Game Thread: Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks
Start Time: 12/01/2018 17:00:00
Knicks need defense to step up against high-scoring Bucks
As if the New York Knicks — losers of two straight and seven of 10 — needed anything more to worry about, the Milwaukee Bucks bring the NBA’s top offense to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
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110 replies on “Game Thread: Milwaukee Bucks at New York Knicks”
I’m very curious to see how would Frank respond today. I think it’s the first time the gloves are completely off and the past two days must have been brutal with the media all over him. If he doesn’t show fire against the Bucks this could go down very quickly from here.
I really am indifferent about watching the beginning of Knicks games, because I don’t give a shit about anyone in the starting lineup (except maybe Vonleh)
I’m gonna stop watching this game now, nothing better than that can possibly happen.
Bad call, Hardaway was outside the restricted area. And now Burke is down with injury.
Frank hasn’t played yet. Now I’m worried they’re working out the details of a trade and don’t want to risk an injury.
#5 you’re scaring me
Harlow reporting that it’s a right knee sprain. Won’t return for this game, x-rays are negative.
Could be. It could also be that since he was basically playing the backup three, now Dotson has taken his place in the rotation.
No Frank is criminal…
Fizdale would make a great motivational speaker, but he’s not a good NBA coach. He’s a snake oil salesman. Our lineups suck and our offense is all ISO. It’s terrible.
We have no perimeter defense and no passing and Frank is buried.
It’s an F’N joke.
The bad news is that Dotson looks good so we are probably going to have to bury him on the bench or trade him too. I’m “out” on Fizdale until further notice.
At the moment we have one more assist than the Bucks.
I mention this not because I disagree with our offensive deficiencies, but because I think we’re actually doing better this game at sharing the ball.
Strat, Fizdale was hired to develop players, much more than to win games. By that yardstick, he is doing fine.
I really don’t understand the Fizdale criticism. He’s working with the worst group of talent in the NBA, and they’ve played competitive games this season against some of the better NBA teams.
Not happy about no minutes for Frank though.
Watching the Bucks move the ball and get assists is like watching an artist paint a portrait. There are often multiple touches, the ball swings around, in/out etc.. Watching the Knicks get assists is like watching a kid paint stick figures.
Knox is not an NBA player. He’s an NCAA role player.
Hardaway reverting to pretty much what we always thought he was – an inefficient volume scorer
Fizdale is a motivational speaker. Being able to motivate people is a good quality for a coach to have. The kids are buying into it. That’s why they are playing so hard. They love him. But the lineups and offense suck. He’s not developing anything. Sooner or later the players are going to figure it out.
Yes, yes, but… if he minimizes the things that make him bad, and maximizes the things that make him good, he’s an All-Star!
Does Frank come in the game in the 2nd half???
Hardaway is being guarded differently now than he was at the beginning of the season. Defenses are adjusting. But instead of adjusting his own game by passing more, he’s forcing up more bad shots. He’s doing exactly what KP did when defenses game planned him. His decision making is poor.
It’s so awkward to hear Breen and Clyde tiptoe around the Brown brutality case.
I’m not disagreeing that we’ve been deficient in that area, but this seems like an odd game to draw a line. We’ve got 14 assists to the Buck’s 11 at the half. This is significantly improved!
Watching the wheelchair guys play is a weird combination of encouraging and sad.
Frank sucks right now and plays a position the Knicks have some decent options. Knox sucks worse but the Knicks have no real frontcourt depth so Knox should get minutes cause there aren’t other options especially with LT out.
if Frank is benched with both trey and Courtney not playing where is he in the depth chart
Mudiay with a +6 so far. What universe are we in??
Yeah, when Burke goes down and Ntilikina still doesn’t enter the game for a single minute… he’s getting traded.
We went a bit too long without stupidity from the front office, so let’s see how they botch this one up.
Listen I think Frank should get decent minutes every game no matter how awful he is but even with Trey out you still have Mudiay, TH, Trier and Dotson. Soon Lee will be getting minutes too. It’s somewhat understandable not wanting to force minutes to Frank with several decent options available instead. As I mentioned Knox on the other hand really only has Mario and LT as guys who can take his minutes.
