Post Game: Knicks beat Bucks, 136-134

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. You don’t beat the league’s best team by accident.

Now trade Mudiay for a first and Knox for an unprotected lottery pick.

A longer Fizdale quote on Frank’s DNP, via Vorkunov:

“Coach’s decision. As you can see with these guys, none of them are ever in the dungeon. He was the example of my postgame speech because if you watch our bench tonight, he was the most energetic, the first one up, the first one rooting guys on, the one making sure people knew what they were supposed to do coming out of timeout. That’s not easy when you’re getting a DNP. As you know and as they know, I will come back to him in no time. (Dotson) is a perfect testament to that.”

That is some nonsensical BS from Fizdale. I’d rather “no comment” than just silliness like that.

I want to see the fuller quote from Fizdale implying that Doston and Frank are competing for minutes, which in turn suggests they’ve abandoned Frank as a point guard, even when Burke is injured.

When Burke went down, I looked at it as a silver lining for Frank. Instead, he was relegated to towel-waver.

If Franks shoulders are bothering him then it’s fine I guess.

That’s the thing, though, if Frank’s shoulder is bothering him, then just say that. Fizdale specifically went far away from that into some nonsense that sounded like dialogue from Jack Lemmon’s character in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Fizdale specifically went far away from that into some nonsense that sounded like dialogue from Jack Lemmon’s character in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Frank “The Machine” Ntilikina.

There was some neat stuff about this win. I’m not, like, pissed. But there is no excuse for Frank getting a DNP. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.

Fizdale’s entire quote was from his post game conference. You can probably find the video on the MSG or Knicks websites. I didn’t find it at all confusing. Dotson had played well at wing in recent games so he came in before Frank. Then he continued to play well, so Fiz kept using him.

@15
Maybe if he played well on 3v3s he would get some minutes.

I think it’s clear that it’s Fizdale doing one of his psychological moves, like let’s bench this dude and see how he reacts so he can be motivated or some other stuff that coaches say matters. Still stupid to play Hezonja and not him but oh well, I’m sorta resigned already that he’s not going to be the first Knick rookie in so long to survive his first contract with the team.

Hezonja only played 12 minutes and still managed to get Giannis pissed enough to threaten to punch him in the nuts – impressive.

I’m not sure about the DNP CD for Frank, he needs the minutes, but he has sucked lately so I’m not too upset about Fizdale playing other guys instead of him for one game.

I asked in the last thread. Ready to use him as sweetener in a deal go Lee? Inquiring minds wanna know.

I think that would be a terrible idea. For one, it’s way too early to give up on Frank. 7 games into the season it looked like he was turning a corner. 16 games later everyone is ready to give up. It’s ridiculous. He’s good at 50% of the game now and just needs to add a 3 pointer…a 3 pointer that was not so bad last year for a 19 year old rookie or the year before in France.

Also, the Nuggets moved Chandler’s similar salary for a future 2nd rounder. Lee has an extra year, but later in the season that becomes less meaningful. I also think Lee may have slightly more value than Chandler around the league. Frank would be massively too much to attach.

I would not use Frank or any picks to move Lee or Hardaway any time soon. We have no idea if any of the premier free agents want to come to NY. So there’s no point wasting good assets to create cap space we may not even need. Let’s see how the season goes, what various free agents are saying, what agents are saying to management privately, and how Frank plays before doing anything.

David Fizdale is a good coach, and that will show in due time. Not playing Frank when Burke went down shows me that Fizdale spoke to Ntilikina about the situation and what he wants him to accomplish from watching the game instead of playing. This was a planned DNP-CD, and I believe in what Fizdale is doing. Not playing in games doesn’t mean he’s not watching film, attending team meetings, competing in practice, and getting up extra shots. Playing time isn’t the sole determining factor on if a player improves or not. If that were the case, Emmanuel Mudiay would be an All-NBA candidate this season. Let’s give Fizdale some time before we definitively say he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Lee has an extra year, but later in the season that becomes less meaningful.

It really doesn’t. That’s why almost all the veteran players traded at the trade deadline don’t have another year on their deal, for that very reason, that the extra year is very meaningful.

Seriously, some of you guys are being imbecilic about the Frank DNP. It’s one fucking gamer, which we happened to win. Frank has sucked horse penis and deserves to be on the bench for at least 1 game. If he gets benched for a month, then maybe you have a point.

Personally, I’m willing to trade Mario Hezonja’s nuts for a second round pick.

Wait for the shocking twist. 😉

BRIAN

Appeals to authority are always smart. Especially with the Knicks. Good call.