[news.google.com] — Monday, October 16, 2023 7:08:09 AM
“They asked us to make a guitar out of the Knicks basketball court … Guitar World
[news.google.com] — Monday, October 16, 2023 6:46:47 AM
Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Rumors: Knicks ‘Monitoring’ Star’s Situation with T-Wolves Bleacher Report
[news.google.com] — Monday, October 16, 2023 5:15:00 AM
Rudy Gobert slams Knicks for ‘disrespectful’ Evan Fournier’s treatment BasketNews.com
[news.google.com] — Monday, October 16, 2023 3:30:00 AM
NBA Saisonvorschau: New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers – Gewohnt unangenehm: Warum Harden weiter schlechte Karten hat SPOX
[news.google.com] — Monday, October 16, 2023 12:19:56 AM
Knicks Rumors: Mitchell Robinson Trade Asking Price Is ‘Multiple 1st-Round Picks’ Bleacher Report
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 8:24:00 PM
Tom Thibodeau still fine-tuning Knicks’ preseason rotation New York Post
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 7:44:39 PM
Knicks Veteran Shares Thoughts on Joel Embiid’s Olympic Decision Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 6:35:34 PM
Knicks Rumors: Mitchell Robinson Was Mentioned in Holiday Trade Talks With Blazers Bleacher Report
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 5:27:26 PM
They Live; New York Liberty Extend WNBA Finals With Home Win … Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 5:00:18 PM
Rudy Gobert questions New York Knicks treatment of Evan Fournier Yardbarker
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 5:00:18 PM
What is the NBA G League Draft? Rules and history Daily Knicks
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 4:59:55 PM
Hart Shows Fire, Desire in Knicks Preseason Debut Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 4:13:10 PM
Why Is This Former New York Knicks Rim Protector A Free Agent? Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 2:33:00 PM
Rudy Gobert backs Evan Fournier in ‘disrespectful’ Knicks saga New York Post
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 2:21:53 PM
LOOK: Joel Embiid has a laugh and other pictures from the day in … Hoops Hype
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 2:00:00 PM
Predictions for the Knicks’ upcoming week, October 15-21 Posting and Toasting
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 1:04:10 PM
“He could be stopped” – Hakeem Olajuwon reveals how he was able to successfully defend Patrick Ewing throughout his career Basketball Network
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 12:13:00 PM
Atlantic Notes: Van Gundy, Knicks, Robinson, Harden, Nets hoopsrumors.com
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 12:11:26 PM
Knicks reportedly ‘monitoring’ Karl-Anthony Towns situation in … NBC Sports
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 11:00:00 AM
Player Preview: Jalen Brunson came to command and conquer Posting and Toasting
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 10:32:50 AM
Timberwolves 121-112 Knicks (15 Oct, 2023) Final Score ESPN Australia
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 10:10:18 AM
Knicks Laugh Over Van Gundy’s ‘Disgusting!’ New Job Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 10:07:36 AM
3 of the Knicks’ biggest weaknesses heading into the 2023-24 season Yahoo Sports
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 9:09:12 AM
Shake Milton cements Wolves role as he knocks Knicks around Dunking with Wolves
[news.google.com] — Sunday, October 15, 2023 8:00:18 AM
Knicks’ patience pays off in Bleacher Report’s Joel Embiid hot take Daily Knicks
48 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2023.10.16)”
I was starting my usual game-by-game “analysis” in anticipation of our traditional win-loss prediction and realized that we have a rough schedule to start the season.
The first 7 games are: Boston, at Atlanta, at New Orleans (BTB), home-and-home BTB with the Cavs (crazy scheduling!), at Milwaukee, Clippers at home.
3 of the games are on national TV.
Nice litmus test to know who we are against some of the better teams in our division and other playoffs contenders.
P.S.
The 8th game is Wemby’s debut at MSG
Sucks to play the Clippers early in the season when PG & Kawhi are most likely to both be healthy
Aren’t we generally not great in national games? Or is that just a gut feeling because the high-profile losses stick with me more than the high-profile wins?
Speaking of scheduling, this year we have 2 teams coming to MSG for back to back games (Bucks 12/23 and 12/25 and Sixers 3/10 and 3/12)
Not sure why the NBA is doing this except maybe to cut down on travel? Kind of strange.
