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Knicks Morning News (2022.12.02)

  • YouTube Gold: Micheal Ray Richardson Before The Fall – Duke Basketball Report
    [news.google.com] — Friday, December 2, 2022 6:00:00 AM

    YouTube Gold: Micheal Ray Richardson Before The Fall  Duke Basketball Report

  • Jalen Brunson vs. Mavericks: What’s changed since he left Dallas for Knicks? – The Athletic
    [news.google.com] — Friday, December 2, 2022 5:25:19 AM

    Jalen Brunson vs. Mavericks: What’s changed since he left Dallas for Knicks?  The Athletic

  • China punishes former Knicks star Jeremy Lin over quarantine comments – New York Post
    [news.google.com] — Friday, December 2, 2022 3:50:00 AM

    China punishes former Knicks star Jeremy Lin over quarantine comments  New York Post

  • This Knicks-Nuggets Trade Features Cam Reddish – NBA Analysis Network
    [news.google.com] — Friday, December 2, 2022 12:14:37 AM

    This Knicks-Nuggets Trade Features Cam Reddish  NBA Analysis Network

  • Celtics Commit to Al Horford Through 2025 – Tracker – Sports Illustrated
    [news.google.com] — Friday, December 2, 2022 12:09:05 AM

    Celtics Commit to Al Horford Through 2025 – Tracker  Sports Illustrated

  • Knicks’ RJ Barrett finally showing signs of ending another shooting slump – New York Post
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 11:35:00 PM

    Knicks’ RJ Barrett finally showing signs of ending another shooting slump  New York Post

  • Dallas Mavericks vs Detroit Pistons Dec 1, 2022 Game Summary – NBA.com
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 11:30:00 PM

    Dallas Mavericks vs Detroit Pistons Dec 1, 2022 Game Summary  NBA.com

  • For the Knicks, taking ‘value’ shots leads to ? lots of good things – The Athletic
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 11:03:12 PM

    For the Knicks, taking ‘value’ shots leads to ? lots of good things  The Athletic

  • Mcbride and Sims Lead Nine Knicks in Double Figures; Put Skyhawks Away 141-100 – OurSports Central
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 10:39:06 PM

    Mcbride and Sims Lead Nine Knicks in Double Figures; Put Skyhawks Away 141-100  OurSports Central

  • Knicks’ Jericho Sims: Called up to NBA – CBS Sports
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 10:12:03 PM

    Knicks’ Jericho Sims: Called up to NBA  CBS Sports

  • East Notes: Cavs, Jarrett Allen, Knicks, Heat, Jimmy Butler – Yardbarker
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 8:41:42 PM

    East Notes: Cavs, Jarrett Allen, Knicks, Heat, Jimmy Butler  Yardbarker

  • This Bulls-Knicks Trade Features Nikola Vucevic – NBA Analysis Network
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 8:19:09 PM

    This Bulls-Knicks Trade Features Nikola Vucevic  NBA Analysis Network

  • “Michael Jordan Is a Con Man”: When Knicks Coach Regretted Accusing Bulls Legend of Manipulating Opponents – The Sportsrush
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 7:32:19 PM

    “Michael Jordan Is a Con Man”: When Knicks Coach Regretted Accusing Bulls Legend of Manipulating Opponents  The Sportsrush

  • New Knicks City dancer had death-defying journey to MSG – New York Post
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 6:01:00 PM

    New Knicks City dancer had death-defying journey to MSG  New York Post

  • Knicks Assign Miles McBride, Jericho Sims to Westchester – Sports Illustrated
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 3:43:25 PM

    Knicks Assign Miles McBride, Jericho Sims to Westchester  Sports Illustrated

  • New York Knicks PR: Knicks assign Miles McBri? – Hoops Hype
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 2:18:43 PM

    New York Knicks PR: Knicks assign Miles McBri?  Hoops Hype

  • NBA coaches on the hot seat: Dwane Casey, Tom Thibodeau headline the list – Sportsnaut
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 2:03:27 PM

    NBA coaches on the hot seat: Dwane Casey, Tom Thibodeau headline the list  Sportsnaut

  • Evan Fournier Has ‘Nothing to Say’ About Demotion in Knicks Lineup – Sports Illustrated
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 1:17:03 PM

    Evan Fournier Has ‘Nothing to Say’ About Demotion in Knicks Lineup  Sports Illustrated

  • Giannis Antetokounmpo Tweets A Photo After The Bucks Beat The Knicks – Sports Illustrated
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 10:58:16 AM

    Giannis Antetokounmpo Tweets A Photo After The Bucks Beat The Knicks  Sports Illustrated

  • Report: Entire Knicks organization under heightened scrutiny amid slow start – Empire Sports Media
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 10:36:11 AM

    Report: Entire Knicks organization under heightened scrutiny amid slow start  Empire Sports Media

  • Should Knicks’ Derrick Rose want to be traded to lowly Lakers? – Daily Knicks
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 10:00:00 AM

    Should Knicks’ Derrick Rose want to be traded to lowly Lakers?  Daily Knicks

  • Buying or Selling Knicks’ Biggest Concerns Entering December – Bleacher Report
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 9:47:33 AM

    Buying or Selling Knicks’ Biggest Concerns Entering December  Bleacher Report

  • Knicks’ Julius Randle: Struggles from field in loss – CBS Sports
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 9:47:11 AM

    Knicks’ Julius Randle: Struggles from field in loss  CBS Sports

  • 3 early Knicks predictions for 2023 trade deadline – Daily Knicks
    [news.google.com] — Thursday, December 1, 2022 8:00:00 AM

    3 early Knicks predictions for 2023 trade deadline  Daily Knicks

  • 112 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2022.12.02)”

    Regarding my comment about James. I wasn’t saying he’s not an all time great player. I was suggesting the conversation about who is the GOAT typically comes down to Jordan and Lebron. IMO, peak Jordan (clearly), Magic, Bird, and Kareem were all better players than Lebron. I leave off Wilt because I didn’t see him at his peak. I saw him on the decline.

