[New York Post] – Mon, 28 Oct 2024 03:18:00 GMT
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[Sports Illustrated] – Sun, 27 Oct 2024 16:00:00 GMT
- New York Knicks Legend Analyzes Julius Randle’s Legacy
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[Empire Sports Media] – Sun, 27 Oct 2024 22:16:12 GMT
Knicks’ star forward lands on injury report with ankle issue
[Sporting News] – Mon, 28 Oct 2024 03:43:11 GMT
Warriors legend doesn’t believe Knicks have a chance to beat the Celtics
134 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.10.28)”
To the contrary, the “argument” — it really isn’t one other than to Z-Man — is completely “resolved.”
Championship aspiration teams don’t want 4s with a 553 TS%, low BBall IQ, and high propensity for turnovers running iso for themselves. That’s a straightforward, mainstream basketball statement that’s easy and straightforward to understand and doesn’t warrant a bunch of pedantic caveats, asterisks, or wait-a-second-thoughs.
If you want to move up in the basketball world, you don’t defend and rationalize Julius Randle’s isos — you rid yourself of them.(*)
The offense didn’t become completely dysfunctional here as a result because of elite offensive rebounding and multiple possessions (i.e. Moneyball). That isn’t a championship formula. OTOH, being top three in ORat, TS%, and eFG% (where the Knicks stand after two games, as hoped for) is.
(*) This has been the case virtually from the moment he got rolling as a Knick. Hallelujah they finally did it.
Still early, but the Ant/Julius/Gobert 3-man ORat is only 107 and their net is only +2.1. Ant’s TS% is down 27 points and his FTr has cratered.
Wait, Minny is not a “championship aspiration team?” I thought that’s why they traded all those firsts for Gobert….
Not really, no. Their owner is cheap and doesn’t want to pay a bunch of luxury taxes anymore.
Plus they’re for sale.
This wasn’t a basketball move. (Pretty much self-evidently, as no intelligent exec would make such a move for basketball purposes.)
Which really wasn’t the point, anyway. If they have championship aspirations, they will rid themselves to the maximum extent possible of Julius Randle isos. There’s at least a theoretical (albeit empirically tiny, given the personality) possibility that can be managed with Julius Randle actually on their roster.
The hope for a Julius transaction was always that some team out there might be willing to trade a significantly better player with a so-so contract (or other issues) here and take Julius back because Julius, given his surface numbers, can be plausibly “sold” to at least a chunk of said team’s fanbase.
While there are big chunks of the Wolves’ fanbase who see through it, as well as many analysts … mission accomplished.
“Not really, no. Their owner is cheap and doesn’t want to pay a bunch of luxury taxes anymore.
Plus they’re for sale.
This wasn’t a basketball move. (Pretty much self-evidently, as no intelligent exec would make such a move for basketball purposes.)”
So you salary dump a guy like KAT for a “4 with a 553 TS%, low BBall IQ, and high propensity for turnovers”, a “hustlebunny” off the bench, and a heavily pick that will likely not convey as a first to save money? When you are in the hole for a bunch of firsts? That’s all you could have gotten for him?
That’s what a “salary dump” is. You’re making the point yourself.
I am fascinated by the arc of the narrative around Anthony Edwards. I don’t think his destiny is to be a great player. He seems like he is going to max out at very good. How many players have started with four seasons with a TS+ below 100 and then have leveled up? I guess he plays good defense but there just doesn’t seem to be enough there to justify the hype. I get everyone wants another Jordan and I get that he is a shooting guard with weapons grade hops but I’d feel like he was a flawed player to build around if I were a Wolves fan.
Which is exactly how I felt about Randle. He’s a good player but never someone you would want in your top two and a player more likely to sap the productivity of your best players rather than complement them.
Towns is a superior offensive player and probably not worse on defense. Our defense would have been bad this year with Randle too, given our lack of a premium interior defender.
Overall, I am happy with the team even if the vibes are not quite as immaculate. A core four of Brunson, Bridges, OG, and Towns is solid.
