[CBS Sports] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 14:13:29 GMT
- NBA Power Rankings: Knicks edge Clippers for No. 1 spot, Joel Embiid’s absence leads to 76ers’ tumble
- Power Rankings, Week 15: Clippers reign as new No. 1 team
- NBA Power Rankings: Perennial Powers Like the Lakers, Heat and Warriors Sink to the Bottom
- NBA Power Rankings: Timberwolves whimper; Clippers silence Celtics
- NBA Power Rankings: Clippers take top spot; All-Star Weekend hopes for each team
[New York Post] – Wed, 31 Jan 2024 03:03:00 GMT
- Donte DiVincenzo’s blistering night leads shorthanded Knicks by Jazz for eighth straight win
- These Knicks taking fun to new level and it’s time to revel in it
- Donte’s inferno: DiVincenzo drills nine 3-pointers in Knicks’ 8th consective win
- Game Thread: New York Knicks vs Utah Jazz, January 30
- Donte DiVincenzo stepping up alongside Jalen Brunson for shorthanded Knicks
[Posting and Toasting] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 20:00:00 GMT
- Knicks should pull off massive Mikal Bridges trade if the Nets want to play ball
- Could New York Knicks Break Trade Embargo With Brooklyn Nets For Mikal Bridges?
- Nets just made it impossible for the Rockets to make a deal with them
- Mikal Bridges Journey: From Philly to Phoenix to Brooklyn
- As Wojnarowski reported, the Nets’ front offi
[New York Post] – Wed, 31 Jan 2024 05:01:00 GMT
Precious Achiuwa has another big night in Knicks’ blowout victory
[hoopsrumors.com] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 14:03:00 GMT
Trade Rumors: Warriors, D. Murray, Hayward, Lowry, Knicks
[Sports Illustrated] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:09:12 GMT
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith: Hold Luka Doncic Accountable for Jalen Brunson Leaving Mavs for Knicks?
[Posting and Toasting] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 22:30:00 GMT
- Breaking down the Knicks schedule in February
- Red-hot Knicks facing 2023 NBA finalists in next two games
- Preview of the Knicks upcoming week, Jan. 28 – Feb 3
- Preview of the Knicks upcoming week, Jan. 21-27
[New York Post] – Wed, 31 Jan 2024 07:55:00 GMT
Josh Hart records first career triple double in Knicks’ win: ‘cool’
[Daily Mail] – Wed, 31 Jan 2024 07:43:06 GMT
Mariska Hargitay, 60, enjoys RARE outing with son August, 17, as the duo snag courtside seats to New York Knic
[Posting and Toasting] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 17:30:00 GMT
Who Wore it Best? Knicks #13
[New York Post] – Tue, 30 Jan 2024 17:03:45 GMT
- Knicks bring back Taj Gibson with Julius Randle hurt
- Taj Gibson returns to Knicks on 10-day contract after Julius Randle injury
- Knicks sign Taj Gibson to a 10-day contract
- Breaking: Knicks sign utility man Taj Gibson to 10-day deal
- Knicks News: Taj Gibson Agrees to 10-Day Contract Ahead of 2024 NBA Trade Deadline
143 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.01.31)”
Geez, just saw clip of the Embiid injury. I suspect this is now going to turn into A Thing: the NBA and NBA fandom went ape over Embiid “ducking” the Nuggets in Denver yet again, there’s pressure for him to get back to playing because of the new rules regarding MVP and All-NBA, and then his knee gets messed up again on a night where it didn’t look like he should have been playing to begin with.
Let the discourse commence!
(But selfishly, this is good for our 3 Seed New York Knickerbockers.)
Alan, Nick Nurse said this was unrelated to his previous injury. I think it’s just Embiid being Embiid – unfortunately his body is too frail for his frame.
As someone posted, this injury season may be weird and offer an opportunity for hustlebunny teams to compete with those that have more obvious All Star Talent. Nevertheless we too have had misfortune — Mitch, Randle — so maybe we are just better. Haha.
Also, if we want to keep OG, we may need to stop posting stats about all our dramatic improvements since he got here, lest we help his agent too much. Maybe we need someone to cherry-pick stats showing some deterioration in our play since adding OG — any kind. C’mon Knickerbloggers, we can do this. ;-).
To scaffold on a point made in the game thread, while I really appreciate Randle and view him as an important piece, it is hard to argue that in his absence the ball movement is better, turnovers are down, and the defensive effort is close to 100% on each possession for the entire squad
on the floor. If Divo and when he returns OG continue to provide more efficient usage, it gives Thibs more options down the road.
Between the Sixers struggling with Embiid’s health and the Bucks being coached by Doc Rivers, I’m starting to think the #2 seed is achievable. Maybe the greatest threat is the Cavs!
I heard that, too. And the actual injury was because Kuminga fell on him, which would have hurt him badly regardless of pre-existing knee conditions. What I meant is that Embiid was clearly hobbled throughout the game, and probably would not have been playing if not for all the pressure from the league office. So even though the specific injury was a fluky thing that could have happened at any time, the fact that it happened at this time is almost certainly going to create a ruckus within and without the Association’s head offices.
Man Donte is on some hot streak now, and his season stats are really pretty remarkable. Does anyone have a Stathead account? My sense is that he is having a very unique season —
14.3 3PA/100
42.6% 3p%
6.9 rebounds/100
4.9 assists/100
2.5 steals/100
62.6 TS
He is basically prime Klay Thompson except better passing/rebounding/stealing?
All stats per 100poss
2018-19 Klay : 30.1 pts, 46.7/40.2/81.6, 5.4 reb, 3.3 assists, 1.5 stls 2.1 TO, TS 57.1
2023-24 DDV: 26.3pts, 45.9/42.6/73.3, 6.9 reb, 4.9 assists, 2.5 steals, 2.3 TO, TS 62.6
Donte is 2nd in the league in 3PA/100poss at 14.3 behind some guy named Steph Curry, and of the top 20 guys in 3PA/100poss, he has the highest 3P% (42.6). by the way – #21 on that list is Deuce McBride at 11.6 3PA/100 and shooting 46.3%.
Just an amazing season for DDV so far, and a home run of a signing.
