I said it!
No Embid, no Harden, and after 12 minutes, no Mitch. And the Knicks-Sixers went down to the wire, 106-104 New York. Going into the 4th quarter, Toppin had just 4 points. And then Obi broke out with 13 points in the final frame, powered by 3 treys and a pair of dunks.
Toppin’s play wasn’t the only surprise. The Knicks started Grimes, and Reddish saw significant minutes. I’m not a Cam fan, but if New York is going to go down, they might as well give me something fun to watch. And seeing the kids run around is just [kisses fingers].
40 replies on “KnickerBlogger (un)Official Home of the Obi Toppin FanClub!”
i’ve always been one of his biggest supporters……
Me too, I’ve always said drafting Hali instead of Obi would have been malpractice
The huge defensive rebound and clutch FTs at the end saved Randle’s game.
Ok this was kind of the best live experience of the Knicks I could have hoped for, assuming Mitch is ok.
You know if Cam had another year on his rookie deal that trade would actually be defensible.
Thibs was definitely in game 7 mode. He had to be feeling the heat. Now just play Obi at the 3 a little and I can die a happy man!
One thing that jumped out live was that Rose, Brunson, Quickley, and Fournier were the only guys really making precise passes… like RJ, Julius, and Obi might pass to open man but they don’t really put it in the spot for the recipient to make a move or finish. So it’s nice to have Cam with those three since he can kind of roll with the weird placement and make something out of it 🤷🏾♂️
Despite the bummer of not getting a full Mitch game, it was fun finally seeing Obi Randle 👍🏾
In the postgame, Clyde doing a little stealth coaching of Obi while asking questions, ~ “In the past when you missed two in a row, you kinda went into a shell, but now you’re trusting your shot more and, see?, good things are happening.” Also ~ “Sometimes you start out a little too unselfish; you gotta look for your own shot if it’s there.”
BJ I knew you’d come through, not like that bum fraud Owen…
I would love to claim Partial responsibility for pj tucker and someone else missing free throws ha. They didn’t give our side thunder sticks but I was shrieking my heart out and waving my Jean jacket lol
Post game I did start a Phillies in 7 chant and fuck the astros chant in the bathroom before they were half heartedly like wait no fuck the Knicks lol
Knickerblogger has started a Go Fund Me to assure BJ is courtside at every Knicks/Sixers game.
and then I took it over into a New York Fucks chant lol
“cgreene says:
November 4, 2022 at 09:58
Hey, Z Man, I’m playing Hudson Hills tomorrow. Wanna join?”
Sorry just got this, thanks for the invite, just played Links at Union Vale, best accessable track in the NY area, and spectacular day to boot. I live like 5 minutes from Hudson Hills, but will be out of town tomorrow until I go into the city for the game!! Keep me in mind, tho, would definitely play!
As Frank will attest, I was rooting for us to lose in embarrassing fashion so Thibs could be shown the door. But we win with him being forced to do most of what we’ve been begging him to do, the Obi/Randle front court in particular. Will he learn from this, or will he go back to 48 minutes of rim protection once Mitch is back? You can’t usually teach an old dog new tricks, but what if that dog is coaching for his job?
“You know if Cam had another year on his rookie deal that trade would actually be defensible.”
Cam is arguably a better scorer than RJ right now and his size and length give him the potential to be a better defender. His problem is he doesn’t know the line between using his talent and overusing his talent. That causes some of the boneheaded plays that make you want to scream. But he’s young and way less experienced than the typical 4th year player. He’ll get better and hopefully expand what he can do. It looks like he’s finally determined to get better.
This is a long season. He has time to either earn a major role or turn himself into a solid asset by the deadline.
Love you Z and KBA, but the whole Kblog should roll through ha row 7 was $88 including fees. You couldn’t even see the Straight Shot for that at MSG
The Obi/Randle front court will work in small doses against a team without a C that will dominate us inside and on the boards. Tonight was a good time to try it with Embiid out and nothing else working. But our defensive rebounding has been an issue at times this year and that combo won’t be the one that corrects that particular problem.
The one nice thing about Randle center was that it was the only part of the game when he really seemed keyed in to the basketball and not taking the majority of offensive and defensive possessions jawing at the refs. Like I get that the squeaky wheel gets the grease but if it’s an away game and your squeaking is forcing the rest of the car into the barricade, maybe the WD40 ain’t worth the squeeze 🤷🏾♂️
I am so enjoying Team Elon being worse than the Knicks.