    Again, the comparison is similar to Doncic now. He’s in the MVP conversation because he’s piling up points, rebounds, and assists, at high levels but there’s no way he’s the best player in the NBA right now.

    1. Dallas often plays 5 out to maximize his ability to get to the rim and score.

    2. Other players defer defensive rebounds to him “by design” so he has the ball in his hands immediately to run the offense, instead of the C or PF rebounding and then requiring at outlet pass.

    3. In his case he still doesn’t defend well.

    Other guys (like Tatum, Giannis, Jokic) are playing in different systems, with different roles etc.. The idea in their case is not to maximize them (and their stats). It’s to maximize balance and winning. They pile up stats anyway, but they could easily put up more if the team was designed to maximize them. We’ve even seen that to some extent with Jokic when everyone else was injured.

    When guys like Jordan, Magic, Kareem and Bird played teams were built for balanced attacks with multiple scorers, multiple playmakers, they didn’t defer rebounds, there was no space to get to the rim etc…

    If you think Jordan couldn’t average a triple double now you are wrong. Then, the playing making was split between multiple players by design and they let the C or Rodman rebound by design.

    If you think Bird or Magic couldn’t have piled up way bigger numbers if they wanted you are wrong.

    Lebron has played in an era where advanced metrics helped teams understand how to run efficient offenses, the rules promoted more offense over defense, and his teams were generally built to maximize space for him.

    “Esa-dog, if he’s leading the team in three point percentage, maybe it’s more valuable to the team winning wise for him to score from outside and get rebounds then trying to have crowd pleasing plays at the rim.”

    There might be some argument to be made that if your sole goal is winning as many games in 2022-2023 as possible, the Novakization makes sense.

    To be clear I don’t buy it for a second–I think Obi would be more productive if he balanced 3PT shooting with the scoring at the rim that made him a high-lottery prospect, and him being more productive would be beneficial to the team.

    More importantly though, I think people are disheartened that we drafted the guy 8th overall (and were reportedly willing to trade up higher for him if it came to that) and don’t seem to be dedicated to developing/showcasing him in a way that gets us a decent ROI on that pick.

    It’s kind of a microcosm of the larger problem with our “hybrid plan.” There are times when player development and maximizing wins call for different strategies, and we have no coherent idea as to how to navigate those situations. RJ Barrett gets to do whatever the hell he wants and be one of the most detrimental players in the NBA in the process, while Obi has to go full Novak to get so much as 18 minutes per game. Admittedly it’s a little more complicated since there’s no Randle esque player blocking RJ’s minutes, but again, if we were really dedicated to Obi’s development we’d play him more with Randle *even if* doing so might cost us some games here and there.

    The KFS pod today discusses that exact discrepancy. There’s no inherent reason RJ should be given carte blanche to do whatever he wants while Obi has to circumscribe his game in a major way. RJ being drafted 5 spots higher certainly doesn’t justify it.

    I’m not going to defend Steve Nash’s MVPs, but I’ll tell you why he got them. During his/Sun’s peak period, when he was off the court, the Suns were not good. They didn’t just lose his production, the rest of the team struggled. It was Charles Barkley that noticed how critical Nash was to the Suns. He pushed the narrative that Nash was the most important player to his team in the entire NBA (as opposed to the best player who was probably Shaq). I think he was probably right abut the point he was making. Nash had an impact that outweighed what boxscore “stats” could measure. So the debate is really about what the MVP is. Is it the best player or most important player to his team?

    I want to believe in Obi (and pretend Halliburton sucks) but I see nothing from him on the offensive end that indicates he can do anything other than make the occasional 3 and a spectacular dunk in transition.

    On offense, he gets the ball and either shoots an open 3 (and if I was defending him I’d never leave him open since he never goes to the basket) or hands it off to a teammate. I could count on one hand the times he actually makes an aggressive move to the basket.

    I don’t know if it’s Thibs holding him back or whatever, but in half court sets he’s generally pretty useless unless left wide open

    Obi is in the role he’s in because he’s limited.

    You can only get away with so many transition leak outs, back door cuts, and lobs in a game. Even that is dependent on the defensive game plan and matchups.

    He shoots mostly 3s from outside because if you give him the ball on the perimeter, his handle and shot making is too weak to both create a good shot off the bounce and make it. So generally, the ball is kicked out to him when he’s open and he takes the 3.

    I obviously don’t love everything Randle does, but he’s capable of putting the ball on the floor, working himself into a good position, and making shots. So he does that too. Obi can’t.

    That’s what the off season is for.

    You are supposed to try to add a new “skill” (or skills) to your game every off season. So when you come back, either your usage can expand or you’ll be more difficult to defend and get shut down by game planning.

    With more skills, if they take away transition, you still have 3 pointers, if they take away transition and 3 pointers, maybe you can use your athleticism and handle to blow by and create a good shot, if they take away your right hand, go left, if they take away the rim shoot the floater etc…

    It’s on Obi to get better in the off seasons and practice. When he can do those things, he will in games.

    Followup: so I’ve decided to just block the IPs that are spamming/hacking/attacking the site. Unfortunately every 12 hours or so a new one pops up. I’m going to take some more measure in an attempt to combat what’s been going on. Hopefully it just stops them, and not any well-meaning folks who wish to talk about the NBA’s 29th best franchise.

    “I see nothing from him on the offensive end that indicates he can do anything other than make the occasional 3 and a spectacular dunk in transition.”

