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Knicks Morning News (2024.06.14)


  • Knicks adding experienced Maurice Cheeks to Tom Thibodeaus staff – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Fri, 14 Jun 2024 03:15:00 GMT
    1. Knicks adding experienced Maurice Cheeks to Tom Thibodeaus staff
    2. Chicago Bulls Lose Key Member of Organization to New York Knicks
    3. Knicks to hire Maurice Cheeks as assistant coach on Tom Thibodeau’s staff: Report
    4. Knicks adding Hall of Fame player to Tom Thibodeau’s coaching staff
    5. Knicks set to hire assistant coach Maurice Cheeks


  • Knicks Jalen Brunson calls Game 3 criticism of Luka Doncic unfair – The Dallas Morning News
    [The Dallas Morning News] – Fri, 14 Jun 2024 00:33:28 GMT

    Knicks Jalen Brunson calls Game 3 criticism of Luka Doncic unfair


  • Tom Thibodeau knows there’s no escaping Josh Hart’s complaining – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Fri, 14 Jun 2024 02:24:00 GMT

    Tom Thibodeau knows there’s no escaping Josh Hart’s complaining


  • Could New York Knicks Land Suns Forward? – Sports Illustrated
    [Sports Illustrated] – Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:00:03 GMT

    Could New York Knicks Land Suns Forward?


  • New York Knicks fantasy basketball season recap – NBC Sports
    [NBC Sports] – Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:01:01 GMT

    New York Knicks fantasy basketball season recap


  • Deuce McBride talks Knicks, mentors, and Thibodeau’s drills on Pat Bev podcast – Posting and Toasting
    [Posting and Toasting] – Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:30:46 GMT

    Deuce McBride talks Knicks, mentors, and Thibodeau’s drills on Pat Bev podcast


  • Brooklyn Nets Could Reportedly Trade into NBA Draft with Knicks – Sports Illustrated
    [Sports Illustrated] – Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:43:09 GMT

    Brooklyn Nets Could Reportedly Trade into NBA Draft with Knicks


  • Reggie Miller takes aim at frontrunners Knicks: They think theyre gods gift to basketball – Awful Announcing
    [Awful Announcing] – Thu, 13 Jun 2024 21:37:07 GMT
    1. Reggie Miller takes aim at frontrunners Knicks: They think theyre gods gift to basketball
    2. Reggie Miller Slams New York Knicks – Again
    3. NBA Legend Fuels Beef With Knicks After Unfiltered Take
    4. Watch: Jalen Brunson responds to Reggie Miller’s latest comments on the Knicks #shorts
    5. Reggie Miller On Why He Hates The New York Knicks: “They Think They’re God’s Gift To Basketball”


  • What Leon Rose’s track record with first-round picks says about the Knicks’ NBA Draft plan – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Thu, 13 Jun 2024 12:30:00 GMT

    What Leon Rose’s track record with first-round picks says about the Knicks’ NBA Draft plan

  • 113 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.06.14)”

    We now have a second (or perhaps 3rd depending upon how you classify Breen) Hall of Famer in the organisation.

    “If by objective argument, you mean team results based, then there isn’t enough data since our starters only played together in February. But people are free to judge by the quality of the personnel and their opinion could differ from yours. An optimist might say that OG is as good as Holiday, Randle as good as Tatum, Brunson better than White, the pair of Mitch and Ihart equal to KP/Horford, and DDV worse than Brown. That’s close without any trades or acquisitions.”

    People can judge however they want to. But when you qualify your judgment with “an optimist might say,” you are sort of admitting that it really is not an objective judgment that a non-Knicks fan would make.

    -OG is objectively not as good as Holiday. The numbers bear that out.
    -Randle is not as good as Tatum. The numbers bear that out.
    -Mitch/iHart are not equal to KP/Horford. The numbers bear that.out.
    -Brunson is a better offensive player than Derrick White. However, Derrick White is a second team all-defensive player who averages 17.6/36 on a .611 TS%. But there is indeed an objective argument that Brunson is better.
    -Brown is better than DDV, and most objective observers would say far better. You could argue that Josh Hart should be compared to Brown, and I think most would feel that makes it closer, and that DDV should be compared to Prichard. But Brown is a 3X all-star and all-NBA level player who is about to become finals MVP.

    I don’t see how one can look at these comparisons objectively by the numbers/awards and feel that it is close. Not trying to disparage anyone for being optimistic, it’s just my opinion. But I feel pretty confident that my opinion is more supportable.

    That team had a good defense and took maybe the best team of all time (who otherwise went 12-2 in the post season) to a 7 game, it’s in the discussion for best teams that didn’t win a title.

    No serious person considers them for such a distinction.

    If you play the Warriors without Andre Iguadola you are not playing the real Warriors. So the whole “they took the Warriors to 7” is very misleading. These were the Kevon Looney Warriors.

