[news.google.com] — Thursday, March 2, 2023 6:10:09 AM
Jalen Brunson, Knicks push winning streak to seven, starting to look like legitimate playoff team CBS Sports
[news.google.com] — Thursday, March 2, 2023 2:32:00 AM
Quentin Grimes snaps out of shooting slump in Knicks’ win New York Post
[news.google.com] — Thursday, March 2, 2023 2:06:41 AM
Knicks face the Heat, seek 8th straight win The Associated Press – en Espa?ol
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Knicks face the Heat, seek 8th straight win The Bakersfield Californian
[news.google.com] — Thursday, March 2, 2023 1:54:00 AM
Tom Thibodeau sees similarity between Jalen Brunson-led Knicks and 1990s teams Yahoo Sports
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:32:20 PM
Jacque Vaughn: Nets players ‘concerned about winning’ amid … New York Daily News
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:27:40 PM
Jalen Brunson Delights NBA Twitter as Knicks Blow Out Cam Johnson, Nets Bleacher Report
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:22:00 PM
Knicks destroy Nets in statement win for seventh straight victory New York Post Knicks 142, Nets 118: Scenes from a symphony of bucket-getting Posting and ToastingEastern Conference Recaps, Mar. 1: The New York Knicks Scored 47 First Quarter Points In Victory Against Nets Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:17:44 PM
Brunson scores 39, Knicks rout Nets 142-118 for 7th straight Times Union
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:17:38 PM
N.Y. Knicks 142, Brooklyn 118 Thehour.com
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N.Y. Knicks 142, Brooklyn 118 mySA
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Jalen Brunson is all in on the Patrick Kane Rangers hype ClutchPoints
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 7:00:00 PM
Watch Live: Brooklyn Nets at New York Knicks, 7:30 PM EST on YES Network Nets Daily
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 5:24:19 PM
Knicks Steadily Rising In Power Rankings Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 5:04:09 PM
Trade Madness: Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders And Devils Spent February Making Notable Moves Forbes
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 4:37:55 PM
Bucks, Celtics battling, Knicks rising in NBA Eastern Conference NBC Sports
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BetMGM Bonus Code TOPACTION Drives $1,000 Value for Nets … The Action Network
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 4:15:39 PM
Who exactly are these ‘pretty damn good’ Knicks? Empire Sports Media
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 4:05:12 PM
New York Knicks Make Two Roster Moves On Wednesday Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 3:04:00 PM
MSG to roll out streaming service for Knicks, Rangers at $10 per game, $30 a month New York Post
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 2:30:33 PM
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[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 2:26:08 PM
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[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 2:06:13 PM
How Knicks’ Immanuel Quickley is making the case for Sixth Man of the Year Yahoo Sports
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 1:51:59 PM
Knicks, Rangers, Islanders games will now be available to stream … AMNY
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 11:13:52 AM
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[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:47:12 AM
MSG Networks to launch streaming service for Knicks, Rangers games CNBC
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:40:15 AM
MSG+ launching this summer to stream games for Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, more The Athletic
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:30:48 AM
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[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:06:12 AM
Pod Strickland: Episode 275 The Strickland
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 9:25:29 AM
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[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 8:51:51 AM
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MSG+ to Stream Knicks, Rangers Games Online for $10 Each Sportico
[news.google.com] — Wednesday, March 1, 2023 8:00:00 AM
3 reasons the Knicks can win a first-round playoff series Daily Knicks
198 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2023.03.02)”
Hooray!
7th Heaven for our beloved Knicks that shattered the Nets to smithereens with an 81-points first half, lead by Brunson unreal play (30 points, 8-9 2FG, 4-5 3FG) and the suddenly sharpshooting Grimes (14 points, 4-5 3FG).
They weren’t so sharp after the break (5 TOs in the 1st half, 11 in the 2nd) but at the same time they never flinched (the Nets never went closer than 17) and for the third straight game our collective fears of a collapse never materialized.
We’re not accustomed to “easy” wins but this team is rolling at full speed, a well oiled collective where everyone can have his moments with a couple of guys ready to put another gear if needed.
They will not win every game and, from a “star-power” point of view, in the playoffs we’re going to be underdogs against a bunch of teams, but this team is fun, gritty, lovable, united and never quit (and it’s a lot better than the 2020-21 surprising team).
It’s a nice experience after last year’s disaster and two decades of shame (with few exceptions), so let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
Next: South Beach baby! For a meeting with the Heat that is important as much as a single game can be at this point of the season.
The Heaties will be bloodthirsty, while the recent winning streak put us in a well balanced spot: a win would be another statement to the League, a loss nothing to be worried about (or not too much). Let’s see…
Plays Of The Game
1 Qrt 3:49 Isaiah Hartenstein makes 6-foot two point shot (Jalen Brunson assists BRK 21 NY 30)
1 Qrt 3:29 Royce O’Neale misses 23-foot three point jumper
1 Qrt 3:27 Isaiah Hartenstein defensive rebound
1 Qrt 3:06 Isaiah Hartenstein makes hook shot (Josh Hart assists BRK 21 NY 32)
1 Qrt 2:50 Seth Curry misses 25-foot three point jumper
1 Qrt 2:48 Isaiah Hartenstein defensive rebound
1 Qrt 2:43 Jalen Brunson misses running pullup jump shot
1 Qrt 2:41Isaiah Hartenstein offensive rebound
1 Qrt 2:38 Julius Randle makes 26-foot three point jumper (Isaiah Hartenstein assists BRK 21 NY 35)
First of all this Knicks 7-0 run marked the last time the Nets were at single digit distance.
Second, I want to shout-out one of the supporting cast’s member.
In 71 seconds, just entered in the game, I-Hart had 4 points, 3 boards and 1 assist. Not bad for your backup center.
3 Qrt 3:00 Mikal Bridges makes driving layup (Royce O’Neale assists BRK 85 NY 103)
3 Qrt 3:00 Julius Randle shooting foul
3 Qrt 3:00 Mikal Bridges makes free throw 1 of 1 (BRK 86 NY 103)
3 Qrt 2:53 Jalen Brunson makes driving layup (BRK 86 NY 105)
Bridges’ and-1 put the Nets down “only” 17, the smallest Knicks’ lead of the quarter.
At that moment Brunson hadn’t take a shot in the 3rd, but he’s the Little General and he knows when he’s needed.
The Nets never got so close again.
Stats Of The Day
20-35 (57.1%). Knicks’ 3FG%.
46-31. Knicks’ lead in rebounds. Another dominating game under the boards.
14-21 (66.7%). Grrrrrrrr…
Grades
Brunson A+
Gave us a scare when he lock knees with Bridges early in the first, then went on to break the post-ASG spell with a virtuoso performance.
39 points on 15-18 shooting (5-6 3FG), 5 rebounds, 6 assists. He could have gone for 50 easily, but it wasn’t needed so he took only 4 shots in the second half.
What a player.
Randle A-
Set the tone with his passing in the 1qrt, his attention level looked a bit low, but the numbers are there (21, 8, 8) despite too many TOs (4). And he would get a pass anyway because in the era of “rest management” (have I mentioned how much I hate it?) the man always play*.
Barrett B-
Average game with some nice things, some bad things but without the usual bouts of unnerving brain freeze? Okay, average game.
Robinson A
Career best 4th consecutive double-double (13,10, 6-6 FG), he returned from the injury with renewed energy.. cardio’s good Mitch, cardio’s good (but 47.7% on free throws is really bad dude…).
Grimes A
Glue was on fire (6-9 3FG) and the good news is that he took 12 shots (he was under-10 in the last 8 games).
Quickley A-
“The Candidate” isn’t missing a beat this days, 9th consecutive double-digit game from the bench… plus everything else.
Hart A-
Uh, only 4 points, a bad game right? No! 4 REBs, 5 ASTs, 2 STLs, 1 (great) BLK, 2 coast-to-coast, +30… I know it has to end but 7 games and 7 wins since he’s here…
Hartenstein B+
8 Pts 8 Rebs 3 Asts 1 (fantastic!) BLK…
The Hart Foundation shares one trait: they’re always in the thick of things, even if I-Hart results are usually more mixed than J-Hart’s ones…
Toppin C+
The missed dunk was baaaaaaad and lose him 500 “trust-points” with Thibs. He used to be the energizer from the bench, now in too many games he’s not close to what IQ and The Hart Foundation bring…
Thibs B
Sorry, we’re doing great, he’s doing a very good job, he’s going to the bench earlier, mixing his lineups really well and showing some flexibility.
But you can’t have JB (banged knee and always beat up), Mitch (prone to strange falls and injuries) and Julius (who did play the entire 1st and 3rd quarters), still in the game until 2:56 remaning… when you’re up by 29! You just can’t.**
This was Old Thibs, the new Bearded one has shown he can be better…
*
On the same theme kudos to Mikal Bridges who hasn’t miss a game since coming to the league (!!)