    “Obi is in the role he’s in because he’s limited.”

    I’m sorry, but did you guys actually watch Obi play in college? He was a DEMON in the pick & roll.

    So what do we do? We don’t ever run the pick & roll.

    This is just one example of the staff’s gross mismanagement of its players, Humper goes into much greater detail than I will bother to.

    I don’t agree that Obi can only shoot 3s and leak out and I can’t comprehend how anyone who watches him and watches the games can think that.

    I do think he tops out as a Tier 5 (*) player, which in summary form means “valid contributor to championship-caliber team, but not real needle-mover.”

    In terms of the “additional skills” Randle brings — yes, he has them, but he does them poorly and they’re detrimental to winning basketball. If I have a good team, I don’t need (or want) Julius Randle pounding nails for me. Other players can do that better. (Unfortunately, I’d say the same about RJ Barrett, although I still hold out some hope.)

    I’m in the camp of “Julius Randle must be moved from this team” more than I am “Julius Randle shouldn’t be taking minutes from Player X.”

    (*) Again, going with The Athletic tiering definitions.

    Thanks Mike! Makes sense people are trying to tap their way into your Lamborghini pipeline.

    Re Obi, I think it’s a huge positive that he has figured out how to shoot three pointers efficiently.

    As for the rest, I am in wait-and-see mode. I obviously don’t think much of Randle and would love for Obi to get more run. I don’t think Obi is any kind of savior but he is at least fun to watch, younger, cheaper and overall just far more rootable.

    sorry to hear about that bullshit mike k., hopefully it’s some random shit and not specifically targeted…best of luck with it, and hopefully it doesn’t become too much of a pain in the ass…

    I’m with you, d-mar. My guess is that the defensive game plan of opposing teams is hardly concerned with Obi other than a) not letting him leak out, b) keeping an eye on him slashing to the basket in the halfcourt. It’s probably been recently revised to include paying attention to him spotting up at the 3-pt line, i.e. stay within close-out distance…something that wasn’t necessary last two years when he was hitting only 30% from there. But no one would be concerned with clearing out space so that Obi could operate in the paint. Any decent defender could force him into a relatively inefficient shot, and there would be turnovers aplenty because he can’t handle the ball at all if there is any pressure from a second weak-side defender.

    Force-feeding him to develop him at the expense of wins is clearly not going to happen, but I doubt that it would make much difference. It’s painfully obvious that he can be easily defended inside the arc without double teaming, beyond being a lob threat, which is a role perpetually filled by our 3-headed monster at C. Almost all of his FGs are assisted, and those that are not are the occasional follow-dunk.

    Danny Ainge was not interested in Obi at all, except as a throw-in. He likely saw that Markkanen was a much more promising player, and I’m pretty confident that he would have felt the same way even if Markkanen was in his 3rd year and playing 18 mpg while being similarly “misused.”

    >deuce dips to westchester and immediately goes 5-8 from three.<

    I think the only thing stopping Deuce from getting a backup role is what they can get for Rose in a trade and whether both Rose/Thibs are OK with it. Rose has had the kind of career where imo you don't treat him like trash for a couple of 2nd rounders. If he wants to compete for a championship and there's a spot, I think they'll move him.

    Of course it would be nice if Deuce hits a few more 3s at the NBA level first. 🙂

    I'm still think they will trade Rose and use the proceeds to move Fournier. I don't know what they can get back but as long as it's at least an expiring contract I guess that's OK.

    btw, I agree that I would LIKE to see Obi play more, even at the expense of wins. And i agree with Owen that he’s definitely more fun to watch when he gets it rolling (although not as much when he is invisible.) I’m just commenting on the coach’s logic for limiting his role/minutes as it pertains to the soundness of the strategy for maximizing wins.

    “Danny Ainge was not interested in Obi at all, except as a throw-in. He likely saw that Markkanen was a much more promising player, and I’m pretty confident that he would have felt the same way even if Markkanen was in his 3rd year and playing 18 mpg while being similarly “misused.””

    Markkanen is the MUCH better player at this stage. His development has been hindered by repeated injuries.

    I’m not so sure how to evaluate things like that.

    If a young player is getting injured repeatedly, it’s obviously slowing his development, especially if he’s recovering during the off season a lot of the time. But if he’s getting injured a lot, maybe there’s an issue over and above random bad luck. It’s hard to know except maybe by the type of injuries and whether there was contact.

    I’m still think they will trade Rose and use the proceeds to move Fournier.

    Rose has no trade value, and it will cost a first round pick to unload Fournier.

    If we’re using Danny Ainge’s interest level as a measure to judge our players, well, Julius Randle wasn’t exactly coveted, either.

    “If we’re using Danny Ainge’s interest level as a measure to judge our players, well, Julius Randle wasn’t exactly coveted, either.”

    Being that Markkanen is younger, making less money, and was clearly better last year than Randle, that’s excellent reasoning on Ainge’s part. But he clearly wanted young pieces, and iirc he valued pre-extension RJ, Grimes and I believe IQ over Obi. If he felt that Obi had a lot of potential and was being held back by Thibs’ offensive game plan and Randle, he would have felt differently. It’s not like Lauri was setting the league on fire like he has thus far this year. He was a slightly above-average shooter at low usage. I doubt that Ainge is surprised at all at the way he’s playing in a more prominent role than he had in CLE.

    and it will cost a first round pick to unload Fournier.

    Hubert, I don’t believe Fournier has fallen off a cliff. Last year in 80 games he played well enough to almost justify his contract. He played well over the summer. He absolutely sucked in the first 13 games of this season and was effectively shut down. We are a very bad 3 point shooting team and for his career he is not a bad 3 point shooter. If he was sitting at the very end of the bench of some other team with the exact same profile he has had over the last 18 months, I probably would be thinking of taking a flier on him, contract and all. Which is a long-winded rebuttal to why I don’t think we would need a 1st to unload him.

