Knicks Morning News (2025.01.08)

121 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.01.08)”

Third string center post:
Just skimmed Orlando Robinson’s 41-point, 13 rebound effort in the G-League and I think we should take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBJU7ze9-J8

Also, can anyone explain Paul Reed’s issues to me? I recall him being a contributor for Philly in the first round series last year and his advanced stats look OK to me.

B-Ball Paul has always been a mystery to me too. I think he doesn’t play defense very well.

Then I’m especially confused by a 5.1 DBPM. Isn’t that good?
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/reedpa01.html

Two things I have learned from this site is that many centers can have impressive advanced stats and that it’s difficult to create advanced stats that reflect defense. So yeah, probably his D.

People keep bringing up Quentin Grimes box scores but Obi Toppin’s 19/7/3 per 36 sure would be nice to have on the bench. That’s two quality youngs we gave up for nothing. Throw in the guys we punted on in drafts (Tillman, Johnson, Williams/Eason/Kessler, Wells) and there’s the depth & balance we’re sorely lacking.

It might or might not be his d

My comment re PR/advanced stats got cut off, so I’ll cobble together a truncated version.

The PR’s of the world aren’t good enough at basketball to get off and miss the shots better players can (*), and therefore their advanced stats are misleading. Not only do those players get to pick and choose their shots, but the advanced stats don’t debit them for sloughing off the shots they aren’t good enough to get off to other players — who will inevitably miss a number of them, to the detriment of their advanced stats.

The advanced stats have their uses, used right — but they aren’t a measurement of basketball skill or even basketball production. Using them that way is a bad misuse of them.

(*) The “can’t” shouldn’t be taken literally. There are some shots the PR’s could get off but which all their evolutionary basketball instincts and knowledge tell them they only have like a 10 or 15% chance of making and so they don’t take them. They leave those shots to dudes who know they have a chance of making them that passes the proper threshold to take them. No direct debit in the advanced stats to the PR’s for having to do that.

People keep bringing up Quentin Grimes box scores but Obi Toppin’s 19/7/3 per 36 sure would be nice to have on the bench. That’s two quality youngs we gave up for nothing. Throw in the guys we punted on in drafts (Tillman, Johnson, Williams/Eason/Kessler, Wells) and there’s the depth & balance we’re sorely lacking.

All spot-on, but I’d add “not just the lacking depth and balance, but also the lacking talent that might have propelled them above what some refer to insightfully as the mezzanine level.”

Leon botched the asset in-out chart since draft day 2022 quite badly. (*) Recovery would be tough under any circumstances, but will be much tougher given the fact that they haven’t even started to pay the “asset out” Bridges debt yet and will be paying it through 2031.

(*) Which doesn’t even touch on the various pre-DD 2022 chars and incinerations.

Obi, Grimes and IQ would all be SUPER useful right now.

But cap wise, would we be able to have these dudes (let’s say 2 of them) on our bench paying them what they’re getting paid at their current salaries AND have our starting 5?

I don’t F around with cap stuff, so I have no idea. But my guess, considering how close we are to the second apron, would be no? And long term, Leon is probably thinking it will be easier to fill out the bench with 2nd rounders we develop, vet minimums, etc…than to create a starting 5 as strong as ours. Cause make no mistake, despite the current 3 game losing streak, our starting 5 is QUITE good.

But cap wise, would we be able to have these dudes (let’s say 2 of them) on our bench paying them what they’re getting paid at their current salaries AND have our starting 5?

Interesting hypothetical, but not really relevant inasmuch as they’re going to be second aproned as far as the eye can see after Mikal inevitably gets his 4/156 extension next off season.

BKRef lists Paul Reed at 6’9″ and 210lbs, so I think there’s some bias built in against him at C.

But more interestingly, all the box score influenced metrics have him as a good to very good defender while RAPM has him as a slight negative. Of course, he hasn’t played a ton of minutes so I’m hesitant to give RAPM too much credence here.

He’d still be our best backup C if we could pry him away from Detroit.

Taking my son to the game tonight, hopefully KAT and Deuce return and we get back to our winning ways. Alas, the Raps are getting healthy and RJ and IQ will want to show out.

We could not have paid Obi and made the KAT/Mikal trades, and getting two seconds for Obi prior to his walk year is aging pretty decently all things considered.