    And then they spectacularly shit the bed in what might be the worst performance from a home team ever in a game 7.

    We now have a second (or perhaps 3rd depending upon how you classify Breen) Hall of Famer in the organisation.

    Dolan in the Owners Hall of Fame? 🤭

    What about Biscoff cookies? That was not even close to a fully formed thought there.

    I saw Marc Cohn at the Birchmere in Alexandria with my girlfriend last night…….

    Dolan in the Owners Hall of Fame?

    Top Ten Worst Sons of Rich Fathers would be an interesting list 😉

    Top Ten Worst Sons of Rich Fathers would be an interesting list 😉

    LOL!
    Last week we were making an all time worst players list of my hometown football* team (FCPorto) on a forum, and it’s a lot more hilarious than making it for the best players. 😀
    We should try it, one of these days, for the Knicks. 😉

    *european football, i mean.

    Bobby Marks @BobbyMarks42:

    If Boston wins Game 4

    🏀Teams are allowed to negotiate with their own free agents starting on Saturday.

    🏀Beginning at 6PM ET. on June 30, a team and a FA not on their team is allowed to negotiate.

    🏀A player extension eligible up until June 30 can continue negotiating a new contract.

    🏀A player extension eligible starting on July 6, cannot negotiate a new contract until July 1.

    https://x.com/BobbyMarks42/status/1801598111124492798

    Top Ten Worst Sons of Rich Fathers would be an interesting list

    This led me to contemplate how many NYC teams are currently run by legacy brats:

    Knicks – James, Son of Charles
    Rangers – James, Son of Charles
    Yankees – Hal, Son of George
    Giants – John, Son of Wellington
    Jets – Woody, Great Grandson of Robert Wood the First

    No wonder Boston lapped us in the 21st Century.

    NYC is yours for the taking, Steve Cohen.

    If you play the Warriors without Andre Iguadola you are not playing the real Warriors. So the whole “they took the Warriors to 7” is very misleading. These were the Kevon Looney Warriors.

    the Kevon Looney Warriors had Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry & Draymond Green.

    I saw Marc Cohn at the Birchmere in Alexandria with my girlfriend last night…….

    Big whoop

    Top Ten Worst Sons of Rich Fathers would be an interesting list 😉

    I nominate George Walker Bush….

    Looking at Mo Cheeks, thinking he is insurance/(replacement?) for Bryant. Completely missed that Othella Harrington is an assistant coach. His name brings back bad, very bad memories.

    Top Ten Worst Sons of Rich Fathers would be an interesting list 😉

    Not to give Dolan any props, you have to respect his Machiavellian tendency to be able to snooker pops out of his own company… sort of like how Alexander The Great whispered into old Pausanias’ ear and egged him on to murder Phillip II 🙂

    I guess I don’t find the “how good were we really in January” debate to be all that interesting because it seems like no matter where you fall on it, everyone broadly agrees with two propositions:

    1) we were much, much better fully healthy, i.e. in January, than we were after we got ravaged by injury

    2) if it is feasible and sensible to upgrade, we should still look to do so

    As long as we all agree on those two things, I’m not sure what the point is of continuing to argue about this. The fully healthy team is probably:

    1) very good
    2) not as good as the Celtics
    3) not as good as some of the better teams in the West

    You make moves this offseason with all 3 of those things in mind, with point 1 giving you much needed leverage in potential trade conversations but points 2 and 3 guiding you writ large.

    the Kevon Looney Warriors had Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry & Draymond Green

    But not Andre Iguodala, and as such they were not the Warriors everyone thinks of when you say “they took one of the greatest teams of all time to 7”.

    The entire case for those Rockets rests on tricking people into thinking they took a full strength Warriors team to 7 games.

    Top Ten Worst Sons of Rich Fathers would be an interesting list 😉

    Mark Davis and Joel Glazer spring to mind. TBH, Jennie Buss is probably the only one who I can think of who has excelled, relationship with Phil notwithstanding.

    I saw Marc Cohn at the Birchmere in Alexandria with my girlfriend last night…….

    Big whoop

    Befriended Marc for a few years, when we met while our daughters were in a soccer league. Great self-effacing guy. I am biased as he let me sing background on Standing in the Shadows of Love, while he took the Levi Stubbs lead. Also, introduced me to Suzanne Vega. He was a huge fan of Levon Helm, who gave Marc’s son a pair of his drumsticks. Yes, CB this is insipid stanboy schtick, but I always found it interesting meeting famous people, who revealed their natural selves to me.

    Agree TNFH — no argument needed — but our Jan/Feb success is also interesting (to me) if it helps persuade OG and iHart to stay. They might also want to see what the healthy squad can do, and that taste (however small) might be useful in negotiations.

