Comments on: 2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Trailblazers

By: Early Bird

Early Bird — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 07:51:07 +0000

Can’t shake the feeling we’d be good if RJ just didn’t play. He singlehandedly shot POR back into thr game for one sequence despite getting bailed out on a nothing call one time.

Randle’s defense would still be a problem but we’d need 1 more scorer after Brunson.

Randle looks much better at PoA than off-ball. Almost rather have him guard the PG, can’t be worse than giving up open 3s & back cut layups.

By: Nicos

Nicos — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 06:50:33 +0000

That’s pretty crazy. And if RJ keeps playing like this he’ll be bagging groceries soon enough.

By: Hubert IV

Hubert IV — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 06:12:03 +0000

we spent so many threads trying to figure out who RJ’s best comp is, and it was John Starks all along.

https://stathead.com/tiny/nvnWL

^ seriously, they’re like twins. Except Starks did it when scoring was hard, so BPM and VORP rate him much higher.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 05:58:39 +0000

In reply to TheInfamousCdiggy.

It was really nice to see the other Knicks essentially say, “Oh, hey, Mitch is always open. Let’s pass him the ball!”

By: TheInfamousCdiggy

TheInfamousCdiggy — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 05:24:03 +0000

They have to do something about him though because he’s so painful to watch.

100% Agreed. Neither Thibs or Leon & Co can continue to sit on their hands and hope RJ fixes himself if this horrid shooting keeps up. I’ve always felt that the crux of this team’s current trajectory was reliant on Barrett’s development. Maybe the team is at a loss because they expected him to step forward, not slide backward. I also think it’ fair to expect the team to have a contingency plan or two in place if things don’t work out.

The amount of parity in the league right now affords the Knicks time to decide which way they wanna go in terms of how this team needs to be fine-tuned. 17 teams including us are within 3 games +/- of .500.

By: ess-dog

ess-dog — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 05:07:07 +0000

Brunson, Grimes, Randle (good version), and Mitch are a very solid starting lineup, but RJ just wrecks all of it.

God, I wish we had traded him this summer. Now we’re stuck with him unless he goes on a big run or something.

They have to do something about him though because he’s so painful to watch.

By: Nicos

Nicos — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 05:01:37 +0000

On a side note: how on earth did Randle and RJ BOTH shoot 40% from three in 20/21?

By: brador

brador — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 04:50:37 +0000

We didn’t realize we actually miss Cam.

By: Max

Max — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 04:23:57 +0000

Brunson but his defense consists entirely of taking a charge every now and then. It’s a problem.

True and I agree that we must try to let Brunson defend more on the ball instead of switching,
but at the same time with someone in RJ’s place and an average refs crew you win this game by 10 points…

By: Nicos

Nicos — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 04:14:33 +0000

RJ was horrible and the refs blew but another game where Thibs refusal to allow Brunson to guard the ball caused matchup problems all over the place. RJ on ones isn’t going to work- it’d be nice if it did but it’s not really RJ’s fault that it doesn’t. And if you can’t guard the ball Randle’s late rotations become a bigger issue. I love Brunson but his defense consists entirely of taking a charge every now and then. It’s a problem.