**
ASG is passed, no need to pump their statistics now…
Rivers is still living on his Boston’s title and he has more playoffs collapses (series lost after being up 3-1) than any coach in history.
So my answer to Brian’s question is “yes”.
While we’re on Philly, Sam Amick and Kelly Iko on the Athletic wrote that Harden will probably decline his option and, incredibly, it’s not so far fetched that he can be back in Houston (!!)
If, and it’s a big if, this happen, I’m eager to watch Embiid’s reaction.
Are you ready for a summer of trade whispers?
🙂
Such a great point, Brian, particularly the dead duck bounce. That’s what got our hopes so high and also what deflated us when it turned out to be unsustainable.
At the same time, it offered a glimpse of what could be if we actually got good PG play. Brunson essentially turned us back into that team we all loved, but he isn’t going away.
(1)
I survived Day 1, Jowles. And I even got E to follow me. You’re welcome.
PS – White Claws? Really?
(2)
The other great thing about that game is that while we understandably got sloppy in the second half with such a big lead, the offense didn’t fall apart when Brooklyn started doubling Brunson on every possession. The problem with the empty gym team is that once Atlanta figured out how to neutralize Randle, we were cooked. We now seem built to withstand that kind of defense, especially since Brunson is a more than willing passer under this circumstance.
A few weeks ago we were the cardiac Knicks — every game seemed like it went down to the last minute or two, and even though we seemed to win most of them, those games always had me thinking of the old Daryl Morey quote which went something like “great teams don’t win close games – great teams don’t even have close games”. I mean we are wiping the floor with teams right now – it is basically inconceivable to my brain.
Last 10 games – we are 2nd in net rating at +12.3 (!) behind Milwaukee, who has won 15 games in a row.
Last 15 games – we are 3rd in net rating at +7.1 behind MIL/CLE
Last 20 games – 7th in net rating at +3.5 -> this includes a bunch of games with Mitch missing.
Last 41 games (half a season!) – SECOND in net rating at +5.9 behind just Denver. This coincides roughly with the change to the 9 man rotation. Record = 27-14 which I would imagine is worse than the Pythagorean wins based on that net rating (the Chicago/Dallas/Clippers games easily could’ve been wins I suppose).
This team is freaking good.
The x-factor for us is Mitch – he takes us from ok to great. When he’s on the floor we are a +9.5, and when he’s off, a -0.1. And even though NBAwowy is gone, my sense is that his presence unlocks RJ, who generally looks lost without a lob threat freeing up the middle of the defense off that pistol action.
Great pod yesterday by Jonathan Macri + Fred Katz – they were talking about how this team – while it doesn’t have a capital S superstar, has a bunch of really good players, and exactly zero bad players. Two years ago – if you doubled/tripled Randle, you had Reggie Bullock who can’t dribble and Payton who couldn’t do anything, making life so easy on the defense. Now we have the two-headed primary ballhandler monster in Randle or Brunson, and if you swing to the weak side, you have Grimes or RJ, both of whom can shoot it or make a play off the bounce, plus Mitch’s gravity pulling the defense in and his offensive rebounding gobbling up any misses. And that’s not even taking into account Josh Hart and Quickley.
Speaking of Quickley – in that same 41 half-season sample since the change to the 9 man rotation:
Per-36: 17.5 points, 4.5 reb, 3.6 assists vs 1.2 turnovers
TS 59.2, 18.6 usage
Shooting 46.6/38.1/79.6
6MOY all the way
This team is freaking good.
Also, Alan, in 2021 it was really hard to imagine what Randle could have done to adjust to that defense other than to hit impossible shots (which is what he tried to do). It was basically him, Alec Burks, and Derrick Rose out there going 3 on 5. Dude must be itching to get back into the playoffs with Jalen, Mitch, and the new IQ.
(3)
Great win! Can we win in Miami to put them 4.5 games behind? With 17/18 games to play it’ll be very hard for them to get back and challenge the 5th seed.
Just another nugget on how good we’ve been the last 10 games.
We’re 9-1 with a +12.3 net rating.
The 10 games we’ve played have been against teams with a combined 341-280 record (counting every team’s current record — ie we played Philly twice so I counted their 40-21 record twice, BKN’s 34-28 twice also) and an average net rating of +1.24. We’ve been doing this against a very difficult run of opponents.
We’ve played precisely zero true tanking teams — worst record during that time is Orlando, which has been quite good (offset somewhat by how bad Brooklyn has been since the trade of course).
Hubert using up his daily allotment VERY early.
In my surprisingly prescient preseason prediction post, I predicted the Heat would fall out of the top 6 and Jimmy Butler would be the next superstar who agitates for a trade. I did not predict that we’d be atop his list, but clearly we would be now.
RJ + Evan + enough picks to get it done? He’s 34, but damn does he fit.
(4)
I’d like to add that Randle has improved too, he now looks to pass the ball most of the time when he faces a double team. We’re definitely a lot better than in 2020-21, but the east is also a lot better, as you said on the last thread, so we really don’t know what we’re going to get in the playoffs. But hey, just cruising to the 5th seed, or even being able to steal the 4th seed from the Cavs, is a great time for us. Let’s enjoy this!
Katz: “ All of a sudden, that Knicks-Cavaliers game at the end of March looks like it could have some real meaning”
Damn right it does.
Question of the day: knowing what we know now about the seasons Brunson and Randle would have — and that the team as a whole would actually seem to be One Star Away — would you have made the Spida trade? Or would that just be too incompatible a fit with Brunson in the backcourt?
Yup, it’s one of those days, Alan. I’m very excited this morning. Just had my cappuccino. The Knicks are good. The Rangers are good. It feels like 1994 in this bitch.
I’m going to tell you guys all the trick to Hubie, btw. It’s very, very simple: Don’t troll me when I’m caffeinated.
I drink one, sometimes two, cappuccino’s in the morning. In the 90-120 minutes that follow, I have very little control of my emotions. Usually this is when I’m most creative and have my best professional ideas.
But if you get your hook in me during this time, chances are I’m going be in for the long run. Any transgression that occurs after 10:30 in the morning, though, will likely roll off my back.
The stats back this up. Per Cleaning the Blog, my True Fighting percentage before 10:30am is .702. To put that in perspective, over his three year peak, Tucker Carlson’s average TF% was .687.
From 10:30-12:00, my TF% drops to .450. And after lunch I’m at a paltry .125. You can spit on my grandmother’s grave at 4pm and I’ll be serene AF.
Well, that’s my allotment for the day. I’ll hang up and listen. Go Knicks.
(5)
EDIT: answer to your Spida question is no, I would not have made the trade. There’s a better guy out there for us. We need to use our ammo to acquire the player we thought RJ would be.
Nothing has changed in my thinking about the Spida trade. This team needs a big, two-way wing. Spida is good, but too small and bad on D to pair with Brunson.
Yeah I agree with Rama. Brunson and Mitchell would be too redundant and defense would be an issue.
Plus I’ve fallen in love with this roster and if we gave up Grimes or IQ to get Spida I’d be very sad.
Hubert,
I just wish Jimmy Butler was even 3 years younger. I would be so worried about getting someone who is 34 as our last big piece. But man, I do love me some Jimmy Buckets for sure.
Here is a weird thought/question. Thibs is closing out games with Brunson, IQ, HART, Randle and Mitch. Does it make sense to start those 5 in the playoffs? I’m a little worried Thibs has painted himself into a Elf like corner where he now can’t make that adjustment (especially with RJ) because it would be too big of a locker room shake up. I don’t think Grimes would honestly care but I could see RJ getting all sour puss about being moved to the bench. But that is our best 5 man line up. Or do people think the rotations make more sense keeping it the way we are now?
Hubert, no way Riley makes that trade unless he knows Butler is cooked and it’s a poison pill
Basically all the superstar 3s we would want are too old and injury-probe anyway – Butler, Kawhi, PG. That’s why the interest in OG and Mikal – not at the same level, but on a more compatible time-frame. Though we aren’t likely to get them, either.
The Nets have so many decent big wings, it’s a shame we won’t deal with each other.
I was against the trade, for the price and for backcourt’s fitting reasons, and I’m still okay with it.
The small backcourt would’ve been a problem against Boston and Milwaukee and I’d rather keep my powder dry for a chance that, just an as example, Embiid will ask out (or Luka, or one of Kawhi and PG-13 and so on).
A lot of things changes quickly in today’s environment, look at the Nets…
Great posts, Frank. You left out one eye-opening stat:
For the entire season, we are now 4th in ORtg. 4th! GTFOOH!
That we’re doing that while being 21st in eFG% is ridiculous. That’s gotta be close to some kind of record for that disconnect.
“The Nets have so many decent big wings, it’s a shame we won’t deal with each other.”
It’s a double shame because you know they are going to move a couple of guys. All they wanted to do in the Kyrie/Durant trades was collect assets (and did quite well for themselves). In the offseason, they’ll rebuild a coherent team.
