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[hoopsrumors.com] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 23:40:00 GMT
Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Knicks Schedule, Covington, Raptors
[sny.tv] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 15:01:17 GMT
5 smaller trade targets for Knicks, including Pistons F Bojan Bogdanovic
[Posting and Toasting] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 19:00:00 GMT
Knicks Media Roundup: Mitchs generosity, shooting slumps, Randles resilience, and Prez on defense
[Posting and Toasting] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:10:59 GMT
See it to believe it: Quentin Grimes made a free throw!
[Posting and Toasting] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 16:00:00 GMT
- No, Julius Randle has not had a slow start to the 2023-24 season
- New York Knicks’ Julius Randle Improving Yet Concerning?
- How the first quarter is key to unlocking Knicks’ Julius Randle
- View Full Coverage on Google News
[sny.tv] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 22:07:30 GMT
Why the 2023-24 Knicks will live and die by the 3
[Sports Illustrated] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 15:17:03 GMT
- Jalen Brunson Leads Knicks, NBA in Unexpected Statistic
- Jalen Brunson’s knack for drawing charges becoming key Knicks weapon: ‘Inspires’
- Its anticipation, the coach said.
- Knicks’ Villanova connection thriving on and off the court
- View Full Coverage on Google News
[Daily Knicks] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 22:00:00 GMT
NBA Mock Draft: Knicks land well-rounded Big 12 wing at No. 17
[Newsday] – Mon, 04 Dec 2023 00:14:11 GMT
Knicks have battled adversity and are ready for anything
[New York Post] – Mon, 04 Dec 2023 01:29:00 GMT
Struggling RJ Barrett still shaking off effects of migraines after return
[Sports Illustrated] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 15:25:20 GMT
Knicks VIDEO: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart Address Ryan Arcidiacono’s ‘World’s Largest Backpack’
[New York Post] – Sun, 03 Dec 2023 10:32:00 GMT
Knicks’ December schedule is brutal
[New York Post] – Mon, 04 Dec 2023 03:00:00 GMT
Jalen Brunson inspired by Damian Lillards perspective on In-Season Tournament reward
174 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2023.12.04)”
Hi: Can someone explain how to use the Patreon site? Thanks.
Hollinger prediction today in The Athletic:
“In the other pairing, don’t be shocked if a rock-solid Knicks team upsets a shakier-than-their-record Bucks team in Milwaukee..”
“I used to go to the Molly Wee long ago, when I was a musician. There was a recording studio near there, and a few rehearsal studios as well. At the time it fit the budget. Glad it’s still there….Downtime, that was the place – club and studio. And Euphoria was the rehearsal place.”
When I shared season tix with two buddies back in the Ewing days, we used to frequent a bunch of local bars, most of which have gone by the wayside. There was a great Gyro joint right next to the Sbarro’s where we would often have our pre-game meal. Then we’d bring a case of beer in our gym bags, buy one overpriced MSG beer at the game for the cup and refill it throughout the game. When we left, there’d be a pile of empty cans under out seats.
Those were the days.
Thanks for the Hollinger pointer, BernieErnie. I read the article and continued on to Hollinger’s discusssion of Ndongo as a prospect. Ndongo is intriguing and could fill a hole in our lineup if we got a chance to draft him.
It’s interesting that while our rock-solid rotation seems set for the immediate future, lots of questions remain for Summer 2024. The 3 biggies:
-Will IQ be extended (probably?) and for how much ($25-30M AAV?)?
-Will Grimes be retained and/or will he be in the same make-good RFA situation as IQ is now?
-Will iHart be retained or will he opt to sign with another team as a starter?
I think that the answers to these questions will have an impact on whether Leon once again punts on this year’s picks. I just have no idea what that impact would be in either case. So much depends on what the trade market looks like. It would seem that draft picks in 2025 and beyond have more value than 2024 picks because of the impact of the second apron on both the Knicks and competitors. That would suggest another round of draft day trade-outs unless the “perfect” prospect dropped to Leon.
Money shouldn’t be a problem for iHart because we’ll have his Early Bird Rights and can offer him up to $18M+. We’re obviously not going to do that, the point is we can make him an offer that won’t be beat if we so choose.
I’d be little surprised if a team offered both its starting center position and enough money to sway him. I really like him as a player, especially this year, but he seems like a “best in medium sized doses” type of guy who might be a little exposed as a starter.
That doesn’t mean he’ll inevitably be back. We might actually do something with one or more of the four top ~40 picks we should have in this year’s draft that affects our calculus, or we might make some other moves that make a great backup center a luxury we can’t afford.
Saw that on Ndongo. Don’t know anything else about him but already seems like my favorite player.
Maybe my problem was that I dabbled in sobriety during my Knick fan days.
Especially after he banks his $500,000 this week.
Hartenstein is intriguing in an Obi sort of way. Would he be better in a more uptempo scenario that lets him do some stuff he dare not do now?
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a team out there sees him as a nominal starter worth something in the $10-12M AAV range, and that raises the question of what the Knicks would be willing to offer him. Paying a backup C that much doesn’t seem wise, although Mitch’s descending contract seems to counterbalance that level of increase for iHart.
So much seems to depend on how this year plays out. If we go on to win 50+ games and get to the 7th game of the second round, then win or lose there is going to be some pressures in both directions..both to keep the band together and pay the guys who got us there, and to make a move towards the next rung of the ladder. However, if we level off closer to .500 and lose in the first round, or even in the play-in, and it is due to guys like RJ, Grimes, and Julius underperforming, or Mitch being perceived as a liability in the playoffs, or Thibs’ style of play running into another brick wall, there might be calls for radical change before the 2nd apron rears its head.
“Maybe my problem was that I dabbled in sobriety during my Knick fan days.”
I am truly sorry for your loss.
