2021-22 Game Thread: The Almost Healthy Knicks vs. the Beal-Less Wizards

The Knicks host the Wizards, who will be without their star player, Bradley Beal, so that’s good news.

Also, Toppin and Grimes are back tonight, but no RJ yet (perhaps RJ was actually sick sick? Seems hard to imagine him needing more conditioning than those two otherwise).

They really need to win this one to get their playoff chances back on target, and they really should win this one, so let’s hope that they do just that!

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Let’s go, Knicks!

216 replies on “2021-22 Game Thread: The Almost Healthy Knicks vs. the Beal-Less Wizards”

BING BONG!

I don’t care who’s playing tonight. I’m just so excited to be back at MSG!

Jowles proved in that last thread that all you need to do to get people to believe something is to say it came from Woj.

After getting my booster yesterday, I don’t know if I’m in good enough shape to watch this game. Like RJ, my conditioning is shit.

My crazy conspiracy theory is that RJ needing conditioning is related to Thibs saying he hasnt been working as hard this season.

I wonder if Thibs will start Grimes because Burks is the only option to play PG with the second unit.

Alan:
I wonder if Thibs will start Grimes because Burks is the only option to play PG with the second unit.

I second this. Makes the most sense. Burks also gives some shot creation to whoever is on the second unit these days.

Pity to break up Obi & Grimes but at least we shouldn’t have long stretches of all vets stinking it up

It’ll be interesting to see if the Kemba/Mitch pnr works as well against Dinwiddie and Gafford as it did against the Pistons’ scrubs.

@FredKatz
Knicks starters:

Kemba Walker
Evan Fournier
Alec Burks
Julius Randle
Mitchell Robinson

So I guess either Burks or Kemba will sub out early so they can come back to run the second unit.

Nope, looks like Burks is starting. Guessing he’ll still try to stagger their minutes somehow

Currently 102 players in H&S Protocol…

This game against a direct competitor is close to a must win.

Let’s Go Knicks!

Seeing Kemba and Fournier starting just makes me depressed. Only above average athlete in the starting lineup there is Mitch

Max:
Currently 102 players in H&S Protocol…

This game against a direct competitor is close to a must win.

Let’s Go Knicks!

There’s 17 roster spots (including 2-ways) on 30 teams. 30*17=510. 102 players in protocol ÷ 510 roster spots = 20% of the league.

This is fine.

Early Bird: There’s 17 roster spots (including 2-ways) on 30 teams. 30*17=510. 102 players in protocol ÷ 510 roster spots = 20% of the league.

This is fine.

The only thing not fine is competitive fairness,
with some teams lucky enough to have so many players out to have their games postponed and others forced to play with skeleton rosters because they have one or two too many scrubs healthy…

Jericho Sims is a two-way player and doesn’t count in the 13 roster contracts for next year. Presumably he or Luka Samanic will take a two-way and next year’s 2nd will take the other. If you want all 3, then you need to find a 2nd player to cut next year.

Kemba Walker’s contract is in fact guaranteed for next year. As far as essential, I don’t think we could make that determination prior to the draft. Nor is it clear to me he doesn’t have value at $9M.

Then where are you getting 13 roster sports for next year?

Randle, Fournier, Rose, Burks, Noel, RJ, Quickley, Toppin, Kemba McBride, Grimes, and Mitch is 12. Add the MLE and our 2022 first to get to 14. The incinerated pick would’ve been 15.

In any event, I highly doubt this was their calculation. The draft happened before free agency, and incinerating a pick because you don’t anticipate having roster space for the player two seasons later is not good process. If there were too many intriguing roster options for us, we could’ve solved that good problem with a 2-for-1 trade.

burks’ play appears sloppy and disinterested too often…what’s up with that guy…it’s like he’s emulating bad julius

Classic Fournier. Passes up an open three for a contested one, misses, the rebound comes right back at him, he runs away from it like it’s on fire and Obi has to dash over and save the ball before it goes out of bounds…

Does Fournier ever take a shot with his feet set?