    I also think that there is some benefit to Obi in developing him from the outside in. He’s clearly shooting better from 3, and that might open up his game inside a bit as a high PnR/PnP guy. He might become better at attacking closeouts when defenses actually need to close out hard on him.

    Bernie, I agree that it shouldn’t tke a first to unload Fournier. But it certainly doesn’t help that he’s benched.

    The same ppl who wanted to trade Randle and negative assets to unload him want to trade Fournier with negative assets. They never learn.

    Followup: so I’ve decided to just block the IPs that are spamming/hacking/attacking the site. Unfortunately every 12 hours or so a new one pops up. I’m going to take some more measure in an attempt to combat what’s been going on. Hopefully it just stops them, and not any well-meaning folks who wish to talk about the NBA’s 29th best franchise.

    crazy that it’s ddos attacks. although if knickerblogger understands anything it’s that no subject is too negligible to merit a whit less than infinite bandwidth.

    speaking of which, i asked the gpt chatbot to write a sonnet about the most important person in the world:

    Frank Ntilikina, the guard from France
    A skilled player with a bright future ahead
    His quick feet and sharp mind make him advance
    A leader on the court, his teammates are fed

    With confidence and poise, he runs the show
    His jumpshot deadly, defenses on their heels
    Opponents know they must be on their toes
    Or Frank will make them look like clumsy seals

    His talent and potential on full display
    He dominates games with ease and grace
    A shining star for Knicks fans to relish and sway
    In Frank, the future of the team is in good place

    So let us cheer and praise young Frank Ntilikina
    A rising star in the world of basketball arena

    it’s not even noon where you are at, if you’re able to produce such magnificent creative works sober, before noon, i’m even more amazed by some of your abilities…

    now, if you’re puffing away or hitting the sauce before noon – i’m less impressed, however you have my heart forever…

    Our dream of Frank was Haliburton with lock-down defense.

    So we passed on Haliburton.

    But I don’t believe Obi’s a scrub. With all the caveats about end-of-the-season games, he played like a monster when he was unleashed. He’s not an unstoppable James Worthy, but there’s a credible NBA player in there. I’m very glad he’s working on his outside game, but it’s entirely on Thibs and our paleolithic offense for not giving him a chance to shine (and work on the rest of his game, which as mentioned he had in college for christ’s sake).

    The GPT bot has been Strat this whole time?!

    Re: Obi, we’ll all have to just agree to disagree until his role expands because this is all admittedly speculative. Based on his college career and glimpses in the NBA, I think he could handle both a larger and more diverse role but there’s not enough data on the matter for me to really go to the mat for that opinion. We should change that! Get the data!

    It’s just very bizarre to use such a crucial pick on someone and not even try to find out if he can be a prominent player. The 8th overall pick in the 2020 draft is 22nd in minutes played among 2020 draftees despite being 5th in BPM and 8th in VORP. I will never be convinced that’s somehow optimal.

    I will grant that with Randle playing well offensively this year it’s not the easiest nut to crack, but I think a more creative coach would figure it out.

    wait, no drugs, sex or liquor in your backstory…oh…okay…

    hmmmm, guess i’ll just continue waiting today for someone here to do something weird and wonderful…

    on my other social media thing (some video game site), someone started posting some AI drawings/paintings/illustrations…kind of like the story bot, you enter some reference items and poof – out comes some image…

    that’s something…

    because i kind of like living under a rock, only found out yesterday that quantum processors are now a thing…

    yep, we got the early stages of quantum computing now, how crazy is that…

    What Noble and Raven said.

    This season only exists to get data on our young guys — win or lose. Thibs’s failure to fully road test Obi night after night has been the biggest disappointment. IQ, Cam, Sims need more minutes. I’m not giving up on RJ just yet, but “more minutes” isn’t a problem with him. Ditto Mitch.

    Randle can handle five fewer minutes per game. Ditto RJ. That is plenty of space to routine Obi in the rotation. Thibs is a stubborn moron for not figuring that out.

    I also appreciate several comments above making the connection between star players and the quality systems that got the best out of them. I suspect we all agree our on court “system” sucks, regardless of our lingering squabbles about the front office.

    i could write about the team, but, i’m gonna enjoy another day off from knick basketball…

    we will not suffer defeat today comrades…

    went to another science talk at work…this one was much less fun than talking about getting in a submersible and heading down to the mariana trench…

    this one was on climate change…

    at the end the guy who owns the company and who’s pioneered a bunch of this GIS stuff got up to speak…

    what he had to say was pretty fucking dire…usually he’s at least a bit positive, but, he wasn’t holding back to much of what he really thought…basically – yeah, most of us in the room will be dead, but, our kids’ kids are gonna be fucked…

    what really drove the point home was that although a lot of this stuff is discussed globally, approximate 4 degree fahrenheit temp increase within the next several decades…

    however – they equated the situation well in that the temperature change would mean instead of roughly 90 days a year of plus 90 degree temperatures – that number would increase to over 150 days of plus 90 degree temperatures in the area…

    that’s not looking to good for the garden in my patio…

    “South Korea!

    That was amazing”

    Yeah but what a punch in the gut to Uruguay, one minute away from advancing

    alright, enough doom and gloom – i got something for y’all…

    i’m old, so, most new cool stuff (to me anyway) i come across is from the kids…

    just discovered 360 videos using the occulus meta quest thing…so cool…there are a couple of versions of The Pixies “Where is my Mind” – this one may now be my favorite:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODKyCmGxBpo

    you have to play it through a VR glasses gadget…

    i have to add – the experience is extremely 420 friendly 😛

    All valid points re: Obi, even if we disagree on his value both today and going forward, he should be playing more. Where the disagreement gets larger is when we add Because we’d win more games because he’s better than Randle (or even RJ). Seems pretty obvious to me that he’s got lots of glaring fundamental issues on both ends.

