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Knicks Morning News (2022.09.27)

  • NBA Rumors: This Cavs-Knicks Trade Features Kevin Love – NBA Analysis Network
    [nbaanalysis.net] — Tuesday, September 27, 2022 3:05:05 AM

    NBA Rumors: This Cavs-Knicks Trade Features Kevin Love  NBA Analysis Network

  • Knicks’ Jalen Brunson found NBA free agency experience ‘kind of awful’ – New York Post
    [nypost.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 11:19:00 PM

    Knicks’ Jalen Brunson found NBA free agency experience ‘kind of awful’  New York Post

  • Julius Randle: ‘I feel great about our team … just ready to get the ball rolling’ | Knicks News Conference – Yahoo Sports
    [sports.yahoo.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 11:00:00 PM

    Julius Randle: ‘I feel great about our team … just ready to get the ball rolling’ | Knicks News Conference  Yahoo Sports

  • Luka Doncic on short rest as Mavericks seek another deep run – NBA.com
    [www.nba.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 8:27:10 PM

    Luka Doncic on short rest as Mavericks seek another deep run  NBA.com

  • Slimmed-down Derrick Rose answered Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks challenge – New York Post
    [nypost.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 4:32:00 PM

    Slimmed-down Derrick Rose answered Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks challenge  New York Post

  • RJ Barrett’s Viral Quote At Knicks’ Media Day – Sports Illustrated
    [www.si.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 4:14:43 PM

    RJ Barrett’s Viral Quote At Knicks’ Media Day  Sports Illustrated

  • Is Russell Westbrook the Missing Piece to Knicks-Jazz Donovan Mitchell Trade? – Bleacher Report
    [bleacherreport.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 3:55:28 PM

    Is Russell Westbrook the Missing Piece to Knicks-Jazz Donovan Mitchell Trade?  Bleacher Report

  • Kings add former Knicks, Timberwolves general manager Scott Layden to scouting department – Sacramento Bee
    [www.sacbee.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 2:04:00 PM

    Kings add former Knicks, Timberwolves general manager Scott Layden to scouting department  Sacramento Bee

  • 2022 NBA Training Camp Observations: Hawks, Hornets, Knicks, Wizards, Pistons, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Lakers – TalkBasket.net
    [www.talkbasket.net] — Monday, September 26, 2022 1:50:31 PM

    2022 NBA Training Camp Observations: Hawks, Hornets, Knicks, Wizards, Pistons, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Lakers  TalkBasket.net

  • Report from Knicks Content Day 2022 – Posting and Toasting
    [www.postingandtoasting.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 1:38:02 PM

    Report from Knicks Content Day 2022  Posting and ToastingKnicks looking to build with newly signed Brunson, Barrett  Daily Independent3 burning questions for Knicks entering 2022-23 NBA training camp  ClutchPointsDunc’d On: New York Knicks 2022-23 Season Outlook with Fred Katz and Jared Dubin; Cleveland Cavaliers 2022-23 Season Outlook with Chris Fedor  RealGM.comMitchell Robinson talks ‘crazy’ free-agent experience before returning to Knicks: ‘It was like being re-drafted again’ | Knicks News Conference  Yahoo SportsView Full Coverage on Google News

  • Knicks move for Nikola Vucevic and want more signings – Marca
    [www.marca.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 1:18:14 PM

    Knicks move for Nikola Vucevic and want more signings  Marca

  • NBA Insider Reveals Expected Kemba Walker Update – The Cold Wire
    [www.thecoldwire.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 12:09:05 PM

    NBA Insider Reveals Expected Kemba Walker Update  The Cold Wire

  • RJ Barrett’s comment at Media Day will make Knicks fans want to run through wall – Daily Knicks
    [dailyknicks.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 11:42:00 AM

    RJ Barrett’s comment at Media Day will make Knicks fans want to run through wall  Daily Knicks

  • Harry Styles Has as Many Banners as the Knicks in Madison Square Garden This Century – The Big Lead
    [www.thebiglead.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 10:53:45 AM

    Harry Styles Has as Many Banners as the Knicks in Madison Square Garden This Century  The Big Lead

  • A Partnership With Purpose: Knicks Legend Allan Houston’s Brand, FISLL, Partners With Howard University – The Hilltop Online
    [thehilltoponline.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 10:36:48 AM

    A Partnership With Purpose: Knicks Legend Allan Houston’s Brand, FISLL, Partners With Howard University  The Hilltop Online

  • Nas Wears Trae Young Jersey – Sports Illustrated
    [www.si.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 10:34:30 AM

    Nas Wears Trae Young Jersey  Sports Illustrated

  • 4 reasons why Knicks should consider a trade for Suns’ Jae Crowder – Daily Knicks
    [dailyknicks.com] — Monday, September 26, 2022 8:00:00 AM

    4 reasons why Knicks should consider a trade for Suns’ Jae Crowder  Daily Knicks

  • 87 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2022.09.27)”

    Any way to post that interview with Mitch, Z-man, or maybe even a snippet of it? I’m interested to see how (if?) our man in the middle has matured since he got into the league.

