Haven’t thought too much about Simmons, but looking back at the 2018 draft, the Knicks could have taken any one of maybe 8-10 players who are not only above and beyond Knox, but in some cases WAY above Knox. Too many drafts this team has struck out, hopefully Grimes continues to grow and makes up for some of it.
I'll take the hit for this one as I checked my phone and saw the Knicks up ~22 in the 3rd quarter and turned my NBA app on to watch the remainder. Sorry. Wish I hadn't. You nailed it in this newsletter. Cherry on top of your points to follow. #1 We've got to sit Kemba. He's a good dude, love the smiles and all but he's an absolute zero on defense. I feel like I could blow by him and that's just based on the fact that I have two whole knees. Doesn't matter how many points he puts up, we're not good enough anymore on D to carry him and what he gives up on a silver platter. #2 This is a bad team. Great teams go up ~22 and stomp on your grave, then bring in the scrubs for garbage time. Bad teams go up ~22 and you can feel the tension. They know they don't belong and are almost anticipating giving it back. This team is the latter type. It's palpable. Signing up to watch Kemba, Fournier & Taj is really asking a lot of NYK fans. They're not bad guys, but would we really be worse off with McBride, Grimes & Sims taking some of those minutes?
Radical idea, not... #PLAYTHEKIDS. Give Bryant and Payne the [in game] reins running out the young guns. Let Thibs observe, critique, and build up their play in practice and strategy sessions.
Cartwright is not properly appreciated because, with the notable exception of Bernard King, that era between the title teams and Ewing is overlooked. Mr. Bill [taken from SNL] was a wonderfully gifted big man scorer. He needed an Oakley or Mase to do his dirty work or be the team's defensive enforcer, and there really wasn't one during his MSG tenure. The brief Twin Towers experiment [the Rockets used Ralph Sampson and the Dream] with Pat might have worked---if the team had gone all in. While Ewing's Knicks were glorious, Bill won his 3 rings with MJ and the Running of the Bulls. So, Knick fandom can be dismissive of Cartwright's talents. But, scoreboard! He's got the last laugh.
"Another thing Thibodeau can’t control is injuries."
Yeah, I'm gonna disagree with this at least to a certain extent. Thibodeau is well-known, probably best-known, for grinding his players into dust; it's by far the biggest criticism of his coaching. Last season, Derrick Rose in back to back games to end February played 37 and 32 minutes and then missed 10 straight games. Then this season, in 3 straight games in December he plays 33, 36, and 34 minutes and hasn't played since.
Last year, Kemba Walker didn't play both games of a back to back all season because Boston knew his knee couldn't handle it and limited his minutes until the end of the season when they were pushing for the playoffs. This year, in 6 straight games in December Kemba plays 37, 40, 43, 40, 33, and 20 minutes and the last two games were back to back. He played relatively well during that stretch but then missed 9 games due to injury and has looked terrible since he got back.
Finally, there's RJ Barrett who injured his ankle during the closing seconds of a blowout. He's missed 2 straight games already and as far as I can tell is listed as out again tonight.
Haven’t thought too much about Simmons, but looking back at the 2018 draft, the Knicks could have taken any one of maybe 8-10 players who are not only above and beyond Knox, but in some cases WAY above Knox. Too many drafts this team has struck out, hopefully Grimes continues to grow and makes up for some of it.
I'll take the hit for this one as I checked my phone and saw the Knicks up ~22 in the 3rd quarter and turned my NBA app on to watch the remainder. Sorry. Wish I hadn't. You nailed it in this newsletter. Cherry on top of your points to follow. #1 We've got to sit Kemba. He's a good dude, love the smiles and all but he's an absolute zero on defense. I feel like I could blow by him and that's just based on the fact that I have two whole knees. Doesn't matter how many points he puts up, we're not good enough anymore on D to carry him and what he gives up on a silver platter. #2 This is a bad team. Great teams go up ~22 and stomp on your grave, then bring in the scrubs for garbage time. Bad teams go up ~22 and you can feel the tension. They know they don't belong and are almost anticipating giving it back. This team is the latter type. It's palpable. Signing up to watch Kemba, Fournier & Taj is really asking a lot of NYK fans. They're not bad guys, but would we really be worse off with McBride, Grimes & Sims taking some of those minutes?
Radical idea, not... #PLAYTHEKIDS. Give Bryant and Payne the [in game] reins running out the young guns. Let Thibs observe, critique, and build up their play in practice and strategy sessions.
Cartwright is not properly appreciated because, with the notable exception of Bernard King, that era between the title teams and Ewing is overlooked. Mr. Bill [taken from SNL] was a wonderfully gifted big man scorer. He needed an Oakley or Mase to do his dirty work or be the team's defensive enforcer, and there really wasn't one during his MSG tenure. The brief Twin Towers experiment [the Rockets used Ralph Sampson and the Dream] with Pat might have worked---if the team had gone all in. While Ewing's Knicks were glorious, Bill won his 3 rings with MJ and the Running of the Bulls. So, Knick fandom can be dismissive of Cartwright's talents. But, scoreboard! He's got the last laugh.
"Another thing Thibodeau can’t control is injuries."
Yeah, I'm gonna disagree with this at least to a certain extent. Thibodeau is well-known, probably best-known, for grinding his players into dust; it's by far the biggest criticism of his coaching. Last season, Derrick Rose in back to back games to end February played 37 and 32 minutes and then missed 10 straight games. Then this season, in 3 straight games in December he plays 33, 36, and 34 minutes and hasn't played since.
Last year, Kemba Walker didn't play both games of a back to back all season because Boston knew his knee couldn't handle it and limited his minutes until the end of the season when they were pushing for the playoffs. This year, in 6 straight games in December Kemba plays 37, 40, 43, 40, 33, and 20 minutes and the last two games were back to back. He played relatively well during that stretch but then missed 9 games due to injury and has looked terrible since he got back.
Finally, there's RJ Barrett who injured his ankle during the closing seconds of a blowout. He's missed 2 straight games already and as far as I can tell is listed as out again tonight.