As for the site, beef is a big part of what we do around here, not going to kick that to the curb.
I am definitely overly squeamish. I couldn’t even get through Poor Things.
Guess what young, promising Canadian’s productivity he helped sap around here for multiple years?
Yep, his.
Ant isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t willingly put Julius Randle within a billion miles of him.
The vibes will come with time (and wins). The team responded so well on Friday.
Tonight will be interesting. I think the big thing I’ll be watching out for is how well KAT can rebound. 15 against the Pacers (and Miles Turner) is no joke. If he can get 12 or more tonight against a good Cleveland front line, our rebounding concerns may be overblown.
KAT is better than Randle. Doesn’t mean Randle isn’t good. He’s VERY good!
Yeah, Randle’s contract is actually a good thing for the Wolves IMO. They have a great younger player ready to start if he bolts in FA (Reid), or, if no team wants Randle, they can simply re-sign him on a team-friendly deal.
Too lazy to look it up, but didn’t it come out recently that there was another team also talking to Minny about Towns? Meaning that Randle/DDV was their best offer?
It maybe wasn’t a pure “salary dump,” but they are lying to say it wasn’t a factor. And with very few teams in the market for a $50 mil AAV player, they had to take the best offer, which was two guys who play the same positions as their two current best players.
Canadian. Sap. I get it, even if unintentional. 🙂
I also can’t believe how shitty the Pels look. It’s starting to feel like we dodged a bullet by not getting Zion in that draft, not that everything is his fault, of course, but jeez…
A somewhat Knicksy thing to happen would be for the Bucks to finally blow it up, given how bad they look (how do you lose to Brooklyn?), after years of hoping a star of Giannis’ caliber would get traded.
starting?
I read somewhere that Golden State had some interest in KAT. That is the only other team that was interested.
“That’s what a “salary dump” is. You’re making the point yourself.”
Actually my point is that it is exceedingly rare for a conference finals team to salary dump a franchise cornerstone locked up on a long-term deal in the midst of his prime two years after they traded every pick not nailed down for a complementary player…and not only not get a boatload of picks in return, but get an overrated chucker, a hustlebunny bench piece, and a single heavily protected first.
There is only one reason a team would make a trade like that…they felt that KAT was not worth anywhere near the money he was getting paid. There were other ways to get second apron relief if that was not the case.
“And with very few teams in the market for a $50 mil AAV player”
So if Giannis, or Jokic, or Tatum, or Steph, or Embiid, or Booker, or Bam hit the market, no one would give up more than a bum, a bench piece and a fugazy pick for him?
The Wolves won 56 games last year and were 3rd in the league in SRS. Let’s see if they can match that without KAT. Edwards is another year closer to his prime and the rest of their roster has returned intact, so in theory they should have no problem equaling or exceeding their performance from last year.
KAT for his career averages 10.8 reb/g and that’s with him only averaging 8 per game the last 2 seasons playing next to Gobert. Rebounding is not gonna be an issue individually for KAT, it might be a bit of a team wide issue though until Mitch returns.
Championship aspiration teams don’t want 4s with a 553 TS%, low BBall IQ, and high propensity for turnovers running iso for themselves.
T-Wolves in 2023-2024 – 56 wins, 26 loses, made it to the Western Conference Finals.
Knicks in 2023-2024 – 50 wins, 32 loses, made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The level to which actual wins and loses are devalued around here in favor of stats is consistently entertaining. As Z-Man pointed out, for Minnesota to push the eject button on KAT when they just made the conference finals in exchange for what the Knicks had to offer should make New York fans more than a little leery of the trade.
I can barely imagine the media circus about his overweight and constant injuries if he’d have played in New York…
Trading KAT was a financial, fit and basketball move for Minny.
