Knicks Morning News (2025.01.28)

Ja was a -41.

jjj was a -33

meanwhile, mikal +43, OG +41

Is that good? That seems good.

This didn’t feel like a “shut up the critics” game bc the Grizzlies are not the Thunder or Cavs; they are squarely on our level in that 4-8 range. Deeply impressive game nonetheless.

As I said yesterday:

I feel like you can usually tell when we’re going to kick ass by now. We should get an excellent effort tonight bc we’re coming off a long rest and a blowout.

Tomorrow is a little tougher. On the one hand, it’s our 3rd game in 5 nights and we’re playing a team we humiliated the first time. So far that has spelled trouble. On the other hand, we’re coming off two blowouts in a row and the starters are rested.

Our bad games never come out of the blue. They’re always preceded by a slew of exhausting efforts. The pattern of this season suggests that tomorrow’s game against Denver (who I think is a better team than Memphis, FWIW) is a 50/50 play and I expect a heavyweight fight like the San Antonio Christmas game. This will be an outstanding test, which I’m just going to guess we will pass bc we are at home and our vibes are great right now. I would definitely want to attend this game if I were in NY.

Now the pattern of this season also suggests that tomorrow’s game would be something of a peak, and it would start a slight decline of ugly wins. But the schedule makers have done us a favor: we have two days off after this game and the next game is a Saturday night national event against the Lakers. There’s no way in hell we’re going to lose steam in that situation.

Which leads me back to another thing I said recently:

the combination of added rest and formidable opponents looks like it could be setting us up our most exciting run of the season.

I am predicting we win all 6 of these upcoming games against our mezzanine brethren and head into the all star break on an impressive 11 game winning streak.

2-0 so far. Tomorrow is the one I feel least confident about bc Jokic is so fucking great and if we get into a close game with him it’s hard to match his execution. But the vibes are great right now so I think we’ll pull it off.

FWIW I hope my I-told-you-so’s are less obnoxious when I told you something good is about to happen. But remember I also predicted a 16-0 January last year after I saw how we looked against the TWolves in OG’s first game, made a huge case for optimism before the ‘22-‘23 season when despondency ruled, and was one of the only posters to predict the playoffs in Thibs’ first season. When I tell you something good is about to happen, it usually does. And if Leon can swing that little Javonte trade or something similar next week, things will get even better. One serviceable wing who can play 20 mins off the bench would do wonders for this team.

I am not changing my mind that this team can win the title this year. Only a completely healthy Mitch could make me reconsider that. But King of the Mezz is a pretty special team, too, and I think we’re going to start seeing the best this team has to offer right now (which will eventually lead us headfirst into our glass ceiling, which is largely Thibs’ limitations).

Judging from the post-game … activity … the beast pretty clearly yearns to be fed, so feed it shall be.

Kind of an box-score-stuffing game for Himself (17/6/6) in a home win for his club, the kind of innings-eating quality players put up on their lower-percentile nights. (*) Contrary to popular opinion, Toronto is playing very good basketball right now, even in the absence of the Q part of BBQ, winning six of their last seven including wins over the Celtics and Warriors and a road “sweep” of the Hawks.

Nice win for the Knicks; this is a fun series of Mezz games to break up the January monotony. Attention must and should be paid.

(*) Not quite exactly sure how the “look at the plus-minuses, we know who’s really important on that team” thought waterfall came to pass. RJ was +15, the other B was minus-three.

That was not the “mood” of the game thread at all, until i got there i only read negative things about the team, and it took a while for it to change.

But the team noticed i arrived 🤭 , and they thought “if one KBer believes in us, we can do this” and proceeded to obliterate the Grizzlies leading to the comment of the day “The Grizzlies have hibernated”, by Clyde of course. 😀

The moral of the story is we gotta believe in this team, because they have a lot of strengths and who knows how far they can go with a little luck (like Hawks in 2021 and Indiana in 2024)? Do they have weaknesses? Of course. Should we talk about it? Of course. But please everybody acknowledge this is a great team, the best since the 90s.

I’m eager to get to a 3rd NBA Finals to see if this time around we have more luck! 🧡💙🏀🏆🥇

I didn’t read the game thread until after the game (I like to paint miniatures while watching the games) and I enjoyed the game from start to finish, never really felt like it got out of hand despite their pseudo-rally.

Really fun win – feels like maybe Ja was out late the night before or something? Because he and the whole Grizz team kinda looked like trash last night. Of course the Knicks had something to do with that.

by the way – the Grizz have only lost 3 games by 20+ this year (including last night) – a 20 pt loss to the Rockets very early in the season (no JJJ in that game) and a 24 pt loss to OKC a month ago (no Ja or Edey in that game). So a 37 point loss with them at full strength is by far their worst performance of the year.

I am very intrigued by the Deuce/Cam/Shamet/OG/Precious bench lineup. It’s a very small but very fast and good-shooting lineup.

Feels like someone has gotten in Thibs’s ear about being less egregious with minutes load. Since the Philly OT game 6 games ago, only 2 Knicks have played 40+ min — OG playing 41 against ATL and Hart playing exactly 40 against Sac. So Hart has only played 40+ 1 out of the last 10 games (compared with 13 out of the previous 36).

Bridges especially seems to be getting more rest – averaged 40.4 minutes in Dec and down to 36.8 in Jan. He has played 40+ minutes in 1 out of his last 10 games (the only 1 being the OT game) compared with 18 out of 37 before that.

Just something to keep an eye on.

Precious has been looking a lot better in recent games.

@sny_knicks:
Precious Achiuwa on how he feels since returning from his hamstring injury in early December

“I think I’m back to where I’m at. The medical staff keeps making jokes when they see me [dunk]. Because I was really scared for a long time. That really kind of messed me up mentally”

https://x.com/sny_knicks/status/1884088782976131187 (w/ video)

please everybody acknowledge this is a great team, the best since the 90s

I still don’t think this is even our best team of the 20s, but I’m not sure why you’d want to start something like that today. It’s definitely a fun team that we all enjoy watching.

Coming in the morning after the Knicks’ most complete win of the season to again crow about RJ Barrett is some spectacular commitment to the bit, E. Slow clap.

Thanks for those numbers, Frank. It really seems that Thibs is getting the message that he can’t run the team into the ground, and the results are proving who was right. The team is playing a lot better with more rest, highlighted by Mikal’s recent play.
Now please get healthy, Mitch. The 2nd unit will be much improved with Mitch in there.

I still don’t think this is even our best team of the 20s

We’ll have to agree to disagree.

Some local self promotion: my Better Call Saul book comes out a week from today, and a week from tomorrow night, I’ll be doing an event at The Strand. If any of you lunatics wants to come by, I’d love to be able to meet IRL. It’s a ticketed event, but I can set aside a free book for any of you who comes if you give me advance warning. Details here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alan-sepinwall-james-poniewozik-saul-goodman-v-jimmy-mcgill-tickets-1107367097799?aff=oddtdtcreator

@sny_knicks:
“I’m never one to look forward & say the potential or whatever. It’s how we can focus on getting better every single day regardless of what happens. We can’t be satisfied. We can’t think we’re good after a couple of wins like this. Nothing’s given in this league”
– Jalen Brunson

https://x.com/sny_knicks/status/1884081581553299687 (w/ video)

👏👏👏

You of all people, Alan, must understand the importance of staying in character.

Congrats on the book; I’d love to swing by the Strand that night but not sure it works. Think I’m out of town. Will continue to consult the schedule. If not, I’ll pick it up for the shelf.

Everybody go and support Alan! 😉

Would be amazing if you could come here and present the book in Porto, Alan, maybe in this amazing store that is known to have been J. K. Rowling’s inspiration for the Harry Potter books. 🙂

https://livrarialello.pt/en/photos

If only there were a travel budget to promote such a niche book, Cyber. If only.

Totally agree on Precious. He is really looking spry and playing well.

And I agree the improvement in bench minutes is a big positive.

I still don’t think this is even our best team of the 20s,

Which team was better? Last year’s? This year’s team has a higher SRS, O Rating, Net Rating, MOV, and is on pace for more wins.

I agree that a true statement W would be beating either the Cavs, Thunder or Boston. But outside of those three teams, that was about as close to a statement game as you can get. We demolished a team that by every metric is our equal.

The team looked soooo good last night and the last few games. This is why I don’t care about SOS. When you’re a good team, SOS is less important. What is more important is how you, as a team, are playing. If we play well we can beat anyone. But in the NBA, if you’re not playing well and short handed, you can lose to pretty much anyone on any given night. We had the hardest remaining schedule a few weeks ago. Now we have the 4th hardest schedule and we’ve beaten some of these “tough” teams.

The biggest thing is the bench playing better and getting more minutes. Having the days off, less minutes, etc…it’s all leading to a situation right now where we’re playing quite well.

Man, if Mitch can come back and be healthy and we get one more wing (I’m in the bring up TJ Warren camp), I think we have a serious shot at the finals. Getting the 2 seed again would be nice.

Even though we were a demolition unit on offense, I was most excited by the defense. Admittedly the Grizz have been horrible with turnovers all year, but our consistency of effort from everyone, even Jalen, was really exciting to watch. It just took the air out of their tires. Scoring 143 was great, but holding them to 106 was amazing.

The defense was great and I was really encouraged by all the full court outlet passes for easy buckets. We had like 10 points or so off of full court outlet passes and it wasn’t just Hart throwing them.

We’re not really a great transition team so it was nice to see that.

I just had the thought of swinging a deal for Nurkic, but then I saw that he makes a little too much. We’d probably have to add someone to Mitch that we don’t wanna give up to get him. And a healthy Mitch raises Phoenix’ ceiling, I think. So maybe only trying to get Nurkic would be low hanging fruit for us?

I think both of these wins were statement wins, Swifty. I just don’t think the statement was “Shut up, critics; this proves you were wrong!”

Our bench is playing more mainly because they are healthy. Precious missed the first 20+ games with a hammy, and probably took another 10-15 games to re-acclimate. Shamet missed even more time with a serious shoulder issue, probably still not 100%. Deuce missed 10 games with illness and a hammy, and his shot suffered.

What we are seeing now for the first time is a consistent, reasonably healthy 9-man rotation. It takes reps, along with some trial and error, to figure out how to stagger starters with various bench combos. There’s still work to do there, and there will be more work to do if Mitch comes back and/or a trade is made.

Has anyone checked the blood alcohol levels of the Memphis guys, ca. 2:30 am Sunday night?

Important data point.

Last night was, at least for me, the first game of the season in which our defense looked like the Apex Predator version we were presumably envisioning when we traded away all of our picks.

