Knicks Morning News (2018.07.08)

2nd-3rd year guys:
Dotson: got lost in the hype over KK and MR debuts but stroke looked great and as usual he had a strong rebounding game. Nice passing, including an amazing transition assist to Knox! Still working on scoring inside the arc, but mostly looked ready to be a consistent rotation player. Grade: B+
Frank: Some bright spots amid the gloomy reality that he is simply not, nor will ever be, an NBA PG. The commentary on yesterday’s thread speaks for itself. Same ol’-same’ol. Grade: D (as in 3-and-D w/o the 3)
Troy Williams: Another very strong performance that got lost in the rookie hype. 17 points in 16 minutes. He did have 3 TOs and 3 fouls, so not all was good. But put him down as a great find by the new braintrust. Grade: B
Kornet: Didn’t make a single mistake on either end. I expect that he will put up the same stat line in most regular season games. Grade: D(NP)
Hicks: Remind me again, why is he on the roster? Grade: G(-League)

Knox: I like what I saw. He didnt shoot too efficiently, but he also should shoot better than 1-7 from 3 and 5/8 from ft line. More importantly he grabbed 8 boards and will hopefully show skills outside scoring.

Trier: Looks like he can’t hit an NBA 3 yet. There were a few bad misses, I know at least one was him, but he looks like a legit player when he smooths that out.

Robinson: Had some great spurts where he was involved in everything. I thought I noticed a few times he was out of breath or lagging behind a bit. Definitely a promising project.

Frank: Nothing new to report. I’ve said since before the draft he doesn’t look like a PG. Let him play3&d wing and bring his driving along slowly. He doesn’t need to be that fast on drives since his height should give plenty of separation.

Ochefu: Showed some stuff, but can’t fit on roster anyway. Maybe training camp invitee.

Everyone else: Nothing new/who cares.

Also, Knox was attacking within the offense. Sure he was trying to force some things, but he wasn’t holding the ball for 6 seconds like melo or kp

My rational defense of Frank:
– He was picked 9th. He doesn’t need to be Steph Curry or bust. He may be a 7th man with defensive specialist skills capable of guarding the Curry’s.
– He’s 19 and growing. He may be a 2 or a 3 with passing skills. He’s pretty big for a 2.
– Hes got real potential as a shooter, and passer. He is already a good defender.
– when I say these things I don’t mean elite. He can be good or ok. He was picked 9th. No one knew Mitchell was that good, and we all know the busts picked before him as well. You draft on potential. He had it. The rationale was good. Things don’t pan out sometimes, or players turn out “league-average” which is still useful.
– in the words of Jim Carey I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend

Must feel good for Kings fans to be able to go through this:

**SUMMER LEAGUE NEWS**
Bagley gets hurt in Summer League

“That’s ok! We still have Giles! Remember him?!”

The first summer league game tells me very little. Here’s what I saw. Knox may turn out to be a really good pick. He’s super athletic and can get to the rim. He’ll be a decent defender, at least. He needs to practice his foul shooting. With the way he attacks the paint, shooting from the stripe will be a huge part of his game. He shot 77% from the line in college. I think he can do better. Yesterday he was bad.
Robinson was an absolute steal. He’s going to make a difference right away on the defensive end. Frank looks bigger and stronger and just as tentative in the paint. Dotson was trying too hard. Trier tried but I can’t give up a roster spot for that.

All that said, we’re 4 months away from real games. If summer league accomplishes anything, it give Fizdale a look at the players in game situations.

I don’t see anyone here suggesting we “give up on” Frank. There’s certainly a debate about whether or not he’s a point guard (I certainly do not see one) but just about everyone acknowledges he can stick in the NBA even if he isn’t. I think him developing a reliable 3PT shot is more important for his NBA prospects than whether or not he’s a point guard.

I guess I didn’t notice Knox doing a lot of rebounding but the box score doesn’t lie. It would be really nice if that turned out to be a plus skill of his.

Knox and Robinson are NBA starters, and Allonzo Trier is who the Knicks want Emmanuel Mudiay to be (they’re the same height and age).

