And We're Off...
...and (kind of) running
It’s official: the New York Knicks will not go 82-0 this season.
While that’s clearly a downer, considering there were moments last night when it looked like 0-82 was in play, the evening as a whole can’t be considered a total failure.
No, moral victories don’t live here anymore, not for a team that proclaimed themselves to have an offseason they were pleased with, and not for a front office that was (finally, kind of) able to craft a team in the image they desire.
That being said, it’s a good time to remember that this is going to be a process. Last night, that process got bumpy before the game even started, hit some tremendous waves in the middle, was sunshine and seagulls for a hot minute there in the second half, and ultimately resulted in a loss.
Of course, some losses are shipwrecks, but this was more like a motor that gave out. As Fiz pointed to after the game, when a six-point fourth quarter lead turned into a 12-point deficit in a matter of minutes, the team lost trust in each other, the ball stopped moving, and they stopped defending the 3-point line (all similar to what happened in the preseason home opener vs Washington, just on a much more condensed scale).
Is it cause for panic? Maybe for some. But if you could have predicted one thing on opening night from a brand new roster that hasn’t been together yet for a full month, it was exactly what we saw in the fourth. Personally, I’m encouraged by some of the things they did to get them that six-point lead in the first place.
Let’s get to the categories.
One Big Thing:
RJ Barrett, all day, every day, and for as long as we all shall live.
If you want to say that RJ Barrett was the best Knick on the floor last night, you’re not going to get an argument from me. 21 point on 13 shots and largely impressive defense will get you that designation.
Were there highlight plays that popped out? Of course, although as we should already be used to by now, RJ’s highlights aren’t usually of the SportsCenter Top 10 variety; they’re more the Kawhi-esque, “I’m just gonna’ keep coming at you” type.
Like, look at this baby:
Derrick White is good defender. He’s 6’4” and pushing two bills. Barrett treated him as if he wasn’t there. He’s getting pretty good at that, actually.
For me though, what stood out most wasn’t what Barrett did; it’s what he didn’t do. Maybe I’m forgetting an instance where this happened, but not once can I remember a play where it looked like he was forcing the action, falling asleep on D, or generally making the types of plays we’ve become so accustomed to ‘round these parts for two decades now (and which several of his teammates displayed in the mid-to-late 4th).
Whatever “it” is, he seems to possess it.
Unpopular Opinion
Give Fiz a damn chance to coach this team
This soap box has a pretty strict time limit, and I’ve already used up some of those precious minutes on both the postgame periscope and the podcast, so I’ll be brief…
Fiz made a decision last night that backfired, and did so pretty clearly, if not spectacularly. While going commando is often a fun an easy way to spice up an otherwise dreary Wednesday, doing so with the point guard position against a team that will exploit any and all lack of ball movement was probably a bad idea. I get that.
What I didn’t get was people killing the dude for trying something out of the box.
People referred to the pointlessness of the preseason point guard competition as a reason to hate the move, when to me, this was 100% in response to what we saw over four fake games. None of those guys came out and convincingly won the job, while Trier was at least decent in the time we saw (there were, of course, other caveats to starting Trier, which I wrote about yesterday). He can also shoot the rock, which is an important quality to have on the floor in 2019.
You can argue the basketball logic one way or another, but it was refreshing that the coach wasn’t beholden to the thing he was supposed to do. Is it a bad look to essentially admit that neither of your 21-year-old point guard prospects is worthy of a start? Maybe, but that’s no worse than force-feeding one or both of them to the detriment of the rest of the team.
Dennis Smith Jr. and Frank Ntilikina will either figure it out or they won’t, but setting a “show me” standard seems like a move every Knick fan should be able to get behind.
Key Stat
16
That’s how many steals the Knicks had last night. They got to that total through three quarters, and it was three more than they had in any game last year.
Last season, New York was 24th in the league in this category with 6.8 swipes per game, and they were next to last in deflections.
Steals are a funny stat and not necessarily indicative of anything more than some lazy opponent passing on any given night. They also don’t mean you have a good defense. Last year, the top two teams in this category were the Thunder, who had the fourth best defense in the league, and the Suns, who were ranked 29th. One was a hyper-aggressive unit that played together and knew when to gamble, while the other was often looking for the easy way out.
