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85 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.03.01)”
We have a perfect record in the Mitch era. Championship time.
Now E doesn’t know what to do with his saturday! š
Fell asleep at the half, but glad we got the W and that OG got better as the game went on. We need to work KAT and Mitch now that both are available. And don’t worry about JB, we know he shows up when it matters, which is not the first 3 quarters of a regular season game.
Highly unlikely, but it would be nice if we could somehow pass Boston for the #2 spot in the East. It means we would avoid Detroit, who is likely to be the 6 seed, and also weād have home court vs the Celtics in the 2nd round
A man can dream canāt he? (-:
I āhad toā watch Cavs/Celtics bc it was the only game I had access to while the little guy was sleeping and I came away hugely impressed. Between last night and last weekās clubbing of us, I feel compelled to put the Cavs on equal footing with Boston & OKC.
One of the biggest errors I personally made was believing Mitchell and Brunson couldnāt work. Watching Mitchell & Garland last night made me think Mitchell & Brunson would have been unstoppable. Kudos to Noble, who thought that was the move after OG. I didnāt see it, was too hung up on the two small guards bit. But at the end of the day whatever defensive issues Brunson & Mitchell might have had pale in comparison to the ones Brunson & KAT have.
To think Mitchell was angling hard to get here and we wanted Bridges instead. Thatās not one I can personally blame Leon on bc I thought it was correct. But that is quite possibly the sliding doors moment of the Brunson era.
Anyway, Stratās bet on Cleveland looks good. I would join him but at +650 I missed the boat. The Knicks have dropped down to 6th in the odds behind Denver & LA, which feels right. My controversial opinion after the last Memphis game seems to have set a land-speed record for shortest time Iāve gone from contrarian to consensus.
It was just the first game but I did like what I saw in Mitch’s 12 minutes.
This slimmed version looks springy, opponents were wary of his presence (even if his timing was predictably off a little) and he did even show a couple of surprising low-post/bank shots moves.
Definitively some encouraging signs with 20 or so games left to shed the rust and round into form.
Boston played without Porzingis and Jrue last night. Nice win for the Cavs, but not the full Boston team. Does Mitchell touch 41 points come playoff time with Jrue on him?
As for OKC, I would put some money on them not making the Finals out West. Dallas if they get healthy could be a problem, Lakers have a very good defense right now, Warriors new found life ..
Worst plus minus last night
Towns (-10)
Best plus minus last night
Mitch (+11)
*Also looks like Moses Brown might be added today because some rule in the CBA won’t allow the Mavs to keep him on another 10 day
And Miles Mcbride needs to play 30 plus minutes nighty. When he is on the floor the team plays better and he helps in getting three point attempts up which this team struggles to do.
Well, I think it works for Cleveland because they have two very good/great defensive bigs covering up the defensive problems of the backcourt. Cleveland’s 6th best defense is mostly because of their best in the league rim defense; teams are shooting 64% at the rim against Cleveland, no other team is below 66%. Meanwhile, they’re 10th worst in Opp 3FG%.
Don’t think you can ding Cleveland for KP not playing for Boston last night. He never plays. He missed 25 regular season games last year and basically the entire playoffs. And he’s missed nearly half Boston’s games this year.
it’s fair to say both that mitchell / garland can work and also that they are far from a great fit. one of the reasons they work okay is that mitchell isn’t as terrible a defender as people seem to think, he’s just a lot less good than it seemed like he might become. another is that they’re both just really good offensively and at least passably multi-dimensional, especially when garland isn’t playing like he did in 23-24.
but the cavs overall have never really looked much better with both of them on the floor than they have with just mitchell. in three years they are +7.9 / 100 in 3100 minutes with both and + 9 / 100 with just mitchell. this year they are +15.3 in 870 minutes with just mitchell and + 11 in 876 minutes with both. a huge difference this year is that they are doing much, much better in the garland only minutes, partly because of garland’s bounce-back. this is one of the key beneficial offsets to having two lead creators: no dead time. ofc, this is worth somewhat less in the playoffs.
I think that Cleveland eking our a game vs. Boston when both of Jrue and KP are out is actually more indicative of how good Boston is at full strength. But it also suggests that they are more vulnerable to injury than a team like Cleveland, who is young, healthy, hungry, and deep.