Yeah I loved Obi and Grimes, but we couldn’t have fit their 2nd contracts behind our starters (maybe Grimes idk). Although if you believe all-in-one BPM stats, a lineup with Obi/Grimes would be better than one with Mikal/OG… I guess that says, er, something about BPM.

But cap wise, would we be able to have these dudes (let’s say 2 of them) on our bench paying them what they’re getting paid at their current salaries AND have our starting 5?

We could’ve fit Grimes this year if we didn’t sign Precious, but not Obi or IQ. Grimes is in the final year of his rookie deal.

Interesting hypothetical, but not really relevant inasmuch as they’re going to be second aproned as far as the eye can see after Mikal inevitably gets his 4/156 extension next off season.

Once we’re over the 2nd apron, we’re over the second apron and keeping costs down doesn’t matter outside of Dolan Bucks.

Keeping costs down does matters for maneuvering under the 1st or 2nd apron, especially when you’re hard capped like we’ve been. Even still, we could stay under the 2nd apron next season if we choose to.

That’s two quality youngs

Obi Toppin is only a half year younger than OG Anunoby and 1.5 years younger than Mikal and Brunson, we’re starting to strain “young” at this point. Still, he would be nice to have.

Obi’s got a 663 TS% on 18.9 USG, OBPM 2.7, overall BPM 2.7. Given the years of discussion around here that continues to this day, very hard to see how objectively that’s determined to be worth less than two 2s.

I think Leon correctly prioritized getting “stars” and the rest of our starting lineup over depth because stars/solid starters are harder to get. I think he was successful in putting together a contender level starting lineup, but at a cost of short term depth. Now he will focus on depth going forward.

First, it’s hard to get stars out of the draft unless you have some lottery picks which we won’t have anyway. But you can get solid bench/role players all over the draft and sometimes very cheaply if they are ring chasing. We have 2nd rounders and a 2026 1st to actually draft people. Others understand our cap limitations on adding players in the off season, but there may be trade and other options that way also.

I still think Kolek will ultimately be our backup PG.

Deuce will remain a useful two-way bench player.

We know Mitch would be a great backup C that could also be used in big lineups if required, but we are waiting on his return and condition.

I think we are 1-3 role players away from an ideal team depending on Mitch, with guys like Hukporti and Dadiet in development mode and enough assets to finish the product for next year.

If we are talking about perfection, that would involve getting a starting caliber PF. He doesn’t have to be a star. He just has to defend inside, rebound, shoot the corner 3 and maybe have a little more scoring versatility around the rim. Then OG slides back to the 3 and Mikal to the 2. Hart would play off the bench. That dream may be unrealistic unless we get lucky or Precious blossoms, but I don’t think it’s necessary to say we have a contender.

I think both Obi and Grimes were traded in part because they wanted bigger roles and were unlikely to get them in NY. Obi was behind Randle. Grimes was behind Hart/DDV. I didn’t like either trade (especially Grimes).

The thing is, Obi wound up in bascially the same position and after Thibs messed up Grimes’s knee, he’s just beggining to carve out a role in Dallas that will wind up being similar to what he had in NY.

First, it’s hard to get stars out of the draft unless you have some lottery picks which we won’t have anyway.

He had a lottery pick, there was a star available, and he gave it away.

He doesn’t have to be a star. He just has to defend inside, rebound, shoot the corner 3 and maybe have a little more scoring versatility around the rim.

I’d be very happy if he could walk on water too… 😉

I’m joking Strat, I know you know that there are, at a starter level, maybe 5-10 guys like that in all the League (and I could sound optimistic about this) and they are not easily traded…

If we hadn’t traded Grimes, we wouldn’t have had the contract to trade for Bridges, but after the KAT trade Bridges became less important as a second creator. And that world have left us lots of picks and more room to trade for a good 4, and overall that probably would be a better team.

But we traded Grimes, so…

Edit: or we could have traded for a 5 and moved KAT to the 4

He had a lottery pick, there was a star available, and he gave it away.

I understand that some of us live in an idealistic world where we always make the right pick, but no one can do that. I have no draft expertise at all but occasionally I’m very very right. That doesn’t mean I’d get them all right.

They wouldn’t have had the creation issue that prompted the Mikal trade if they hadn’t made the Anunoby trade. Nor would they have the depth/bench/offensive pop issues that are keeping them in the mezzanine.

