Knicks Morning News (2025.11.27)

4. Brown is still experimenting with lineups overall this early in the season, and, again, this game seemed like a good opportunity to try something different.

I’ll go with this, but also point out Mitch as a starter was an experiment, too. We shouldn’t be coming from a place of “Mitch is the starter, it’s an experiment if he comes off the bench.” It’s all been an experiment.

Thanksgiving at Knickerblogger Manor — Part 2: Dessert Chaos

Dinner had finally settled into a fragile ceasefire after the Thibs blow-up. The room smelled of turkey, stray mac and cheese, and lightly singed pride.

Geo was collecting plates when the door opened again.

🍰 ACT I: Donnie Walsh Wanders In

Donnie Walsh entered wearing a Dodgers hat that felt intentionally provocative.
He carried a dessert in a half-melted plastic container, the kind only people who’ve truly stopped caring use.

“Well look who it is,” BBA murmured.

Donnie shrugged in that trademark world-weary, above-it-all-but-not-really way.

He insisted — loudly and immediately — that he didn’t watch the game last night. Then, in the same breath, proceeded to recount the final three minutes with forensic detail, including substitution timing and body language.

Raven just stared at him.

Geo whispered, “He cares so much it hurts.”

Donnie waved a hand dismissively, claimed he was just popping by because he “happened to be in the neighborhood,” despite living approximately 2,798 miles away.

He plopped down in a chair and looked smugly pleased with himself, like a man who had made peace with cheering for the Pacers but wanted everyone to acknowledge the character arc.

🍮 ACT II: ptmilo Floats In (Technically Walking, Spiritually Hovering)

The next arrival was ptmilo, who appeared without a sound, as if materializing from a chalkboard timeline.

He brought no dessert.
He needed no dessert. They were honored by his lateness.

He surveyed the room, listened to Donnie’s story, and — in his signature calm, surgical monotone — delivered a beautifully devastating analysis explaining why everything Donnie felt was mathematically irrational, emotionally predictable, and probabilistically doomed.

He referenced things no one else had thought to factor in — historical baselines, conditional risk curves, intangible vibes — and somehow used them to roast Donnie’s entire mindset without raising his voice even once.

Donnie looked simultaneously offended and honored.

Raven whispered, “This is why we wait all month for him to post.”

And ptmilo, having dropped the intellectual equivalent of a ten-course tasting menu, found himself a fork and sat down like nothing had happened.

🍧 ACT III: Clarence Arrives Like a Fabulous Storm Front

The door didn’t open so much as burst.

Clarence swept in wearing a stylish blazer that caught the light in ways normal clothing does not.
In his hands was a babka, presented as though he had personally saved the world and this was the reward.

“Oh THIS is dessert,” geo whispered, awestruck.

Clarence bounced from person to person with affectionate chaos, updating everyone on his latest culinary adventures, his husband’s antics, a bartender’s questionable life choices, and a dance event he was somehow both emceeing and cooking for.

Eventually he landed beside Doogie and, smiling sweetly, delivered a cheerful little jab so sharp it could cut diamonds.

Doogie stiffened.
Geo laughed.
Clarence winked.

Within minutes, Clarence had turned the entire Knicks discussion into a spirited debate about which dessert would survive a seventh-game pressure situation.
He didn’t talk basketball — he simply forced basketball to come to him through metaphor.

ACT IV: The Quiet Entrance of Rama — and the Vibes Shift

The final knock was polite.

Rama walked in with a tray of custards, each one decorated with care.
He had the kind of presence that made everyone sit up a bit straighter and feel inexplicably nicer.

He thanked the group with genuine warmth, noting how lucky he felt to belong to a community that simultaneously overanalyzed basketball and argued about the proper hydration level of pizza dough.

Rama and Raven drifted into a corner, reminiscing about Mongolia with the kind of shared experience that instantly makes everyone else jealous.

E whispered to Hubert, “Why does he seem like he has lore?”

Hubert nodded solemnly. “He does.”

Rama looked around with affection, as if absorbing the entire room and its chaos, and said he was happy to be part of it — even the strange parts.

Clarence immediately claimed him as family.

🍩 ACT V: Dessert Diplomacy

Someone cut the babka.
Someone else poured tea.
For about five minutes, everyone was happy.

Donnie stopped pretending not to care.
Doogie and Clarence shared a joke.
ptmilo allowed a hint of a smile — or possibly it was just the lighting.

Rama’s custards disappeared instantly.
Donnie asked for seconds of something he claimed he didn’t like.
Clarence stole his own dessert back so he could bring some babka back for his husband.

And as Geo looked around at this dysfunctional, brilliant, impossible group, he said softly:

“It’s nice when it’s like this.”

No one argued.

For a brief, miraculous moment, the Knickerblogger family was united.

Then Z-Man called Hubert an asshole and it all fell apart again.