SNY.com: 5 things that need to happen for Knicks season to be considered a success

I’d like to think we might be players at the deadline, but I know better. We aren’t the best asset hunters.

The summer/fall ritual is going in earnest where fans think middling vets are gonna fetch us anything of value. The notion of D’Antoni and Morey in a conference room saying to one another Ellington is the missing the piece is beyond ludicrous. The most we’d get is a late 2nd round pick. Let it go. It’s a non-starter.

Normally, I’d be right there with you, but I think there will be an actual market for Morris this season. The issue, though, is that we’ve yet to see this team actually trade a veteran player outside of dumps, so I fear that if Morris plays well, they will think it is better to re-sign him than trade him.

Coming into the 2018-19 season, no one could’ve predicted that second round pick Mitchell Robinson would outshine lottery pick Kevin Knox.

Really? Half the posters here thought so. The writer lost me there, any of us could have done better than this.

Agree with alsep73 on the PG front. DSjr worked on fixing his broken shot this offseason, but I think Payton is really the guy to watch. I don’t think you can post 5 consecutive triple-doubles in the NBA without being good.

Knox getting better is pretty key. He showed stuff in brief flashes but you wonder if his b-ball IQ is just too low to overcome via hard work, which I assume he is putting in. I’m not worried at all about Mitch other than injury. RJ will likely stink as most young rookies do, the hope is that he sucks less as the season goes on and shows some hope of becoming a productive starter next year.

Trading any signed vets for assets is pretty irrelevant to me. They’re all on short term/team option deals so the work there was already done. Anything beyond that is gravy.

I think Trier’s development is a huge part of whether this season will be successful. I’m expecting a major step forward from him and he’s probably the most talented scorer on the team.

Have we all read about Mitchell Robinson’s pit breeding business? I’m sure this story will end well.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Not a news story, just social media.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/d4apdm/mitchell_robinson_might_be_breeding_dogs_on_the/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

One bite to one of his slender ankles and he’d be Enes on defense. Remember when Mills and Perry made a big deal about how they’re developing players on and off the court? Well Mitch needs a life coach. There’s been other stuff that have me worried. Mitch has a history of making poor impulsive decisions.

Somewhat related, on the Nate Duncan pod, their FIBA guy said Frank has potential but the rumors are that he’s a “head case”. He didn’t elaborate. Did he misuse the term and mean that he’s too timid (deer-in-the-headlights) or is there something else there? Maybe the FO is putting stuff out for when they trade him?

Just listened to earlier pod where Duncan gave Knicks F+ grade and LeRoux gave them an F for the off-season. Oof. Way too harsh. I gave them a “C”. They included the draft as well as summer signings. Neither of them liked RJ pick but still. The draft’s a crap shoot and they shouldn’t have dinged them for that. I favored swapping #3 for 8 and 10 picks, but would I have done that in reality? If RJ ends up a star, I’d be forever known as the guy that didn’t pick RJ unless one of those 8 and 10 picks were also a star.

It’s ridiculous to call this an F offseason. It’s just moronic. I don’t even like what they did this offseason, but I sure as fuck wouldn’t give it an F.

Yeah, its 100% not a F. I could see an argument for something like a D- if none of the veterans are good or provided anything, but even then the cap flexibility is still there and we still have all the picks. It would be a F if we have signed Portis, Gibson, etc to 4 year contracts or some craziness like that.

At least they actually have future assets for a change. They have 2 surplus #1’s and 2 top-notch #2’s in the next 3 years.

Serious question: Who’s better value at their current salary, Bobby Portis or Kristaps Porzingis?

Just listened to earlier pod where Duncan gave Knicks F+ grade and LeRoux gave them an F for the off-season. Oof. Way too harsh. I gave them a “C”. They included the draft as well as summer signings. Neither of them liked RJ pick but still. The draft’s a crap shoot and they shouldn’t have dinged them for that. I favored swapping #3 for 8 and 10 picks, but would I have done that in reality? If RJ ends up a star, I’d be forever known as the guy that didn’t pick RJ unless one of those 8 and 10 picks were also a star.

Yeah, that was idiotic. They were like they blew the RJ pick taking him 3rd, I had him like 6th or 7th on my board. I don’t think RJ is a particularly great talent, but there’s not enough difference in those valuations for it to be a terrible decision. Trading for Derrick Rose and signing Jo Noah to a big long term deal-that’s an F- offseason. Not optimizing your cap space in the short term and drafting a guy a few spots too high is, I dunno, a C-. Those guys also thought DSJ was the best young prospect on the Knicks last season because (essentially) all Mitch can do is dunk and block shots.

The idea that a good PG is more valuable than a good big man is defensible, but it’s so much more likely that Mitch will be a good bigman than DSJ will be a good PG.

What does RJ shining look like? It’s unlikely he’ll score efficiently even if he turns into an efficient scorer later.

I suppose you look for the assists and rebounds?? Avoiding terrible defense? I’m not sure but if we could, collectively, come up with some baseline numbers ahead of time it would be helpful.

I’d be ecstatic to see RJ with 13pts/8reb/3ast per 36 with a .500 TS%. It’s what T-Mac put up in his rookie year.

However, I expect him to have a TS% closer to .480. With more pts, and fewer blks/stls than T-Mac.

Any other thoughts?

interesting couple of games coming up for the g-men…at least interesting in terms of results…

gotta figure 0 – 4 means the beginning of the daniel jones era…

This whole “hatewatching the Raiders” thing is not going well

I’m kind of more bemused than angry.

The Raiders weird ass defense with no star players on it just held the Chiefs scoreless for a quarter and had three TFLs. It’s… well, it’s weird.

i’ve always preferred to think of myself as just having more of a sardonic outlook on life as opposed to just being sarcastic at times…it makes me feel like less of a dick…

I drove back and forth to the North Country of NY for a college thing. On the way, I listened to most of Lou Reed’s Rock and Roll Animal album. It’s crazy how far removed this concert version of the Velvet Underground tracks are from the studio versions, not sure if I know of any artist who covered his own songs in this way. Steve Hunter’s guitar work was about as good as it gets for me. JK, a bit before your time but were you ever into his stuff?

I’d give them a D- for this off season. The only way it could be worse is if they gave out long term contracts to these guys.

I’m not a huge fan of any of the players they picked up. I’m OK with Payton, Portis and Randle because they are young and improving, but we sharply overpaid for Portis, imo Randle may not be an ideal fit and we overrpaid him, and none of them can defend.

