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Knicks Morning News (2024.10.10)


  • Knicks sign 7-foot-2 rebounding big man Moses Brown – NJ.com
    [NJ.com] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 18:33:00 GMT
    1. Knicks sign 7-foot-2 rebounding big man Moses Brown
    2. Knicks sign center Moses Brown to Exhibit 10 contract, waive Boo Buie
    3. Knicks Waive Damion Baugh, Alex OConnell
    4. Knicks sign guard Boo Buie to Exhibit 10 contract
    5. New York Knicks Release 3 Players Before Wizards Game


  • Precious Achiuwas $6 million Knicks gamble has chance for huge payoff – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 23:11:00 GMT

    Precious Achiuwas $6 million Knicks gamble has chance for huge payoff


  • Knicks Bulletin: ‘I wouldnt say hes the best shooter. I think I am – Posting and Toasting
    [Posting and Toasting] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:00:00 GMT
    1. Knicks Bulletin: ‘I wouldnt say hes the best shooter. I think I am
    2. Josh Hart understands his new Knicks role after additions to offense: Dont worry about shots
    3. Knicks News: Josh Hart Ready to Sacrifice Like Best Friend, as Donte DiVincenzos Exit Leaves Massive Void
    4. Three takeaways from Knicks training camp so far
    5. Knicks Josh Hart Outlines New Role in Revamped Offense


  • Karl-Anthony Towns dominates Wizards despite brutal outside shooting – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Thu, 10 Oct 2024 07:36:00 GMT
    1. Karl-Anthony Towns dominates Wizards despite brutal outside shooting
    2. Knicks defeat Wizards in preseason, 117-94, but still have much room to improve
    3. Preseason Game Preview: New York Knicks vs Washington Wizards, October 9, 2024
    4. Wizards vs Knicks Game Highlights
    5. Preview: Wizards play Knicks on Wednesday


  • The conversation: How high is Knicks’ ceiling after Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges blockbusters? – CBS Sports
    [CBS Sports] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:57:00 GMT
    1. The conversation: How high is Knicks’ ceiling after Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges blockbusters?
    2. ESPN Analyst Makes Bold Prediction on Knicks’ Offense
    3. Community Shootaround: Knicks Blockbuster Deals
    4. INTERVIEW | Prepare For A Special Knicks Season w/ Alan Hahn of ESPN & MSG!
    5. Entirely too premature impressions of the 2024-25 New York Knicks


  • Pop quiz! Knicks veteran Josh Hart attempts to answer questions about his career – The New York Times
    [The New York Times] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 09:06:26 GMT

    Pop quiz! Knicks veteran Josh Hart attempts to answer questions about his career


  • WATCH: TikTok Stars Steal Show at Knicks Celebrity Game – Sports Illustrated
    [Sports Illustrated] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 19:00:00 GMT

    WATCH: TikTok Stars Steal Show at Knicks Celebrity Game


  • Knicks rule out top bench shooter from pre-season matchup against Wizards – Empire Sports Media
    [Empire Sports Media] – Wed, 09 Oct 2024 21:56:37 GMT
    1. Knicks rule out top bench shooter from pre-season matchup against Wizards
    2. Knicks swapped DiVincenzo for home-grown sharp-shooter as key bench piece
    3. Knicks Betting on Miles McBride as Sixth Man of the Year
    4. Knicks’ Miles McBride: Won’t play Wednesday
    5. Knicks Put Trust in Miles McBride for Sixth Man of the Year

  • 113 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.10.10)”

    Lost sleep and sweat on the Yankees, watched the Knicks this morning…

    – The Wizards are very bad, Tyler Kolek is good and the Knicks are very interesting, they should be fun.

    – We are in the classic preseason’s turnstyle phase, signing and waiving Exhibit-10s like there’s no tomorrow to beef up Westchester’s roster and it’s always fun.

    – Postseason’s Stanton > Postseason’s Judge.
    It’s time for the MVP to wake up.