I still think this win is more of wake-up call for the Celts than anything else. If any of their starters have to move into the starting lineup other than Horford, their bench becomes a serious problem. Last night, it was Cleveland’s bench that kept them in the game anter their starters were getting blown off the floor. They played over 100 minutes combined. Boston’s bench played 48 minutes.
Beyond that, the proof will be in the pudding. Playoffs are an entirely different ball of wax. KP may have greatly benefitted from being out most of the year, as might Mitch for us. If KP breaks down, or Horford hits an age wall, or Jrue tweaks something, that brings everyone closer to them. But if one of Mobley, Spida, or Garland tweaks something come playoff time, then Cleveland’s depth will be tested and we find out whether Ty Jerome is as good as he has played this year.
the return of jedi last night was like a 9.8 of out 10. his timing sucked and he was winded immediately which is all but guaranteed. but the idea that he might be more springy back in the 260s did look like a thing, especially on the dho keeper where he took off from just inside the dotted line and came down strong with two hands. that was a different look than the last year plus.
even more tantalizing was the lefty layup, where he went up with almost jarring confidence and looked a lot more like summer-practice-video-mitch than actual game mitch. it was legit fluid. the first rule of video club is to never ever believe any non-teenage player’s improvement in either (1) short range fluidity from bad to decent or (2) dymamic handle from medium to good. but the videos in fact have looked awesome and now there’s a gametape so lfg. the right handed pump fake layup also looked pretty nice although it was a blatant uncalled travel.
the only slight demerit is that his short range explosiveness still didn’t look awesome. he was a bit slow on the way up and it was maybe most apparent when he got blocked on his putback by vince williams of all people. but we’ll give him at least until minute 13 to starting yamming on wings again.
Couldn’t participate in the game thread because TNFH-GF is a keeper, but that was the most satisfying win of the season right?
I will never, ever be able to quit Mitch. Almost a calendar year without playing in an NBA game and he goes out and changes everything against a tough matchup. If he’s healthy we’re a different team. The option to toggle back and forth between him and KAT adds an element we simply did not have before.
I guess there are times Brian Cashman’s classic excuse for not doing enough at the deadline (“the best additions for our club may come from guys getting healthyā) can actually be true.
Please, please, please stay healthy, enormous fella.
pt, I agree about what Clyde would certainly have called the fluidity and agility of those two moves. I also thought that his explosiveness was lacking, but wondered more if it was about a conscious effort to stay closer to the ground to avoid coming down on someone’s foot.
In any case, any positive development from Mitch on either end would be most welcomed. Maybe watching iHart turn himself into a $30M player just by being a more versatile version of Mitch added some motivation. Will we see some short roll passing? A floater? A made FT?
He looked fantastic. And as excellent of a rebounder as Mitch was last season, he was terrible as a finisher because he couldn’t jump anymore.
My only concern is that the more brolic Mitch took down Allen and the Cavs, and that’s a Mitch that we may very well need.
That’s a key question.
I’m not sure Boston is getting peak defensive Jrue anymore, but they still missed him.
KP was out sick last night, not hurt.
I’m dying to see that healthy Dallas play.
I don’t understand how the Lakers are playing good defense. Lebron must be juicing and JJ must be a great coach.
Watching that game clarified the difference between having Mitch or Towns in the middle (at least for for me).
I was thinking difference maker, but it was bigger than that.
You could visually see players driving towards the middle and not only was Mitch getting to spots quicker to defend, sometimes his mere presence made them change their mind.
Mitch is no longer hypothetical and I hope he can stay that way. The walking definition of gird your loins, that one.
I canāt wait for him to start and eat some minutes next to KAT. That was an ugly game and KAT had a hard time looking like he knew where to turn last night. Just small and sad. The big guy gobbled him and triple J ate the leftovers.
Hart needs a reset and bench mobbing seems like low hanging fruit.
Itās nice to see our center contesting shots with his hands up and not just his seductive peepers.
It really is a shame that Huk got hurt, because KAT surely needs some rest but now the drop-off in size after KAT and Mitch is extreme.
Moses Brown could be useful…
Is Huk some huge upgrade over him?
Brunson is the very definition of clutch. I’ve been watching the Knicks for over 50 years now, and while he may still be behind Willis, Clyde, Bernard, and Patrick in my pantheon in terms of pure greatness, he’s as clutch as any of them. What is most impressive is how often he knocks down off-the-dribble 3’s in clutch situations.