It’s not everything, it can be misleading, etc etc etc. I know the caveats. But turning your opponent over a bunch of times is still a tried and true way to defend well.

“Shut up, critics; this proves you were wrong!”

Just curious what critics are you referring to, lol. The ones on this blog who aren’t happy unless we’re a 65 win team juggernaut that dominates every team for 4 quarters and still has endless picks to deal with?

Cause outside of this blog (and various Knicks fan pages/blogs), the general consensus from the bball intelligentsia is that we’re a fucking good basketball team.

To me, so much of the hand wringing really just stems from the fact that we don’t know what will happen in the playoffs. If we were Cleveland we could tell ourselves that we’re a shoe in for the ECF but that, of course, isn’t necessarily true at all.

To me, we’re right where we need to be. I guess it would be better if we were this good and also had a bunch of first round picks. But we’re positioned about as well as one can reasonably expect a good team to be.

The biggest thing is the bench playing better and getting more minutes. Having the days off, less minutes, etc…it’s all leading to a situation right now where we’re playing quite well.

I cannot endorse this message enough. Its about the minutes and finding the right bench combination of 3-4 guys every night who will give our starters a rest. I really think this team’s starting lineup is good enough to compete with any team’s but they need rest. Thibs has to want to buy into that idea.

Cause outside of this blog (and various Knicks fan pages/blogs), the general consensus from the bball intelligentsia is that we’re a fucking good basketball team.

Literally every person on this blog considers this to be a very good basketball team and I don’t know that there’s been even a single comment to the contrary all season.

People point out the flaws that project to put and probably keep them in the Mezz, that’s for sure, but no one questions their underlying quality.

Literally every person on this blog considers this a very good basketball team and I don’t know that there’s been even a single comment to the contrary all season.

There sure is a lot of fucking complaining and second-guessing on this blog for a bunch of fans who consider the team to be good. As it is, I see people calling for an OG or Mikal trade.

Which team was better? Last year’s? This year’s team has a higher SRS, O Rating, Net Rating, MOV, and is on pace for more wins.

Statistically, that merely reflects that this team was fully assembled sooner (before the season vs on Jan 1) and has had better health (97% participation from the 5 starters vs 68%).

There sure is a lot of fucking complaining and second-guessing on this blog for a bunch of fans who consider the team to be good. As it is, I see people calling for an OG or Mikal trade.

There is, but that’s the nature and essence of NYC sports fandom.

Why wouldn’t people call for an OG or Mikal trade if it would improve the team? Does not compute. I’ll call for it again here today. If there are better players OG or Mikal can be flipped for, they should be so flipped. They aren’t tenured professors. (Nor are they home-grown draftees, but that’s a different issue.)

As to where this team stacks up, I think it is fair to wonder whether this team is better than the pre-Randle injury January version, especially since Mitch was sidelined for both versions.

C: iHart vs. KAT
PF: Randle vs. OG
SF: OG vs. Hart
SG: DDV vs. Mikal
PG: Brunson vs. Brunson

I’d give the edge in the starting lineup clearly goes to this year’s team. There is definitely more upside. KAT has replaced Randle’s scoring and rebounding role, which is clearly a major efficiency upgrade although at the cost of some secondary playmaking and shot creation. OG has sort of replaced iHart as a sort of big ground-covering defensive presence. I think the combo of KAT-OG is better overall than the combo of iHart-Randle. I also think it can be argued that the way Josh Hart is balling is making missing OG’s size at the 3 less of an issue. In other words, the combo of Hart-Mikal is superior overall to OG-DDV.

As to the bench:
Hart vs. Deuce
Deuce vs Cam
Grimes vs. Shamet
Precious vs. Precious

Again, pretty close. Hart added a punch, but it seems like Cam is more of a PG than Deuce was, and Shamet is starting to come around.

So overall, I think the product on the floor is better this year than it was in January of last year. However, the ability to make a major improvement via trade has been virtually eliminated, unless one considers one of Mikal, Hart, or OG expendable.

In any case, that January 2024 team was not sustainable. Randle was unsigned, iHart was a goner, and the second apron clock was ticking. This team feels like the best finished product we have had since the peak Ewing teams, with a core that is locked up for several years. I’ll take it!

Its unfair to compare this team to last year’s if you believe, as Z-man and I do, that the bench is just beginning to come together due to injuries. We can get solid play from Duece, Cam, Precious, and Landry for around 20 minutes a game then the team’s floor and ceiling raised a bit. There could be more toothpaste we can squeeze out of the roll. We should wait it out before giving the final verdict.

Has anyone checked the blood alcohol levels of the Memphis guys, ca. 2:30 am Sunday night?

Watching Ja last night made me think he went to the Doc Ellis school of pre-game meals.

Hubie, I’m wondering if you’re a half-empty guy in real life, too. We come off one of the best wins in I don’t know how long and you’re all “if our key players get injured we’ll be a lot worse!”

I mean, yeah. If Jalen gets hit by a car crossing 42nd Street and Mikal’s twig-like appendages snap when he’s trying to open a bottle of Yahoo, we’ll definitely struggle the rest of the year.

There is, but that’s the nature and essence of NYC sports fandom.

Sorry, I don’t buy this. People here are still arguing about RJ fucking Barrett and our team just demolished a top three team in the West by 37 points. That’s not normal fandom. Simply put, you have to be a freak to want to go back to that debate after a game like the one we saw last night at this point in your season.

I’ll call for it again here today. If there are better players OG or Mikal can be flipped for, they should be so flipped.

And if my aunt Mari had a dick she’d be my uncle Mario.

Our bench is playing more mainly because they are healthy.

This. I understand the reluctance to trust that Thibs’ rotations were due to injuries and not stupidity, but I posted about the minutes lost a few days ago when people argued about how healthy we had been. ALL the bench players missed significant time (minus Cam, who only missed a little). Thibs maybe could have/should have been more clever by stealing 5 minutes a game by using Huk or Kolek with the starters, but clearly it makes a difference to have the best secondary players available.

I also think we need to be prepared for some awkward mistakes when Mitch comes back – Thibs simply isn’t a fluid and flexible guy when it comes to improvisation, and figuring out how to get him back in the mix won’t be easy for him, probably. But if he’s healthy, it will be worth the ugliness, because once Thibs HAS figured it out, Mitch will make us much more dangerous.

People here are still arguing about RJ fucking Barrett and our team just demolished a top three team in the West by 37 points. That’s not normal fandom. Simply put, you have to be a freak to want to go back to that debate after a game like the one we saw last night at this point in your season.

Someone here needs their irony meter adjusted.

You boys went on about RJ in my absence for multiple, probably like a dozen, posts last night. In a post-game thread. After a fun, Mezz on Mezz curb stomping. Why he’s in your heads so much is a mystery for the ages.

And now you want to stoke the argument back up again. Sorry … not interested.

Look I don’t give a shit about RJ Barrett, so have at it. I just want you know that the more you continue that nonsense after a major win like the one we saw last night the weirder you seem.

Just curious what critics are you referring to, lol.

The ones addressed in the thread titled “time to shut up some critics”, which went on to say: “the Knicks have gotten some shit for not beating the very best teams, and the Grizzlies are one of the best teams around.”

I do think the Grizzlies are an excellent team and last night’s win was very impressive. But I also think it’s obvious that the Grizzlies are not in the same tier as OKC and Cleveland, so I don’t think the concerns of “critics” have been silenced.

Do you guys like really seriously think a professional sports team should be judged by, and only by, their best performance of a long, sloggy load-management-infested regular season?

I mean … seriously? I honestly can’t tell.

Literally zero people (until the post-game RJ obsession) did anything in the game thread last night other than enjoy the curb stomping. No one did anything in the couple hours prior to the game other than say how much they were looking forward to some Mezz v Mezz, teams fully healthy, NBA action.

Not sure what more is expected.

I mean, yeah. If Jalen gets hit by a car crossing 42nd Street and Mikal’s twig-like appendages snap when he’s trying to open a bottle of Yahoo, we’ll definitely struggle the rest of the year.

Yogi is spinning in his grave 🙂

The biggest difference is playing at their best or at least close to it KAT and Bridges are huge upgrades over Randle and DDV. Plus having those 2 along OG and Brunson with Hart allows Hart to do what he does best. It’s no surprise that he’s having a career season playing mostly with those 4.

The only caveat is last season we also had iHart, we all love him but as good as he is defensively KAT is just on another planet on offense. I think it’s safe to say this team over the next few seasons will clearly become the best Knicks team since Riley’s Knicks.

Hubie, I’m wondering if you’re a half-empty guy in real life, too. We come off one of the best wins in I don’t know how long and you’re all “if our key players get injured we’ll be a lot worse!”

This is the most optimistic I’ve felt about this Knicks team all season, and everything I have said about the team this week has been optimistic.

Optimism doesn’t demand denial.

But if he’s healthy, it will be worth the ugliness, because once Thibs HAS figured it out, Mitch will make us much more dangerous

I respect the job that Precious has done for us. But I think our bench unit’s biggest problem is how quickly the perimeter defense seems to break down once the Wingstoppers are on the bench. Having Mitch come off the bench while Mikal and/or OG are sitting down would really help us.

The glass isn’t half-empty. It’s like 80% full.

Also just go back to Sunday’s thread, the very 1st comment was E talking about RJ, this coming the day after the blowout of the Kings.

Do you guys like really seriously think a professional sports team should be judged by, and only by, their best performance of a long, slog regular season?

Why not? You do the same when we lose.

Hubert, again, glass very half empty. Grizz are fifth in rankings right now. Sure few people would say they’re better than OKC or Cleveland, but this current team hasn’t played those guys yet (by current I mean gelling and a healthy bench). So saying you have “concerns” based on nonexistent data seems, I don’t know, odd. You may be right we won’t beat them, and we’re just not as good. What makes the game last night so interesting is that it’s a data point suggesting that take could be wrong.

Only one data point (well two if you count the game before that), but it’s a hell of a lot better than no data points and just making things up.

With Mitch out of the equation, this team is way better offensively than last year’s January team but not as good defensively just as I and a lot of other people predicted and the data supports.

KAT is a better scorer than Randle.

Bridges is a better all around player than DDV.

Hart picked up Randle’s rebounding and playmaking.

We lost a bit defensively by losing I-Hart for nothing.

Literally nothing has changed since my analysis at the start of the season other than maybe Bridges had an early stretch of disappointing defense.

Also just go back to Sunday’s thread, the very 1st comment was E talking about RJ, this coming the day after the blowout of the Kings.

Starting at around 10:00 pm last night, in a game thread, in the wake of a very fun Knick win, unprovoked and obsessive victory laps over RJ Barrett commenced.

This happens all the time.