    – Nice start for the Rangers, is Lafreniere finally ready to be the team’s best player?

    Depending on how you define Deuce, it’s funny that you could say our three best bench players are all point guards, while our best starter is already a point guard. After spending so much time over the past 30 years without any good options at the position, now we have perhaps too many, while we’re thin elsewhere.

    Was at the Knicks game last night…following the Mets on gamecast, overjoyed when 1-0 turned to 1-4 on Lindor’s GS. At halftime they flashed the celebration and final score on the jumbotron.

    Main takaways:
    -Kolek is for real. I was worried about his athleticism not translating, but again, he reminds me of John Stockton…tough as nails and great court awareness, and beyond that is athletic enough.
    -Payne must hear footsteps, because he played his ass off last night. That worries me because they might use Kolek as trade bait, which would really bother me.
    -KAT looked significantly smaller than JV. He looked very nervous but settled in and played well. Gonna take a while before I am convinced that he isn’t as soft as I always thought he was. Very poor timing on defense when contesting shots compared to iHart and Mitch.
    -Mikal’s arms are freakish. My eldest was annoyed after I pointed it out…she said that now she can’t unsee it! He was awesome overall, leaked out a bunch.
    -OG needs to be more selective in creating his own shot. He’s just not quick enough off the dribble to drive by anyone.
    -Huk is raw but did some really nice things out there….seems to have a nose for the ball. Had some chemistry with Kolek, but Kolek will have chemistry with everyone on the floor with his, his court awareness is off the charts.
    -I hope Dadiet gets a bit of run in the next game. I’ve seen more than enough of Toppin and Okeke
    -TJ Warren is healthy and can help a team.

    -Moses Brown towers over everyone.

    “Depending on how you define Deuce, …”

    Kolek is highly likely to play himself into the rotation at some point. So Deuce needs to be defined (and used) as a 2 who can play the 1.

    Best thing for me last night–seeing some proper screens executed. It makes such a difference.

    That worries me because they might use Kolek as trade bait, which would really bother me.

    If they “like” Kolek, they won’t trade him for say, a back up center no matter how many point guards they have. If he is a real rotation player, they can’t afford to trade him for cap reasons.

    Kolek playing himself into the rotation and become coveted by other teams would be a hugely positive development. Z-Man, I get what you’re saying, worried he would be dangled in a trade, and that fear is valid since we’ve traded away all of our “young” players except for Deuce (and Mitch I guess, but he’s not really young anymore, lol).

    But I think if Kolek is this good, the FO will hold on to him and look to deal Cam at the deadline.

    I feel that we are going to be very, very(, very) happy that we have Tyler Kolek on our squad, for a plethora of reasons. I hope that I’m right about this one.

    I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but from what I saw of his highlights and the last two games I think Hukporti will move ahead of Sims in the rotation fairly quickly. In fact, if it wasn’t for the politics of that sort of thing, I’d play him ahead of Sims now and let him grow into the backup job until Mitch gets back.

    I like Kolek over Payne at backup PG now (or at least very soon), but I think Payne is enough of a scorer to be a useful bench piece. He’s one of those players that can get hot and change the momentum of the game off the bench.

    Yeah, if I’m remembering correctly, Payne actually did that to us in one particular playoff game last season. Better to have that kind of guy on our squad doing it to our opponent.

    I was hoping OG would improve his handle a bit and drop a little weight in the off season. I thought if he dropped a little weight he might be less injury prone and a little quicker off the dribble (especially with a better handle). It looks like he did neither. More significantly something looked a bit off with his shot form last night. He looked a little herky jerky to me last night and not just because he didn’t shoot well. I hope I was just seeing things and he’ll be sharper next game.

    Worrying about KAT’s ad OG’s conditioning, while it may be a li’l bit premature at this point in the season (Luka seemingly has to “play himself into shape” at the beginning of each and every season), it’s certainly worth noting in terms of injury prevention. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t turn into an actual *thing*.