Bondy did an interview piece with iHart a couple of days ago in the Post (it is in the Sports+ section). Seems like a nice guy and good locker room presence. Mentioned he knew he had to change his game for Thibs to give him court time. Seems content to play like Mitch rather than Jokic junior to help the team. Though I still think the key variable is not what the Knicks want but rather what he wants in terms of playing style. He is still young enough to think beyond his next contract.
I didn’t realize at the time that I had a non-drinking problem.
Since I crapped all over Julius a few threads back, in fairness this from Knicks Film School, which also mirrors my current feeling. What a roller coaster.
“Against a team with a lot of size at a lot of positions, Randle overpowered the Raptors with a mix of strength and skill. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and was just short of a triple double with 10 rebounds and nine assists (with only two turnovers).
Only once in his first 17 games was Randle able to top 50 percent from the field while dishing at least eight dimes and three or fewer turnovers. He’s now done it twice in a row.
Benjy’s thread from yesterday does a great job of showing all the ways that Julius was a matchup nightmare in this game, but I’d boil it down to a series of quick, correct decisions. Whereas his bad games feature a bad combination of stagnation on some plays and rushing on others, this was a perfect blend of patience and urgency.”
Rock solid is a good image for this team. They’re not spectacular, not brilliant, probably not a championship material, but they are as solid as they come.
I like I-Hart, especially to close games on offense. He and Mitch are a great pair. I could even see him taking the starting role under a different coach. I could also see him going leaving as part of the mythical “star trade”.
Do you mean for like the next 5 minutes Raven?
Just kidding, luv ya, hope your week is starting off well.
Until the next Game, Geo. Welcome to “Life with Julius.”
Although as noted, it’s two games in a row. Perhaps we’re seeing Good Julius surfacing (which I’ve been sorta expecting/hoping for, just not willing to guess when…).
It’s so funny you became a school principal z-man; i have a have a feeling you were a bit of a handful in your younger days.
No doubt those kids paid you back for all the crazy stuff you did when you were young 😊
Tomorrow’s game will be a great test. Not because it’s an IST game per se, but because you have two well-rested teams that are at reasonably full strength who are both in need of a signature win. The IST definitely adds some intensity and urgency.
I think the pressure is more on the Bucks than us…it’s a home game and they are freshly all-in on Dame, with enough games under their belt to not have the “we haven’t gelled yet” excuse. But there’s a real opportunity for us to shine on a big national stage against a formidable contending team.
My hope is that it is a well-played, hard-fought game worthy of a national audience and that the Knicks figure out a way to win.
Still thinking about the “giggly” Dalai Lama and all those sports shows in different languages you got to check out from hotel rooms around the world.
Surely what a long strange trip it is for us all.
What was up with the giggly thing, do you think he was on drugs, or just like really happy to see you?
I’m doing a guest appearance on the Screen Drafts podcast, where they have different film fans team up to make a combined list of the best films in various categories. Tonight, we’re recording Best 80s Sports Movies ever, and there will be 11 picks total. I think I know which ones I want to draft, but am always happy to hear suggestions from the peanut gallery on ones you’re most passionate about. This is a decade with a lot of bangers, and there are 8 or 9 movies that have a good argument for the number one spot — including a couple of acknowledged classics that I don’t like very much. (Spoiler: one of those is Raging Bull.)
“Still thinking about the “giggly” Dalai Lama and all those sports shows in different languages you got to check out from hotel rooms around the world.
Surely what a long strange trip it is for us all.
What was up with the giggly thing, do you think he was on drugs, or just like really happy to see you?”
As always……. Huh?
Geo, I think he’s just a silly guy. Or joyful, is probably a more respectful way of putting it. Brimming with joy. I only spent an hour with him, but from what others have said he seems to always be looking for the humor in things. My image is of him ‘hotfooting’ other kids when he was young. Which again is not very respectful, but there you go.
“It’s so funny you became a school principal z-man; i have a have a feeling you were a bit of a handful in your younger days.
No doubt those kids paid you back for all the crazy stuff you did when you were young 😊”
lol! I had a lot of fun in my 20’s while trying to figure things out. Mostly good fun, though, nothing all that out of control. I will say that out of the hundreds of Knicks games I attended in the ’80s and ’90s, very few involved anything close to sobriety!
Dealing with shit from middle school kids is inherent in the job, never really thought of it as payback per se. And at that age I was pretty harmlessly and energetically goofy rather than a hell-raiser, so my tough kids didn’t really remind me much of me.
Truthfully, it’s one’s own kids that pay you back for youthful indescretions….the whole “do what I say, not what I did” thing…still navigating that with my 20-somethings!
Major League and Bull Durham have to be on that list Alan! Basketball wise can’t go wrong with Teen Wolf lol
Great article from Katz about the foundations of our defense: https://theathletic.com/5110988/2023/12/04/jalen-brunson-knicks-defense-soaring/
There’s no ISM this year, opponents are actually shooting 3s pretty well against us. We’re forcing more turnovers and doing so without fouling excessively. Our best perimeter defenders have (funny) quotes about how liberating it is to know a newly disciplined Mitch is manning the paint.
just had a conversation about this the other day….
karate kid… never thought about it as a sports movie but the more i think about it it definitely is and it definitely is the best…
rocky 4… it ended the cold war…
major league is another good one… the decade had a lot of good choices….
i think mitch deserves the lion’s share of the credit.. but ihart is really right behind him and he absolutely deserves a starting job somewhere… he’s not really utilized all that well here and he still finds ways to impact the game on both sides….
defense will regress somewhat… but it will still be pretty decent.. the bigger questions will come on the offensive side of the ball… some good signs of late but storm clouds still remain ….