It’s just odd to me to come into a thread the day after a great and comment about how “yeah but we aren’t” instead of focusing on the positives that we can wish cast going forward.

“Everything I have posted about the Knicks this whole week has been very optimistic.”

I beg to differ. At best, it’s chalk. Which is fine!

I just noticed someone woke up after the best win of the season to take a victory lap because RJ Barrett scored 17 points on mediocre efficiency.

I won’t belabor the point, the numbers speak for themselves, but I maintain the man deserves better stans! If he’s your guy, stake a real claim! Say that one day, the guy who is a bad defender and not all that good at any other non-scoring things will in fact be an above average scorer! The expectations here are an insult to RJ.

In all seriousness, I do understand why the guy drives an unusual amount of discourse. How much value a very, very bad “#1 option” has to an NBA team is a relatively interesting question.

Personally, I think it comes down to whether the bad #1 option has a skill set that allows him to theoretically become a good 3-4 option if need be. Sadly in RJ’s case, the spot up shooting, cutting, defense, etc. just doesn’t appear to be there.

I predicted the Cavs would be very good this year and have a small bet on them to win it all. However, also IMO, they are not as good as they look so far. Admittedly, the Cavs played great ball for awhile, but imo they were shooting over their heads. I think a mean reversion is in the cards and may have already begun a little.

The only thing that worries me about the Cavs is that without Mitch they are a bad matchup for us. They are big and will do damage inside. With Mitch, they are just another team similar to us.

It’s just odd to me to come into a thread the day after a great and comment about how “yeah but we aren’t” instead of focusing on the positives that we can wish cast going forward.

You’re seeing ghosts.

The biggest difference is playing at their best or at least close to it KAT and Bridges are huge upgrades over Randle and DDV

Not only has Bridges not been a huge upgrade, he’s actually been a huge downgrade from what DDV gave us last year.

He’s an upgrade in the sense of one guy ranks much higher on the best 100 players in the NBA lists. But the 85th best guy in the NBA had a much better year last year than the 40th best guy is having this year.

It’s just odd to me to come into a thread the day after a great and comment about how “yeah but we aren’t” instead of focusing on the positives that we can wish cast going forward.

This. I find myself agreeing with walkerandbendercornerstones alot. But I will go further and say its not just odd. That’s putting it too kindly. It’s freakish if that’s your inclination after a win last night and not in a good way. Like you really need to evaluate why you follow a team and the reseasons for your fandom if this is your inclination.

People obsessed about RJ Barrett in a post-game thread when no one had said a single word about him.

My “inclination” is to play along with the trolling. Sometimes.

Starting at around 10:00 pm last night, in a game thread, in the wake of a very fun Knick win, unprovoked and obsessive victory laps over RJ Barrett commenced.

This happens all the time.

1. There’s like 5 comments about RJ last night.

2. “Lil’ Pennysays:
January 28, 2025 at 07:17

Judging from the post-game … activity … the beast pretty clearly yearns to be fed, so feed it shall be.

Kind of an box-score-stuffing game for Himself (17/6/6) in a home win for his club, the kind of innings-eating quality players put up on their lower-percentile nights. (*) Contrary to popular opinion, Toronto is playing very good basketball right now, even in the absence of the Q part of BBQ, winning six of their last seven including wins over the Celtics and Warriors and a road “sweep” of the Hawks.

Nice win for the Knicks; this is a fun series of Mezz games to break up the January monotony. Attention must and should be paid.

(*) Not quite exactly sure how the “look at the plus-minuses, we know who’s really important on that team” thought waterfall came to pass. RJ was +15, the other B was minus-three.
“

I couldn’t even imagine a mediocrity like RJ occupying my life a fraction as much as it does the lives of people here. Its astounding to me.

There’s like 5 comments about RJ last night.

There should have been zero. But obsessives gotta obsess.

Watching this team play, I’m not sure we lost much physicality in going from Hartenstein/Randle to KAT/Anunoby up front. Specifically Anunoby. He’s been a freight train on defense and attacking the rim. Guys bump into him and fall. For a *bad* rebounder, he’s alot less finesse than one might assume. And that one is me. I’m one *raises hand* lol.

And the more I think about it..healthy Mitch is better for this team. Looking across the league for backup centers that might be available, all I see is kinda lumbering bigs. Mitch isn’t that, which makes him perfect to play alongside KAT when Thibs wants to go double big and pound teams into submission. No Diddy lol(couldn’t help myself- here’s allegedly looking at you, Reginald VelJohnson!) Sorry..I’ve watched Dave Chappelle’s recent SNL opening monologue probably one too many times lol.

Anywho..maybe the team is just playing it slow on Mitch by design to make sure he can stay healthy because they realize he’s the best option? And then we’d still have Achiuwa to play a slightly bigger and just as active 4 than Anunoby next to KAT when Thibs isn’t goin with the twin tower look. Then..then..he can stagger some minutes with Anunoby at the 4 next to Mitch. OH MY GOD THE POSSIBILITIES! PLEASE GET HEALTHY MITCH! Not alot of offense on the bench still, but we’d have guys who have been good shooters in Deuce, Payne, Shamet, Ryan..and then there’s Dadiet’s shooting rep if we need him. Not ideal, but it ain’t that bad either. If need be- I’m ok with sacrificing Payne for a bigger wing who can score(Warren?), and that’s thanks to Kolek being able to play nba minutes at the point if we need him.

The way I see it, Exec of the year is between Presti and Leon. Only one of those teams were expected to win near the pace they’re winning at before their additions..and it ain’t NY

How much value a very, very bad “#1 option” has to an NBA team is a relatively interesting question.

There may be an AIO value that can assigned, but I think his value to a team varies depending on what else they have and what they need.

RJ has some value to a BAD team like Toronto that deson’t have much efficient scoring punch. They will tend to win more games with him than without him.

RJ would have negative value to a team like the Knicks that’s loaded with more efficient scoring options.

Judging from the post-game … activity … the beast pretty clearly yearns to be fed, so feed it shall be.

LOL these are the words of an unwell mind. Jesus. The beast clearly yearns to be fed, so it shall be? Okay, Neil Gaiman.

LOL these are the words of an unwell mind.

Everyone knows the post-game obsessive comments were put there to initiate this ridiculous back-and-forth. Which then serves as gruel to bitch about how the site always degenerates into backs and forths about irrelevant things. Rinse, repeat.

The beast yearned to be fed. It’s been fed. Didn’t take much.

The beast yearned to be fed. It’s been fed. Didn’t take much.

I’m unsure here if the “beast” is your obsessive need to harp on a Never-will-be player who hasn’t been a Knick in around a year or if the “beast” is your ego-driven need to be the center of discussion even after a team win? Either way, I don’t care. You’re a weird dude. I’m cutting you off as long as you persist in this nonsense, and I advise others to do the same.

Shouldn’t need to be clarified, but the beast is the bizarre obsession of wide swaths of the board with RJ Barrett. Thought it was obvious, but happy to clarify.

Knicks smoke Memphis, swaths take victory laps in post-game thread over RJ Barrett. That wasn’t me.

Swaths wanted me to then say something about him this morning, so they could then bitch about people saying things about RJ Barrett in the wake of a fun Knicks victory. So the beast was fed. Hope the dopamine feels good.

I think E has a point. When a comment like “RJ for Precious seems pretty legit” is posted, and gets validated with a Lol and further commentary, it is clearly trolling a particular poster, especially in a game thread where there was no need for it. I thought Beeks’ quip was funny, and have no problem with it. But I do think it’s unfair for folks to gang up on E for responding in kind. Whether he did so last night or this morning shouldn’t be an issue.

It kind of sickens me a bit to defend the likes of E, but fair is fair.

I beg to differ. At best, it’s chalk. Which is fine!

I would love to know anyone could think predicting an impressive win over the Grizzlies and an 11 game winning streak is anything other than optimistic.

The only thing negative about my comments has been their adjacency to Lil Penny’s.

I thought last year’s team was the 2nd best team in the NBA and had about a 25% chance of winning the title, and that was without Julius Randle. It’s not pessimistic to think we took a temporary step back from that lofty perch.

Achiuwa has looked much better the last few games. Not just the dunks, the defense has had much higher peaks than it has.

The bench doesn’t have any stoppers but I don’t feel like they have any sieves either. Their biggest defensive problem is that they can struggle against bigger wings.

Mikal shutdown Ja. That’s what he needs to be if we’re going to make the inner circle.

Not only has Bridges not been a huge upgrade, he’s actually been a huge downgrade from what DDV gave us last year.

I completely disagree.

Other than the slow start on both sides when he was struggling with the POA role defensively and struggling from 3 with his new form, IMO Bridges is better defensively and the WAY more versatile scorer. To me, it’s not even that close.

DDV is a very good 3 point shooter and plays with a lot of energy. He’s a 6th man type player that was starting for us and doing a very good job, but he’s neither a very good defender or versatile scorer.

Bridges can be efficient on higher volume in a greater variety of ways, plays better D, can switch, can take over games. He’s a very good all around player. If he wasn’t playing behind Towns and Brunson, he’d be scoring even more just as effectively. He’s a VERY good 3d option.

We can still debate the price paid, the value of his contact etc… but I’d WAY rather have Bridges than DDV.

Jonas Valančiūnas has been floated around as a target for this team. He’d definitely help round out the bench because he’s a pretty nifty passer and post-scorer when KAT is resting. But I think the price might be too high since the Lakers and Warriors are sniffing around him as well.

It kind of sickens me a bit to defend the likes of E, but fair is fair.

No, people need to just let shit go and put their egos aside. The team won, the vibes are positive, no need to go in on the same tired ass debate for the 3,315,744th time.

Mikal shutdown Ja. That’s what he needs to be if we’re going to make the inner circle.

I was amazed at how easy he made it look. Ja must be injured or partied hard last night, right? Because he was pure cheeks that game.

I should add that I don’t have a problem with regularly commenting on the exploits of past Knicks, whether it be Frank, RJ, IQ, Obi, Grimes, Julius, DDV, iHart, or whoever. It’s kind of annoying when folks repeat the same shit over and over or continually wring their hands about a trade long since consummated. It’s also annoying for folks to draw firm conclusions about the player in question in either direction when the jury is clearly still out.

Jonas Valančiūnas has been floated around as a target for this team. He’d definitely help round out the bench because he’s a pretty nifty passer and post-scorer when KAT is resting. But I think the price might be too high since the Lakers and Warriors are sniffing around him as well.

He’d probably be fine for the regular season, but he’s going to be unplayable in the playoffs when teams design their offense to attack weak points. He’s a 1st percentile defender by EPM and all the articles I’ve read concur.