1. A smaller market like Minny understandably doesn’t want to pay a huge tax bill. So someone had to go.
2. KAT is more productive on the boards and as a scorer when he plays C.
3. They paid through their teeth for Gobert and could never recover what they gave up.
4. Randle is a more natural PF (even though imo they are going to have some of the same spacing issues playing Gobert and Randle together that the Knicks had)
5. They have Naz Reed to play backup PF/C.
6. They added a terrific 6th man
Overall the deal made sense for Minny.
That doesn’t mean we didn’t get the best player (we did) or that it doesn’t make sense for us (it does).
For those who don’t get the Macri newsletter, two interesting tidbits in today’s. First:
“Through two games, Hart has the best individual offensive rating on the Knicks at 133.3, whereas New York has scored just 101.4 points per 100 possessions when he sits. The latter number is by far the lowest off-court number on the team, with Jalen’s 109.6 a distant second.”
The “I don’t know what I’m doing” stage hopefully is over. And on another topic, he’s been (accurately) slammed here, but this is a different take we may want to pay attention to:
“I was particularly happy to see Sims getting praised after the game because I thought his play was downright competent. If he can do that on a regular basis, New York will be alright.”
They also added a terrific 6th man in DDV. IMO, they are NOT going to match last year. Part of that may be that the west is better overall, but I don’t think they are as good UNLESS Antman takes a huge step up.
Two things.
1. I projected he’d have a more efficient year this year because last year was an unusal down year for him (other than the playoffs) that may have had something to do with him playing with a bum knee for parts of the season.
2. Other than OG who has started off a rough 1-8 from 3, everyone else in the starting unit is putting up a terrific TS%. Spacing and ball movement help! It doesn’t show up on Towns’ stats sheet, but imo he’s one of the reasons.
Or maybe they gave away so many picks for Gobert they knew there was no way they could ever get anywhere close to that return trying to trade Gobert.
The Wolves have a reasonable facsimile of KAT on an excellent value contract, and they also have two other players making north of $45M. If we had Naz Reid at $15M we wouldn’t really need KAT either.
For them, it made sense in terms of flexibility to break that one large contract into two smaller ones. Will they be better on the court, and in the playoffs? Jury is out on that one. They were already pretty good.
IMO, it all comes down to the thinking that every trade between two teams has to be viewed through the who won/who lost lens when the reality for these types of trades is more complicated. There were financial and basketball reasons why both of these teams made this move and it could work out for both of teams. Though if both teams remain good but neither get to the finals, it will be almost impossible to quantify who “won” the trade.
According to E, it was strictly a financial move. The fit is terrible and it will severely damage their young star’s development, like it did to RJ.
Why should it have been KAT? They had other options.
So salary dump Gobert!
So what? It’s a sunk cost. You don’t have to recover everything you gave up. Just get a better return than you got for KAT. Sounds like they thought Gobert was the better player.
It seems to be argued here that KAT was a WAY better PF than Randle, natural or not.
If they traded Gobert, they would at worst have KAT as the starting 5 and Naz as the starting 4, and maybe they could have gotten a backup 4 or 5 in the trade.
They could have also gotten one if they traded Gobert, or Naz, or some other package of players.
BTW it looks like they are over the 2nd apron. Is that true?
My wondering is why any team would jettison a player as good as the one folks think KAT is for such a paltry return without waiting out the market a bit. (actually, I’m not wondering about it, the answer is pretty obvious.)
Doesn’t this logic work the other way around? Shouldn’t the Knicks, led by the excellent POBO Leon Rose, have gotten better offers for All-Star Julius Randle and breakout guard Donte Divincenzo than the mediocre, overpaid, unwanted Karl Anthony-Towns? I thought Leon Rose was supposed to be good at this.
I mean I’m pretty sure the Knicks weren’t trading Randle and DDV for Gobert.
To continue the effort to wrench the discussion from childish grievances, here’s Edwards giving some well-deserved love to Deuce:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5874416/2024/10/28/miles-mcbride-knicks-nba/
“The Wolves have a reasonable facsimile of KAT on an excellent value contract, and they also have two other players making north of $45M. If we had Naz Reid at $15M we wouldn’t really need KAT either.