    Hal Steinbrenner, RFK, Jr., Shari Redstone, Jeff Wilpon ( dang, NYC sports teams seem to have cornered this market)

    The fully healthy team is probably:

    1) very good
    2) not as good as the Celtics
    3) not as good as some of the better teams in the West

    You make moves this offseason with all 3 of those things in mind

    There is a contingent that doesn’t seem to agree with these things, though, and is using January as their proof. That’s what the argument seems to be about.

    That’s George Herbert Walker Bush, to you.

    It was indeed a really big whoop. You should try it sometime. Beats farting at DFW and then posting about that fact to a basketball forum all to hell. LOL 🙂

    It’s Jeannie Buss, not Jennie Buss. And she has definitely not “excelled” at her job. She’s letting Kurt and Linda Rambis do it for her.

    Marc spoke about Levon Helm last night. And Suzanne Vega is who he was touring with in Denver when he got shot in the head during an attempted carjacking.

    Doogie there’s an irony to posting more than the original poster about the posts you don’t think are sufficiently on-topic

    Z-man, I took a while to reply because I was at a long dinner. I concede Tatum has better numbers than Randle. But Randle isn’t that far behind me and gets more rebounds. But Tatum is younger, so edge to Tatum. I looked at numbers for Jrue versus OG. OG actually scores more than Jrue. They are both good defenders but Jrue is a guard and OG is a wing, is bigger and can defend more positions. What is more he is much younger. I’d rather have OG. For center KP is clearly the best of the four players, but he’s injured enough that he currently comes of the bench. If you compare Horford to Mitch or IHart, I’d rather have either Knick, and both Knicks are younger. They don’t shoot as much as Horford, but they are much better rim defenders. That’s why I called it even.

    when he got shot in the head

    Wait, what? (… google …) Oh my god. Insane.

    Also, fond memories of Suzanne Vega. Thx for the reminder. Putting on her debut record right … now.

    Never thought I would see the day that I defend the Harden led Rockets but Hubs, if you’re going to say that the Warriors didn’t have Iggy, then it is only fair to point out the Rockets were missing their HOF Point Guard for games 6 and 7.

    Like come on, man. They were up 3-2 but didn’t have CP3 for games 6 and 7.

    There is a contingent that doesn’t seem to agree with these things, though, and is using January as their proof. That’s what the argument seems to be about.

    I’m not so sure, Hubert. Everyone should agree “getting better” is the default position. I’m sure even the Celts from their exulted position is looking at getting better.

    I think the “January” group believes:

    1… as currently constituted with reasonable health the 24-5 Knicks look like a mid 50s win team.

    2… that doesn’t make them the favorite to win the championship.

    3… there is no need to reach for a very high risk/volatile outcome move (KAT, Butler, Durant) at a heavy price.

    4… They are reasonably well positioned to move if a real difference maker becomes available (Giannis decides the Bucks have no future or Jokic decides he wants to be close to his beloved trotters).

    5… they are a highly enjoyable team to root for.

    6… Their ability to make a huge move starts to become more difficult (not impossible) when various extensions kick in.

    1) we were much, much better fully healthy, i.e. in January, than we were after we got ravaged by injury

    2) if it is feasible and sensible to upgrade, we should still look to do so

    As long as we all agree on those two things, I’m not sure what the point is of continuing to argue about this.

    kb has had so many death spiral arguments it has overcorrected. it’s totally interesting to talk about exactly *how* good the current team might be. even if you choose to go with the recent tnfh/zman strict utilitarian interpretation of discussion-worthiness, this is still interesting.

    after all, not all feasible upgrades offer the same risk-reward distribution. and the as-is quality of the team should have a big influence on whether a particular risk-reward is attractive, or even what kinds of moves to pursue most keenly in the first place. many of the biggest deals in the nba in recent years (gobert to minnesota, lillard to the bucks, mitchell to the cavs, including the outgoing decision for the jazz) came with a status quo counterfactual as a huge, looming component of the decision.

    the less great thing about the topic is when the actual arguments are just repetitively subjective and conclusory. throw in something new for the people! should we adjust opponent 3pt % upward from the 32% it was in january to think more predictably about the sample results? were the opponents unusually favorable? did we actually fail to maximize the group we had because it was so new? the knicks are an interestingly hard team to run right now because they do have available degrees of freedom in thinking about bold moves but also above average uncertainty as to how close they are to the top.

    “Doogie there’s an irony to posting more than the original poster about the posts you don’t think are sufficiently on-topic”

    I know, right? I was fully conscious of that when I did it. 🙂

    It’s Jeannie Buss, not Jennie Buss. And she has definitely not “excelled” at her job. She’s letting Kurt and Linda Rambis do it for her.

