2021-2022 Preseason Game Thread: Knicks vs. Pacers

Owen Uncategorized

Clyde is back. Breen is back. Brian will be too but it’s just preseason.

Lot of new Knicks to get acquainted with. Have at it.

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165 thoughts to “2021-2022 Preseason Game Thread: Knicks vs. Pacers”

  8. RJ Barrett & Julius Randle presents: Adventures at the rim (Thank god it’s preseason…).

    And the difference between Kemba and last year starting PG makes me cry tears of joy…

  9. I’m having trouble streaming, so the was a gap between 0-4 and 12-6 and Carlisle forced to call a time out. I don’t know what happened.

  23. A quick low data volume observation is that when Fournier gets the ball the Pacers rush to defend him. That is different from Bullock, for sure.

  27. Max:
    Please tell me the last time that Bullock made a move like E-4 last one.

    Thinking exact same thing. I love(d) Reggie, but this is a better look for us.

  34. It’s interesting that of our three rookies the first one to get actual playing time is Sims, rather than Grimes or Mc Bride

  39. It’s interesting, on the Chinese feed I get the Knicks City dancers during the break between quarters instead of ads.

  45. This is probably the most potent we have looked on offence in a pre-season game in forever. Early days, but I don’t think we can underestimate how big continuity with the roster will be this year.

  49. Obi is playing way more aggressively. He looks quite good. Man that would be huge if he turned out to be a productive big off the bench.

  50. Players look more free on offense, with a lot of firepower and shot creators.

    And this team is deep as hell…

    Nice start for Obi!

  52. The movement off the ball is lovely to see. Far cry from the stagnant offenses of the past.

  57. JK47:
    Obi is playing way more aggressively. He looks quite good. Man that would be huge if he turned out to be a productive big off the bench.

    he’ll be starting over Julius in no time…

  58. ptmilo:
    sims is in the wrong spot about 80pct of the time

    It’s funny, but outside of early on Toppin last season, I haven’t seen badly played defense in what feels like forever. Watching Jericho is kind of painful and funny at the same time.

    But jeez, first preseason game, first half, but pretty fun stuff.

  60. kevin5318: Our bench seems like it will outperform the starters on a lot of nights.

    And in what’s better, probably they’ll outperform all the other teams benches

  62. Jericho is huge at least.

    I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the beach when Sabonis got out of the Viking longship either.

  65. Fournier could win MIP this year. He’s almost always been the offensive focal point, now he gets to be one of many options.

  68. I know Taj got crushed on the dunk but that pass from Walker was pretty, and basically never happened all last season.

  72. mase:
    Hopefully we see randle and Fournier share the role of alpha dog

    Yeah — had some good two man game in Q1

  76. Seems like there’s good balance on offense. I’m just watching the gamecast on ESPN.

  77. That was a bomb

    Stanton pimping that single wasn’t quite as good.

    Not a Yanks fan, just some neutral observations

  81. “Early days, but I don’t think we can underestimate how big continuity with the roster will be this year.”

    Agree, continuity will be a huge plus for this team vs the last several years. Same coach, same system, many of the same players. This is gonna be huge. That and healthy knees for Kemba (fingers crossed)

  83. so nice…no payton…that freaking albatross being gone combined with Kemba is like manna from heaven

  85. d-mar: Kemba/Fournier > Elf/Bullock?

    Definitely. But although i prefer Fournier for his offense, that’s not a knock on Reggie. Any pair without Elfrid was going to be better. LOL

  89. @wojespn
    Sources with @WindhorstESPN: The Brooklyn Nets remain unclear on All-Star guard Kyrie Irving’s ultimate intentions to get vaccinated and have made no decision on whether the organization will accommodate him as a part-time player this season. Story soon on ESPN.

  93. What happens to the Nets cap situation if Irving doesn’t play all year?

    Do they get a discount on their luxury tax if they don’t pay him?

  94. The Brooklyn Nets remain unclear on All-Star guard Kyrie Irving’s ultimate intentions to get vaccinated and have made no decision on whether the organization will accommodate him as a part-time player this season.

    Wow, what does that mean? If he won’t take the vaccine, there’s a chance they won’t play him at all? :O

  99. Owen:
    What happens to the Nets cap situation if Irving doesn’t play all year?

    Do they get a discount on their luxury tax if they don’t pay him?

    No they don’t. There was an article in Realgm discussing this

  110. Watching the Knicks with a competent point guard feels so foreign and I am not sure how to feel.

    So this is what it feels like, when doves cry?

  111. I know we all joke about it but it’s really fucking stupid for Thibs to play the starters so much in a preseason game

  114. I can’t imagine the proportion of the Kyrie drama if he was a Knick. On the Nets it’s been quite a peaceful drama.

  116. Talking about drama,
    the handsomely paid Gerrit Cole crapped the bed in the most important game of the season.

  118. the crazy thing is they could trade kyrie out of this problem but he supposedly threatened to retire (this wrt ben simmons trade rumor not covid related), so he might have them completely boxed in even if durant gives up on him

  125. The Simmons trade is still questionable since they would have to go trough potentially us and the Nets in the playoffs and Kyrie wouldnt be available for those games

  126. kevin5318:
    The Simmons trade is still questionable since they would have to go trough potentially us and the Nets in the playoffs and Kyrie wouldnt be available for those games

    Yes he would. Visiting unvaccinated players from outside NY have to test negative before the game but they can play if they pass the test

  132. This is insane. But whatever.

    Melton off to his usual tricks. I know it’s your beat PT but I am still on the Meltwagon.

    McBride!

  140. Watched snippets between innings of the Yankee game and had it on mute on a second monitor.
    If this is a glimpse, I’m getting excited.
    More after I watch the entire thing, but I saw a confident Obi, a much improved RJ and a real point guard starting for the the Knicks.

