunno, sounds about right for an egotistical NBA player.
And yes, as much as I would hate to see him on the Knicks (which would normally mean that it is going to happen), I don’t think that it will happen. Phew.
@ Rama – I’ll repeat. “Aside from Frank’s un-aggressiveness and lack of a handle, there’s so much more to it. PG has to be a quarterback and run the offense and do everything that goes with the role – supreme confidence, court awareness, hitting people in their spots, not hitting people who want the ball that are not in their spots, and a thousand other nuances.”
If Frank doesn’t come back next season with an improved “approach” to how the PG position is played, it’s unlikely he’ll suddenly understand the position. This aside from getting stronger and refining his game piece by piece.
There are no hard rules, but a true PG runs the offense, regardless of his height. It’s a simple as that.
Nash, Stockton, Magic Johnson, Chris Paul.
In reality, Lebron James is a PG, but because he guards forwards, he’s labeled a Point Forward.
“Shoot first PG” is an oxymoron. Not real PG’s (Derrick Rose, Iverson).
Anyone have a subscription to The Athletic? They have an article about our VP of Player Development (Obama’s brother in law) that sounds like it would be interesting
That quote doesn’t fill me with optimism, but the Westies have really been excellent this season. They’ve put at least 5 guys in the NBA
IMO, Frank doesn’t have to be an old style PG in the mold of CP3, Nash, Stockton, Magic or Kidd or a scoring guard like Rose or Iverson. He just has to be net positive player. Teams need many things to be successful, but primarily they need efficient scoring, defense, play making, and rebounding.
1. Frank can defend. He may eventually be able to defend at a very high level.
2. He can pass and make plays. Even if he never becomes an elite play maker PG, he can definitely contribute to the efficiency of other players when he has the ball.
3. He rebounds at about an average rate for a guard. I personally think with his length he will eventually do better than that once he gets stronger.
4. The problem is he’s a black hole as a scorer. He doesn’t have the skills to create and score enough and whatever little he does score is very inefficient.
But for discussion’s sake, let’s say he can get to average as a scorer. By that I mean he’s either a little more efficient than average on lower than average volume or he gets better at both. Then what we are potentially looking at is an elite defender, above average rebounder, solid play maker, and average scoring guard.
If that player is on our team, we should be happy. Personally, I think he’s going to be better than that. We can worry about filling out a team with Frank, KP, Bridges (or whoever) as the core pieces later. When we know what we need, we’ll add it.
He should model his game after Calderon.
I doubt the Athletic said anything different than all the other articles from Bondy, Iannazzone etc who filed on him in the last 24 hours after the Knicks gave him out for a 30 minute group interview. None of the stories I read had anything worthwhile in them, except the funny claim that they seem to believe they have convinced the players not to think of being sent to the G league as a demotion but rather a lateral move. I wonder if they get to keep their staplers.
I think you need more than a “net positive player” at the point. It’s like with Kanter- he’s one of the best offensive centers in basketball and isn’t a terrible man defender but having a bad team defender at center just dooms your defense. I think the same goes for the point on offense unless you have multiple guys to pick up the slack. Given that the Knicks have a grand total of one player who’s a good passer for his position (KOQ) I’d rather Frank play the two in the future unless he makes some dramatic improvements. He’s Mudiay level bad on offense at the moment (Mudiay as a Knick has a higher TS% and a better assist to turnover ratio) so he’s got a ton of improving to do to even begin to approach average offensively. I’m fine giving him a ton of minutes at the point to see if he can make those improvements but if he’s going to be a below average offensive player who’s good enough defensively to be a net positive I’d rather have him play the two (or come off of the bench) than the one.
Orlando is about to beat the Bucks
We should be so lucky to have a peak Jose Calderon that is also an elite defender. 🙂
Even if he’s not as good a spot up 3 point shooter or assist man as Calderon, if he makes up for with better rebounding and adds in elite defense, that’s a terrific player. We can get more play making elsewhere. We are a work in progress.
I have always thought Frank would end up more like Dennis Johnson. Excellent defender, good passer, not a great penetrator, good though not prolific scorer, but smart, and a hell of a player overall. A solid piece on a winning team.