    He looks to be more mature, you can still see the young kid on his expressions and how he tries to be funny all the time, but he gave thoughtful and encouraging answers.
    “I don’t feel like i proved myself yet. I still got a lot to do, and i have a lot still going on. I feel like they just showed me some loyalty, with that i gotta actually come out here and play to a level that is the reason why they pay me.”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZx2oV6qOKw

    Training Camp Roster:
    #1 – Obi
    #2 – Deuce
    #3 – Keels* (prev. Noel)
    #4 – Rose
    #5 – Quick
    #6 – Grimes
    #8 – Cam (prev. Kemba, Cam was #21 last season)
    #9 – RJ
    #11 – Brunson (prev. Selden)
    #13 – Fournier
    #23 – Mitch
    #30 – Randle
    #35 – Cyber
    #45 – Sims
    #44 – Hunt*
    #55 – Hart

    (non guaranteed fighting for a spot)
    #17 – Svi
    #51 – Arch
    #?? – DaQuan
    #?? – Jalen Harris (was suspended 1-year for violating the anti-drug policy)

    I’ll join the chorus of posters happy for Z-Man’s daughter’s MRI outcome. Mitch is one of the many variables, whose performance will greatly impact the team’s outcome. If he develops some low-post footwork, even a jumper from 15 feet, it could open things up. I wonder what he worked on over the summer and what was his focus besides FT shooting. If he does not improve on that, he’s off the floor at the end of close games

    Re-posted from previous thread in hope for comments re: a Twin Towers line-up.

    Any way to post that interview with Mitch, Z-man, or maybe even a snippet of it? I’m interested to see how (if?) our man in the middle has matured since he got into the league.

    My feelings on Mitch: I don’t want him to go anywhere. I don’t know how much of it is the “homegrown” aspect, or just the fact that (at least up to this point) his personality is relatively lovable, but I want him here. I do have a niggling feeling that IHart is going to earn the starting spot over him, but that doesn’t mean that Thibs will make that change.

    Is there any way we could play a “Twin Towers” lineup (Mitch at true C and IHart at PF), a la Olajuwon and Sampson? Yes, I know that it goes against what the NBA is right now, but sometimes really good things happen if you zig when everyone else zags. Damn, that would be cool to see, but if there is a 25 percent chance of seeing IHart in the starting lineup at any point this season (barring injury), there is probably a 2 percent chance of seeing a Twin Towers lineup for more than 0 minutes.

    A twin towers lineup would be fun, but I don’t think Hart is fit to play the 4, unless he can drastically up his 3 point volume. Most of his offensive game comes from interior passing, dunks, and close-range floaters in the lane. A lot of the pluses of his offensive game get negated if you park him out at the three point line, and preserving his pluses on the offensive end (by, say, putting him in the pinch post and Mitch in the Carlos Boozer role a la vintage Thibs) is probably offset by the spacing issues it causes.

    On defense, I really think he won’t be able to stay in front of the more mobile PFs. He’s a good defender–active hands and good positioning/timing–but doesn’t have great footspeed (reminds me of Jokic defensively in various ways, though surely less slow-footed than Joker.) Again, a lot of his defensive pluses get neutralized at the four, I think (he’s not an explosive weak side shot blocker, for example.)

    It would be cool to see, but I just don’t think it works unless Hart has some kind of inside-outside game to unlock, and he’s more just a plus-passing rim-runner with some finesse and (at this point) a floor-spacer in name-only.

    It will be interesting to see what Thibs does against other “Twin Towers” lineups as they exist in today’s NBA. The three that I can think of are MIL (Giannis and Lopez) CLE (Allen and Mobley) and MIN (KAT and Gobert.)

    One move that Mitch showed last year is a one-dribble straight line drive to the basket. He has pretty good hands and body control and even a rudimentary 12-15 footer could open up that move. But his shooting form is just so broken, not sure he can even manage that.