The only move I like is taking RJ Barrett, but every team in the league would have taken Barrett 3rd. So it’s not like they actually deserve credit for that unless you consider it an improvement over last year when the reached for Knox against consensus and came up with one of the worst 2-way players in the NBA that got significant minutes. Maybe Iggy will turn out to a good value.

These guys are absolutely horrible.

They aren’t making catastrophic GM level mistakes, but they are clueless about basketball.

It’s the reverse situation.

Phil, Gaines, and his guys were generally looking for young two way team oriented players for the long term. Those are the types of players I like. But they lacked draft picks and made some dreadful GM level decisions with salaries for older free agents.

Maybe some day we’ll finally get some “plus” management.

I just want to throw one other thing out there. Dotson has totally fallen through the cracks. Not that he’s ever going to be a star, but imo, he’s not that far away from being a solid two way rotation player. He has some things to work on to become a more complete efficient offensive player, but it’s not impossible. The problem is that this was a lost summer for him. I’d be surprised if he even comes back where he left off. It’s going to take time for him to recover from his surgery and get his form back after not playing at all when ideally he’d be improving.

Phil, Gaines, and his guys were generally looking for young two way team oriented players for the long term. Those are the types of players I like. But they lacked draft picks and made some dreadful GM level decisions with salaries for older free agents.

This is a joke right? Phil Jackson had nothing to do with free agents that were signed here? That would be hilariously dumb if it weren’t so obviously racist.

No one is too young for Velvet Underground

I’m a huge fan of John Cale’s solo work as well, specifically the amazing albums “Paris 1919,” “Vintage Violence” and “Slow Dazzle”

Phil, Gaines, and his guys were generally looking for young two way team oriented players for the long term. Those are the types of players I like. But they lacked draft picks and made some dreadful GM level decisions with salaries for older free agents.

Lmao I mean at a certain point you kind of have to admire the dedication to the bit.

Carmelo Anthony is the NBA-watching community’s go-to fucking example of a one-way chucker and Phil Jackson made him the highest paid player in the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony is the NBA-watching community’s go-to fucking example of a one-way chucker and Phil Jackson made him the highest paid player in the NBA.

Not just the highest paid player in the NBA but also gave him a no-trade clause!

The problem about Dotson is that there’s nothing to like about his profile other than the 36% from 3 in 5 attempts or so. Even with that decent number his ts% is below average and I don’t see much defensive upside. If the only thing you can do is shoot 3s at about the league average, it’s hard to be a very valuable player, you’re just the next version of Wayne Ellington.

Phil, Gaines, and his guys were generally looking for young two way team oriented players for the long term. Those are the types of players I like. But they lacked draft picks and made some dreadful GM level decisions with salaries for older free agents

It seems like he’s saying they looked for two way players with their picks and fucked up with their free agents.

I also liked the Clarence Gaines draft profile more than the Mills/Perry profile. I’m confident he wouldn’t have considered Knox at 9. Of course, he did take frank at 8, so…

Randle and Mitch playing well together is probably the second most important thing that could happen for the Knicks.

RJ playing well is number 1.

Be glad you didn’t meet him. Which goes for most heroes, probably.

I was chatting about him with a friend of mine, and my friend said “Lou is such a miserable asshole, I can’t believe anybody respects him.” To which I replied that Lou being a miserable asshole was the whole point. Nice Guy Lou Reed would not have been even a little bit interesting.

There’s a lot of humanity and empathy in his music despite his ridiculous misanthropic persona.

Does that mean that you think of the Rock and Roll Animal album as kind of a commercialized sell-out? The guitar work kind of overwhelms the “underground” aspect of the music, but it is brilliantly executed. The live version of Heroin is filthy good. It just seemed like a performance that no one would have expected sound-wise. Maybe 2nd on my list of concerts to be transported back to, Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East is probably first.

From Wikipedia:

“As it happens, I had seen Reed and a mediocre pickup band at Lincoln Center some months earlier in his first New York non-Velvets appearance and he was tragic in every sense of the word. So, at the Academy, I didn’t expect much and when his new band came out and began to play spectacular, even majestic, rock & roll, management’s strategy for the evening became clear: Elevate the erratic and unstable punkiness of the centerpiece into punchy, swaggering grandeur by using the best arrangements, sound and musicians that money could buy; the trimmings, particularly guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, were awesome enough so that if Reed were merely competent, the concert would be a success. And it was, as one can judge from the resultant albums. The band does not emulate the violent, hypnotic, dope-trance staccato power and subway lyricism of the Velvet Underground, but rather opts for a hard, clean, clear, near-royal Mott the Hoople/Eric Clapton (Layla) opulence and Reed sings out most of the songs in his effective street-talk style. “

Expect to be disappointed….

I do, but that’s the most important thing that can happen this year.

Re: offseason grades, I’m willing to give them a pass on not renting the cap space for assets because I doubt they could have pulled off trades with GS and Brooklyn. But they should have kept some space to facilitate three way deals during the season. There aren’t as many teams to choose from at that point. The decision to value Gibson, Portis, and Ellington over that flexibility reveals a flawed process.

So I agree with the people handing out C’s. I’d have given them a B if they picked up some vets who can fill that leadership void while maintaining flexibility for in season trades.

@51
Hubert, Walter Lure from the Heartbreakers and his band play every year at the Johnny Thunders birthday bash at the Bowery Electric a block away from CBGBs. A bunch of old timers from from back in the day show up and it’s always a good time. He’s been playing the LAMF album with an all-star band every year too at the same bar. A lot of gray hair, torn jeans, and black leather jackets. Takes you right back

If Iverson was still in the league Phil prolly would have signed that dude too

I’m not one to defend Phil Jackson, but in this case Phil didn’t target Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was already here, he was already the face of the franchise, and 90% of the Knick fans in the world, I imagine, wanted him back (just not the “faux-fans” that post here).

The upsetting thing is that Phil was brought in, presumably, with full autonomy from Dolan and could have decided to move on from Anthony, which he should have done, especially after not being able to talk him into a more team-friendly deal. The mega max with no-trade clause was a franchise-killing move, and it didn’t really matter what he did from then on, it was never going to go well. (https://knickerblogger.net/woj-carmelo-to-sign-5-year-deal-with-new-york/).

But he didn’t go out of his way to sign Anthony. (He was too lazy to go anywhere at all, in fact, except to one dinner where he tried to talk Carmelo down, Carmelo said no, and so he signed the check.)

When I used to run the intern program for my company, I would always ask this question on interviews [where would you transport yourself?]. There was no right answer I just liked seeing how well-prepared kids reacted to something they weren’t expecting.