I’m going to say it now: Mitchell Robinson is going to play us out of the top 3 of the lottery, and the only thing stopping him from starting right away will be his immaturity and Kanter’s ability to dominate him in practice.

With our guards, the most important thing is to move Lee and let the youngins play. With the exception of THJ (who is still relatively young btw), we have plenty of developing youth in Burke, Ntilikina, Mudiay, Dotson, Trier, and even Baker. Let those guys just play and only worry about the experience. With that kind of youth, if Fiz & staff can’t hit on at least 3 or 4 and have a solid rotation, then we have a problem. The way I see it, if those guys play, we’re likely to have solid rotational players in Dotson, Burke, Ntilikina, THJ, and at least one of Baker(if he can hit a damn shot) and Trier. Mudiay has the potential still, but…

I’ve been thinking about starting lineups for the season. I’m probably forgetting someone but I’ve got:

C: Kanter
PF: Knox
SF: Troy Williams
SG: Lee/Hardaway
PG: Burke

Bench: Hardaway/Robinson/Frank
Dotson?Mudiay?Trier?

I’m officially worried about our chances in the RJ Barrett race. Trey Burke and Mitchell Robinson are gonna look like CP3 and DJ against the Nets.

The more you watch, the more the evidence shows why the knicks can make a serious playoff run.

If by “the more you watch,” you mean “watched one good summer league game,” then oh sure, the evidence is just mountainous.

Mitchell Robinson’s game is just the kind of game that produces wins from day one. When a guy’s entire game is interior defense, getting rebounds, and dunking the basketball he’s going to be a plus to your team. Kevin Knox is going to be a net negative from day one because his scoring efficiency will struggle since his handle isn’t the tightest, but Mitchell Robinson is going to dunk basketballs and block shots his entire career. If he gets to play a decent amount of minutes with Trey Burke, the Knicks might be two-three wins too good for a top 3 pick. You obviously can’t be too mad when you look at the Knicks’ addition of youth in the past two drafts (Ntilikina, Dotson, Kornet, Knox, Robinson, Trier), but it would be so nice to have a shot at drafting RJ Barrett.

In any case, accidentally winning our way out of a top 3 chance in the NBA lottery isn’t the end of the world with the flattened lotto odds. If that’s because of Robinson & Co. we should be ecstatic. If it’s because of C Lee and Kanter, well, uh, not great, Bob.

@26 yes, inefficient wing shooter without good secondary skills or defense? Thy name is Al Harrington.

@Brian Cronin
Too bad I wasn’t talking about the summer league game alone. My primary concern in summer league is knox, williams and Ntilikina. Williams is my highest interest because he’s had 2 years nba experience and keeps improving.

ok slim, what exactly is it that you are watching that says we are going to make a playoff run? Philly, Bos, Indy, Miami, Milwaukee and Tor top 6. Mia and Wash are next tier. So, that’s 8. If we admit that Atl and Orl both suck, that leaves Cleveland, Chicago, the Nets, Detroit, Charlotte and us. When I look at the rosters for those 5 other teams, maybe one of our guys could crack their starting 5? maybe? and, you’re talking about maybe Kanter is better than the C’s in Charlotte or Brooklyn, maybe Lee or THJ is better than the likes of JR Smith or Reggie Bullock?

I dunno how you fit Robinson onto the roster.

He’s probably better than Kornet already.

ok slim, what exactly is it that you are watching that says we are going to make a playoff run? Philly, Bos, Indy, Miami, Milwaukee and Tor top 6. Mia and Wash are next tier. So, that’s 8. If we admit that Atl and Orl both suck, that leaves Cleveland, Chicago, the Nets, Detroit, Charlotte and us. When I look at the rosters for those 5 other teams, maybe one of our guys could crack their starting 5? maybe? and, you’re talking about maybe Kanter is better than the C’s in Charlotte or Brooklyn, maybe Lee or THJ is better than the likes of JR Smith or Reggie Bullock?

I don’t based my opinion on stats alone, but your obviously overestimating teams in the east. Most basketball squads in the playoffs played better defense. Knicks, Bulls and Pistons are the ones who missed last year that I’d watch closely.