Thx! And oh my!
Broader ‘Bocker-related thoughts:
1. As others have said, the ball movement and amount of ugly turnovers definitely seem much improved without Julius. On the whole, you’d much rather have the sledgehammer who can score against any team at any time, but we’re seeing ways in which we can weather the storm until he’s back.
2. Allow me to resurrect my previous argument about Precious starting at the 4 once OG is back. He did a great job defensively on Marqehten last night, the offensive game looks pretty good, and he would make it easier for OG to play Swiss Army knife on defense. Assuming the elbow inflammation isn’t going to be a chronic thing, the injury might actually be a blessing, in that it’s allowed Precious to work his way into the Circle of Trust. We know Thibs is a creature of habit who prefers not to disrupt too many things. He loves Hart, but particularly seems to love Hart as a sixth man. This would allow him to do that.
3. DDV: incredible signing. That is all. Even if he doesn’t shoot like this every night, he’s clearly capable of upping his usage to compensate for the various missing guys. Also, happy 27th birthday to the Big Ragu!
4. I can’t get enough about the Villanova guys (Archie included) playfully talking smack about one another in the postgame interviews. It’s delightful. Case in point: Brunson’s retort to DDV mocking Brunson’s dunk a game or two ago.
5. All of the above being said, I don’t want to get too far over our skis on all this. We are obviously a very good team. But the two games we’ve played without Randle and OG have been against a clown show in Charlotte and a total Jekyll and Hyde team in Utah. As we’ve done nearly all year, we did exactly what we were supposed to do against bad teams, and this has been one of the best months in the history of the franchise. But before we anoint this team as a true contender in the East(*), I want to see how well the Next Man Up group can play when the competition is more serious.
(*) Randle likely won’t be back by the time we play Boston in late February, but I’m damned curious to see how much of a difference OG makes against the one team in either conference that has so far been our total Kryptonite. Until we show we can deal with both their length and KP’s ability to shoot from anywhere, I suspect there is only so far we can go this season, even when everything else is working so well for us.
Here you go: https://stathead.com/tiny/1UAwu
Only Steph Curry in 2016 and 2018 has similar numbers.
One eye test thing: In the absence of Julius, it looks like Thibs has (finally?) added a new set play (what?) to his offense.
When JB was double teamed last night he often found iHart in the high post for clear advantage to our side. IHart is a great passer and nearly alway makes the right decisions, but (I think) I saw JB make the same pass to Precious and even to Sims (!) last night in the high post. This suggests (to me) that Thibs is now practicing a regular play (!) to use when JB is double teamed.
Early on last night Utah was routinely double-teaming Brunson, and we got some easy buckets as the result of the above. That’s why his points were down and assists were up. Then the Jazz went away from the double team bc we were consistently beating it, and Jalen started scoring.
I believe having and practicing this “plan” (Thibs, finally!) is a very good development as we head into the playoffs for all the reasons folks have posted here about other teams shutting down Brunson at crunch time. I’m also not sure this new wrinkle would get run as much if Julius didn’t get hurt.
I have been banging the Donte Is Klay Thompson 2.0 drum for quite some time now.
Thibs is having a great year, COTY worthy, but he just whiffed on this til now. The per 36 numbers were there, the rate stats were there, he just wasn’t getting the proper minutes.
Well the cat’s out of the bag now!
Try to wrap your head around this, because it’s true: Donte > Randle.
Also there was something beautiful about the way Donte went right after Sexton after he shoved Brunson.
Next play Donte stole the ball from Sexton, got fouled by him on the fast break for two FTs. Then he harassed him one-on-one, forcing a 25 ft step back 3 that Sexton bricked. Then he nailed two Brunson-assisted 3PAs in his mug.
Can’t do it. He’s a zero on offense. Will be completely ignored.
It will be interesting to see if we still have trade deadline plans. Maybe Burks (with a side of Isaiah Stewart?) is all we need at this point… just an emergency guy or two?
8-13 for 18 points /= zero
Public service periodic reminder to not get too, too enthralled with a Tom Thibodeau regular season, or the component parts, and to keep eyes firmly on the prize.
Reject if you will, accept if you will, do parts of both if you will — but the reminder is entirely apt.
(I made the start Precious argument, too, Alan. The “zero” was the response I got.)
The team is playing beautiful basketball right now. What a treat!
As someone who once compared rookie Landry Fields to Manu Ginobili on this board, I’ll wait on a larger sample size before starting the Donte HOF campaign. But no doubt, he’s been incredible.
Apologies, Hubert. I couldn’t tell if you were being ironic or not, in part because I lose track of where people here stand on various debates, unless it is a very longstanding pattern (i.e., Strat, E, djphan).
I came here to propose the idea that Hart may have shown us that we don’t really need that playmaker guard/wing trade. He’s always shown us he can effectively distribute the ball.
The Celtics have built up such a substantial lead in the Eastern Conference that Mazzulla can rest players and even with a few losses here and there they’re still pretty much a lock for the #1 seed.
Thibs unfortunately doesn’t have that luxury. Resting Brunson against most teams would most likely result in an L, and the Knicks really do have to go all out to get the highest seed possible. The difference between #5 and 3 or 4 is massive.
So yeah, maybe the supposed “Thibs effect” hurts us in the playoffs, but I’m on board with trying to get every win possible in the regular season
If we can hang onto the 3 seed — or, Jeebus help us, climb up to the 2 seed — and if Randle and OG are at full health at the time of the playoffs, I think we have a reasonable chance of making the conference finals, and then we’ll see if Boston remains the worst possible matchup for us. If we sink back to 4 or 5, I still like our chances to make it to the second round, but I again am hugely fearful of this Celtics squad. We’d probably be better off at 6 than at 4 or 5.
There’s a lot going on w Thibs right now.
On the one hand, the ethos (I won’t say culture bc miami owns the TM) he has created is on full display and it’s carrying us through a very tough time. This is a massive testament to him and his program.
On the other hand, we’re also seeing the foolishness of his short rotations on full display bc the guys on this team can play if you give them the chance. And this is exactly what 82 games is for. You’ve got to have stretches where you experiment with shit and let guys spread their wings a bit. We’re oddly lucky that injuries have forced this to happen. It should happen naturally.