My picks tended to be someone who was playing CBGB circa 1977…. patti Smith, the heartbreakers, talking heads, etc. Seems like a decent time and place to be transported to.

For me, it would be December 22nd, 1808: the night Beethoven premiered his Symphony #5 and his Symphony #6, as well as his 4th piano concerto, which he played as the soloist for. It was a Springsteenesque 4+ hours, and was the last time he’d be able to appear as a soloist due to his declining hearing. (And the best part is, the concert was panned by critics! The BeethovenBlogger.org community was like “the music is fine, but it’s too cold in the theatre to make it worth the price”, and “why max Beethoven when you can have two-way composers like Hummel, Goethe, and Joe Hadyn instead?!”)

And then, from there, I’d take the rock n roll time machine to SF for thanksgiving, 1976, and attend the Last Waltz. (And then maybe hang out a few months and catch the 1977 Little Feat shows that became Waiting For Columbus, before returning home to the painfully shitty music of 2019).

I would not give that book to any young arty person who fetishizes living in NYC. Might give them hope that they’ll rub elbows with this generation’s Warhol (Banksy?) at Chelsea dive bars (do those exist anymore?) before heading back to a cheap artist’s loft in Brooklyn. Oh yeah, and then you fall ass-backwards into becoming an acclaimed voice of one of the most influential cultural movements of the century.

Does that mean that you think of the Rock and Roll Animal album as kind of a commercialized sell-out? The guitar work kind of overwhelms the “underground” aspect of the music, but it is brilliantly executed.

I’m sure people thought of it that way at the time, but for me that album makes sense in Lou’s discography because it comes after Berlin, which featured big Bob Ezrin production and highly accomplished players like Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar and Steve Hunter himself. Rock And Roll Animal is a classic live album, no question.

Lou Reed was, at the time, sort of one degree of separation removed from Kiss, believe it or not. There’s the Bob Ezrin connection, and the guitarist who played all the beautiful lead stuff on Coney Island Baby was Bob Kulick, who played as a session guy on a bunch of Kiss records. Bob Kulick almost got the Kiss gig instead of Ace Frehley, and his brother Bruce Kulick joined Kiss in the 80’s.

I quite like the run of Lou Reed records from the late 70’s/early 80’s: Street Hassle, The Bells, The Blue Mask.

My music taste is all aughts. Saw Arcade Fire with Bowie. That was probably my favorite show.

Will check out Just Kids. That sounds awesome.

I am going to enjoy the anticipation of Elfrid’s first triple double as a Knick and then I am going to fake disappointment when he turns out to be exactly what we thought he was.

Mitch is breeding fighting dogs? For money?

And yes, this year is really going to be ridiculous unless we have a bunch of injuries.

I’m not into the woo woo, talismanic-fetish aspects of it, but Patti Smith’s book about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe was worth the time and effort. Just Kids, I think it won the National Book Award or something. Pretty incredible story of making it as an artist in the grime of 70s NYC.

I second this. It was particularly enlightening for someone with only a cursory knowledge of Mapplethorpe (like me). I had the good fortune of reading the book at the same time a comprehensive exhibit of his work was up at the Getty museum in LA for me to visit.

“It’s safe to say that it’s going to be tough to keep everyone in that locker room happy,” the coach said.

I would like to think that when we overpaid these guys, it included the expectation that they might have to accept being a little less happy with their playing time. I’m not handing Bobby Portis $15mm (when he arguably might have struggled to find half that) without telling him “but all this extra money is buying your compliance down the line. You get that, right?”

Hubert, Walter Lure from the Heartbreakers and his band play every year at the Johnny Thunders birthday bash at the Bowery Electric a block away from CBGBs. A bunch of old timers from from back in the day show up and it’s always a good time. He’s been playing the LAMF album with an all-star band every year too at the same bar. A lot of gray hair, torn jeans, and black leather jackets. Takes you right back

Thanks for the tip, Fetch. I’m old enough to have been to CBGB but only way past its prime (late 90’s, early 2000s).

If anyone got a raw deal from that time, it was Mike D’Antoni

Oh, of course D’Antoni got a raw deal. Heck, in 2011/12, the Knicks had a top five defense, for crying out loud!

D’Antoni got a raw deal by being given Chris Duhon and Ray Felton as the point guards to run his offensive machine.

D’Antoni got a total raw deal, though to be fair, being an inflexible prick wasn’t helpful. 

Yeah, even though he got a raw deal, D’Antoni was a real dick during much of his tenure, so it was hard to feel too bad about it.

Plus, they hired him at such a moronic point in time. Getting a win now coach when you’re not going to win now was such a Knicks move.

BTW, it looks like Hasheem Thabeet might get a shot with the Knicks. He hasn’t played in the NBA for 5 years and wasn’t anything special when he did play. Why would they even consider him?

2 Theories:

1) He’s a center
2) He can approximate Mitch during Preseason so the 2nd unit guys get somewhat used to having a shot blocker behind them

Thabeet was picked #2 so he must be good. Probably just in the wrong system with the wrong players. Once he gets out of the shadow of Russ and Durant and Ibaka and Caron Butler and Nick Collison and Steven Adams he has a chance to be a real complementary piece on a contender.

Nevermind that he’s been out of the league for five years. He has a lottery pedigree and elite size. I blame the coaches that failed to maximize his potential. Wingspan length elite upside Fiz intangibles trust the process intriguing

Love the music discussion. I’m a bit of a casual Lou Reed fan, but definitely love the Velvet Underground. I wished when they reunited for a short time that they could’ve done a new album, but I read at the time that Reed ruined that by insisting that he produce the album, and the others did not want that.

At any rate, I still listen to New York from time to time. Lots of his social commentary on that one are fully relevant today, just change most of the names he calls out.

That was all planned so that he could draft Danilo Gallinari!

Also, that “east is big” comment has turned into a meme that everyone throws out like its definitive proof that Woodson was an idiot. But that comment was taken in the context of us playing The Pacers, who WERE A big, physical defensive team.

It *was* definitive proof that he was an idiot. Actually I won’t say idiot. He knows more about basketball than I ever well. But he was *ignorant*.

The Pacers were big. They had trouble with small lineups. The Knicks had an incredible small line up with Copeland at the 5. All he had to do was deploy it. It was as simple as 2 plus 2 equals 4. But Woodson was so ignorant of statistical evidence that he thought the equation was 11 divided by 7 equals 46.

I’m still not over it.

Woodson didn’t make that adjustment until after The Knicks were down 2-1. So in that series, The Knicks playing their typical style wasn’t getting it done.

