Back to Square One
Sustainable, shushtainable
In this newsletter:
Well, we learned two things over the last 24 hours:
1) I should never, ever make predictions (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out yesterday’s newsletter. Or on second thought, don’t)
2) Mike Miller can’t cure everything that ails this team. Nor, probably, could Red Auerback, Pat Riley or Phil Jack-
You know what? Never mind.
Let’s talk about last night’s game.
One Big Thing
I continue to lie
On Monday, I opened this section by talking about how what the Knicks did on Saturday night (playing a solid, two-way game and remaining competitive against a good team) felt sustainable.
In fairness, part of me still believes that, even after last night’s 28-point blowout that was never really a game in the second half. The Knicks came out playing with the same energy and level of execution on defense that they did against Indiana, and in response, Damian Lillard simply dropped his junk on center court and said “Nah.”
In the first quarter, if you look at each team minus their best player, New York was tied with Portland 15 all, and the offense was moving just well enough. Unfortunately for them, Lillard had 17 to Julius Randle’s 7. It remained a single-digit lead until - guess who?- Dame checked back in with under five to go in the second quarter and scored eight points over the final 4:26. Blazers by 19 at the half, Knicks stop moving the ball as much on offense, the rope gets slippery on defense, game over.
This is what happens in the NBA when you play a team that has any one of the 15-20 guys who can put you in a casket without much assistance. When facing such dudes (and when you don’t have one of your own), you have to play perfect to stay in it…or you have to make shots.
In other news, the Knicks missed 19 of their first 21 attempts from long range and finished the evening 7-for-38 from deep. According to Basketball Reference, that’s the first time they’ve ever done such a thing.
Add it all up, and the question about whether Saturday night’s effort was sustainable isn’t really a fair one because on some nights, coming out and playing that way won’t make a difference, not with a roster so short on top end talent and legit shooting threats, not to mention an NBA-caliber starting point guard (we’ll get to Frank in a bit).
What we saw last night that we hoped was behind us was a lack of commitment to playing a certain way after getting hit in the face. Mike Miller sure seems like a better coach for this roster than David Fizdale, but he’s still someone coaching with an interim tag for a front office that seems to have one foot out the door themselves.
If ever there were a situation where accountability on nights like yesterday is all but impossible to achieve, it’s this one.
Humble Suggestion
What everyone around here has to hope is that this team - whoever is running it at this point - is savvy enough during trade talks to make moves with one purpose and one purpose only in mind: get players in (and ship players out) who make it easier for the key young guys to ply their craft. This may involve shipping out “better” talents (read: Morris, and if I had my druthers, Randle, who was actually quite good yesterday) in favor of ones who can do things this team needs - namely, shoot.
That may very well be impossible this season, but you never know. This past February, the Clippers stole Landry Shamet from Philly in the Tobias Harris trade and Justin Jackson went to Dallas in the Harrison Barnes deal. Harris and Barnes obviously had more value last season than anyone on the current Knicks, but there will be teams interested in guys like Randle and Morris.
Charlotte might be a team willing to take a look at a guy like Randle and be just curious enough to give up on Malik Monk (down to 27 percent from deep) for the right to do so. They also have a ton of matching salary to make such a deal work, and who knows? Maybe a future protected pick can be involved as well (the Hornets are just 2.5 games out of the 8th seed…would they be so silly? Doesn’t hurt to ask)
Whether that deal is available or not, the Knicks have to start kicking the tires on these sorts of things the moment the clock strikes midnight on Sunday. It’s the best way to take this season and turn it into something semi-useful, which, on night’s like last, it certainly wasn’t.
Stat of the Night
48
That’s how many points in the paint New York had vs Portland. The closest thing to a positive that came from yesterday was the Knicks’ insistence to either shoot it long or shoot it close. Take a look at New York’s shot chart (their’s are the blue dots)
It’s rare that the distribution on one of these shot charts is ever in the Knicks’ favor, but that’s what happened yesterday.
Obviously, any stat or trend in a game like last night has to be taken with several grains of salt, and many of these threes didn’t come in what you’d call “the flow of the offense.” Nonetheless, if the coaching staff is looking for something positive to show the guys, they could do worse than this.
Made Me Smile (and Frown)
There was one thing:
That’s Frank Ntilikina driving to the lane for a bucket, essentially going one on three…and winning. He tried the same thing a few plays later, only to be blocked by Hassan Whiteside. I may be forgetting one, but I’m fairly certain it was the last time he drove the lane all night long.
Look, I love Frank. The lack of complementary pieces on this team – players who would amplify his strengths and make his flaws less glaring – isn’t his fault, nor is the fact that his developmental process was jerked around over the last two plus seasons after the offense he was drafted to play in got scrapped before he ever put on a Knick uniform.
But he also needs to own some of this. Plays like the one from above are always going to be there, and he clearly has the ability to convert, but too often, when one of them goes poorly (like the subsequent block), he treats the painted area like it’s covered in the bugs from Temple of Doom.
He has to keep his foot on the gas. It would help his development immensely, and more importantly, make life a lot easier on his teammates.
Final Thought
December 15 can’t get here soon enough.
Player Spotlight
So sometimes when you gamble, you have to be a little bit mean. This is hard for me. I hate being mean (just follow my coverage of the Knicks if you don’t believe me)
But when moolah is at stake, well…you bend the rules, ever so slightly.
Thus, heading into tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors, I’m using the PredictionStrike Player Spotlight to talk about someone who may be able to take advantage of the some of the defensive weak spots on the Knicks roster: Omari Spellman.
“The Walrus” (as he was christened by Terry, Futernick and myself in Vegas) has been coming off the Warriors’ bench and tossing aside penguins at will all season long, to the tune of 15 points, 10 boards, two dimes, and over a steal and a block per 36 minutes. Most importantly for tonight’s purposes, he’s hitting 38 percent from deep.
The Knicks’ second unit has fallen short on defense in several ways this season, but two that stand out are a) Mitch’s hesitancy to guard the 3-point line as he continues to find the balance between swatting everything and avoiding silly fouls, and b) Kevin Knox’s hesitancy to guard anyone at all, at least in a way that resembles NBA-caliber defense (although he had some nice moments last night).
Spellman figures to be the assignment of both men at times tonight, and might get to eat several helpings of fresh fish as a result.
After opening the season at a mere $0.37, Spellman is currently trading at $2.09 after reaching a high point of $2.20 a few weeks ago. He’s averaged 10 fantasy points per game over his last three after averaging over 20 a night for his previous five. If he’s going to sharpen his tusks against the Knicks, you might as well get something out of it (and remember to use code KFS when signing up to get $10 of free investment cash)
Podcast Alert!
News & Notes
compiled by Michael Schatz (@mschatz99)
Someone with the Knicks didn’t want Melo traded. Well then.
Patrick Ewing chimes in on the Fiz firing.
Chris Iseman with a piece featuring some nice quotes about RJ Barrett.
On This Date: Richie Guerin scores 57 points and Latrell Sprewell scores 49 points
by Vivek Dadhania (@vdadhania)
Richie Guerin became the first Knick player to eclipse the 50 point mark by scoring 57 points in a 152-121 victory. In addition to the 57 points, Guerin had 12 rebounds and 8 assists.
That’s it! See everyone tomorrow!