It’s not just about not wearing down your starters. It’s about using the whole roster to find out exactly what you got.
As much as I want to praise Thibs, let’s be honest LEON ROSE is the GOAT! When you look at this roster you realize that he didn’t go out and get the best players, he got the right players.
That’s a fact. This team can go all the way. The passing, the 3 point shooting, the elite point guard play, the rebounding, the active hands on defense. They are doing everything right and it’s a joy to watch!.
Go back to that controversial Washington game, for instance. Thibs literally went Game 7 with a 6 man rotation on the second night of a B2B. Half of those six players have missed time with injury since then. But you watch these guys play now, you have to see we probably could have beaten the Wizards if we’d been using the whole team consistently, you know?
We had the same problem last year in the Miami series. After they figured out our Plan A, we had no Plan B bc half the bench hadn’t played since January. Meanwhile Spoelstra was unleashing Plan X, Plan Y, and Plan Z.
Bottom line: we’ve been lucky to have so many injuries. It’s forced Thibs to do what a good coach should. We’re better in the long term now that we’ve given iHart, Donte, Precious, et al the opportunity.
I won’t get into this whole argument again, but I’d really want to see someone go through all of the matchups Thibs teams have had during the playoffs in his career and tell me how many times they think his team lost to a team they should have beaten. The Bulls lost to the Heat twice during those years, which should be obviously Heat favored matchups, and then to the Lebron Cavs in 15, also obvious… then there is the Sixers loss in the Rose injury year, which killed that team… they also didn’t have Rose the year they lost to the Wizards, so… I just don’t see it, really.
The way our Knicks are playing has made my 1st day post-op bright lol. Not that I was expecting a loss last night, but I would not have been surprised had we lost. The fact that the game was mostly not close because of the defensive energy made the win even sweeter. Hopefully Anunoby will be back for Indy- that’s gonna be a tough game now that Haliburton is back. Oh! And we’re a game up on Philly for 3rd while Embiid is banged up? Good times
It’s funny to me that in the best game of his career Donte got blocked 3 times—not including by the rim
The point is more that if they lose to a lower seed in the playoffs and it’s excused with “the other team had a better roster” but that better roster didn’t reveal itself in the regular season … then there’s no real reason to get excited over the regular season.
We’ve gone through that dynamic now twice in Thibs’s two Knick playoff springs.
The Heat and Hawks essentially said, “Let’s wait until the playoffs to make our final determination here and you’ll see the regular season didn’t mean that much” and that’s all I’m advising. (Well, that, and to go out and get better players at the trade deadline and not rely on Thibs’s regular season “magic,” because there’s every reason to believe that won’t carry over to the real season.)
This to me is the MONEYBALL argument, and I am indeed worried a bit, too. Fair point. We don’t want to be that Oakland A’s team. We don’t want Donte to be remembered as our Hatteberg. Ha.
That’s why I agree with many above that we need to get our bench on the court — more data more data. The injuries: Mitch out “unlocked” iHart. Julius out seemed to “unlock” OG and Donte offensively. OG out has “unlocked” Precious to some surprising extent. When Brunson was out, Deuce had a couple good offensive games.
We need to prove these guys can deliver on any given night and (maybe more important) show Thibs that he can/should expertly use them come playoff time. More data. Grimes. Let’s go.
Most likely, Thibs just gets way more regular-season buy-in from his players than other coaches — in part because he cares more, in part because he overweights the regular season, in part because of his talents as a coach.
That dynamic doesn’t really look like it carries over to the playoffs though, unfortunately. Maybe this is the year it does, I guess that’s possible, but rather than rely on that, I’d just rather get better players and win playoff series with sheer talent.
Win % post-trade without OG: 100%
Win % post-trade with OG: not 100%
LOL. Stats, analysis, humor — trifecta.
And, sure, I hear you @Lil’P — but I think we’re angling to be one of those balanced, overachieving Pistons squads, stealing a title in between teams with generational “sheer talent” as you rightly say. Unless, that is, we believe Brunson is a generational talent.
Can someone explain to E why we got Donte instead of Lebron with the MLE? I’ve given up.
nobody wants their players to get injured, but – fair point about it forcing thibs to utilize the roster more effectively…
i wonder what happened with evian…shoot, even he may have seen a resurgence this season…
I was only half worried about what Randle’s absence would mean.
If we had another “scorer” that I knew could up his usage and remain as efficient I wouldn’t have been worried at all. I’ve been in the camp that believes Randle’s impact on winning is lower than his points, rebounds, and assists suggest. So to me it was a question of whether we would get enough better player and ball movement to help our role players get easier shots and whether one of them could step up. So far we are getting that better movement and DDV is stepping up. I’m not sure how sustainable that all is, but playing well despite Randle being out does not surprise me.
We have so far beaten two horseshit teams without Randle. That’s great that we beat Charlotte and Utah without him but let’s beat some better teams without him before we start bragging about how our bullshit narratives have been proven to be true.
1. Is that really the argument?
2. I’m not going through the whole list bc I don’t care what happened in Chicago or Minnesota. But I do think we should have beaten the Heat last year and that he got badly out outcoached by Spo in that series (particularly in game 1, which proved to be the pivotal game).
Look, E goes really deep with his schtick and I’m not into 90% of it. But I hold two dialectical beliefs at the same time:
1) Thibs is on the short list of great Knicks coaches of all time, and this season he is turning in a masterpiece.
2) His pathological rigidity can kill us in the postseason, and I don’t trust him to make the right adjustments.
Fitting the players together correctly is worth extra wins. How many is hard to say, but I think there is a locker room component to it also. It’s not just on the court. These guys like each other and enjoy coming to work. You can even see it on the face of the new guys. Precious is enjoying himself. Even OG is smiling once in awhile now. When you have that kind feeling you are willing to practice harder, play harder, and be more team oriented.
Well, that, and to go out and get better players at the trade deadline and not rely on Thibs’s regular season “magic,” because there’s every reason to believe that won’t carry over to the real season.
Goal post movement detection alert!!