If we hadn’t traded Grimes, we wouldn’t have had the contract to trade for Bridges, but after the KAT trade Bridges became less important as a second creator. And that world have left us lots of picks and more room to trade for a good 4, and overall that probably would be a better team.

And this is the problem with these what if’s. At the time Leon traded for Bridges he probably thought A) we had a really good chance to resign iHart and B)Mitch would be ready to play at some point earlier in the season.

That would be the January Knicks PLUS Bridges and Mitch. That was the dream right there. No would be complaining about our team right now. We’d have a starting line up of Brunson, Bridges, OG, Randle and iHart with a bench of Deuce, DDV, Precious, Mitch, Cam, etc.

But then OKC made a monster offer to iHart. We couldn’t even match it if we wanted to because of the dumb rules about how much we were allowed to resign iHart at.

So Leon pivoted beautifully with the KAT trade but it cost us depth (2 for 1 trade). You throw in losing iHart it was 3 rotation players for 1.

So yes, he calculated the short term loss of depth for the long term talent infusion in the starting 5. None of us are upset with KAT being here. He’s been fantastic.

But Leon still has work to do. But I think it’s a little unfair to say Leon should not have made the Mikal trade post ipso facto just based off the possibility he might lose iHart.

not just the lacking depth and balance, but also the lacking talent that might have propelled them above what some refer to insightfully as the mezzanine level.

I’m not buying that, E. We have an incredible amount of top end talent. Our top 4 is outstanding. We just can’t compete with the teams that throw waves at you. (I also think we have a problem with top teams who have size but we haven’t seen much of that yet.)

If we hadn’t traded Grimes, we wouldn’t have had the contract to trade for Bridges

I think Brock Aller could have figured out picking up Evan Fournier’s option worked. Or are we still peddling the idea that it would be bad for our organizational reputation if we paid Evan $20M to not play?

If we hadn’t traded Grimes, we wouldn’t have had the contract to trade for Bridges, but after the KAT trade Bridges became less important as a second creator. And that world have left us lots of picks and more room to trade for a good 4, and overall that probably would be a better team.

But we traded Grimes, so…

Edit: or we could have traded for a 5 and moved KAT to the 4

We could have exercised the team option on Fournier’s deal and traded him instead of Bojan. Fournier cost only ~$1.1M less.

I wish I felt this was a finished product. I was hoping it was.

The thing is, IMO it’s way closer to being finished now than last year, the year before that or the year before that. Last year at this point we were discussng whether Brunson could be a legit #1 option all the way through the payoffs. Now with Towns, Bridges and OG we are discussing whether we have 1st, 2nd or 3rd best offense in the league when healthy.

There’s is an inconsistency in having the patience to sit out mutiple, years of tanking, praying for lottery luck, praying the player you want is still there and praying he actually develops into the player you need over 3-4 years (and of course doing this for multiple players) and not having the patience to say we are making dramatic improvements every year via free agency, trade, draft and using draft assets, but because it’s not happening fast enough and hasn’t been exectited in God-like fashion it’s a failure.

Something as simple at Kolek being the solid backup PG we need next year (at this point that almost seems likely) and Hukporti developing into a solid back C frees us to use Mitch as a trade asset for the bench help we need. And there are still ways to get even better.

I think both Obi and Grimes were traded in part because they wanted bigger roles and were unlikely to get them in NY

They both have the same roles now they did in NY: useful players off the bench.

We could have exercised the team option on Fournier’s deal and traded him instead of Bojan. Fournier cost only ~$1.1M less.

That was my argumement against the Grimes trade. We already had the contract we needed. I think ultimately it was a combination of both Grimes and Fournier being very unhappy and Leon taking whatever he could get to satisfy both of them (and their agents) but keep that trade flexibility. I’m not saying I agree with the choices made, but that’s my best guess about the overall thinking.

Hoping our LA contingent is staying safe

They both have the same roles now they did in NY: useful players off the bench.

I said the same exact thing in my post, which is saying that maybe they both overestimated their own value. Of course that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to still have them or that they can’t get better, but on a team like ours or their current teams they are bench players.

I’m not buying that, E. We have an incredible amount of top end talent. Our top 4 is outstanding.

The top 2 are both outstanding players. Neither 3 nor 4 are, or really that close. Where that leave the entire four-man aggregate I guess turns on definitions and perspective. If obtaining the top four was going to result in losing to teams with better and deeper rosters, the point kind of escapes.