What a great, great find he has been. To think that we should have several prime years to watch him do his thing is pretty awesome!
“Moses Brown could be usefulā¦
Is Huk some huge upgrade over him?”
I saw a full game of Moses Brown live at the Westchester County Center and came away very unimpressed. To be fair, Huk played in that game and didn’t look all that good either!
But the short stint he just had with Dallas suggests that he might be a decent guy to have on the roster. I would hate to have it come at the expense of Warren, but that might be the deal.
Whoever they go for, they had better move quickly before the best candidates get scooped up by other teams. The Lakers are desperate for size, so if they are in a position to add someone, I would think that they have their eye on guys like Brown.
If Moses Brown plays non-blowout playoff minutes we can pack it in, but he’s fine emergency center material. I also think it would be a bummer to to go with him over Warren though, because I think Warren has a small chance to make some kind of difference. But I recognize there’s a much clearer need for another big at the moment so it’s not an easy call.
Yossi Gozlan has pointed out that we can theoretically sign someone today, and then sign someone else on the literal last day of the season (if we delay the ROS signing, we can move the timing on the latter up by the same number of days).
I guess my preference would be to sign Warren, maybe delaying it by as long as Warren is ok waiting around, and then cutting Wright to sign Brown as soon we can. Obviously this requires a lot of cooperation on the part of the players that we can’t assume.
It’s too bad we have some kind of quid pro quo with the Toppin family because an additional 2-way slot would make all of this a lot easier!
…back in off the ledge ..thx to mitch….things that were impressive last evening:
1. mitch not super rusty…timing off…but good first run..if he stays healthy…we go up a notch…like from BBB+ to AAA-
2. tom “thibs” thibodeau showing restraint with only 12 minutes for MItch….would like to know how white his knuckles were during the game when he thought of calling mitch’s number and pulled back
3. og and bridges seemed to have an extra edge or gear…og did some kind of flex/fist pump after the 3…those dudes need to show some emotion
4. deuce’s confidence is growing….his play might demand more minutes
Moses seems like a good rebounder which should help. He has had a 20/20 game in the NBA. He would look like a star catching passes from LeBron, Luka and even Reaves.
I always thought Kobe was a bit overrated, but like Brunson, he hit a lot of big shots after going through 7-21 shooting performances. Shooting stats don’t always tell the whole story.
I don’t know how many game threads there have been this year where someone rightfully points out what a subpar game Brunson is having, and then time after time, he hits huge shots at the end to carry us to victory.
The guy is just tough as nails and a killer in crunch time. So glad he’s ours!
In the world where we can actually cut Obiās bro, which I do not think is this world, we can sign TJ ASAP, give a 2-way to Brown ASAP, then convert Brown on the last day of the season (or sooner if we delay the TJ signing).
Seems like the best case scenario, because Brown would be with the team throughout the rest of the season before getting a full roster spot right before the playoffs.
Alas, we are in the Jacob Toppin business for life it seems.
Here’s highlights from Moses Brown’s 20-pt game with the Mavs vs. the G-league-level Hornets. Even given the horrific competition, he looked decent out there.
From what I’ve seen seems like the rejuvenated Lakers defense is almost entirely based on opponents poor 3pt shooting.
I didnāt get to see the game yesterday because I was flying (Iām in NYC for a day actually) but based on the comments here and elsewhere it seemed like Mitch was moving pretty well out there. So thatās a great sign.
Iām excited to see the next game. This feels like a pretty big shakeup, acquiring a seemingly healthy Mitch. The team definitely just got a lot more interesting.
TNFH, why can’t we do the same thing you mentioned above with Boo Buie? Do the rules allow for swapping out 2-ways this late in the season?
One thing to keep in mind is the uncertain timetable of Hukporti’s recovery. If it’s more like 4 weeks vs. 6, that makes the big man situation a little less tenuous.
The real question for me is whether TJ can still guard anyone at the NBA level. In the G-League highlights I’ve watched, he doesn’t seem to have any burst left, but then I look at pre-injury highlights and they don’t look all that different! Maybe he’s got a Kyle Anderson Slo-mo thing going on…
I’m impressed. I fully expected last night to be the perfect storm for a chemistry loss. KAT & Hart are hobbled, OG is still fighting to get his rhythm back, and it was Mitch’s first game in almost a year. Plus we were on the road against a tough Memphis squad who owed us for the whuppin we put on them earlier. While I was thinking we probably should lose this game, the team showed grit and toughed out a comeback win on the road on a night where we couldn’t really guard Bane, Ja, and JJJ. Thank God they missed a ton of 3’s lol. But that grit and defensive intensity late was impressive from this bunch. I hope Thibs can keep Achiuwa engaged until Mitch is starting again though. 6 minutes for him didn’t feel right, but it was logical with Mitch coming off the bench
Huk will be evaluated in 4 – 6 weeks and then if things look good go through rehab and then practice up. Heās not a great option for big man succor atp.