I’m a man who strongly believes that Rocky III is better than Rocky IV, especially the theatrical release of Rocky IV. The director’s cut Stallone put out a year or two ago — which ditches the robot and beefs up Apollo’s role and the reasons why he’s so eager to fight Drago — is much better, but still has some cartoonish elements. (And way too many montages even for a Rocky movie.)
I will not stand for original Rocky 4 slander! But I agree I’d probably choose Rocky 3 over 4.
Caddyshack considered a sports movie?
dj since you like Karate Kid have you watched Cobra Kai?
It’s good I have so little Knicks ball to watch. Leaves me time to read about the OC.
Not sure who is happier about my copy arriving: Alan, me, or my wife now that it’s not hanging around in our Amazon cart.
Golf is a sport. So, arguably, is pool, so Color of Money is eligible.
I saw the original Rocky in a theater on Fordham Road in the Bronx. All of the sequels are pretty second-rate in comparison. But of those, I thought Rocky III was the best.
Raging Bull is a no-brainer.
Caddyshack is absolutely a golf movie. Has to be on the list.
Bloodsport is one of my faves…more as a dick-flick than a great movie, but love it.
The Natural is another one I will rarely skip by when flipping channels.
I’m a sap for Field of Dreams…sue me.
Hoosiers was good…
Does The Color of Money count?
Two I never watched but were highly acclaimed:
Chariots of Fire (hated the theme song)
Eight Men Out
I watched Bloodsport for the first time as prep for this. I was a bit shocked by how poorly made it was. Not that I was expecting high art from an early JCVD movie. But even if you ignore all the plot and exposition scenes, I felt the actual tournament fighting was really poorly shot and poorly edited, so that you could rarely get a good sense of what Van Damme or the others were doing and why it was impressive. And if you can’t get that part right, why are you bothering?
Hello, this is another installment of Alan Shits All Over Movies That Other People Enjoy.
More fun than great (and a year too early for your list) but I loved 1979’s FAST BREAK as a kid. I know that is prolly all sorts of “wrong” today, but — Gabe Kaplan, Michael Warren, young Fishburne and BERNARD KING!
i have not…. i loved loved karate kid… liked 2.. hated everything else so in the interest of not killing anymore of my childhood i pretend only the original exists…
rocky 3 vs 4 can be a polarizing discussion…. i think most will recognize that 3 is a better put together film and kind of solid throughout… but 4 has better highs.. at least for me… and to put a finer point on it.. it’s a real high bar to be almost as recognizable of a sports villain as Apollo Creed… but Ivan Drago if he didn’t meet it.. he comes very very close…. and i think in some demographics he’s probably even more recognizable in fact…
What are you talking about Alan, Bloodsport was great! Chong Li vs Frank Dux is a classic.
Bless you Doogie for giving me the opportunity to post this, truly, it brings me joy:
“I’m not just talking about my wife, I’m talking about my life. I can’t seem to get that through to you. I’m not just talking about one person, I’m talking about everybody, I’m talking about form, I’m talking about content, I’m talking about interrelationships. I’m talking about God, the devil, hell, heaven.”
Yeppers, and there it be, for now and always…are you really a government man Doogie? No judgment about it. I just think Raven might be right.
Seeing Ivan Drago in Creed 2 was pretty fun, although they should’ve kept the deleted scene from the locker room after the fight. Would’ve been better for the movie especially since Viktor winds up being in Creed 3.
Hoosiers and The Natural are my two favorite schmaltzy, tearjerking sports movies.
There’s Rudy, which is fun to make fun of.
Definitely Caddyshack.
Does Point Break count? Lol
Better Off Dead… a skiing movie??
No offense taken, Alan! Bloodsport is indeed a terrible movie…the competitors are all like WWF caricatures…in fact, even though it is based on a true story, it seems like comic book level schlok (no offense, BC!) JCVD’S histrionics are absurdly exaggerated!
But that’s sort of the appeal. It’s on a level with Road House and Hang ’em High in that I know it’s terrible for its genre in most ways but I have fun watching it anyway!
2nd thumbs up for Fast Break…
If there weren’t so many bangers, I would genuinely consider Better Off Dead for this.
Rudy and Point Break can be discussed if Dan and I try to do a 90s sports movies draft next year. We did 70s sports movies in 2022; alas, Fast Break did not make it:
https://screendrafts.fandom.com/wiki/%2770s_Sports
80’s sports movies. YES!
Karate Kid – agree it might not quite fit the category but I think it should be included.
Major League obvs.
The Natural?
Field of Dreams….
Hoosiers (gotta have a basketball one)
Chariots of Fire…
Bloodsport…
Rocky 3 or 4? Yeah I think Rocky 3 is actually better.
And don’t forget GLEAMING THE CUBE.
IMO, The Hustler (earlier) is the most underrated movie of all time. The Color of Money is overrated, especially giving Paul Newman an Academy Award for his performance in that one.
Newman’s performance in The Hustler was light years better.
His conversation with Piper Laurie about what it feels like to play great pool and her telling him he was a “winner” was epic.
His conversation in the rematch with Fats (Gleason) after Piper Lauri’s character died was epic.
George C Scott was incredible.
Piper Laurie was great.
Gleason, who was around a semi-pro level player in real life, did his own pool shooting in the movie. He was also awesome.
Years ago I had a dozen bottles of JTS Brown bourbon (it’s not good) shipped to NY from Kentucky just so I could display them and give a few out as gifts to pool player friends. Getting that done is a story all by itself because it wasn’t done according to the book if you know what I mean.
The only thing I loved about The Color of Money was that they mentioned JTS Brown and a legendary poolroom called McGirr’s in Manhattan. I played at McGirr’s one time a little over 40 years ago. Actually I should say I got hustled there one time, but I got more than even in the rematch in Queens. 🙂
Geo, he could tell you, but then he’d have to have you killed (he’s an editor so I assume he’d farm out the wetwork to another department…).