For them, it made sense in terms of flexibility to break that one large contract into two smaller ones. Will they be better on the court, and in the playoffs? Jury is out on that one. They were already pretty good.”
Exactly. In a sense both the Knicks and Wolves made this deal with similar starting points and for similar reasons. Both had highly successful seasons given where they were 4 years ago, both saw the team gel last season and had the option of running it back with expectations for an even better season baked into the odds, both were looking at some financial uncertainty post next season with the Randle and Reid resignings looming, and both saw a a slightly unbalanced roster with the KAT/Reid overlap and the no-IHart/Mitch prognosis.
Yet if you read the Wolves’ blogs, consensus is they hate the trade for some obvious reasons–KAT was a fan favourite and the trade saved $20+million for an owner who is a known cheapskate and hardly any mention of the pros like adding toughness and DDV; while here the reaction is more nuanced with a somewhat equal list of pros and cons.
Are you implying that people who live in Minnesota and watch all of the Timberwolves’ games have a better idea of what KAT brings to the table than Z-Man? You need to check yourself, BernieErnie!
Z-Man
I respect your opinion a lot, but why are you dying on this hill?
Minny is trying to build a contender with pieces that make sense together but within a budget.
As to why they traded Towns:
Gobert and Towns never really made sense to me because it doesn’t maximize Towns on offense which is his best attribute. Personally, I was shocked it worked as well as it did. I was wrong on that one. It was a credit to Towns that he played as well as he did with less space to operate and trying to defend PFs.
IMO they could get more back for Towns in a trade because he’s a rare commodity as a C that’s an excellent scorer and great floor spacer. IMO, they would not get back as much for Gobert and the return might make the franchise look bad for paying as much as they did for him.
Also, if you keep Towns at C, you are probably going to have to get a very type of specific PF back for Gobert.
Could you imagine the disaster Towns and Randle would be?
This was a sensible deal for Minny, primarily driven by budget retraints.
Randle is probably not the ideal fit next to Gobert, but he’s OK but they also added an excellent 6th man.
Yeah, Z-man you seem kind of all over the place with this one.
Minny salary dumped KAT but Randle is better than KAT plus they got DDV, so how is that a salary dump exactly?
It’s 2024, why the hell are we still arguing as if GMs were perfect at their jobs with decades of evidence pointing to the contrary? The decision makers at notably successful franchise Minnesota Timberwolves, specially?
If Brunson was any good, the Mavs wouldn’t have let him go, so I guess he’s shit too. Come on.
Under normal circumstances, I would find “the Minnesota Timberwolves traded KAT, so he must not be very good” to be a very bizarre argument for a slew of obvious reasons that have already been pointed out, and would inquire further as to why the person making it thinks it holds any water.
Under the circumstances wherein the person making the argument cited “YouTube highlight reel length” as a better indicator of isolation skill than “points scored per isolation possession,” I mean, at a certain point you just have to conclude said person is not arguing in the best of faith.
You know who would have struggled next Randle? Bridges. I like his usage soak a whole lot more in the mid and on defense.
We should’ve drafted Dunn
Knowing that Mitch is likely out until ’25..I really can’t wait until Achiuwa is back. I feel like we switch better on defense with him in the rotation. And honestly, I wonder what happens with Mitch when he’s finally ready. There is no doubt that we need a player of his ilk in the rotation. But with KAT not being a great drop defender, does Thibs incorporate more switching- this making Achiuwa the better fit? And suppose we do trade Mitch- do we go for someone who’s used to switching (like a Looney?), or a physical rebounder who will shoot a few jumpers like Valančiūnas? I’d like to see a 3 teamer with Washington and Orlando that would net us Carter as KAT’s backup, but I imagine a more veteran backup would be a better chemistry fit for us. Either way, we’d be able to slot Achiuwa in defensively next to KAT and his backup if way make a Mitch move and not totally kill spacing on offense.
