If it’s Jan 15th and your response to KAT laying down on the ground is to act like everything was great until mike brown came along get a new schtick.

KAT was great for three months last year before tailing off sharply. He posted one of the worst bpms of his career last year.

I mean, the fact that we know he can be much, much better than this is the very source of the frustration! Why is it not happening…?

The very first comment I made after KAT’s signing in 2024 was that he “is not a needle mover.” Half of my comments last season had to do with how lost he is defensively. Personally, I was never a fan of his game. However, KAT is what KAT is, and he is a player on the roster. The question is how to maximize him.

I am coming now to your question. First, building a roster with the right players, the right fit, etc., is the job of the front office. The Knicks FO with its failures and successes, was doing an overall great job until the summer of 2024. Stealing JB from Dallas was their jewel. Then they started messing it up. That’s my view.

Second, making the best of the players you currently have on the roster is the job of the coaching staff. The current coaching staff is not doing a good job with KAT. It is their responsibility to fix the problem unless there is a trade imminent which does not seem to be the case.

On the side, I will also say beyond KAT that there are other issues with the team’s performance that I would put the blame on the coaching staff for, but this is for another discussion.

KAT is that same player who, with all his known flaws, made an all-star selection and all-NBA selection just last year.

I mean, the fact that we know he can be much, much better than this is the very source of the frustration! Why is it not happening, and why isn’t he taking any accountability for it?

Obviously KAT is not the sole flaw of this team, and for us to have any chance whatsoever at winning a championship he’ll have to be a crucial player. I would argue, though, that he has been by far the biggest disappointment this year (a TPMLE signing going awry doesn’t qualify), and thus the biggest reason why we’ve been closer to good than great.

How do the Knicks medical staff waste time on pseudoscience cupping (see that in pictures of Knicks) and not having a psychologist to help these guys?!

Does the med staff do it? I always assumed players went and got it themselves.

Placebos are a hell of a drug.

Continuity, a new coach/voice and offense, plus a deeper bench was supposed to mean a better team

Thibs was fired for “not maximizing the roster.” Right or wrong, that move was made without having a clearly better alternative. Brown and his staff don’t look to be one so far for sure, although they still have time to show what they can do. Thibs firing was a bad move, as bad as spending five picks on Bridges and then panicking and bringing in KAT a summer before. It was the summer of 2024 when the big problems really started and it was a miracle that we made it to the ECF in 2025.

I would speculate that ceteris paribus Thibs could possibly get us to the finals this season but this is a meaningless point. Besides, I am not sure that this is a championship caliber roster anyway. I hope I’m wrong.

How do the Knicks medical staff waste time on pseudoscience cupping (see that in pictures of Knicks) and not having a psychologist to help these guys?!

Knicks actually have a psychiatrist on their medical staff. Getting KAT to speak with him is likely as easy as getting Mitch to shoot underhanded free throws.
https://www.doximity.com/pub/derek-suite-md#:~:text=Summary,psychology%2C%20neurology%20and%20sports%20psychiatry.