    IMO Towns has to drop about 10-15 pounds or so. He’ll be better on both sides. He does not look in top shape to me, but the combination with Brunson looked great for only their 2nd game together.

    I wonder if I ever crossed paths with Z-Man or Hubert at 9 Maple…

    Do you live up there or just frequent for the horses? I’m incorporating a team that works on Broadway downtown. I told them I’d visit often in the summer and fall and that they should not expect to ever see me in the winter.

    Brunson and Towns starting to build some chemistry on the pick and roll was nice to watch in the second half last night.

    I used to live there about 5 years ago before I moved to Nashville. I grew up in the area. I loved 9 Maple. I’m a big Laphroaig guy.

    If Huktuah can be a serviceable back up Center and Kolek moment is a serviceable back up PG, that has to turn Leon’s off season into an A+, no?

    A couple of thoughts. OG looks a bit lost on offense — not a big surprise I guess, given the big increase in shooting all around. Hope he finds his niche.

    I’m really liking Kolek so far, although he did do his best Duane Washington Jr imitation last night. I’m not too worried though.

    I missed half of this story as I was doing something else, so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought someone was talking up Hukiporti late in the game, that he was a surefire star in high school and even (maybe?) an MVP of some invite all-star game, but then went to (Australia?) and tore the hell out of his (ACL?) and everyone forgot about him. The point being that we may have a real diamond in the rough here, not just a taller Sims (I hate writing that because I have a soft spot for Sims, but still).

    No doubt Leon had a good off-season, but with so much roster turnover I’d wait until Christmas to give a final mark. Plus he’s bound to do something with Mitch which will be tricky to grade, especially if he is packaged with one of our developing prospects.

    IMO Towns has to drop about 10-15 pounds or so.

    These reports worry me greatly.

    Yikes. Haven’t seen a game, yet, but please tell me this will/can be fixed soon.

    Say what you will about Thibs, but fat, soft, underachieving millionaires have not been a big part of what we do around here for a while now.

    I don’t think “fat” is KAT’s problem. He looked nimble and got up and down the court very well for a 7-footer.

    He just isn’t very muscular. Sarr, who just entered the league, was able to push him out of the paint pretty effectively, so maybe KAT does move to PF eventually or part time. But his skill and dexterity looked fine.

    Kat has always looked ‘soft.’ I have no idea if he’s always been a bit out of shape, just eats crap food, or just has an unfortunate body morph. His chipmunk cheeks don’t help with the question, exacerbated by that butt-ugly neck beard.

    Could he or even should he ever be a chiseled warrior? I’ve got no idea. Probably an argument we’ll be having as long as he’s on the team.

    Thx, both. I’m prolly just “fight or flight” reacting b/c of all my money wagered on us winning 60+ games 😉

    Can’t wait to see the team Sunday.

    Also, I think we’ve been taking our new wing defense for granted so far. I know it is just pre-season (and the Wizards), but apparently, the Knicks just forced the most opposing turnovers (30 TOV) in a single game since 1989. That is going to lead to a lot of easy transition buckets this season.

    I didn’t watch the game but I saw a clip on X that focused on our defense from Mikal and OG and it was fantastic.

    Oh man: Shams says Mitch will miss the rest of the calendar year.

    Is that news? – thought the old report was that he’s out til ~ January

    Director, previously it was December at the earliest, with January more likely. We’ve now pushed back the most optimistic projection.

    The only question is whether the Knicks will try to trade him while he’s still out, or if they feel they can wait long enough to get him back on the court and build up his value a bit.

    KAT was an 82 game a year ironman in the beginning of his career. I wonder if his recent injury woes have to do with weight gain.

    FWIW his draft profile and his current profile list the same exact 248 lbs.

    KAT has a major Sam Perkins vibe.