According to E, our 14-2 January record has to do with Thib’s coaching ability! (understandably he had to pick his poison as the other alternatives are to admit a hustle bunny is playing like Steph, or the OG trade had something to do with it). But baby steps.
… and on Clyde’s face. — “Sharing is caring.”
Is anyone bragging about a bullshit narrative being True? Rather, the plot points merely show an optimistic narrative is plausible, thus far. We ALL share anxiety about discovering the real Truth at the end bc … Knicks.
We’ve been jamming a square peg into a round hole with Thibs here for his tenure, giving him personnel that didn’t really match his coaching style. Now we finally have the personnel to play great defense for 48 minutes, and also have enough shooters on offense. We’re on track to be the first Knick team in like forever that is solid on both sides of the ball and isn’t relying on questionably sustainable strengths like ISM variance miracles on defense or a low-turnover/high ORB approach on offense.
At full-ish strength we’re probably an elite defensive team, like as in #1 in the league elite, and a top 10 offense. This is really all I ever wanted: a team I could dream on. I can dream on this.
I don’t think Utah is such a bad team.
I don’t know if what DDV is doing is sustainable. If not we are screwed because we don’t have that obvious 3rd option than can step up. That’s one of the things I’ve suggested we need to address post trade.
We also have to get OG back if we want to beat the better teams.
But IMO it’s true to say the ball is moving better, we are committing fewer “dumb” TOs and the defense has been OK. Those are the very things I’ve been arguing reduce Randle’s value more than the perception about his value.
Ball and player movement helps role players get easy shots.
Eliminating 1-2 really bad TOs makes up for some of the lost efficiency.
IMO Randle being out is not a gigantic negative as long as “someone” is capable of stepping up and the way we are playing is helping the role players get easier shots. If not we are screwed.
In case you missed the game thread last night, I sincerely declared Leon Rose should win Executive of the Year (Stevens might have a better case, but Leon is worthy).Credit when it’s due.
It probably helped that he didn’t have a draft pick this year!
Since E said post-trade that it will be “fascinating to see what happens when after insisting on Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes to help fix the defense, this doesn’t fix the defense either” the Knicks have the #1 defense in the league.
Im still getting over the fact that someone named their kid “Knicks.” Like what?! The mom was ok with that? I’m a die hard fan but I don’t think I would ever go to that extreme. After a player fine, (Pat for a girl after Ewing would’ve suffice) but the team name? Wild. That commercial is surreal….
I cannot wait to see OG & Mitch on the court together.
Is her name actually Knicks? Nyx and its variant spelling, Nix, are actual names. Heck even Nicks wouldn’t be bad
I only half listen to the commercials so idk
They had the top-ranked defense in the association last playoff season. There’s simply no indication whatsoever that they haven’t had the players to play top-quality defense in the real season.
His 26-27 game playoff record is heinous. Nor is there any real indication that Thibs’s regular season magic rubs off on the playoff component parts.
Whether it registers as such in the more optimistic precincts of the fanbase, in reality this is a very real concern.
That’s my point Hubert, I agree with you, I’m not the biggest Thibs fan and anyone can see how much I’ve criticized him during the years. But the argument E makes about him not having success in the playoffs is far more nuanced and has to be considered in context, which he never does.
We don’t have a mega superstar like Lebron, so evert time we face some team that has a guy like this we start from a deficit in a pure talent standpoint. Thibs is showing that he’s very capable of taking a roster that no one would consider to be amongst the top 8 or so most talented teams in the league, and he’s over performing with it.
I just want to watch good basketball and be excited about the Knicks, and this is what’s happening now. We all know what this team is and how it still has flaws. But I’m very happy to be able to enjoy it.
I think everyone agreed the team could weather losing Randle in the short-to-medium term, this was not something only Strat could deduce. Beating up on a few sub .500 teams is strong evidence that we can in fact hold it together without Randle for a bit.
The problems, that we will hopefully never have to find out about, come into play much more strongly when we have to play a half season’s worth of games + the playoffs with exactly one player in the league’s top ninety four in usage.
That’s not going to work. I don’t think I even need to explain why. It’s just not. Even the 2010-2011 Mavs, everyone’s go to example of a “one capital D Dude + great role players” team had four players in the top-100.
Again, hoping for the best with regards to Randle, because if this ever becomes anything more than an academic discussion the season is over.
It’s possible to both enjoy the regular season and, come around late January, be demanding about improving the talent level before the real season. Rangers fans do it practically every year and are doing it again this year.
Any evaluation of the Knicks roster’s playoff readiness needs a “Thibs regular season haircut” for proper conclusions. Simple reality. That’s his history.
Gotcha, Bruno.
And yeah, E definitely lacks appreciation for this. This is more than just “try harder”, although there’s definitely an element of that.
What we’ve seen here is the creation of a system, a process, (dare I say it) a culture. It’s been absolutely tremendous and it’s a joy to watch.
Part of the reason it didn’t work for us in the playoffs is like JK47 said: we were jamming round pegs into square holes. And granted that falls on Thibs, too. Like, you have to compensate for what RJ Barrett actually is, not play him as if he’s something different. That shit was on Thibs.
But when you get it rolling like this with the right pieces, it’s a different story, the team is greater than the sum of its parts.
But also if Donte goes back to 22 mpg when everyone comes back I’m going scream my head off about it on here.
Utah are a solid team. Markiten is a terrific player and they have some decent surrounding talent. Hammering them despite all our injuries is good.
The bizarre thing is that, regardless of the rather rote criticism now coming my way, we agree on the round pegs/square holes. Since JK/Hubert, etc. haven’t exactly identified what round pegs and square holes, let’s take note that I have and not as a second guess but as a first guess — low usage, uncreative on the offensive end hustlebunnies are the round pegs, wings-where-high-quality-offense-including-creativity are the square holes.
Defense was not the problem in the real season last spring. Offense was. There was nothing to really “fix,” other than Thibs’s rather pointless January restlessness. (Which basically just repeated the similar restlessness the previous Dec/Jan.)
I see no indication he won’t do the same thing again this spring, notwithstanding DDV’s quality regular season. Quentin Grimes was all the regular season rage last year, too. As was post-trade Josh Hart. We have seen this all before.
