Comments on: Knicks Morning News (2023.01.16)

By: Downtown Doogie Brown

Downtown Doogie Brown — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:51:57 +0000

I think the most apropos phrase for the 2022-2023 New York Knicks as currently constructed and playing is this:

“Greater than the sum of its parts.”

No superstars. And although there are many things about it that would typically make it seem as if it *shouldn’t* be working, well…….it seems to be working.

And that’s good ’nuff for me.

By: darules

darules — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:45:12 +0000

What’m I missing?

It’s a 7 man rotation, not really nine, and the minute, and scoring load on Randle and Brunson over the past month or so is stupid. I’m worried that the Thibs Effect is coming.

By: Owen

Owen — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:43:49 +0000

Kind of amazing that RJ is a -2 bpm guy right now. I see him as a 2 bpm guy long term but that’s a big move from where he is now.

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:17:33 +0000

The Obi thing is a huge bummer, albeit much less of one given how well Randle is playing. (For that matter, I wish we had Hali, but I also cannot complain about our current starter at PG.) I wonder what we’re going to do with him. I can’t imagine his trade value is all that high at the moment, given how poorly, and how little, he is playing right now.

By: Raven is a Big Black Bird

Raven is a Big Black Bird — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:03:14 +0000

Yeah Cyber, I was partly tongue-in-cheek. The fact is that previously we could shit on pretty much every player for multiple reasons (e.g., Randle for spins, jump-passes, bad shots, arguing with refs, sloppy D, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum). To have some players playing near their platonic ideals, and others doing reasonably well, is pretty fantastic. And I absolutely hold out hope (probably foolishly) for the various players on the team I made fun of earlier.

By: Early Bird

Early Bird — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:50:44 +0000

Yeah, I don’t think Brunson is the most point guard-y point guard. But he is an incredible scorer who makes the right passes with very few turnovers.

IQ is now over 50% inside the arc. Huge improvement since his rookie year—literally gone 40% to 50%.

RJ has improved offensively in my opinion. He’s at a career best 47.7% inside the arc and has a near career best TS% (53.1% to 53.5%) despite hitting only 33% of his 3s instead of 40% from the empty stadium year. Even if his current talent level is a 33% 3pt shooter, he can improve on that. He’s not where we need him to be but this is a pretty huge step forward. Hopefully he has another 1 or 2 in him.

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:46:29 +0000

Happy MLK day, everyone!

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:17:06 +0000

I’m more in D-Mar’s camp, Raven, although i agree with your comment. It’s that i don’t think you can have 10 players playing to the best hopes you had for them at the beginning of the season, right? So being Brunson, Randle and Mitch playing great, and Grimes and IQ surprising and getting to a new level, it’s the best outcome for all players that matter except for one. It’s RJ, he has been a disappointment given the expectations/potential, but i still have faith that he’ll improve a lot until the end of the season. I don’t think how Deuce, Obi and Hart play, makes such a difference, they’re bench players and i’m not saying good bench players are easy to find, but they’re definitely not hard to find. Good starters, on the other hand.

By: cybersoze

cybersoze — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 17:59:12 +0000

Yeah, i noticed too that Brunson and Randle were holding the ball a little more. It happened with Hart too. Can they be thinking about the all star selection? Brunson usually shares the ball and scores 20 to 24 pts, if he holds on to it a little more, he’ll score 28 to 32 pts which is better to earn him a place in the all star game. Same for Randle. I can’t be mad at them, it’s not like we have reliable scorers outside Brunson and Randle, and making the all star game is good for their career. Maybe they’ll feel more appreciated if they make it, and it’s understandable to try to get the recognition you think you deserve.

By: Raven is a Big Black Bird

Raven is a Big Black Bird — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 17:35:52 +0000

Oh Dmar, so much to complain about! Barrett’s lackluster play, Deuce’s failure to launch, Obi shriveling like the wicked witch, Brunson refusing to pass in to Mitch on the block (he’s actually also missed a few Grimes cuts under the basket, it’s clear that keeping his head up [and actively looking] for better distribution is his next iteration in terms of point guard growth, if there’s going to be any). Much of iHart’s play, not to mention how he’s being (mis)used.

Trying to harsh on Thibs, he had a few wonky minutes distributions but at the moment I’m not going to argue the nine-man rotation. I guess not taking the starters out at the end is something… and I’m not convinced Hart over Sims is a good idea.

What’m I missing?