BTW someone posted yesterday that we were down in the 20’s in opponents 3pt%, which was not true….we are 5th.
That’s 3rd, 6th and 5th, coming up on 8,000 opponent’s 3PA in the three years and 218 games of the Tom Thibodeau administration, or in other words, around the same amount of 3’s Steph Curry has taken in his entire career.
But that’s just the ISM! It’s all an illusion! We are leaving guys wide open and they are just missing! Regression to the mean is going to hit us hard any day now…..any day now….any day….
The Mitchell trade never made sense other than desperation for a star. In fact, anyone that was for it in the media or on the Knicks beat lost points in my book as a basketball analyst. The fact that we were even very close to making the deal worried me about the front office way more than some of the things people have been obsessed with, like losing 2 cents on the dollar in a pick trade.
@swifty
I’m okay with this starting-5, as long as Thibs is able to keep a very short leash on RJ.
He’s already going with the bench a little bit earlier these day, and playing RJ less, so if he thinks RJ will be hopelessly wounded by the demotion I let him manage the situation.
In short, in the playoffs my limit for RJ is 2 consecutive “bad” mistakes (being them forced shots, dumb turnovers or mental lapses on defense).
Everyone can miss a shot or lose the grip on a ball, but we need to avoid his too frequent prolonged breaks.
Yeah, that team doesn’t make any sense as currently constituted, but some savvy trades of their excess wings should theoretically make them make a whole lot more sense next season and, holy fuck, Mikal Bridges looks so fucking good as a guy to build around.
Comparing this team to the 20/21 team.
Brunson vs. Elf – it’s laughable to even make this comparison
Grimes vs. Bullock – I think Grimes is better though I guess you could argue Bullocks was the more reliable 3 point shooter and had more experience as a vet. But I still say slight edge to Grimes
RJ vs. RJ – so yeah, this one hurts because I think RJ was probably better that year than he has been this year but maybe that’s just relative to the success of the rest of the team? RJ probably has more developed skills than he did that year but mentally, I think RJ was in a better place that year. Still, RJ this post season has a chance to far exceed what he did that post season.
Randle vs. Randle – Randle was a monster that year. But he’s playing in a more sustainable way this year and mentally, I think he’s going to be better prepared for the playoffs.
MItch vs. Noel – Mitch was hurt for those playoffs so not gonna even compare him against himself. But Mitch is WAY better than Noel. Noel was good defensively no doubt. Mitch is probably still better and a way better offensive threat, even if limited. I am worried about the free throws, though. Hack a Mitch is gonna be a thing.
Bench
IQ vs. D Rose – look, D Rose was amazing. One of the only bright spots we had that post season. He was the reason we went on that tear. But IQ has had an amazing run. Defensively, I think IQ is a step up. Offensively, he’s probably a slight step down from D Rose but I don’t think it’s much.
HART vs. Burkes – I think this is a wash but mainly because HART brings different things to the table than Burkes. If he is shooting well, I think HART is better but Burkes was legitimately great for us. Up until we got HART, Burkes was the guy I wished we had not given up.
OBI vs. OBI – so I think this is a wash. Obi was a rookie but he did start to come into his own near the end of that season and had some nice moments in the playoffs. This season he’s kind of a non factor. But he’s probably slightly better all around than he was his rookie year.
IHART vs. TAJ – Yeah loved TAJ. He did so much for us. But I think IHart is better.
Also, keep in mind Noel got hurt in the playoffs so we actually ended up starting TAJ for I think the last 3 games?
In conclusion, we are definitely, if we can all stay healthy, way better than that team.
I really hope Thibs will give Brunson and Randle a break though. We need them rested up and ready for hte playoffs.
I still can’t believe just how much they offered. It was kind of nuts.
I agree that the Mitchell trade didn’t make sense, and I don’t think it makes all that much more sense even knowing Randle was going to improve so much this season or that Brunson would also improve a good deal. They really are better off using their assets to get a bigger wing/2 than Mitchell. Bridges would fit in so perfectly.
I’m still not sure what to make of Miami. The defense is excellent and it feels like they should be able to score enough with Butler, Bam and Herro, but it’s hard to get a line on them with all the injuries. They also don’t seem to have enough depth or at least consistent depth. Either way, with that defense we better show up prepared on BOTH ends Friday if we want any chance of putting a nail in their coffin. That’s a big game for them. They are going to show up ready.
We’re going to have plenty of time to talk about What Ifs with Spida since in all likelihood that’s our first round matchup. So much ink will be spilled….
Things that have changed since 2020-21:
-We have a rotation full of players that are well-suited for their roles
-There is not one “merc” in the rotation by any sensible definition
-Mitch has been mostly healthy and is an absolute monster in his role
-Brunson is an all-star level PG and perfect spiritual leader
-IQ has matured into a 6MoY-type player
-iHart is a solid backup
-JHart is one of the best utility players in the league
-Grimes is a very solid 2-way starting 2, better than Bullock
-No one is doing anything unsustainable compared to their career numbers, e.g Randle and RJ shooting 40+% from 3
-We have non-rotation players that can fill in reasonably well to tide us over when necessary
-We have a more flexible and modern offense
-RJ is the new Elfrid
-We are 4th on ORtg vs. 23rd
Things that have NOT changed:
-Thibs is one of the best coaches in the NBA and deserves CoTY consideration
-Randle and RJ do a lot of stupid shit
-Mitch is a disaster from the FT line
-We are vulnerable to teams with elite length
-We don’t get blown out, like ever
-We play at a slow pace
-Thibs will play starters when we are up 50 with a minute left
-We have an excellent defensive game plan
@hubert…i was thinking the same thing…summer of ’94 vibes…a little early but its taking shape…
LEAVE TOM THIBODEAU ALONE!!!!
(1)
one of my favorite knick periods was Hubie Brown time and his reliance on our 2nd unit to outplay the other team’s 2nd unit…this squad reminds me of that period…if only Obi wasn’t such a wimp…we’d have a huge advantage against most of the east except BOS and MIL…
“They really are better off using their assets to get a bigger wing/2 than Mitchell. Bridges would fit in so perfectly.”
They may have to overpay a bit for the right player and he may not even be an “all star” caliber player, but that’s what they need. There’s a gamble in overpaying a bit in that it would probably make us a ~50 win team, but we’d use up all our excess assets and maybe some of our own. Then we’d be at that stage where we could only tweak the team and get some further internal development. It’s not like that’s a bad situation, but it would be nice if we could get the right piece at a price that makes sense and still have a little left over…just in case an all star wing wants out.
I feel down on RJ right now after defending him for a few years, but there’s always a chance he inches forward, accepts his smaller role, and becomes more efficient and useful. Then he can either keep growing or be a useful trade piece.
LOL, E.
And Z-man, I would say Randle does stupid shit significantly less often than last year or in 20-21. He’ll always have a few of those plays per game where you want to make the LeBron glaring at JR Smith face, but not nearly as often, and they’re now coming amid a lot of really smart passing. Some high-risk, high-reward play now.
by the way – the craziest thing about Brunson last night – it’s not like he was putting up these numbers on Trae Young. As I understand it (and I watched very little of the game), they had Bridges on him much of the time in that supernova first half. So forget the thing about him having trouble against long wings.
Agree with Hubert on Jimmy Butler. Great player, getting too old, misses lots of games, and his contract is horrendous. Granted, haven’t watched much Miami this year, but I also get the sense that his defense is not quite what it used to be.
We really just need RJ to reach his 70th percentile outcome. Right now he’s more like 30th percentile. The thing is – it’s in there. You can see flashes of better decision making when he has the ball in his hands, and there have definitely been stretches during which his defense has been pretty good. If he can shoot 38% on spot-up open 3’s, average 4-5 assists per 36, and not be a sieve on defense, he might just be good enough.
With the 11th pick we’re going to get from Dallas this year, are there any guys that might be better than RJ?
“The Mitchell trade never made sense other than desperation for a star.”
I was in my car listening to NBA radio when the Mitchell to Cavs trade went down, and I almost cried tears of joy. Hated the idea of it and it was a terrifying time for me during that entire courtship. Fuck Danny Ainge.
And now that we are crawling up their ass in the standings, I couldn’t be happier that it never came to fruition.
And it’s not that I don’t like Donovan Mitchell. He’s an amazing player! It just reeked of the Melo fiasco that put a hard ceiling on the team for the duration of his contract.
Listen
If we win in Miami tomorrow night, I will officially be jumping out the window over this squad- with a running start! LOL
I know people are gonna wanna downgrade last night’s win because the Nets no longer have KD and Kyrie. But it was the fact that we won that’s impressive- IT’S HOW. First of all, the Nets are still formidable, and this is why Jacque Vaughn has to show some real coaching chops- because the team is still deep and talented, with length and shooting. If we didn’t have a Brunson and Randle, I would love to have that roster with Thibs at the helm. That team is not a pushover.