The team won, the vibes are positive, no need to go in on the same tired ass debate for the 3,315,744th time.

Then why did people do that?

(HINT: Mostly because they wanted the 3,315,744th debate).

A lot of the anti-Barrett stuff is stupid on substance, but this meta whining about things people clearly want is particularly stupid.

It’s ok to admit your desires, maybe not openly, but at least to yourself. Most psychologists would actually hold that it’s healthy.

It has kind of gone under the radar, but the Knicks seem to be generating more turnovers these days. Their defensive TOV% is now league average, and they endlessly flummoxed the Grizzlies last night with steals and strips.

Our TOV% for the season is 12.9, league average is 13.0. In most of our recent games we’ve been above that number, with some 20+ games mixed in and a bunch of other games where we were 15+.

We’re now average or better on defense in all Four Factors except defensive eFG%. Defending the 3pt line is the glaring weakness of the team. Fix that, and you could have something cooking.

I also think that the folks here who are pointing out that we look a hell of a lot better when we’re reasonably rested are making a pretty strong case. Last night was one of OG’s better defensive games, and maybe the first time all year that OG/Mikal pairing looked formidable and effective on the defensive end.

“No, people need to just let shit go and put their egos aside. The team won, the vibes are positive, no need to go in on the same tired ass debate for the 3,315,744th time.”

So where were you when Bloody posted snarkily about RJ in the game thread? If you are going to call people out, you should have started there. Something like “Hey Bloody, don’t trigger RJ’s bitch!” or something to that effect…

He’d probably be fine for the regular season, but he’s going to be unplayable in the playoffs when teams design their offense to attack weak points. He’s a 1st percentile defender by EPM and all the articles I’ve read concur.

Seems like we’re best off sticking with Mitch and hoping he can come back healthy and stay on the court for 20-ish minutes a game.

Not “triggered,” Z-Man. Playing along.

So where were you when Bloody posted snarkily about RJ in the game thread?

Where was I? I was celebrating the fucking win like a normal human being.

Bridges is turning it around and may very well end up having a better season, especially if he plays to this level defensively more often. But Donte couldn’t miss last year and was taking a ton of 3s.

Mikal is a better player but Donte absolutely had a better year last season than Mikal is having this season.

Where was I? I was celebrating the fucking win like a normal human being.

“RJ Barrett will never be on the level of Tyler Kolek.

So it is written. So shall it come to pass.”

10:28 pm on a game thread. They don’t take down the game threads the night of the game. They’re still here.

“Jonas Valančiūnas has been floated around as a target for this team. He’d definitely help round out the bench because he’s a pretty nifty passer and post-scorer when KAT is resting. But I think the price might be too high since the Lakers and Warriors are sniffing around him as well.”

I’d check on this guy’s availability first, he moves just as well and comes a lot cheaper…

Speaking of Tyler Kolek, how groovy was that bounce pass to Deuce for the jam?

Now that was a Beast yearning to be fed! I am pumped for his future as a bench piece.

I’d check on this guy’s availability first, he moves just as well and comes a lot cheaper…

I’d make an offer for a trade but don’t trust his ox. Makes too much of a mess.

Last night was one of OG’s better defensive games,

Not disagreeing, but that’s partly because steals are easy to notice. Here’s the matchup data from some of OGs recent games:

* Randle 0-1 for 0pts, 2TOs
* DeRozan 2-5 for 4pts
* Jalen Johnson 0-3 for 0pts
* Giannis 1-5 for 3pts, 2TOs
* J-Will 1-4 for 2pts, 1TO
* J-Will 0-2 for 2pts

He’s playing very good defense, but he hasn’t been disruptive the way he was last night. He had 5 deflections to go with his 6stls

“Bridges is turning it around and may very well end up having a better season, especially if he plays to this level defensively more often. But Donte couldn’t miss last year and was taking a ton of 3s.

Mikal is a better player but Donte absolutely had a better year last season than Mikal is having this season.”

For all the 3’s DDV made at 40%, his TS% was .597. Even with his terrible stretch for virtually the entire month of November, Mikal is at .587. DDV also tapered off after the all-star break (.576 TS% in 27 games.)

Seems like it was possibly a career year for DDV, buoyed by an ultra-hot stretch, whereas I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Mikal. Personally, I’d rather have DDV at $13M AAV and the 5 picks, but the team’s ceiling seems higher now than it did then.

You may be right we won’t beat them, and we’re just not as good. What makes the game last night so interesting is that it’s a data point suggesting that take could be wrong.

I fail to see how last night’s game suggests this team that can make it through 35 more games and 4 grueling rounds of the playoffs.

We all know how great this team can look on its best day. Last night was nothing new.

Winning the championship requires beating the best teams on your worst day. It also requires tactical flexibility and the depth to withstand injury. I still don’t see us currently possessing these traits.

“Everyone knows the post-game obsessive comments were put there to initiate this ridiculous back-and-forth.”

Those comments were funny. That’s why they were there. This site has ‘funny” as one of its three reasons for being.

I can absolutely guarantee that none of them were made in the hopes that you’d make it a big issue today.

I don’t think we know as much about this team as you say we do, Hubert. This bench rounding into shape is a gamechanger.

I don’t know if it’s rest or bench guys getting healthy or whatever, but the last 2 games there’s been a completely different vibe on the defensive end. Knicks defenders are closing out on shooters, there are no easy dunks or layups, guys are getting in the passing lanes, etc.

If our defense ever catches up to our offense, the sky’s the limit.

First comment, 10:04:

Can we please talk about something more relevant – RJ had 17 points on 18 shots tonight.

I’m not one to really argue about humor and what’s funny — it’s very subjective — but if it were me and that comment was my act, I’d be sure to hold on tight to the day job.

Clarence’s was funny.

At some point we can hope the RJ obsessive fever abates. It’s now like, what, five years in? Six? But unfortunately, the signs aren’t great. Just look at the material TNFH is still using to try to provoke. I suppose in a sense that could be looked at as comedy, whether intended as such or not. Maybe that’s the way out of this conundrum.

Come on, the RJ for Precious comment was fucking hilarious and if you can’t take that joke when you constantly bring up RJ Barrett, then you need to take a break from this blog and lighten up.

It was a hilarious comment made in the context of a game when Precious was playing really well. Funny bc the debate about that trade always excludes precious even though he’s part of the trade. So it was just a really funny comment!

We need to be able to take that shit. It’s not trolling to post a funny comment like that.

HUMOR is one of the things this blog is supposed to be known for. When we sucked, it was all we have. Now everyone takes everything WAY too seriously.

Lighten up!

Come on, the RJ for Precious comment was fucking hilarious and if you can’t take that joke when you constantly bring up RJ Barrett, then you need to take a break from this blog and lighten up.

Yeah, I just said that. I mean, I said “funny,” not “hilarious” — but it was quality material.

I also suggested a way out of the conundrum. I’m certainly game. There’s not much that can be done about the fact that the player was one of two assets used to get another player and the difference between the Mezz and the Rafters might be (*) not having enough assets — so it’s not as though the player can ever fully disappear from our consideration — but I’m certainly getting sick of him qua him.

(*) Read: Probably is.

Speaking of humor it’s hilarious seeing and reading the Miami media turning on Butler. What happened to the famous Heat culture!?

I don’t think we know as much about this team as you say we do, Hubert. This bench rounding into shape is a gamechanger.

If the bench were to steadily improve over a long period of time and (more importantly) demonstrate that they could capably fill in for injured starters, that kind of data point would lead me to reconsider my opinion.

If Leon hits a home run before the trade deadline, that would lead me to reconsider my opinion.

And as I’ve said dozens of times, a healthy Mitch would also lead me to reconsider my opinion.

But an impressive victory at home over the Memphis Grizzlies doesn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. The Indiana Pacers did shit like this all the time last year, and at the end of the day they weren’t even a pebble in Boston’s shoe.

If the bench were to steadily improve over a long period of time

What would an acceptable dataset be for you? Are we looking at a month or so of games?

Winning the championship requires beating the best teams on your worst day. It also requires tactical flexibility and the depth to withstand injury. I still don’t see us currently possessing these traits.

This is definitely untrue. Last year’s Celtics lost 18 games including games against Charlotte, back to back against Atlanta, and a thoroughly mediocre Milwaukee team.

The 73-9 GSW lost 1 game against a legit great team, all their other losses were against teams that were mediocre at best and one was against the 17-65 Lakers.

Half of the 72-10 Bulls losses were against teams that were 42-40 or worse.

“Winning the championship requires beating the best teams on your worst day.”

I disagree with this. Most championship-level teams lose when they have their “worst day” against the “best teams.”

I would re-phrase this as “winning a championship requires a team to have very few “worst days” and that they can beat good teams even when their best players are not having a good game because other players step up. For example, if Brunson and KAT are having sub-par games, but other players go off.

Take the Dubs…if Steph and/or Klay were off, it was often the case that Dray and Iggy stepped up.

It is unknown whether the Knicks have that ability yet, we need more games vs. Boston and Cleveland to determine that. We probably won’t know the real answer until May. But the potential is there for sure.

(Edit: this plus what vincoug said)

Who had the Knicks one game behind the WC Celtics on their BINGO card on 1/28/25? I’d say they are meeting (at least) reasonable expectations.

What happened to the famous Heat culture!?

Udonis Haslem has left the building/locker room!

Knicks gave the 72-10 Bulls their worst loss of the season! 32 pt blowout which also happened to have been the 1st win of JVG’s career. They also were the only team in the East to get a win against the Bulls in the playoffs and should’ve gotten 2 wins but they blew a 3pt lead late in Game 4 on a fucking Bill Wennington jumper no less.

I think it was Hahn who said something interesting last night, in summary that the Knick have five all-stars in their starting five. That’s obviously factually untrue, but I took it to mean that all five could be considered in all-star voting (someone said even Hart was fourth by player voting).

That’s kind of incredible, and also gets to Z-Man’s point about having others step up if/when a star has a poor game. It’s not the bench, but damn that’s a deep starting five.

Z-Man & ThisChicanery, I did not express myself clearly.

What I meant was that when you get deep in the playoffs, the best teams will prevent you from having days like yesterday. You might have one or two games in a 7 game series where everything is falling like last night, but for the most part you will need to win games against the best teams when you are not hitting on cylinders.

I think we all agree that if we play our best game, we can beat the Celtics. But they’re not going to let you play your best game 4 times. That’s what I meant by needing to “beat the best teams on your worst day.”

It’s amazing to me how much time people always spend discussing, defining and adjusting the proper norms and conventions for this blog. 30% of the content is meta. Part of the fun I guess.

Somehow the mezzanine discourse returned

The curry was delicious.