    (1) If you are going to correct me because of spellcheck, make sure you are right. You are not. It is Jeanie.
    (2) If you are the owner of a big sports team and let others excel at their job by definition you have excelled.

    But keep being the only one replying to our newest troll (btw, happy to have him on board if he gave any indication of being a Knicks fan, or basketball fan for that matter).

    I want a ptmilo Ted Talk and/or Masterclass. I (literally) cannot get enough.

    Pt, I agree that just *how good* the team is as currently constructed is as good a conversation topic as any for all the reasons you said–it should strongly inform our risk tolerance and/or willingness to make a given transaction. 52 vs 57 wins, for example, is a meaningful distinction.

    But I don’t see the point in litigating the reasonable differences of opinion here outside of the context of whether a given move should be made.

    I’m not trying to play hall monitor here–people should talk about whatever Knicks-related things they want to talk about, except Frank Ntilikina–but I do think the conversation would benefit from a little more focus.

    “(1) If you are going to correct me because of spellcheck, make sure you are right. You are not. It is Jeanie.”

    Fair point, although it wasn’t really about “spellcheck,” per se. My apologies! 🙂

    As to “the other,” it’s not about the length. It’s about the stupidity. (Of course he might say that for him it is indeed about the length [of the posts]).

    To put my cards on the table, I think the current Knicks with reasonable-but-not-outlier health luck are something like a 55 win team that is top-10 on both sides, maybe even top-5 defensively. However I think their offense becomes exploitable in the later rounds of the playoffs because they only have one finals-team level shot creator, IMO. So my rather boring take is they should try to get another high-level shot creator that doesn’t compromise their defense too much.

    Easy, right?

    I want a ptmilo Ted Talk and/or Masterclass. I (literally) cannot get enough.

    with you on this one big time KBA…

    although I imagine that for all the therapy time milo spends here – someone somewhere is missing him…

    don’t let them other folks get it twisted milo – you belong to us…

    howdy clarence – BE has a good point, you owe us a story please…

    if you are not too busy flatulating across the galaxy:

    when and how did you become a knicks fan?

    we have a strict rule here at KB, only one real non-knick fan allowed on site – and, donnie already has that spot tied up 😜

    I don’t feel owed a story. In fact, I could live a long and happy life if I never see it. 🙂

    don’t let them other folks get it twisted milo – you belong to us…

    LOL. Not that he needs it, but I’m fairly sure I could get ptmilo his own panel at SXSW in Spring: ~ “Sports Fan Culture in the Age of Big Data.” Add Geo and a few others to the discussion, and suddenly it’s a KB junket, all expenses paid.

    But, sadly, it would be in Texas 😉

    We’re good, but to really legitimately contend we’re gonna need another top 20 type player.

    It looks like I’m going to be staying in Greenpoint or thereabouts for ten days at the end of June through the first week of July. Any Greenpoint recommendations from you locals?

    Much as I love all things ptmilo, I’m going directly against his grain to make a point about how aesthetics may also be influencing our thinking.

    Boston is a beautifully constructed team. They are smoothly efficient, the pieces fit together seamlessly, they are a well-oiled machine. I hate them and won’t watch the finals (cuz I also hate the Mavs), but damn. I view them like a leopard — deadly efficient killer, a joy to watch in motion.

    The Knicks, on the other hand, are a hodgepodge of misfit toys. Is Randle one of the best power forwards in the game or an error-filled chucker who folds under pressure? What the fuck even is Josh Hart? Brunson is a short stocky mid-ranger; he was coming off the bench just a while ago, how is he now all-NBA? Is iHart really a poor man’s Jokic, is Mitch actually a poor man’s Gobert? Again, what the fuck is Divo? And did Deuce actually suddenly develop an offensive game or was that an alcohol-induced fever dream?

    I liken the Knicks to a spotted hyena, to beat my analogy to death. Clumsy, looking like it was assembled accidentally, pieces of different animals slapped together by a hung-over deity.

    But there’s a reason leopards drag their prey into trees.

    I want a ptmilo Ted Talk and/or Masterclass. I (literally) cannot get enough.

    this is precisely the sort of deceivingly benign encouragement a well meaning patron of the men’s lavatory in terminal 3 of duluth international gave to clarencebeeks in 1992.

    It is kind of time to end the hypothetical “how much trouble would the Knicks given the Celtics if healthy” discussion. We’ll never know.

    But another hypothetical is how different the Celtics playoff push would have been if Butler, Giannis and Hali were all healthy. They probably get to the Finals anyway, but who knows what shape they’d be in at that point after likely playing a lot more games

    There’s no doubt the Celtics are an excellent and well constructed team, but they were never really tested in this year’s playoffs. The Mavs turned out to be a perfect matchup for them, as opposed to the Nuggets or the Wolves who would have given them a much tougher time.

    But I guess we’ll have to wait till next year to find out how good they really are.