What I love about the way the team played, is Brunson led with that “this is our city” fire in his eyes- and he pretty much has had that look in every game against the Nets this season. He takes real pride in being a Knick, and the other players followed suit last night. So for me, it’s more about the how than the what we did last night. I expected a win..but not a end to end blowout. That was impressive. Shit..we win tomorrow? WINDOWS BEWARE!
LOL
“Yeah, that team doesn’t make any sense as currently constituted, but some savvy trades of their excess wings should theoretically make them make a whole lot more sense next season and, holy fuck, Mikal Bridges looks so fucking good as a guy to build around.”
The three obvious keepers are Claxton, Bridges and Cam Johnson. Everyone else is trade bait, although you could do worse that to keep any of them.
I still think the guy is PG. Yes he has injury concerns, but he’s perfectly comfortable playing off the ball, career 38% high volume 3 point shooter, 85% from the line, and is the Big Wing we need against the Durants of the world. And his contract is more palatable than Butler ($45 and $49MM in 23-24 and 24-25, roughly same as Butler, but Butler still has a player option at $52MM in 25-26). Butler is great, but his inability to shoot 3s definitely changes the equation when designing an offense.
If the Clips flame out in round 1 this year (or even the play-in – never know how tanktastic Russ can make a team!), I can possibly imagine them looking to reset — although PG is really an LA guy, not sure he would be very happy moving east.
The only thing I didn’t like about the game was Brunson and Randle’s minutes. The game was never in doubt so guys like Deuce and/or Rose, and Obi should have gotten more burn. I don’t if Fournier was available, but if he was- he should have gotten some burn too
One thing that has been a pleasant surprise about Leon Rose is that it turns out he’s not a starfucker. He has had several opportunities to make the crippling faux-superstar Isiah Thomas trade and has passed on them. You could say this is a low bar for the guy to hurdle, but it’s a bar that pretty much all of our former GMs tripped over. Considering Leon’s background as a CAA mega-agent, you’d think he’d be especially prone to this kind of blunder. But no! He has put together a team of lunch pail guys.
Knicks are up to 4th in offensive rating as of today.
“I’m still not sure what to make of Miami. The defense is excellent and it feels like they should be able to score enough with Butler, Bam and Herro, but it’s hard to get a line on them with all the injuries.”
What’s killing them is that Kyle Lowry is totally washed. And he’s on the books next year for $30M. Good luck dumping that salary!
I probably wouldn’t have made the trade either for fit reasons. But the other reason everyone agreed that it was a bad idea is because we would t have had enough ammo left to bring in a a second star. And now it seems like we have two good approximations of that on the housing already.
But yes, I’d much rather find a great two-way big wing in the off-season. Even if RJ manages to hit his 70th percentile, he’s still small for a 3, especially since he’s not quick or a leaper. A guy who can play anywhere from 2-4 — or 3-5 — defend well and hit open shots from outside would be perfect. And for now, Hart is a pretty good approximation of that, despite being even shorter than RJ.
“And it’s not that I don’t like Donovan Mitchell. He’s an amazing player! It just reeked of the Melo fiasco that put a hard ceiling on the team for the duration of his contract.”
He’s an offensive juggernaut, but I’m still a big believer in defense come playoff time. I think teams would have taken turns targeting some of our weak links and it would have been a major problem in the playoffs. I wanted a defender next to Brunson. So between that and the very high price, I hated the idea. Part of why I’ve been whining about RJ is that his defense has been disappointing. We need to get better on that end. Mitch helps.
“BTW someone posted yesterday that we were down in the 20’s in opponents 3pt%, which was not true….we are 5th.”
These are two different ways of saying the same thing. We’re 5th in opponent 3PT% vs opponents are 25th in 3PT% against us.
The fact that we’re as good as we are with RJ being a near-total dud is incredible. Just about all of the best case scenarios I considered before this season required a breakout from him.
There are many reasons it turned out we didn’t need one (though it would still be quite nice, RJ, if you’re reading this)–Randle and Brunson exceeding the most optimistic expectations and IQ and Mitch both having something akin to breakouts chief among them.
In any event, it’s put us in a situation where you can really dream on this team’s future if we’re able to put a productive player in RJ’s spot.
All the concerns about Butler are warranted…but it would be hard for me to resist, provided the price made sense. I mean I’ve always irrationally liked him–love the story and think he’s a work ethic outlier–but he’s objectively still *damn* good and I think he’ll do everything he can to remain that way for as long as possible.
Paul George would definitely be a great fit…but if the Clippers blow it up our primary target should be the other guy. Kawhi Leonard is *the* ideal RJ replacement. I don’t love the idea of having to put up with all the Kawhi weirdness, especially given how great our chemistry/culture seems to be, but I mean, he’s Kawhi. We can make it work.
Guys like OG and Bridges would be great but it seems like the bidding for them is going to get out of control. Would probably rather keep the powder dry if some of the rumored offers are true.
I’d argue that Mike K’s post about the problem of Randle playing well applies more to RJ – if he achieves his 70th percentile outcome, you won’t want to trade him. The difference between him and Randle is that Randle is an elite athlete – I mean, he’s just stronger and faster than most 4s in the game. So the best version of him, while still flawed, can hang with the best competition. RJ simply cannot. He is too short, too slow, too unathletic. So while I never felt we should trade Randle (especially last season, when his value was below 0), I think we absolutely have to trade RJ if he starts playing well.
Of course, I thought that this summer and argued hard for it, but even more so if he starts playing well and we can get PG or the like next summer – the best version of RJ is cromulent, not dominant, and if we want to contend, we need better.
Waited all this time to be able to troll Hubert at the right time, but now i don’t know what i was going to say. 😀
I played some of the guitars on this tune. This is what the kids of today refer to as a “banger.” Regretfully this is the only song on which I appear on this record, but it’s also maybe the best song on the record. The stuff Yves Tumor is doing seems like a real path forward for the rock music of the future to me.
https://youtu.be/tsOi9znJmEo
“These are two different ways of saying the same thing. We’re 5th in opponent 3PT% vs opponents are 25th in 3PT% against us.”
Oh, I see that now. Here’s what you wrote:
“It’s worth nothing that while there still seems to be some kind of ISM effect, we’re now 22nd in opponent 3PT% which is obviously still “good” but no longer screams “smoke and mirrors.””
My point is that it NEVER screamed smoke and mirrors and there is NOT some kind of ISM effect. We have a Steph Curry’s career worth of attempts as evidence. How much more evidence does one need to not see that it’s an intentional and effective approach to defense that is responsible for 3 straight years of elite opponent’s 3pt%? To say otherwise at this point is just as far-fetched as saying that Steph Curry has been kind of getting lucky bounces over his entire career.
This is nothing like RJ and Julius going nuclear from 3 in 2020-21 when arenas were empty. The period for attributing it to luck and variance has long passed. It’s a thing.
hubert asked me to kindly remind cyber that he’s been raring for exactly this fight ever since those two portuguese foreign exchange students kidnapped him inside a beaver creek gondola and absconded with the Amazon stock certificates he’d unfortunately been keeping in his fanny pack since its ipo due to a general distrust of the depository trust corporation so consider very carefully what you say next
nil/5
I reserve the right break my limit any time Z-Man blatantly and shamelessly trolls me without provocation. So y’all might want to keep that little bitch in line before he ruins yet another great day for everyone with his latest narcissistic endeavor.
(6)
@Alan: As one of us that would do the trade* i now can say i wouldn’t do it if i knew this team could play at the level they’re playing right now. I don’t remember who were the other posters in favor of the trade to ask them if they’ve changed their mind too.
* – people keep bringing that Spida is 6’1 forgetting he has a 6’10 wingspan (!?), and for the record Grimes is at 0.4 DBPM, RJ is at -1.8 (so what else is new?) and Spida is at 0.8.
I was listening to Yves Tumor on KEXP just moments ago. Congrats JK, you are really dominating, like the Knicks. 😉
I’ve made it to a Milo comment. I’m dominating too. It looks like this is the time of our lives. Enjoy it to the full, brothers. 🥳
Per Hubert’s request we’re reviewing this comment to see if it’s a flagrant foul. 😀
Well, this was just a joke as i’m not a blog admin, thank God, i wouldn’t want that task. 😛 But i think that’s just the way Z-Man writes, it wasn’t to star a new war of words around here.
Oh, btw Hubert, i had a laugh with your Cleaning the Blog and TF% comment. It was funny. So whenever you’re on cappuccinos, you should alwyas try the comedy angle first. 😉 😀
OMG, am i also under the 5 comment rule? I’m going to be fined today! 😀 Maybe if we make several comments in a row, it all just counts as one? 😛
We’ve got 3 more games against the Heat coming up. We need to take at least one if we don’t want our lead to evaporate. But you’ve got to feel damn good about our chances against anyone right now.