“Huk will be evaluated in 4 ā 6 weeks and then if things look good go through rehab”
My understanding of meniscus surgery that involves tissue removal rather than repair is that the rehab process starts almost immediately, so it that is the case (which I believe it is) then the “evaluation” might be to determine whether he is ready to ramp up. Obviously they shouldn’t rush him back, but it’s not unprecedented for guys to be back on the floor in 6 weeks or less, depending on things like the nature of the surgery and the nature of the athlete.
From your finger tips to their ears!?ā¦ thatād be great.
Mitch looked great and I am unreasonably excited about his return. I have loved him since summer league.
But I might give the game ball to Deuce. He was fantastic last night and has been lately too. Heās shown me that there is far more upside than I realized to his game. I thought he would be a defensive stopper who could score a bit but his offensive game has looked downright sophisticated of late. The shooting stroke in particular looks really really good on a variety of shots.
We arenāt a top 3 team but I like our team.
We should cut Matt Ryan for somebody, I don’t think Moses Brown is eligible for a 2-way, however.
Toppin has one of the better g-league number profiles. I’m not saying he’ll ever be anything, but he’s more than a legacy hire.
We already cut him for Matt Ryan
one other thing…OG did a very nice job on JJJ…that dude is tough to guard…seems like he can get to any spot on the floor when he wants to..when OG was on him…even when he made a shot (and it seemed like OG made him miss a few)…he had to earn it…say what you will about OG on the offensive side but the guy can dee up when needed…big time.
He averaged 31.7ppg, on 66% TS, in the playoffs, with Jrue on him. So yeah, probably.
Iād still take the Celtics but itās very close and that series is going to be incredible.
A lot of the “Donovan Mitchell can’t defend” narrative seems to come from him getting cooked in the playoffs by Jalen Brunson before most people knew about Jalen Brunson. “Lol, this dude is getting roasted by a backup!!!”
Spotrac.com lists Boo Buie as one of our two ways and Matt Ryan as dead cap. They must be falling down on the job.
Weird, they’re usually pretty good. Ryan should be dead cap because we cut him after he played a month (or whatever), so that’s right, but I’m pretty sure we re-signed him to a 2-way and cut Buie.
Assuming they get past us! š
I assume Ryan is the guy because I have recently seen him on the bench. Apparently, Buie is still on the Westchester Knicks but not on a 2-way.
https://x.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1895910077925826584
Cleveland has a similar problem vs. the Celts that we have in that whoever is guarding Allen, probably KP or Horford, can drop off into the paint to discourage drivers and the 4 guards/wings can press up on shooters. Cleveland can counter by going small with Wade or Hunter at the 4 with Mobley at the 5, but then you are betting on Mobley’s 3pt shooting being for real and might have trouble on the boards. More generally, other than Mobley and Allen, Cleveland is a relatively small team.
I don’t think we need PJ Tucker
I don’t think this team needs a locker room voice. Even though we are relatively young, it’s still a veteran team with high-character guys and a leader in Brunson. They need an emergency player who can fill a dire need. Now if PJ has anything left, then sure, take a look. But he seems pretty cooked.
I had a strong suspicion at draft time that Johnny Davis was not a good bet as a lottery pick, but didn’t think he’d be this bad. Remember when he was doing commercials prior to the season?
Atlantic article by James Edwards on how Rick Brunson groomed Jalen to be calm and effective in clutch moments
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6133382/2025/02/13/knicks-jalen-brunson-game-winner-hawks/
it worked!
Johnny Davis might be the worst draft pick of all-time. He’s incompetent in the g-league.
I like Begley as much as the next guy, but that’s a horrible suggestion. We want guys who can give us #cromulent emergency minutes in the event of injuries who might be good enough to take Shamet and/or Precious’ minutes in the rotation. There’s a need for legit players, not coaches.
