[NYTimes] Kyrie Irving Doesn’t Know if the Earth Is Round or Flat. He Does Want to Discuss It. (Saturday, June 09, 2018 1:26:37 AM)
In his most extensive comments to date, the Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving questioned again whether the Earth is round: “You know that for sure? Like, I don’t know.”
[NYTimes] N.B.A. Finals: How the Warriors Swept the Cavs for a Third Title in Four Years (Saturday, June 09, 2018 6:39:15 AM)
Kevin Durant was named the finals’ M.V.P. again, after the Warriors won their second straight championship over LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
[NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: With Promises Kept, LeBron James Has Choices to Make (Saturday, June 09, 2018 12:18:36 AM)
If James wants to beat the Warriors, he may need to take a page out of Kevin Durant’s playbook and find a team that makes the game seem unfair.
[NYTimes] The ‘Game of Zones’ Guys Knew You Wanted a Bryan Colangelo Episode (Saturday, June 09, 2018 12:53:08 AM)
The animated show combining elements of “Game of Thrones” with story lines borrowed from N.B.A. Twitter is very funny, even if its creators can’t tell you why.
[NYTimes] The Left Side of Steve Kerr’s Brain (Friday, June 08, 2018 5:22:18 PM)
Sammy Gelfand is the numbers guy behind the Golden State Warriors’ success. Some pretty good players help, too.
[NYTimes] Sports of The Times: LeBron James Delivered. Now Does He Exit? (Saturday, June 09, 2018 12:28:31 AM)
Down in the N.B.A. finals, three games to none, LeBron James appears set to leave Cleveland — again. And Northeast Ohio is O.K. with that.
[NYTimes] Kevin Durant Pulls Warriors Closer to Another N.B.A. Title (Saturday, June 09, 2018 12:15:51 AM)
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson struggled, but Durant dominated with 43 points. The Warriors now hold a 3-0 lead over LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
[NYTimes] Why Do the Warriors Dominate the 3rd Quarter? Consider Their Halftime Drill (Saturday, June 09, 2018 12:19:15 AM)
The Warriors outscored opponents by 130 points in the 3rd quarter this postseason. How they spend intermission may explain why.
(Saturday, June 09, 2018 12:55:00 AM)
Two crooks blasted a Hudson Heights bodega worker in the stomach during a bungled holdup before taking off in a white sedan late Friday, police and witnesses said.
The gunmen shot the 38-year-old employee of Frasko Gourmet Deli on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 181st St. around 10:15 p.m., according to…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 10:15:00 PM)
An ex-con who skipped town after a Staten Island gang shooting that left one man dead and another wounded was busted Friday, authorities said.
Wilbur Butler, 39, was nabbed in New Castle, Del., by U.S. Marshals and detectives from the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Butler is…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 10:10:00 PM)
Lil’ Kim has some super-sized debts – and they’ve landed her in bankruptcy court.
The platinum-selling rapper filed for Chapter 13 protection in New Jersey last month after her bank foreclosed on her gated mansion in Alpine and Uncle Sam said she owes $1.47 million in back taxes.
Court documents…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 9:30:00 PM)
A Bronx man has been busted for stabbing a teenager to death during a street fight on Memorial Day weekend, police said
Roshawn Pine, 23, was arrested Friday for the murder of Damion Gilbert on DeKalb Ave. near E. 212th St. in Norwood on May 29, cops said.
The 18-year-old’s final moments were captured…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 9:00:00 PM)
They didn’t waste any time.
It took about a minute for NBA players to send out Tweets campaigning for LeBron James to join their teams following the Warriors’ sweep of the Cavaliers to claim their third championship in four years.
Among them: The Knicks’ Enes Kanter, who has trolled and feuded…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 8:35:00 PM)
Looks like it might be Yoenis Cespedes to the rescue soon. But even the Mets’ oft-injured slugger thinks he might not be able to help his mates in Queens.
And while that might be true, it’s really not what angry and depressed Mets fans want to hear right now after opening the Subway Series with…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 8:30:00 PM)
CLEVELAND — The debate over the Golden State Warriors’ place in NBA history can officially begin. As for the speculation regarding LeBron James’ future, well that really started last summer.
And now it will intensify following an uninspiring performance in what could very well be LeBron’s last…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 8:10:00 PM)
The Yankees may be filled with Baby Bombers, but it was the 34-year-old veteran who came through in the clutch on Friday night.
Brett Gardner’s two-out, two-run home run in the eighth inning off Jacob deGrom capped a 2-for-3 performance and gave the Yankees their sixth win in the last seven games.