Then we’ve got 1 game against Cleveland if we want to look at moving up.
JK has nothing but bangerz
Cyber, you’re definitely banned if it were up to me 🙂
Hubert, that sounds like a hell of a cappuccino. You’ll have to tell us where you get it.
CDiggy, if you’re out there and not taking every free moment to sleep, the Knicks are doing a fine job celebrating the birth of your kid. Go rub it in those Laker fans faces.
I only wanted to trade for Mitchell if we could have moved Randle or RJ in the deal. Mitchell Brunson would be an incredible backcourt but we would have had to rework our roster to add different forwards and we would have been fairly low on assets.
milo, sorry to say that was just me posing as two Portuguese foreign exchange students. I feel bad about the whole thing.
Hubert, sorry to say I sold the stock, but I bought some quite excellent cappuccino from the actual Capuchin monastery with the proceeds and would be happy to hook you up if you could disengage with Ultimate Letter Man
RJ needs to up his TS% by like 3 points to be a decent player, so it’s hard to write him off just yet. He’s got a 58.6 TS% post all star break maybe he’s turned the corner
“It’s a thing.”
So is Tom Thibodeau losing 4-1 in the first round to a lower seed twice in his last four playoff seasons.
(2)
What’s interesting about Hubert’s reaction is:
1) There is a pretty wide swath of posters who were strong proponents of the ISM hypothesis over a long period of time
2) Some of those posters have even recently been mocking those who felt otherwise by saying stuff like “guess we’re not ‘funnelling” so well tonight…” when opponents shot well from 3. Sound familiar? Yet I don’t recall anyone calling those posters “little bitches” or “narcissists” or “assholes” or “egomaniacs.” In fact, seems to me like they took it in stride. Same when the Mitch 80-20 proposition is roundly mocked…ever hear me going off on the character of folks who rub that in my face? Or even assume that it was directed specifically to trigger me?
3) My specific post today was in response to something TNFH said yesterday…I even included the quote in my clarifying post. It’s not like I brought it up out of the blue, or was responding to Hubert.
What’s also ironic is that Hubert self-imposed his 5-post limit to prevent him from doing exactly what he just did! It sort of underscores the irrational animus he has for me.
I’m not going to walk on eggshells wondering if anything I post is going to trigger Hubert in some way. If I make a comment poking fun at a widely-held past opinion, that’s totally within bounds and always has been.
“So is Tom Thibodeau losing 4-1 in the first round to a lower seed twice in his last four playoff seasons.”
This narrative was addressed yesterday, so no sense debating it again.
Yeah, Leon Rose’s best virtue may be patience in not falling prey to an expensive “all in” type of move. As JK noted, he’s not made a real bad trade for a “superstar.”
Maybe at times he’s patient to a bit of a fault, as in “punting” draft picks down the road, but he’s got a plan of sorts and is sticking to it.
So is Tom Thibodeau losing 4-1 in the first round to a lower seed twice in his last four playoff seasons.
Both times losing as a 4th seed to a 5th seed. Such an inane comment I am sure the board will allow you to not have it count as one of your 5 a day.
“Thibs is closing out games with Brunson, IQ, HART, Randle and Mitch. Does it make sense to start those 5 in the playoffs? I’m a little worried Thibs has painted himself into a Elf like corner…”
Valid concern but definitively not the same as the Elf 2020-21 situation where we fell behind double digits early in every game. We’re pounding teams and putting up silly offensive numbers early in the game and then finishing them up with defensive intensity, scraping, running and 3 point shooting.
This is a pretty dumb list, but here are the reg. season ORtg and DRtg rankings for all Finals teams going back to the first Warriors championship. Obviously the LeCleveland numbers are skewed by LeCoast and LeGMing, and rankings don’t say anything about margins, and they don’t say anything about tightened rotations in the playoffs, and injuries/garbage time in reg. and postseasons, but it seems like a lot of these teams are real good on one side of the ball and pretty good on the other. That last Cleveland finals team (which got destroyed in the Finals by -12.5 PPG) was so bad on D, but they still took out the #1 defense in BOS and the #5 defense in TOR (who were also #2 in ORtg)!
GSW 2nd & 1st
CLE 3rd & 18th
GSW 1st & 5th
CLE 3rd & 10th
GSW 1st & 2nd
CLE 3rd & 21st
GSW 3rd & 11th
CLE 5th & 29th (0 games without LeBron)
TOR 5th & 5th (22 games without Kawhi)
GSW 1st & 13th
LAL 11th & 3rd (36 games without AD)
MIA 7th & 11th
MIL 6th & 10th
PHX 5th & 9th
GSW 17th & 1st (18 games without Curry)
BOS 7th & 2nd
Z-Man was trolling me 1000%.
Here’s the deal, Ultimate Alphabet Man:
1. Never say my name.
2. Never bring up an argument we had in the past.
If you can do those two things, everything will be cool around here. And if you can’t, I’ll ask the other members of the board to keep him in line so I don’t have to.
Is that fair for everyone?
Cool.
(7)
And in terms of the closing lineup, Thibs has a lot of options, and has been deploying them. Injury and foul trouble aside, Brunson, Randle, and Mitch will always be on the floor at the end of games, but Thibs has the freedom to mix and match Grimes, RJ, IQ, and Hart on the wings, depending on the matchup, who has the hot hand, etc. There simply wasn’t that level of versatility in the empty gym squad, which was largely a question of whether Burks’ shot creation was more useful on a given night than Bullock’s stronger defense. And once an exhausted Rose moved into the starting lineup, there were no moves left with that roster. Where here we’re deep enough that we have two perfectly cromulent role players in Deuce and Evan — albeit one of them defense-only, and one offense-only — who can’t get off the bench, because we have so many guys who are at least non-terrible at both ends. (YMMV on Obi and RJ, of course.)
https://giphy.com/gifs/amazing-act-vanishing-D6rX4N8xzIoec
😀
LeBron getting that last bum ass Cavs team to the finals was a remarkable achievement.
“This narrative was addressed yesterday, so no sense debating it again.”
Let me guess — those weren’t “really playoff series”?
(3)
Both times losing as a 4th seed to a 5th seed.
This so much. I’m sure every fan of a 4th seeded playoff team has gone into the first round thinking “oh man! We’re going to destroy this 5th seeded team!”
Leon Rose’s hiring was officially announced 3 years ago today.
I’d say he’s roughly right on schedule…you?
So is Tom Thibodeau losing 4-1 in the first round to a lower seed twice in his last four playoff seasons.
So what you’re saying is that Thibs has a 500 record against 5th seeds when his team is the 4th seed? So when he faces a team that is basically just as evenly matched as his team, half the time he wins and half the time he loses?
WOW. Next thing you’re gonna tell me is when his team is the 8th seed, they almost always lose to the 1st seed! Or when his team is the 7th seed, they also lost almost always to the 2nd team but not quite as much as when he’s the 8th seed facing the 1st seed. And when his team is the 6th seed, they still lose to the 3rd seed more often than they beat the 3rd seed, but it’s better than when he’s the 7th seed or the 8th seed. THIS IS MIND BLOWING ANALYSIS!
What a positive impact Josh Hart had. It shows how much non-scoring things matter. He made 2 shots and incredibly affected the game.
I have absolutely nothing to say about any of this.
[1]
“Thibs is closing out games with Brunson, IQ, HART, Randle and Mitch.”
I like that closing lineup unless “hack a Mitch” becomes an issue. Then they may need to close out games with Hartenstein, or maybe go offense defense with Mitch and IHart. I have been screaming for a bigger more athletic 3 for years, but Hart seems to be very effective guarding bigger, taller wings. So has Grimes to a lesser extent. We’ll see what happens in the playoffs. I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but Thibs gave Obi some garbage time minutes at the 3 against the Pelicans. I hope that’s something they continue to experiment with as another option.
E is a very high volume low E-fficiency poster. If we could just get him to post within himself, it would take Knickerblogger to another level.
I saw the Obi at the 3 thing, too, GK, but couldn’t really draw any conclusions – not obviously good or bad yet
Hubert, I am not going to change anything about my posting on the basis of worrying about how it impacts your very fragile (and frankly, creepy) state of mind. You’re sounding like an obsessed stalker.
If you don’t like hearing about stupid shit you uttered in the past, don’t say stupid shit, and especially, don’t say it continually with the abrasive edge you have freely admitted to.
Rarely does a day go by when I am not profanely reminded of something stupid I said in the past by the Mona Lisa Vito clone that is my wife. If you are having this much of a breakdown over something as silly as ISM banter, marriage is definitely not for you!
“Donnie Walsh says:
March 2, 2023 at 12:45
I have absolutely nothing to say about any of this.
[1]”
Comment of the month, hands down!