    It’s great that Kolek and Huk are give the team some extra rootability on top of what we already had. It’s a nice bit of spice in the mix. Not sure either of them pans out, although Kolek does seem kind of promising, but great to have few guys to dream on.

    Agreed. What I do know is that my kids listened to OMG by Candelita three times in a row at it was magical.

    KAT has a major Sam Perkins vibe.

    first time through, totally read that as: KAT has a major Slim Pickens vibe.

    thought about it, and yeah, he kind of does…

    Edit: in my defense, it is still early out here…early being defined as any time before noon…

    Kolek does seem kind of promising

    I have family where Kolek grew up in Rhode Island, and they (excitedly) compare him to former Providence College point guard Ernie DiGregorio.

    “Ernie D” was before my time, but Wiki says he led his school to the Final Four in 1973, was NBA rookie of the year in ‘74, and (still?) holds NBA rookie record for most assists in his debut game (14) and in a single game (23). Nice.

    Sam Perkins was a very good player but he wishes he had half the career KAT has already had.

    first time through, totally read that as: KAT has a major Slim Pickens vibe.

    thought about it, and yeah, he kind of does…

    Here you go

    I’m liking Kolek an awful lot, I see a potential all-star. The kid is for real.

    Hukporti will pass Sims in the pecking order and with some seasoning he can become a legit starting center. Thibs made a point of singling him out in the post game presser and said “Ariel was terrific”.

    I think it was interesting that Payne and Kolek played together.
    It’ll be interesting to see what the Thibs-9 will be. Shamet was also in the mix and played well. Assume Brunson, Bridges, Hart, OG, Towns will start. I’m much more curious about who ends up in the back of the rotation.

    kat is way too spastic slash gangly slash energetic for a sam perkins vibe. sam was more like bobby portis, but on diazepam.

    it’s funny, I remember Sam as one of the first good 3 point shooting big men, but looking at basketball reference he really didn’t start shooting 3s until he was 32.

    IMO Towns has to drop about 10-15 pounds or so.

    These reports worry me greatly.

    He looked a little overweight and soft to me. I posted something about it last night. Later on my girlfriend came into the room and without any discussion she said “Towns looks overweight”. Then she started making jokes about it. That kind of verified to me that he could probably get in better shape. We’ll see.

    Jocic, Luca, Embiid all look a bit overweight and soft. So, maybe how well folks play isn’t so easy to guess from how ripped they look.

    Hukporti will pass Sims in the pecking order and with some seasoning he can become a legit starting center. Thibs made a point of singling him out in the post game presser and said “Ariel was terrific”.

    Agree 100%. Huktua is gonna be great. Can’t wait…

    Clever as they are, please, let’s *not* go with “Huktuah” (walker) or “Huktua” (Director), thereby giving that girl any more recognition and credence. He doesn’t deserve that.

    So are we basically assuming Thibs can turn any German big man into an All-Defense player worth $30M?

    If so we better have Hawk Tuah’s bird rights this time. If we’d only tacked a third year onto iHart’s deal we’d arguably be title favorites right now. 🙁

    The great thing about Hukporti is that he really just needs to live up to a modest scouting report to be a helpful piece, because of his fit. His reputation is that he is very good in drop coverage, and that he is an effective screen setter. Just have him focus on those things. He seems able to throw down an occasional rim running dunk as well.

    He’s probably not going to be a star player but he has some of the things we need.

    Clever as they are, please, let’s *not* go with “Huktuah” (walker) or “Huktua” (Director), thereby giving that girl any more recognition and credence. He doesn’t deserve that.

    That girl now has like the #1 podcast and is already set up to make more money than any of us will. That ship has sailed.

    Huk passing Sims would be great because at least for now Sims looks like the only actual bad player we’d have in the rotation

    “That girl now has like the #1 podcast and is already set up to make more money than any of us will. That ship has sailed.”

    Doesn’t mean that we need to feed that narrative here.