In terms of Grimes, let’s not revise history there either. For whatever weird Thibsian reason Thibs had, he had gone from favorite son and core hustlebunny to chateau bow-wow in the span of like three basketball months. That’s why he was traded. Plus Thibs wanted Alfred E. Neuman.

“There’s is an inconsistency in having the patience to sit out mutiple, years of tanking, praying for lottery luck, praying the player you want is still there and praying he actually develops into the player you need over 3-4 years (and of course doing this for multiple players) and not having the patience to say we are making dramatic improvements every year via free agency, trade, draft and using draft assets, but because it’s not happening fast enough and hasn’t been exectited in God-like fashion it’s a failure.”

I get where you’re coming from, but we now know there was a different path which was to draft in the ordinary course, hope you pick JJ or J-Will, ride the ’23 playoff nucleus, and make the KAT trade. They’d be way better off having done that.

The Grimes trade was a clear win-now swing and miss. But when you can find Landry Shamets and TJ Warrens in the thrift shop, hard to get all that worked up about it, especially as he becomes an RFA after this year. I dunno, maybe he saves one of the picks out of the Mikal deal. Beyond that, whatever.

Obi at $14M AAV is not my particular cup of tea, especially given our cap constraints.

Nice to see all the ex-Knicks doing well! Hopefully not too well tonight!

Really not looking forward to a successful Revenge Game from the Raps. Mainly for this site the next day, where certain folks will rant on about losing players for nothing and what a fuck-up Rose is.

On a more interesting topic, there’s a very fascinating story about the winningest coach in college hoops and what he does that’s different from everyone else. My guess is the system could work anywhere, but you need the right players (and at the NBA level, it’d be 12 Josh Harts, which would be hard to find…).

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6035757/2025/01/08/jim-crutchfield-nova-southeastern-dii-basketball/

Quoted without comment from ESPN’s power rankings today, which have the Cavs at 1:

Acquiring Cameron Johnson and Maxwell Lewis from the Nets for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and draft capital would give the Cavs a coveted two-way player. Johnson is on a reasonable contract for years to come, while LeVert is on an expiring deal. Cleveland has been so good that this isn’t an absolute must move — the Cavs front office is reluctant to disturb the chemistry in that locker room for any marginal deal, sources told ESPN, but Johnson seems like he could fit in anywhere with his game and demeanor.

Idiot.

I won’t be commenting on the game tonight specifically, or the RJ/IQ/OG situation in the context of one particular game. The answer is pretty clear already and enough electrons have been spilled on it in the roster-building discussions.

Or are we still peddling the idea that it would be bad for our organizational reputation if we paid Evan $20M to not play?

We are. Having been an agent, I can tell you that money doesn’t fix everything, and agents very much do have a role in picking where their players play. There are tacit agreements in place on all sorts of things, and while no one but the insiders know for sure, it if reasonable to believe that Fournier and his agent made it clear they would be very unhappy to again be used as salary to make a trade and then sit on the bench. Leon might have said too bad, but I’m sure he knew as an agent the reputation of the Knicks and has wanted to rehabilitate it.

Who knows, but it is completely credible in my eyes. Fournier might actually like playing basketball, you know?

The baseline narrative of the Rangers’ collapse this year is that the locker room hates the GM and doesn’t want to play for him and the hatred started with the technically legal but norm-busting waiving of a popular glue player (Barclay Goodrow) to get around said player’s contractual no-trade clause. (San Jose was on the no-trade list, the GM waived him with what looks like a pre-arrangement with the SJ GM to claim him. Pretty low-down stuff.)

Hoping our LA contingent is staying safe

I’m with you DRed, hope all our SoCal guys and their families are safe and good…

Lots of industry folks live in the Palisades and Malibu and have lost their homes. Hope JK, CDiggy, Geo and all are OK….

oh shoot, just waking up, dang I better check the news…

Edit: me and my maltipoo sleep buddy are both doing A olay 👍

heard about some kind of “wind storm” coming through so cal though…

wow, crazy crazy weather…

hopedully those fire tornado things don’t start popping up again…

assume they have more important things to deal with today, but it would be great to get a post from JK and CDiggy (and Brian C?) that they are also fine so we can all agree that beating the Raptors is tonight’s top priority. Be well guys and keep safe.

Neither 3 nor 4 are, or really that close.