…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 7:40:00 PM)
Trends and NoteWorthy: Revisiting the 2018 Fantasy Draft
Note: This article appears courtesy of RotoExperts.com and the FNTSY Sports Network.
While doing research for my 2018 Fantasy Baseball Biggest Busts and Best Values columns that will appear in the next two weeks, I had to look at season stats,…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 7:20:00 PM)
It’s hard to imagine how baseball life could be much more depressing for the Mets right now.
Their abysmal offense hangs over every game, making defeat seem inevitable even on nights like this one, when their first hitter of the game went deep, when their ace was in typical brilliant form.
Somehow,…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 7:05:00 PM)
It appears as if Masahiro Tanaka has been Chien-Ming Wanged. Quick, someone get Hank Steinbrenner on the phone.
It’s been practically 10 years to the day since Wang suffered a season-ending foot injury running the bases in Houston in June 2008, prompting a public tirade from the Baby Boss about…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 6:40:00 PM)
Jacob deGrom and Masahiro Tanaka were embroiled in a pitcher’s duel Friday night at Citi Field and neither went home happy.
The Mets’ bats let down their starting pitcher once again, as deGrom tossed 7.2 innings allowing just one unearned run before Brett Gardner blasted a change-up over the right…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 6:18:00 PM)
There will no exhibition game soccer game Saturday in Jerusalem between Israel and Argentina — which has the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, and one of its top teams.
The red card is on the visiting team. And it’s not the only black mark on Argentina’s relationship with Jews.
The match, Argentina’s…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 6:10:00 PM)
He was a chef, a storyteller and a father. She was a designer, a businesswoman and a mother.
Both were beloved New Yorkers at the pinnacles of their fields. Both traveled in elite circles and had access to the finest mental health care. And both ended their lives by their own hand, evidence they…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 6:05:00 PM)
Canada bad; Russia good. So said Donald Trump on his way to the G7 Summit of major industrial countries in Quebec.
Perhaps because they are both cold and huge and have hockey, the President has confused America’s closest friend in the world, a robust democracy, with a destabilizing, repressive…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 6:00:00 PM)
Three men were convicted Friday of scouring the web to find prostitutes to rape, torture and rob.
Fernando Sandel, 29, Isaias Rivera, 34, and Joey Cruz, 29, found their first victim on Backpage.com. They trapped her in a Midtown hotel room, bound her ankles and wrists with zip ties, pepper sprayed…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 5:50:00 PM)
The injury bug at Citi Field may be contagious.
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka left Friday’s game in the sixth inning after running the bases despite throwing just 75 pitches and allowing one hit — a home run — and striking out eight through his first five innings of work.
Tanaka felt tightness…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 5:20:00 PM)
The Playmaker thinks the president is sidestepping several issues.
Former Cowboys’ wide receiver Michael Irvin appeared stunned when he caught wind of Donald Trump’s latest ploy: to have NFL players who feel the justice system is unfair recommend names of people for POTUS to pardon.
“And that should…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 4:40:00 PM)
ST. LOUIS — A special prosecutor investigating former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens said Friday that she believed a woman’s claim that Greitens took an unauthorized and compromising photo during an extramarital affair but that but there wasn’t enough evidence to merit a criminal charge.
Jackson County…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 4:35:00 PM)
A massive swarm of bees caused quite a buzz in Lower Manhattan Friday, stopping traffic for several minutes as cops coaxed the hive down from a traffic light.
NYPD Officer Darren Mays said he got a call around 2 p.m. about a band of buzzers that had set up shop on a traffic signal at the intersection…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 4:00:00 PM)
A judge ripped into a Brooklyn baby killer Friday before sentencing him to 16 years in prison for shaking the death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Deborah Dowling said David Adams, 28, should never have been allowed to spend time with slain Thiaya Spruill-Smith —…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 4:00:00 PM)
The sounds of music will take center stage at the Tony Awards on Sunday — even more than usual.
Part of that owes to the fact that singer-songwriters Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban co-emcee the 72nd Tonys, which airs Sunday on CBS at 8 p.m.
Another composer-lyricist you may have heard of — Bruce…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 3:25:00 PM)
Noah Syndergaard experienced “swelling” and “discomfort” in his injured finger, Mickey Callaway said, and now the Mets righthander will not start in Sunday’s series finale against Yankees at Citi Field.