The annoying thing about the optimistic takes on this site is that they always reach a magical state where the Knicks players all improve and apparently they’re the only team in the league that can improve in such a way.

The Knicks young players might improve, yeah, but that’s also true of every other team that has young players. All of our guys could improve and we could still be the worst team in the league if their improvement is less than the relative improvement of everyone else. Our coaching situation might improve but so does every one of the other 8 or so teams that changed coaches recently.

Jabari Young @JabariJYoung
Told #Spurs unlikely to match Kyle Anderson’s 4-year, $37M offer sheet clearing the way for him to join #Grizzlies … tonight is the deadline

Whoa. I have no idea what the Spurs are doing. I really, really wish we didn’t sign Tim Hardaway Jr.

What exactly are the Spurs doing right now.

It’s pretty weird that Anderson started 67 of 74 games last season and then came off the bench in 4 of 5 games in the playoffs at half the minutes he played during the regular season. The writing was on the wall, IMO.

As much as I love his game, I can see how you’d think that his production were replaceable. They may also be trying to reduce the long-term bloat on their roster.

Aldridge, 32, $72.3M owed through 2021
Leonard (~~~, doesn’t matter)
Gasol, 38, $32M owed through 2020
Mills, 29, $38M owed through 2021

I wonder if the Spurs are looking to blow the team up? Maybe they look at their situation in the West and realize there’s just no chance to seriously contend for the next few years? Just guessing.

This.

Guys, Kyle Anderson isn’t anything special..

Anderson is the most likely Spur to significantly outperform his contract value (at least according to Jacob Goldstein’s expected value metrics which are good and based on PIPM projections https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aUImbzflhL3WaLOyXPF06tehhijLQWfiXpuOq-NT9Tg/edit#gid=0) over the length of the contract. He’s relatively young and has the kind of skills that can fit into the next Spurs core if they’re looking to blow the team up, or a nice dollar amount on his contract that makes him a very tradeable asset down the road. If they’re trying to reduce bloat, well, maybe they shouldnt have signed Patty Mills to that mediocre contract, or 38 year old Pau Gasol (who somehow is still productive) to a 3 year deal. There’s very few outcomes where re-signing Anderson wouldn’t benefit the Spurs, imo. I guess if they’re going for a complete tear down maybe don’t re-sign Anderson, but I’m skeptical. The dude is 24.

I think people overstate Frank’s struggles handling the ball. It is awkward looking but he isn’t constantly getting the ball stolen from him. I think Frank’s main issue offensively is his attitude. He is way too passive and cautious. I think lack of confidence and indecision is what makes him look like he isn’t controlling the ball well.

I think Enes and Burke are the only clear-cut starters at this point. IMO Troy has earned the start at SF unless Knox or Hezonja clearly beats him out during camp. That would leave Knox/Hezonja probably battling for the PF spot.

I suppose you could look at Hezonja at SG too, but it seems likely that Hardaway will start there. Neither Frank nor Mudiay deserves to start yet, but who knows what the staff is thinking.

Robinson/Kornet/Hezonja/Dotson/Frank would be a nice backup rotation. The Hezonja move more and more seems like a favor to the guy… guaranteed minutes to show what he can do with a promise that the Knicks get first dibs on the off chance he really earns a future contract.

I don’t see how Dotson is a 3rd or 4th guard on a good team. When Ron Baker’s healthy, he’s like the 5th guard on our team, and we suck. If you put him on the nets, he’d be the 5th or 6th guard, and they suck too.

The comments above about pumping the brakes a little on the over enthusiasm for Robinson and Knox are spot on. It’s one summer league game against players who largely won’t be in the NBA. That being said I liked Robinson’s game a lot, but he’s extremely raw. It will take some time, coaching, and lots of hard work for him to reach his NBA potential. It’s all up to him and his attitude how hard he wants it, the physical ability is pretty obvious.

Knox looked better than he thought he would, pretty athletic and the opposite of “low motor” ( contrary to earlier reports). He needs to work on his 3 point shot and especially his free throws – it does no good to get to the line if you miss them. Good job attacking the rim and on the boards.