You guys are saying, “No, no, DDV isn’t Josh Hart or Quentin Grimes, he isn’t.” And I’m saying if I’m running the team, I’m running it as if he is given his and Thibs’s history.” I obviously think I’m right. But we shall see.
If the Knicks make open 3s against the heat does that mean thibs is a better playoff coach?
For all their star power, the Celtics & Bucks lost to Miami too. Losing in the playoffs isn’t a Knicks or Thibs specific issue.
As for Donte, he’s scoring nearly 5 more pts/36 than his next best season. His OBPM is 3.1 higher than his next best season. This isn’t a slight regular season Thibs improvement, it’s a massive improvement.
While part of his improvement could be shooting variance, Donte is also taking three more 3pa/36 than his career average.
Idk, maybe Steve Kerr just can’t figure out how to use elite shooters in his offense, he’s definitely not an offensive genius like Thibs
E should stop posting until the playoffs since the regular season is irrelevant imho
It’s one thing to catch lightninig in a bottle once with iHart but Donte’s $11.7m AAV from age 26 -30 is gooing to age really well. At some point, it’s silly to attribute Gerson’s analytics focused results to random luck.
Worst Knicks playoff On-Off offensive rating:
* Immanuel Quickley -9.1
* Obi Toppin -4.4
* RJ Barrett -4.0
Hustle bunnies:
* Grimes +1.4
* Hart +0.6
Kind of seems like the guys who could “create” were the offensive problem.
RJ & Obi’s inability to shoot was the biggest issue in the Heat series, especially when paired with Hart. Everybody knew it at the time, you just keep offering a weirdo alternate history.
Yeah, nobody on this board ever suggested RJ was the problem in any post ever
The Atlanta team that beat us went on to defeat the 76ers, eventually losing in the conference finals to the NBA champion Bucks.
The Heat team that beat us then went on to defeat the Celtics, eventually losing in the NBA finals to the NBA champion Nuggets.
Knicks stuff in Scotto’s latest:
-We’ve discussed Grimes with the Jazz and Hawks in the context of Clarkson and/or Olynyk and AJ Griffin respectively
-As we knew, interested in Bruce Brown, Brogdon, Alleway Barkenstein, “and others”
-As we knew, we’re dangling a Fournier/Grimes/draft compensation package
-This isn’t explicitly Knicks related, but the Lakers are still trying to find a third team for D’Lo and don’t want to pay anyone to take him on
Still think we should take on D’Lo assuming there’s literally no cost.
NYK gets: D’Lo, Griffin
ATL gets: Fournier, Grimes, LAL 2029 first, whatever else they can squeeze out of LAL
LAL gets: Murray
E is just setting himself up to take a victory lap when the Knicks do not win the NBA finals, which they likely will not do for many reasons, including that it is definitionally unlikely any given NBA team will win the finals.
Whether they lose in the play-in or in game 7 of the finals on a buzzer beater, he’s going to say it’s because of all the problems with hustlebunnies he identified in advance.
This is why E is not going to say “the Knicks will lose in XYZ round of the playoffs” or “the Knicks reaching XYZ round of the playoffs would prove my baseline assumptions wrong.” Every time he gets in the “make a genuinely interesting prediction” business he gets burned, so he’s keeping maximum flexibility this time. He doesn’t want to get Reddished yet again.
He doesn’t feel strongly about any of it–if he did he would do what people who feel strongly about something do, which is make a prediction. In other words, he is trolling.
The E Rule should be any take that isn’t accompanied by a falsifiable prediction should be ignored.
Grimes is playing really well and really starting to attack the basket. I think moving Grimes now would be a major mistake unless the return was massive and Grimes was a big part of the trade.
In January, Grimes averaged 3.2 FTA/36 and 4.1 2ptFGA/36 almost all at the rim. His usage in January is 19.9. He is being more aggressive and doing more offensively than we have ever seen. His three-point shot has been a bit off (35.3%) but even with that his TS% is still over 56%. On top of all that, he is still one of our better perimeter defenders and fits really well with our other defensive guards.
We should keep him at least until the summer and see if he can maintain this more aggressive approach. Moving him now would be a sell-low move and honestly would be very foolish if all we got was a placeholder vet to bring off the bench. He is more valuable than the value he would add to a trade.
You guys are feeding the troll again…
They lost to an 8 seed last year because of hustlebunnies I identified in advance.
I don’t think Grimes is untouchable but trading him for a backup PG rental would be a bit disappointing
What you identified in advance was that they wouldn’t win a round. Reddished again.
Randle not playing Game 1 then playing the rest of the series on 1 foot had a pretty big part in the Knicks losing to the Heat. IQ getting hurt at the end of Game 3 and missing the remaining games of the series didn’t help either.
Grimes for Clarkson would suck, even though Clarkson arguably has more short-term value to this team. Bringing Griffin back would be a lot more palatable, if you assume this year is an aberration due to personal circumstance and whatnot. And I suppose Olynyk helps with our frontcourt depth so long as both Mitch and Julius are out. But that trade doesn’t solve our bench PG problem, which remains a problem despite how well we’ve played of late.
Everyone knows people like this.
They meet a beautiful someone at the bar and offer to buy that person a drink.
After the first drink, they think “Hey, this is going really well!” so they offer to buy someone another round.
After the second drink, nagging doubt starts to creep in: “Uhh.. this someone is really out of my league.”
And sometime around the fourth or fifth drink, they have convinced themselves that it’s all going to end badly; that there’s really no point in taking things any further; and that the prudent course of action is to forego any possibility of enjoying the next several months (or more) with someone in order to spare themselves the heartbreak that will surely follow.
More precisely and what has more resonance for looking forward is that they lost to an 8th seed last year because of Thibs’s philosophy of hustlebunny-ism. By all indications, he’s still a subscriber.
Yeah I’m not trading Grimes for any of this. The only trade I’d make is for Don Brog, who may in some not-totally-imaginary world put you over the edge, and I’d try moving McBride and a protected 1st instead of Grimes.