Syndergaard played catch earlier this week, after which he dealt with this setback, according…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 3:05:00 PM)
If Mayor de Blasio and the New York City Housing Authority don’t reach a settlement with the federal government in the next seven days, the state will go ahead and name an independent monitor for the beleaguered public housing system, Gov. Cuomo’s office said Friday.
Cuomo signed an executive order…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 3:00:00 PM)
A Department of Motor Vehicles office in Manhattan was “mired in corrupt practices,” with clerks accepting cash and other perks to fix tickets and refer clients to attorneys, state investigators revealed Friday.
Investigators from state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott’s office found “systemic…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 10:42:17 PM)
Phil Jackson was a no-show Monday, when the Hospital for Special Surgery honored Bill Bradley at its annual tribute gala, but the former Knicks president was not far from the Knicks legend’s thoughts. Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Dick Barnett and Walt Frazier, part of the Knicks’ 1970s glory days, were on hand at the Museum…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 11:34:32 AM)
If Wendell Carter Jr. winds up a Knick, it would mean he fell further in the NBA draft than anticipated. And yet the one-and-done former Duke star smiled when asked about the possibility of winding up in blue and orange — after all, when he worked out for the Knicks on Friday, it wasn’t just for…
(Friday, June 08, 2018 10:35:06 AM)
The Celtics are concerned about Kyrie Irving’s long-term future in Boston, in part because of his desire to flee for a division rival, according to one NBA insider. Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports said on his podcast the Celtics are “scared” Irving could leave next summer, and the Knicks are viewed as a potential destination….
(Friday, June 08, 2018 1:45:20 PM)
Wendell Carter Jr. may not last until the Knicks pick at No. 9 in the Draft, but the one-and-done forward from Duke wanted to work out for the franchise anyway.
(Friday, June 08, 2018 7:30:17 PM)
Can you imagine the Knicks with a frontcourt that includes Kristaps Porzingis and Wendell Carter Jr.? The 6-10 freshman from Duke certainly can.
24 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.06.09)”
LBJ was stupid enough to get his hand broken by punching a white board. The GOAT would have come back and scorerd 60 in game 2. So he’s not.
It is funny though after the discussion here re who whould have MJ punched after that game 1.
Kinda feeling that Trae Young may go a lot higher than expected. Why wouldn’t Atlanta try him at #3? Schroeder is clearly not their PG of the future.
Nobody cares that the Warriors swept the Cavs. That was supposed to happen.
Trae Young would be a reach at 3, and I’m probably his biggest fan here. Mo Bamba is a supreme talent and always plays under control, so I think he’s who the Hawks should take. People keep pointing to this Jaren Jackson Jr fellow but he’s not it. High foul rate, average rebounding rate, and he’s a poor decision maker (something like 39 assists to 62 turnovers this season). I’d take Young before I took Jackson Jr, but Young is something like the 6th best prospect in the draft. I have all of Ayton, Bamba, Doncic, Bagley, and Carter Jr ahead of him.
Man, Kyle Korver really spit the bit in the Finals. In 65 minutes, he made a grand total of one shot (11 attempts) I give some credit to the Warriors, who weren’t giving him any air space, but he had a pretty shitty series against Boston also.
I didn’t realize he was 37, might be getting near the end of the road for him. But a great career overall.
Fascinating article about the odds already being set for who would win the next NBA title, with Vegas handicapping which team Lebron will go to as best as they can, so you could possibly make a lot of money if you guess correctly what team Lebron will go to, as that team’s odds will drop dramatically.
compared to the guy with 15 assists and 46 turnovers?
Yes, compared to the guy with 15 assists and 46 turnovers because Bamba doesn’t foul the way Jackson Jr does despite a similar block rate. Jackson Jr’s foul rate, turnovers, and mediocre rebounding numbers (for a center) don’t paint him in the best light at all, but people are overrating him because he’s young, can shoot 3s, and has a long wingspan. He’s a good piece of clay but he’s not a better prospect than Bamba, Carter Jr, Ayton, or Bagley. I’d argue he has a lower ceiling than all of them, too.
Bamba is literally non functional from beyond 8 feet and often moves like he’s underwater. He’s not at all a Gobert clone (lacks the foot speed and game sense in the pnr that Gobert has) despite having similar measurements. He’s pretty much just gonna be a blocks and rebounds center unless he manages to remake his game, as his shooting numbers are quite poor and he has no secondary skills. Now of course he could end up being very good, but I think he’s overhyped as it stands. Bagley is the worst defender in the draft and his game is dated. JJJr. can switch onto any position, shoot 3s at a good clip, and is very athletic. He’s at least as good of a prospect as Bamba and Bagley, and maybe as good as Ayton. Also, I think he’s more of a stretch 4 than a full-time 5. All the bigs besides Carter and Williams are overhyped this draft though, tbh. I think it’s bad to judge prospects on the basis of ceiling and prefer to judge on the basis of most likely outcome, and most of the bigs come off worse in that context.