Frank’s game tlooks exactly the same as last year. I saw no improvement in his handle or aggressiveness on offense. His defense was solid. Agree with the D grade mentioned above (as in “3 and D without the 3”), good call. I hope he improves and given his age there’s still a chance, but he does Not look like an NBA point guard.

I like Trier, he looks like a guy who could make it after a year in the G league. He missed some wide open looks yesterday but he can shoot. I’ve watched a lot of Arizona games the last several years and he has been a reliable scorer.

NBA draft twitter is talking about how Knox looked a little more explosive yesterday than he did in college— these are generally people I trust and who have watched much more film that me—but I wonder how much of that is biased by the transition dunks and how he dunks (long strides, limbs flying, hanging on the rim). To me, he didn’t look particularly “explosive” (however we’re defining that). He looked impressive though, and undoubtedly moves well for someone his size. Not sure if others here noticed an improvement from college?

To me, transition/open court dunks are kinda the least impressive thing Knox can do—that’s the one skill we were most confident would translate. Overall, it was encouraging performance:
– He was aggressive going to the rim
– He spotted Dotson wide open for an assist—was able to scan the floor and find him
– He dove on the floor for a loose ball
– His defense wasn’t bad

Projecting the Knicks as a low seed playoff team is the most pessimistic take one can have.

@61

How is it not outrageous? Porzingis played 48 games last season and after he got injured the Knicks won what, 6 games out of 26? Now we lost O’Quinn and Beasley and replaced them with very raw rookies and KP is expected to miss pretty much the same amount of games, but now this team will suddenly win 14 more games than last season? (Considering Washington, the 8th seed, won 43 games)

The Cavs will drop to the lottery and the Hornets will probably be worse, but there’s an argument that even those teams can still be better than the Knicks. It’s not 100% feasible, it would take a major combination of really unexpected stuff, like every young player on the Knicks being a stud and no one on the Bulls, Nets, Hornets, Pistons, Cavs or Magic developing, which is precisely my point: those takes create a magical scenario where every Knick improves and no other young team does so.

Spit balling here, but do the Lakers accept Lee, Lance Thomas, Mudiay, and a protected first for Deng and Lonzo?

And please enough with the amount of losses we stacked up after KP went down as we were not trying to actively tank.

From Begley,
Robinson signed to a multiyear with team options.
Details not clear, “at least 3 years”.

Now we need to stretch or trade someone (but only before the season starts)

The knicks fell off after porzingis went down because they chose to run with their youth and become an exhibitionist team. The gave up on the season because they decided they couldn’t win. Testing a bunch of newbies caused the defense to collapse. They also underused Burke, who looks dominant, by refusing to allow him to unleash his scoring prowess.

@65 all of that will make this year tough to endure, but in the long run will be well worth it if they get a top 3 draft pick.

I agree. I’m okay with losing a lot of games this year. I hope most of the minutes are allocated to young players to speed up their development. I’m hoping Lee and Thomas and any other vet type guys don’t get lots of minutes.

I don’t think sugarslim5 is reub buuuuut also he might be reub

Fizdale took a Grizzlies team that won 42 games under Dave Joerger and took them to… 43 wins the next season.

Damn, I meant to make that same line the other day! I like Fizdale, as well, but holy crap, you’d think that this guy had some amazing track record other than taking over a decent team and keeping them a decent team the following season and then getting fired 19 games into his second season.

I can’t look it up right now but I think Fix drastically changed Memphis’s offensive scheme to run a more modern offense.

I can’t look it up right now but I think Fix drastically changed Memphis’s offensive scheme to run a more modern offense.

He did, which improved the team by, you know, one win. Then he got fired 19 games into the next season. I think the guy is still a fine coach, but he’s probably not a dude that you go, “Oh man, that guy is clearly going to add a bunch of wins just by being here!”

KP will likely look like shit for the first month back or possible rest of the season.

I’m predicting low-mid 20’s wins next season.