We have entered the Bargnani stage of the acquisition
I also am excited about what Obi Randle can do
On the one hand, the defense and rebounding will be putrid. But on offense, it might work!
We talked about it but not enough because no one thought Thibs would budge. His brand is strong. So is his desire to stay a coach apparently.
Bong bong
I think one reason we actually saw Obi and Randle together was that Sims did almost nothing in his five minutes of play.
I still think Obi MIGHT be able to handle some minutes at the 3. Him, Randle, and Mitch won’t defend, but they’ll rebound at least. And Obi is actually quick enough not to be FOC’d (Fournier Orange Cone’d).
I am starting to feel that Thibs’ job depends on playing Obi and Randle together and marginalizing Fournier…
And I’m starting to believe that DRose is having a problem of some kind…
Well at least we have reason to believe that there will be less gloom and doom here at KB for the next 21 hours or so….
Anyone still a KAT fan?
Prior to tonight DRose had a TS of .623, Ast % of 26.7, and a BPM of 3. They are limiting his minutes, but I think that is smart.
Yeah, this was pretty much a perfect storm. No Mitch, and an extreeeeeeeemely small Sixers team. And it still wouldn’t have worked if the Sixers weren’t dumber than even the Knicks. “Should we take it at the Knicks’ weak rim defenders or clank long jumper after long jumper? I know!”
At 6’9″ 220 with his outside shooting and sprinting up and down the floor, Obi is just not a big. If only there was another position they could try him at. Even with the small ball lineup tonight, he only played 20 minutes. Right now, he is looking like their best offensive player to me.
Z-man, what’s going on with KAT? I looked at the box score and his line looked fine.
Look at the Sixers’ shot chart in the fourth!
Furkan Korkmaz misses 28-foot three point shot
Furkan Korkmaz makes 27-foot three point jumper
Georges Niang misses 25-foot three point jumper
Shake Milton misses 9-foot pullup jump shot
Paul Reed makes driving layup
Georges Niang misses 25-foot three point jumper
De’Anthony Melton misses 29-foot three point pullup jump shot
De’Anthony Melton makes 24-foot three point shot
Tobias Harris misses 28-foot step back jumpshot
Furkan Korkmaz misses driving layup
Tyrese Maxey misses two point shot (mini-jumper, basically a layup)
Tyrese Maxey misses driving floating jump shot
Tyrese Maxey misses two point shot (mini-jumper, basically a layup)
De’Anthony Melton misses 27-foot three point pullup jump shot
Tyrese Maxey makes two point shot
Tyrese Maxey misses 29-foot step back jumpshot
De’Anthony Melton misses 27-foot three point jumper
Tyrese Maxey misses 23-foot pullup jump shot
Tobias Harris makes 15-foot two point shot
Tyrese Maxey misses 30-foot three point jumper
Georges Niang makes 27-foot three point jumper
De’Anthony Melton misses 28-foot three point jumper
Some free throws were mixed in there, but holy shit! How dumb were they?!?! With Julius freakin’ Randle as the rim protector!! Only Maxey actually tried, and he gave up after missing three shots near the rim, despite going to the rim being his whole game!
I thought Cam did a nice job defending Maxey at the point of attack in the second half and none of those other guys are much of a threat off the dribble.
Tobias Harris put up a perfectly fine line but he just completely disappeared late in that game. He’s probably got the most inconspicuous game of any max guy I’ve ever seen as it is. The guy makes 37M a year- he’s got to demand the ball when the offense is falling apart like that. I’m guessing Philly Blogger is ripping him apart. tonight.
Harris makes $37M a year but people think Randle has the worst contract in the NBA? Really?
With 10:38 to play in the 4th the Knicks were down 12, the bus was running at full speed toward the edge of the cliff and the driver was staring at his possible future employments, including grow orchids, breed llamas and consulting for ESPN.
He called a timeout.
Obi Toppin, a guy too cool for his tastes, scored the next 5 points then, after his team’s panting run-up, Obi sank a three-pointer for the lead with 1:27 left and they never gave it back (not for lack of trying, as both Brunson and Barrett missed FTs in the last 30 seconds while the Sixers clunked the shot to win).
Bus safely tucked in the parking lot, the driver still has a job.
Now an old foe lurks in the shadows, they need to slain a fucking leprechaun…
Plays Of The Game:
– Aestetically RJ’s needle-threading pass to Hart for a dunk.
– By weight on the game, Obi’s 3 and Randle’s 4 clutch FTs.
Stat Of The Day:
– An unbelievable one.