I’m not trying to say he was great or that it wasn’t a mistake to “go big.” But Kidd was useless at that point. And as I remember it, we won game 5 because he went back to play small ball. But then we lost game 6 playing that way too. The big mistake was not playing copeland.

For me, it would be December 22nd, 1808: the night Beethoven premiered his Symphony #5 and his Symphony #6, as well as his 4th piano concerto, which he played as the soloist for. It was a Springsteenesque 4+ hours, and was the last time he’d be able to appear as a soloist due to his declining hearing. (And the best part is, the concert was panned by critics! The BeethovenBlogger.org community was like “the music is fine, but it’s too cold in the theatre to make it worth the price”, and “why max Beethoven when you can have two-way composers like Hummel, Goethe, and Joe Hadyn instead?!”)

that was great donnie, made me smile…

When I used to run the intern program for my company, I would always ask this question on interviews [where would you transport yourself?]. There was no right answer I just liked seeing how well-prepared kids reacted to something they weren’t expecting.

man, tough question – still not sure how i would answer – no doubt i wouldn’t have made the cut…

i don’t know man, although i mostly prefer rock now…i’d have to probably go with NWA and LA during that time…i don’t think i ever listened to something that bit me as hard the first time as when i first listened to: straight outta compton…that was sheer force coming out of the speakers…

there’s a vintage Bulls-Pistons game on NBATV. Man were those games rough!

And that player turning around and kicking their asses?

I hated that fucking series! For me, the difference was Tyson Chandler playing like Andrea Bargnani while Hibbert looked like a HOFer-to-be.

We had the 3rd best offense in the NBA and a middling defense. We should not have been trying to out muscle the fucking Pacers, who had the best defense in the league.

That JR elbow really changed the whole dynamic of the playoffs. I still see Hibbert’s block on Melo in my dreams. I know there is a lot more to it than that, but we were rolling up until that point.

Great music talk too. Top 3 concerts would time travel for would be 1) Jimi Hendrix at Filmore East in 69, 2) Queen at Live Aid in 85 (I know it is a cheesy choice, but I couldn’t tell you how many times I watched that performance growing up) and 3) Crowded House’s farewell concert in 96 at the Sydney Opera House. I saw reference to Arcade Fire before. I have seen them a handful of times and they never disappoint. The shows with Bowie would have been a treat and are a real rarity as far as concerts.

On the NYC book front, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth’s biography has some good NYC music/arts scene anecdotes from the 80’s. Meet Me In The Bathrrom by Lizzy Goodman which chronicles NYC indie rock between 2000-2011 is worth a read if you are like me and from that era.

Checked espn to see the jets score and stumbled across this fascinating piece on how many calories a chess grandmaster burns while playing chess:

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess

In October 2018, Polar, a U.S.-based company that tracks heart rates, monitored chess players during a tournament and found that 21-year-old Russian grandmaster Mikhail Antipov had burned 560 calories in two hours of sitting and playing chess — or roughly what Roger Federer would burn in an hour of singles tennis.

Robert Sapolsky, who studies stress in primates at Stanford University, says a chess player can burn up to 6,000 calories a day while playing in a tournament, three times what an average person consumes in a day.

Can you even imagine if there was a team today whose philosophy was “beat the shit out of the most famous player in the game”?

To be fair, some would argue that’s the favored playoff strategy against Harden. It’s not on the same level and I don’t agree with it, but some would.

Damn !
I forgot Frank & his buddy CptBeefheart !
Sign me in for a time travel to watch them during the Hot Rats period !

I would loved to have been at Nirvana’s MTV unplugged performance in 1993. Their live version of The Man Who Sold the World was sublime.

Other historical musical events I would like to have attended:

Prince and the Revolution at First Avenue the night they debuted “Purple Rain”
Bill Evans Trio at the Village Vanguard the nights they recorded the live album
Fred Neil at any of the McDougal Street/Greenwich Village clubs he played
Any of the “Good Vibrations” recording sessions
Any of the “Another Green World” recording sessions
Van Halen at the Whiskey Au Go Go circa 1977
Jane’s Addiction at Scream circa 1987

I don’t know if it was the norm for colleges in the mid-late 70’s, but my small liberal arts college had some ass-kicking concerts while I was there

Colgate.

Troubadour in the late 69s/early 70s must have been wild especially seeing The Doors live.

Also, Pink Floyd in the 60’s when they were the London house band for the acid experiments must have been….a trip. Or later the dark side tour.

I’d be interested in seeing the Newport music where Dylan was booed because he went electric instead of acoustic. I have no idea if it was a great concert or not, but it was certainly a significant musical event. That and some of the club stuff mentioned above.

The best thing about Dylan at Newport was that after he got booed, he got back up and played acoustic, and closed with “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” a sublime kiss-off to the squares who wanted to keep him in the safe little folkie box. The actual electric performance was “meh,” the hastily assembled band was under-rehearsed.

Soon after that he went on tour with The Hawks backing him and gave his uptight folk audience a proper middle finger. Those people booing Dylan and the Hawks (The Band minus Levon Helm) were turning their noses up at some of the best rock music ever created at that time. Those shows are well documented and were definitely time machine-worthy.

Reading all these reminded me of our HS band concert early 80s in Peekskill New York. There was a kid, well friend actually we were in most of the same classes, sitting playing along on an electric guitar. They played Johnny B. Goode. He started duck walking during the solo and the auditorium went wild.

I saw most of the big names of the mid 80s that played the Dome at Syracuse. I saw a double bill of Iron Maiden/Judas Priest downtown and an Aerosmith show that seemed way too short, presumably because Tyler came out doing back in the saddle while the band was playing Last Child.

There were block parties in the fall at Walnut Park that had some eclectic performers, including pre-Buster Poindexter, post NY dolls David Johansen and Psychedelic Furs before Love My way hit. I was more interested in the block party aspect of it to recall anything magical.

On the time travel note The Whiskey A Go Go Doors or whatever the club was where they broke came to mind. My mom has a real life one, being that as a exchange nursing student in England in 1963 some friends took her to the beach at Southampton to see the Rolling Stones play.

Some good lists here!

Best shows I’ve seen were:

1. Prince during the Purple Rain tour when I was 11, and I was forever changed.

2. Guns n Roses at a racetrack in Alabama. I’m not sure which tour it was but it was definitely the original lineup and they brought it. Skid Row opened and was awful.