@80

He did, for sure, there were many reports of him wanting Gasol to shoot more 3s, and he basically drove Tony Allen and Z-Bo from the team because they didn’t fit his idea of a modern team. For all the changes he made, and while admitting the roster was ill-fitted for what we presume is his style, they won the same amount of games.

He also alienated his biggest star and went on a feud with him until he got fired 19 games in.

So I guess there’s the good and the bad?

I’m not against Fizdale, I liked the idea behind the hiring, to bring a young and relatively unproven guy who could have job security to focus on improving the roster in the long run. But I completely agree with Brian, let’s please stop taking about the guy as if he had a fantastic track record or had proven anything really as a NBA coach. All we have to go for is a full season, 19 games and a lot of talk, there’s simply no way anyone can know for sure what he’ll be like as a coach for the Knicks. Hell, Hornacek at least had one 48 win season under his belt before we hired him.

You could have brought Red Auerbach, Red Holzman and Pat Riley in here to coach that team last year and it would not have won 37 games.

Really? You don’t think guys like Spoelstra, Stevens, Popovic etc ..added a value of 10% or 8 wins by themselves last year?

Give me a brake with the individual all around game, experience and talent level of players like Rozier, Smart, Morris, Brown, Tatum and Hortford…Somehow they come together and almost go to NBA finals….this same Boston team coached by Horney may not even make playoffs last year.

Management 101; develop a game plan that is built towards your employees strength; put people in a position to be successful and maximize their own personal abilities; ensure they’re vested and buy into same goal; built the trust between employees themselves first than ask them all to trust in management; focus on developing their strengths and protect them from situations that expose their weaknesses.

Who knows what Fiz really is; All a TBD …I agree but putting in honest work with all the players and then flying to Latvia to work with your only superstar is an exciting start and possible that we have landed a difference maker coach; At the very least, the man hit the ground running; there is no denying that.

“The more you watch, the more the evidence shows why the knicks can make a serious playoff run. Most people oppose this on knickerblogger which is disappointing for a intellectual site. Most have a mainstream perspective, so I’ll just play the oppositionist here. The knicks have to decide if they want to get to the playoffs, or just train youth. But I warn management, Durant isn’t coming if you don’t win.
Fizdale is the key to success, but troy williams is an intriguing answer at the 3, he’s improving. Knox will likely be kyle kuzma at some point in the season, however watching the backcourt is key since the scoring leader could from that area. Will new york retain trey burke this summer. The knicks have a lot of talent and the roster will have to be ironed out constantly in order for these guys to develop.”

Russian bot or the return of er?

LOL at the scenario where the Knicks are led to the playoffs next year by a Trey Burke/Enes Kanter/Tim Hardaway Jr core and then Kevin Durant comes and joins the team the following year

According to Berman the Robinson’s deal is 3 years + 1 team option at around 1.6 Mil AAVG.

It looks like a nice deal.

He’ll make a great throw-in when we trade for Bradley Beal

Just kidding, sort of

@61

How is it not outrageous?

For the reasons I stated in #61.

Is it outrageous that the 2014 Phoenix Suns won 48 games after winning 25 games in 2013 and being projected to being a lottery team again? All they did was stop playing a few vets and hire a new coach.

I certainly don’t think the Knicks will make the playoffs. But the east is horrible, and all those shitty teams playing each other will add up to some unpredictable outcomes. It’s not outrageous to imagine it. (Except of course for #lolknicks)

On the one hand, LOL at the Knicks making the playoffs. On the other hand, it’s not impossible that we could stumble our way into 35 wins and that being enough to grab the 8th seed. Like, I wouldn’t put money on it but Dolan’s Razor does exist.

The bottom five teams in the East seem to be the same five that were in the bottom last year: Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Magic, Hawks. None of those teams have improved much. I’d say the Magic are possibly a breakout team from this bunch because they have a decent amount of young talent that could improve.

Those are our tank competitors. Most of the bad teams in the West have improved a little: Dallas, Memphis and Phoenix all look like clearly better teams this year. Sacto will still stink.

Good ole Willy with 22/10 and 16/14 in 2 summer games.