    The only Twin Towers I could think of was those guys in Cleveland. I had forgotten about the one in Milwaukee because Lopez missed a bunch of games last year, and we have yet to see the new one in Minnesota. Notice that all three of these teams are (currently) considered to be better than average? Maybe Twin Towers can become a thing again.

    The difference in those Twin Towers lineups is that they all involve all-star to all-NBA level players. We have two guys who would both be behind every one of the six players in those configurations. So by “playing their game” you sort of set yourself up to be dominated on paper.

    The one major advantage is that both Mitch and Hart are very mobile, strong, and long defenders and are above average rebounders. You might neutralize the size advantage just enough to make it less lopsided. This would be especially true if Randle is in good enough shape to play the 3 in a big lineup.

    And that gets to one of our “strengths” as a roster. A more creative coach (sigh!) could throw lots of different lineup configurations out there without much of a dropoff (or, sadly, upgrade) in overall talent on the floor.

    The one thing we are lacking is a big 6’5″ish PG to counteract bigger, stronger, taller guys like Jrue, Smart, Hali, LaMelo, etc. Frankly (npi) the best “big” PG option we have is IQ, and he’s a wiry 6’3″. He said he spent lots of time in the weight room, so we’ll see how that works out.

    I hear Elfrid Payton is available for the right price (ducks…)

    I ‘m looking forward to the first preseason game where RJ goes 3-6 from the FT line, goes 0-4 from the 3 point line, and gets his shot blocked twice or Randle drives into the lane and turns the ball over 5 times. The Knicks fan meltdown after one bad game will be fun.

    I also love Jericho. Thibs needs to play IHart for 35 minutes per game, 23 of them beside Mitch and 12 of them next to Sims.

    I’d love to see it. But then again, I’d love to win the lottery and buy myself DDB Island replete with exotic island women, too. Neither one of them is going to happen.

    So Cybersoze, what made you pick #35?

    Hahaha, now i feel like i’m on media day and i’m a player and you’re Ian Begley. 😉
    Probably you asked just for fun, but the answer is that when i started playing football (the one you call soccer in the US) regularly with a group of college friends, during the 90s, at some point we got addicted to it and made jerseys for all players. At that time our football used low numbers, so i asked for #3, was drawn to it because of my favorite Knicks player (Ewing), and they said “taken”, then i asked for #5 and got the same answer, at that point i was fed up, decided to use the 2 numbers together and so i said “what about 35?”. Number 33 would’ve made a lot more sense to properly honor Ewing, but since then i’m #35 everywhere.

    DDB, not trying to take away the fun to dream about a twin tower frontcourt, but you know what player would play even less minutes if we were to try this, right? In my case, i wouldn’t like to see Obi play even less, so that’s why i wouldn’t support this idea.

    Me too. I think they might have the plan, at least i hope so, to trade Randle until the trade deadline. So until then, i guess Mitch plays around 30 mins and Hart around 18 mins. He has to make use of his minutes and show he can do more. After the deadline if we replace Randle with a low usage PF, we can experiment with Obi, new PF, Mitch and Hart. Even Sims. With Randle here playing heavy minutes, there’s not much room to experiment.

    This team will only go as far as it’s shooting. Randle will have to space the floor; Brunson will have to take more threes than he’s used to; even RJ will need to make his open threes.
    The defense will be there, but they will have to be top half of the league in fg% to make the playoffs.

    Hey, we’ll have Obi and Hart lineups for sure. It’s our 2nd unit. 😉
    Starters: Brunson, Grimes/Fournier, RJ, Randle, Mitch;
    2nd unit: Quick, DRose, Grimes/Fournier, Obi, Hart;

    A twin towers lineup would be fun, but I don’t think Hart is fit to play the 4, unless he can drastically up his 3 point volume.

    I’d bet we’re going to see more iHart & Mitch than Obi & Julius.

    IHart *might* be able to shoot.

    The only Twin Towers I could think of was those guys in Cleveland. I had forgotten about the one in Milwaukee because Lopez missed a bunch of games last year, and we have yet to see the new one in Minnesota. Notice that all three of these teams are (currently) considered to be better than average? Maybe Twin Towers can become a thing again.

    Kevin Durant & Ben Simmons at 7′ & 6’11”

    I don’t expect the Knicks to be a good three-point shooting team, but since they are probably going to score in the paint a lot and should be a good offensive rebounding team, I think that their points per possession differentials can be reasonably good. Their likely top 10 defense will also mitigate some of their 3pt shooting shooting issues.