But an impressive victory at home over the Memphis Grizzlies doesn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. The Indiana Pacers did shit like this all the time last year, and at the end of the day they weren’t even a pebble in Boston’s shoe.

Memphis was at the top of the mezzanine, the fact we blew them out shows that we may be well beyond them. If we’re beyond the top of the mezzanine, then we’re beyond the mezzanine. It’s not definitive, no single win is, but it’s one of the strongest pieces of evidence you can come by.

Moreover, the Knicks beat them with defense. If the Knicks defense looks anything like last night, they’re beyond the mezzanine, and we haven’t seen many (any?) games like that.

A strong win over a good Kings team and a strong Memphis team is reason to get excited.

I wanted Thibs to play the bench more. He did.

I wanted to see the team tweak its defensive approach and try to generate more turnovers. They’ve been generating more turnovers in a way that doesn’t seem like noise.

Now I’d like to see them defend 3pt attempts better, while still doing the other things.

man, I loved yoo-hoo as a kid, not sure that it is even a milk product, but it tasted really good…

It’ll be interesting to see if it’s a narrative blip over a long season, but the NBA Power Ranking now has the Rockets in second, leaping over Boston and Cleveland. Certainly not on my bingo card…

Hubert, if I understand you correctly, you think a Knicks team that you expect to go into the ASB on an 11 game winning streak that includes wins over the defending champion and 3 out of the 4 best teams in the west has a hard ceiling of the 2nd round of the playoffs?

We play the Rockets Monday. That’ll be a good test.

Now I’d like to see them defend 3pt attempts better, while still doing the other things.

Teams are shooting the lights out on tightly defended 3s against us (per the NBA site). We don’t seem to be giving up a lot of 3s, so I guess there’s some hope this is just bad luck

I always thought that Yoo-hoo was just the runoff byproduct that collected in the gutter behind a chocolate factory that somebody figured out you could bottle and sell

The ingredients of Yoohoo include water, high fructose corn syrup, whey (from milk), sugar, corn syrup, nonfat dry milk, cocoa (alkali process), partially hydrogenated soybean oil, sodium caseinate (from milk – a milk derivative), cellulose gum, dipotassium phosphate, salt, xanthan gum, guar gum, natural and artificial flavors, soy lecithin and carrageenan.

Yoo-hoo is a sweet nectar of the Gods but not entirely as elevated as Strawberry Quik, the libation that fills the Holy Grail.

I can’t remember the last time I drank Yoohoo.

good call on the strawberry quik, as a kid I actually think I may have preferred that over the chocolate Ovaltine stuff…

dang, must be time to drag my old ass out of bed, let the dog out, and then figure out what I’m gonna eat…scrambled eggs, bacon and toast i think…

man, I wish the freaking dog could cook…

those drinks are in the pantheon of legends…but nothing beats chugging a large can of Hi-C….fruit punch…with extra red dye no 2..

good call on the strawberry quik, as a kid I actually think I may have preferred that over the chocolate Ovaltine stuff…

those drinks are in the pantheon of legends…but nothing beats chugging a large can of Hi-C….fruit punch…with extra red dye no 2..

I see that there are fellow men of culture on this blog.

Memphis was at the top of the mezzanine, the fact we blew them out shows that we may be well beyond them.

That’s a pretty severe overreaction to one game and I suspect you know as much.

Hubert, how many games do you want to see from our bench?

Tommy Beer notes that the Knicks are 4-0 since Thibs has committed to a 9-man rotation.

Hubert, if I understand you correctly, you think a Knicks team that you expect to go into the ASB on an 11 game winning streak that includes wins over the defending champion and 3 out of the 4 best teams in the west has a hard ceiling of the 2nd round of the playoffs?

The only hard ceiling I’ve ever suggested this team has is the one right beneath champion.

The Indiana Pacers did shit like this all the time last year, and at the end of the day they weren’t even a pebble in Boston’s shoe.

There were 4 teams last year with an SRS over 5:
* Won 2 of 5 vs Boston by a combined 12.
* Lost twice to Denver.
* Lost twice to Minnesota
* Won twice against OKC by a combined 24.

They did not win any by 37.

Indy biggest MOV:
* ATL by 42
* Spurs by 41
* ATL again by 34
* Charlotte by 31

None of those teams were above .500

Hubert, how many games do you want to see from our bench?

How ever many it takes for Thibs to stop wearing down the starters.

Part of the disconnect that Hubert and I are suffering (did you know we were suffering that, Hubert?) is that I think he has a very rigid view of the team, whereas mine is very fluid.

So, for example, last night we pranced down from the mezzanine to front row seats. If Denver slaps us silly on Wednesday, we will slink back upstairs. If not, we’ll continue to spill beer onto the court until and unless those seats are taken from us (by, say, a barnstorming bunch of Texans on Monday).

I don’t feel that’s an inaccurate way to view the team, just different.

Better Call Saul book excerpt: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/bob-odenkirk-heart-attack-better-call-saul-book-excerpt-1235244428/

My guess is that the Celts will employ the following strategies against us:

On defense, they will make it hard on Brunson and KAT with continual doubles, weak-side blitzes, etc. to generate some turnovers and misses. They will play Mikal straight up and switch when necessary, but will not double. They will try to funnel the ball to OG and Hart by daring OG to drive and daring Hart to shoot 3’s over soft close-outs.

On offense, they will get one of their non-centers isolated on Brunson via PnR or in space, then attack him, forcing hedging/help and getting an imbalance, then pass the ball out to open shooters, either directly or via quick perimeter passing. They will also hit cutters when we close out too hard due to court imbalance.

Then it will all come down to whether they are making or missing. In the playoffs, I expect them to make more than they miss.

I need to see a lot more than what I’ve seen to feel like we can beat them 4 times before they beat us 4 times. In about two weeks we will know a lot more about how we match up, especially since the trade deadline will be behind us. We not only have Boston at home, but 3 teams that have beaten us…HOU, IND, and ATL…plus DEN looking for redemption, and LeBron, who loves making noise at MSG. The days off between games is a plus for us, especially if Thibs needs to re-integrate Mitch…although I don’t se him getting much pt until after the all-star break.

My biggest quibble with the mezzanine metaphor is that when I used to go to the garden, the mezzanine seats were the furthest up/cheapest.

We’re more like in the 100’s. Great seats, close, but not court side and not luxury boxes.

I’m with Raven on this one. The identity of the team is dynamic and that’s what made last night and the previous game so good. The transitition was both statistical and eye testical. Small sample sizes be damned. There were suspicions we could be that good based on some evidence and some narrative but watching the transition happen is glorious. Hopefully it keeps up.

There were 4 teams last year with an SRS over 5:
* Boston, won 2 of 5 by a combined 12.
* Lost twice to Denver.
* Lost twice to Minnesota
* Won twice against OKC by a combined 24.

They did not win any by 37.

Indy biggest MOV:
* ATL by 42
* Spurs by 41
* ATL again by 34
* Charlotte by 31

None of those teams were above .500

They blew us out 5 times last year, including 3 times in the playoffs, once in a game 7.

They were 2-0 against the WC Champion Mavericks, beating them by an average score of 20 pts.

They beat the Thunder twice by double digits.

They beat Milwaukee by double digits back-to-back.

But yeah, they never won by exactly 37 points against a team named after a bear that played in the state of Tennessee, so I guess you proved something.

My biggest quibble with the mezzanine metaphor is that when I used to go to the garden, the mezzanine seats were the furthest up/cheapest.

Yeah, I always used the metaphor to mean a team that was always in the 35-49 wins bucket and doesn’t have a rookie-scale player with high end potential. A team that wins 50+ every year isn’t a mezzanine team, it’s a team that should be competing to play in the Conference Finals and Finals every year.

They blew us out 5 times last year, including 3 times in the playoffs, once in a game 7.

You’re better than this, Hubie

The 54 win Melo team went 5-1 against the Heat and Spurs.

Nostalgic Libation: Classic Egg cream: Milk, Foxes You-bet chocolate syrup and Seltzer from a nozzle lidded bottle.
Worth considering that last two offensive explosions came with sub-optimal outside shooting from KAT due to lingering impact of injured thumb. If and when it heals, there is another level to be achieved.

I’m low-key impressed that Yoohoo has both high fructose corn syrup and regular corn syrup. That’s commitment.

Of the top-4 teams by SRS last season, there were a combined 5 losses by 30+ points:

* Boston: Milwaukee
* OKC: Boston, Dallas, Denver
* Min: none
* Denver: Knicks

This season, no team with an SRS over 4 had lost by 30 till last night.

Sure, it happens, but it happens very rarely and exclusively by good teams.

I think he has a very rigid view of the team, whereas mine is very fluid.

That is incorrect. I have arguably the least rigid view of this team on the board and have switched between optimism and pessimism more times than most. In fact, I literally switched from pessimism to optimism four days ago.

The real disconnect between us, Raven, is that you seem to think one regular season game is a signal and I don’t.

Of the 5 blowouts last year, 4 of them were largely due to 3P% discrepancy:

* Two teams shot under 20% from 3
* One team shot under 21% from 3
* One team shot under 26% from 3

I confess to having a “rigid view” of the team — they’re very good.

Last night didn’t deviate from my personal expectations and so it stands to reason that there would be no personal change in priors. I’m not surprised at all that the Knicks blew out the Grizz at home. Fun game.

In terms of what it “all means,” they’re capable of beating both the Cavs and Celtics in the playoffs and have somewhere between a punchers’ chance and a favorite’s chance. They have a tentpole superstar and another player who’s either a superstar or very close. I would not want to have to play them.

They project not to be favored against either team, but could beat either. At this late date, the trade deadline and potential injuries are much more important and meaningful data points than regular season games.

The real disconnect between us, Raven, is that you seem to think one regular season game is a signal and I don’t.

How is one regular season game not a signal? If the plural of something is a signal, and it must be, the singular must also be, albeit a smaller one.

Before last night, MEM was ahead of us by 2.76 SRS. Their SRS was over 50% higher than ours. Today, MEM is ahead of us by 1.07, less than 20% higher than ours. With another win like this we’d overtake them. With two more we’d overtake HOU and start knocking on the door of the super-team tier that BOS/CLE inhabit.

This win was a data point like any other. A couple more like this and it does become fair to adjust our outlook, even for doomsayers like me.

Of the 5 blowouts last year, 4 of them were largely due to 3P% discrepancy:

* Two teams shot under 20% from 3
* One team shot under 21% from 3
* One team shot under 26% from 3

What point do you think you’re proving?