Still not buying it. Mikal Bridges is an incredible 3rd wheel and OG is an awesome 4th guy. You can knock the price but not the talent.

it is reasonable to believe that Fournier and his agent made it clear they would be very unhappy to again be used as salary to make a trade and then sit on the bench.

Then Leon should be fired for catering to an agent instead of doing what was best for the Knicks.

The Boston Celtics have been pissing off agents and players for 60 years and they seem to have no trouble acquiring more great players.

Having said that, what the Knicks did to Donte DiVincenzo and with Duane Washington/Partizan demonstrates that Leon is every bit as cut throat as he needs to be. It’s really hard to buy the idea that Rose would let a deal for Mikal Bridges die because Evan Fournier would be mad at him.

The Boston Celtics have been pissing off agents and players for 60 years and they seem to have no trouble acquiring more great players.

The Celtics have also been firmly established as one of the premier franchises in the league since pretty much the league first started.

The Knicks, on the other hand, had 20 years of complete incompetence that Leon needed to make people forget about.

I think Leon’s approach of making sure players and agents knew they would be taken care of here is a good one considering the legacy of incompetence we had before he arrived.

The Celtics can afford to be like that. We could not. Maybe that changes if we win a few titles.

what the Knicks did to Donte DiVincenzo

And Julius Randle, for that matter. Leon is as cut throat as he needs to be, I’ll give him credit for that.

Winning builds the reputation of your organization, not catering to washed up players like Evan Fournier. Not a single person is looking at the Knicks right now, seeing the success of Karl Anthony Towns, and saying “what a terrible organization they are for not respecting the wishes of Donte and Julius.”

Not to mention the idea that Evan Fournier would have been mad about getting paid $20M to do nothing has no basis in any reported truth. It’s fiction that has no verified citation, like the max deal Philadelphia supposedly offered OG Anunoby.

The Knicks, on the other hand, had 20 years of complete incompetence that Leon needed to make people forget about.

You really think letting Evan Fournier walk for nothing instead of being used in a trade for Mikal Bridges would have made people forget about 20 years of incompetence?

It would have added to the incompetence!

I’m fine down here in Long Beach. Looks like there’s still another 6-8 hours of Santa Ana winds until the maelstrom dies down, but we have been spared the worst of it here in the LBC. I have multiple friends who have lost everything and some other friends who have no ideas if their homes still exist.

I’ll let you guys chew over the agent stuff, but where we really needed Leon to be cutthroat was in his dealings with Sam Presti, Masai Ujiri, and Sean Marks and … well … he wasn’t.

Man that LA stuff sounds awful … be well, everyone.

The spilt milk crying gets kind of old, doesn’t it? How about we stipulate and move on?

Just heard from a friend that he watched on Ring as flames encircled his home – freaking crazy.

What facts and conclusions are you willing to stipulate to, Z-Man?

Not wanting to give Randle a max contract and, therefore, trading him after he’s been here for 4 seasons and has been paid a ton by us and including DDV in said trade is NOT the same as picking up a player’s contract so they can rot on the bench and not play for who knows how long (after doing that already for almost 2 seasons)…these are not remotely comparable as far as how they could potentially affect our relationship with agents and future free agents.

That everything that needs to be said about how one feels about Leon’s transactions leading up to this point has been said. Or do you think anyone who follows this blog is unaware of how you feel about whether Leon should have picked someone in the 2022 draft, or traded what he did for OG, or traded what he did for Mikal? Do you really think that there is a single poster who still doesn’t understand your positions on these matters? Or that there’s anyone who might come around to seeing things your way if you only articulate it a few hundred more times?

Those aren’t stipulations. Facts and conclusions are stipulations. If you’re willing to stipulate to certain facts and conclusions, there might be a deal to be made. Let’s hear them.

Otherwise, all you’re saying is that Leon is off-limits to criticism beyond the criticisms you deign to make. That doesn’t make sense. (Or that once someone communicates their opinion once with clarity, they can no longer go back and express that opinion. That doesn’t make sense, either.)

I think it’s just very weird that you only post on this blog and repeat this shit when we lose.

Beating a dead horse is a big part of E’s shtick.

Al you beat a dead horse every time Josh Hart hits a three. If I had a nickel for every time you said Cam Whitmore I could buy you a drink (at NYC prices!)

Great to see we’ll have more acerbic posts from you JK, damn about your friends . Telling that you told us about them when asked about you; sounds like you are a great friend to have.