My big board (not Knicks specific) is looking like this
1. Doncic
2. Carter
3. Trae
4. Ayton
5. JJJr.
6. Robert Williams
7. SGA
8. Troy Brown
9. Zhaire Smith
10. Bamba/Bagley
12. The Bridges M
14. idk Elie Okobo or Dzanan Musa I guess
Left out Porter bc I have no idea about his back. Sexton and Knox are borderline 2nd rounders to my mind. Also we should really, really draft Jarred Vanderbilt or Isaac Bonga in the 2nd.
I watched a decent number of Texas games this year and Bamba, at times, was a lot more mobile than people seem to think he can be, but there were other games where it looked like he was glued to the floor. It was pretty weird. And his arms are so impossibly long it makes everything he does look off.
Bamba’s 3/4 sprint times in his Chicago Bulls workout would have tied for the fastest at the combine amongst all players. His mobility won’t be an issue in the NBA and any team dumb enough to take Jackson Jr over Bamba is going to regret it from year 1 and be inconsolable by year 4.
I think you are very much underestimating Jackson. His rebounding numbers are very good when you take into account he was sandwiched between two very good rebounders in Ward and Bridges. To still average over 10 per 40 gives me no concern about his rebounding. Michigan State out-rebounded opponents by 11 rebounds a game. It’s not like there were unclaimed rebounds that Jackson was losing.
The real reason Jackson is so promising is he is much more of a modern big-man than Bamba, Ayton or Carter. He can guard 5s, protect the paint and still have the quickness to switch onto 3s and 4s without a problem. Offensively he is still a question mark and might not be much more than a stretch big that can rim run, and finish on the break but frankly, that’s enough when you take into account his defense which looks elite and in my opinion the best in the draft.
Other than Doncic he would be my top pick and would be a perfect fit next to KP.
Yeah but he got manhandled by opposing teams’ bigs on box outs, so the rebounding is indeed an issue. I’ve gone from hating him as a prospect because he has no offensive game and was foul/turnover prone, but now I just think he’s the 5th best big behind Ayton, Bamba, Carter Jr, and Bagley. People saying Bagley’s game is outdated are missing the fact that he can step out and shoot the 3 and has a world of potential as a face up big. His pro comp is Chris Bosh and Bosh wasn’t the rebounder that Bagley is. Carter Jr is another guy I like a lot more than JJJ. He’s only 5 months older and worlds more advanced as a skilled offensive player with the same range. I think if Bagley and Carter Jr played on different teams that they would have gone 2nd and 3rd overall, but because they played at Duke their stock dropped a little bit.
Bamba and Jackson Jr is an interesting debate, but Bamba is both a dominant shot blocker and rebounder without the fouls (3.2 per 40 vs 5.5 per 40). Both are going to have to play the 5 in the NBA, and that’s not a position where you can compromise on rebounds (having KP means we have to break our necks to field a good rebounding team 1-4). Bamba isn’t as mobile as Jackson Jr, but his length is going to get him out of a lot of problems and there’s no way possible he’ll be a liability on that end. Offensively, he catches all lobs and plays well from the mid range. I take him over Jackson Jr because I think his ceiling is higher offensively and I think he’s the better rim protector (better rebounder and doesn’t foul as much despite an impressive block rate).
People are looking too deep at Jackson Jr’s potential, I think. Having a center who can switch onto a 3 doesn’t help too much if your 3 can’t check 5s. Give me the rim protecting big who rebounds well, blocks everything, hits his free throws,and can catch lobs. Those guys aren’t going out of style anytime soon.
I actually think JJJ can play the four and the reason I like him so much is I think he’s a perfect fit next to KP. We’re not going to get a chance to draft him but I really don’t like Carter or Bamba’s fit next to KP despite liking them as prospects. His fouls are high but that usually works itself out, I actually think his turnovers are more of a problem and points to his rawness offensively but I still think he has a role even if he just becomes an elite defensive big who can shoot threes.
I like Bagley and he’d probably by my third choice after Doncic and JJJ. Ayton is a better prospect but a worse fit so he’d probably be fifth behind those three and Young.