As for the current state of the Knicks, go to NBA.com and look at the current standings. Then go to the drop down and click backward year by year to 2001 or so. If that task doesn’t beat the anhedonia out of you about the current team, nothing will – an almost entirely unmitigated run of abject suck the likes of which has apparently over time reduced some posters to incoherent chimps.
So many 37-win teams….
Why Hack-a-shaq sometimes worked was that Shaqs teams were always putting the ball in Shaqs hands. Mitch basically only has the ball when he’s about to dunk it or lay it in.
Mitch being a garbage FT shooter is absolutely a problem, but hack-a-mitch is not really a viable strategy
(shuffles back into room, hat in hand, eyes down)
Sorry everyone for my vitriol yesterday morning. Probably shouldn’t doom scroll four newspapers all day long. Closed down this site and did other things until now.
Came back to see Hubert take umbrage over something relatively mild and then Z–Man absolutely going nuclear with the insults.
Guys, you see that nobody gives a fuck about your little tiff, and in fact EVERYONE on the board hates it when you do this, because it trashes the experience for everyone else. You’re not going to convince each other, so who are you actually writing for? Not for us, as we hate it when you do this and want you to stop.
So that leaves only ego and onanism. Don’t do that in public.
It was a great game, by the way. And Nick, as long as you abide by the Cappuccino rules (I’ve put it as a daily reminder on my Outlook), your posting is safe here. Hope to see you more often.
Raven, I made a pointed sarcastic comment (with some attempt at humor) in response to TNFH’s fresh take on a previously widely-held position about ISM, and did not reference Hubert at all. Do I really need to list the broad swaths of posters who bought into the ISM?
It was also a comment that deserves an actual response, which I haven’t heard yet. Does anyone still believe that some massive regression to the mean is coming because three years and 8,000 3’s worth of data isn’t enough to disprove the ISM theory once and for all? Please feel free to weigh in!
As to Hubert, he broke his own self-imposed comment limit and went fucking ballistic on me when nothing, nothing I posted merited anything but a response to the point I made. When he, or anyone else, does that, I’m not going to ignore that. Sorry if that offends you or anyone else, but I doubt that any of you would stand for being called the things he called me without responding in kind.
If I make a comment without mentioning a name on some specific rogue position of Hubert’s, like that we should jump on Miles Bridges while he can be had at a bargain, then he (or anyone else) could accuse me of purposely triggering him.
That’s not the case today.
“anhedonia”, nice word Rama, had to look that one up. Knickerblogger has definitely expanded my vocabulary. Can’t wait to use that in a sentence.
Good point about the “hack-a-Mitch” strategy DRed.
Wait “onanism”? brb
Z-Man, your post was sarcastic, and humorous, and I got it, and even appreciated it. Unfortunately some folks take your posts as directed attacks.
Best to respond back with “My comment was in response to TNFH.” Leave the abrasive, creepy, fragile, obsessed stalker, stupid shit shit alone. Because, well, when you do that, it gives them ammo for thinking you’re always on the attack.
Will not be using that one in a sentence any time soon.
Grimes is 11/21 from 3 post-ASB. He was 5/12 (42%) before last night.
DRed, seems that the Shaq rule not in effect when Shaq was playing. In other words, you were allowed to foul him even off the ball with him getting 2 shots and not possession. It’s pretty amazing that it took so long to institute that rule. I love this background info in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack-a-Shaq#:~:text=Hack%2Da%2DShaq%20is%20a,purpose%20of%20lowering%20opponents'%20scoring.
Is it actually true that:
“The current version of the rule contains an additional disincentive to off-the-ball fouls: The free throws need not be attempted by the player who was fouled; the fouled team can choose any player on the court at the time as the shooter.”
I was unaware of this change.
Still, I could see teams employing the Hack-A-Mitch strategy both earlier in the game and on offensive/defensive rebounds. Definitely still a concern.
he had one stretch last yr or yr before where it looked he had gained some confidence at the line…ever since then he has become progressively horrid…looking at Chris Dudley type stuff if he doesn’t get coached up soon…
@raven…you do life coaching as a side hustle?
“Leave the abrasive, creepy, fragile, obsessed stalker, stupid shit shit alone. Because, well, when you do that, it gives them ammo for thinking you’re always on the attack.”
Sorry, if someone calls me a “little bitch” and “narcissist”, I’m not going to let it go. It sounds a bit surprising that you are seeming to say “Hey Z-man, when Hubert calls you horrific things because he thinks every post you make is a personal attack purposely directed at him, just clarify that your comment wasn’t directed at him, because, well, that’s just Hubert.”
Funny, Pepper. No, I just feel bad for poor traumatized Nick.
This place should be scary because of ptmilo, not for other reasons.
Thanks Raven.
This team reminds me a little of the 1999 team. I know our seeding is likely to be higher, but maybe we will exceed expectations once the playoffs start. Just like that squad.
“This team reminds me a little of the 1999 team. I know our seeding is likely to be higher, but maybe we will exceed expectations once the playoffs start. Just like that squad.”
Interesting…
I see some similarities. Especially in Camby and Mitch, scorers, and the overall team’s energy. And Van Gundy and Thibs, etc.
Last night’s performance by Brunson was truly eye-opening. Mikal Bridges seems like exactly the kind of DPoY candidate small wing defender that would give Brunson fits.
When Brunson is on, I don’t think anyone can stop him without throwing two guys at him…he has an answer for bigs, smalls, longs, quicks, zones…He’s not always on, but when he is, wow! He’s truly elite, like all-NBA level. He showed that last year in the playoffs against the Jazz. Even with Gobert backing him up, the Jazz had no answer for him. And seeing it game after game is such a joy!
I agree, because although we still had Ewing, he was no longer the player he once was. So the team was basically a group of very good players, and where we have Brunson, Grimes, Randle and Mitch, we had Houston, Spree, LJ and Camby. Thibs was already here. 😉
Being the 8th seed was a little misleading, because it was a lockout season of only 50 games. The team was better than the 8th seed, and proceeded to win 50 games and be the 3rd seed in the following season. And to reach the ECF once again. I’m hopeful this team can get to the ECF at least once in one of the next 4 playoffs. Maybe only after adding another important piece to the roster, this summer or the next.
it’s safe to come out from the covers and stop hiding from the knicks donnie…
these ain’t those old sad nicks, looking to disappoint at every moment…
come, enjoy the glow of fan love…
Here’s a fun question that I’m sure no one has any strong feelings about: is there a chance Leon Rose wins executive of the year?
Laughing at GK looking up onanism
that’s some top shelf posting right there…
“Here’s a fun question that I’m sure no one has any strong feelings about: is there a chance Leon Rose wins executive of the year?”
It depends on whether that award is decided before or after the playoffs. He should get ample consideration either way, but it the Celts win the title (heaven forbid!) you could give it to Stevens.
Beyond that, it’s sort of a weird award because team-building is always a multi-year process. If Denver wins, should the Denver FO be ineligible after their FO made the best 40+ pick in NBA history?
i wonder imagine cheating the system and getting fined a second would preclude leon from getting any fo recognition…
plus – you already know he ain’t showing up to receive the award – so why bother…
Exec of the year should go to Ainge for fleecing the crap out of Minnesota and Cleveland
Hey Geo, long time without sending you a music to hear, so here goes one. And they’re from near you, i think, they’re from Pomona.
https://heartworms.bandcamp.com/track/care
“plus – you already know he ain’t showing up to receive the award – so why bother…”
That’s funny!
“Beyond that, it’s sort of a weird award because team-building is always a multi-year process.”
Yeah, the way the voters have squared this circle is by informally barring back-to-back wins. Kleiman won it last year, so he won’t win it again despite the Grizzlies being good again.
You would think Calvin Booth of the Nuggets would be a natural candidate, and he might win, but as best I can tell his largest contribution to their current team is the signing of Bruce Brown.
Tim Connelly did all the important stuff e.g. draft Jokic, Murray, and MPJ and trade for Gordon. He will…presumably not be taking home the award, as the steward of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2022 offseason.
just had a flashback to a few years ago – sitting at my desk, high as can be, staring at one of your posts for like a good 20 minutes or so, cocking my head back and forth like the dog does, just wondering what the fuck was going on…
Cyber, I keep forgetting Thibs was there. So was Rick Brunson. lol
@JK: Do you have a bandcamp? Or your tunes are always for other people and you don’t have music under your “brand”? That you want to share, of course, i imagine you have lots of tunes you’re working on, or have worked at some point in the past.
that was nice cyber, thanks, i liked it…i see they’re over in the UK now…i’ll try to keep them in mind and see if i can catch them local…
Oh yeah, forgot about Rick. Well, then probably we also had young Jalen trying to hoop with the big guys. Like Randle’s kid is doing now, will he be on the Knicks 20 years from now? 😀
LOLOL. Best answer right there, and here i was dumbly trying to evaluate the pros and the cons.
speaking of young jalen…i see that Randle has his son stand with him during the national anthem..pretty cool…that kid must be stoked…
Koby Altman from Cleveland, as long as they finish ahead of us, would make sense to me
If the Suns win the championship, James Jones will definitely get it for bringing KD aboard.