Rocky III has a special place in my heart because of Mr. T. I remember seeing him for the first time in a TV competition called America’s Toughest Bouncer. It was funny as hell, the events included breaking down a door and throwing a stuntman. You could tell he had that certain “it” factor that he could capitalize on. The Clubber Lang role was perfect for him, he made the movie.
Later in life, my kids bought me one of those musical greeting cards that when you opened it, you heard the picture of Mr. T saying “I’m gonna torture him. I’m gonna crucify him. Real bad.” To this day that line comes up in our funny family conversations, including when watching one of the Knicks going off on someone.
Nice story, Strat. Agree on The Hustler vs. The Color of Money. My brother is a near-professional level billiards player…the classic kind of billiards with 3 balls and no pockets.
Can’t believe Teen Wolf isn’t getting much love as a classic basketball movie.
I love Teen Wolf lol. But I do not consider it a sports movie. I would put it in the 80’s teen high school comedy category.
What no love for Eric Clapton’s song “It’s In The Way That You Use It”?
The Hustler is legit in my top 5 movies of all time list. It’s so fucking good.
It’s not from the 80’s but White Men Can’t Jump has to be up there as one of the best basketball movies ever if not the best.
Did anyone mention Vision Quest yet?
no wrestling people pushing for Vision Quest?
ess dog beat my by two minutes
I was more into straight pool and 9-ball, but there was plenty of 3 cushion billiards action in Queens also. I played a little as a kind of cross training effort for cue ball control. It’s a great game.
There’s a scene in the Hustler where he plays 3 cushion in Kentucky.
Also Youngblood with Rob Lowe for hockey movies…
Bull Durham is one of the best movies of the 80s regardless of sports. Ron Shelton wrote as close to a perfect script as one can. And he got his actors to nail it.
For hockey movies can’t go wrong with the Mighty Ducks.
For a second there I was afraid you were going to nominate No Holds Barred.
Vision Quest is an excellent shout. Has Madonna in it, too.
Donnie Walsh liking a movie is like me enjoying an NBA basketball broadcast
you gotta hold onto these moments, folks
Hoop Dreams may be a documentary but it’s 10/10 sports movie
Gymkata. Gymnastics, MMA, Cold War politics and a gold medal performance from Kurt Thomas!
yeah…hoop dreams was the shit when it came out…
“…but there was plenty of 3 cushion billiards action in Queens also.”
My brother once brought me to a pool room in Jackson Heights for a tournament that included some very high level players. The smoke was so thick I probably inhaled a pack’s worth just hanging around for a couple of hours. Lots of tables of both kinds. Ring a bell?
Sorry for this non sportsmoviesblogger.com comment, but this is great and i feel the same.
And another one…
Not bad for a guy in obvious physical decline!
If I had to make a prediction, it’s that, barring a star trade — and possibly even allowing for one — the Knicks will make at least one, and probably two, picks in 2024. They need to start a new line of guys at the start of their rookie scale deals, especially after sitting out the last two drafts. Plus, we’ll need some cheap depth on the roster for after we do the inevitable consolidation trade. It may just be using one of our firsts and one of our seconds, and rolling over the others. But I believe the intention was for us to draft a player this year with the Mavs pick before the Mavs tanked down the stretch. And I think that while this FO does not value the draft as much as we want them to, they are also not blind to its value in building roster depth.
HOOP DREAMS — oof. Arthur Agee makes me weep every time.
One’s own kids — oof. likewise. haha. mine are age 10 and 12. I fear the teeeeeeeens …
A bunch of years back I took my son to the Carnegie Deli so he could experience one of those 6 inch think pastrami sandwiches. It was very crowded and we grabbed 2 seats in the back.
So we look up and we’re sitting next to the one and only Mr. T! He was very nice, but the manager came over and acted like we were idiots for sitting next to him and told us to move.
(also as a constructor of crosswords, I’m forever grateful to Mr. T and also Mel Ott and the Alou brothers)
Chariots of Fire was OK. I watched it with the family recently, and it was slow by today’s standards.
Maybe the second best 80s Sly movie is Victory? I loved it as a kid.
Was it near the 7 train station at Roosevelt Avenue?
That’s the only one I remember in that area.
I mostly played at the Golden Cue on Queens Blvd in Elmhurst in my teens and very early 20s. I could write book about some of things that happened in that place over and above absolutely incredible pool action.
I stopped playing there when I got caught in a shootout between a wanted murderer and an off duty cop that were regulars at the place. The murderer was known back in the day as “Crazy Randy”. He murdered his brother and was also wanted around NYC for jewel theft. This guy was NUTS. He disappeared for awhile after the murder but walked into the pool room one night. He had a gun with him in his pants. I decided all hell was going to break loose and decided to leave. He went to the bathroom. I told the cop he just walked in and then I went out the front door. I was standing between the front and side door when one came out the front and one came out the side and they started shooting at each other. I was standing right between them. I ducked and ran out into traffic on Queens Blvd and just kept running. I thought “Crazy Randy” might be after me also because I told the cop he was there. I went back the next day and I was told it was safe for me to come back, but I decided my data processing career was safer and more lucrative than playing pool.
Supposedly the cop was shooting warning shots but Randy was shooting to kill even though both these guys knew each other for many years. No one got hit.
I think it’s hugely overrated. Can’t believe it won Best Picture over both Raiders and Reds. Take out the opening scene with the guys running on the beach to the Vangelis theme (the only time it’s used in the movie, I think), and it’s not just slow, but does a really poor job with the various character arcs.
I like movies, Jowles. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s TV shows I struggle with.
Crazy Randy eventually got arrested for murdering his brother and did time. When he got out he went back to his thieving ways.