    I nominate George Walker Bush….

    Good choice

    I apologize for this post. Just ignore it. I can’t resist the passion I feel on this subject of the NeoCons.

    I think at his core GWB is probably a decent guy, but anyone that does business with the NeoCons is at best an idiot and at worst possessed by a demon from hell. I’m not a particularly religious person, but my faith has been growing in recent years based on the behavior of the NeoCons. I know they are sociopaths. That much is obvious. But I find it hard to believe any human being can be as evil as they are without some help from metaphysical demonic forces. And if those forces exist, and imo they almost must based on the NeoCons, then the odds there is also a God are better than I thought. Back to the Knicks….

    as walt was so fond of sayin’:

    shut the fuck up donny

    I loved how walt would cut him off before he really got to speaking…

    like a child who doesn’t belong in the conversation…

    the knicks are an interestingly hard team to run right now because they do have available degrees of freedom in thinking about bold moves but also above average uncertainty as to how close they are to the top.

    I was never a Scott Perry fan as an executive, but like him in podcasts.

    Before the OG deal Perry was interviewed on a Youtube/podcast. I can’t remember which one. It might have been @CPTheFranchise. He talked about the Knicks direction. When asked what the Knicks needed he basically described OG without mentioning his name. He said the plan should be to make that trade and then watch the team for a few months to see where they were and what else they needed. That plan got short circuited by all the injuries. So it will be interesting to see what they do. They might wait until the trade deadline to do anything significant so they have a better opportunity to see what they need over and above the need for a backup PG. They could also pull the trigger on something big if something is available that they like a lot.

    okay, do I need to go look up what the heck a “neocon” is strat?

    if this is some kind of haves versus have nots, or: fuck the super wealthy and powerful who got us chasing down the latest whatever the fuck on etsy – I’m all for the talk…

    shit, we’d probably all be better off if we replayed the last seven thousand years or so, and try again…

    although, I do like my Playstation, big TV, phone and this great new weed we got…

    parenting 101: when the going gets tough – everyone, just shut the fuck up

    are you not a dad doogie?

    seriously though, you are just consistently “pot-shotting” (whatever that means) people in the back…

    non-stop…it’s passive aggressive behavior that simply leads to aggressive behavior…

    what the fuck, didn’t ma and pa teach you how to play with others…

    awwwww fuck it, be yourself doogie, it’s our problem, not yours…and, sometimes it is a little funny…un poco…

    @Raven — That’s the big question. Through my own whisky-gaze, I remember our misfit toys also playing some gorgeous basketball back in January, so I want Leon to find out if that was real or imagined by standing pat (at least until the All Star Break).

    And:

    I wouldn’t say “shut the fuck up” to any child.

    https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/the-f-word

    It looks like I’m going to be staying in Greenpoint or thereabouts for ten days at the end of June through the first week of July. Any Greenpoint recommendations from you locals?

    Paulie’s Gees-legendary neoplitan pizza. They have both a slice shop and a sit down within blocks of each other.
    Di An Di ( Vietnamese) try the brisket pho
    Radio Bakery ( dope variations of classic croissants)
    Karkzma ( polish) Greenpoint used to be a Polish neighborhood and this is one of the remaining vestiges of that heritage, though kielbasa and pirogies aren’t exactly hot weather food.
    Greenpoint Fish and Lobster- good lobster rolls.
    I have been to each of these places, though with the exception of Paulie Gees and Radio Bakery none within the past year.

    Yes, I’m a Dad, but my son just turned 32 years old…….which makes it a totally different experience. But even when he was a kid, I never told him to “shut the fuck up.”

    Any Greenpoint recommendations from you locals?

    If you like Vietnamese food, Di An Di on Greenpoint Av is excellent. I’ve pretty much aged out of anything else remotely cool.

    Edit: beat me to it, Bo.

    Wow, Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins is getting a $2 million NIL deal to transfer to Kansas State, biggest deal yet. This kind of thing might change the road map for college players jumping to the nba too early.

    Good choice

    I apologize for this post. Just ignore it. I can’t resist the passion I feel on this subject of the NeoCons.

    I agree with you basically Strat. I always looked at George W Bush as an amiable dunce, a recovered alcoholic who had his “come to Jesus” moment and turned his life around. Then he wanted to be just like daddy. He had no moral center or reason to strive for the presidency other than to be like daddy.

    Once he became President, his biggest initiative was going to be to try to increase literacy (his wife’s influence). Then came 9/11.

    A combination of his Texas tough guy thinking and the influence of Moloch (Cheney and to a lesser degree Rumsfeld) sent him flying into the arms of the neo-cons and their forever money making war machine.

    Powell could have stopped it, but he was too deeply involved with the money making aspect of his General friends. I mean, WTF… 17 Saudis and an Egyptian fly planes into the WTC and the Pentagon and we attack Afghanistan and Iraq?