    I don’t think of Simmons and KD being a twin towers alignment, they both have guard, small forward skills and just happened to be tall.

    As to Randle being traded, I wonder how much of the trade chatter referred to by Begley et. al. is just typical feel out the market due diligence stuff and how much is an actual desire to unceremoniously dump him for the betterment of the team going forward. I think it’s more of the former than the latter. I also would guess (and only guess) that some of the leaked trade chatter is on purpose as a way to motivate Randle to consider changing his approach and attitude. I remain convinced that RJ figuring so prominently in the leaked trade packages was partially about warning RJ that if he didn’t agree to a sub-max extension he would be banished to a rebuilding team in sunny Utah.

    Put differently, if there’s one advantage Leon has as a top-notch former agent, it’s knowing how management plays games to manipulate agents/players by subtly reminding them of where the leverage lies. If Julius feels that it’s best for him and his family to be here in NY, and he hears about these trade rumors, he’s probably going to consider doing whatever it takes to turn around the perception that he is a petulant, me-first player who won’t accept a diminished role for the betterment of the team.

    Also, I love Buffy (even if its creator sucks). But to say it ushered in the new golden age implies a level of influence that I don’t believe it had. At the time, it was an incredibly low-rated show on the fifth or sixth-place broadcast network. It received no awards love, and while it was covered by the media wildly out of proportion to its commercial success, it was not a show that people in the industry at the time seemed to know and/or care about. Sopranos, on the other hand, was a juggernaut, to the point where you had people like the CEO of NBC sending out memos saying, “We need to find our own Sopranos.”

    Of course this is all true. What I really meant to say was “I, personally, think Buffy was superior to the Sopranos, even though no one else does.”

    The Whedon stuff does suck hard. I respected him greatly before.

    Julius’ press conference yesterday, while convincing that he is coming into this season refreshed, with a positive mind-set, and has put last year behind him, was not very convincing that he will accept a lower usage role. On more than one occasion he mentioned that they will be playing at a very fast pace and that will sort out the spacing problems.

    Jumping on the golden age of tv debate.

    I think there is no doubt that Sopranos was the show that really kicked the whole golden age of television into gear. But there were a handful of shows in the late 90’s/early 2000’s that all seemingly upped the level of story character and development right around the same time.

    Sopranos, Buffy, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, etc.

    Fred Katz:

    Tom Thibodeau says Evan Fournier is the frontrunner to start at shooting guard.

    Sigh. Don’t ever change, Coach Caveman.

    Preacher had the best pilot/episode 1 I’ve ever seen…the rest of the show stayed pretty fun throughout…

    Legion was unlike anything else I have ever seen…that show was beautiful with its color use…

    I’m not sure where they might slot within the top 100, but, I’m thinking they could at least bump out Columbo and the Rockford Files 😛

    Someone yesterday hit on why I haven’t been able to like The Sopranos. Totally unlikeable characters. I need at least one in there somewhere. Still, like JK47 said, The Wire is a slow burn, so I’ll try TS again sometime.

    Babylon 5 was mentioned. That’s another show that you’ve got to go through a mediocre first season to see it blossom. IMHO, it has the 2nd and 3rd greatest alien characters in TV history (Spock is #1). But yeah, you have to stick around to see their incredible story arcs flourish in seasons 2-4.

    A could have been one of the greatest: Firefly. Terrific pilot, characters, etc. That show really got screwed over by Fox.

    Glad the NBA is finally firing up, but the Mets are my focus these days!

    I am hoping Thibs’ Fournier quote is just the banal lip service you give to people who have been starters so as not to get training camp controversies before things even begin.

    “Tom Thibodeau says Evan Fournier is the frontrunner to start at shooting guard.”

    In English that means Grrimes has to earn the spot in camp and pre season games as it should be. No gifts because you are younger, even if you are teacher’s pet.

    Personally I think the gap between Evan’s offense being better than Grimes’ offense is greater than the gap between Grimes’ D being better than Evan’s D.

    The reason I think this is because (caveat: mainly by the eye test) I am far less impressed with Grimes on D than many here. He is active and engaged and all that, but the notion that he’s some kind of point-of-attack stopper is not what I’m seeing out there. He gets burned by star guards and wings just like Fournier.

    I’d be all for giving Grimes the starting nod, but stepping back from the “play the kids” agenda it probably won’t make a positive difference and might actually be detrimental. Fournier is a very good NBA player, and he too was negatively affected by our lack of legit PG play, not to mention the poor shooting of Randle and RJ.

