Boston Massacre

The Knicks were DOA in Boston, but it shouldn't tarnish the efforts of the weekend's lone bright spot.

Good Morning! As always, thanks for checking out today’s newsletter on the most frustrating team in the world. Unlike the Jets and Giants though, we’re not even halfway to being put out of our misery. The Knicks reach the midway point of the season tonight, and if they want to make anything out of the 2021-22 campaign, they might want to kick it into high gear sometime soon, as I’ll get into more below. First up though, a recap of this weekend’s flat tire.

Game Recap: Knicks 75, Celtics 99

This game started incredibly promising, with the Knicks taking a 10-point lead in the first minute of the second quarter behind an offense run by Immanuel Quickley (starting in place of Evan Fournier, who missed the game with a contused thigh) and New York draining everything from deep, making eight of their first 13 shots from behind the arc. From that point forward though, the Knicks scored just 44 points in the final 35 minutes as Boston put the clamps down and New York had no answers. The Knicks kept it respectable through three quarters until back to back Celtic threes to start the fourth pushed the lead to 22 and that was that.

Offensive Offense

The 75 points the Knicks scored on Saturday is not only their lowest total of the season, but the least they’ve scored in a game in nearly four years, when they put up 73 on April 3, 2018 against the Magic (h/t Fred Katz). The bench, which has been a strength all season, contributed just six points (one two Quentin Grimes’ threes) thanks in part to the team being so depleted at the moment.

Without Derrick Rose, Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, there was a distinct lack of perimeter creation outside of Immanuel Quickley, who initiated far less of the offense in the second half and may have been wearing down after playing 37 of the first 39 minutes. Outside of Quickley (7-for-11, 18 points), the Knicks shot just 22-for-68 overall (32.3 percent) and 8-of-26 from downtown (30.7 percent).

A Word About [Redacted]

Before we get to the bright spots about Saturday’s game (well, bright spot, plus a couple other players who at least weren’t lost in the darkness), I’d like to say a quick word about [Redacted].

[Redacted] was bad. Which isn’t to say he didn’t do some good things. For instance, here [Redacted] is able to draw a double team and then puts enough juice on the pass to get it out to Immanuel Quickley for an open three even tough Jayson Tatum gets a hand on it.

This was one of six assists that [Redacted] had on the evening.

If you gave [Redacted] truth serum, he’d surely tell you all about how his playmaking doesn’t get nearly enough credit from fans, and how people don’t understand how taxing it is to dominate possession after possession. [Redacted], after all, is third in the league in front court touches.

So when we see the occasional possession where [Redacted] doesn’t exactly give it his all in half-court defense…

…ostensibly sticking to the “protect the paint” game plan but really meandering in no-man’s land, not aiding the defensive effort in any cognizable way, it should be forgiven.

Similarly, we should look the other way when the efforts of [Redacted] to get back in transition leave a bit to be desired:

How many Mississippi’s did you count between when the ball handler crossed half court and when [Redacted] entered the frame? Whatever it is, surely you were counting too fast.

Can we also please (pretty please…with sugar on top) take into consideration that [Redacted] can’t read minds! How in the world is he supposed to know when players are going to cut and when they aren’t.

As such, plays like this really can’t be considered his fault, not if we’re being fair at least:

And last but not least, [Redacted] would surely refer you to the fact that he wasn’t the only Knick without the knack on Saturday night. Like has been the case all season, RJ Barrett put up more than a few unsightly shots inside the arc and missed four of five from the line. Alec Burks also continued his shooting slump, Mitchell Robinson was badly outplayed by his Boston counterpart, and both of New York’s nominal point guards are sidelined, leaving [Redacted] with no choice but to run the offense for large stretches.

So surely you can forgive the 1:1 assist to turnover ratio, the 17th time in 38 games [Redacted] has had at least as many giveaways as dimes. And you should certainly look past the fact that even though he ranks third in front court touches, [Redacted] ranked 72nd in paint touches despite a near elite mark of .962 points per paint touch. Life on the block is tiring, after all. The perimeter is so much less taxing.

And we obviously need not bring up the really bad stuff, like the 6-for-19 shooting - the 13th time [Redacted] has had an effective field goal percentage under 40 and a usage rate over 23 in the same game - or the fact that this was the eighth time this season he’s been at least a negative-17 in the final plus/minus column.

No, none of these are things we should bring up about [Redacted], lest we skirt the line of criticism that is so clearly an egregious violation of the fan/player code of conduct. To be extra safe, I’m not even referring to [Redacted] by name, the closest I’m able to come to shutting the fuck up, as was so politely requested. I have a newsletter to write, after all.

See, [Redacted]? You got your wish after all.

💫 Stars of the Game 💫

⭐️ Taj Gibson: Here as much because no one else deserves it as it is due to anything he did. That Gibson has been New York’s most consistent center, at the age of 36, speaks not only to his value on this team but also to how much their struggles are due to Robinson and Noel failing to live up to last season’s standards.