Side note: this is personally my favorite type of team. Specifically, I love when guys go down and players from the fringes step up. Good teams with good cultures have this happen all the time. The 90s Yankees, for instance, would give Chuck Knoblauch a day off and Homer Bush would go 4-4. Or Paul O’Neill would miss a month and Ricky Ledee would hit .400.
Watching this bare bones Knicks team play their hearts out these last two games is as much fun as I’ve had in a while. I don’t want a whole season of Precious Achiuwa at the 4 or Josh Hart being involved in every play, but right now I do!
WHERE ARE THE RUFF RYDAHS
We went 14-2 last month, made a big trade, lost a key player to injury and kept winning. find something new to say other than hustlebunny
Seriously – just don’t engage!
It’s OK to be optimistic and feel good about the team we watch, IDK, once every 20 years or whatever. I don’t *actually* believe we’re ready to win a chip, but fucking hell, it’s SO good to watch a team like this.
Being a Knicks / Islanders fan has gifted me more than enough “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong” attitude. Eventually, with the right management, coach, and players – things can actually change. And maybe they already have…
Jordan Clarkson flat out sucks, as in “Is a bad-to-terrible player” and I wouldn’t want him in the rotation period. He’s 31, the age at which mediocre players like himself tend to fall off a cliff into complete uselessness. Which, I mean… take a look at his numbers this season.
If you want a guy to take over the “misses lots of shots” mantle that is vacant now that RJ is gone, there’s your guy.
that sounded very personal Gondrezick…and interesting too…
please tell us more about random social encounters with a beautiful someone…
i like this story…more please…
E doesn’t want to discuss anything meaningful, just drones on and on every day about “Thibs sux because hustlebunnies” and there is zero variation to any of it. He’s a single-issue poster. He’s like the guy who used to come here years ago who only posted varieties of “The Knicks are doomed because they traded Nate Robinson away.”
Same note over and over again, no variety. It’s a perfectly reasonable viewpoint to have, but I dunno, mix in SOMETHING else occasionally.
Nine posts today, all slightly different remixes of “Thibs doesn’t win in the playoffs because hustlebunnies.”
Fucking STUNNING insight.
I wouldn’t take Clarkson for free, so hell no on trading Grimes for him. Thankfully I feel…reasonably confident our front office feels the same way.
Griffin though, I consider more or less equally as intriguing as Grimes. He’s significantly younger and has already had a more well rounded season (as a rookie) than Grimes ever has. The counterbalancing facts lie in injury risk mostly. Maybe you could argue a fully realized Grimes has more upside too. I can see the argument, but it feels like a bit of a tough sell given that Grimes is close to 24 and Griffin turned 20 over the offseason.
So I’d make that swap if it meant getting D’Lo.
Especially when it’s pretty obvious you can get Brogdon without having to include Grimes.
Insisting that Thibs and the hustlebunnies are the problem is not very clever at this point. When we lose, the games count as proof, now that the games are telling another story, then only the playoffs will be proof. Like TNFH said, only when we win the NBA title there’ll be no excuses, although “But are we capable of a three-peat?” has some chances of popping up.
before i forget – wishing you well with your folks doogie…
a bunch of us seem to be past the halfway point of the ride…as such, many here no longer have their parents still here to enjoy (or avoid, as the case may be)…
i remember when we had the parent conversation some years back and folks here mentioned that they no longer had a loved parent in their life…
that really hit home with me…made me feel even more guilty than usual for not spending more time with mom 🙂
i don’t know, i have a very small circle of folks close to me…thankfully i have not had to experience much loss of a loved one…
time is a bit cruel in that way though, the longer you stay around, the more potential for loss…
DRed for GM
Except I mixed in “get better players at the trading deadline and win with sheer talent.”
If you have a hustlebunny-ist as coach you have to get players so good that he can’t hustlebunny. It’s a dilemma for sure.
You could make a case for Hustlebunny Hart being the Knicks best player in the Cavs series.
I love this team. This season is almost makes me get over the regret of staying up, while in Central Europe, to watch Aaron Rodger’s Jets debut.
Similar, but what I love about the team is even the non-fringe players were in some way or another “fringe” at some point. We go up against the blue chip college recruits and the “faces of the league” and eat their lunch with an army of guys who’ve been doubted and dismissed at every turn.
Brunson: second round pick, red headed stepchild in Dallas before they let him walk for nothing
Randle: was available to basically anyone after the Lakers didn’t think he was worth keeping around in the LeBron era, has obviously been widely derided at times as a Knick
Mitch: second-round pick, doubted by many right up until they couldn’t anymore
DDV: available for a pittance and yet people still thought it was an overpay, on his 4th team in 6 seasons
iHart: did nothing but produce for teams that…didn’t think he was worth keeping around. Accused of “TS% illusion, low usage, deployment, small sample size.”
Grimes: had to scratch and claw his way back to relevance after a dismal stint at Kansas as a high recruit. Definitely didn’t envision himself as a 25th pick.
Deuce: 3-star recruit, second round pick, works like a dog every day to make it all look stupid.
I could go on–Precious was cast aside, Sims was an afterthought, etc. You get it.
We have a team of guys who were told “no” and didn’t listen.
Sims seems better than he was playing earlier in the season, but I guess that could be an eye test thing. Maybe having a better defense around him has helped
forgive me JK, i know though you still have a young one close by, by any chance – have you figured out a strategy for when they hit the age (from around 4 to 7 maybe) and they incessantly repeat the same shit over and over and over again…
my go to for when the kids did it during those periods of time – i would simply hit them with: Number 9
yes, that Number Nine gem from the Beatles…
i would repeat it over and over again…it would drive them crazy, and break their mental fixation on them repeating themselves…
ha, i truly do have no patience for peace of mind…people who say the same shit over and over again drive me crazy…
it like watching some automaton glitch out…the desire to throw something at it is very strong…
kind of like when an animal will get fixated on a thing, there are ways to break that mental fixated state of mind when it occurs in others around you…
namely by making someone aware of their behavior…if that does not work – you can try distraction…finally, you can simply go on the attack to divert their focus in to defending themselves…
hmmmm, does that sound familiar to anyone 😛
I also take major umbrage with Devo being called a hustlebunny. It isn’t “Thibs magic” making him shoot the lights out.