Here’s an article about his capture.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/07/10/2-held-in-ny-robbery-shooting-of-md-couple/f3b5fbb9-6c5a-4ba1-833a-6eb4a763a482/
The world was a much safer place with him in jail where he eventually passed away.
“Was it near the train station at Roosevelt Avenue?
That’s the only one I remember in that area.”
That’s the one!
JB and Ju Ju tearing up the eastern conference, ha?
Undefeated against young kids and scrubs is cool but showing up tomorrow is necessary.
Julius has to match Giannis offensively while JB does the same with Dame leaving RJ, IQ, Hart and DDV to be the difference on both sides of the ball. All three factors need to happen for Knicks to win. I like the odds of the last two but not sure about Julius vs Giannis match up. Make him feel you Ju.
Rocky IV falls into the category of “camp classic” for me. I know it’s terrible but I can’t turn it off if it comes on the TV.
Nice, Strat. The only shooting in a bar story I have is when a crazy owner was having a boozy argument over a big standing juke box with the guy who rented out the juke box (I’m sort of guessing who he was), and the owner stormed out, went upstairs (I presume he had an apartment over the bar), and started firing down through the floor/our ceiling in the general vicinity of the juke box.
I left to finish my laundry. I felt dying that way would lead to a bad NY Post headline similar to Headless Man in Topless Bar — not quite sure what it would be, but it would be bad.
Addendum: This was somewhere in the East 70s way over near 1st or thereabouts.
Breaking Away was a good cycling flick but alas… 1979.
Randle’s making us all look a little stupid rn. Please keep doing that, Ju.
“https://nypost.com/2023/12/04/sports/apparent-audio-gives-insight-into-lebron-james-ime-udoka-feud/”
Here’s some audio of the words exchanged by LeBron and Udoka. He may be a good coach and all, but that’s some dumb shit to do after being suspended and essentially fired for character issues with some misogynistic undertones. not to mention that he’s essentially goading LeBron with the whole “you act like you’re gonna come over here and do something…soft-ass boy” stuff.
I’d like to see the league come down on him.
“Randle’s making us all look a little stupid rn.”
Not us all….
Me! Me! (waves hand enthusiastically…)
I like He Got Game because I think Ray Allen turned in a great performance for an athlete.
I really enjoy Friday Night Lights. Explosions in the Sky was a disappointment in person (or maybe just not at all what l expected) but so good in that movie. Just perfect fit of music and landscape. Billy Bob Thornton surprised me too. I think he was just out of his blood drinking phase and him playing it so straight really got my attention.
Hoosiers?
I think Tin Cup is one of the most watchable sports comedies. Costner is a tremendous one tool player.
There was a poolroom under the Ditmars stop in Astoria. I remember going there with my uncle and later cousin as a teenager. After a few times I decided I didn’t need to play pool that badly.
rn means “right now” as in the last couple games
@geo:
“Yeppers, and there it be, for now and always…are you really a government man Doogie? No judgment about it. I just think Raven might be right.”
Sorry to disappoint, but nope. Not sure how or why anyone ever surmised that. I even think that some of Raven’s guesses might not have had me pegged as such.
I never played there, but I know the room.
lmao
’80s sports movies are not my forte, before my time and all that, but has anyone mentioned Eight Men Out? To be clear, I have no idea if it was actually good or not. I just know I enjoyed it a lot as a kid. Then again, when I was 8 or so I could tell you Graig Nettles’ batting average in 1973 off the top of my head. So my standards for baseball content were likely pretty low.
I also think the Knicks will make at least one pick this year, and maybe more. I can only hope they’ve learned from the 2021 debacle that four year rookie-scale deals are in fact quite valuable even if there’s not a clear role for the player on draft night. In 2024 we simply project to have too many potentially valuable picks to try to play the paperclip game.
I don’t know if Randle has made anyone look stupid because I don’t think a single person has ever doubted his ability to string together a dynamite 4 game stretch. For karmic reasons, let’s wait on the victory laps yeah?
That’s one thing we don’t have here in Portugal… shooting stories. Unless it’s hunting stories, but even those are from the 80s or before, because since then there’s little land where it is allowed and there’s almost no prey. Besides hunting, which is minimal nowadays, no one is allowed to have firearms, only the police force.
“I don’t know if Randle has made anyone look stupid because I don’t think a single person has ever doubted his ability to string together a dynamite 4 game stretch. For karmic reasons, let’s wait on the victory laps yeah?”
Nah, no reason to wait. The same people who continue to blow off what he did this week as some sort of flukey “dynamite 4-game stretch” are the ones who attributed his 2020-21 season to empty gyms, and who wanted to salary dump him after 2021-22, and who first suggested prior to 2022-23 and again just prior to this season that he was in some kind of irreversible physical decline at the ripe old age of 29, and who started chirping when he got off to a slow start this year.
The truth is that Randle is on one of the very best contracts in the NBA for his role and production. Any other 29yo player who made all-NBA two out of three years would be deserving of a max contract. Yet no player has been written off more stupidly on more occasions than Randle has been right here on KB. You would think they would have learned not to do that by now.
Randle makes people who write him off look stupid.
Randle also makes people who support him look stupid.
Pretty much everyone around Randle looks stupid, including quite frequently Randle himself.
Is there a more polarizing All-NBA player out there?
(Edit: I’d say RJ, but he’s not All-NBA…)
To be clear, I have no idea if it was actually good or not. I just know I enjoyed it a lot as a kid. Then again, when I was 8 or so I could tell you Graig Nettles’ batting average in 1973 off the top of my head.
if you truly want to honor the precocious, indefatigable awkwardness of young noble you will skip eight men out and pound the spread on lucas in the late rounds
with donnie on the 1st pick
I should clarify that what I said about Randle is not directed specifically as ess-dog’s post. It is directed generally at the tendency to magnify Randle’s faults and minimize his contributions to winning. He’s far from perfect, but he deserves more grace than he gets here.