KAT avg’ed 5.6 fouls per 40 while getting over 4 blocks…. fouls are seriously the least predictive measure of a prospect….
KAT is a terrible example. KAT stopped fouling and turned into a poor defender as an NBA player, but at least he’s an elite offensive player. Jaren Jackson will not have an offensive game to lean on in the NBA.
It’s hard to take much from any given variable. Embiid committed 5.8 fouls per 40 with fewer blocks than JJJ. He still fouls a lot but he’s a great defender. I get being concerned about Jackson’s offensive upside as an elite prospect, but I think he’ll be a formidable defender. Bagley in the other hand doesn’t have much of chance of being even an okay defender given how bad his instincts and timing are. Bosh is really really not his comp as Bosh was a smart, aware defender who could rim protect from day one and also wasn’t nearly an athletic monster like Bagley. I see Bagley as more of an Amar’e / Blake Griffin kind of prospect who will need dominant offense to offset shitty defense.
and what about embiid?
Bagley is a better rebounder than both of those guys, though. He’s closer to what KAT is right now than what Griffin and STAT were considering he’s still a great bet to get 20 and 10 a night as a pro. I like Bagley a lot and I think that good defense can be contagious. I think Memphis would be a really good fit for him, and to a lesser extent Dallas with DSJr would be a really good 1-2 punch.
All I’m saying is Jaren Jackson Jr has a pretty good chance of being Jarred Jeffries 2.0. People acting like he’s a can’t miss top 3 prospect in probably the best draft of the decade are missing the point. Literally everybody else in the top 7 or so has franchise player potential while Jackson Jr’s ceiling is that of an elite role player that playoff teams will force to make beat them. I think he’s a project of a prospect and when you consider the ceilings of Bagley, Bamba, Ayton, and Carter Jr, all of whom should be ready to contribute from Day 1, he’s not worth the risk until all of those guys are off the board.
that i can agree with…. jackson is probably another serge ibaka type of player… but the fact is everyone besides carter has a ceiling much lower than that…. and it’s not just me saying that… the numbers scream that out too…..
jackson’s a full two years younger than all the rest of these guys… he’s on a much different trajectory than most of them because of it…. a center prospect that gets >.600 2p fg …. >10 boards per 40.. >4.0 blocks and >20pts is a pretty rare feat… and the only guy who’s surpassed all those markers is jackson who just happened to be the youngest big in this draft….
that’s not something that you can handwave your way thru… esp when you’re hyping guys who are lesser defensive players and are two years older in comparison…. and it’s not really based on much other than they were dominant scoring inside….
it sounds a lot like the folks who hyped up jahlil okafor… and that ended up with a lot of befuddled guys who are making the same mistake again….
Yeah, as soon as I read the Bagley is a 20/10 guy I instantly remembered that’s how everyone described Okafor, another bad defender / old fashioned offensive game big man.
I might end up terribly wrong and my record of predicting Duke prospects lately is garbage, but I don’t want to go anywhere near Bagley. With the 9th pick maybe simply because him dropping so much would probably mean everyone else interesting is gone, but definitely not in the top 5.
Stop saying Jackson is a full two years younger. He was born in September 1999, Bagley was born in March 1999 and Carter Jr was born in April 1999. Ayton is July 98 and Bamba is May 98.
Also, Jackson Jr was a .596 2PT% guy and Bagley was at .647. He didn’t block the shots, but he also didn’t need a per 40 to average 21 points and 11 rebounds as an 18 year old in college either. He did that per game with an outstanding efficiency. Jahlil Okafor doesn’t get PT because he got hurt in Philly and he can’t rebound along with the fact that he can’t defend. Bagley is a poor defender but he’s an excellent rebounder on both ends and he’s a high motor guy with the skills to face up and take bigs off the dribble. He’s also 2 inches taller than Okafor who was really like 6’8” without shoes.
There are no Jahlil Okafors in this draft.
There weren’t supposed to be any Jahlil Okafors in the 2015 draft either.
Big men go bust in the lottery every year. This year will be no different.
I’m not sure that’s true. Last year we saw Fultz, Fox, Ball, Smith Jr, Ntilikina, and Mitchell all go in the 1st 14 picks and every team seems to be happy enough with their player. Maybe Fultz may end up busting but that’s because Philly has the worst medical staff in the NBA. This year is the same thing; teams who take any big out of Ayton, Bagley, Bamba, Carter Jr, and Jackson Jr should be happy with the player they select.