Yeah, I always used the metaphor to mean a team that was always in the 35-49 wins bucket and doesn’t have a rookie-scale player with high end potential. A team that wins 50+ every year isn’t a mezzanine team, it’s a team that should be competing to play in the Conference Finals and Finals every year.

That was the original definition of mezzanine. A team that was in the mid 30’s to mid 40’s win total who either barely missed the playoffs or made it in but then lost quickly in the first round and had no upside to get better.

It was a term created to discredit the hybrid method that Leon employed. But when we blew past that level, the definition magically morphed to mean any team that isn’t a shoe in for the finals with a young core all under 25.

How is one regular season game not a signal?

https://www.amazon.com/Signal-Noise-Many-Predictions-Fail-but/dp/0143125087

Celtics are still better than even money (-110) to win the East, Knicks are +550. Denver has caught the Knicks at +1300 to win the whole thing.

That seems about right. I threw $200 on the Knicks at 37-1 right before the playoffs last year. 13-1 isn’t worth the money IMO as we sit here today, but of course there’s an eternity between now and the playoffs.

It’s stressful enough rooting for my favorite teams to win, I can’t imagine also having money on the line to go with it.

That was the original definition of mezzanine. A team that was in the mid 30’s to mid 40’s win total who either barely missed the playoffs or made it in but then lost quickly in the first round and had no upside to get better.

It was a term created to discredit the hybrid method that Leon employed. But when we blew past that level, the definition magically morphed to mean any team that isn’t a shoe in for the finals with a young core all under 25.

Wrong.

I termed the phrase. Its original and only meaning is a team that can’t win it all.

It came about during the incineration when I predicted Leon’s wastefulness with draft picks would lead to a situation where we’re really good but can’t get over the top because we ran out of ammo.

The other term is “purgatory” which doesn’t mean the things Swifty attributed to it. Some of the better examples (I’m sure there are others) would be the 80s Bucks (*) and closer to today, prime Dame’s Blazers and somewhat famously the Spida/Gobert Jazz.

It’s a conversation for another day after the full season plays out — I certainly don’t want to get this shit started again — but the Knicks are still literally in a place wherein if Brunson isn’t really a tentpole, they very well might be purgatorial and the fact that they’ve dumped the five ones makes them even closer to that status, all else equal.

(*) Probably the quintessential example.

It has kind of gone under the radar, but the Knicks seem to be generating more turnovers these days. Their defensive TOV% is now league average, and they endlessly flummoxed the Grizzlies last night with steals and strips.

Interesting point – my guess is that Thibs’s defensive philosophy in general has deemphasized forcing turnovers, but as the season has gone on this year, maybe he has started to evolve also:

per basketball reference:

Knicks steals/game by month (Oct->Jan) -> 5.8-> 7.3 -> 8.6-> 8.8
Knicks forced TO/game by month -> 11 -> 13 -> 14.9 -> 15.8

Notably – their PF’s game have been flat in spite of forcing more turnovers and generating more steals (16.8->18.2->16.7->16.4)

Other interesting stats by month (again Oct->Jan)

Knicks 3PA allowed/game: 41.8-> 38.4, -> 35.2 -> 33.1
Knicks O-rebounds/game: 9 -> 9.7 -> 10.5 ->13

(these are all per-game stats not per 100 stats but the NBA stats site is too annoying to do month by month splits)

There was one play last night where the team swung the ball crisply and after penetrating baseline and at disadvantage Mikal skipped a passed out to Brunson in the corner set for destruction. I remember seeing that and thinking that if I was the other team and all my defensive scrambling and feistiness ended in a wide open Brunson corner three i would just be sad. Really really sad.

Bridges is turning it around and may very well end up having a better season, especially if he plays to this level defensively more often. But Donte couldn’t miss last year and was taking a ton of 3s.

Mikal is a better player but Donte absolutely had a better year last season than Mikal is having this season.

I know that’s what boxscore stats say, but I this is a case where I disagree.

For one, despite the early struggles, I think Bridges is the way better defender. He can guard 3 positions effectlively (DDV can’t) and got off to a slow start because he was asked to be POA defender for us often guarding the best player on the court. He struggled with that early. IMO DDV would be worse doing that job.

Second, boxscore is measuring what happened and not how the player’s role, system, teammates etc…impacted what happened.

With all the injuries, Donte was often in a positon to do more statistically. With Randle out he had more opportunities to score, rebound and make plays. That all adds up in BPM. He scored effectively despite higher volume (which was great), but put Mikal next to Brunson with no Randle, OG etc… and he’d do a lot more too. Put DDV next to Towns, Brunson and Hart like Mikal is now and he’s going to score & rebound less and make fewer plays.

DDV was very good for us, but change roles/players and IMO Mikal would do more statistically than DDV becausd his simply more skilled on offense and a better defender.

A major part of why our offense is lot better is because of Towns (replacing Randle’s scoring more efficiently and better spacing he gives to everyone else), but it’s also because Mikal is an upgrade from DDV.

DDV was flashier and had a fantastic season for us. But I agree that Bridges is the better/more useful/more versatile player. He’s just not quite in the flame thrower category DDV is in.

It was a term created to discredit the hybrid method that Leon employed. But when we blew past that level, the definition magically morphed to mean any team that isn’t a shoe in for the finals with a young core all under 25.

You left this part out

….and all their own 1st round picks plus a bunch of others.

Some people aren’t going to be satisfied unless we are one of the greatest NBA teams of all time, close to odds on to win it all and have a very long widow.

Putting together a team like that takes a lot of competence, a lot of luck, and a few years.

We have an elite offense with some issues on defense and on the bench that need to addressed. But we have the core of a serious contender. We have the hard part.

DDV had a great year and was very valuable, with high percentage 3s at high volume with good defense. But he was too small to guard up, and he missed a crazy amount of shots around the hoop (which is why his TS wasn’t higher). He was excellent in his role, and at a great cost.

Mikal is much better rounded – not as good from 3, but still pretty good, a much more complete defender, and fantastic around the hoop. He may only be 20% better, but that’s how you build a contender – most moves aren’t replacing Payton with Brunson!

But we have the core of a serious contender.

Meaning they are a serious contender as we sit here today? Or only that they have the core of one and serious contention is still just a potential future state?

“Meaning they are a serious contender as we sit here today? Or only that they have the core of one and serious contention is still just a potential future state?”

Obviously the answer to this question depends on how big and how good you think our “core” is.

Most of us agree that Brunson and KAT are capable of being 2 of the top 3 players on a championship team. I think E agrees with that, although feel free to clarify.

The real debate here at KB is whether OG-Mikal-Hart-Deuce are a championship-level 3-6 on a team where Brunson and KAT (as opposed to, say, Jordan and Pippin) are your best 2 players, or do you need a Chris Bosh-type as your #3. Payne, Precious, and Shamet are all pretty fungible, Mitch is hard to factor in until we know more about his health, and the rest of the bench is not ready for prime time yet, if ever.

E, and to a degree hubert, seem to feel that we are needing to trade one of OG, Mikal, or Hart for an upgrade to one of the 3-4 spots before we can claim to have a championship core. I don’t think that’s a bad take at all, but I won’t validate it for myself without more info. For me, it’s less about them and more about KAT and Brunson. We don’t know yet whether the 3-6 guys can mask our big 2’s weaknesses on D come playoff time. And Mitch is sort of a wild card right now.

So as I said, saying anything definitively beyond “we’re very good and our current roster has at least a puncher’s chance with some injury luck” is not really defensible. We need more info. But I think that statement is rock solid at this point. The thing is, it applies to lots of teams, and the data thus far supports Cleveland and Boston being heavy favorites to be in the conference finals. There’s really no getting around that.

I termed the phrase. Its original and only meaning is a team that can’t win it all.

What kind of a definition is that? Can’t win it all? According to who? You? E? Shams? Lowe? You know mezzo/a means middle in Italian, right?

So… by your definition, which teams are not in the mezzanine on the high side? Boston,( OKC and Cleveland who haven’t won barely anything in the past decade)?

The English language is littered with words whose meanings have changed considerably once they were coined. ‘Bad’ being a bad example. Move with the crowd or get out of the way.

I really just came on to point out that Tyler Kolek averaged 27 points and 27 assists per 36 last night.

#Onegameisasample

JUST IN: The Sacramento Kings are expected to open up talks to potentially deal All-Star De'Aaron Fox ahead of Feb. 6 trade deadline, sources tell ESPN. There will be plenty of suitors, but it's believed that Fox has a target destination in mind ahead of 2026 free agency. pic.twitter.com/Oh3fXgZjm3— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 28, 2025

Hang the banner: we appear to have broken the Sacramento Kings

Have we talked about the current Knicks team most of the day?

https://images.app.goo.gl/3NE9uyZgcVsxPJ1D9

Going to have a Yoohoo to celebrate.

Fox is going to San Antonio, right?

I continue to find it weird there is so much discussion about our overall placement because it remains fairly straightforward to me. There have been more positive indicators than negative ones since I wrote all that but the broad strokes remain the same.

We’ve got a shot. At a certain point we should just all just agree on that instead of arguing about whether it’s 3% or 10% or 15%. There’s a lot of really good basketball to discuss.

Anywho, Scotto says we’ve got some interest in Chris Boucher. I used to find him very intriguing because he theoretically has a lot of skills, but clearly it’s not all coming together at this point. Still, would like to have him at the right price, though his $10.8M salary isn’t easy to work with.

You could theoretically stack Precious, Sims, and any two of Dadiet/Kolek/Payne, but I mean, 4-for-1s are hard to pull off, and I don’t think that would be wise on our part for a variety of reasons anyway.

Mitch for Boucher straight up works in the Fanspo trade machine. And gives us some more breathing room under the second apron. Which means TJ Warren, come on down!

Before last night, MEM was ahead of us by 2.76 SRS. Their SRS was over 50% higher than ours. Today, MEM is ahead of us by 1.07, less than 20% higher than ours. With another win like this we’d overtake them. With two more we’d overtake HOU and start knocking on the door of the super-team tier that BOS/CLE inhabit.

This is the point I was trying to make way back 6 days ago when you guys were writing the epitaph of the 2024-25 Knicks

Going into the season, 2 out of the 3 best assets the Kings had were their PG and coach. Jettisoned the latter with nothing coming back to placate the former. Better get a kings ( no pun intended) ransom for the former. Hali must be laughing.

We’ve got a shot. At a certain point we should just all just agree on that instead of arguing about whether it’s 3% or 10% or 15%. There’s a lot of really good basketball to discuss.

But we don’t all agree on that. I think it’s less than 0.5%, and I wouldn’t call that “a shot.” But I do agree that there is a lot of really good basketball to discuss. And you don’t need to get everyone to agree that we have a shot to discuss good basketball.