    Sam Perkins was picked 4th by the Mavs when Sir Charles was picked 5th. And in the same draft the Mavs picked Terrence Stansbury at 15 when John Stockton was picked at 16. Can’t think of a worse double whiff at a draft.

    Hukporti looks smaller than his draft combine measurements would suggest. He actually had quite excellent measurements: 6’10.5 barefoot, 7’2.5″ wingspan, 9’2.5″ standing reach. Weiged 246 lbs, 3rd of drafted players behind Edey and Clingan.

    In watching his film from Australia and Germany, I saw some glimpses of very impressive play, with some definite skill elements to build on. His footwork looked pretty raw and some of his hook shots were just heaves at the rim. But the screen-setting, rolling, shot-blocking, running the floor, and lob-catching looked like something real to build on. I think he can make significant improvement relatively quickly just by improving his footwork and controlling his fouling. In fact, I expect it, meaning that if he doesn’t make quick improvements, it would indicate to me that he probably doesn’t have it in him to improve and his development will stagnate sort of like Sims, who hasn’t really improved much at all.

    “Doesn’t mean that we need to feed that narrative here.”

    No biggie to me. I won’t use it…will stick with either just “Huk” or Alan’s suggestion. But if he does something special, I just might break out into this dance. (watch the whole thing, Chubby Checker gets it on! Ed Norton has nothing on him…that might be a young JK with the guitar solo)

    The buzz earlier in Hukporti’s career was him showing glimpses of range and more modern C stuff. All that’s come to nothing, so I wouldn’t get too excited about his early scouting reports and rankings. However, he should be solid as a rim runner and paint defender. His floater looked solid too.

    Incredible Huk is great. If he sucks, I do think Huk-tuah should be allowed.

    “The buzz earlier in Hukporti’s career was him showing glimpses of range and more modern C stuff. All that’s come to nothing, so I wouldn’t get too excited about his early scouting reports and rankings. However, he should be solid as a rim runner and paint defender. His floater looked solid too.”

    My understanding was that he had a devastating ruptured achilles injury in October 2022 when he was 20 years old. It’s possible that it took him out of the spotlight for long enough for him to be overlooked in the draft. Or maybe not. My point is, if it is the injury that set him back, he should develop quickly. If it is something innate, he won’t. But I like what I saw last night.

    Jocic, Luca, Embiid all look a bit overweight and soft. So, maybe how well folks play isn’t so easy to guess from how ripped they look.

    Totally agree and was not trying to “fat shame” Brother Kat, really.

    My concern has more to do with KAT’s potential for injury due to weight on joints etc. and his *perceived readiness as in — “Doesn’t KAT know this is the most important season in the history of the entire league?!” and “Why isn’t he, therefore, in the proverbial ‘best shape of his life’ for it?!”

    I know we all are 😉

    If he sucks, I do think Huk-tuah should be allowed.

    If he sucks, I think Suckporti is adequate.

    I can’t believe I looked it up and now I know what Huk-tuah refers to.

    I blame you, Doogie.

    One thing not mentioned here, the Brunson KAT pick and roll worked well partially because the Wizards not directly involved had to guard our perimeter shooting and couldn’t come help. Clyde pointed this out during the broadcast.

    I don’t think KAT plays like Perkins just that they have a similar build and slightly doughy look to them.

    I have to give the Hawk Tuah girl credit. She’s smart and has a good personality and is absolutely unafraid to seize an opportunity that is presented to her. Nothing wrong with that.

    Oh, Moses will be in Westchester, just like every other player we sign to an Exhibit 10 before waiving.

    CAA has broken off their relationship with Jets holdout Hassan Reddick, which is the first time I can remember an agency dumping someone for something that wasn’t a crime

    Great start in Kansas City.

    I still don’t understand what hawk tua has to do with the Edmonton Oilers.

    Apparently to see what Huk Tua actually did to make herself you have to subscribe to TikTok, which I don’t. What did she actually do?

    I had no idea that some of you out there might literally live under a giant rock. Are you the same people who think Diddy’s name is still Puff Daddy?