    20 years, 15 trillion, thousands of Americans dead/maimed or mentally disabled is what we have to show for it. Fuck the neo cons and Fuck the members on the left suborning this similar nonsense today. [/RANT]

    Never thought I would see the day that I defend the Harden led Rockets but Hubs, if you’re going to say that the Warriors didn’t have Iggy, then it is only fair to point out the Rockets were missing their HOF Point Guard for games 6 and 7.

    Like come on, man. They were up 3-2 but didn’t have CP3 for games 6 and 7.

    None of this supports the ludicrous assertion that people generally consider James Harden’s Rockets team one of the greatest teams of all time to not win a title.

    Neoconservative

    Yes

    They were previously mostly aligned with republicans but also had their red scaly skin and bifurcated tail influencing the democrats (though they look like white folk and have mean hound dogs). These days they are more aligned with democrats, but still have their influence among republicans.

    Here’s my source: 🙂

    Pete:
    I’ve always wondered, what’s the devil look like?

    Ulysses Everett McGill:
    Well, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.

    Tommy Johnson:
    Oh, no. No, sir. He’s white, as white as you folks, with empty eyes and a big hollow voice. He likes to travel around with a mean old hound. That’s right.

    If we want a bigger sample, we went 20-3 with OG Anunoby in the regular for a 71-win pace over 28% of the regular season.

    If you include the OG games in the playoffs, even the 5min game 7 loss, we went 26-6. Approximately, 39% of a regular season and a prorated 66-wins.

    We were very good with OG even without Randle.

    I absolutely hated GWB and his smarmy smirk—couldn’t stand to look at the guy—until 2016 happened, at which time I would have easily taken him back.

    3) not as good as some of the better teams in the West

    I’m not sure I’d agree with this one. We beat a healthy Denver team by 38 while starting Jericho Sims.

    OKC could easily be out of our tier next season but there isn’t a team out West that’s in Boston’s tier this year.

    1… as currently constituted with reasonable health the 24-5 Knicks look like a mid 50s win team.

    2… that doesn’t make them the favorite to win the championship.

    3… there is no need to reach for a very high risk/volatile outcome move (KAT, Butler, Durant) at a heavy price.

    4… They are reasonably well positioned to move if a real difference maker becomes available (Giannis decides the Bucks have no future or Jokic decides he wants to be close to his beloved trotters).

    5… they are a highly enjoyable team to root for.

    6… Their ability to make a huge move starts to become more difficult (not impossible) when various extensions kick in.

    I am with you 100% on all 6 points.

    Although ironically I think the Knicks’ January record was kinda fluky.

    We beat the Timberwolves…. On a new year’s day matinee.

    We killed Denver…. On the second night of a back-to-back which was the last game of a grueling road trip.

    We went 12-2… But Thibs went to the whip hard and ran OG & Hartenstein into the ground on back-to-backs to eek out results against lower teams like Washington and Houston.

    It was a great month but we probably achieved the 99th percentile outcome. I wouldn’t base my expectations on how good we were that month. But even so, I still agree with your points.

    It all comes down to Brundle. Can these guys do what Tatum & Brown have done, which is become much more than the sum of their parts. I’m afraid by the time they’ve really developed their chemistry Randle will be in decline.

    The Knicks are on a tightrope. If Brunson is indeed a tentpole, they’re fine; if he’s not, they’re in purgatory/teardown territory, especially after they hit the second apron.

    There’s still no such thing as getting a bunch of “good players” and then seriously contending without a tentpole. It’s pretty to think there is, and the siren songs from teams constructed like the Knicks can be seductive — but must be resisted.(*)

    As to Brunson, I’m still a yes, but he’s either a March Madness-equivalent “last four in” or “first four out” in the tentpole tent. I’m still a “last four in,” but it’s close.

    (*) As must the temptation to think that an NBA team is as consistently good as its very best moments — especially when those moments are in … January. That kind of thing is, frankly, Rubeville.

    Also, fond memories of Suzanne Vega. Thx for the reminder. Putting on her debut record right … now.

    Same here. Listened to her a lot in the 80s. And now and then since that time.

    In the ironbound section near Avenue L
    where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
    the clouds so low the morning so slow
    as the wires cut through the sky

    As to Brunson, I’m still a yes, but he’s either a March Madness-equivalent “last four in” or “first four out” in the tentpole tent. I’m still a “last four in,” but it’s close.

    is the tent made of tentpoles?

    un poco…

    Is that spanish*? Because if that’s a try at portuguese it’s “um pouco” !!