I know it’s only been 2 games, but I do think Thibs needs to alter his defensive scheme since KAT is gonna obviously play alot. And that likely means moving Mitch because Achiuwa has shown he can be really good in his role on this particular team. and that sucks because Mitch is one of my favorite players on the team
I think this is a direct result of playing less drop. I actually think we spent more time hedging/trapping than playing drop.
I’ve been pretty low on Sims for most of his tenure but now that we have Hukporti he’s probably fine as a cromulent placeholder big man until Huk gets more comfortable as the backup center and/or Mitch is healthy. We can always just replace him with another tall guy next season after his contract expires
“Gobert and Towns never really made sense to me because it doesn’t maximize Towns on offense which is his best attribute. Personally, I was shocked it worked as well as it did. I was wrong on that one. It was a credit to Towns that he played as well as he did with less space to operate and trying to defend PFs.”
At the time of the trade (which just happened to coincide with the Brunson signing and is in the thread I posted yesterday) the KB consensus was that it made total sense and made Minny a contender (and justified the tanking approach to rebuilding.) I was skeptical about the fit, but last year seemed to at least somewhat justify the trade. There really wasn’t a problem with the fit, and if KAT had played well in the conference finals vs. the nondescript front line of the Mavs, they would have advanced.
In any case, I’m not dying on any hill. Some folks are bent out of shape that I had the temerity to suggest that Randle is in the same league as a player as KAT. I never said that he definitively was, just that it’s debatable, and relatively close in either direction. I am standing by that assessment. And I think that was part of Minny’s calculus…in other words, it wasn’t just about being cheap and dumping salary…it was about getting two players that they feel are better value than KAT both right now and going forward.
Yet the feeling here seems to be that it made them significantly worse right now because “KAT is the better player and it’s not even close.” Sorry, I’m not going to believe that until I have more data. The Randle I saw during January was an absolute force and a great fit with the team at that time. Then we gained Mikal and lost iHart. I would have like to have seen how that worked. Now we gained KAT and lost Julius and DDV. I am withholding judgment for now, and am concerned that it is a lateral move. I am worried that we will miss Randle’s shot creation and DDV’s elite shooting and that KAT will not make up for it. I will continue to be worried about it until at least the second round of the playoffs.
Since the conversation is going nowhere, I suggest that we check back in on this topic next May. Nothing will really convince me before then, but hell, looking forward to enjoying the ride!
PS one point that I have repeatedly made is that the trade makes sense for us because there is less downside…which is what Zach Harper said: “Their floor is raised but I’m not sure they’ll get to that higher ceiling.” I also think that by “the floor is raised” it means that if it does turn out to be largely a lateral move, we can pivot away from this trade easier than we could pivot away from Randle had we done nothing. That’s important, which is why I am not “out” on the trade. Just skeptical that it made us any better come playoff time.
If we knew he was going to learn to shoot even slightly decently, probably. On the other hand, would he have been willing to take the same under-market contract that Dadiet agreed to, without which the KAT trade would have been impossible?
I was actually against drafting him for that very reason. I didn’t think he’d ever be as good a shooter as he’s looking so far. It’s early, but damn.
It’s not just that he’s hitting them at a high (unsustainable) rate, he’s shooting a ton of them. He’s taking 10.9 3PA/36, Donte took 10.8 last season.
“Under the circumstances wherein the person making the argument cited “YouTube highlight reel length” as a better indicator of isolation skill than “points scored per isolation possession,” I mean, at a certain point you just have to conclude said person is not arguing in the best of faith.”
Nah, you are once again ignoring the “volume” aspect of the argument. Randle’s entire game is built on Iso. KAT’s entire game is built on assisted baskets and efficient 3pt shooting. The way someone iso’s, against what defenses and defenders, and in what situations is important. The film evidence that you scoff at is just to point those differences in quantity and quality out. Did you actually look at them? Did you check to see the nature of the defenders, hedges, double-teams, etc.? Or are you just accepting a broad-brush definition of iso to blur all of these differences without finding it necessary to look at the film part of the evidence carefully?