    Between Obi & Hartenstein it’s baffling. Our second unit offense has been terrible too. Not sure why they don’t try something different.

    The fact Ghana got to play a role in knocking Uruguay out was fitting, although a win would have been better.

    I am pretty happy with South Korea going through. Uruguay is basically shorthand for cynical football.

    Even i felt happy for the south koreans, they were ecstatic. And the goal was amazing. I even shouted at the TV, as if the portuguese players could listen (LOL), “now don’t go score a goal, just respect their win”. 🙂

    Even i felt happy for the south koreans, they were ecstatic. And the goal was amazing. I even shouted at the TV, as if the portuguese players could listen (LOL), “now don’t go score a goal, just respect their win”. 🙂

    No real argument there, Z–Man.

    However, while Randle is clearly very good on D when he wants to be (i.e., better than Obi), he spends so much time arguing with refs instead, or having a genteel stroll down the court to get the inbounds pass after a 5-on-4 score, or waving at the guy driving as he goes by, that I wonder how they really compare.

    I’m on deadline today, but if someone needs to procrastinate and wants to report on what the various D-stats say about the two of them I’d be curious to hear.

    The same ppl who wanted to trade Randle and negative assets to unload him want to trade Fournier with negative assets. They never learn.

    The same people who can’t read still can’t read.

    Randle can handle five fewer minutes per game.

    Can he, though? He’s very sensitive. I don’t think he can. Especially if Obi does well in his 20 minutes of play.

    This is one I’ll give Thibs a pass on. He needs good Randle more than good Obi, and he doesn’t have the job security to experiment.

    This one’s on Leon. He should have fixed this by now by cashing in on one of them when there value was highest.

    I was reading the reader comments section in the NY Post on the article concerning Sims and deuce assignment to g league…and somebody wrote that we would be better off if they assigned Thibs to the g league as well…some funny shit in there….scary too…

    That was a smart play by Suarez in 2010. Nothing foul about it. The ref saw it, called it, gave Ghana a PK.

    Soccer people get a little too sanctimonious for a sport where everyone’s diving.

    The (long) possibility of a USA v Australia match in the Quarter Finals is enticing. I may even give enough fucks to watch it.

    The Fournier thing is bizarre, as he could certainly help the team win even in a limited role. To be banished completely seems like a disciplinary thing…like he got frustrated and cursed out Thibs and/or demanded a trade or refused to play.

    “we would be better off if they assigned Thibs to the g league as well” – LOL

    In, say, American football, head coaches are often just the “rah rah; no I in team; booyah” kind of guys who outsource strategy for offense and defense to their respective coordinators. Now, for someone like Thibs with his endless (lifetime!) data that his offensive scheme basically sucks, I’m surprised he doesn’t find someone to “coordinate” a better one. And I say this even for his own job security. There’s no shame in delegating if you lack that skill.

    Suarez is a world class POS…dirtbag to the max…I believe he bit someone or did it multiple times…he should have been banned from the sport a long time ago…

    “The Fournier thing is bizarre”

    Yeah, I asked this before when E4 was the only DNP. Is that a deep “I hate you” in my doghouse move from Thibs? Or is it vet-respect in the manner of “I’m not gonna make you play garbage minutes.” I guess if I’m E4, I wanna play any/all minutes, so it seems like Thibs said, “I hate you.” Honestly, I think it’s bonkers and hints at dysfunction.

    One naturally wonders whether Randle ever really had much trade value after his complete playoff meltdown against ATL. He’s *extremely* high-maintenance, both emotionally and even more so in basketball terms and he’s now under contract for four years. I’m not seeing that the payoff is worth it and it’s pretty clear the marketplace agrees.

    He’s one of those quintessential dudes who’s just good enough to lose with. Smart GMs see this. Even a lot of the dumb ones surely do, too.

    Suarez is a world class prick, but every other player would have done the same thing. He saved a certain goal and got a red card, and Ghana missed the PK. Not sure why they’re holding a grudge about that?

    In the east, we are 3rd best in offensive rating and 3rd worst in defensive rating. Fournier is a known bad defender, i don’t think he’d help a lot. But i agree, to not play him at all is weird. But maybe it’s at his request, last season he didn’t seem to handle it well when asked how he would react to being benched. Maybe he wants a place in the rotation, or else he prefers to not play at all.

    re: Suarez — To be sure, not complaining about his hand ball. I just hate the guy. Never seeing him again on the pitch would be too soon.

    KBA, i don’t have good news, as i think Suarez is going to the MLS for next season.

    Thibs did the same thing to Kemba- just completely deep-sixed him apparently without explaining anything to him if I remember correctly. I don’t think it really impacts his trade value that much- I think other teams know exactly who Fournier is at this point, I doubt anyone thinks his game has actually fallen off a cliff. He is what he his- maybe someone gets desperate enough for outside shooting that we can make a deal that isn’t too lopsided but I doubt it.

    Suarez also celebrated in a somewhat uncouth fashion, although I would have too I suppose.

    It was a big game. Ghana would have been the first African team to make a semi. Big stakes.

    I can understand the hand ball but I can understand Ghana holding a grudge even more.

    “KBA, i don’t have good news, as i think Suarez is going to the MLS for next season.”

    Hahaha. Good thing I don’t watch MLS 😉

    Although by some miracle I heard (but did not see) that my “new hometown” Austin MLS team was in the finals this year. Tempting?

    re e4: “He is what he his- maybe someone gets desperate enough for outside shooting that we can make a deal that isn’t too lopsided but I doubt it.”