Last year we were 7-6 in nationally televised games in the regular season–though we did lose the first 4 which could explain why the gut feeling is worse than the actual record.
Not sure why the NBA is doing this except maybe to cut down on travel? Kind of strange.
d-mar, I can sort of see logic with the Bucks as you get them avoiding travel on Christmas eve. But Philly is a mystery–construction on the I-95?
Barring any significant injuries,
18:12 after the first 30 games
20:10 for the next 30 games
15:7 for last 22 games
Total 53 : 29
NBA has been doing this the past couple of seasons. Early last season Knicks were in Chicago for back to back games, I believe the season before it might’ve been the Wizards who played back to back games at MSG.
there’s some more scheduling quirks just due to the in-season tournament… ours maybe looks weirder than others tho…
Yikes
There are very few easy games in the NBA these days, but that’s a tough start.
Hopefully, All the new players in Boston and Milwaukee will still be getting used to playing together.
The older I get and the more NBA seasons I watch, the less I pay attention to strength of schedule or tough stretches, etc.
There are very few easy wins in the NBA and I’ve seen enough Knicks teams blow games against inferior opponents to know that it doesn’t really matter who you play in the NBA, if you’re team is good and playing well, you can beat anyone and if you’re team is struggling, you can lose to anyone. This, of course, applies to regular season, not the playoffs. But if we’re healthy and the team is vibing, we will do well.
True, Swifty. On the other hand, if you’re a superstitious sort who is looking at the catastrophe that is this Giants football season, then the parallels continue with a brutal opening stretch of the schedule.
(FWIW, I do not think the situations are wholly identical, since we have a firmer foundation and a higher floor than the Giants do. But there’s a similar sense of teams that can outplay their talent level due to good scheming, etc.)
What’s the basketball equivalent of running the ball on the 1yd line with 14 seconds left in the half?
I think strength of schedule matters coming out of the gate when it would be nice to get a team identity/rhythm going early and at the end of the season as who is resting players and who is fighting for a playoff seating can dictate a lot. Otherwise agree it doesn’t matter much–last year our 2 long winning streaks had stronger opponents than our 1 long losing streak.
The Knicks have had a lot of continuity over the past few years, so you’d think we’d have an advantage over some teams early in the season.
EB, it felt a little bit like settling for a two point shot down 3 with 2 seconds left.
Not that invested in the Giants but I watched a little bit of it. Both teams played hard. I like that Okereke character. Seems like he would have fit in well on vintage Giants teams.
It’s either a player dribbling way too much and the team runs out of time before getting off a shot or needing a 3 to tie and taking a 2 with not enough time on the clock.
For what it’s worth though, apparently Tyrod audibled out of the pass play and changed it to a run.
well football is much more volatile because there’s so few games in comparison. Having a tough early schedule if the team is struggling in football can totally screw your season.
I thought the Jets might be 3-3 with Aaron Rodgers after their first six games so I am pretty amazed they are 3-3 with Zach Wilson
I assume that’s part of the thinking and conventional wisdom, but imo it’s also flawed.
1. If Quickley was was a legitimate PG running the 2nd unit offense very effectively, I would buy that, but he’s not and he doesn’t. We’ve been forcing him into that role and making due with the result. IMO, he’d be a more effective player as a secondary playmaker off the ball with Brunson.
2. Quickley would provide better defense, spacing, and efficiency in the 1st unit than RJ does.
3. Quickley is a better fit skill wise because he can shoot and create the desperately needed space for Brunson and Randle.
4. RJ would most likely be more efficient against 2nd units going to the rim.
It’s true that we need someone to handle the ball in the 2nd unit, but we could certainly arrange some minutes for Quickley to play with the 2nd unit also the way we do with RJ now.
We could give minutes to Deuce and really ramp up the D without losing all that much in PG skills since Quick is not really a PG either.
We could actually add another real backup PG. We could use multiple players to handle the ball given J-Hart can also handle.
I love Thibs, but I think he’s almost obviously wrong to play RJ over Quickley in the starting unit.
