Knicks Morning News (2022.12.22)

Yes, of course the Knicks need exactly what Alan said they need.

…. however ….

Thibs never sees the answer to any deficiency to be, “Let’s just normalize things and go with normal solutions and try to do normal things better than we’re doing them now; that’s better for both now and the future.” It’s always, always, always “Let’s patch things together by whatever means necessary and put more elbow grease on the problem and practice harder; worst thing that can happen is we sneak some extra wins because it will be not normal for the other teams, too.”

Isaiah Hartenstein/Jericho Sims/Derrick Rose/Miles McBride is not a competitive bench. The Knicks are deploying weird personnel again. That always seems to happen with Thibs around.

Yes, I’m well aware that this will get me the “E just hates Thibs” routine — but that’s not really it at all. As I said yesterday, Thibs is very good at duct taping together short-term solutions that generate wins over baseline within the expected purgatorial range. There are those who are perfectly fine with that, who indeed find that to be the marker of a good coach. Within narrow parameters, they’re right. I just don’t think those narrow parameters are the right ones.

FVV wasn’t really even guarding JB, at least in a defined “He’s your man” way. The Raps went quasi-zone and used their long switchable length, including their 5 at the top of the 1-2-2, to take JB’s strengths away.

IOW — they prepared. They were desperate.

I’d expect this to happen more.

He must be doing something very wrong.

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This still begs the question, in the true sense of the term. There is no reason, beyond appeal to authority, to accept Thibs’s premises and then try to backfill speculative reasons into them to justify them.

Let’s stop doing that.

On the record as we actually find it, it’s just as possible — more possible, really — that he isn’t doing anything “wrong,” and that Thibs is just blundering, or doing the things I’ve sketched out.

This is a guy who blew playoff games with Elfrid Payton when anyone with two functional eyes could see it coming.

Alec Burks, point guard.

The prosecution rests.

“In fact, Thibs has only missed the playoffs like 3 times in his coaching career.”

He’s a poor playoff coach. Overall winning percentage of .410, two 4-1 losses as a higher seed. One ECF, 12 years ago.

We saw his playoff act up close and personal here two years ago. It’s pretty clear to anyone objective what happens to him in the playoffs.

It will be eight years this spring since he last won a playoff series.

He is very good at putting together short-term solutions, or as Alan put it, “figuring out recipes” to work with his various rosters year-by-year. That’s his clear strength as a coach. He’s really good at it. No matter who the front office gives him, the wheels are not going to fall off the train with Tom Thibodeau as the coach. And many times, he will win more games with who the front office gives him than most other coaches on Earth will win. If it takes sticking Alec Burks at PG even though there’s zero future in such a thing then, by God, Tom Thibodeau will stick Alec Burks at PG.

The other parts of the job … not so much.

Cam Reddish was doing a really nice job using his length to guard the perimeter, both in reality and by KB consensus.

All the rest is just revisionism.

Hopefully, everyone grasps the concept that it’s possible to … you know … play both Cam Reddish and Quentin Grimes. The rules of basketball permit that.

Thibs’s reputation was established long before Cam Reddish. (And the Knicks blew the 2021 draft long before The Incineration was completed by trading for Cam Reddish.)

And Cam Reddish in fact was doing a good job guarding the perimeter both in reality and by KB consensus. No need for revisionism on that front.

Cam Reddish isn’t really the answer to any important question, though, I certainly agree with that. The overall roster and its unfortunately still purgatorial state are far more important questions. But it’s not really good form to continually shill for Tom Thibodeau by ripping into fringe players and then making a bunch of stuff up about the locker room and practice.

Alec Burks is available, and I fully expect the Knicks to try to bring him back.

Somehow, some way, I’ve wound up in the role of Cam Reddish’s defense counsel around here, but it’s also false to say he wasn’t “holding his own on offense.” He has a .558 TS%.

So if we’re keeping fair score he was both (1) doing a nice job of using his length to guard the perimeter; and (2) holding his own on offense, particularly given the “stand in the corner” role he was assigned.

With all that, he still might not be one’s cup of tea, and that’s fine. I get it and I see the surface mental and physical drifting vibes he gives off. I’m not blind. If that’s your problem, then just say it — “He looks too disengaged for my tastes and I don’t trust a player that looks too disengaged.” Or something like that. I personally don’t put much stock in that kind of stuff, others may. Tom Thibodeau might.

It’s fine if scoring points with E is irrelevant to people — it’s a free country — but playing it straight is typically the best way to score points. There’s virtue in playing it straight even if no one’s paying attention.

Cam and Fournier are getting the Austin Rivers/Kemba Walker banishment treatment from Thibs. None of us really know why. Some will say the results speak for themselves; I don’t believe that’s true.

We shall see.

He’s not my “cup of tea” because he’s bad, not because of “drifting vibes.”

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He’d be bad in your eyes no matter what he did, much like Porzingis. Is what it is. You have your betes noires guys just like we all do. We’re all human.

My guess is Cam was out all night on Saturday drinking and banging some woman (or women), came to the game hungover and exhausted, was terrible, and Thibs sent him to the doghouse.

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That’s my guess, too, and my response remains consistent with what it is with all this stuff — this isn’t high school.

Cam’s probably a partier. Not the first, won’t be the last. (Never a pro basketballer, but at 22 so was I.) If a pro coach can’t handle and manage that, he’s in the wrong racket. And eventually, he’ll stop the relentless clubbing. Probably 3-4 more years, maybe sooner if he realizes it cost him a bunch of money.

TNFH, would you trade Randle for Porzingis straight up?

What Strat said two posts up.

If you’re going to play Reddish, it’s silly to play him in the “stand in the corner” role. Grimes looks like he might be excellent in that role and IQ even did pretty good duty in it. It’s not Cam Reddish’s thing. Grimes moves without the ball significantly better from that position than Cam does and can generate a few better shots from the stand in the corner position. I mean, clearly, if the role is “stand in the corner,” Grimes is your guy over Cam.

But I repeat — both can play. Even at the same time!!

Strat, it just took me about 15 seconds to find Cam’s FG% on unassisted 2PA and 3PA.

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These are deployment-dependent numbers.

How the hell are numbers on UNASSISTED FGA “deployment-dependent?”

Because they’re dependent on where you’re standing on the floor? And where you’re standing on the floor when you get the ball? And whether you’re moving or not when you get the ball?

Your creation efforts start from certain places on the floor. Those places are deployment-dependent.

Cam Reddish is not deployed properly in the “stand in the corner” position. (*) This is blatantly obvious.

(*) And not just for pure X and O reasons. If you have a guy who tends to mentally drift — assuming that’s true — why would you stick him in the corner with nothing to do but stand?

I’m not sure if Reddish’s brain dead creation efforts in the half court will ever be outweighed by his creation abilities. He was making progress on wiping out the bullshit, but not enough progress on creating shots. The Knicks on the other hand, in an effort to wipe out the bullshit, were tying his hands too much. Pointless to have him stand in the corner.

I’m absolutely certain he’s a plus-plus creator with the ball in the open floor. The latter isn’t “enough,” though, to be sure.

I like Anthony Black and Gradey Dick.

Right now, by my count the picks will be 13 and 15. Still early, but I don’t expect either to be there by those picks. Dick might be. I’d be shocked if Black was.