Hubert, you don’t think if Mitch comes back and is 95% of old Mitch by the playoffs, we don’t have a shot?

Edit: because I do

thank you so much for sharing that al, i love how easily your words lead you along a story…

i was just thinking about all that television you’ve consumed – you must have a really enormous breadth of vision of what america is…

all different sides of all different kinds of stories…must be interesting for you to see how the industry has changed over the years 🙂

This is the point I was trying to make way back 6 days ago when you guys were writing the epitaph of the 2024-25 Knicks

To be fair, 6 days ago our last game would have been a fairly poor showing where we barely eked out a win at home against the tanking Nets without their best scorer.

Since then, we have destroyed two very good teams by a combined sixty points, which was hardly the chalk. It speaks to some nonzero possibility of a corner having been turned.

But we don’t all agree on that. I think it’s less than 0.5%, and I wouldn’t call that “a shot.” But I do agree that there is a lot of really good basketball to discuss. And you don’t need to get everyone to agree that we have a shot to discuss good basketball.

Damn Hubert, even I think that’s a bit low. We have at least 2% or so.

Hubert, you don’t think if Mitch comes back and is 95% of old Mitch by the playoffs, we don’t have a shot?

That is currently a mythical team that has never existed. I will discuss its chances if I ever see it.

You could theoretically stack Precious, Sims, and any two of Dadiet/Kolek/Payne, but I mean, 4-for-1s are hard to pull off, and I don’t think that would be wise on our part for a variety of reasons anyway.

Players on minimum deals can’t be aggregated for salary matching purposes if we’re sending out 3+ players and taking back fewer players than we send out.

According to the league source, Paul is expected to field all calls from interested teams and remain open about where Fox might land. Despite Paul’s longtime relationship with Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, league sources say that’s not the destination of choice. The Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers are all teams that were known to have some interest in the possible pursuit of Fox in the past.

From Sam Amick. The Rockets can definitely offer the best package, especially if they think Fox is enough of an upgrade over Jalen Green to make him the centerpiece. The Heat somehow trading Jimmy for Fox would drive me nuts.

“Fox is going to San Antonio, right?”

Funny, I didn’t even think of that. Just straight defaulted to the Lakers.

It’s a decent prediction though, Alan. And I see from this latest post that the Lakers aren’t it.

Hubert, you don’t think if Mitch comes back and is 95% of old Mitch by the playoffs, we don’t have a shot?

To be fair there is about a 95% chance of Mitch not coming back and being 95% of his old self. I think he’s better than even money not to play at all this season. Weren’t we supposed to see him in January? I’m expecting Trump’s healthcare plan to come out first at this point.

Re: Boucher, this is the first semi-realistic Mitch trade target that I’ve found intriguing. He seems to be having a fantastic year: Per36 22 ppg, 9rpg, 2.4 stocks, 63% TS and over 3 BPM.

Nicknames are off the charts: Swatterboy, TreyBoucher, and Block Quebecois!

I say semi-realistic because we almost certainly can’t afford him. Maybe Mitch + Dadiet + 2RPs gets it done?

But yeah seems like he’d be a very good get, though he’s not close to Mitch defensively.

Fox is a good player but he still can’t really shoot

I had to look up who Chris Boucher is. Has he been hurt the last few years? His performance this season really sticks out

Damn Hubert, even I think that’s a bit low. We have at least 2% or so.

As I said a week ago, I’d like our chances if you helicoptered us directly into the conference finals. But I don’t think we’re built for a marathon. If this team made it to the conference finals it would likely be depleted by injury and running on fumes.

The ebb and flow of this season has become quite predictable. Hence I literally predicted yesterday that we’d see an excellent performance against the Grizzlies bc I know this team’s relationship with performance vis-a-vis rest and fatigue.

But just wait. By the time we get to the end of March we’ll look ragged and exhausted again, and you’ll be thinking my 0.5% looks high. My theories on this team and its relationship with fatigue have been pretty good predictors so far.

Any team that gets to NBA finals has somewhere betwen a “reasonably good chance to an unanimous favorite” to win a championship”

1) Ask all Cleveland fans and Donovan Mitchell, how confident they are going up against Mitch and a Brunson led playoff team? – They both still have nightmares.

2) Leon built a perfect team to specifically beat Boston and the earlier we play them in the playoffs the less pressure and better for us.

Any team that gets to NBA finals has somewhere betwen a “reasonably good chance to an unanimous favorite” to win a championship”

1) Ask Cleveland fans and Donovan Mitchell, how confident they are going up against Mitch and a Brunson led playoff teams? – They both still have nightmares.

2) Leon built an imperfect team to specifically beat Boston and the earlier we play them in the playoffs the less pressure and better for us.

To be fair there is about a 95% chance of Mitch not coming back and being 95% of his old self. I think he’s better than even money not to play at all this season.

Highly speculative. Do you have a source or just straight hypoteticals backed by made up data?

Leon built a perfect team to specifically beat Boston

How’s it goink?

https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401704627/knicks-celtics

My theories on this team and its relationship with fatigue have been pretty good predictors so far.

Except that, as repeated often, almost the entire bench missed big chunks of the season! He now has a bench he has faith in, and it’s not accidental that starters’ minutes are down.

Day’Ron Sharpe with 12 points, 10 rebounds (7 offensive), and 3 steals on 4-of-7 shooting in 23 minutes off Brooklyn’s bench last night.

That’s very speculative, Rama. The starters played 188 minutes 3 games ago against the Nets, and that was on the second night of a B2B.

And if being repeated often made something true RJ Barrett would be a star 😉

Highly speculative. Do you have a source or just straight hypoteticals backed by made up data?

1. We are long past his original return date which has been pushed back repeatedly. That is obviously not a positive indicator.

2. There is still no firm timeline to suggest we’ll even see him in February. We are running out of next months.

3. On prior absences Mitch has been ineffective as he has taken 6-8 weeks to play himself into shape. 2023 Cavs series Mitch isn’t showing up on his first day back.

4. There have been repeated injuries to the same surgically repaired body part, indicating that this is likely to recur.

My guess is that whenever he gets back, he’ll take longer to get into shape than he will to get hurt again. 2023 Cavs series Mitch is a receding horizon that I don’t expect to ever catch again.

If you know of any reasons for optimism on this that I don’t, please do share. Currently I think we have a choice between selling low now and selling never, so we probably need to bite the bullet and sell low.

Have no idea why Hubie has decided to hijack todays thread by telling people he was right about certain things.

How’s it goink?

https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401704627/knicks-celtics

Not all that bad considering we are within 1 game of them. That first game isn’t a very instructive data point considering our top 3 players had never shared the court before…

Clint Capela with 10 points and 15 rebounds (6 offensive) on 5-of-7 shooting in 21 minutes off Atlanta’s bench last night.

How’s it goink?

Hahaha, you thought they gonna just lace them up and beat the champions first day at work?

After all these years, I’m starting to realize that Knickerblogger (to me) was sort of like Knicks grief counseling. But now that the team is legitimately good, this space feels hazily unsettled.

Pags, – you’re slighlty over reacting. We all knew he was projected to start working our late Jan/early Feb. He’s on pace to return in a couple of weeks. Thibs said it the other day too. Chill out brother.

Best thing for Leon to do is what he does best. Go to sleep and wake up sometime in March.

As anyone who watched NBA games should know by now, it’s really, really easy to place a bet on NBA games and related outcomes. The whole shebang can be done in like five minutes.

One of these bets is that the Knicks win the East. If you bet $100 on that proposition, and it happens, you will get paid $650. Nice payout.

It seems to me that if you’re going to continuously come on KB and hector people for not being “optimistic” enough, perhaps the better idea would be to put the $100 down and take the $650 back.

Anyone taking that bet?

If not, at some point the old proven and insightful adage that money talks and other stuff walks starts becoming operational. With today’s rather odd, day-long effort to coax a “confession” out of Hubert and general posing, we may actually have reached that point.

If you aren’t willing to do that, then the only conclusion about what you really think — as opposed to what you say while internet hectoring — is that those odds are just about right.

In which case, you aren’t really any more “optimistic” than the guy on the next barstool down. You’re just cosplaying.

Not all that bad considering we are within 1 game of them.

But I was told today that if you blow a team out it means that you are well beyond them. Was that not true?

You can see Boston’s potential vulnerabilities.

Their best player, Tatum, is great. The other chrome and leather guys are all at least somewhat iffy. Derrick White is probably their second best overall player, and I have never been a huge believer in Jaylen Brown. He’s good, but not really great. Payton Pritchard has been annoyingly good for them, I must admit.

Those are the guys who have played the bulk of minutes and have given them the bulk of production. Beyond that, Porzingis is a huge wild card: terrific when he’s on the court, but, you know, he’s Kristaps Porzingis. Not exactly Mr. Durability. Al Horford is getting up there at age 38 and seems a bit less effective. Jrue Holiday is 34. Still a fine player but no longer peak Jrue Holiday.

They’re still the team to beat, but they don’t look invincible to me. They look somewhat vincible. They’re still really good on both sides of the ball and you’d have to favor them to beat us, but if we’re healthy in the playoffs we might be able to give them a run for their money this year.

“But I was told today that if you blow a team out it means that you are well beyond them. Was that not true?”

Forget it, Hubert. It’s Knickerblogger.

As to Chris Boucher, I wish I could be more confident that his nice trifecta percentage this year won’t recede to his rather meh career level. He’s efficient otherwise, but as with Mitch, I don’t want him getting in the way of the open lane and the modernization. He needs to space the floor and hit trifectas.

That said, assuming his health and attitude are in order, flipping Mitch for him seems like a decent idea. Tentative yes.

Lil’ Penny, my point is that $100 to win $650 odds exactly prove that this team has a chance and therefore we should promote healthy dose of optimism and hope.

However, I’ll gladly make a +25,000 bet since KB odds are .05%

Pags, – you’re slighlty over reacting. We all knew he was projected to start working our late Jan/early Feb. He’s on pace to return in a couple of weeks. Thibs said it the other day too. Chill out brother.

Initially he was projected to be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks, then got a second surgery on the left ankle, then projected to return in December, then January, now February.

We should also keep in mind that 2023 Mitch did not show up for any of last season — he was significantly diminished:

-Terrible .554 TS% vs. his career average of .682
-Career low block rate (though partially offset by steals)
-BPM flat 0 vs. 2.1 career

In truth, we haven’t seen 2023 Cavs Mitch since spring 2023. The longer he stays gone, the less likely he’s ever coming back.

But I was told today that if you blow a team out it means that you are well beyond them. Was that not true?

