Knicks Morning News (2018.03.31)

  • [ESPN] Jeff Hornacek: Triangle offense ‘probably’ was a turnoff for free agents last summer
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 5:20:12 PM)

    The Knicks coach acknowledged on Friday what seemed obvious last summer: Last year’s free agents were likely wary of the team because of the triangle.

  • [NYDN] For Knicks, the future is always brighter than the present
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 9:40:46 PM)

    The Knicks sit on the precipice of unfortunate history.

  • [NY Newsday] Jeff Hornacek: Triangle didn’t square with attracting talent to Knicks
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 8:02:00 PM)

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The Knicks should have an easier time attracting free agents this year than they did last year. So says Jeff Hornacek, the current coach who may or may not be a part of the offseason recruiting process.

  • [NYPost] Phil Jackson’s triangle likely turned off free agents: Hornacek
    (Saturday, March 31, 2018 1:04:44 AM)

    It is no secret a lot of Knicks were not sold on the triangle offense in previous seasons. Coach Jeff Hornacek, who had been tasked with implementing the antiquated system under Phil Jackson, suspects the dislike went beyond the team — like to free agents who saw the offense as a negative. “I think it…

  • [NYPost] Knicks’ Michigan duo can’t shake their NCAA-changing moment
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 10:22:16 PM)

    Five years and one vacated championship later, two of the principle players for Michigan, current Knicks teammates Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke, cherish their Final Four memories. Oh, and both maintain Burke did not foul on one of the key plays of the Wolverines’ 82-76 loss to Louisville in the 2013 national championship game…

  • [SNY Knicks] Hornacek: Free agents passed up Knicks due to triangle offense
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 9:25:18 PM)

    The Knicks can look ahead to the offseason already with no playoff hopes in the distance. And despite not being a popular destination last season, head coach Jeff Hornacek thinks he knows why.

  • [NYTimes] Why Catholic Colleges Excel at Basketball
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 10:32:08 PM)

    As Loyola-Chicago (with Sister Jean) and Villanova make the Final Four in San Antonio, here is a look at the deep connection between Catholic colleges and basketball.

  • [NYTimes] Top Private Schools Bring In the Power Elite (and the Power Forwards)
    (Friday, March 30, 2018 9:00:17 AM)

    Sidwell Friends and other exclusive schools want to be great at everything. That includes basketball.

  • 29 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.03.31)”

    Hahahaha no, Jeff.
    Playing in a chaotic atmosphere for a coach who can’t even call his own plays turned free agents away silly!

    In all seriousness, who looked worse in that situation- Phil for forcing the triangle, or Hornacek for selling his coaching soul?

    There was an idea out there on the internet about Trae Young falling to nine but being coveted by the Clippers. Basically, the idea (not rumor, but idea) is that in that situation the Clippers could offer us the 12 and the 14 in order to move up to 9 and take Trae Young. There’s no way anything that good could happen to the Knicks, right?

    Impossibilities aside, I’m not sure if that’s a fair deal or not. I’d take it in a heartbeat, though. At 12 and 14 the Knicks could grab two of SGA, Zhaire Smith, Kevin Knox (who I’m way higher on than most of you here), Anfernee Simmons, Chandler Hutchinson, Troy Brown Jr, and some other guys in what is a really deep talent pool in this draft. I love Trae Young, but in a situation where Mikal Bridges and MPJr are off the board, I’d consider moving down if the Knicks like what they have in Burke/Ntilikina.

    Assuming the Knicks pick 9th (which isn’t a foregone conclusion), they’ll by then have 6 weeks of off-season progress on the following variables to decide on picks and/or trades:

    1. Porzingis’ recovery
    2. Frank’s strength and skills work
    3. Troy Williams’ work on his distance shooting and (hopefully) shot-creating game.
    4. The overall development of Hicks’ and Kornet’s games, especially their distance shooting.
    5. Dotson’s work on shot-creating.
    6. Decisions by and concerning KOQ and Kanter regarding their player options.
    7. A decision on what to do with Courtney Lee.