    I’ve only watched 3.5 Yankees games this year but so far it looks like the best Yankees team I’ve seen since 2010. I’m really digging the pitching & bottom of the order production.

    Jocic, Luca, Embiid all look a bit overweight and soft. So, maybe how well folks play isn’t so easy to guess from how ripped they look.

    You know what David Wells used to say about being in shape…”You can’t pull fat!”

    I don’t know how you call a jump ball in that situation. You need to figure out who should get the ball there.

    I’ve only watched 3.5 Yankees games this year but so far it looks like the best Yankees team I’ve seen since 2010. I’m really digging the pitching & bottom of the order production.

    The bottom of the order was atrocious all year, and the bullpen was quite bad until the last month or so. The starting pitching was mostly inconsistent. It’s just that Soto/Judge guarantees you good offense, basically.

    The Liberty seem unable to run an offensive set. My first time watching them all year. Seems pretty strange.

    It’s kind of incredible how much Judge and Soto propped up the rest of the Yankees’ offense in the regular season. The Yankees led the league in OBP, at .333. They also only had two players on the entire roster all season with an OBP over .330, and you can guess who those two were.

    They seem to be getting some pretty solid situational hitting from the rest of the team in this series though.

    Yankees SP has actually been very good all year. They used mostly just 6 SP and only Stroman had an ERA below league average.

    Think about it this way: Judge and Soto had a combined wRC+ of about 200. The other 7 batters could each have a wRC+ of about 70, and the Yankees would have an average offense. There was one qualifying player in MLB this season with a wRC+ lower than 70.

    Yankees SP has actually been very good all year. They used mostly just 6 SP and only Stroman had an ERA below league average.

    They were 13th in fWAR, 11th in ERA. Middle of the pack, really.

    In fairness to the rest of the lineup Gleyber, Wells, Stanton and Jazz were all above league average offensively so the lineup had a bit more depth than not.

    11th in ERA out of 30 teams is pretty good especially considering Cole only started 17 games.

    Mvps of this series

    The bullpen

    Big G

    Cole tonight

    Verdugo for Game 1 hit

    Soto was good as well and Gleyber had his moments

    Yeah…wells has nose dived this last few months…he needs to scoot back in the order…get a clean up hitter that can actually hit..

    I’m not really sure if this Yankees team is any good but they keep winning enough so I guess it doesn’t matter

    Giancarlo Cruz Stanton (born November 8, 1989),
    Stanton’s mother calls him “Cruz” (his other middle name), but his father and other relatives call him “Mike” or “Mikey”. As a child, he was known as Giancarlo but switched to Mike in sixth grade because he was tired of being mocked for his original name and having it mispronounced. He was known as “Mike Stanton” throughout his high school and minor league careers and for his first two years as a major leaguer. After a trip to Europe in the 2011–12 offseason (during which he frequently heard names like Gianpiero, Gianpaolo, and Gianluigi) he made it known before the 2012 season that he preferred to be called Giancarlo.

    i rarely dig too much in to a player’s past, so i did not know any of this about giancarlo, or that he grew up a little northwest of pasadena…tujunga, passed it on the freeway a bunch, but never been there…

    if i’m looking at it correctly, his salary goes waaay down after the 2025 season (32 million), down to 19 million…

    he looks like he takes phenomenal care of himself…hopefully nutrition and focused training can keep him ahead of physics and kinesiology…big muscles, much smaller joints/muscles/tendons/ligaments, lots of torque…

    i remember that terrible hit by pitch situation he had, he did a great job coming back from that, smashing more baseballs…

    man, just help get us that one championship (the next one), yankee 4 life…

    I like the KFS-suggested “Incredible Huk”

    Some of us on this blog are calling him “The Incredible Huk”* since the Summer League, if not since draft night, but yeah, let’s go with KFS suggestion… sigh…

    * And honestly it was an easy one to go to…

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