It is a fact that you have stated your positions ad nauseum and that everyone understands them in minute detail and either agrees or disagrees with them. The other things you call “facts” are not. They are opinions. The stipulation is that we understand your opinions and that they don’t need to be futher restated.

And to be clear, I do not think Leon, Thibs, or whoever, is off limits to criticism, so please stop with that defensive bullshit. This is about saying the same things countless times as if you weren’t understood the first billion times you said them.

For example, you have said a billion times that you think it would have been better to keep RJ and IQ than to trade them for OG. Am I misrepresenting you? Or is it a fact that you feel that way? If it is a fact, and it is safe to assume that everyone knows that fact, than you can stipulate to it and not bring it up again.

For example, you have said a billion times that you think it would have been better to keep RJ and IQ than to trade them for OG. Am I misrepresenting you? Or is it a fact that you feel that way? If it is a fact, and it is safe to assume that everyone knows that fact, than you can stipulate to it and not bring it up again.

That’s not a stipulation, though. A stipulation comes from people the the statement is aimed at, not the person making it.

A short, simplified example from law experience.

Government says Mr. X committed insider trading by buying a stock in ABC ahead of the public announcement of a merger involving the stock. Case goes to trial. Gov’t has the trading records of Mr. X showing that he bought 10,000 shares of ABC on August 3.

Rather than waste the judge and jury’s time moving all the trading records into evidence to prove the purchase, with all that entails, gov’t sends Mr. X a document with proposed stipulations, including “Mr. X purchased 10,000 shares of ABC on August 3.”

Unless his counsel is a lunatic or a fool (for among other reasons, the judge will be very peeved when she finds out he didn’t sign), Mr. X signs the stipulation with this fact in it.

That’s a stipulation.

The way you’re using the term is “Yes, we know that you think Mr. X committed insider trading. It’s in your indictment of him, and you had a press conference after his arrest repeating it and you’ve said in court several times that he’s guilty. We know what you think, you don’t need to repeat it, stipulate to it, don’t talk about it again, and let’s move on.”

That’s not stipulation.

So what facts or conclusions that you think I’m alleging are you willing to stipulate to? Are you willing to stipulate that it would have been better to hang on to RJ and IQ? If so, that would be an important thing to know. Happy to listen.

Yeah, I figured that “stipulate” was being used in a legal sense, as E is an attorney. But now he explicitly stated that, so good to know that we are all of a common understanding now, even if we don’t all agree.

Ok this site has officially become dreck. A shame really, I do enjoy a lot of the posters comments, but one in particular is dEstroying it.

A shame really, I do enjoy a lot of the posters comments, but one in particular is dEstroying it.

just come back tomorrow if the Knicks win. He won’t post if we do!

E, this isn’t court. It’s a basketball blog. Read the room.

I think it’s just very weird that you only post on this blog and repeat this shit when we lose.

not sure why, but those words strung together like that, brought me so much joy…

thank you swifty, thank you E…

don’t forget, lou costello had to set up bud to make the act work 😊

“E, this isn’t court. It’s a basketball blog. Read the room.”

And it’s a basketball discussion. Of the New York Knicks.

Dodge.

Any stipulations on your end?

If yes, might be a doable deal (and would be interesting to know). If no, then your ask is just unilateral retreat from a valid and ongoing debate about basketball — an ask you aren’t making of anyone else, including yourself.

E isn’t really interested in discussing basketball. E is interested in discussing how smart E is.

We’d have a team full of Cam Reddishes, Dejounte Murrays, and Frank Ntilikinas if he was running this shit, so all “grain of salt” caveats apply.

No, what I’m saying is that when a significant number of posters suggest that you are ruining the blog, maybe it’s time to look in the mirror. i’ve been called out at times, and have generally paid heed. You clearly don’t give a shit.

No, what I’m saying is that when a significant number of posters suggest that you are ruining the blog, maybe it’s time to look in the mirror. i’ve been called out at times, and have generally paid heed. You clearly don’t give a shit.

I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about whether you agree with anything I’ve said substantively about these basketball things that you appear to be harping on. (You brought them up, I didn’t.)

If you do, great, let’s hear it and then it will be stipulated and we might be able to move on. If you don’t, then it’s a debate/discussion that continues on as it should.

what do you think each and every opposing coach is thinking when they play the knicks…

watch out for towns, and let’s keep throwing fresh legs at them all game…

we will and have been getting tired during games…

will it continue 🤔

i am officially on the play the starters less game minutes and have the team practice more side of things…

Today’s thread seems oddly familiar, yet also somehow different.