    The one thing that is definitely a concern is whether Thibs will change things if what he rolls out there is not generating wins. It was somewhat forgivable last year coming off a winning season, the kids being rookies and sophomores, and having the injuries they had.

    In a nutshell, I’m less concerned with who starts and more concerned with Thibs’ stubbornness if whoever starts isn’t working.

    And I also think it is only fair for fans to start this season with a clean slate for all. Even though there are technically only 2 new players (Brunson, and Hart) this is a very different situation than we went into last year with.

    Most importantly, Brunson and (healthy?) Rose are replacing Kemba, Burks and (injured?) Rose. By itself, that is a very significant change that will affect every lineup we put out there.

    Next, our C position is dramatically better. Mitch has had an entire healthy offseason after playing the best ball of his career in the second half of the season. Hart replaces a gimpy/unavailable Noel and spunky but old and undersized Taj.

    Third, There is so much uncertainty about who our rotation-level players really are, both individually and in the context of various 5-man units. Who’s the real RJ? Who’s the real Julius? The real Grimes? The real IQ? The real Obi? The real Cam?

    So Thibs is probably thinking about these things and will sort things out over the next few weeks. We will probably not like all of his initial inclinations. But then it will come down to how the team performs. I’m going to withhold judgment until at least after the first couple of preseason games when I have at least some real eye-test data.

    The reason I think this is because (caveat: mainly by the eye test) I am far less impressed with Grimes on D than many here. He is active and engaged and all that, but the notion that he’s some kind of point-of-attack stopper is not what I’m seeing out there. He gets burned by star guards and wings just like Fournier.

    definitely agree with this. not sure what the numbers say so far though…

    evian’s making 18 million this year…play him with a coherent offensive plan and he’ll be a big plus for our offense…

    Not even going to comment on Fournier. And giving new opportunities to what has failed before shouldn’t be the way to go.

    I don’t have a problem with Fournier over Grimes. A lot of people have gotten a little ahead of themselves with Grimes I think and made the leap from thinking he has a chance to be a really nice 3&D role player (100% true) to believing he’s already that player and everything beyond that is upside. He’s a 2nd year player who didn’t play that much last year and wasn’t that productive overall when he did play. He showed enough in some key areas to think he’s going to become a good player and clearly the organization believes in him, but he hasn’t done enough to come into camp as the frontrunner to start in my opinion. If he’s not getting significant minutes this year that would definitely be something to worry about but Fournier as the starter I don’t see as an issue.

    cyber, just a small caveat that everything I said is with the caveat that Thibs goal will be to win as many games as possible, wrongheaded as that may be.

    But “what has failed before” is not a fair critique, imho. Fournier as a starter can’t be viewed as a fail because he never started with both a healthy Mitch and a decent PG on this team. Again, that’s what preseason is for…and it should be apparent pretty soon whether it’s a good decision or bad one.

    re: Grimes, I didn’t see a whole lot in Summer League to change the perception of where he is right now. Not that anything in Summer League matters much anyway.

    It’s only the first day of camp and nothing that is said should be taken too seriously.

    FWIW, my initial read on the Thibs quote is the same as Bernie’s: coachspeak to not create a controversy before the guys are practicing. This way, if Grimes falls flat on his face in training camp, Thibs doesn’t have to backtrack and also mend fences with Fournier. And if Grimes is just balling out, it becomes much easier into talking Evan (who doesn’t seem like a big ego guy to begin with) into some kind of supersub role.

    But with Thibs, you never can tell for sure.

    I don’t think Grimes is where he needs to be, my problem is with Fournier’s defense, which i think is a disaster. He has steals going for him, which is good of course, but that masks his atrocious defense on advanced metrics and people think he’s average when he’s not. Grimes is average, but he only has 1 year of experience, he has potential to be more than that and we should try it. Brunson can hold his own, but he isn’t a plus defender, he should be paired with a good defender. Between Fournier and Grimes, it’s Grimes you have to take for the job. I fear Brunson will look worse on defense because of Fournier. But hey, let’s hope Thibs is right about this.

    Alan, with you 100% on that take.

    “But “what has failed before” is not a fair critique, imho. Fournier as a starter can’t be viewed as a fail because he never started with both a healthy Mitch and a decent PG on this team.”

    While this is true on one side of the ball, and I actually believe Fournier is going to be a very serious plus on offense with Brunson orchestrating, it’s the turnstile D that will always be the problem.