    Benching him is the kind of bizarro decision-making that makes me agree (situationally) with those here who hate our front office and coaching combination. Last year E4 set the franchise record for 3 pointers made. Over the summer he had a fairly successful Euro campaign. He has not changed his game at all. If Thibs *already knew* he was gonna bury him on the bench, then why not move him BEFORE the season starts. Gotta believe his value was highest then.

    Yes, sure, maybe they tried and failed to trade him, but take whatever deal can be made if you already know Thibs hates him. Sitting out now just hurts his value b/c other teams see we “hate” him.

    Or will wiser minds argue that we are better off waiting to see how the games shake out, to see which teams end up desperate for shooting based on injuries and other variables? In that case, now it’s better not to risk Fournier getting injured. So Thibs is sitting him. Okay. I guess so, but … really? Seems more like the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is about to do.

    speaking of which, i asked the gpt chatbot to write a sonnet about the most important person in the world

    this is what Shakespeare had in mind when he was self-felating about how cool poetry is in Sonnet 18

    Instead of addressing strat’s galaxy brain lebron take, which is not supported by any available evidence, what I am interested in is why our defense has been so fucking bad this year. We went from a top 10 defense to a bottom 5 defense with a majority of the same guys we were playing last year.

    I think Fournier is suffering from being an affable guy who won’t raise a big stink about being benched. He definitely was off to a poor start on both ends, but the guy has a legit track record and I don’t think a move this drastic was justified short of us making a total commitment to playing the younger guys, which we aren’t doing.

    I don’t think it affects his trade value much at all because everyone knows what he can and can’t do, but I do think it’s kind of a shitty thing to do seeing as how we can’t claim with a straight face it’s in the service of maximizing wins as long as RJ Barrett plays 40 minutes a game. YMMV.

    “We went from a top 10 defense to a bottom 5 defense with a majority of the same guys we were playing last year.”

    Gotta be b/c we benched Evan Fournier 😉

    And, yeah, Noble. I agree with your comments above. And, in line with some other posts about Thibs misusing Obi, Hart, et al in whatever the 2nd unit offense is *supposed* to be running, I would prefer to see what offensive schemes a different coach (like you? DRed? Cyber?) could put together for a scrimmage between our castoffs/backups and our first team. That, I would watch, and I would bet on the scrubs.

    The handwriting is on the Wall for E4. He just isn’t in the team’s long term plans. I would love to see a trade for an expiring contract like Beverly’s and then just buy Beverly out. Rose is probably next as soon as Deuce can hit some treys or Grimes and IQ prove they can handle the playmaking duties.

    Does anyone know how to get Obi’s defensive numbers against small forwards? I’m convinced he can do as well as any of our other 3’s. Here’s a quote from the Charlotte Fansided site pre-2020 draft.

    “Toppin is a strong player that can play small forward, power forward, and center. Throughout the season, he gained a lot of experience playing all of these positions for Dayton.
    A lot of Toppin’s hype has come from his electrifying dunks. While he’s an impressive dunker, Toppin proved that he could be a consistent scorer in the paint, while shooting consistently from three.”

    https://swarmandsting.com/2020/04/18/charlotte-hornets-draft-obi-toppin-versatile-threat/#:~:text=Toppin%20is%20a%20strong%20player%20that%20can%20play,Toppin%E2%80%99s%20hype%20has%20come%20from%20his%20electrifying%20dunks.

    If the Knicks can’t figure out how to use him, I would love to see him and LaMelo in Charlotte. That would be show time south!

    “Does anyone know how to get Obi’s defensive numbers against small forwards? I’m convinced he can do as well as any of our other 3’s. ”

    Totally agree GK. Some of us (you?) were pitching this last year, too, and complaining that Thibs is unnecessarily stuck on the binary of Randle OR Obi. I just don’t think that must be the case. Sure, coach has by now experimented putting Randle at the 5 with Obi, but why not try Obi at the 3 in place of RJ at times, so we don’t have Mitch, Randle, and RJ all occupying the same four feet on offense. I mean how many minutes total has Brunson played with Obi this year? Surely Jalen could “connect” with Obi on better cuts to the hoop, instead of just handing the ball back and forth to RJ and Randle. Is RJ *really* such a lockdown defender that Obi is unthinkable? Madness.

    strat, take some time and watch this video — you are way off-base on this scorching hot take

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cYVXHi8EJY

    I watched the whole 28 minutes and they never mentioned mental strength once- obviously biased towards stat stuffers!
    Seriously though, forget MVP, LBJ had an 8-10 year run where I don’t think there’s any question he had the highest trade value in the league. That’s only equaled by MJ and maybe Kareem. And Kareem was considered a headache and a shitty teammate during most of the 70s- LBJ certainly had more success dragging crappy teams to good records than 70s Kareem did, he certainly got more flak about lack of effort than LeBron ever has. The only player I’m taking over peak LBJ is MJ.

    I would prefer to see what offensive schemes a different coach (like you? DRed? Cyber?) could put together for a scrimmage between our castoffs/backups and our first team. That, I would watch, and I would bet on the scrubs.

    Count me in. 😉

    just discovered 360 videos using the occulus meta quest thing…so cool…there are a couple of versions of The Pixies “Where is my Mind” – this one may now be my favorite:

    I played guitar once on stage. At CBGBs. It was this song. My cool music moment claim to fame. I was acoustic guitar, so I get to play the beginning part, and this one woman at the show let out this “wooo” a few chords in when she realized what song it was.

    do you have a small hammer laying somewhere around the house,

    Given the Pixies were recently brought up, I have to say that during the Pixies Frank Black (or whatever you want to call him) was purely genius writing songs, and Kim’s songs (Gigantic, Silver) were mediocre. Then from 1991 on, Kim Deal just kills it, and Frank Black writes utter garbage. She’s been really awesome post-Pixies.