Who’s been more polarizing in the history of Knickerblogger, Randle or Melo?
I briefly interned under Vinnie Musetto, the guy who wrote that headline!
here you go:
– Hoosiers
– Bloodsport
– Bull Durham
– Flashdance
– Raging Bull
– Caddyshack
– Field of Dreams
– The Karate Kid
– Eight Men Out
and the two that i watch over and over again:
– The Natural
– the Color of Money
movies i haven’t seen that may be included:
– The Jesse Owens story
– That Championship Season
– Finish Line
– Major League
– Homeboy
I’m also a big fan of The Hustler. I’ll be honest, I find the whole Piper Laurie storyline – tedious.
FRANK!!! 😀
“Randle makes people who write him off look stupid.
Randle also makes people who support him look stupid.
Pretty much everyone around Randle looks stupid, including quite frequently Randle himself.
Is there a more polarizing All-NBA player out there?
(Edit: I’d say RJ, but he’s not All-NBA…)”
This is funny and somewhat true, but the fact is that no one here is enough of a Randle stan to counterbalance those who have repeatedly written him off, even as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Most “admirerers” (including me) put him at the very bottom of the list of deserving all-NBA players. There is no “he’s better than Giannis” equivalent to “the most detrimental player on the worst contract in the NBA” or “he’s likely in physical decline” or the cult of everyotheryearism.
I truly don’t think the immense difficulty of winning back the fanbase and media after the whole thumbs down debacle is fully appreciated here. I though he was done here myself after that. He proved me wrong, via owning it and busting his ass, to a degree that resonated with me. His unwavering commitment to his family and kids, his deference to Brunson…all of that suggests that he deserves better than he gets here, where the worst in Julius is always feared, and often assumed. Even when he gets Player of the Week, that tendency is in the air…it’s only 4 dynamic games, let’s not get carried away…
I like Randle. Have defended him plenty around these parts. He’s obviously essential to what we’re trying to do here.
I just wouldn’t do a whole “what will the haters say now” routine about a guy with a .506 TS%. There will be plenty of time to do all that if it gets to .580!
For the 2023-2024 season, the haters, and I am not one of them, are winning the Randle Games by a lot.
Randle on/off
2014 (only 1 game)
2015 -11.8
2016 -7.4
2017 +.5
2018 +2.3
2019 + 3.2
2020 +.2
2021 -9.5
2022 -.5
2023 +.3
Career -2.8
Tell my how this is just noise or lineup issues? He’s been on good and bad teams, started, come off the bench a bit, played PF, played C etc… He always fills up the stat sheet, but it rarely amounts to having a huge impact on winning. IMO, it’s ball stopping (an underrated negative), TOs, and inconsistent defense.
The Hustler? The Paul Newman pool movie? That is not an 80s movie. It was made before TNFH’s parents were even born.
There was a remake called something else that was made in the 80s, also starring Paul Newman, but I don’t think it’s considered to be one of Scorsese’s better movies about pool.
(Speaking of The Hustler and knickerblogger parents, my mom once beat Minnesota Fats at pool. That’s the only reason I know the movie The Hustler even exists.)
Wait. What?!?!
What did he do, spot her the break, and every other ball on the table?
Or, perhaps she beat him in to a “pool”?
Okay, I do in fact believe you. That is a pretty remarkable story though.
While we’re at it, how about giving us a clue at the number of children whom you’ve endured parenting.
Over or under – could you field an NBA roster?
regular season = 15, not talking off-season (21), although that really would be something.
A good amount of it can be explained by noise and lineup issues. Randle wasn’t a productive player at all until his third year, so you can throw out the first two. After that, the numbers look totally unremarkable until he gets to the Knicks.
It’s pretty telling re: raw on/off’s utility that Randle’s “best” year was his first with the Knicks, in which he sucked so badly we used a lottery pick on his replacement.
On the Knicks, he’s been a starter on a few teams with notably great bench lineups. In 2020-2021, our best lineup with at least 100 possessions played was Rose/IQ/Burks/Obi/Taj. Their success, which was of course largely against other bench units, obviously tanked the raw on/off of the starters. That lineup wasn’t just our best, it was one of the better qualifying lineups in the league. So they didn’t just cheese their way to being our personal best by virtue of Randle not being there.
In 2021-2022 Randle sucked, no doubt. That same bench lineup was our best again, but Randle earned his shitty raw on/off.
Last year our best lineup was Deuce/Hart/RJ/Obi/iHart. Also Randle played over half his minutes without IQ, who is the on/off All-Father.
So yeah, I think his raw on/off looking less than stellar is basically just noise and lineup intricacies, with the very important caveat that sometimes he just sucks at basketball too. In the Good Randle years, his adjusted on/off numbers have been strong e.g. his 34th overall ranking in EPM last year.
Look at me, I’m the Julius Randle defender now.
holy cow, so this is a real thing:
That is bizarre.
“Hang on, Vinnie, we’re not a hundred per cent sure it’s a topless bar!”
Vinnie jumped on top of his desk and waved his arms.
“It’s gotta be a topless bar!” he cried. “This is the greatest f—— headline of my career!”
Vinnie got his wish. The topless-bar angle checked out, and within minutes the presses were rolling.
as much as I hate the celtics I can’t be mad at the Unikornet
Julius is now hitting 60% of his shots around the rim, up from like 27% to start the year
Melo by far
The Knicks have pretty consistently fielded one of the best bench units in the NBA since Randle has been here.
I mean, would you take Rose/IQ/Burks/Noel or
Plague/Bullock/RJ/Mitch?
julius is julius…and like any other human being – you can not separate out the parts you like and don’t like…
we are all package deals 🙂
Edit: i’ll leave it to missus julius to judge how good or bad julius’ package is to deal with…
“For the 2023-2024 season, the haters, and I am not one of them, are winning the Randle Games by a lot.”