    I tend to agree that Grimes probably isn’t a world-stopper yet, but his constant effort is a lot more pleasant to watch than Evan’s “ooooooh noooooooooo…” expression as he turns to watch his guy blowing past him to the basket.

    Or what Cyber said ; )

    it becomes much easier into talking Evan (who doesn’t seem like a big ego guy to begin with) into some kind of supersub role

    This is another reason to not start Fournier, i think he can have an impact like JR Smith had on 2012-13, if he comes from the bench. Probably his defense will look way better on the 2nd unit because he’ll be playing against guys that are not elite offensive players. And then his offense will be great. He has 6MOTY potential, imo.

    Based on what I am hearing about the first day of practice we should blow it up, fire Thibs and Rose, tank the season, and get a development coach. One day is enough to show me we are on the right path. 🙂

    Yeah I think it’s easier to say you’re going to start Fournier because he started last year and then if Grimes shows out, you make the change, than to give the second year player the edge on starting and have to backtrack if he’s not ready.

    But I do think eventually for defense we want Grimes to start if he can shoot similar numbers from 3 as Fournier.

    Put it this way. Brunson + Fournier is better on defense than Kemba + Fournier but Brunson + Grimes on defense is WAY better than Kemba + Fournier and we should be shooting for way better because that back court to start the season was UGLY on defense.

    Any fans of the Shield in here? I finished the first two seasons and its ok but not living up to the hype going in. I heard the latter seasons are the best.

    Fournier gives it a go on defense but really he’s just too slow and unathletic to play well in the NBA on that end of the floor. I do like that Brunson and Fournier are both high eFG% players, and you do need Fournier’s floor spacing but I’m looking at this starting lineup and it’s kind of tough to see how it’s going to be good defensively.

    You need athletic, switchable players on the wing these days if you hope to play good defense and neither Brunson nor Fournier are that type of player.

    okay, who is the fastest knick in the starting unit?

    definitely not evian, brunson looks pretty slow-footed, RJ lumbers along…

    mitch is deceptively fast and has good lateral movement…i’d say julius is the fastest player in the starting unit end to end…

    i’d rather see quik start over either grimes or evian…

    I watched all of The Shield for the first time about 2 years ago. Just stick with it. It is ok the first two seasons but then it gets great starting season three. By the end, I got all the hype.

    JK I mostly agree but not entirely. Fournier is a very good offensive player, and it’s an offense-oriented league. The dude made 241 3-pointers last year at a 39% clip. That is elite, 4th in the NBA. Of the 11 guys with 600 or more attempts, Fournier had the highest 3pt%…higher than Steph, Hield, Spida, Tatum, FVV, Beasley, Duncan R, Trae, Saddiq…and higher than nearly every other volume 3pt shooter in the league. His eFG% was actually 20 points lower than it was in his to previous years due to his 2pt%, which has often been over .500 but was only .465 last year. He can definitely attack the paint well enough, and there’s reason to believe that it was depressed a bit by the team’s overall spacing and ball-movement issues last year.

    Grimes certainly has the potential to be equally elite, but he is not there yet. He can certainly show that he is there in due time, starting in preseason and then in a bench role. Fournier can be pretty uncanny with how little space he needs and how quick he gets his shot off. Pressure doesn’t seem to affect him. FWIW he’s also taller than Grimes and a better ball handler and passer (Grimes still doesn’t look great going left and tends to put the ball back into his right hand.)

    I can’t imagine that having an elite 3pt shooter out there with Randle, RJ, Brunson and Mitch is a bad thing to try. Thibs is a scheme-oriented defensive coach, so the dropoff on D between him and Grimes might not be as much as a factor.

    i’d say julius is the fastest player in the starting unit end to end…

    Maybe if he played less minutes, he could put that quickness to use. It’s hard to sprint all the time playing 38+ mins a game. I totally disagree with Thibs about the heavy playing time the starters get.

    For all you Hart lovers.

    @sny_knicks:
    Isaiah Hartenstein agrees that Joakim Noah is a good comparison for his game, with one caveat: He is a better shooter 😂
    Hartenstein adds: “I don’t think there’s a lot of players in the league that consistently will play with the same passion and energy as I do”

    is deceptively fast and has good lateral movement…i’d say julius is the fastest player in the starting unit end to end…

    it’s brunson. he was much faster at the combine 3/4 sprint and randle has def slowed more since.

    ptmilo, respectfully:

    A: I’m not sure that combine measurements for sprinting are all that reliable. Randle was a one-and-done who was a guaranteed top-10 pick (9.40% body fat at combine) and Brunson was a 4-year college player on the outside looking in, one of the reasons being lack of elite athleticism. Maybe Brunson tried a bit harder? There was this report about Julius from the combine: “There was a scary moment when Randle tweaked his ankle during that drill, per Tyler Thompson of Kentucky Sports Radio, but it didn’t appear to negatively impact Randle…” Did he sprint before or after tweaking his ankle?