    One divine hammer:


    I’m just looking for
    Just looking for a way around
    It disappears this near
    You’re the rod I’m water
    I’m just looking for the divine hammer
    One divine hammer
    One divine hammer
    I’m just looking for one divine hammer
    I’d bang it all day
    Oh the carpenter goes bang
    Bang bang

    “Knicks last 3 home games
    • Led by 2 with 10 seconds left, LOST
    • Led by 1 with 14 seconds left, LOST
    • Tied with 35 seconds left, LOST”

    I was having such a nice day …

    And:

    “ I played guitar once on stage. At CBGBs.”

    That’s a helluva “once” 😉

    I will take Robert Randolph over the Pixies any day.

    How is there no Friday Night Knicks on MSG?

    Will have to watch Gianni’s beat the Lakers as a consolation.

    ***what I am interested in is why our defense has been so fucking bad this year. We went from a top 10 defense to a bottom 5 defense with a majority of the same guys we were playing last year.***

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but this IS the so-called Skiles effect, no?

    Skiles in Phoenix: 1st season 3rd in D-rating; last season 12th
    Skiles in Chicago: 1st season 2nd in D-rating; last season 14th
    Skiles in Milwaukee: 1st season 2nd in D-rating; last season 16th

    ***The handwriting is on the Wall for E4. He just isn’t in the team’s long term plans.***

    That appears to be true, but he is in only the 2nd year of a multi-year contract. They didn’t have to hire him last year. In fact, the really really shouldn’t have hired him if there was any chance that he wasn’t going to be in their long term plans.

    Donnie, I’m not sure it’s the Skiles effect. It seems to me that management improved the offense at the expense of defense with their roster change from Burks to Fournier and Brunson. And RJ might be proud he often defends the other teams best scorer, but that may be because the other choices on defense are worse than him, not because he’s especially good on defense. It’s not surprising our defense is worse than before. You don’t have to invoke Skiles to explain it.

    On the other hand, the roster changes have improved our offense. Someone mentioned we are tenth in the league on offense. Per ESPN that is true and we are right next to Denver and Memphis in offensive ranking. That’s actually quite impressive, given all the flak our players and coach take for lousy efficiency and lack of creativity, respectively.

    Did not have Anthony Davis absolutely destroying Giannis on my bingocard for tonight. That’s one of the most impressive halves of basketball I’ve seen in a long time.

    AD’s been playing great this year. It’s probably just a matter of time before he gets injured but right now he looks like he did the bubble year. Given that the west seems pretty open this year the Lakers really ought to bite the bullet and move Westbrook + picks and get some shooting and a little more depth. If there’s a miracle and LBJ and Davis are healthy in the playoffs they’ll at least have a punchers chance. LeBron seems to have gotten his legs back but he seemed a little creaky to start- kicking the can down the road til Westbrook expires next year seems risky, especially if they’re targeting a time bomb like Kyrie.

    Sad to see deGrom leaving the Mets but not sad to be missing out on giving him a five year guaranteed contract.

    Yup, now we know that even Steve Cohen has limits to what he’s willing to spend…at least as far as years on a contract go.

    Do the Mets shoot for Verlander (2-3 years?) or Rodon? Rodon will likely also command 5 years (and two draft picks) but is much younger. Senga? None of the above?

    “Instead of addressing strat’s galaxy brain lebron take, which is not supported by any available evidence”

    What do you mean by evidence? Larry Bird had a usage rate of over 30% one time in his carrer. LeBron has had a usage rate of 31% or more in 16 out of 20 seasons. Even playing with other hall of famers and now at the tail end of his career, LeBron’s usage rate is higher than Bird’s.

    Mike

    that sounds like fun, being able to kick back and go through the chords on some super melodic tune…being able to do so in front of others, even more so…

    if it’s not a normal activity, i would imagine alcohol would help a bunch in that situation…

    that sounds like fun, being able to kick back and go through the chords on some super melodic tune…being able to do so in front of others, even more so…

    if it’s not a normal activity, i would imagine alcohol would help a bunch in that situation…

    I make it a point not to drink while performing (I currently perform magic.) If I’m doing it for friends I have a one drink limit. If for another group, then no booze before or during. The drinks afterwards are a reward for performing well. That helps alleviate the anxiety.

    For practice, my friend took me to the subway station and we played it there.

    Performing in front of a free public is a great way to cut your teeth. — Buskers (probably)

    I currently perform magic.

    ha, too funny…i thought you were like some kind of shy bookish nerd dude – turns out you are much weirder than that…

    very interesting sir, today has been revealing indeed…makes up for milo’s word bot thing, which sadly did not include any sex, drugs, or rock n roll…

    Classic anecdote from my past:

    I was on tour with Pete Yorn sometime in the 00’s. We’re about to hit the stage and Pete notices I’m taking some rather large puffs of cannabis.

    PETE: Isn’t that going to affect your playing?
    JK: Uh, yeah… for the better!

    🙂

    now i’m curious as to which vices might enhance musical performance…

    i imagine a good bit of the music playing itself is fairly autonomous…still, how to not lose focus with some type of hallucinogen, lose focus being too high or drunk…cocaine now, that would seem somewhat advantageous a stimulate…

    i’m unfamiliar with anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds would maybe be necessary, but probably not beneficial…sex prior to some type social event might lower any worries toward being on stage…

    a quickie and perhaps a moderate amount of weed and liquor might be the perfect combo…

    it’s funny, every time we get on this musical performance topic i think that doing something like that is something i wish i had experienced at some point in life…

    i don’t know how long ago mike k. was up there strumming away, but, he still recalls the sound/expression someone in the audience made to this moment…

    Weed and playing music go together great for me. I feel like weed enhances my ability to separate things musically, and also enhances my ability to concentrate and get lost in the music. For some people, alcohol works well, because it frees your inhibitions, makes you “go for it” more.