3. Radiohead on the OK Computer tour – just absolutely brilliant. Nothing else to say.

I’ve seen a lot of others, but many not in their purest heydays, so it wasn’t as memorable. I was also in Athens Ga during the whole Elephant 6 thing, and it was very cool but not earth shattering.

Shows I realistically wished I’d seen was Nirvana and Pavement on their first tours but c’est la vie.

I really like the idea of Kenny Wooten on this team and having a second legit rim defender. Who does he bump?

If he plays well enough in camp to earn the second two-way slot (which opened up after the Knicks withdrew their offer to Kris Wilkes), then he doesn’t bump anybody. But that’s the only way he can realistically be a part of the big club before the trade deadline. Because Perry and Mills spent all their cap space like it was running out of style, all 15 roster spots are filled with guys whose deals are guaranteed for this season. So one of three things can happen with Wooten for the time being:

1)Signed to a two-way, mostly plays in Westchester, but possibly comes up if one or more of our redundant big men gets hurt.
2)The two-way deal either goes to someone else or is held in reserve in case another NBDL prospect catches Perry’s fancy. Wooten stays on the Exhibit 20 deal we already gave him, plays in Westchester at least until we may clear a roster spot at the deadline, if not for the whole season, and is more of a consideration for the 2020-21 squad.
3)Some other team likes what they see of Wooten and signs him away because we didn’t want to give him that two-way slot.

man, tough question – still not sure how i would answer – no doubt i wouldn’t have made the cut…

The trick wasn’t to have a good answer, it was to compose yourself enough in the face of something you weren’t prepared for and be able to give a well thought out response.

I once hired someone who’s answer was “Bon Jovi in the 80s in New Jersey”. It was 2008. I told him he wasted a time machine to go see someone who’s probably going to play at the meadowlands next summer, but it was ok. He’s getting the job despite that. I wasn’t judging his musical taste. Which was good for him bc I really don’t like Bon Jovi.

You saw him at the surf lodge?
I saw in sag harbor play impromptu At a bar on New Year’s Eve ten years ago. He had a real presence and I walked away impressed but haven’t ever gone out of my way to listen to any of his songs since.

Wow, the Daniel Jones era begins already.

I saw Jimmy Buffett unexpectedely come on stage to play with Lukas Nelson two weeks ago on Labor Day. Not gonna lie: I was pretty excited.

I don’t know if Buffett has the respect of the cool music crowd, but I can tell you for sure that many artists are in awe of him. This was the second year in a row I saw him pop up at the same place, out in Montauk. Last year he joined Wyclef Jean, who was following Lupe Fiasco. You wouldn’t think those two were parrotheads, but I’m telling you, they turned into fanboys when he got on stage.

You’re more likely to convince Jowles that Andra Bargnani is a good basketball player than you are to convince me that Jimmy Buffet is a good musician. (I know Buffet has got good “counting stats” with his #1 all-time hit song and all, but, seriously, there has never been somebody who’s done so much with so little… like Steve Mills, but with a guitar:)

I went to Motown Revue shows at Fox Theater in Detroit in early seventies, Two different years. All the stars would come out and do 3 song sets. Later a friend, who was a studio musician would bring Marvin Gaye over to smoke weed.

Well, Eli’s washed. And there’s no sense in putting a delay on getting Jones’ playing time with Barkley. I don’t think it’ll matter much for this season, but Eli does nothing to help the franchise this season by playing. He’s not going to get the Giants wins and he’s not going to be playing meaningful football in the future.

All of this. The team has enormous problems, and I fear Gettleman is just an arrogant blowhard who doesn’t understand how the game has passed him by. But we need to see what we have in Jones. And there’s a chance that someone who is way more mobile than Eli is at this point might be able to more in this offense going forward. Eli’s not the reason they’ve been losing, but he also hasn’t done anything suggesting he’d be the primary reason they won games this year. It’s well past time.

@146 co-sign.
Here’s the thing about football: I’ve always believed that, more than the other major sports, it’s an emotion-fueled sport. At best, it actually can be a tangible asset to a team. For example:

I’m sure most of yall by now have heard of Toni Harris. Guess where she played last year? So I had a conversation with the head coach about her impact – his initial concern was her size and moreso talent level (as a 5′ 6″ DB). But he also said she worked her tail off and was extremely persistent, and her teammates responded to that. And he agreed with me that that kind of thing can raise the spirit of a team which can manifest itself tangibly on the field.

So my point is that if Jones’s play can ignite an emotional spark in his teammates, it can translate into a more competitive team. Probably won’t equal more wins, but it can tangibly improve the product on the field from what we’ve seen so far… and give everyone hope for the future of the franchise.

You saw him at the surf lodge?

Yeah, he joined Lukas Nelson (who was remarkable, btw, and is Willie’s son fwiw).

You’re more likely to convince Jowles that Andra Bargnani is a good basketball player than you are to convince me that Jimmy Buffet is a good musician.

I don’t think he’s a good musician. I’m just saying he generated awe among the musicians I saw him with. Wyclef is a great musician. He was the headliner that day, and he was remarkable. But when Jimmy Buffett came on, Wyclef jumped in the crowd and was standing next to me taking videos. I would imagine the awe comes from how prodigious his work is, not necessarily the quality.

Hubert, you and I probably have been to a lot of the same shows. I saw stellastarr play but can’t remember if it was with the killers. It might have been, I saw them a couple of times. 2004-9 I saw a ton of shows and most are a blur.

Meet Me in the Bathroom is a fantastic book. It’s an oral history so it’s all primary source material. I am not sure how interesting it would be to someone who has no interest in that era of music but if you were at all involved it is deeply fascinating.

As for Jimmy Buffett, you have to respect the business sense.

For fans of current indie rock, I drove up to Lexington, KY last week to see Hot Snakes, who put on a great, energetic show for guys in their late 40’s/early 50’s. My wife and youngest son (19) went with me, so a family affair. My son’s first rock and roll show.

One of the opening bands was the weird Des Demonas, who I rather liked. After their set, I had a nice chat with their lead singer, who is originally from Africa and has a thick British accent. They’re sort of like the Doors on acid, and with chanting vocals.

Wow, what an ugly game for the Jets last night. Sheesh. And the Mets are finally fading away…

@Hubert,

Ha, I slightly knew the bassist from Stellastarr from art school. She was very cute and dated the drummer I think. I wasn’t crazy about their sound, but it did seem like they should’ve gotten really big. No idea what became of them.

1973 or 1974
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic ( Bootsy Collins. Bernie Worell) at a place called Joint in the Woods somewhere in New Jersey.