It certainly was, 46 games ago. BOS doesn’t shoot 29/61 from 3 every game though, and had they shot their average of .364 we’d have won that game by 1.

Not saying they’re not better than us but they aren’t 23 points better, just as we aren’t 37 points better than MEM.

Mitch had surgery for a stress fracture in his ankle, a repetitive stress injury. He rehabbed, came back, and it didn’t take. The stress fracture recurred within weeks. He then had surgery again. This rehab doesn’t appear to be going that well.

This scenario — repetitive stress injury of a lower extremity, surgery that didn’t take, second surgery within weeks — has a very poor baseline outcome for 7 foot tall males employed in the professional basketball industry. He may beat the odds. But the odds are not high.

ess-dog, I know what you mean, endless re-litigation and pointless arguments about the edges make less sense when you’re not terrible and there might actually be positive things to talk about.

However, I don’t remember if you are on the game threads or not. Guess what, when the team is good, the game threads are great! (If exhausting.). Place to be.

After all these years, I’m starting to realize that Knickerblogger (to me) was sort of like Knicks grief counseling. But now that the team is legitimately good, this space feels hazily unsettled.

that’s a good one, what do born bitchers bitch about when there’s less to bitch about…

ha, we are finding out, aren’t we…

Just an interesting point about where we are/what we should be considered: today’s NBA.com has us in the ‘Tier 1: Top Contenders.’

Also, should we be pleased or terrified that Denver has now lost two straight?

https://x.com/duglust/status/1884254587353457072

that was great pepper…

@ Alan,

Would love to make the event but I’ll hold off buying a ticket till I get a better idea of my schedule. Really loved that excerpt but had to stop reading halfway through because I still (for reasons inexplicable) have not watched the final season.

we should promote healthy dose of optimism and hope.

As I said a long time ago (this morning): optimism doesn’t demand denial.

It’s a well-known fact that every team that has ever won a chip has had either a good defense or someone who might be considered the best player in the world. We currently have neither, hence no shot at the chip.

But that still leaves plenty of room for optimism.

Did the Mavericks have a good defense or the best player in the world?

I don’t really care if we have a 1,2,5, or 10% chance of winning. It doesn’t really matter to me.

We were really bad for a long time and we aren’t anymore, and it’s pretty fun.

I have not seen any legitimate medical opinion as to Big Mitch’s prognosis. My totally speculative and somewhat cynical guess is that he will feel much better after the trade deadline.

If you want to feel better about the team, just watch the Lakers/76ers. The Lakers are considered good somehow. Until a few days ago most sites put them around the same level as us, a few slots lower. They are not a few slots lower.

I am rooting for the Lakers but I will be happy if either of these teams lose

I can’t believe Bronny is getting minutes. His statline is impressively bad

I am rooting for the Lakers but I will be happy if either of these teams lose

Lol

The Lakers are considered good somehow.

They absolutely aren’t. They have a negative SRS and it’s closer to the 28th ranked Brooklyn Nets than it is to ours.

Maxey sure is a player, though

They absolutely aren’t. They have a negative SRS and it’s closer to the 28th ranked Brooklyn Nets than it is to ours.

I didn’t say they were good, but they are considered good. Generally around #11 in most rankings. Right on the mezzanine.

https://x.com/IQfor3/status/1884267503431606567?t=157VcUzbGBFQn_-iQFJ4Rw&s=19

If you want a sense of just how good Mikal and OG were together last night

It’s really interesting around here. It’s like we have the Stygian witches telling us the only way to beat the Kraken is to kill Medusa which is like definitely a 99th percentile outcome. That’s why you go on the journey though. What if.

Just watched that Rama. Berry berry good.

Did the Mavericks have a good defense

Yes

Owen with the “best player in the world” jab.
Rama with the “Knicks don’t have a good defense” hook.
Clarence with the “Stygian witches” uppercut.

Great one-two-three.

Maxey makes me sad. He tries so hard, and seems like a really good guy. And a stud of a basketball player. He doesn’t deserve this.

I liked the original Clash of the Titans much more than the newer version.

That’s why you go on the journey though.

Or you just do it bc you like journeys.

When you travel do you have to fool yourself into believing you’ll never go home to enjoy the trip?

Basketball seasons that don’t end in championships can be really fun.

The Maverixks and the first Heat championship team were both no better than us. I don’t think the Raptors were better than us. That’s three teams in 20 years.

It absolutely could happen but it’s a firing outcome as we all agree. Going to enjoy it all no matter what.

I need PT to tell me what the Lakers SRS would be if Brinny had never seen the floor – their entire bench has been dogshit.

Edit- maybe the raptors were a bit better than us. But it’s close

The original Clash for me too. I dunno, the simile is stretching now and I’m not sure that it works anymore. But the nba paradigm kinda requires an end to the journey for every team. Failure or killing the kraken. We like basketball and shadenfraude and all that jazz so we endure.

Abs dont heal fast. Thats an issue for the lakers.

The Mavs had the 7th best D in the league behind peak Tyson Chandler.

Healthy Kawhi Leonard is one of the best players of all time and that team had a top 5 defense.

So that’s zero.

I could give you the 2006 Heat but that was arguably the worst year in league history, and this ain’t that.

Optimistic Hubert sounds a lot like regular Hubert

Dallas was 8th on defense. Knicks currently are 2.4pts out of 8th. If we play half as well on defense as we did last night, we’ll make it there by the end of the season.

Didn’t the Mavs have the 8th best and the 8th best offense?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DAL/2011.html

I remember when the KB hivemind used to do daily reports on Ty Lawson and the DeJuan Blair to show how dumb the knicks were for passing them over in the draft. Now we get the same, but for back up centers that nobody wanted and aren’t attainable.

Also, I remember when I was the most mentally ill person on this blog. Now I’m as mainstream as they come.

I’m cured!!!

Did AD get hurt again?

I think the Lakers had been winning a bunch recently but they have a negative point differential, so they were probably considered better than they actually are by casual fans, plus they have Lebron and AD. B-ref has their expect record at 21-23 and they have 26 wins

That Bronny can shoot. He can’t make them, but he can shoot.

His dad looks wise and geriatric. Finally.

This shows tied for 7th:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2011.html

Either way it wasn’t 15th.

I haven’t done the deepest dive but I’m pretty sure no team has ever won the title with a defense this bad unless they had someone who might be the best player in the world.

So when you say this team can win the title, you’re saying something that’s never been done in the 78 year history of the league is totally doable now, with a team thatand by a Thibs team, no less.

I don’t know, man. I’d rather just be happy with how the team is playing than celebrate victories by trying to force people to swallow that shit. You guys do your thing, though.

Ty Lawson was a good player who had off court issues. I think he was an alcoholic right?

Blair was a classic DLee type. Couldn’t play defense at all but did some accumulating. I think he was a decent miss.

Yeah Lawson had a drinking problem, Blair had (I think) no acl in either knee

I mean, I am not trying to make anyone swallow anything.

I think what I thought at the beginning of the season. We are a longshot.

The Mavs were 8th in defensive rating on that list

If you aren’t willing to do that, then the only conclusion about what you really think — as opposed to what you say while internet hectoring — is that those odds are just about right.

This seems backwards. I see a lot of people saying those odds are just about right (meaning you shouldn’t bet on them if you understand the basics of gambling EV)–the Knicks are a long shot to come out of the East but have a chance that doesn’t require outlandish scenarios–and Hubert saying it should be more like +65000 (“less than 0.5%”).

“You guys do your thing, though.”

But Hubert, you’re fighting this ‘thing’ tooth and nail, like having someone think the Knicks could win the championship would literally not just kill you but also end your bloodline. It’s sort of amazing to watch.

Among other things, the Memphis win was exciting because they shutdown the 5th best offense in the league. If the Knicks play half that well, we could easily make the top-10.

It’s year one. We don’t know what this team could be yet.

No update on AD

The Rockets are really on a tear right now

I just think what I think, Raven, and am defending my position against a slew of counterarguments. I’m not out here saying things like “everybody acknowledge this is a great team”. You’re welcome to think whatever you like.

I am low key falling in love with Amen

Dillon Brooks is one annoying fuck and his stats are unimpressive, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting the Rockets to be playing him 32+mpg…

I haven’t done the deepest dive but I’m pretty sure no team has ever won the title with a defense this bad unless they had someone who might be the best player in the world.

the playoffs start in April

If the defense doesn’t play radically better than it has, then no, we probably don’t have a chance at a title.

It’s at least possible that the defense starts playing radically better than it has. Maybe you buy into the anti-ISM argument, and believe that opponents have been very lucky on tightly guarded 3PA. Maybe you buy into the idea that the team is gelling better on defense and is benefitting from time playing together, and think that there is further gelling to be had. Maybe you believe that Mitch will come back before the season ends and makes an impact. I don’t really buy into any of those ideas to be honest, but I see how somebody could.

We’re the #14 defense in the league right now and have faced the easiest schedule in the NBA, so we’d have to improve an awful lot to be something like the true #8 defense in the league or whatever the threshold is for true contention.

It’s at least possible that the defense starts playing radically better than it has. Maybe you buy into the anti-ISM argument, and believe that opponents have been very lucky on tightly guarded 3PA. Maybe you buy into the idea that the team is gelling better on defense and is benefitting from time playing together, and think that there is further gelling to be had. Maybe you believe that Mitch will come back before the season ends and makes an impact. I don’t really buy into any of those ideas to be honest, but I see how somebody could.

I believe all those things! At least to a degree. Call me Pollyanna, but yes, I do expect them to continue to gel throughout the season. For one, it’s been a hallmark of Thibs’ teams, which always play considerably better in April than October. For two, we had two new starters! With a third who hadn’t been here long! It’s reasonable to believe they need time to learn each other’s tendencies – look at that OG article a few days ago; do you really think these guys aren’t deeply attentive to everything that’s happening? They need to learn to play together and communicate. It seems to be happening.

And yeah, just as much as ISM wasn’t real, neither is anti-ISM. Those numbers will regress.

As for Mitch, that’s mostly Hopium, since two ankle surgeries and 9 months to heal isn’t a great sign. But it’s at least minimally possible that the team is being extra cautious after the setback in last year’s playoffs, and his management is being careful about his future and also making it harder for him to be traded. 100%? No, but more than 10%. And if he does return, he brings exactly what we’re missing. Lots of flexibility on lineups big/small, strong defense, offensive rebounding, someone to spell KAT who isn’t a G-league player in disguise.

If it weren’t for 40 years telling us otherwise, that would all be pretty credible!

Initially he was projected to be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks, then got a second surgery on the left ankle, then projected to return in December, then January, now February.

He was never projected to return in December. He was projected to be re-evaluated, which is very different.

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