I think the practice thing is more a problem with the NBA schedule than a coaching decision. With travel and recovery there’s not a lot of time to practice.

I little diversion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-RGHzdlgU

hope all is good donnie

It’s the same dreck when the Knicks win, just different posters, most of whom disappear when the Knicks lose as much as E disappears when the Knicks win.

“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-RGHzdlgU”

But why? Can we all just start posting links to random YouTube videos if they interest us now?

Structure and randomness is message of video.

It’s the same dreck when the Knicks win, just different posters, most of whom disappear when the Knicks lose as much as E disappears when the Knicks win.

Except that it isn’t “dreck” to post positive things about a sports team that you support after they win a game on a blog dedicated to that sports team.

Yeah, I know, I get that…….but still.

Except that it isn’t “dreck” to post positive things about a sports team that you support after they win a game on a blog dedicated to that sports team.

Except if that’s it, it’s then hard to tell whether it’s just emotion talking talking and whether people actually mean the things they say. Unfortunately, there’s no warning labels on the internet.

And of course what Hubert likely meant is the victory laps people take after wins. Those are “dreck” in its purest form.

If you’re saying game threads and day-afters for wins should just be a celebration zone, and people are saying things in celebration that they might not mean literally, then it’s probably best to just come out and say that. It seems like that’s what’s being said, but again hard to tell.

I’ve already said I’m probably not going to be commenting much, win or lose, tonight and that will be the case (it’s a great uniform matchup and I’m thinking heavily of going), but if, let’s say, OG plays well tonight and a bunch of victory laps are taken over one game then, yeah — that’s dreck.

I’ve already said I’m probably not going to be commenting much, win or lose, tonight and that will be the case (it’s a great uniform matchup and I’m thinking heavily of going)

So if they lose tonight, you won’t comment tomorrow?

Can we hold you to that?

You literally were gone for the entire 9 game win streak and then suddenly reappear when they start losing.

You were completely off the blog all of last January only to reappear when we started struggling

You didn’t post at all when we defeated Philly but were all over the blog when we lost to the Pacers.

There is a clear pattern here.

The people who take victory laps also post stuff about how our bench is weak, concerns about thibs, etc. You exclusively focus on the negatives and how your ideas would have been the right ones.

So if they lose tonight, you won’t comment tomorrow?

I’ll only comment on Thibs if they lose and there’s news about his seat getting hotter. Maybe if there seems to be some critical mass change about him on KB. Nothing on personnel, absolutely positively nothing about OG, IQ, or RJ. I won’t start anything about Thibs, guaranteed. He should have been gone long ago.

You didn’t post at all when we defeated Philly but were all over the blog when we lost to the Pacers.

False. Very active playoff poster in all circumstances.

Personally, I’m hoping Towns and Deuce sit out tonight. I wouldn’t mind if Brunson sat out also and we limited OG, Hart, and Bridges to 25 minutes. I don’t really care if we lose to the Raptors. I’d way rather get everyone back to 100% healthy and fresh and play OKC at full strength and rested on Friday to see what we can do at home.

It will interesting to see the Raptors with RJ, Quickley and Barnes all at the same time.

Before we start this conversation again, Thibs is NOT going anywhere any time soon unless they find pictures of him in a very compromising situation. And given his extreme dedication to basketball and winning, I suspect he doesn’t have much of a life outside basketball. So with a recent long term extension in hand, he’s here to stay for awhile no matter what happens on the court.

Toronto was fully healthy in their last game and lost by 24 at home to the Bucks.

Except that it isn’t “dreck” to post positive things about a sports team that you support after they win a game on a blog dedicated to that sports team.

I wasn’t referring to you, fwiw, Swifty. But there’s a significant cohort of posters who celebrate Knick wins by mocking the takes they perceive to have been proven wrong by said win. Those same people then clutch their pearls when E does the same thing after a loss.

It’s all dreck. There’s just a larger cohort on the other side, so they think the validation they get when other posters post the same dreck as them means their posts are better than E’s.

Tonight is a prototypical association season cold Wednesday in January. In terms of any kind of broader conclusions or adjustments of priors, the game doesn’t really mean jack squat.(*) It especially doesn’t mean jack squat if KAT doesn’t play.