@96

Donnie, come on. That Suns team wasn’t nearly the same team that won 25 games the season before.

The top 10 minutes played in the 25 win team were Dragic, Dudley, Gortat, Scola, Shannon Brown, Tucker, Markieff Morris, Beasley, Jermaine O’Neal and Wesley Johnson.

Only Dragic, Tucker and Morris stayed on the team for be 48 win team, and the other 7 were Channing Frye, Eric Bledsoe, Gerald Green (all 3 had great years), Marcus Morris, Miles Plumlee, Barbosa and Ish Smith.

It’s a completely different roster. The Knicks this year has replaced Jack, Beasley and O’Quinn for Knox, Robinson and Hezonja I guess, and the entire rest of the roster is the same. If we had changed the entire roster I could see the parallels, but I really can’t.

Sacto will still stink.

And will promptly hand their pick over to the Boston Celtics. Ugh. We’ll always have the Afflalo and Williams memories.

Hard to believe that there isn’t a GM and a situation out there that they wont take him from our hands for a useless expiring that we can immediately waive.

There might be, there might not be, but a lot of people who pointed out that his contract was bad value the second it was signed were criticized for not understanding the how lucky we were to have The Great Courtney Lee Contract.

2for18, you can sign up for the espntv 7-day free trial and watch it.

Donnie, come on. That Suns team wasn’t nearly the same team that won 25 games the season before.

I think your missing my point, Bruno. I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m saying it could happen. That Suns team is an example of a team with low expectations that played exceedingly well.

For the Knicks, they don’t even need to come together like that Suns team. That team played in an extremely challenging conference.

Somebody is going to back into that #8 spot in the east next April.

Someone posted yesterday’s thread on the whiteboard for Ntilikina to see

@110

But my point is that the Suns team that did it changed 7 rotation players. Then it can happen, it’s a different team. Of course it theoretically could happen, but this Knicks are much more of a known quantity since its pretty much the same roster. Of course it could theoretically happen but I see much less of a chance than with a team that overhauls its roster.

On the summer league, it seems the coaches really told Frank to be hyper aggressive driving, that’s nice.

Frank is making some nice plays in transition, looking to attack a bit before the defense gets set. For all his lack of ballhandling, he IS a good passer.

Robinson looks very good again.

@112 – not a bad idea.

Robinson is so active. Hard not to get excited. He hasn’t played for a year and is still 19!

Robinson might be the best player on the Knicks already.

Knox’ll be 19 in a month, Frank 20 in three weeks, Robinson is 20.
There’s talent to work with, let’s hope they’ll do.

Frankobe?

Trier is turrrible…

We are playing well, but none of our guys have 3 pt range, and the Jazz are hitting their threes.

Final score doesn’t mean anything to me. Frank showing more poise and assertiveness today. Robinson very active. Knox is active but his shots been off. Knox looks like a better rebounder then expected.

Frank and Robinson are 10 for 15 from the field. Everyone else is a combined 6 for 26, led by Trier’s 0 for 6.

– MitchRob looks amazing. Athleticism is insane—he jumped over a player. Just as importantly, has no glaring weaknesses (other than strength/conditioning). Showed some good touch on layup and floater. Continues to show great defensive instincts.
– Really impressed with Knox, much more than yesterday. Showing some PnR craft (behind the back pass!). Mostly rejecting the screens but still impressive. Willing passing. He’s attacking all the way to the rim—no floaters like in college.
– Frank more aggressive. Still no driving layups, but generally attacking rim. Using his size—had some nice turnarounds in the paint

Trier has been pretty disappointing for a guy who played a ton in college and looked like an elite shooter

Kevin Knox does the same stupid ass right handed floater every time he drives. It’s summer league game #2 and teams have caught on.

Bradley is exposing how underdeveloped Robinson’s physical strength is.

A lot of Robinson’s post problems are strength but don’t understate the lack of technique. He needs to be coached up.

Knox also rebounds well! And his defense has been decent…

Has Knox’s defense been decent? I have noticed him get beat by his man off the dribble a few times.