Coupling a trivial prediction—not winning a championship—with an arbitrary fact as an explanation—hustlebunnies—doesn’t pass a meaningful prediction test.
You can attribute any fact to the Knicks not winning last year and claim victory:
– Knicks didn’t win because RJ
– Knicks didn’t win because we didn’t say “Doomed!!” enough
– Knicks didn’t win because Mercury was in retrograde on the solstice
E, himself, loves to cycle through different reasons they failed based on the topic du jour (Thibs, hustlebunnies, Randle, etc.)
We can take this a step further, I could say “I won’t win this lottery because the Knicks play hustle bunnies” or “George Washington will not rise from the dead as a werewolf cyborg this year because the Knicks have hustlebunnies”. Es claim is equally trivial.
The problem is that we can’t falsify Es statement with a counterfactual based on the Knicks. However, if we look beyond the Knicks, we can find examples of teams succeeding with hustle bunnies.
Both the Nuggets and Heat deployed more hustlebunnies than we did last year. Everyone who played significant minutes on those teams—except Butler, Bam, Murray, and Jokic—fit the definition E gave a couple days ago for what counts as a hustlebunny.
Oh yeah, good one Geo, almost forgot it too with all the winning. Sending prayers your way, Doogie, and Strat too. Went through the same in 2022 and it’s hard, whatever you need from a distant friend, i’m here.
“Hustlebunnies” is really a stupid term and let’s just agree not to use it any more on this site.
(I know that won’t stop E tho)
You really shouldn’t, though.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m afraid E is right about this specific thing.
In the postseason, Josh Hart should be an impact sub and Donte should be playing as many minutes as Brunson.
I can’t blame Thibs for doing it last year bc he didn’t have the horses. But if Josh Hart gets more minutes than a 4 bpm SG in the next playoffs, I’m going to say E got it right.
E’s 2 opinions:
(1) We lose because our hustlebunnies lack talent
(2) We should trade our hustlebunnies for more talent
It’s a veritable cornucopia of ideas
Well we should also have more info on what DDV is come playoff time, saying 4BPM every time you mention Donte has to be hedged by acknowledging he’s a career.,7 bpm player
I think I would do that in a heartbeat- even if we had to throw a first in as well. Run a small ball 2nd unit out there of Achiuwa, Griff, Hart, DLo, and Deuce. That shit would be fire and a completely different play style from the starters to throw teams off. Once Julius is back of course. For now, I think Achiuwa should stay in the starting lineup even when OG is back and let Hart help Deuce run the 2nd unit but still play 28-32 minutes
Seems like I’ve said it enough times to just refer to him as Donte now 🙂.
Re: his career BPM, I’d be worried about him being unable to repeat this next year, but I would have faith in it continuing this year.
The big differences between Donte last year and this year seem to be:
(1) hitting open 3s at a 42% rate this year instead of a 34% rate last year;
(2) volume of 3s has gone up 52% per 100 possessions from last year; and
(3) his pull-up 3s have gone from 23% to 43% (only 8% of his fgas)
I can do some effect size math later to determine how many points each factor accounts for once I have more time. I suspect the volume is sustainable (the ratio of open to wide-open 3s is the same, suggesting he isn’t raising volume by taking bad shots) even if the % on open 3s drops
howdy cyber 🙂
i hope all is well for you…i see you are enjoying some absolutely beautiful weather where you’re at…
i hope you’re getting the chance to get outside and get some vitamin d…
here’s some 90’s re-mixed southern california sunshine for you…it’s one of those Tiny Desk sets…love the “stripped down” sound…bonus – i can actually hear and understand all the words 🙂
here’s the song list if it interests you:
– 0.00 When the Shit Goes Down
– 4.30 Hand on the Pump
– 12.00 How I Could Just Kill a Man
– 18.30 Rap Superstar
– 25.46 Insane in the Membrane
missing Dr. Greenthumb, a big favorite of mine…there is this clip from the monterey fairgrounds…
Thanks much, Brother Love and cybersoze.
Also……. TNFH, when you mentioned that DDV is on his fourth team, I had to look it up. I had totally forgotten about his 25-game stint on the Kings!
Regarding Hart vs. DDV, I think the minutes should reflect what any specific lineup needs. There are lineups that need more scoring and spacing. So DDV should get way more minutes. There are lineups that will need a little more size, rebounding and transition that imo would be better off with Hart.
Just for the record
1. DDV is playing far and away the best basketball of his career (kind of like Hart for the Knicks in the regular season last year). IMO you have to at least question how sustainable that is.
2. Hart is playing through a knee issue this season and it’s probably impacting his results so far.
3. So far both have played with the bench, starting and with a variety of lineups. It would take a thorough analysis of a LOT of things to determine exactly why, but so far this year DDV’s on/off is -4.4 and Hart’s is +6.9. Maybe it’s all noise, but it might not be. Hart fit great with this team last year also at +12.
Does the possible develop of Precious into a solid backup make Mitch even more expendable in a trade than just the development of I-Hart as a solid starter?
If they decide that I-Hart and Precious are a good enough tandem and pay I-Hart whatever it’s going to take to keep him, then suddenly Mitch’s injury and free throw issues might make it more likely that he becomes an outgoing salary in a bigger trade.
The only thing missing is… D’Angelo Russell?
Donte was a very good shooter last year in Golden State– .574 eFG%, .593 TS%. His numbers are up this year, but his shot profile is also better.
He’s taking more 3’s in relation to 2’s than he did last year, and he has cut down on midrange jumpers. He already rarely shot the midrange J with the Warriors, but he has taken that even farther with the Knicks.
Shot attempts from 0-3 feet are up, everything from 3-16 feet is down, and 3-pointers are up. Percentage of corner 3’s and assisted baskets are also up. He’s simply taking better shots and knocking them down.
He’s also turning the ball over way less this season, which is a big reason for the bump in BPM. He has gone from the 2nd fastest paced team in the league in Golden State to the 3rd slowest paced team in the Knicks. His TOV% has plummeted from 16.4 to 10.0.
His usage is way up too, now at 20. Fantastic season and great fit for our team.