You’re right, didn’t realize he had been around for so long. The Warren and Brown dream is thus probably dead. I’m somewhat partial to Warren but could go either way (and would be fine with Okeke too).
Absolutely fair, but I would sacrifice whatever upside he has to improve our chances this year by any amount at all.
In seeing Toppin in the G-League, his size and athleticism really stood out and he had some interesting skills, including a pretty good stroke from 3, but it seems like when he’s in real NBA games he just can’t get into the flow. Honestly, he seems more flexible than his stiff-hipped brother.
If we think Brown would be remotely useful in the playoffs, we can do what was suggested yesterday and hold off a couple days in signing TJ Warren, which allows us to cut Delon for Brown the last day of the season.
I think this is an option as of today, I’m just inclined to think 1) Brown gets scooped up by someone else and 2) Thibs would never, under any circumstances, including being down to 5 total healthy players, insert someone into a playoff game that hadn’t been practicing with the team during the season.
ABC prime time game tonight – Warriors vs Sixers
I guess Steph will draw a few viewers, but still, what a disaster for ABC and the NBA
Anthony Bennett? Or our own Frank Ntilikina?
Actually they donāt because they have approximately 7 players they can sub for Allan and we have just one player we can sub for Hart and they can also drop off him.
Thing about Johnny Davis is that he was hyped up as a guy who had the size and skill to make an immediate impact. He had that silky smooth lookā¦visions of Allan Houston, Brandon Roy, that genre. Bennett was out of the blue, Frank was all about wingspan and U18 hype.
Not saying he was hyped a sure thing, but virtually no one had him as a total bust.
Iām Still Here is very good. Lovely filmmaking.
Just following up on JD, at draft time I studied his offensive game and is seemed like a mirage. I was really worried that we would draft him if he fell to us.
Not that it mattered all that much!
You still gotta think Sam Bowie, no?
Bowie was a good player whose career was derailed by injuries. It was dumb to draft him over Jordan, but he wasn’t really a bust as a player.
The debut
Pretty much anyone being drafted ahead of MJ is the worst draft pick you could ever make. Or LBJ. The Dream gets a pass cuz he won a chip and heās The Dream. Not saying nothing bad about Bowie.
Marvin Bagley ahead of Luka ranks high in terrible picks
Markelle Fultz # 1 overall. Sixers could’ve picked Tatum if they stayed at 3
That depends on if Luka switches to Odouls.
Grimes is going ham on the warriors rn
Free Maxey.
Anthony Bennett was a terrible first round pick
Man if we still had Grimes we’d be on pace for 60 wins
The Knicks only let Grimes score 3 points, his lowest total since becoming a Sixer
Thatās a bit conservative, I think 65 would be more likely
Another winner against the Grizzlies
* Moses Brown got put on a poster by Giannis in his final game in Dallas
I wish I had Jowles’ search talents and could go find my posts about what a mistake it would be to let Grimes go. He’s still rough and may never be more than a role player, but he’s got a higher ceiling than people realize. Great defense, crazy hops, good outside shot …oh well. Pistons let him go, too, so maybe there’s something else.
Brandon Jennings scored 55, too.
But it is an impressive box score. And weird looking at Tyrese at 2-14 for 5 points…
Having Grimes instead of Shamet would be nice, but it still wouldn’t matter vs Boston
I knew Sammy for over a decade through the harness racing business and he is as kind and unobtrusive a human one can ever meet.
I mean, something else beyond his contract, which was clearly not something Leon felt would be worth it
Having Grimes would mean not trading for Mikal and holding all those picks for another player who might matter
Grimes is not very good. He is on his 4th team and Dallas just traded him and a 2nd for Caleb Martin, a similar player who shoots worse and makes more money. He’s a shooting guard who can’t really create and no left hand, and is undersized ad a wing.
Glad the kid had a good night and liked him when he was here, but don’t really miss him one bit.
Unless Grimes wanted out badly, it was foolish to trade him for what we got. I hated that trade when we made it and I still hate it. Heās a solid 3&D role player and heās young enough to get better. He lost close to a year of development time with that knee issue. Back on track. Maybe heāll get the kind of money he wants and maybe not, but just as a player Iād rather see him in Knicks uniform coming off our bench.
Grimes lost his starting spot here and fell apart. I’m sure he wanted and needed a fresh start. He was also injured, and we needed depth for our playoff push. The results weren’t good, but the trade made sense at the time.
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