I gotta say, I’m sorta happy that Darnold has mono. If he didn’t, he would be under center, running for his life. That could have been his leg that bent in a way that a leg shouldn’t bend yesterday. I feel bad for Trevor Seimian but he’s not the future of the Jet franchise.
Going to the Yankee game tonight and lucked out – I’ll be seeing Severino pitch.
As a Jet fan and Knick fan I wake up every day thanking God that I’m a Yankee fan.

the Jets should really sign Kaepernick just for fun but there’s no way the ambassador to great britain is going to sign off on that.

Hell yes. This could actually make the season interesting. Lil’ bro Chris seems to be slightly more progressive than Woody, so I’m hoping they make it happen.

1973 or 1974
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic ( Bootsy Collins. Bernie Worell) at a place called Joint in the Woods somewhere in New Jersey.

Jumping in just to say Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain is one of my favorite tracks ever. Mind-melting.

One of my favorite concerts was also one of my favorite gigs, opening for Blues Traveler at Columbia University, to maybe 80 people. They destroyed us, but it was totally OK because they were obviously headed for real success and it was a treat just to see Popper go for it. All I knew at that time was Little Walter, James Cotton, and that kind of Chicago harp player, so it was pretty mind-blowing. And they were super nice dudes, which made it all the better.

One of the first tours I ever did was opening for Blues Traveler. I was playing with Pete Yorn at the time and their fanbase was not into us at all, we were a really weird choice for an opener. But they really were the nicest guys. Jam band music is not my cup of tea at all, I’m a punk rocker at heart, but I liked those guys a lot. They were sweethearts. Plus I got to play at Red Rocks as part of that tour.

They also had amazing food, it was a relatively small tour but they brought a personal chef and she had ovens and shit in big road cases. Southern cooking every day. Good times.

Got myself a used cd copy of Ariel Pink Haunted Graffiti – House Arrest on Sunday and listened it just a few minutes ago.
WoW !
Lofi garage pop psychedelia of the highest order !
Pretty Unique production, very eclectic underground arrangements and A class writing.
Jk47 I don’t know if you’re playing on this one man but gotta say that if you’re still in this band you just earned one more fan.

Best Live I’ve ever seen: Portishead with dj Andy Smith on 1998 right next to the sea during the summer along with Spiritualized and Asian Dub Foundation.

Ariel Pink
P!nk
Pink Floyd
Music From Big Pink

Pink is a good color for music, it seems.

Fortunately for me in music i have the privilege/choice/will to search and listen whatever soothes my soul without need to stay loyal to my childhood listenings (unless they’re good!)
while on nba loyalty has destroy my psychology for 3 decades !!!

Hopefully Eli wants to go to Pittsburgh and gets to finish his career out with a good line and a winning season. He may just want to stay in NY with his family though.

love this thread…got me jonesing for some live music…

i really haven’t been to a ton of live shows, but i remember being home for the weekend and driving on the LIE into the city to go catch the simon/garfunkel show in the park…it had been drizzling outside the whole way from patchogue…i’m not sure where exactly, but, there’s this one rise on the LIE as your heading west where you can suddenly see the whole city – it just so happened to have stopped raining right at the spot…i pulled over to find a puddle to splash some water in my face, and just stared at the city for a minute…

ended up parking somewhere on the west side…must have left my lights on or something cuz i remember after the show needing to step out in to the street with cables in my hand to stop someone for a jump…i remember getting goosebumps when mrs robinson started coming out of those monster speakers…

most impressive thing i remember seeing was george thorogood opening for the stones at jfk in philly…i just couldn’t figure out how one guy with his guitar (no disrespect to the rest of the destroyers) could rock a whole stadium like that…i was in awe, fan ever since…

first time i ever learned that currency could be used for paraphernalia was watching earth wind & fire at the garden…why in the world is that dude rolling up a bill like that 🙂

My first concert was Johnny Winter at MSG in 1973…my older brother took me down in a ’65 GTO with a 389 and 3 carburetors. I don’t remember the concert very well, but the car ride was harrowing, especially the stretch on the old elevated West Side Highway. I’m sure some old folks here know what I’m talking about.

oh my goodness, that could be a thread of its own – crazy cab rides i survived in the city…

Dont you just love those momentary spots on the road where a majestic view opens up for an instant or something special first comes into view.

it’s funny, for the life of me, i’ve been trying to think of another instant where something similar occurred – the only thing that comes to mind is when i used to travel back and forth from monmouth, nj to out on the island (the southern state parkway was a blast to drive on as a kid) on the weekends…there was this huge landfill on staten island that i used to pass all the time…it just amazed me that a mountain of trash like that could exist anywhere…i’m sure somewhere up in my mental rolodex there’s gotta be something more pleasant than that buried somewhere…

In fact, it’s hard to think of a concert I’d rather be at than Woodstock…so many all-time greats in their primes, the historical significance…probably an ordeal but one I would gladly weather.

On the topic of worst concerts, I think mine would be MGMT back in about 2008. Oracular Spectacular was an absolute beast at the time and they were playing at the Meredith Music Festival. They were the hyped band on the lineup and they sounded absolutely shit house. Probably didn’t help it rained all weekend which made the experience not great, but it was such a massive let down because they were very mediocre. I have seen them since and they were definitely better, but not a band known for their live chops.

P.S. if you ever find yourself in South West Victoria in December, seriously get along to this festival. It only sells a limited amount of tickets and is held on a family farm that has a natural amphitheatre. Lineups are the odd semi big name with a lot of small acts. Chances are you will leave having discovered a new favourite. All ages festival so you get a diverse crowd of younger people looking to have a big one, to families coming along for a day for a picnic and live music with the kids.

The performances, engineering and arrangements on that newest MGMT album are so good that there’s no way it could translate live. I had never been a fan until that one and it’s pretty funny to hear my friends incredulous as the guy who got them into late-era Talk Talk and early psych-punk MBV is trying to convince them to listen to the band that infected their college years with the Urban Outfitters fest-bro jams.

Best live band I’ve seen is Death Grips, hands down. My wife, for whom industrial glitch hip-hop is decidedly not a thing, joined me for a Bottomless Pit tour date and was converted as soon as the lights went down. The reason I bring this up is that Ministry played as headliner and all of the crowd save a smattering of crusty 40-somethings vanished when DG left the stage. That must have been quite the set (I too vanished).

P.S. if you ever find yourself in South West Victoria in December, seriously get along to this festival. It only sells a limited amount of tickets and is held on a family farm that has a natural amphitheatre.