He’s practically always leaning, taking a side step etc…

Maybe Thibs decided Grimes isn’t available because it looks like Danuel House is about to check in.

That’s what I’m choosing to believe anyway.

“Strat has Thibs’ ear”

Don’t blame me for this one. lol

Most likely it’s Covid recovery conditioning.

We should probably find a role for Kemba somewhere between “permanent DNP-CD” and “40 minutes per game as the primary ball handler”

Max: Nice defensive transition for Randle…
Is he pissed that Kemba’s shooting too much?

Or scoring too much? 😛

Deeefense!!: Someone remind me why Kemba was totally out of the rotation?lol

Because in the beginning of the season he never played like this. 😛

Kemba can’t shoot like that all game long (see the third quarter in Boston),
but how embarrassing is this for Thibs?

Well that was fun.

thenoblefacehumper: We should probably find a role for Kemba somewhere between “permanent DNP-CD” and “40 minutes per game as the primary ball handler”

  

I might be good with “40 minutes per game as the primary ball handler.”

So nice the “Kem-ba Wal-ker” chants. He deserves it. Here’s hoping he can keep up this kind of play.

Let’s face it, Kemba was so hot the only player that could have slowed him down is Frank!

lol

Obviously the shots are going in, but Kemba has looked reinvigorated post-banishing. He’s getting to the basket a bit more frequently and looks faster to me.

Hopefully when McBride gets back Thibs make sure to give Kemba some serious breathers because clearly he benefits from not being run into the ground.

Even having kemba in a 15 minute flamethrower off the bench role shouldve been fine but no our coach had to get his big guard for switching

Deeefense!!: Let’s face it, Kemba was so hot the only player that could have slowed him down is Frank!
lol

It’s christmas… i’m going to say “yeah, only Frank the great would have stopped Kemba”!! 😉

Kemba still struggles on D but he can still score with the best of them. Knicks need a secondary scorer besides Randle and he fits the bill.

Thibs got to be flexible when everyone is back and ride the hot hand of Kemba. And admit when he may have benched the wrong guy (Fournier, bench – Burks starts with RJ)

d-mar:
Kemba (in Mike Tyson voice):

“How dare you challenge me with your primitive skills?”

I’m probably the only one that remembers that Tyson clip…

Thibs got to be flexible when everyone is back and ride the hot hand of Kemba. And admit when he may have benched the wrong guy (Fournier, bench – Burks starts with RJ)

To be honest…the “right” guy is Randle.

If Randle was just some guy an objective observer might wonder how he’s on an NBA roster

Kemba Just had the highest scoring quarter in Knicks’ history? Wow!

Fournier is 0 for his last 9…

And Randle is just Randle…

The problem with letting a guy like Randle “shoot his way out of it” is the logic behind that only applies to guys who are actually good shooters

Just kinda one of those “wow” situations right now … words are wasted on this and don’t do it justice

Again, they’re playing like kindergarteners and the only Thibs change this whole quarter was Sims for Mitch.

“Crowd wants Walker to shoot every time…”

No, the crowd just doesn’t want anyone else to shoot.

KJG:
His knees could explode

Randle will do it with a crowbar… He’s so pissed off…

Him and Fournier played like traffic cones all night long…

Ummmmm can someone please acknowledge Fournier turn to stone in the corner as that foreign fellow trotted by him

If there is a mental health and safety protocol, Randle should enter it. The man is lost.

Fournier and Randle have 19 points on 28 shots. Is that good?

Also, Randle again leading the entire rest of the team in turnovers…

Um, Grimes for Fournier, anyone?

Can’t shoot worse, and maybe plays just a little defense?

Playing Toppin without a “real” PG is a waste, no one look for cuts, backdoors and fastbreaks…

We suck bottom line … Burks doesn’t pass … Mitch has to cover for Fournier since anyone can blow right by him … that guy is Horse shit and that’s probably too nice since manure has value

Our two players making the most $ are playing terrible on both sides of the ball. I’ve never seen Fournier look worse on D.