Troy Williams should be in the rotation next season.

Troy may never be a consistent NBA level player but he is fun to watch.

Robinson has unbelievable timing on blocking shots. He could be like the young Orlando version of Dwight Howard before his career went to hell.

Robinson coming back strong end of the quarter. Damn I like what I see. Cambyesque.

Officially on the MitchRob band wagon. Aggressive, keeps looking to create opportunities. He’s gonna rack up fouls fast his first year in the NBA

Dotson and Troy are nice active defenders, but they need to shoot well from three. It’s really necessary if the want bigger roles.

Trier is struggling with his jumper but he has much better handles than I expected, gets to the basket pretty easily.

Ochefu needs to tighten up his dribble

LOL @ Ochefu. That happens to the best.

Can’t watch the game at the moment, but that is a nice line from Robinson. Based on tonight and the first game, he looks like a nice development piece. Only thing that is going to stifle that is the fouls. Can see him getting into foul trouble real quick. All part of the growing pains I guess.

Damn, Dotson has missed a lot of FTs.

Trier needs to stop shooting the ball.

Both today and yesterday Knox has gotten bailed out with some whistles on some low-percentage floaters, but if he can draw lots of fouls he might be a Gallinari type player, which would be a nice outcome.

Advice to NBA players: don’t wear black underwear with your white uniform.

the problem with summer league is that players get unlimited fouls so this free throw rate isn’t indicative of anything….

the good news is that he is being a lot more aggressive going to the hoop which he had some issues in college… you can see a lot of those awkward drive habits in the second half today but by and large it’s been good…

the red flag is that a lot of the good stuff is coming in transition and if you only look at the half court shooting numbers it’s def not as good….

Yeah, I still see a lot of what I saw on the Knox tape, awkward floaters and weird angles to the basket that against good defense are going to lead to nothing. But it is a good sign that he’s not settling for bad shots only and is focused on attacking the rim. He’s super young, and he certainly can learn how to approach with better angles or how to control his body properly to finish better.

Even though we lost it was a more promising game overall. Good signs from Robinson specially, Knox, Frank, Troy and Ochefu. Trier has been a mixed bag for me, too selfish most of the times and not a good shooter.

Jonathan Isaac is going to be a defensive studmuffin. Him and Bomba will pose hell for players in the paint.

These Knicks players are very young. So there’e every reason to be optimistic long term. But Frank and Knox are probably 2/5ths of our starting lineup and summer league wins are tough to come by. We are going to be baaaad without KP.

Apologize to MY SON FRANK, each and every one of you.

That turnaround jumper in the paint is there is all game long for Frank if he wants it, BTW. He really needs to abandon his conscience and commit to it every game.

it’s not a good shot but it seems like he’s been practicing it…. he really needs a floater game or just find a way to get to the line…

it’s a bit of a bitch move….

Shaun Livingston would be a good role model for Frank if Frank can polish his offense.

i mean it’s a shot that you take because the defender is denying you the rim… it’s not a shot that you would want to take voluntarily…. i can’t really speak to clyde’s use of it but it’s generally not good outside of having it in your backpocket….

depending on it is a surefire way of not getting to the line…. which frank will probably never develop since he’s so allergic to contact but that move is indicative of that mentality….

Only at Knickerblogger can we find a way to get depressed about a player adding a new skill

Well, Andre Miller made a pretty long career for himself scoring in those unconventional spots. Obviously Andre was a much different beast, as he had those very good PG instincts right from the start, but it can be an option sometimes. Shaun Livingston is actually a pretty good potential comp as a very unconventional but still pretty effective guy.

Turnaround is great if you have a height advantage. KP uses it well but kept getting no call fouls on his shooting arm.

I like it for Frank. Forces his defender not to be able to backpedal so much. He also has a decent scoop shot.

I have to say I’m not particularly impressed by the Fizdale’s “positionless” offense thus far. It’s been 2 or three passes and then someone (Trier way too often) going one on one. They have missed a lot of decent looks from three and Frank isn’t exactly a guy who can set/reset consistently but it seems fairly directionless compared to some other summer league teams.