Game Thread: New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks
Start Time: 12/27/2018 20:00:00
Bucks look to sweep home-and-home vs. Knicks
MILWAUKEE — Back home and rested up after an impressive return to the NBA’s Christmas slate, the Milwaukee Bucks will return to action Thursday night against the same New York Knicks team they beat handily just two days ago.
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85 replies on “Game Thread: New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks”
One thing that does confuse me a bit is how Fizdale is getting all this “Fiz magic” stuff about improving players, while Frank, Burke and Hezonja have all made major downturns this season. I honestly don’t blame Fizdale for that, but at the same time, it’s also probably iffy how much credit he should be getting for Mudiay and Vonleh and you can tell he is leaning all the way into taking credit for Mudiay. You’d think Mudiay was his kid with how much he is basking in Mudiay’s improved play.
I think coaches can obviously change systems that can optimize players, but just general “Make Player X shoot a lot better on long twos” doesn’t strike me as much of a coaching-related thing.
To wit, when Burke was suddenly hitting an inordinate amount of long twos, we didn’t think that Horny was suddenly a developmental genius, so it seems odd to give Fizdale credit when Mudiay does the same this year, while simultaneously not giving Fizdale any blame for Burke reverting to his worse shooting.
So much of this is just narrative. The media is talking about “Fiz magic” because they feel like talking about “Fiz magic.” Kevin O’Connor had Emmanuel Mudiay as a “Winner” of the Christmas Day Games despite Mudiay having a shitty game. It’s just odd how important the narrative can be to how we view a guy.
Yeah, and even Billups on Christmas said that Fiz himself said that he mainly focuses on the mental aspect with players and the assistants are the ones working with all the mechanical stuff. I think he’s getting credit for Mudiay mainly because at his press conference he basically said “we’re gonna get you right” to Mudiay.
Brian, I agree that coaches are rarely responsible for player resurgence beyond providing ample opportunity, especially when it comes to shooting. Fiz iz giving everyone an ample opportunity, so he deserves credit for that…just like Horny deserves blame for not giving Hernangomez an opportunity.
It’s interesting the Knicks are talking about starting Kornet after DRed suggested they give him more playing time.
Giannis is a rough matchup to throw Kornet up against. He’s going to get put on a poster
Kornet will start at center. (And Lee at SG since Tim is sick.) So Vonleh will be guarding Giannis again.
Come on, Vonleh!
If Fiz is going to take ownership of Mudiay’s improved play maybe he should do something about all of his fucking turnovers and bad decision making
So Houston might want to trade for Bazemore. They should go for Timmy instead! His D is terrible, but he’s better on O than Baze, and like 3 years younger.
boy i’m telling you – that dred really knows what they’re talking about…i know it’s pretty unimaginable, and, i’m sure it’s never occurred to anyone before – but, can you imagine what the team might look like if dred were the actual gm of this team…
Regarding the kornet announcement, if our favorite GM in exile is in covert collaboration with Perry, can we call it the DRed-Scott decision?
@1
I agree 100%.
What you are describing is an example of why I complain about the media so much on all issues.
All too often the media starts with the narrative and then spins every story to fit the narrative. Right now the narrative is that the Knicks are finally rebuilding the right way, we have a great development team, we are improving the culture, Fizdale has some magical touch with Mudiay etc…
I see no real evidence of any of that.
A couple of our young players are playing better (which would be expected anyway) and a couple are playing worse (which is not really expected but could happen here or there). We arguably have the worst team in the NBA without KP. I see nothing good happening other than we had a good draft.
Eventually the narrative might change and we’ll be getting all negative spin when good things are happening. It’s annoying when all you want is balanced reporting and honest news.
Lol what happened to DRed? I’m out of the loop.
To be fair, this is how NBA front offices and draft analysts work, too. I haven’t heard rumblings about R.J. Barrett looking like a mid-round pick, even though that’s what he looks like right now. You start with eyetest and gut feelings and create a narrative, then you use available data to reinforce that narrative. At least that’s what appears to be the case.
You really can’t ever expect the talking heads on ESPN or the beat writers. who rely so much on exclusive team access. to produce real, hard-hitting journalism. They want to stir the pot to create drama to sell more tickets to create a bigger viewership of the games themselves, and therefore increase the viewer/readership of the secondary sports media.
I expect Kornet to travel no fewer than 5 times tonight. He’s already done it twice in the first possession, but only got called once.
Vonleh’s price keeps going up…
We’ll be able to say we were there for the Luke Kornet game.
Lopez would make a great Bond villain.
if anyone is watching Courtney try to stay in front of people tonight his trade value just went from nil to niller
It’s crazy how watchable the Knicks become when their worst defenders don’t play. I could watch 82 games of these Knicks, Mudiay and all, without Kanter and TH2. I can’t believe I believed in that guy.
Ntilikina with the Kobe assist
I want to make it known that I want to be wrong about Knox. I’m just afraid that he’s our very own Aaron Gordon.
Luk3 Korn3t
We have to re-sign Vonleh
Good defense is underrated.
Enes Kanter is a cancer on offense and a sieve on defense. He’s calling for the ball every time and the younger Knicks are trying to force feed him. None of this will affect his stat line but he’s stagnating the offense just by being out there.