LOL Thanks Geo 😀
I started skipping their posts.
[420]
I’ve drunk half of one White Claw and it was left over from last summer’s 36th birthday party, which was mostly populated by law students in their mid-twenties, as I have gone full Not-Sugar-But-Definitely-Daddy and have acquired blonde law-school Girlfriend Jowles ten years my younger. Those kids don’t know how or what to drink, I tell you. I also don’t know how to do a midlife crisis. We’re all just faking it, except for Donnie Walsh, who is in Supreme Control and I can tell. He has become my role model. I am overcaffeinated. No more edits.
[420.69]
Funny, geo – but yeah, no way Leon wins after Brunsongate. Altman seems like a good guess, but do they give it to the Fleecer or the Fleeced?
I’ve been working on a record of my own that I hope to complete this year. Here’s a SoundCloud playlist of some of the tunes that might be on that, this is me in singer-songwriter mode. I wish I had more time to work on my own music, but alas.
The other stuff on my SoundCloud page is just boring library music that I have up there for boring work reasons.
https://soundcloud.com/joekennedyla/sets/works-in-progress?si=9c5d282322c44d5b9b8972a5bcd59605&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Can’t believe Jowles is cheating on us with other lawyers
Peculiar but interesting piece in The Athletic about where the various middle-tier teams fare in the East, more looking long-term than this season. I’m not sure how to judge it, as while not random it’s not terribly scientific, but the Knicks come out well on top of the other six (Miami, Toronto, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Brooklyn), based on the author’s assessment of six categories.
Again, whatever, but nice to see one attempt to rank teams by where they can go in the future putting the Knicks on top.
https://theathletic.com/4266151/2023/03/02/nba-eastern-conference-middle/
The cutoffs for mid-tier teams are pretty interesting.
Indy is only 1 back of the Bulls and Orlando is only 3 back.
The Knicks are closer to the Cavs than any of the mid-tier teams and closer to Philly than any non-Nets or non-Heat team, and the Nets shouldn’t count.
But it’s fundamentally why I think Leon Rose has done a good job even if not every move was optimal.
LOL. Maybe she’s a Knicks fan and will join KB at some point. More litigators is what we need. 😀
It’s a promising sound, thanks for sharing.
If he keeps playing like this for the rest of the season, is there even a chance he could make an All-NBA team? There are so many good guards in the league, and IIRC, it’s just two guards per team, rather than explicitly one PG and one SG.
She’s from Philly.
I would find it so funny if Leon got executive of the year and a tampering penalty in the same season.
Frank, he clearly wins the best use of a second round pick sweepstakes.
on the whole ISM bit…. here’s a lesson with numbers and variance for folks who don’t quite get it….
if you cannot explain your edge then your edge doesn’t exist….
that’s the idea behind the randomness with opponent 3pt shooting… just because it’s happened for a few years in a row does not mean that they have some particular edge in preventing teams from doing it….. you could flip heads on a coin 10 times in a row but does that really make you an expert coin flipper?
if you can’t explain why you’re essentially just saying that they are flipping coins… if we’re good at preventing teams from shooting 3s… then you need to show what they are doing better if they do in fact have an edge… and for whatever reason whenever we’ve talked about the ISM effect over the years…. nobody has really given any specific examples… nobody has even done so much as show open vs pull up 3s vs the norm….
this has been looked at in a variety of ways by a number of studies which have been posted here…. just because it’s happened more times than you expected does not in itself mean all of that is garbage…. it just means you don’t understand it….
# of players to the win EC player of the month award this season:
1) Embiid
2) Tatum
3) Brunson
The bandwagon is now overflowing…
Like I said, at some point even die hard, cynical Knicks fans like us will stop acting like Jalen Brunson is not the best point guard in the entire Eastern Conference.
My fervent hope is that Brunson ameliorates or even transcends, in whole or in part, the potential playoff meltdowns of Randle and Thibodeau — both of whom rightly remain, until further notice, on playoff probEtion.
It’s certainly possible.
(4)
Best PG in the east is pretty tough, I’d have Harden, Hali, Brunson and Garland all pretty close together.
“just because it’s happened more times than you expected does not in itself mean all of that is garbage…. it just means you don’t understand it….”
Nah, I’m going with “It’s a hot take because folks don’t think 3 seasons and 8,000 coin flips is more than enough evidence to overturn the “it’s random variance run amok” nonsense.
I’ll also go with Malcolm Brogdan, who just opined on the matter, having just experienced it first hand.
“Best PG in the east is pretty tough, I’d have Harden, Hali, Brunson and Garland all pretty close together.”
DRed: Their game? Basketball skill wise? – Sure. They’re close. I’ll give you that. But who do you want to lead your team?
JB’s combination of character, personality, witts…clear differentiator that makes him the #1 this season.
“Nah, I’m going with “It’s a hot take because folks don’t think 8,000 coin flips is more than enough evidence to overturn the “it’s random variance run amok” nonsense.”
Z-104 Sports Talk Radio is ON THE AIR!!!
The number of flips doesn’t mean shit. If you flip a coin 8,000 times, the difference between it coming up heads 3,000 or 4,000 times is still random chance.
(5)
“The number of flips doesn’t mean shit. If you flip a coin 8,000 times, the difference between it coming up heads 3,000 or 4,000 times is still random chance.”
Why don’t you try it? Call me when you get to 7,000 flips…
If you guys open a butcher shop I will definitely go because it’s clear how much you love beef.
Watching Mitch, which I do with great interest, he absolutely seems less winded the last four games. His motor just seems right, kind of like with Randle, who seems to be in absolutely perfect shape for his game. More spring, more explosion than last year.
Re Mitchell, he went to the perfect place. Okoro, Mobley, Allen. Those are the kinds of guys you want him with. Brunson, Mitchell, Randle would have been a defensive disaster. If we had traded RJ for him that would have been fantastic, just to get out of RJ’s deal, but giving up Obi, IQ and Grimes and all our picks would have been too much.
JK, great Yves Tumor track and I like your stuff too. Not what I expected! Very laid back and makes me think of Socal.
If you flip a coin 8,000 times and comes up heads 3,000 times you can be pretty sure that is not a fair coin.
Your chances of getting *exactly* 3000 heads in 8000 flips is ~1.7×10^-112.
The likelihood of getting *exactly* 4000 heads is ~1%.
At some point you make the assumption that there is something explaining the result, even if you don’t know what it is.
Here’s an article from 2021 on Thibs’ defensive schemes:
https://www.thestrick.land/strick/a-deep-dive-into-the-principles-and-rationale-of-tom-thibodeau-and-the-knicks-help-defense
If you look really hard, you’ll see the “funnelling” word used by the author, Jack Huntley. But whatever, I’ll still go with the 3 seasons and 8,000 attempts being definitive.
As a self identified user of the word funnel…I feel vindicated…
The number of flips doesn’t mean shit. If you flip a coin 8,000 times, the difference between it coming up heads 3,000 or 4,000 times is still random chance.
if you wake up one day and your cat tells you to start dating elle woods, your cat and you are just a couple of luckboxes
zman you’re right that the out of sample evidence has crept in favor of the “thibs-ism is real” camp. you’ve very wrong though that the counter case is just as far-fetched as saying steph has just been a lucky shooter.
pt of course I know that. It was just to amplify the sheer number of attempts we’re talking about.
Last 2 times the Knicks were a 4th seed they lost in the 1st rd while the last 2 times they were a 5th seed they won in the 1st rd!!
Anyone find it of interest for our game tomorrow that Philly beat the stuffing out of Miami without Joel Embiid, and that Jimmy B went out with knee soreness in the fourth?
Probably just coin-flipping variance, but still…
There’s a better chance of you finding a specific, individual grain of sand on earth or even a specific atom in the universe on your first try than flipping 3000 heads on a fair coin in 8000 tries. It’s not close.
If you multiplied those two numbers together, then multiplied that number by the number of grains of sand on Earth a second time, that’d get you within a few orders of magnitude though.
EB just to be fair, I don’t think E meant “exactly” 3,000 times….just something way far removed from 50% of each…still outrageously improbable to get anything close to a 65%-35% outcome, so the larger point stands.
Speaking of coin flips (or ping pong balls) here’s a hypothetical for the blog:
Would you trade places with the Rockets today to have a 14% shot in the Wembanyama sweepstakes?
VW is a great prospect but with that body type I just don’t see him having anywhere near a healthy career.
Yeah, but being charitable isn’t as fun. It does illustrate the point that you eventually concede that it’s not random chance.
(The order of magnitude is the same if it’s 3000 or fewer heads instead of exactly 3000)
“Yeah, but being charitable isn’t as fun. It does illustrate the point that you eventually concede that it’s not random chance.