    If I’m the Knicks, I’m paying close attention to (at least) those 7 variables before even considering picks and/or trades.

    If Carter is gone, I would consider trading down for 2 picks. The Knicks need more bodies. Plus then you could go for one safe-ish pick like Miles Bridges and one risk pick like Mitchell Robinson.

    there’s three guys to be targeting in that trade down scenario… troy brown… daniel gafford or sga….

    i might just pick trae young and if carter is there he should be the pick but anyone of those other names are high value targets……

    -Forget about Hicks, he’s not an NBA player and won’t be for a long time.
    -Kornet has possibilities as a 12th man, but he’s too slow and mechanical to be anything but an end of rotation big. Smart, though, and can really shoot. I agree that we should take a good look.
    -I really like Dotson, but it remains to be seen if the FO will be patient with him. He’s a great rebounder for his size, mixes it up on D and has potential as a scoring threat.
    -I’d keep O’Q at the right price, lose Kanter unless he opts in (and if he does, try to trade him) and try to trade Lee (that would free up things for Dotson

    I hate when Frank is out. He’s pretty much the only reason to watch these games.

    Ron’s gonna have to pick up his suit game if he’s gonna be Clyde’s apprentice.

    Trey Burke is having a good game despite only scoring 3 points so far. That’s promising

    I know it’s March madness and all, but man, college basketball is pretty awful

    A bench with Burke, Courtney Lee, TH2, Beasley, and Kyle O’Quinn would be elite. It’s a shame we don’t have a starting line up that would put all four guys on the bench. Maybe Trae Young, Frank Ntilikina, Lance Thomas, Julius Randle, and Kristaps Porzingis is a conceivable starting five?

    @14 I was almost with you until you said Lance Thomas would be in the starting five…

    That’s only until RJ Barrett takes his rightful place on the throne as the Knicks franchise player.

    And while everybody is waiting on Trey Burke to regress, he just casually had 15 assists to one turnover to go along with his 18 points and 5 rebounds.

    Umm..question?

    Who is this Trey Burke cat? I do not recognize him at all…holy hell! LOL

    He’s playing really well and I’m scared to accept it as a this-is-who-he-is-FINALLY thing because our Knicks have bad luck and worse planning. I don’t know what suddenly clicked for him, but he’s pretty good. Is it sustainable? Probably not. But if he “regresses” to a 14 & 7 guy who can get his midrange going off the bounce, I will be very happy.

    18 points on 17 shots is regression.

    Nice to see Rick Brunson’s kid playing so well in the tournament.

    Yeah DRed…But he also had 15 assists and 5 boards. I’ll take that trade- he was still making things happen- and not in a Mudi-way. For us at the 1, that’s refreshing. Low bar, but still refreshing

    And Jalen Brunson is just solid. Not a standout in any facet of his game, but I think he’s the kind of player Gaines thought Ntilikina could become. I like Brunson alot

    Gonna be interesting to see what happens with The Bease next year.

    Right, but it’s his scoring that we know is going to regress. Guys can average 8 assists per 36. They can’t hit 60% of their long 2 point shots.

    What do you guys think of the Vince Carter play?

    https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/980293629829959686

    I agree that it was not a smart move by Carter (that’s what Kerr yells to the ref. “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at Vince. He knows better”), but at the same time, I don’t think that’s the sort of play that typically has that ending, even with a player leaning into him like that, so I can’t imagine that Carter had any idea that that was going to happen.

    BTW do we have finally reached the point where Houston is the clear cut favorite?

    Depends on how you define “clear favorites.” I think they are definitely the favorites now, but I don’t think they’re much ahead of Golden State. If they had, say, 4 to 1 odds, then I would imagine Golden State would have, like, 5 to 1 odds. They likely still have to face Golden State, which makes it difficult to give them all that great odds (same goes for Golden State, of course).

    Eh, I don’t know. Too many injuries. I wouldn’t be shocked to see someone upset GSW in the first round.

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