I really don’t like that guy.
kanter does look like he’s sulking. Can’t even post up thon maker in time to run that damn play.
Oof the Frank handle
Get Kornet back in, stat! We’re in danger of losing this lead!
I wouldn’t mind this win if they pull it off!
Did Enes Kanter get knocked on the head and he has amnesia about his entire NBA career and he thinks he is being a disrespected superstar?
Kanter is the least self aware human being on earth.
Vonleh is playing his best defensive and worst offensive games of the year
You know you’ve got problems on the offensive end when Noah Vonleh and Luke Kornet are working the 2-man game…on the perimeter.
There are certain players where you just can’t wait until they’re not on the team anymore. Enes Kanter and Tim Hardaway Jr are two of those players.
The offense is a fucking mess right now
Down 5 isn’t the worst result
Pretty good half.
Vonleh deserves to be a starter on this team until he’s 30 years old.
Wally just said the Bucks were built through the draft. Eric Bledsoe was traded for, Brook Lopez signed in free agency, and Khris Middleton was traded for. What a guy.
I know he’s a master tank commander, but I’m enjoying this game a lot more with no THJ to watch.
Vonleh is really a great find.
Boston or Toronto will sign Vonleh – they’ll need a Freak stopper after they fail in the playoffs.
As I said, the Luke Kornet game.
Klay had 14 right?
So do the Knicks max Kornet after the season??
Return of the Unikornet
the most heroic thing about vonleh’s D tonight is that he is doing it despite Knox repeatedly leaving him stuck defending a Middleton/Giannis half court two on one
I’m glad for Kornet. Driving home pre game, whatever clown du jour they had as a holiday fill in on ESPN radio was expressing befuddlement at the move.
Mudiay is -9 and Frank is +9 and I don’t think it’s meaningless noise.
Vonleh in Lopez’s face. Enjoyable.
Knicks down 2, I give them a 0% chance to win
Dotson is quietly 0-7
Dotson is not having a good game.
Props to Fix for starting Kornet. There’s no way Kanter could defend Lopez, and Kornet can do that better and can still score.
Dotson and Trier are 1 for 14…
Frank looked worse than 2 for 3 for the night.
Dotson and Trier a combined 1-14.
Kanter Kantering.
And Wally is the worst part of this show.
Trier, Dotson and Knox have shot us out of the game.
light this L up and pass it to the left my dudes
Did Wally really just say “I like Frank running the point”?
Hill is trying to rook Trier so bad. He lowered his shoulder on an earlier drive and the refs swallowed it, and then Hill basically pancake blocking him there. Amazed he got that last call.
when trier is in the game the Knicks default to just handing him the ball and spreading five out, but without movement. it’s fine to hope a kid becomes Lou Williams and give him some leash but run an nba offense.
I’m not arguing with him, I’m just astonished he actually said it
Yes, just after he said, “I love carpet. I love desk. I love lamp. I love lamp.”
Its criminal how little P&R’s we run with Frank. Its just pass it to Trier who ISO’s or a Kanter post up.
Wally is like many sports “analysts” who will immediately say that they like Player X right after he makes a good play.
Max Kanter
I used to like Frank running the point, but when Wally said it I reconsidered
ejecting kanter for that is ridiculous but we can consider it a mercy kill
I prefer a flan-tetokoumpo
I have never seen Frank look more like a JV scrub than that play, right there. It will probably get swallowed up by time but I will remember it forever. Good god he is terrible with the basketball. The guy has no offensive moves whatsoever. He makes me re-think everything I believe about shot creation.
Vonleh and Kornet are making this a very enjoyable game.
our standards betray our suffering Brian
Frank really not making me look good here
So Jowles, you had an eye test moment
Oh, totally. But hell, I found a way to enjoy much of Jamal Crawford’s Knick career, ya know?
That I would have ignored if I knew that he weren’t perhaps the worst-shooting player in the NBA right now. Not an exceptional play by his standards, and that’s what makes it so damn sad.
Also, my attitude about shot creation isn’t that it doesn’t exist, just that it isn’t a rare skill among guards and wings in the NBA. Watching the average NCAA game is a reminder that productive dribble penetration (i.e. resulting in a decent shot attempt) is quite a talent.
Frank can’t do anything out there. He’s useless. Watching him speed down the floor in transition and then dribble back out to behind the arc is disgusting. That should not be a thing that NBA point guards do by default.
Aside from Giannis, Bucks have a bunch of savvy veterans like Middleton, Bledsoe, Lopez, Snell and Hill to go along with some nice young players in Maker, Brogdon and Wilson. Very nice team.
Oh, totally. But hell, I found a way to enjoy much of Jamal Crawford’s Knick career, ya know?
yes. knick fans are the only people on earth who truly understand the plastic bag scene in American beauty.
What I had to deal with over my apartment tonight.
The truth is out there Brian.
wow, I know it’s just a ConEd transformer but that picture looks like a war of the worlds trailer
Actually Frank had a couple of nice drives into the Paint where he dished to Kanter and then Kanter blew the layup.
Right? The clouds made the light reflect right down, so it really was coming from above. Crazy.
I guess Dotson and Trier teamed up to provide the missing THJ Tank Commander role (3/19). Still, I’d much rather watch those guys.
Pretty weird that we’ve played the Bucks 4 times this season and it’s not even January.