Seems like your superficial judgments of Randle have not panned out to well in the past. One would hope that you’d be a bit more open to dissent.
In any case, I hope you’re right and that the deal turns out to be the no-brainer you clearly think it was. Let’s check back in May.
I really liked Ryan Dunn at draft time but was told his shot was hopelessly broken. No matter, I like Dadiet a lot and we got Kolek anyway, plus McCullar and Hukporti as bonuses.
Any other rookie surprises? Three game samples seem understandably shaky for most. Edey and Dunn and Knecht look to have leapt to front of pack.
BTW, you seem to have gotten all bent out of shape in the past when I have not quoted you verbatim. How about not being a hypocrite and practicing what you preach? I obviously think Randle is at least “very good” (actually excellent) and have obviously said that KAT is at least in the same class of player, give or take.
That said, do YOU think he is a legit supermax player? If not, a) how close is he to being one and b) what is the usual going rate for that player (please base it on what that class of player has brought back in a trade.) Make sure to consider that he is healthy, in his prime, and locked up on his deal for 3 more years. Is he as valuable as Spida? An aging Durant? I mentioned Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Tatum…would teams figure out how to cough up unprotected picks for those guys?
Zach Edey made a three!
He looks kind of as advertised: should be able to give you some brute force scoring, and will rebound, seems a little slow but not so slow he won’t be able to stay on the floor.
Ryan Dunn shot 12 for 51 from 3PT and 52% from the free throw line in college, and he’s 6 for 13 from 3PT so far as a pro.
Yves Missi has been one of the better rookies in the league so far, leads all rookies in minutes played and is holding his own on both ends of the floor and blocking lots of shots.
There are so many moving parts on the Knicks, it will be difficult to isolate the impact of Towns vs Randle.
IMO losing I-Hart mattered way more than losing Randle.
I’ve been saying for quite some time that Randle did not contribute as much to winning as the stat sheet indicated. Personally, I thought the playoffs verified that view. Josh Hart replaced his rebounding and playmaking and since he’s not a spectacularly efficient scorer to begin with, Brunson was able to make up the scoring difference with extra usage.
I’ve also said repeatedly we can’t ask Brunson to sustain something like that for a full season, but imo the playoffs showed that Randle did not contibute as much as some thought. We had the pieces to compete anyway. Now we have Towns & Bridges to add scoring punch. That takes the playoff type pressure off Brunson.
IMO, we are ultimately going to be better (assuming good heath) because Towns will replace Randle’s scoring more efficiently, Mikal is better than DDV on both sides, and imo Towns’s ability to space the floor will result in more efficient scoring for Brunson, OG, Hart and Bridges in aggregate (not sure every single one of them – that depends on role too). I think the net of all that is more than we lost with I-Hart, Randle and DDV leaving, but I don’t think I can measure how much each is worth.
I think whatever Minny lost going from Towns to Randle is LESS than we gained by getting Towns. They weren’t using Towns effectively as a PF to begin with. I’d way rather have Towns dragging Cs out to the 3 point line for us and operating in a ton of space against other Cs than having him drag PFs out fo the 3 point line and operate with Gobert’s defender clogging the paint. So they should be fine even if they don’t duplicate last year’s win total.
I know how willing you are to change your opinion based on empirics that contradict it, so I’m sure the fact that last year KAT’s isolation frequency was 12.5% and Randle’s was 12.9% will make you think “huh, well, it was my subjective impression that Randle is the better isolation player. However, upon finding out that KAT and Randle isolated almost the exact same amount, and KAT scored more frequently in those possessions, I am now rethinking that.”
Dunn was also 13-30 from 3 in preseason, making him 19-43 (44%) so far as an NBA player. Still a tiny sample, but PHX fans must be very happy!
I’m sure the fact that last year KAT’s isolation frequency was 12.5% and Randle’s was 12.9% will make you think that whoever is designating shots as iso’s is incompetent.
fify
(PS did you look at the film clips?)
I figured your answer would be something about YouTube highlight reels, just thought I’d point it out.