Max:
Playing Toppin without a “real” PG is a waste, no one look for cuts and backdoor fastbreaks…

100% … 1,000,000%

Will the Thrill:
Our two players making the most $ are playing terrible on both sides of the ball. I’ve never seen Fournier look worse on D.

I don’t want to make the guy feel bad about himself but

Casper is one for ten and has played almost thirty five minutes so far. You can’t win if you play four against five. Once Thibs took him out, the Knicks went on a run 6-0. Gee, where have I seen that before?

It’s says quite a bit that we probably need Dotson to play one of our most important defensive roles tonight, aka staying with kispert…

Proven fact: the louder the “defense” chants the higher the likelihood that the opponent’s next shot goes in

d-mar:
Proven fact: the louder the “defense” chants the higher the likelihood that the opponent’s next shot goes in

It’s too loud we can’t communicate

Fournier with his worst game of the season, unable to score and terrible on defense.

Playing Dotson over him was Thibs’ best move of the night.

I still don’t get the Grimes situation, if he can’t play why say he’s available?

Edit: Fournier scored his next shot of course…

Randle will probably never make a three again, but he’s still so much better than Fournier…

Edit: lol of course

Doesn’t matter that Fournier hits that’s 3… the foreign fellow blew right by him to get assist to holiday … my haterade is delicious

In hindsight it was a mistake to re-sign Burks and Noel instead of the invisible sixth man

DRed:
Hard to win with a completely useless bench but this still is a game we really needed

I’m sorry but an out-of-shape, asthmatic Grimes is better than the 2-12, utterly nonexistent ghosting on D by Fournier.

I’m watching the Wiz broadcast. Is it a thing now to have splitscreen commercials during the final minute a fucking NBA game?

DRed:
Hard to win with a completely useless bench but this still is a game we really needed

And if Obi had played most of the third instead of Randle we’d be up by 5 just from addition by subtraction.

Can we send Fournier and Randle to H&S before the Hawks game?
Or is it better to let them lead us to a top-5 pick?

Max:
Can we send Fournier and Randle to H&S before the Hawks game?
Or is it better to let them lead us to a top-5 pick?

For my health and safety, they both need to go into protocol.

Has any team ever got back from a 5 pt deficit without the ball? Why do we extend this games that are already lost is mind boggling to me.

EDIT: with 10 seconds remaining, i mean.

Mitch had a tough game, but he wa sgoing up against one of the best front lines in the NBA

Randle couldn’t be a worse #1 option than he is right now. Maybe the worst I’ve ever seen.

Fournier was an unmitigated disaster, he deserve a punitive benching.

But if you haven’t seen the game and look at the boxscore you can think that Randle had a decent game, instead he stunk again, badly.

Max: But if you haven’t seen the game and look at the boxscore you can think that Randle had a decent game, instead he stunk again, badly.

And i noticed what you usually remind us about, Max. He padded the stats in the final seconds, when the game was lost.

Casper has been the weakest link throughout this season. He had about four games when he shot the ball well and that was it. I can’t believe they gave him 80 million, I can’t believe Thibs okayed such trade (I doubt it), and I can’t believe he is still in the rotation.

Glad I accidentally fell asleep right before the game started. What a waste this team is.

Always surprising when Breen makes anything even approaching a negative remark about the team (unless he’s talking about effort) so I was surprised to hear him repeatedly bring up how the Wiz were missing Beal.

You know how after a an accident has been cleared, traffic still slows down at that spot for hours? It sorta feels like Carmelo was the accident, and even with him long gone and a whole new roster, the team still plays like it did when he was here… lots of tough shots that go in impressively frequently but not enough to compete with the other team’s ability to generate easy shots. Also, way less fun to watch than the other team.

Kemba with 44, 9 REB (!!!), 8 AST and he was plus 4, so we were outscored by 11 points in his 5 minutes on the bench…

To waste a performance like this is a basketball sin.