Both Barrett (6:42 of play) AND Randle (10:36!!) didn’t take a single field goal in the 4th.
I don’t want to sound blasphemous, but that’s probably why we won.
Premise:
the grades are “raw”, meaning they don’t account for the weakness of the heavily undermanned Sixers.
If you want to “adjust” to a game against an average opponent just subtract half a vote from every one.
Thibs B +
By choice or by chance he ended up finding the right combination (12-men rotation!).
He knows he’s playing for his job, he really stared at the abyss more than once but he avoid the fall and, while some of his decisions smell of desperation, he finally did a lot of things we asked for in the past, so I can’t complain.
Now, learning from mistakes is great, being stubborn to a fault is not.
Let’s see how this will continue or if he’ll revert to his “I’m a scorpion by nature, I can’t help myself” version.
Brunson B
Didn’t shoot well but had a fundamental and-1 in the clutch and was very solid overall (23, 7, 6-1 AST/TO).
I forgive him for the final missed FT because he was 7-7 from the line until then.
Grimes NA
From “situational” to garbage-time to starter in the blink of an eye.
He was taking Casper’s spot so he behave as Casper…
Predictably rusty, he was -20 in 15 minutes but it’s not his fault, he deserves time and a suspended judgement after missing all the preseason.
Barrett C +
He was having a good all-around game, culminating in his beautiful pass to Hart, when his brain freezed and he made some dumb and selfish decisions on fastbreaks.
Came back in the 4th, didn’t force shots, but missed a crucial FT.
I think he’s rounding back to form, the 9 boards are good and some threes are falling, but he’s not there yet. He needs to be more focused on D.
Randle C
I don’t know where to start…
Off to an horrific start, turnovers, a tech, bad shots, then somewhat he did right the ship and was very cool from the line at the end (unusual for him).
Kudos to him for not forcing in the 4th and concentrate on team needs (rebounds, defense and assists) in the smallball lineup.
Robinson D
Who?
I hope his injury is nothing serious, but he wasn’t there since the jumpball and he was playing against a lilliputian lineup.
IQ D
He’s a great rebounder for his size, but his shot fluctuates from game-to-game and the 4 TOs were really too much.
Fournier D-
Looks like he didn’t take the demotion too well uh?
14 minutes of shadows and fog (thanks Woody!).
Rose D-
4 TOs in 7 minutes, no baskets. He’s playing sparingly, sometimes it works often it don’t.
Toppin A-
4 blackout minutes between 3rd and 4th soiled his stats but he was one of the cogs in the comeback and hit timely buckets. He was even spotted boxing-out under the boards. He’ll never be perfect but he deserves to play.
Reddish A
The game MVP with 15 nearly spotless minutes, 3 AST and a block to go with a perfect shooting night.
Night like this he was well worth the trade but the question is always the same: can he do it regularly?
Hartenstein B-
As usual he did a lot of things and was always in the middle of action. 10 boards and 3 BLK in 21 minutes aren’t shabby, shelved in favor of the smallball lineup (yes!) down the stretch.
I still can’t understand why his post-up “proxy” role is so underused.
Sims NA
Dusted from the bin, predictably he looked like a fish out of the water.
BTW, speaking of rooting for the team to lose, at one point last night as the comeback was beginning, I texted a Philly fan friend, “Please just win this game already so our coach can be fired.” And he texted back, “I want us to lose so that our coach will be fired!” Not that I believe Doc would get canned for losing a game without Embiid or Harden, but I was still amused. I imagine there are a handful of teams (Toronto, San Antonio, Phoenix) whose fans unilaterally love their coaches, anther group where the feelings are largely positive, and then a large swath of the Association where everyone is convinced (rightly, in our case) that the team would be much better off without the guy at the front of the bench.
It was a narrow victory against an injury depleted team, but:
(1) A win is a win
(2) That’s one less game we need to play against Philly
RJ is now over 50% inside the arc. Thankfully Harrell is terrible on defense. RJ & Randle would both be acceptable if either could hit .330 on their 3s.
Are Cam & Obi our best shooters? Obi is taking 0.2 fewer 3s per 36 than Evan Fournier. He’s shooting .467 on them.
Obi’s shot looks different and better. The ball would come out of his hand with wildly varying arcs his first two seasons. He actually looks like a shooter this year give or take a couple very flat threes I can remember.
He obviously won’t shoot .467 but I think 35+ the rest of the way would be a good line and I would take the over.
If he ends up being a 38-9% guy he is going to be a very very effective offensive player.