I think they are resting Frank because of his shoulder issues.
To a certain extent it’s true that players develop on their own, but Mudiay and Vonleh have developed even since preseason, and Mudiay is looking better than anyone here thought he would ever look. Other players have shown signs of improvement too. I think Frank actually did improve a little, but he got somewhat better as a point guard, not as a wing, so now he has to learn a new position
They must be trading Frank. Was looking forward to watching him D up Giannis.
The Roger Waters theory of pedagogy has some persuasive propaganda, but I feel confident that players can benefit from competent instruction.
Deadspin has Mario Hezonja’s highlight of his life.
https://deadspin.com/mario-hezonja-steps-over-a-fallen-giannis-antetokounmpo-1830798404
I don’t know how to quantify this but I think Mario could be an All-Star if he would just ditch the undershirts. So dopey with the black cutoffs and the all white long sleeves.
I did enjoy this piece of insolence.
Regardless of how shitty the rest of the team has been, Dotson, Trier and Robinson give me hope for the future.
Trier getting more expensive.
Maybe there is some hope for Knox??
I wish we had picked up Malcolm Brodgon in the second round. Or his equivalent. Solid player.
There is no hope for Knox.
I don’t care how many occasional decent games Mudiay has, I want no part of him after this season
I think Knox might become a good enough 3pt shooter that he could eventually be decent.
I reverse jinxed the hell out of Knox. 2 3’s and a block.
Knox with 5 threes and just blocked Lopez at the rim!
Lopez is so soft. They need Kanter!
not again
Gotta love this TH at PG lineup.
Lopez loves Clyde so much that he wants to give the win for free to the Knicks.
Seems like every game THJ has 2-3 turnovers in the 4th quarter.
Greek Freak can’t shoot for shit yet he is unguardable.
The Greek Freak is total trash. He’s no Noah Vonleh.
Although crap he is long. Reaches his arms up and the ball is basically in the cylinder.
Knox ROY
Mudiay!!!
We’re watching the Knicks cap space shrink by the minute!
🙂
Here comes Giannis game winner #3
I am surprisingly okay with this game going to overtime . . . the last quarter was a joy to watch
So how many player options will Mudiay get on his max deal?
+1
@56 2 options. 4 years, 120 mil
The main question is will Mudiay get a No-Trade clause??
I’m not sure how much cap space they will have after they Max out Trier and Conley. 😉
Great d by robinson!
Good review there.
Mudiay’s feet go in all different directions when he shoots
Knicks could actually use Lance Thomas right now.
One of the craziest looking made threes you’ll ever see
The Knicks offense looks just fine tonight. Of course, that’s b/c of 58% three point shooting…(19/33)
Great shot from Dotson
No wonder there is trade interest in Dotson
What a weird play there. They didn’t foul him, but rarely does a guy just cough it up like that.
Robinson again!
Not sure where the foul was but if it costs us Zion I will take it…
Edit: I take it back. Got it on the super slo mo
This site is gonna be lit with Mudiay leading the Knicks to a win over the Bucks….
I’d just go for another overtime if I were Milwaukee.
Another great play by Robinson!
Miss!
Well, that was quite a game….
Did not see that coming….
Great win! Knox did well.
Best win of the season.
Wow, the Bucks are going to very motivated next time we play them.
Gotta love THJ pouring cups of Gatorade on Knox!
Nice to see a win come from the Knicks coach actually coming up with a great call out of a timeout!
Exciting wins at home are fine with me. Plenty of losses down the road.
Yeah this win was great – it wasn’t off a good Hardaway or Kanter game, it was over a legitimate contender, and there were encouraging things. Trier and Mudiay both racked up assists (in addition to Mudiay’s scoring), Dotson was great, Robinson and Vonleh played reasonable well. Knox was decent as well – 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and that block on Lopez are very encouraging. This game finally gave a glimpse of what Knox might look like as a productive NBA player, and that was sorely lacking in his earlier performances.