    Cyber, the portuguese Doogie!!! 😀

    *i know it is, this is just a joke! 😉

    okay then, back to b-ball…

    I am all for “run it back”…hoping we retain OG’s services firstly (we have to get a number lower than 35 million aav)…

    I have NO DOUBT that some team will offer him more, hopefully not more than 6 million or so a year over that 35 million number…

    to a lesser extent, same holds true for isaiah, with his number being 16ish million a year…

    I would “sell the farm” to acquire mikal bridges…

    wouldn’t trade any starters, but, everyone from the bench not named Josh Hart would be fair game, plus the picks it takes…

    he’s not a secondary creator, which we desperately need when jalen goes to the bench, but his durability/defense and supposed synchronicity make him a vital championship piece…

    jalen can get us to the finals, important to surround him with defense…

    donte, josh, and hopefully either a rookie power forward or point guard on the bench would be a nice start to the season…

    if not mikal, Alex Caruso…who for some crazy reason didn’t think was an American player…I thought he came from overseas, canada, somewhere not here…

    constant defensive pressure and rebounding…I don’t mind having the slowest pace in the league – just don’t turn the ball over…

    Oh, and btw, i’m in the “January group”. Part of me wants us to not make many changes to see how far this team can go in 2025. Although the other part knows we should try to improve the team if the opportunity arises.

    None of this supports the ludicrous assertion that people generally consider James Harden’s Rockets team one of the greatest teams of all time to not win a title.

    Hubs, statistically it’s true though. That season they won 67 games. That puts them in the top 20 for most regular season wins in a season. They’re actually tied for 8th most wins in a regular season.

    Most of the teams that are either tied with them or above them won championships.

    So, statistically, yes, they’re one of the best single season teams no never win a title. This is a fact. I hated watching them but it’s true.

    Isaiah Crawford is a name that a lot of the amateur draft guys love but is completely off some draft boards. He’s a wing defender with a 7′ wingspan who can shoot and create a bit.

    He’s also a 5th year senior because he tore his ACL in the same knee twice. Played at Louisiana Tech, which could be a minus or a reason he’s being overlooked.

    Seems like a worthwhile 2nd Rd pick

    one of the nice things about KB cyber, I think given a few years of reading what folks write – you can get a pretty good sense of their temperament…

    along with some other folks here – I think you give great lessons on life living…

    one of the greatest gifts is diversity of thought, particularly cultures…

    one of the cool things about the spot I’m currently at is that it is predominantly an indian and asian community…

    strong cultures that have endured for thousands of years…

    My postings here truly belie my actual temperament in everyday life.

    Can/Should we just add a legit scorer by trading up in the draft? Bleacher Report says 3rd pick could be had from the Rockets. Is anyone worth it?

    Knecht? Dillingham? Buzelis? I don’t follow college ball.

    If we bring our January squad back, I feel like we most need pointz from the Quickley/Burks/Bobo slot. The old guys seem done and (IMO) Deuce is not the answer.

    Would Leon draft a pure scorer for Thibs? Or are we again looking to draft character/defense/hustle guys no matter what?

    sorry they won 65 games but that still puts them in the top 20 for wins in a regular season all time.

    doogie, it’s hard to be anybody but yourself, and why even make the effort…

    get comfortable, relax, stay awhile…listen, honestly engage…

    There’s the old argument that what works well in the regular season doesn’t always work quite as well in the playoffs. Personally, I thought the Rockets were too Harden-centric to win the championship. If you could slow him down or he wasn’t hitting shots under pressure, you could beat them. If he was less than 100% or out they were toast. They are the flip side of these Celtics. Any of the Celtics starters is capable of going off, not just their #1 and #2 options. If those guys have a tough matchup, are less than 100%, or just having a bad night someone else can still win the game for them. It’s a shame the Rockets had a key injury it would have been nice to see both teams at 100%.

    Another thing about the January wins, is that teams didn’t really have film of how our team would play to help Repair for us. The wins against Denver and Minnesota were pretty early on in that stretch.

    It was definitely a promising stretch, and it felt like a team that would be a tough out for anyone in the playoffs. But that’s different than saying that we had anything close to an even chance to win against a team like Boston. Folks can feel that way, But neither the data nor the eye test supports it.

    In any case, first things first. If we don’t get both of iHart and OG back in the fold, there’s that much more work to do.

    Oh, definitely. But that’s why they got CP3. And when they had CP3 healthy, they were up 3-2. Also, Iggy was an important piece for the warriors but let’s not act like once Durant showed up they couldn’t win it all without Iggy. Iggy was important for their first title and the 74 win season. But by that season he was a bench player and definitely starting to slow down. Iggy was that guy they got to get them over the hump and take them to the next level. Durant was the guy they got that made them basically unstoppable.

    along with some other folks here – I think you give great lessons on life living…

    I try, i try! 😉

    one of the cool things about the spot I’m currently at is that it is predominantly an indian and asian community…

    Tell me more, Geo, i have curiosity about their cultures as they’re a lot different from the western countries.

    doogie, it’s hard to be anybody but yourself, and why even make the effort…
    get comfortable, relax, stay awhile…listen, honestly engage…

    If someday i’ll open a mountain retreat, you’re going to be there teaching wisdom to the visitors. 😉

    I didn’t say that I was proactively trying to hide my actual everyday temperament. I’m not. But at the same time I am aware that it is happening that way.