Edey is gonna have a hard time staying on the floor because of foul trouble.
“I figured your answer would be something about YouTube highlight reels, just thought I’d point it out.”
I guess the answer is no. Primary sources seem to not be your thing, nor do representative samples. Different strokes!
Karl Anthony-Towns benefits from phantom iso designations, is the theory here.
Seems flimsy.
Synergy uses Dominion machines that are easily hacked by the Towns family
Lakers getting Knecht is annoying
Eye test doesn’t remotely work here. The best, sublimely perfect, isos won’t even really look like isos since they’ll be over in like two seconds — the offensive guy will quickly blow by the defender in a couple dribbles and dunk.
Whereas, guys like Julius will pound nails to no effect and bump his ass into his defender and huff and puff and look all intense and shit — to meaningless and counterproductive ends. Those, yes those, are the “real” isos.
That’s pretty much the exact opposite of what I believe. There’s much more downside with the trade, but our ceiling seems obviously higher.
Ugh: Josh Hart officially questionable for tonight’s game.
Reads to me like he’s saying they have both a higher floor and higher ceiling. They might not reach the higher ceiling, but they possess the higher ceiling.
They pretty obviously in fact have a higher ceiling now. More talented, more modern.
Ugh: Josh Hart officially questionable for tonight’s game.
And: Deuce is officially probable.
And so it begins…….
I personally would not have taken Dunn, because he didn’t even really score in HS, and it’s very weird for someone with his size and athletic gifts to not be able to score at levels below the NBA. That being said, I would have been fine with us drafting him where we were, you can see the vision. If I’m Phoenix I’m more excited by the fact that he’s getting shots up at all, if they go in it’s all gravy at this points. It would be pretty cool to see a guy who couldn’t score in the ACC blossom into a scorer in the NBA
This is my somewhat tongue in cheek working theory as to why Randle has a much higher % of unassisted baskets. He takes too long to score. KAT makes a move immediately, which leads to more fgs being counted as assisted.
Should be an interesting game tonight. Cavs are 3-0, but they’ve stomped the Raptors, Pistons, and Wizards so far, which is about as easy a schedule as you can get. With our ‘most effective’ player most likely out (Josh Hart), and with a completely revamped team from what whooped them previously, it’s a good test.
“Ankle impingement” is Hart’s injury.
Will probably play only 43 minutes
I wonder if Pac Daddy is going to get some real minutes tonight. We’re going to be tiny against the Cavs otherwise
Any book have odds on Sims starting over Deuce?
I’m guessing we go with Sims & Huk at C, filling 48min at PF with KAT and OG. Assuming Thibs doesn’t just run Hart out there till he gets injured.
I currently have a shoulder impingement. Can’t imagine it’s any fun in the ankle.
For Hart to be questionable probably means he is being stretchered into the Garden, maybe or not while conscious.
Has Josh been cleared by medical (TM)?
I think the fact KAT can more easily shoot over folks, particularly in the post, makes his iso offense a bit easier than julius’…
“Has Josh been cleared by medical (TM)?”
Not yet. Hart and Deuce still have their injury designations as of the 3:30 p.m. injury report. Wouldn’t expect a change until at least the 5:30, but more likely the 6:30, version.
I hope I-Hart is enjoying rich life in OKC, because the way Chet is playing, I am not sure he will see the floor that much this year (and will probably not start much at all, whatever promises may have been made).
(Yes, I’m still bitter)
Thanks Raven, i found this bit very funny.
“I won’t give him that satisfaction,” Jalen Brunson jokingly said during the preseason when asked what it’s like to be guarded by McBride.
I mean, come on, this is grossly exaggerating Randle. He’s a good fucking player. No need to exaggerate him to make him look bad.
According to Leon’s administration’s historical trend, – this means both players are 100% out.
Yankees 5-9 tonight is Chisholm, Volpe, Rizzo, Trevino, Verdugo. That is… not good. I probably don’t even have to hedge my Dodgers in 4 bet.