I’m hoping RJ improves just like the rest of you, but he’s been a massive negative in the starting lineup, does not fit with Randle/Mitch, and quite frankly I think Quickley is arguably the best two-way player on the team when he’s rolling.
You’re right that Quickley would be more effective as a secondary playmaker, but unfortunately we don’t have a quality backup lead guard. Deuce might turn out to be an okay player but he is just not a lead guard, and he shouldn’t be put into that role because he’ll fail at it.
Quickley is the best option as lead guard when Brunson isn’t in the game. I agree with you in that I’d like to see the Knicks acquire a decent point guard to play with the second unit, move Quickley to the starting lineup and use RJ as the 6th man, and I’d wholeheartedly support such moves if done right. Until then, this is what we got.
Usually i’d prefer the litmus test later on, but since we have continuity going for us, maybe we’ll hit the ground running.
Ahh, the JR Smith play. That checks out
I agree with that statement.
I’m adding I think the team would be better off on a net basis if Quickley was starting and we played someone else some minutes at backup PG (which does not preclude Quickley also getting a few minutes with the 2nd unit).
IMO the net would be a much better 1st unit on both sides and a small negative hit to the 2nd unit when it was JHart, Deuce, IHart, DDV, and RJ all contributing to some playmaking because we don’t have a real backup PG.
Again, if Quickley was some monster backup PG, you couldn’t do that because the 2nd unit would lose more than the 1st unit would gain. But he’s not.
Knicks started off 10-13 last season so a slow start wouldn’t be the end of the world. Thibs’ Knick teams have proven to be much better in the 2nd half of the season although it would be nice for once to get off to a good start and be clearly over .500 by New Year’s day.
A huge part of why they were at 10-13 was the rotation Thibs used to start the season. Adding to that, IQ, Grimes and RJ all got off to bad starts, Brunson was new, and Josh Hart wasn’t here yet, and there’s definitely a better chance to hit the ground running.
OTOH, the league is going to be a LOT tougher this year. More teams got better than got worse, especially in our conference. A lot of that improvement is also organic…players returning from injury-plagued seasons that look healthier as of now. So on one hand, catching teams early before they gel is possible. On the other hand, playing teams while they are fully healthy might work against a hot start. We seem to be a team that is built to stay relatively healthy and can afford to be missing a key player during those ankle tweaks and back spasms. That will probably help more later than now.
The pessimist’s view is that other teams got better, and also had more room to get better, whether through acquisitions, players gaining experience, or both. Meanwhile, we don’t seem to have a lot of room to grow, our only addition was DDV, we’re a high-floor, low-ceiling team, etc.
The optimist’s view would, as Z-man notes, involve the power of continuity, but also a belief that several players on our team can still improve — and this includes our best player. Katz has said many times this preseason that a lot of people in the Knicks FO believe Brunson can get better than he already was last season, especially if he continues to get the whistle he was receiving in the playoffs.
The way I see it, as of the end of last season, EC teams that…
…probably got better: BOS, MIL, CLE, IND, ORL, ATL, DET, NYK
…probably stayed around the same: MIA, PHI, BKN, CHO
…got worse: CHI, WAS, TOR
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38673467/raptors-aim-dismiss-baseless-knicks-lawsuit
the fact that we presumably have to play teams that won’t be sitting one of their best players is going to impact us more than anything…. which is one big reason why relying on our post fournier banishment record is pretty illusory….
DDV could at least theoretically be a decent enough fake point guard to pilot the second units with Quickley moved to the starting lineup, but I’m inclined to think RJ Barrett is going to start every game he plays in as long as he’s a New York Knick for a slew of non-basketball reasons.
I agree with Strat (!) that the most rational thing to do from a basketball perspective is to pretty much swap IQ and RJ’s minutes and roles, but once we concede that RJ Barrett isn’t starter quality we’re gonna have that thrown in our face in all future trade negotiations. So we have to fake the Star J thing for at least a little while longer.