    Yeah baby.

  141. Baseball so slow was able to watch most of the Knicks game as the Yankees game is now just in the 5th. Cole with an awful, inexcusable performance and Yankee hitters making Eovaldi look like Max Scherzer or something. Still early and the Sox bullpen is not good but not the smooth sailing I was hoping for.

    Also there was a moment where the ESPN crew was questioning Alex Cora on what secrets could explain why Eovaldi is pitching so much better tonight and he quickly ended the interview. Never forget that guy is a fucking cheater.

  142. Can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a Knicks season, 1999-2000 maybe?

  143. Thibs playing starters with a big lead in the fourth? I see he is already in mid-season form lol

  144. The Knicks know how to play basketball the right way. It’s not a championship roster, but if we stay healthy, we can play with anyone.

  147. It’s amazing that the Knicks are currently by far the best coached team in NY and the Yankees might well be the poorest coached team.

  150. Have to pump the brakes but that was a very good first preseason game at least, and it’s better to be good than to be bad.

  151. The pundits pre-season predictions suggest we are the sixth best team in the Eastern conference or something like that. Ric Carlisle looked like he was wondering what he has gotten into moving to Eastern conference, which was supposedly the easier conference

  154. BigBlueAL:
    It’s amazing that the Knicks are currently by far the best coached team in NY and the Yankees might well be the poorest coached team.

    Boone must go.
    Jasson Dominguez needs to be in CF.
    Sanchez must go.
    The Yanks need a healthy, lefty power hitter at 1B and speed up the middle.
    They need another ace.
    They need to abandon some of the StatCast driven decision-making.

  155. The Knicks look to be in mid-season form. They come in a cohesive team. Last year they were 20-20 after 40 games. They went 21-11 the rest of the way. Continuity matters. The 2nd unit (Rose, IQ, Burks, Obi & Noel) could start for a playoff team. They are deep.

  156. Z-man:
    Sims moves like the Gorn in the original Star Trek…

    :-) Good one -I’m old enough to think that is pretty funny

  157. Knox update: He’s still bad.

    I almost feel bad for the guy that he can’t even get any burn in a preseason game. But then I remember that he is who he is and don’t feel bad for him anymore.

  158. Fun preseason game,
    this team scares me, it’s a hope-inducing dream and I really need to keep myself steady and my expectations in check.

    We are absurdely deep, the offense flows in a way we’re not used to watch.

    The new backcourt is as good as advertised, Randle and RJ are still Randle & RJ, Obi oozes confidence, IQ’s PG skills are improving, Taj’s the usual professional and the second unit is a force.

    We’re going to concede more on defense, but I’m eager to watch how it works with Mitch and Noel available.

    Only one dissonating thing: am I the only one astonished that our best player played 30 minutes in the first preseason game (and a blowout too)? Go read the other games boxscore, between DNP-CD and low minutes, and please tell me this isn’t a little maniacal.

  159. Didn’t Thibs say something to the effect that a different starter would sit out each preseason game and it was Noel sitting out for this one? That would suggest Randle would get rested one preseason game

  161. Hubert:
    something is very rotten in the Bronx, and has been for quite some time.

    As a lifelong Mets fan and Yanks hater, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for a team with 27 championships. But objectively, it seems that they are a team of giant free swingers and live and die by the HR. In their run in the ’90s, they had a balanced lineup with several guys that could scratch out situational hits against tough pitchers on the top or their games. They go for the big splash for sluggers rather than constructing a cohesive, scrappy team. Maybe I’m overgeneralizing on that, but honestly, I don’t follow baseball like I used to and couldn’t name the starting lineup on any team beyond the Mets, and maybe the Yanks now that I’ve seen them a few times recently.

  162. Last night was refreshingly clear of red flags and warning signs outside of Thibs playing the starters so many minutes. Clyde looked fly. So far so good.

  163. That’s definitely one of the biggest problems, Z-Man. Their lineup last night had 3 guys below the Mendoza line and another at .222. I love OPS as much as the next guy but FFS get some guys who can hit a baseball.

  164. Fun Knicks game last night – unfortunately I missed much of it watching that disgrace of a performance by the $38 million dollar man Gerrit Cole…

    One thing that bears thinking about — Stanton went 3-4 last night, and easily all 3 hits would have been out of pretty much any park that isn’t Fenway Park. Really could’ve been a totally different game. I didn’t see the last one but the first two were absolute missiles. We could be talking about Stanton putting up one of the all-time big game performances and instead I’m talking about the Knicks preseason win.

    Re: the Knicks – I am not a bettor but I am really thinking about putting some $ on the over for this team. Yes we need to take injury risk into account, but I just don’t understand how Vegas thinks this team will actually be worse than last year. Sure some of the other teams are better, but didn’t we have something like a 27-9 record in games that Rose played in last year? And that was WITH Elfrid Payton dragging us down like an anvil? And missing our starting center for 1/2 the year (I guess he might miss time this year too). And now we add Kemba Walker (who looked quite spry last night) and Fournier?

    I just don’t get it. Even if we added Replacement Level PG and brought back the same team minus Payton I would still bet the over. Instead we added Kemba Walker and a much more dynamic offensive player in Fournier.

  165. Frank, I think a lot of analysts and bettors are looking at last year’s team as a case of a bunch of guys having career years that they will not duplicate. Whereas many of us are looking at Kemba and Fournier as cures to a lot of what ailed last year’s incredibly stagnant, Randle-heroball-reliant offense, and also recognizing that we have a bunch of young players capable of improvement.

    We’ll see who was right, and obviously health is a huge factor. But all of last night’s highlights made me very pleased. Especially after that punctured balloon of a Yankee game.

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