For the Knicks, they figure to do a fair amount of switching this year due to their personnel, especially when Mitchell Robinson isn’t in the game like last night. They’re also big, in case you haven’t heard.
That steal was a result of two large humans strategically closing out on a guy who’s not the best passer in the world. One of them - RJ - seems to have the instincts to make a move like that work. This is good!
My sense is that this is trend that could not only continue, but actually be a sign of competent defense.
That said, 120 points is 120 points. San Antonio got to the foul line 36 times, which is a preposterous number and means the Knicks need to clean up their collective acts (and work on that whole “trust” thing). But there were signs that this defense might not be the tire fire it was last season.
Made Me Smile
Julius Randle, making me look smart (for one night at least)
In my preseason predictions column, I posited that the Knicks splashiest summer acquisition could put up a 25, 10, 5 & 5 stat line this season. It was fairly absurd on its face, as such a statistical season has only happened 17 times in NBA or ABA history, and only three if you count the final “5” - turnovers (thanks Clarence!)
And yet last night, there was Julius, throwing up 25 points, 11 boards, six dimes, and only one (one!) turnover.
Only 81 games to go. C’mon bud…let’s make this happen.
Other Thoughts
I know he wasn’t good last night, and largely wasn’t great in the preseason, but I still think Wayne Ellington is going to play an important role on this team. His jumper is too consistent not to start falling, and his movement on the court is palpable. In short, they need him.
Get used to always seeing one of Julius Randle or Marcus Morris on the floor. Fizdale’s sub patterns last night were to yank one of them early in the 1st & 3rd, and then later in the quarter, sub the one that he pulled for the other one who he previously kept in. Clearly he feels like he needs one of these dudes out there at all times, and he won’t be bashful about their minutes. On that note…
The notion that many of us had as a way to accommodate such a large swath of players who feel they should be part of the rotation - play 11 or 12 guys between 16 and 28 minutes a night - looks like a pipe dream. If last night is any indication (and I think it is) he’s going to give his best guys - Morris, Randle and RJ - heavy minutes, and let everyone else fight for the scraps.
Marcus Morris took some ill-advised shots late, but without his buckets and leadership in the early going (he huddled up the team on the court a few times when they were reeling), that game would have been a blowout. Kudos to him for living up to the moment.
Additional kudos to Elfrid Payton. He came out and likely won the starting point guard job, and deservedly so. He had the team under control on offense, and aside for some silly fouls, was largely a plus on defense. His team high +14 does not feel like an accident (h/t @ScooterToots ;) On the other hand…
Dennis Smith Jr. I…I…yeah, I don’t know what that was. I can’t remember a professional athlete looking as out of sorts as he did for most of the time he was out there, making Markelle Fultz look like Ray Allen on offense and impersonating an MTA turnstyle on defense. Worst of all, he did have one really nice drive to the hoop. Why is that bad? Because it indicates to me that whatever is going on with him isn’t physical. Was he bummed out he didn’t get the start, as Mr. Futernick pointed out on the pod last night? Who the hell knows. But I’ll be curious to see how he bounces back.
Final Thought…
Frank…I mean, did you really think I was going to end anywhere else?
Should we be happy he got a chance over the decrepit DSJ? Yes. Did he play well in his three-minute stint? No. Did he deserve a longer leash? You tell me.
I went back and re-watched all the possessions Ntilikina was in the game for (it didn’t take very long). I saw two plus plays (a nice pocket pass to a rolling Taj, who somehow missed the dunk, and a steal that led to Frank fastbreaking and getting his shot goaltended, which wasn’t called) two minus plays (the two turnovers) and the rest were plays where he was either neutral or uninvolved.
On one hand, this sum total was worlds’ better than what we saw from Smith, and yet Smith got a much longer leash. On the other hand, the mistakes Frank made were ones you absolutely, positively cannot make as a point guard, essentially gifting the other team free points with lazy, ill-advised passes.
Where should this leave us? I’m not an impartial observer, so I’m happy to hear all thoughts. But based on what we saw last night, in my not-so-humble opinion, this should not warrant gluing young Franky to the pine. He has much better in him. We’ve seen it before, and if given the chance, I’m confident we’ll see it again.
Next game: Friday night in Brooklyn…Giddy up.