    Doing any sort of stimulant while playing music is kind of a mixed bag. I think cocaine and music are a terrible mix, I don’t know how people do that drug and then play music. A lot of people do though!

    I did take an Adderall before an Ariel Pink show once in Chicago and I played GODLIKE. It wasn’t necessarily fun per se, but when you’re on tour and playing the same songs every night, you really notice when something is different, and it was very noticeable to me that I was playing everything flawlessly, like I took a magical “good at music” potion or something.

    I don’t want to go on too much about my sordid past but let’s just say I am a bit of an authority on this subject.

    thank you…

    here’s a weird one – better to play on an empty or full stomach 🙂

    i imagine for a singer who doesn’t also have to deal with the intricacies of manipulating a relatively complex looking device(s) – you could probably get away with doing whatever you want…

    i always find it fascinating to learn certain musicians are very introverted, yet still are able to perform…that’s pretty brave, or very motivated…

    thinking now about that steve miller show…he was up there on stage, but he might as well have been chilling in his living room…

    For singing, an empty stomach, or at least not too full a one, is better. If your stomach is full it makes it harder to do the breathing in the way you need too.

    “What do you mean by evidence? Larry Bird had a usage rate of over 30% one time in his carrer. LeBron has had a usage rate of 31% or more in 16 out of 20 seasons. Even playing with other hall of famers and now at the tail end of his career, LeBron’s usage rate is higher than Bird’s.”

    It’s pointless debating with people that never saw the skills of the players in question and that don’t want to look too far beyond the boxscore stats. Systems, roles, rules, teammates, team makeup, pace, how the game is called, all matter to what the usage and stats are going to be.

    I don’t talk about Wilt or Russell because I didn’t see their peaks.

    But imo Bird would be unstoppable in this era if he played on a team like Dallas. He’d be shooting as many 3s as anyone in the league and finish with either hand in midrange or at the rim if they tried to take it away. His efficiency would be higher, he’d score more, and he’d probably have more assists.

    Kareem was utterly unstoppable in any era.

    Thinking about what Jordan would do in space instead of getting decapitated when he drove is too frightening to contemplate.

    The guys that are playing now are great also, but they are playing in an era that promotes piling up numbers and efficiency relative to the past.

    The 3-pt shot has changed the game so dramatically that it is really impossible to compare across eras. But the all-time greats surely would have adapted if they were physically capable, which guys like Wilt, Russell, Bird, Magic, Oscar, West, Baylor….these guys were all savants. And the great players from today would have been equally great back then, yet you would have to imagine their games being built on what they had to work with, and the medical science and training methods being what they were.

    Basketball is still a game played largely between the ears. In a big game with monster pressure, I’d pick Jordan over anyone, and Bird would be higher on my list than LeBron.

    They’re dominating possession but are terrible in the final third. We have no creators on offense it’s always been that way

    “It’s pointless debating with people that never saw the skills of the players in question and that don’t want to look too far beyond the boxscore stats.”

    *************************

    I’m a multigeneration association fan, too. It’s too much to ask the current first generation fans — data-driven, internet savvy — to trust the eye test.

    What it isn’t too much to ask is that the data be adjusted for secular changes in the way the sport is played. You’ve quite rightly noted one — the efficiency revolution. You’ve also quite rightly noted the direct corollary of the efficiency revolution — that if data can lead to a secular, fundamental change in the way shots are distributed, it can lead to a secular, fundamental change in the way job duties and responsibilities are distributed.

    In fact, as strat has also noted, it *did* lead to this latter change. Stars in the current era are clearly given more responsibility (proxied essentially accurately by usage) than stars of the past. A modernist might say, “Well, sure, but that just shows that the stars today are better and therefore better able to handle the enhanced responsibility.”

    At that point, no set of data can measure the accuracy of that claim. But if it leads to some kind of conclusion along the lines of something like that Russell Westbrook is better than Larry Bird well, then, just no. He isn’t.

    Other important secular changes:

    1. Players that hit the floor are shorter. There was no such thing as a smallball lineup BITD. That makes it easier for shorter guys to get rebounds.

    2. The lane is far more open. That makes it easier for shorter guys to get more rebounds.

    3. Obviously, the propensity to take three-pointers. That makes it very tough to do cross-era comparisons. My rough rule of thumb is that if Brook Lopez could teach himself to shoot and make three-pointers years into his association career, the vast majority of star wings of yesteryear could have done the same.

    I’m sure there are more such changes.

    Strat packaged this argument as “LeBron is over-rated and isn’t one of the best players ever” just to be “contrarian”, but really all he’s saying is that Bird was better and LeBron is still, basically, the 4th best player all-time. It’s a silly discussion to perpetuate. I’ve known some white people who overemphasize their opinion of Bird just to make a point. Just like I know some rappers who over-emphasize their opinion of Hitler just to make a similar point.

    The Dutch had a virus that spread through the team this week that produces a rash of goals.

    The Oranje have finally arrived at top form. Not much to be done unfortunately.

    The hot take on this will be we outplayed them and they just capitalized. Meanwhile we gave the ball away a million times and they took care of the ball

    Donnie, geeeze, disappointing post..I hate the Celtics as much as anyone but if today I had a pick of prime Lebron or. Bird (ignoring lcareer longevity which if not ignored admittedly points to Lebron) I would lean towards Bird. And I would expect and respect pushback but not that I am just trying “ to make a point”.

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