    B: Is there evidence that Randle has slowed down in an end-to-end sprint at age 27? I mean it’s possible, maybe even likely, but if he is in top shape and hasn’t had any “slow a guy down” injuries, it seems possible that he could be just as fast or even faster than he was earlier, especially if he didn’t take conditioning as seriously as he is now.

    In any case, I’d be hesitant to bet on Brunson in a footrace, but if he is actually faster than Randle that’s a great thing!

    Is there evidence that Randle has slowed down in an end-to-end sprint at age 27?

    it just seems obvious to me watching him

    I think starting Grimes over Fournier should be less of a “merits” based decision and more of a recognition that our starting lineup has too many mouths to feed from a usage perspective. Fournier already got the short end of the stick last year, and that was before we added Brunson.

    On the merits Fournier’s usage should’ve been higher. He had his lowest USG% in 5 seasons despite being more efficient than almost everyone else in the starting lineup. His TS% dropped off due to a 2PT% decline but he was still miles ahead of RJ and Randle. We probably would’ve been a little better if RJ and Randle ceded some shots to Fournier, sorry if this offends.

    It doesn’t make a lot of sense for him to continue to play mostly alongside them if we’re committed to making sure their usage is higher than his for annoying political reasons, and the addition of Brunson just makes the point more salient.

    Hopefully in a 6th man role he can bring his usage back up a bit, and maybe his efficiency will actually improve given he’ll be back in a role to which he’s more accustomed.

    Any fans of the Shield in here? I finished the first two seasons and its ok but not living up to the hype going in. I heard the latter seasons are the best.

    I was a big fan. The first few seasons are a pretty strong police procedural and then it really picks up steam as a series around season 4. I think it might have the best series finale I’ve ever seen though both Mad Men and Better Call Saul could give it a good run for its money.

    In any case, I’d be hesitant to bet on Brunson in a footrace

    oh my goodness z-man – it’s as if we’ve mind melded lately 🙂

    yeah, i haven’t watched a ton of brunson playing, but i’d be hesitant to put money on brunson versus anyone not named evian, keels or RJ on the team (excluding our centers)…

    cam seems like he could be potentially quick…i’m gonna start the year clean with everyone, cam included…wish him the best…

    It doesn’t have the clearest connection with sprint speed, but Randle’s numbers finishing at the rim have fallen off a cliff so it’s not crazy to think there’s been some physical decline.

    A good indication of a starting unit are the salaries of the players.
    18M Fournier can’t be replaced by RookieContract 2M Grimes just like that.
    There’s gotta be a strong reason for this to happen.
    There’s basketball and There’s also business.
    It’s Not Rucker Park. Money is earned for a reason and rotations ain’t just synergy combinations but also economic equations.

    Yes, TNFH, our two highest usage players last year were also our worst players according to many advanced metrics, so what? They have “grit,” and that is what REALLY matters.

    TNFHsays:
    September 27, 2022 at 17:15
    It doesn’t have the clearest connection with sprint speed, but Randle’s numbers finishing at the rim have fallen off a cliff so it’s not crazy to think there’s been some physical decline.”

    There are lots of possible reasons for that, including spacing. It was touched on in the Dunk’d On poscast. I’ll guess we’ll see this year.

    let’s hope then that last season is as bad as it gets for leon’s knicks…

    It’s the Knicks and they’re still owned by Dolan, there’s no reason to believe last season is as bad as it can get.

    “We probably would’ve been a little better if RJ and Randle ceded some shots to Fournier, sorry if this offends.”

    It’s a spot-on point, not sure who it would offend.

    “His TS% dropped off due to a 2PT% decline…

    Was this also due to some physical decline…or was there maybe a spacing issue that affected everyone?

    they’re still owned by Dolan

    i’ll 100% concede that those impromptu jam sessions on team flights with jimmy d could’ve potentially got a little weird…who knows though, maybe some of those young guys thought it was cool…

    jimmy d doesn’t set the roster, coach the team, or play out on the court…

    Hartenstein adds: “I don’t think there’s a lot of players in the league that consistently will play with the same passion and energy as I do”

    Cyber, Thank you. – I Think I’m in LOVE.