Sure you’re not one of them. Because it’s clearly out of love that you say the haters are winning by a lot, knowing full well that Randle is coming off of a serious ankle injury that required him to miss nearly his entire off-season routine, and should have been afforded some time to find his groove. Or that you said even outside of that on several occasions that he is in irreversible physical decline at age 29…that take sure seemed juicy for his first 8 games, didn’t it?
Sure but the Knicks can’t trade me for a better package
No I didn’t and I will repeat for the one millionth time that it is annoying to have someone bizarrely dedicated to outright misquoting me.
I guess I should just send out a PSA to everyone that if you ever see Z-Man saying I said something, you can rest assured that I did not say the thing.
Julius and Melo have a lot in common, most importantly that neither one is suited to be the “brain” of a contending team. The best of NYK Melo was when he played with a non-washed up Jason Kidd. The best of NYK Julius was playing alongside non-washed up Derrick Rose and Jalen Brunson. It would be even better for each of them to be one rung further down on the totem pole, either as a #2A or #3 in the decision-making hierarchy.
Thing is, Melo was on a super-max salary and was acquired via a trade that gutted the team. Julius is #48 on this year’s salary list and will likely be lower that that in the next couple of years. He was at #54 last year. And he was acquired as a UFA at zero cost in assets
“No I didn’t and I will repeat for the one millionth time that it is annoying to have someone bizarrely dedicated to outright misquoting me”
What did you say, then? I distinctly recall you citing a downward trend in his attempts at the rim as evidence….do you not recall that?
No Obi thread?
Me, literally less than one week ago:
You just see the hatred oozing through the screen!
I said:
Melo was an incandescent, unstoppable scorer who did little else.
Randle is a tremendous scorer when on, who also gobbles rebounds and collects assists.
Melo rarely made mistakes but rarely made his teammates better.
Randle makes constant mistakes but wants to make his teammates better.
Melo jabbed; Randle spins and passes in the air. The two greatest shoe-throwing events (at the screen) in basketball.
I think I’d take Randle over Melo, all things being equal. Damn it’s close.
I vastly prefer the Randle Era to the Melo Era. Melo was probably the better player in his prime, but he cost us so much in terms of both money and trade assets we couldn’t recover from his acquisition. Randle’s comparatively pain free acquisition has allowed us to build a more sustainably good team.
Also Randle readily took a backseat once we acquired a clearly superior offensive player. Melo chased away Jeremy Lin. As a whole, Melo just sucked up all the oxygen in the room in a way Randle doesn’t. That’s obviously a subjective, visceral assessment, but does anyone disagree?
Randle is surely one of the players of all time
TNFH, here’s what you said as recently as November 9:
“I get what you’re trying to do here but unfortunately the numbers do not support your trolling, and do in fact support the notion that Julius Randle continues to be hesitant to get to the rim as often as he did early in his career.
Percentage of shots at the rim according to BRef:
17-18: 55%
18-19: 45%
19-20: 36%
20-21: 16%
21-22: 25%
22-23: 22%
23-24 (SSS): 22%
CTG tells pretty much the same story. So I do not regret positing that there might be some physical decline here, and in fact think the likelihood of the hypothesis has has increased.”
On that thread, you vigorously defended the “physical decline” hypothesis.
So sure, you didn’t say definitively that he is in physical decline, but that’s a far cry from saying that I “bizarrely misquoted” you. You did everything but say it. It was an unnecessarily cynical (and low-probability) hypothesis at the time, and it was reminiscent of an even more cynical (and low-probability) hypothesis you posited going in to the 2022-23 season.
It’s Melo by a mile.
Compare
To
I’ll let everyone else be the judge
Indiana is a fun team.
Hell of a game!
There is no equivalent of ruruland for Julius Randle.
My phone attempted to autocorrect the word “ruruland” which means I haven’t typed it in a long time.
(sniffle)
The Pacers are very entertaining to watch
The IST works. This is the best December 4th NBA game of all time.
I think some people are seriously underestimating how good Melo was his first 3 1/2 seasons with the Knicks.
But definitely the Randle era Knicks are funner to watch and root for plus they have a much longer shelf life than the Melo playoff teams.
I am sorry for misquoting you TNFH. But let’s not act that you raised it as an outside possibility. Folks can read that thread and draw their own judgments about where your defense of that hypothesis fell on the certainty vs. impossibility scale, especially in light of you raising the same hypothesis prior to last season. If you want to cop out behind “I didn’t say he was definitely in irreversable physical decline” whatever. Whatever the percentage, you were dead wrong.
“There is no equivalent of ruruland for Julius Randle.”
Nah, because ruru wouldn’t tell you to fuck off.
Hey JK, fuck off!
really good game…when did indy start playing defense…
Edit: oh oh,
i just started watching, maybe i’m missing something:
I think this is the first Indiana game I’m watching this season, and let me tell you, their defense is just as advertised.
This is a great game!
I still think it is possible that Randle at age 29 not having 100% of the physical abilities he had at age 25 partially explains the drastic change in his shot distribution. I don’t think that’s all that controversial, nor do I think it makes me a hater.
Haliburton is incredible.
HALIBURTON IS INCREDIBLE
Indy…the IST Gods!
The Pacers arena is absolutely on fire right now, this is so cool to see.
“HALIBURTON IS INCREDIBLE”
Well that is something we can agree on!
Where’s Obi?
Mazzulla remains awful at in-game management. Incredible stuff.
I was clearly very wrong about the NBA In Season Tournament. It may need some tweaking, but this Celtics/Indy game has playoff intensity written all over it. Great game.
Boston still hasn’t figured out the best late game offense is not Tatum and Brown trading terrible heroball shots
Thanks for calling me back to the game (I stopped at halftime).
