Comments on: Knicks Preseason Thread: Knicks vs Pacers, Again

By: GoNYGoNYGo

GoNYGoNYGo — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 22:17:05 +0000

I watched the game today so I’m posting late. After looking through the posts, I see many of us share similar thoughts.

Randle looked good. He spends much of the time spreading the floor, working the left sideline. It’s clear he knows that he’s the 3rd option, at best, on those plays. It lets Brunson and RJ work the lane with Mitch in the post and Fournier on the other wing. When there were plays for him, he was unselfish and dished.

But this game was about the 2nd unit. Nobody on our second unit could stop Mathurin. That kid’s a 1st teamer.

Sitting Rose gave us a look at IQ and Deuce. Both disappointed. Deuce has a weak offensive game and IQ is hot-and-cold. We need him to hit those 3’s and he needs to play better defense.

Obi hasn’t shown me enough improvement. His 3pt shot still sucks. I didn’t see him set his feet on any of his 3 attempts…err….misses. His offensive game is mostly the highlight slam.

Cam’s +/1 was -22. Not good and not worth discussing. He’s holding a place for Grimes.

Hartenstein is a very different type of center than Mitch. He has range which means he is less frequently under the boards on offense. He snared 10 rebounds 3 OReb and 7 DReb. Mitch snared 8, 6 OReb and 2 DReb. See how it flips? I can see Mitch and Hart being on the floor at the same time.

By: KBA

KBA — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 11:46:54 +0000

@ Cyber — to me — Randle didn’t look particularly *crazy* last night, just out of his depth skill-wise when forced to lead. Brunson was basically bottled up, so the offense looked down the flowchart to Randle and RJ to make things happen. Randle made some familiar and confused moves as field general, but it never seemed like he was demanding that role (like in The Before Times) or that he was eager to fill it. As many have said here, Brunson’s effectiveness is going to determine how pretty our first team offense looks.

IQ had an awful game all around. I’m still buying long on him, but he needs to sort himself out.

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 10:35:46 +0000

Randle had a good first half but summoned some bad memories in the third quarter

Can someone elaborate on this? Was it only poor play, or was crazy Randle back?

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 10:33:47 +0000

Come on, a lot of players were playing very bad and people are trying to take away too much from a preseason game. Randle isn’t better than Obi because of one game. What matters is that Randle looks better and that should give us some options for the future. Trading him and keeping Obi, or the other way around. Definitely the former, please. Same for Quick, he is our 3rd option at PG, and it won’t be one game that determines he can’t do it.
@KFNINJ: I think Thibs plays the 2nd unit like a 2-PG lineup, with Quick and Rose alternating, and i think it’s the best way to keep developing Quick to be good at it.

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 10:23:53 +0000

It felt like a Sunday afternoon game. No one had any intensity.

And that’s why i opted to get some sleep instead of watching the 2nd half. Looks like i made a good bet.

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 10:22:18 +0000

not a doubt in my mind there is an incredible movie script inside this sports story:
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/34783425/prosecutor-fisherman-caught-cheating-tournament-charged

OMG, there’s cheating in fishing tournaments!? What could be next? Cheating in marble tournaments? 😛 😀

By: kjg

kjg — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 10:21:16 +0000

I watched the game for about 3 minutes late… quickly and deuce just running around with heads chopped off… the 5 on the floor were rotating and dribbling all over, just not anywhere near the basket, nor were they creating any space… preseason…

By: Knick fan not in NJ

Knick fan not in NJ — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 07:28:48 +0000

Deeefense, isn’t Quickley our third string point guard? I know he mostly plays shooting guard, but if our first two point guards are Brunson and Rose and one can’t play I think Thibs would play Quickley at point guard instead of Grimes or McBride.

By: deeefense

deeefense — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 04:32:22 +0000

I agree with pretty much everything Z-Man said in this thread.

Again, on some teams, maybe Obi could be a starter and add more value than a player like Randle, but not on this team with these players. He’s improving. So if you ask me again in a few months I may feel differently about it, but not based on what I see so far.

By: deeefense

deeefense — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 04:27:08 +0000

The starting unit looks way better this year than last year and I’m not overly worried about the bench despite the bad play. Rose was out tonight and Grimes will be an upgrade when he’s back. To be honest, my remaining concern, like last year, is 3rd string PG. Neither Grimes or Deuce is a PG and that unit does not have the kind of playmakers you need at other positions. You could see that unit struggling specifically because no one could organize and control the offense. Rose is inevitably going to miss games. I’d like to see us add a real PG.