I played Meredith Music Festival with Sia in 2009, before she went nuclear famous. I did Golden Plains with Ariel Pink in 2012, which I think is on the same grounds. We also did the Laneway tour in 2011, which was one of the most fun things I ever did in my touring career. You ever go to that? That was a blast.

The performances, engineering and arrangements on that newest MGMT album are so good that there’s no way it could translate live. I had never been a fan until that one and it’s pretty funny to hear my friends incredulous as the guy who got them into late-era Talk Talk and early psych-punk MBV is trying to convince them to listen to the band that infected their college years with the Urban Outfitters fest-bro jams.

I quite enjoyed their recent one too, although I have always at a minimum appreciated everything they have done post Oracular Spectacular without loving it. Could have easily fallen into the rut of producing more Kids and Electric Feels, but opted to go down a pretty un-commercial route with their sound. Laughing Stock by Talk Talk also rules since you raised them.

I think Trier seems like he has an easiest path to a leap.

Mitch doesn’t need to take the leap, so I’m not counting him. Otherwise, he’d be the clear choice.

millsperry d’oh boys

lol

That’s an awesome first concert, Z-man. Mine was…the Beach Boys. Oh well, I was 11.

Strat, love that story. When I was a kid I got to hang out with James Cotton – I loved him because of Muddy’s “Hard Again” album (though I was too young even to get the double entendre). He put on a great show, though the second time I saw him his voice was so shot I gave him my cough drops.

Biggest surprise of the season? That I’m going to have to check out an MGMT album…

If I recall correctly, my second concert was Bowie at MSG in 1974 during the Diamond Dogs tour. He was great then…no thrown debris!

I guess I’m expecting Trier to make a leap, Knox is more of my dark horse pick…

Well, if you take out Trier (and Mitch is excluded, which I agree that he should be excluded), then Knox really is the only other feasible candidate, right? The odds of DSJ or Payton or Frank taking leaps now seem to be highly unlikely, while Knox is still enough of an unknown that there is still the possibility of it happening.

I’m going out on a limb and will say Randle will make another leap. In popularity, if nothing else.

I certainly see Knox improving, but going from league worst to “he might be better than Ntilikina” isn’t much to write home about.

I wanted to say Randle, but I don’t know where he can really improve because of his limitations… unless he becomes a really great post distributor and 3pt shooter. Idk who the comp would be… Laimbeer?

I assumed that Mitch really wouldn’t count here. And I don’t think there’s any way Knox gets to league average this year… maybe next year though.

I don’t really see a leap from any of these guys. Even Mitchell. I expect improvement, but no leap.

The best one is Early Bird’s pick of Randle. If he becomes a more complete offensive player and does it as the team’s #1 option, that’s a pretty big step forward for him. He seems capable of it.

I still like Knox and expect him to improve, but I’d circle his age 21 season if I’m looking for a year he potentially breaks out.

The best candidate for a leap is Dennis Smith. I just don’t expect it to happen.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/9/18/20871049/giants-jets-helmet-catch-butt-fumble-daniel-jones-sam-darnold

^ this was an enjoyable and well-deserved mockery of our two area football teams.

Reporter: “[Odell] is one of the dynamic players in the league”

Gregg Williams: “That’s your opinion…what did the Giants do?”

See what I mean about the maelstrom of incompetence? Here we have the Jets’ billion-decibel fart of a defensive coordinator pointing to the Giants’ brain-optional decision-making as hard evidence for his own correctness, seemingly unaware that it’s a bad idea for an assistant coach to spend his days trash-talking hypertalented players on upcoming opponents.

Sigh.

I like this question. It had me thinking. In a perfect world I might have gone with Dotson to take the leap but I think he’s not getting the opportunity. Dotson has been solid boring since we drafted him in the 2nd round. But I don’t think he’ll have the opportunity. That being said, I give the nod to DSJ. It’s boom or bust for him this year. Either he or Elfrid needs to grab hold of that starting PG role. So my #2 choice is Peyton. I’m down on Ntilikina and Knox.

Part 2

Dennis Smith Jr is an athletic freak that can use those talents to score and defend at an acceptable level, but he’s a low IQ player, injury prone, and needs to improve his shot, efficiency, and decision making. I see him as more of a wildcard that could go either way, but lean towards him never being a high level player and instead winding up as a PG version of Hardaway Jr.

Peyton is a good playmaker/rebounder, but needs work on his shot, efficiency, and defense to break out and become a high level PG on a very good team . I’d say DSJr’s upside may be higher, but Peyton is more likely to become a solid well rounded player.

Robinson has a chance to come an elite rim protector and high efficiency low usage scorer that could anchor the middle on a championship team with a few scoring stars. An obvious keeper.

RJ Barrett has a chance to become a two way star. Sure, he’s a long way away, but with improved shooting range and a little more work on defense, there’s not much of a limit given that he’s
already a good scorer inside, a terrific passer playmaker for the position, and terrific rebounder for the position. Sky is the limit, it’s just at least 2-3 years away.

Bobby Portis is an underrated stretch 4 that needs work on defense, but he’s still a useful piece on a good team. I’d still rather have Noah Vonleh (especially at the prices), but I’m willing to take a look at Portis.

I was going to say something intelligent but god took over( i’m Going to start every response this way).
Having said that I think Mitch shouldn’t be overlooked as having a huge season coming up. Can he go from high flyer to defensive qb is huge?! Worthy of being a max player in his second season is the second part of the question . It would represent the biggest leap we’ve seen in ny sports in a long time.
I also view trier as an X factor type. 6th man or more? I saw a video of him , harden and a third dude playing one in one and he was as unguardable as harden. Crazy I know.

For us as Knick fans having a pg is the biggest need so any of the three showing improvement is magnified.

To sum it up, the pieces I like best long term are Robinson, Barrett, and Ntilikina. I’m OK with Randle in the right lineups. I like Trier off the bench and I’m at least hopeful about Peyton (though admittedly I need to see more on defense). If we still had KP and drafted Mikal Bridges instead of Knox I’d be over the top with pure joy.

I feel like you and I share a preferred player profile. I love what a 5-man unit of Frank-Barrett-Bridges-Porzingis-Robinson would bring to the defensive side of the ball.

We diverge on a couple things, though. Unless RJ is the second coming of Dwyane Wade, that lineup would be stagnant as hell on offense due to Frank’s ineptitude. The other, of course, is KP on a max, but we don’t need to relitigate that.

I have no idea who will make a nice step forward. Maybe no one?

However, probably at least one guy will. I just hope the Knicks give all the young guys decent court time so that we can see.