NYK just beat a team with an SRS of 11.59
Same with me. It was also mostly young players doing well, especially Knox and Dotson.
weird plus minuses this game. Brogdon was by far the worst with -26 and THJ was second best with +10 (Dotson was first with +15).
Can’t wait to start scouting the 8th best player on the draft!
I love these kids.
They’re learning how to win close games against good teams.
I can’t help myself, I spent a good chunk of the fourth and all the OT jumpin’ and screamin’, sometimes it’s fun to be just a fan, there’ll be a lot of losses down the road to take care of the tank… And this is not a “veterans’ win”…
Great reaction by Knox, solid interview before the game and career high to follow.
I’m still angry for Frank DNP-CD though…
We’re still on track to go 27-54.
Call me crazy, but he kinda looked like an NBA player tonight.
Like others have said, I’m good with wins when they’re mostly on the back of the young players. Mudiay remains the big question mark, but am I right that if we can unload Lee’s contract, we can sign a max FA even factoring in Mudiay’s cap hold?
Don’t know what to make of Frank’s benching. Hoping it’s as simple as Fiz wanting to give his shoulders some rest. That, or it winds up motivating him as much as the similar banishment did for Dotson, who’s been a house afire since he returned.
We’re winning exactly 1/3 of our games so far. That translates to 27 wins. With flattened lottery odds we’ll be ok.
I’m going to be so upset if we end up with Rui Hachimura instead of Cam Reddish.
@83 just a quick correction on myself – Knox had 26 points.
Maybe they should run a play or two for Dotson. But back to back home wins against good teams with Mudiay making huge plays down the stretch in both of them- didn’t see that coming. Only downside no minutes for Frank- hopefully it’s just one game.
This is all true but we’re still gonna be picking 8th.
@93
That is still my hope.
I couldn’t care less if Mudiay or Vonleh are learning how to win close games against good teams if they are leaving or getting overpaid when the season is over. This game was a lot better because Knox scored a lot and Dotson played very well, but it’s still the same issue we’ve been discussing the last couple of days. It was a very fun win and it’s definitely fine to win some good games here and there, it’s just an awkward situation going forward.
I’m not sure that forecast will work. It assumes we aren’t any better than when we started the season. We are 4 and 6 in our last 10, and we played a telatively tough schedule. It seems like we’ve improved.
Knox’s response: 26/4/4, 5-12 3pt.
Vorkunov:
In another tweet:
Fizdale has been rotating through who he benches. I wouldn’t read too much into Frank not playing. Sure it has to do with his play in part, but I have no doubt that Fizdale will bring him back in once he gets his head on right again.
Glad to see Knox play well. I do not recall a single game where he has looked like an NBA player let alone a lottery pick.
I’m also not really worrying about the Knick’s draft position. If the Knicks have shown anything it’s that they are better at non-lottery picks. The lower the pick the better.
Big difference tonight as opposed to the last two: the Knicks actually reset the offense (even multiple times on the same possession) when they got shut down rather than just forcing up weak jumpers. Both Trier and Mudiay did a nice job of that.
Yes, and they also seemed to adjust their defense after atimeout called because Milwaukee kept getting open looks on the perimeter.
He’s had a couple of other non-terrible ones where he scored in the mid-high teens on a good FG%, or when he rebounded and got to the line a bunch. In those he at least looked like he could grow into a role player. But this was far and away his best game.
In a perfect world I’d love to hang on to FN until he makes it or flames out. I’m sensitive to how we never sign any of our draft picks to second contracts. Also, I remember an interview with Tony Parker wondering if NYK will be patient with him.
So, I’m glad I’m not the GM, but right now I’d be tempted to use him as sweetener for someone to take Lee or Hardaway. He seems to be the odd man out right now and I like our other kids better.
Again, if not for those bad deals I’d be down to hang on to him muck or nettles but there’s a good chance he’s superfluous and might net us some cap relief.
Watching DRose play the Celtics. He’s so good going to the hoop. Is he better this year? Still a minus defender? Doesn’t seem to move the ball. But has he found himself as a non max pg off the bench?
Rose is playing the best ball he’s played in years. Supposedly this was the first off season he was 100% healthy and could work on his game coming into pre-season in a very long time.