Serious question, has Randle ever been asked “why do you rarely drive to the rim?” At this point if he just played exactly like he did from 2017-2019 we’d be way better off.

Great game for explaining why there should be gun control and why I should not be GM. Because I want to shoot Thibs, and then fire him.

Next practice I want a coach to throw the ball off the backboard and make Evan run TOWARD it, not run away from it like a frightened colt. Over and over.

Two good things about that game. One, Kemba. the other, MSG loudly booed Randle.

Feels like Evan runs away from a looseball that is clearly there for him to take once a game

Thing is, it doesnt look like regression. It looks like a completely different guy, like a Noah Vonleh level player, trying to be a star. It’s really disturbing.

How many games you think Kemba has left in him playing this many minutes?

I’d go with something in the single digits.

Thing is, Noah Vonleh would at least try when the ball’s not in his hands. Julius seems like he’s completely checked out.

Meanwhile Fournier seems like he’s overdosing on xanax. Those two utterly unforced fumbles were Sanchez level.

Randle is now shooting the 2nd worst since his rookie year from the field, the most turnovers per game in his career, and the 2nd least fouls per game of his career (lackadaiscal D) one season removed from an All-NBA selection. He has to be the worst “best” player on an NBA team and it’s not even close. Tank Commander.

We really need to move both him and Evan Fartnier. The latter who can’t guard a cone. What a waste of a great game by Kemba. This team just needs to go into full tank and the team needs to get blown up.

I don’t understand how I could have disliked Gary Payton so much. His son is so charismatic out there. He’s like Kemba Walker in a headband.

Of all the stupid, bad losses this season tonight might be the most disheartening.

Tremendously awful loss.

Thing is, if the team just disappeared Julius, Fournier, and maybe even RJ at this point, they would probably win more games.

holy cow, great game by kemba – very nice…put on a great show…love how he’s going low on getting around the screen…

he must have seriously lubed up them ankles tonight…

man, gangrene nuts doesn’t seem to wanna either defend or rebound…fudge, even if his shot does fall, he can’t defend, and he refuses to rebound…he legit sucks…

randle looks like he has both his shoelaces tied together…i don’t want to start guessing at all the possible reasons he looks worse than a year one kevin knox out on the court…

what’s with taj and all the quick and silly fouls lately…

i ain’t ready to proclaim the ship be sinking, but – if rotten balls, randle and RJ keep eating up major minutes – we are heading for the lottery…

that would be a bit disappointing…plenty of time though between here and there…at worse we get another pick, play the young guys more, and maybe move on from whoever still sucks by the end of the season…

This honestly feels worse than 13-14 because we really had reasonable arguments to be hyped about this team, it’s just all falling apart in the worst ways in pretty much every aspect. Fournier playing like his career worst year, Randle heavily regressing in every way, injuries, covid, Barrett regressing, the defense is gone, it’s all gone to shit at the same time. It’s like every worst possible scenario happening at the same time, or losing every coin flip in a 6 or 7 sequence. I’m not even angry, I’m just sad and demotivated at this point.

I think we nailed 6 – 7 heads in a row last year, this year is just a return to normal.

Flip 1: Randle hits 40% from 3
Flip 2: he hits 50% from midrange
Flip 3: RJ hits 40% from 3
Flip 4: The invisible 6th man
Flip 5: Derrick Rose mostly healthy
Flip 6: No covid protocols
Flip 7: Randle giving a shit on defense

Well last year no one here was correct about how many games we would win—we won more than anyone expected. This year we’re all wrong again, it’s going to be worse than anyone expected. I guess it’s Karma.

Early Bird:
I think we nailed 6 – 7 heads in a row last year, this year is just a return to normal.

Flip 1: Randle hits 40% from 3
Flip 2: he hits 50% from midrange
Flip 3: RJ hits 40% from 3
Flip 4: The invisible 6th man
Flip 5: Derrick Rose mostly healthy
Flip 6: No covid protocols
Flip 7: Randle giving a shit on defense

It really looks like it, but damn, it’s disheartening to see it all go to shit so fast.

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