(The order of magnitude is the same if it’s 3000 or fewer heads instead of exactly 3000)”
Okay, you got me…
https://www.omnicalculator.com/statistics/coin-flip-probability
I wouldn’t do that deal. I agree about VW. Should be great. But very likely to have some setbacks. Like Zion but with a completely different body type.
Although sometimesI feel like he might end up more like Durant. But it’s improbable he could shoot like that.
Also, I have waited a long time for this.
It’s a great question d-mar. It’s hard to answer in a vacuum because Houston’s situation is very complicated, and there are lots of consolation prizes in the draft.
Ultimately, I’d pass on the swap of places. But I would totally understand feeling otherwise.
***Comment of the month***
Unfortunately for me the month is only 40 hours old, but I am cautiously optimistic it’ll still be in the running by the 31st.
Speaking of Of The Month awards, congratulations to Brunson on his.
Also speaking of Of The Month awards, holy shit, who does Lillard need to fuck to win won of those things out west? Not only did he put up 39/6/7 with a .690% TS on 37% usage, but he also won a shooting contest and managed to give a dignified answer when asked on live tv “what does this trophy mean to you”, which, let’s be honest, is a trap question.
(Also, due respect to Jokic, who is a god, but if not Lillard, De’Aaron Fox should have been next in line. Share the wealth, Jokic!)
[2]
This is a great year to have League Pass. Feels like NBA March Madness.
Hellz yeah it is!
Being out on bonding leave, I haven’t had much interaction with the Laker fan/coworkers (if I hit them up too much, they’ll start asking me work-related ?s lol). I did troll the shit out of them when it snowed in Irvine, Torrance, Victorville, et al.
BTW am I a lurker or a regular? …as I understand the regulars have recently agreed to self-police themselves to a 4-post daily limit.
I don’t want no problems on my first day back here. 😉
I can’t figure out if I should want Dallas or Philadelphia to win tonight. Philadelphia is above us in the standings so it would be nice if they lose but Dallas losing improves the chance we will get a better pick from them.
Nah but seriously – one reason I haven’t posted in a while is because I didn’t want to drag the board with real life shyt while our K’s are currently smacking up foolz left n right.
It’s been a real roller coaster emotionally, this past month. Took the wife and I roughly two weeks to tell the day of the week again. And then on V-day, I get a call from my best friend in the ‘Cuse to tell me his wife suddenly passed away. Talk about a sudden emotional jolt and a deep cut.
I’ve known her as long as I’ve known him (about 20 years) and I was not only close with her, but she was one of my son’s godmothers. And because my guy’s support system within his family is really limited, my wife and I knew I had to fly out there ASAP to help him. I just got back to LA Tuesday morning, and couldn’t be happier to be back home.
Cdiggy, definitely a regular.
Cdiggy, glad you could be there for your friend. Rough times.
JK, thanks for sharing your music. I love the vulnerability of The Universe, and the other pieces are rich and evocative. Nice work!
Aiight, cool beans. In the spirit of the board, I too will adhere to the agreed-upon regulars’ daily post-limit. Yall stay safe in these streetz. Holla at yall tomorrow.
(4)
(P.S Hmmm… I wonder who I can get to watch the lil one the evening of March 12th. Knicks at Lakers 6p.)
“I can’t figure out if I should want Dallas or Philadelphia to win tonight. Philadelphia is above us in the standings so it would be nice if they lose but Dallas losing improves the chance we will get a better pick from them.”
That’s an easy one – I root against any team with Kyrie Irving on it.
Anything that brings Luka closer to being a Knick is what I root for
With Philly vs. Dallas, it’s one of those “can’t win, can’t lose”situations…
That Wizards pick behind the glass is looking awful tasty….
I can’t root against Luka. I can root against Kyrie.
Fuck the Sixers. Although I do love BBall Paul
ATL and WAS have 3 games left against each other…You could say they are battling for the 7or 8 spot…
Apropos of my cappuccino response to Hubert earlier, oddly enough I just saw a little thing about how it got its name. Turns out a Polish spy took the coffee the Ottomans left behind after the siege of Vienna in 1683 and opened a cafe. He was the first to have the idea of adding milk. Because the brown color reminded people of the robes of Capuchin monks, they called it cappuccino. The monks themselves had nothing to do with it.
Beck to your regularly scheduled program…
Nice win for the Wizards. That’s good for us, right?
Giving up on the mighty Raptors making a run?
I’m a regular and I’ve agreed to nothing. Just gonna comment around the clock, at least until Mike K let’s me post gifs. Then I’ll do nothing but comment here, even while sleeping.
Herring: “Warriors staying away from Russ like he farted”
“Giving up on the mighty Raptors making a run?”
lol no but hoping the Wiz do so we can snag that pick.
The order of the play-in is such a crap shoot right now..
Doncic and Kyrie were quite the 1-2 punch tonight…
If the WAS pick does convey this year we’ll have to give up one of Keels, the MLE, or one of our two picks to keep the roster at 15 if we don’t make any other changes.
I love Herrimg. That is funny.
I am watching Edey for some reason. Can’t resist a big stiff.
I don’t think he is going to tear up the NBA
Also, college is bad
Haven’t posted in a loooooong time. Been reading the blog daily since 2008 or so. I’m currently in India on vacation with spotty wifi/cell service. Catching up on all the chat threads.
This season has been so gratifying thus far. This team really reminds me of the 90’s Knicks. I’m 47, so those teams were “my teams”.
My vacation reading is “blood in the garden” (by Chris Herring referenced above by Owen). So appropriate, and bringing back a flood of memories (some of them very painful). Anyway, love reading this blog. I’ve never met any of you guys (the regular posters), but I feel like I know you. Like you are family. Let’s fucking go Knicks!
llcoolbp, welcome back! Avoid the tigers.
I also downloaded the bill Russell Netflix doc before I left. Watched it on the train to Agra (Taj Mahal). Wonderful documentary. I know somebody here mentioned it before. Definitely worth checking out. He was a man amongst men.
Thanks Raven. The beef and infighting lately is tame in comparison to the days of Ruruland and MeloDrama.
***The beef and infighting lately is tame in comparison to the days of Ruruland and MeloDrama.***
Enjoy India, where there’s no beef at all.
hey ll cool bp…well now – that’s pretty cool on a train vacationing in india…
what kind of stuff have you been seeing or planning to check out?
True very hard to eat beef here (though not impossible).
I’m visiting my ancestral homeland in Gujarat (I’m born and raised in queens). My biracial kids are with me (they are half black half Indian). Showing them the food, culture, with a little traveling to north India mixed in.
My son is 8. Huge Knicks fan. Daughter 11. Also a huge Knicks fan. Their first Knicks game was 2 weeks ago before this trip. JHart’s first game! I splurged and got floor level seats behind the hoop about 11 rows up. I feel like we helped start the winning streak. The garden was electric that night.
We are back March 7th. They don’t go back to school till March 9th. I’m debating taking them to Knicks vs charlotte march 8th. Wednesday night game. Probably should let them rest and get back into school mode. We’ll see. Long journey back home in 4 days.
llcoolbp! What up dude welcome back
Jowles, what’s up my man. Hope to read more of your posts. And congrats on the girlfriend (even though she’s from Philly we’ll forgive that).
what kind of stuff have you been seeing or planning to check out?
…or smoking?
Always nice to see a familiar handle from the “good ol’ days.” And that was me on the Bill Russell doc…and I’m reading Blood in the Garden too!
I’m also reading a book called Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe. Highly recommended.
“Enjoy India, where there’s no beef at all.”
Another winner!
Will probably repeat this on the new news thread, but I highly recommend yesterday’s Zach Lowe pod with Doris Burke. Around the 25-minute mark (I think?), they do a segment where they cannot say enough good things about this team. RJ’s inconsistency is basically the only negative they can find at the moment. Zach said he wouldn’t be shocked if we beat the Cavs in the playoffs, and could also see us (depending on the seedings) beating the Sixers under the right circumstances. Boston and Milwaukee were an understandable bridge too far for him.
That is awesome, LL Cool BP. And train vacation in India made me remember the movie The Darjeeling Limited, now i have to watch it again to check if it’s still funny after all this time.
Despite great efforts from Donnie, Rama and others, the COTT (comment of the thread) has to be “The number of flips doesn’t mean shit. If you flip a coin 8,000 times, the difference between it coming up heads 3,000 or 4,000 times is still random chance.”.
At 8000 there’s only a 0.7% chance that the result has more than 1.5% difference (less than 3880 or more than 4120) from the mean (4000). The probabilities for 3000 are filled with a lot of zeros. LOL
Welcome back!!! That sounds like a fun trip!!!
I fully expect many seasoned vets to start reappearing, as if summoned by Josh Hart.
I kind of think Josh Hart could raise the dead with how he is playing right now..