    It was definitely a promising stretch, and it felt like a team that would be a tough out for anyone in the playoffs. But that’s different than saying that we had anything close to an even chance to win against a team like Boston. Folks can feel that way, But neither the data nor the eye test supports it.

    Not to flog a dead horse into submission but I vehemently disagree with you closing sentence.

    I’m not going to argue what the eye test supports because that is completely subjective, but I will provide data which implies that the Knicks were at least as good as the Celts in January, if not better:

    Offensive rating… Knicks = 6th 122.1 Celts = 9th 121.2
    Defensive rating.. Knicks – 1st 105.9 Celts = 3rd 113.9
    Net rating Knicks = 1st 16.3 Celts = 4th 7.3
    Per Statmuse

    W/L record… Knicks = 14-2 with wins over Philly with Embiid by 36 over Denver by 38 with their full roster over MN with their full roster.

    Celts… 11-5

    The Knicks statistically matched up well with any team in the NBA in January…. they were really good. The metrics show it.

    Any Greenpoint recommendations from you locals?

    Apart from those already mentioned:

    – Peter Pan for the best donuts in town
    – Taqueria Ramirez for one of the best tacos in town
    – Rule of Thirds for Izakaya fare
    – Bakeri for pastries/breakfast
    – Pasta Forma Factory for a quick and delicious pasta
    – Frankels for Pastrami sandwiches
    – Torst for beer
    – Glasserie for upscale Middle Eastern
    – Greenpoint Fish and Co for fresh seafood

    Also: avoid the Paulie Gee slice shop and walk down to Williamsburg where you can get superior slices at L’Industrie, Best Pizza, Leo and Fini, all within less than a mile. That area has the best slices New York has to offer these days.

    Though I like Paulie Gee the restaurant proper, I’d avoid the lines (if they still have them, I haven’t been in a while) and go instead to Motorino down in South Williamsburg for a Neapolitan pie.

    We’re still debating this? No one has said we would beat the celtics. The term thrown around was “puncher’s chance” and this was with a fully healthy team (Randle, OG, Mitch, etc.) and the Celtics MISSING Porzingis.

    Why is this so hard to accept? Puncher’s chance literally means outside chance but a small chance none the less.

    That is not the same as saying “we would beat them.”

    I lean so far left these days the cocktail I’m most interested in is of the Molotov variety, but oddly enough I had a front row seat to the machinations of the Neocons in the early 2000s. It was in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Lebanon (sharpest dresser I’ve ever met) in March 2002 when I learned we’d be attacking Iraq. It made no sense to me – what does this have to do with 9/11?? – but that’s when I learned how the game is played and how little we know of what goes on behind the curtain. When the whole WMD bs was going on with the UN and Colin Powell, I just laughed.

    If you can figure out who’s really calling the shots in any administration you can make some guesses on what’s coming next, but it’s hardly worth the time when they’ll show you soon enough what the money wants.

    As for the Knicks, I think this team is as good as any other than Boston. January was legit. And short of Giannis becoming available, I don’t think there’s any move we can make to be better than Boston. So I’m fine with marginal moves shoring up the bench – if we have good depth and injury luck, we could take Boston if they aren’t so lucky as they were this year.

    Anyone gonna watch game 4 tonight? I guess I want the series extended, but it just means the inevitable coronation in Boston.

    I had a slice of L’Industrie pizza at their Christopher Street location and it was insanely good

    Boston is one for six from three and Doncic and Irving seem to be scoring at will but the Mavs only lead by one. That doesn’t seem promising for Dallas.

    Is KP really available? Shams says he is, but maybe he sits up 3-0…

    Took the Mavs long enough to attack the paint with KP out.

    He makes them unbeatable. The Celtics will be taking a big with the 30th pick and someone will fall to them.

    The only thing more boring than a sweep is the 3-0 followed by the meaningless game four win that leads to the Gentleman’s Sweep

    If Porzingis is still out in game 5 the Mavs can force a game 6…

    I’ve now watched 3 minutes and 7 seconds of this finals and it’s been a total waste of time.

    Knicks v Sixers should have been a finals matchup.

    First finals game I’ve watched, cornered by in-laws, but damn that was fun, only sad the Mavs didn’t get to the magic 43 point lead to get the finals record…

    Luka and Kyrie combine to shoot 1-14 from 3 so obvoiusly the Mavericks win in a laugher

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