    Watching the Mets slowly, inevitably lose the division they led all year because they can’t beat scrub teams is lots of fun

    Wouldn’t surprise me to see Grimes get the nominal start with Fournier playing the majority of minutes

    The Braves are just the better team. They take care of business and stomp on the shitty teams day in, day out.

    I try to avoid participating in WFAN adjacent pile one, but the Giancarlo Stanton Yankee tenure has been really underwhelming.

    “Full time DH who is a good not great hitter” wasn’t exactly the plan.

    “JK47 says:
    September 27, 2022 at 20:49
    Watching the Mets slowly, inevitably lose the division they led all year because they can’t beat scrub teams is lots of fun.”

    To be fair, the division has been neck and neck for a long time and the expectation was that it would come down to this 3-game series. The Braves might end up winning the division and might even be the better team, but I like our chances. In any case, it’s hard to get too upset at a team that will likely win 100+ games just because they are in the same division with the defending champs.

    The Braves have been insanely great since digging themselves a hole early on. They’re playing like .720 ball or something over the past four months and are probably the best team in baseball. They just never lose.

    I try to avoid participating in WFAN adjacent pile one, but the Giancarlo Stanton Yankee tenure has been really underwhelming.

    “Full time DH who is a good not great hitter” wasn’t exactly the plan.

    And yet it’s exactly what many people suspected he would be, which is why Florida couldn’t get a bidding war going for his onerous contract.

    Jeter took so much heat for that trade. And literally 6 months later the Stanton contract became an untradeable albatross. That was a great move by the Marlins, and I don’t recall the media admitting they were very, very wrong.

    It’s way past time Cashman gets kicked to the curb. I respect what he’s done but enough already. One World Series win in 22 years is, I believe, the worst run in franchise history. And let’s not forget that he wanted to get rid of ARod before that 2009 chip but Hank Steinbrenner overruled him. It would have been 0 titles in 22 years if he had his way.

    His 20 year record on pitchers is awful., Like, maybe the worst in MLB. He traded for another small market bum this year while trading away a guy (Montgomery) who could have been a game 2 starter.

    And even if you want to give him a pass on *all* of that, his botching of the Judge extension this summer is a fireable offense on its own. Now we’re either going to lose him for nothing or sign him to a contract that ages as poorly as Stanton’s.

    Thank you for your service but it’s time to move on.

    Having played on some pretty competitive softball and USTA tennis teams over the years that went to state and sectional tournaments, I can tell you that losing out to a team that makes a big comeback on you can be pretty tough to swallow. If the Mets lose the division in Atlanta, it’ll really test their mettle in the wild card playoff series that follows.

    Still, deGrom, Scherzer and Bassitt in a 3 game series, be it in Atlanta or in the wildcard round, could right things in a hurry. I’m actually kind of glad that deGrom got roughed up his last start….he was overdue for an off game, and maybe it is “out of his system” now for awhile.

    Any team who wants to beat the Mets has to go through DeGrom and Scherzer. I still like our chances to win the World Series.

    Fournier does not create for himself off the dribble well enough to just say “up his usage”. His usage and 2p% were down last year for that very reason. We didn’t have a PG getting him good looks and he was trying to create for himself which in turn lowered his efficiency.

    That should improve this year. If it doesn’t we have more problems than we know right now.

    The real question is, and I’ve raised it several times already, do we know how good a shooter Grimes actually is? He shot well from 3, but that’s on a small sample as an unknown player with no one on earth game planning for him. There’s no question he’s a better fit as the superior defender, but we also need the spacing. We don’t know if he can provide what Fournier can. I’m pretty sure that’s the question Thibs is asking himself also, though he should have a better idea than we do because he sees Grimes shooting in scrimmage all the time too.

    I think you can just trust Thibs on this. He knows we have two needs at SG. It would be ideal if Grimes could provide both, but he knows Grimes better than we do and loves him. If Grimes gives us the best chance to win, he’ll get the job.

    I never understood the Giancarlo deal. He had one phenomenal year with no other year being close to that level. He was never going to live up to that contract.

    Opponents can’t gameplan Grimes’s defense. Fournier’s defense is the opponent’s gameplan.

    I literally can’t believe we got a player of Hartenstein’s ability for $8M AAV. He’s going to have a HUGE impact.

    Okay, I’ll go out on a limb. Hart is going to be a core piece in our teams to come. There, I said it.

    Deandre Ayton is looking cranky in Phoenix. Mitch+Cam are a money match once the trade restrictions lift 1/15

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