I was going to put a bet on an Aaron Judge HR but Vegas is not pricing his slump into the odds; he’s +210 for 1 HR and just +650 for 2 or more (both are the lowest odds in the game).
Wells’ defense will be missed. It would be great if they could just bat him 9th and suffer his offense but we already have #9 hitters batting 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th.
This is why you can bet that 9/10 players must always take the most money that’s on the table. Injuries and GMs/Coaches plans change but contract is legally enforcable. I knew we were loosing iHart despite actively trying to lower his market value to keep him.
Thibs says they are going to put Josh & Deuce through warmups and if they feel good they’ll go.
That’s great, leave it up to the players.
Meet the new medical staff, same as the old medical staff.
Begley said at 5:53 p.m. that Hart is playing. No word on Deuce.
Because I watch the Knick games on League Pass I get to see warmups. Hart was working on jumpers in the post and you can see that he is worried or just avoiding landing on his right foot. But he’s taking layups and hitting 3’s. Looks good but watch the landings after a jumper.
And I just watched Deuce warm up too. He looks okay.
Clyde with the spiderweb suit. Very Halloween.
No game thread?
We’ve gotta do whatever it takes to keep OG healthy because he is a god damn menace
Knicks need to understand they have a Center now that when he gets a switch and gets deep position in the post get him the freaking ball.
I love Jalen but he’s not Chris Paul, he has room for improvement in getting his teammates into rhythm and reading missmatches…
Clunky start on offense. Need to take advantage kf the fact that a big slow guy is guarding JB.
Ahhh, there we go
Damn OG is ballin’ out there
OG came to play tonight.
I mean, Sims getting a contested offensive rebound over Jarrett Allen might earn him his salary for the year
Knicks getting some nice looks from making the extra pass but they’re just bricking everything
Give Cleveland credit, they are playing suffocating defense. Of course we can’t hit the few open shots we get.
Turnovers left and right, are we trying to play too cute?
Sims is terrible. Spacing and open lane go to shit when he’s in.
We’re going for that 50 point final score.
banchero has 37 at the half
No game thread?
I don’t expect the team to fully gel for at least a month but awesome defense will win a lot of games.
Deuce looks healthy
Nope. Ice Cube was better. Sorry guys, you’ve become a second rate city. May as well have just wheeled out Vampire Weekend and called it a day. They just couldn’t have done it better.
Deuce almost pulls a Nate Robinson!
Healthy BMI Joe is not nearly the performer he used to be
Fat Joe was out of breath.
Same thing happens to me when I sing T.I. at karaoke (you can have whatever you liiiiike).
You really underestimate the cardio that goes into rapping.
Payne is a lot more fun to watch when he’s on our side instead of being annoying on the other side. Might have been a more impactful pick-up than we originally thought.
Very early Hukporti sighting and he’s earning Thib’s trust fast.
I begrudgingly agree.
The Hukster
Could’ve gone with Jay-Z, Nas or 50 Cent instead of freaking Fat Joe. If you wanna go old school like LA did with Ice Cube then should’ve gone with LL Cool J.
Dodgers (+128) underdogs tonight. Not sure why..
RJ Barrett is playing for Toronto tonight.
I think it has to do with the fact Fat Joe is from the Bronx..
even deeper.coulda pulled out..Sugarhill Gang..geo’s fav
I would much rather listen to Clyde and Breen than Smoltz and Davis.
Shit no game thread
Will put one up
the dreaded josh hart jump pass….
Hukporti heard people were looking at isolation highlight reels apparently???
Hart hitting the boards hard!
Damn I wanted to see Huk score there!
Dodgers are underdogs because the game is in NY and Schmitt is a better pitcher than Buehler coming off his 2nd TJ surgery.
Buehler just dominated a better Mets lineup in NY in Game 3 last series . This Yankee team isn’t hitting at all either.
Game thread is up….
New thread up!
WOW LOVING this team with Huk and deuce out there
And just like that 2-0…
Hart nearly a double double in the first half…
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