My counselor played us the whole Tommy album on his Victrola before the concert

Was this 1927 or something?

@ 217, way cool story d-mar…

Knox will suck…If he never steps on the court, he should win the most improved player award.

oh man, that’s just mean, and seriously funny/sadly true…

I just saw some Ron Baker highlights. He looks good. We need to bring him back! 🙂 Video can be found here.

NYKTerryandTray
@Nykterryandtray
Ron Baker, hesitation, dribble move, step back three point ala James Harden…

Knox will suck…If he never steps on the court, he should win the most improved player award.

That was certainly true last year.

If Knox never played last year we probably would have won 25+ games.

@Strat & Hubert,

I agree a KP-Mitch frontcourt would be devastating defensively. Adding Bridges in would also be fantastic.

However, I think that lineup is the exact kind of lineup you don’t want Frank in. An offensive star would add more value and you’d still have an incredible D. Think the Rose/Noah bulls (I know those two are a sore subject, but still).

Frank is optimized on a contender looking for a lockdown wing defender. If I’m only a few pieces away, I’d overpay Frank to lockdown Harden and other wings/pgs a few minutes a game. I think that’s his destiny following this contract.

I love Mitch but I hope we can all tamper our expectations for him to take some monumental leap next year. He overproduced for a rookie. If he can do what he did in the second half of last year playing starter’s minutes that will be a step forward but I worry some people are expecting him to come in with a bunch of Hakeem post moves and some deadly 3 point shot. So I think he actually has the chance to disappoint people this year but only because we are all giddy with the potential right now. But again, if he does what he did last year but with starters’ minutes, that’s huge.

I agree a KP-Mitch frontcourt would be devastating defensively. Adding Bridges in would also be fantastic.

However, I think that lineup is the exact kind of lineup you don’t want Frank in. An offensive star would add more value and you’d still have an incredible D. Think the Rose/Noah bulls (I know those two are a sore subject, but still).

This is actually what I said, too. I’d love it on D, but you can’t trot that lineup out and expect it to score. Bridges is just a shooter and Porzingis is a black hole. It would be a terrible offensive lineup that would require herculean effort from Barrett to make plays.

The best Knicks’ lineup that could most closely imitate France and offer Frank a chance of success is Smith-Frank-Barrett-Randle-Robinson. You’d have three guys who can initiate the offense, like France did. And on D you can put Smith on the off guard and let Frank defend the 1.

Most likely to break out is tough. DSJ has been pretty bad his whole brief career, so a breakout still doesn’t mean that he’s going to be good. Obviously that’s even more true for Knox and Frank, who have been two of the worst players in the league in their brief careers and Trier, who was a nice story on an awful team but who lowkey sucked. That leaves Payton-he’s getting a bit old for a break out, but his FT% has trended up for his career and his finishing at the rim seemed a bit flukey bad last season, so maybe he finally learns how to hit 3’s, finishes more in line with his career norms and you have yourself a good point guard.

I forgot about Bobby Portis. He has a skillset that could be useful on offense if he would take more 3’s. At his price it would probably still be tricky to move him for something useful but teams love 3 point shooting so who knows

Unfortunately, the most likely scenario is that no one makes a great improvement, only a few small ones, while a few players regress.

I actually think I have Randle as the most likely to make a minor regression and most likely to take a leap forward. His 3pt shooting is a big question mark due to the inherent variation.

Portis had a down year from a TS% & WS standpoint last year (excluding his rookie year which may not be fair), despite hitting a higher percentage of 3s. So he may regress upwards, add any actual improvement and he could seem like he made the jump.

That’s a bold statement.

It means Randle is less likely to play at the same level, make a minor improvement, or make a significant regression.

For instance, I think Payton is the most likely to make a minor improvement, but less likely to suddenly become a star.

I think Trier is the most likely to make a large regression.

There’s a continuous scale to evaluate a player, not a binary improve/decline choice. You can improve by .001 WS (or other number) or by .150 WS. One is a small improvement, one is large. I’d describe the first as no improvement at all, .150 WS improvement is a leap, .010 WS improvement is minor.

Kind of annoyed watching the Yankees blow home field advantage this past week.

Who on the knicks is going to regress this season? That is a much more knickerbloggeresque question, I love it!

I’m gonna go with Frank. Cause his “sophomore slump” had “junior crisis” written all over it.

Here are my expectations.

Mitch: minor improvement

Knox: minor improvement

Frank: won’t earn minutes

Trier: will be the same

Barrett: will impress, be up & down

Dotson: will be forgotten

Smith: biggest standard deviation of
outcomes, I have no idea what to expect.

Payton: will be good

Randle: will be very good

The vets will all be themselves. Team probably wins 28-30 games.

I feel like so much of the “breakout” potential depends on Fiz, and man I am just not sure what to expect from him. In theory I think this should be a much more structured team this year with all the vets, and in a team with more clearly defined roles I’d be looking at Frank and especially Knox as potential breakout candidates, both of whom I think really suffered (albeit in completely opposite ways) from Fiz’s “everybody do whatever makes you happy” offense last year. However, I do not have as much confidence as I wish I did that we weren’t still going to be running that same offense this year. If Fiz is just a bad coach (and I have my suspicions) then who knows what happens this year. At that point all bets are off.

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

I am SELFISHLY happy that the Yankees are blowing home field against the Astros… But deep down, as a Yankee fan, I’m with you.

It’s little shit like this that annoys me so much.

When they feebly lose another game 7 in Houston, maybe they’ll realize you can’t get sloppy at the finish line.

Hmm… can’t imagine what got this stuck in moderation. Surely not the use of a 4 letter word that rhymes with hit.

EDIT: nope, a copy and paste works. I must have edited out the bad word.

The promotion of Mike Miller is promising though. Either he can be the offensive coach and Fiz can play the Woodson role of being the cheerleader who makes everyone happy and motivated OR Fiz actually sucks and gets fired and Miller takes over.

I would be pretty stunned if Fiz didn’t make it through the year, even if the season is ugly. It’s only year 2, the team has gone through a ton of turnover, and I think (although we will know better once training camp starts and we start hearing more public statements) the organization still sees itself as in transition. I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of pressure to make the playoffs this year or anything like that, and Fiz definitely seems like Perry and Mills’ guy. I think he can probably suck as much as he wants and still keep his job this year.

Our management has always been starstruck when it comes to coaching hires, though Woodson (who was mostly a success in Atlanta but not a name) got the job as an interim coach and stuck to it. I could see Miller as an interim coach, but more likely Keith Smart would get the job temporarily if Fiz is axed.