It’s to be enjoyed as major league basketball in a great city with great announcers and if you’re in attendance, an iconic arena and great atmosphere. Beyond that, doesn’t mean jack squat.

In terms of nomenclature, given where they are in their careers, the time has long passed for “breakout games” for players like Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, or Scottie Barnes. OG Anunoby did not have a “breakout game” in Denver; any references in that vein were … yes … dreck.

If RJ and IQ play fantastic and OG plays like trash, that alone does not mean the trade was bad. If OG plays great and both RJ and IQ play like trash, that alone does not mean the trade was good. Thus, there’s no real reason for a bunch of commentary about tonight’s game that revolves around that. Others can comment, of course; I won’t be.

(*) Here’s what would mean jack squat:

1. A major injury to a key Knick.
2. A loss, particularly a bad loss, followed by a Kremlinology-type story in the NY Post (or conceivably Shams) showing direct or indirect FO complaints about the direction of the team or Thibs.

Interesting game tonight between OKC and the Cavs.

Tt’s January and whatever the final score will be it won’t mean anything this spring, but it’s the first time two teams with a 15-wins streak and a 10-wins streak collide in the history of the NBA.

Should be fun.

hope all is good donnie

Thanks man. House burned down last night. But humans are all safe and ready to rebuild.

Keep the blog up, guys. It’s always been a great distraction for me:)

Fuck. Sorry, man. Glad you and the humans are safe.

Oh Donnie, I’m so sorry that’s awful. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help

Damn Donnie, I am so sorry. It’s staggering how many people that I know who have either lost their homes or who have likely lost their homes and just don’t know it for certain yet.

Before we lived in Long Beach we were in Pasadena, right near the Altadena line. That neighborhood has been obliterated, just wiped off the map.

I can’t imagine that The Big One could be much worse than this.

Oh no Donnie! I’m very sorry, thank heaven you and your family are safe.

So sorry to hear it, Donnie! But you’re right to focus on the health and safety of your (very large) family – if they’re ok, nothing else really matters.

Here’s hoping the next steps (rebuilding/moving) are not too challenging…

Shit. Can we do a Knicks gambling/fundraiser for Donnie or something? Even though he doesn’t care about the Knicks

That’s awful, Donnie, I’m so sorry. I’m glad that you’re all at least safe, but FUCK.

Sorry to hear that, Donnie. Wish you the best.

this team better win tonight

Jesus, Donnie. So sorry to hear.

Maybe try the Pacific Northwest. It rains too damn much to burn up. Although it does try now and again.

Hope you and yours find a decent port in the (fire)storm.

Personally, I’m hoping Towns and Deuce sit out tonight. I wouldn’t mind if Brunson sat out also and we limited OG, Hart, and Bridges to 25 minutes. I don’t really care if we lose to the Raptors. I’d way rather get everyone back to 100% healthy and fresh and play OKC at full strength and rested on Friday to see what we can do at home.

That’s an interesting point of view but if you are just looking at win probabilities, it’s probably better to do the opposite. Then you would probably beat Toronto and at least win one out of two. With your proposal, you would probably lose to Toronto and could easily lose to OKC too meaning you lose two out of two.

Not to mention five in a row…….

Very tempted to watch OKC/Cleveland game tonight.

Nick Richards.

For those of you swooning over Grimes’ recent stats, are you taking into account that he wouldn’t be getting nearly this much run if either Luka or Kyrie (or both) were in the line-up?

Re-unite Naz and KAT. He might not actually be all that expensive.

jesus donnie. very glad everyone is ok. but hell i am damn sorry to hear that.

Damn, Donnie glad you’re all safe all the best to you and yours.

Timelord.

My condolences as well Donnie. So awful.

Sweating three people right now whose homes are on the edge of the fire. Just staggering the extent of this fire, seemingly out of nowhere.

Will post a link if Cronin doesn’t…

KAT in; Deuce out.

So sorry to hear, Donnie. The videos are staggering. Can’t imagine how this stuff will look like in 20 years.

Sorry to hear Donnie, glad all are safe.

So sorry to hear that Donnie. This is a terrible situation.

Are the Knicks playing tonight?

I’m watching real contenders like OKC and the Cavs. 😉

Do your magic, Owen…

So sorry to hear about your home, Donnie. Thank God all of your family is ok.

Sorry to hear that Donnie, confident your humor will keep you and your loved ones safe and sound.

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