I don’t get the Jordan Clarkson media love at all. The media keeps saying we are interested, but I have no idea why we would be. We need some scoring off the bench, but he’s not really a PG and not an efficient scorer. I haven’t seen enough to know whether he defends well but as far as I know he doesn’t have a reputation as a good defender. He’s a pass for me.
It’s sad that Donte didn’t get to experience playing in the NBA finals with the Bucks because he injured his ankle against the… let me check my notes…. Heat.
My confidence in Grimes as a fairly solid 3&D player with some possibility of more has been almost unwavering.
He’s probably not going to become some high level versatile scorer and two way player, but 3&D+ is a darn good player. His handle is still a little suspect and I’d rather he not shoot jumpers off the dribble yet, but when he gets off a set look or goes to the basket he’s good. And I love when he and OG are on the court together. The perimeter defense is solid and takes the pressure off of our Cs to keep cleaning up the messes we used to have. I don’t love him as much as Quickley, but I feel similarly about trading him. If you trade him, you better bring back something really good or I’m going to be pissed.
Yeah why don’t we just do this with Brunson and McBride while we’re at it. 🙄
That aesthetic preference, while entirely valid, doesn’t do a lot for me — at least with respect to NBA basketball.
I pretty much detest the 1% in everyday life but I love the 1% in the association. The little engines that can are here to service the elite.
I’m not sure I understand.
The gap between Brunson and McBride on offense is a vast expanse.
IMO the gap between Hart and DDV is smaller than it looks on BPM and IMO partially reflects Hart’s bum knee and career level shooting from DDV “so far”.
We need DDV in the starting lineup because he’s the better scorer and spacer and that’s exactly what we need in that lineup, especially now. But imo Hart is better than DDV at other valuable things when he’s 100% and would fit in other lineups better. It’s just that right now we are down Quickley, RJ, OG and Randle and desperately need scoring.
The gap between Devo and Hart on offense is the same exact vast expanse as the one between Brunson and Deuce. People are just having a hard time accepting it for some reason. It is plain as day when you look at the statistics, though.
[Duplicate comment]
Update: We now have the 5th best SRS of any Knicks team in history. Ahead of us are:
1. ’69-’70 (champs)
2. ’93-’94 (one game away from champs)
3. ’72-73 (champs)
4. ’92-’93 (lost ECF vs. Jordan, tied franchise record with 60 wins)
All won 57+ games and either won the championship or challenged the actual champs as much or more as any other opponent
Lil’ Penny, given that two of these top four were coached by Thibs’ mentor, who largely coached the same ethos, are their accomplishments invalid/tainted by huslebunnyball?
Not to totally invalidate your point but I don’t think Thibs ever worked under Pat the rat. He worked under JVG here, followed him to Houston, and then joined Doc Rivers’ staff in Boston.
Interesting sub plot for the rest of the year. DDV as a full time starter is averaging 3.3 made 3s per game. If he keeps that up the rest of the way he’ll beat Fournier to become the single season Knick record holder for made threes on the year. Very doable even with a down tick in % given his likely higher usage in the coming weeks.
I’m not really ok board with that record belonging to anyone but Starks, but if it can’t be him I’ll take DDV over Fournier.
Howdy Geo, a little too hot for my taste given that it’s only January, but all good here! 🙂 And how are you?
About Cypress Hill, nice video, i love Tiny Desk sessions. But i’m more used to listen to B-Real (Cypress Hill) with another band…
🤘 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKXUwEtWd4 🤘
Welcome back KnickerBloggerPowerRankings! 😉 You’re in europe? On a portuguese passport? 🙂
Woj says Hawks could just take Dejounte trade talks into the off season
And no stars on the market
you rock cyber – that is such a crazy cool clip…nice!!!
Ok so not quite his mentor, but certainly his mentor’s mentor
Looks like we’ll be down grimes and OG tomorrow which is a bummer, Indiana can certainly score.
The guy who does EPM has made searching his site without paying for it pretty hard to do, but he does have teams ranked by net rating adjusted for schedule, and the Knicks are currently 3rd in the association.
Perk is 100% a Knicks fan. On the Zach Lowe podcast he suggested Jimmy Butler get traded from the Heat. Now on NBA countdown he suggested Joel Embiid get shutdown for the rest of the season. Both moves benefiting the Knicks (depending on where Butler would theoretically get traded). Homeboy
Hey Cyber — good to be back. I promised myself that if the Knicks ever went 14-2 in a month that I’d pop back in to this wonderful community. Sadly, my Portuguese paperwork is still in “process” — whatever that means. I hope y’all have been doing well.
His model also gives the Knicks the highest probability at the #2 seed.
I can search EPM by player name on my phone but not on desktop, might work for you
Meanwhile, Detroit is giving a fully healthy Cleveland squad a scare.
Alas.
On the back of one Ben Simmons game played, the Australian news media were quick to praise his basketball prowess, and how the crowds loved him.
today i see he is ruled out due to another injury.
that is today’s australia update
Strat must have loved the classic Frank game tonight…0-4 for 0 points but a +9 in 10 minutes…
Weren’t we in a position to draft Eason? I remember many people here wanted him.
Is Vertsberger connected? He used to writ here and I’ve seen an occasional article from him, but “covet” is kind of a strong word to use unless he has moved up the ladder.
He was the guy I wanted most in the ’22 draft. We traded the pick to OKC. It looks like we’re going full hustlebunny. I should be in the front office.
Tari Eason is kind of the odd man out in Houston, where they have a lot of good young forwards. I like his game. He is playing hellacious defense this year and is an excellent rebounder, and at 22 still has some room to grow on the offensive end, could have some stretch 4 capabilities. Not sure what the price would be for him but he looks to me like he’s going to be a really good role player in the league.
Eason per 36:
16.1 pts
11.5 rebs
2.3 stls
1.4 blks
Needs a bit of work on offense. Bad TS% at .528 but manages a 20% usage. Not a great shooter at 36% on low volume this year, but it’s not nothing. He can drive the ball and rarely turns it over, but won’t pass much. Has no midrange game.
Best On-Off for Houston this year and last, but has missed about half their games this season.
I’m skeptical Houston is looking too trade him, but they’ve got a bunch of talented wings right now.
Is Hali playing?