Nice Katz piece on how the Knicks are looking to run-run-run. Nothing that will shock or surprise, but a fun read to help get psyched for the season.
https://theathletic.com/4967025/2023/10/16/knicks-running-defensive-rebound/
Some interesting tidbits via Nuggets GM Calvin Booth that could apply to us, via the Ringer:
“One of Booth’s first moves was to trade Bones Hyland, a young bucket-getting guard who came off the bench but didn’t offer a lot other than scoring. Despite being so young and showing promise, Hyland was dealt for just two second-round picks. The Nuggets didn’t want too much of the same thing on their team. “I knew you couldn’t have two guys that couldn’t guard, and we couldn’t have two guys that were young and kind of more ‘me guys,’” Booth said. “Mike makes $30 million. He’s one of the best shooters in the NBA. So, Bones, there’s no place for you.” Moving Hyland freed up minutes for Christian Braun, who became a rotation fixture as a rookie with his versatile defense and selfless offense, building up to his clutch postseason.”
He continues:
“Overlap is a silent killer,” Booth said about his team-building philosophy, citing the Lob City Clippers as a case in point. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan both helped define that team, but they lacked the ability to space the floor, and neither was a great perimeter defender. In the backcourt, Booth said that JJ Redick and Chris Paul had too much overlap: “Both have the requisite skills for the position, and both were kind of undersized.”
All this is easy to say when you have Jokic, but nevertheless, we should probably look to build like this around Brunson at least until we can get a better star.
It seems as if we only have one good perimeter defender in our starting lineup, and the good defenders we have on the bench are all of the smaller variety. Also, I think RJ and Brunson’s ability to get to the hole (and lack of D) seems pretty duplicative to me, especially with Quickley on the 2nd unit.
Speaking of which, don’t we have like 7 days before Quickley officially becomes a restricted free agent?
Unlike the other examples, driving to the hole and drawing fouls at least has some synergy since you can get in the bonus quicker and cause your opponents to foul out.
Still, Brunson/Randle/RJ is a little much duplication
Yeah, we do. I don’t think we’re going to extend Quick, because we want to be able to trade him if an opportunity arises.
Not to be all “Fred Katz says” guy today, but he’s said repeatedly through the preseason that he both expects IQ to be extended, and for it to happen at the last possible minute. Which is when all these extensions tend to happen, because NBA execs are big procrastinators.
“All this is easy to say when you have Jokic…”
That pretty much sums it up. Booth sure has a lot to say for a guy who has been on the job for a year. I think he’s be better served to keep his cards closer to the vest. Even if everything he is saying is spot-on, it never looks good when a GM takes veiled shots at former players, or current ones for that matter.
Bob Myers’ comments should be interesting to us all because they’re pretty much a summary of the debate we’ve been having here:
https://www.sny.tv/articles/former-warriors-gm-bob-myers-praises-knicks-evolution-from-middling-to-playoff-caliber-team
Easy for him to say – STEPH CURRY!
Healthy impatience vs. imprudence. Good phrasing!
I hope the Knicks truly look to run more after defensive rebounds. We can use some easier baskets.
A buddy I used to share season tix with is hooking me up for Opening night…should I wear the autographed KP jersey I paid a fortune for at my school live auction? Suitably altered, of course!
Obi with 7 points on 6 shots in 18 minutes tonight…3reb, 1 ast, 2 stls, 1 blk, +19. Jalen Johnson was 2-8 for 4 points in 25 minutes…did Obi lock him up?
watched some of the nets/sixers game…ben simmons looks a lot better playing…
If Ben Simmons can revert to even 80% of who he was before the PHI disaster, the Nets are going to be a handful on any given night.
I was listening to podcast where they discussed Simmons. Apparently, the nerve issue he had in his back takes 12 to 18 months to heal, so this is roughly on schedule for him to get better.
hi z-man, hi KfniNJ 🙂
the thing that always stood out to me with simmons was how fast he was on defense…
he looks fast again…
watching phoenix/blazers now…i really didn’t like them getting rid of mikal bridges…he’s ranked at 33, right behind jalen on top 100…
i disagree…
wasn’t all that crazy about the beal pickup…nurkic seems like he’s hurt a lot…I don’t know, just never been a big fan of his…
the suns’ have a pretty decent roster though, lots of turnover in personnel…I don’t think it’s gonna slow them up too much though…
not sure where they’re ranked, but, probably top 3 in the west (nuggets, kings)…