And to be clear, I’m NOT saying Randle is better than Melo. I’m saying I’d rather have Randle on my team. But just barely…
If the IST is all about the Celtics losing I love it
For a while I was leaning towards the Celts because I was thinking that if we lost it would better to face the Pacers at home than the Celts on the road. But now I feel dirty.
The Pacers and their fans really have a good thing going! It would be hella fun to play them in Vegas!
More motivation to win tomorrow, get the easier game at Vegas instead of going to Boston on Friday.
Cup competitions are always at their best when underdogs start progressing and beating the top teams, this game had a playoff vibe to it and Indiana pulled it off.
Watching Haliburton still hurts, I have to say… the fact that we are good right now makes it better but it still stings.
Damn that’s pretty sad if this was Haliburton’s most important game of his career, granted it’s only his 4th season in the NBA but still.
“I still think it is possible that Randle at age 29 not having 100% of the physical abilities he had at age 25 partially explains the drastic change in his shot distribution. I don’t think that’s all that controversial, nor do I think it makes me a hater.”
I think this is a vague, out of left field, and essentially meaningless potshot that someone with a less than zero chance of being a very broad definition of hater would make.
“Watching Haliburton still hurts, I have to say… the fact that we are good right now makes it better but it still stings.”
It really hurts. To be fair, I never expected him to be this fucking good. I mean, he’s absolutely ridiculous.
A 26/10/13 triple double with 0 turnovers, the biggest shot of the night, all while being guarded all game long by Holiday and White… yeah it fucking hurts lol.
The Knicks net haul from the 2017, 2018 and 2020 draft lotteries is two second round picks
It’s actually kind of amazing that we are where we are considering those epic draft whiffs.
“It’s actually kind of amazing that we are where we are considering those epic draft whiffs.”
Ghastly. And on top of that, our 2019 lottery pick is still, to put it delicately, controversial?
There’s something about JaVale McGee’s expressions that remind me of Don Fanucci in Godfather II…
The IST is a rousing success in so many ways. If the Knicks weren’t in it, I doubt that I’d have anywhere near as much interest as I do now, but I would probably still have watched it and definitely enjoyed it way more than a typical early season game. But my feelings are still mainly about what the tournament will mean for the Knicks’ playoff position, and I.m legitimately concerned that two games that might have been wins if we lost the point differential tiebreaker might now be two losses…especially now that if we lose to the Bucks, we have to play the pissed off Celts in Boston on Friday when they might be at full strength.
Another thing I wonder about is whether some of the juice might be lost by playing in neutral Vegas rather in someone’s home arena. Seeing the Pacer’s fans go bonkers for the home team was part of the excitement.
DRedsays:
August 23, 2020 at 16:35
There are some legit red flags with Halliburton (ftr, he doesn’t shoot/score that much), but his broad base of skills and that he was able to massively increase his usage without significantly hurting his efficiency make me optimistic he’ll be able to develop further in the NBA.
DRed for GM
Z-man,
I see what you’re saying but at the same time Fuck that shit. We play who we play and if this IST means we end up playing Boston or the bucks more than we normally would well that just means it gives us another practice run at figuring out how to beat their asses in the playoffs when it matters. Steel is forged in fire and teams grow and become champions by facing challenges, not hoping not to have to face them. 3rd seed, 4th seed, 5th seed. Home court advantage or not. It dint matter. Bring it all on. We should fear no one and we shouldn’t back away from any challenge.
We were in the 2022 lottery, too. At least we’re gonna get three second round picks out of that one.
lol thanks swifty, I needed that!
Two big Lithuanians going mano a mano…
Zion still looks fat to me…
Z-man, I have say you are really puzzling me. You did misquote him, but you don’t seem to accept that. And now I think you are saying that his quoted mildly phrased statement makes him a hater (although your wording is so convoluted it’s hard to tell). But I don’t see it as a hate statement at all. And I like Randle, but I still don’t see anything wrong with what he said.
We traded Knox for Cam and a 2nd, so we actually got 3
Unless something unexpected happens, we’re getting Milwaukee’s 1st next year
“You did misquote him, but you don’t seem to accept that.”
I did accept it, but only in an absolute sense.
“And now I think you are saying that his quoted mildly phrased statement makes him a hater….”
a) his quote was not really mildly phrased…he said “…and in fact think the likelihood of the hypothesis has has increased…” based on his slow start to the season.
b) it is in the context of proffering the same “hypothesis” more than a year ago…tell me, do you think his 2022-23 all-NBA performance was in spite of physical decline? Or is it more likely that any suggestion that he was in decline was utterly disproved by his level of play?
c) it is also in the context of Randle winning Player of the Week by physically wrecking his last 3 opponents in the paint. I made a 3-word response to ess, you had a 5 word response to me, and then TNFH weighed in with the following:
“I don’t know if Randle has made anyone look stupid because I don’t think a single person has ever doubted his ability to string together a dynamite 4 game stretch. For karmic reasons, let’s wait on the victory laps yeah?”
Had TNFH not done that, the conversation would have ended right there. But he couldn’t resist a gratuitous swipe.
For the record, I don’t think there are any real “haters” here in the literal sense of the word. However, I do think, as I said above, that there is “a tendency to magnify Randle’s faults and minimize his contributions to winning.” Making up shit about physical decline in spite of all evidence to the contrary is symptomatic of that.
“We traded Knox for Cam and a 2nd, so we actually got 3”
Wasn’t there an oft-cited protected CHA first guaranteed to be no worse than two seconds involved in that one?
These are more like the Pels I expected after they soundly beat us back in October…
Z-man, you seem to assume a lot that’s not in the actual words people write. I just read what they wrote. I think that is fair to them.
Geo, it’s somewhere between a full regular season roster and a Tom Thibodeau playoff rotation.