Knicks Morning News (2023.05.14)

I don’t think enough is being made about the impact that Kyle Lowry made in this series. We have gone on and on about how IQ was such a difference-maker for us in his 6th man role…but it was Lowry who played like a 6MoTY candidate in this series, doing everything in 29mpg we hoped IQ would do and then some. The dude had 8 steals and 8 fucking blocks in 6 games! He had 2 fewer rebounds than Isaiah Hartenstein! In their 4 wins he went 8-16 from 3, and every one seemed like a backbreaker.

Why on God’s green earth would we trade for Damian Lillard? That would be like the dumbest move ever.

“He was the second-lowest vote getter overall. He wouldn’t have made it if positions were taken out of it.”

In my opinion he clearly had an all-NBA caliber season. I don’t see anything the least bit “out there” about it. He was 13th in PPG and 9th in RPG, and 24th in BPM (3rd team Fox was 38th, 2nd team Jaylen Brown was 66th). Of the guys ahead of him in BPM, he played 500 more minutes than Embiid, 900 more minutes than Durant, Haliburton, and Booker, 600 more than Butler, 700 more than Giannis, 800 more than AD and LeBron, 1000 more than Kawhi, etc.

Of course, that’s not to say that I would rather have Julius than any one of those players…only that he was a very deserving candidate.

“I only think there’s 2 guys we should be moving and this is a hard to swallow opinion… IQ and RJ. They are both too streaky to be on our contending squad.”

I don’t think this take is wrong in principle but not for the reason of streakiness. Young players tend to be streaky. IQ is still 23 and RJ is 22. They should become more consistent as they mature.

But you have to give up something good to get something good. RJ probably rehabilitated his trade value with his strong playoff showing, and IQ was a 6MoTY candidate with eye-popping defensive metrics. Those 2 probably are our most marketable young players, based more on perception than production perhaps, but whatever, if they get the trade for the right player done, they are both expendable.

There is probably a much better chance that Randle improves his playoff performance in the future than there is of trading him for someone who makes the team better. At this time last year, many folks here were convinced that Randle having another all-NBA season was the longest of long shots.

He’s not the most watchable or rootable player but considering that he’s already proven that he can adapt and improve beyond the labels placed on him, and given that he rushed back from a serious ankle injury to jumpstart our playoff run with an awesome first half vs. the Cavs in game 1, I think it’s kind of weird that folks aren’t cutting him a bit more slack.

This version of Good Julius seems much more sustainable than the 2020-21 version. He didn’t really do anything that was an outlier from his career numbers. His shot profile is likely not to regress to the long-2 binging of two years ago. If Brunson stays healthy, his positive effect on Julius will continue to pay dividends.

I hope he focuses on improving his defense this offseason. And becoming more of a PnR player with Brunson.

I can’t believe that I’m reduced to watching the Mets for the next three months…

“Ok lost game one but we can’t be beat in game two. We got Max Scherzer out there and he throws 91 MPH with poor location”

Unless there’s a sweaty rosin bag and a paid-off ump around…

Does Doc get fired if, er, when they lose this game?

With all due respect to anyone who differs, I don’t think we had a chance in hell vs. the Celts. They are so, so, so much better than us. They are going to do a number on the Heat and the only chance of them not winning it all is if Denver is up to the task and the altitude gets to them.

“Boston needed 6 games vs Atlanta and 7 vs Philly. Heat or Knicks would take them to 6 or 7 cause while Boston is incredibly talented they blow plenty of games needlessly especially at home. Knicks went 3-1 against them in the regular season including winning 2 close games in Boston.”

Yeah, they have the same team as last year that was two wins from a championship, only they added the best 6th man in the NBA. As we’ve seen repeatedly these playoffs, regular season don’t mean shit. They were up 2-0 and 3-1 vs. ATL and took their foot off the gas a bit and lost on a miracle Trae Young heave before beating them in ATL in game 6. They went down 3-2 to a team that has the reigning MVP only to beat them going away on the road and are now destroying them at home without even breaking a sweat. Their rookie coach made lots of rookie mistakes, but seems to be learning on the job. This team has been through so many wars together and has such a high team b-ball IQ, Mazzulla probably just gets in the way.

Nothing would make me happier than to see the Celts lose, but I don’t see it happening unless some bad luck intervenes. They can taste it now.

But what does it matter if the Heat takes them to 6 games?

I’m mearly saying that they are absolutely the best team remaining. And you are agreeing with me. And I’m sure Vegas will agree as well.

Where did I say that they are going to sweep anyone? Or anything about them being a superteam?

I don’t think you win more by replacing an athletic shot-blocking OReb-ing savant with a lumbering offense-only guy. Lopez is sort of a hybrid but not really all that mobile. Ayton is a disgurntled head case and gets paid a lot. If those are the only alternatives, I’d rather take our chances with Mitch, or just promote iHart to starter and find a backup.