⭐️ ⭐️ Quentin Grimes: He had some really nice moments and came back well after getting owned on defense in his abbreviated stint on Thursday. His quick trigger continues to be a weapon, and energy is never an issue, even if execution occasionally is.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Immanuel Quickley: We’ll get to the offensive stuff in a bit. First, I want to highlight this possession at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when the Knicks were barely clinging to some semblance of hope:

Before the ball is even inbounded, Quickley knows exactly how this play is going to go. After Tatum gets the rock, IQ knows he’s going to swing it to either of his shooters on the weak side, which is why he points to Obi to get in ready position to help on whichever one gets the ball. Quickley also knows that the moment the ball leaves Tatum’s hand, he’ll need react like a bat out of hell to the other weak-side shooter, as a swing pass would surely be coming.

Not only did he get there in just enough time to prevent an initial open attempt, but he kept his stance and avoided the fly-by’s we’ve seen from so many Knicks who try to pull off a similar maneuver. Those fly-by’s require more help, which leads to more breakdowns. IQ avoids that fate completely.

Sure enough, Alec Burks wasn’t respecting Richardson’s range enough to play up on him, and the whole effort ends up being for naught. This play is a microcosm of Quickley’s season: doing everything asked of him and then some while so many of those around him fail in terms of effort, execution or both.

The conversation after this game largely surrounded Quickley, and whether or not Tom Thibodeau should give in and hand the reigns to his second year guard to run the offense. To this end, I want to shout out something my colleague Ben Ritholtz tweeted during this first quarter of this game:

Rit Holtzman @BenRitholtzNBA

“Being a point guard” is meaningless and that conversation is meaningless and reductive so let’s stop please. IQ is really good. And he’s still working on some things. And all Knicks fans should just be happy about all of that from a post-20 draft pick. My Ted Talk.

The term “point guard” has undergone more change in meaning than any phrase associated with the NBA in the last 30 years.

The “points guards” moniker once used to differentiate the Allen Iverson’s of the world from the John Stockton’s that came before him is no longer necessary. Now, guys like Lonzo Ball and Ricky Rubio are a dying breed. If you cannot create a matchup advantage, your level of effectiveness is immediately questioned, especially if you lack elite vision or size. Then again, for as much as we think of Stockton as some slow white dude who just passed to ball into the post, nearly 20,000 points would beg to differ. Dude was a bucket, just like any great point guard throughout NBA history.

The point is, the notion that we need to put Quickley in any particular box is a fraught one. Instead, we need to look at the boxes he needs to check to become an even more prominent member of New York’s rotation: significant usage, shot creation, high efficiency, high assist, low turnover, defense, and of course, overall impact.

Taking these one by one, we can start with simple shot making, and it’s here where IQ flashed his greatest area of improvement on Saturday night:

This season, Quickley is hitting 54 percent of his long twos - good enough for the 81st percentile among combo guards league-wide according to Cleaning the Glass, and a massive improvement from the 31 percent he hit from that distance last year. His ability to make these shots is absolutely vital given how little he gets to the rim.

Continuing down the list, his points per shot attempt, usage rate and turnover rate are all between the 66th and 69th percentile, which paints the profile of someone who is jack of all trades, master of none. As the third or fourth option on offense, that’ll do just fine.

For those who think Quickley is more than just an auxiliary rotation piece, the last few stats offer some hope. So many of his threes are self-created, as he’s in the 92nd percentile in unassisted triples. His overall impact is the best on the team according to plus/minus data, and his defense passes muster both through the eye test and statistically. The biggest bug-a-boo, his lack of vision and high level passing ability, continues to show signs of an uptick:

What we’re left with is a player who is so high functioning in so many areas that you want so badly to look past what he can’t do and focus on what he can. No, he’s not Donovan Mitchell (or any of the other 15 or so lead guards in the league who are an offense unto themselves). But he doesn’t need to be, not to be considered the best young prospect on this team.

Don’t agree? Take a gander at him vs RJ, taking into consideration that Quickley is a year older but has also been in the league for one less season:

At the very least it’s close. Like Benji says, it’s time to stop harping on what he isn’t and time to focus on what he is, and that’s arguably the most helpful player on this roster, at least if winning basketball games is the ultimate goal.

Star Standings

After 40 games, here’s where things stand as we head into the final game of the first half of the season:

1. Alec Burks: 31 stars (12.9 percent of available stars; 50 % maximum for any player)

2. Immanuel Quickley: 27.5 stars (11.4 %)

3. Julius Randle: 26 stars (10.8 %)

4. Kemba Walker: 25 stars (10.4 %)

5. Mitchell Robinson: 22.5 stars (9.3 %)

6. RJ Barrett: 21 stars (8.7 %)

7. Obi Toppin: 19.5 stars (8.1 %)

8. Derrick Rose: 16 stars (6.6 %)

9. Evan Fournier: 13 stars (5.4 %)

10. Quentin Grimes: 8 stars (3.3 %)

11. Nerlens Noel: 7 stars (2.9 %)

12. Deuce McBride: 6 stars (2.5 %)

13. Taj Gibson: 5.5 stars (2.2 %)

Thoughts: No one is saying that Julius Randle (fuck it, I’m saying his name) had to get the maximum allowable 50 percent of available stars over the first 40 games. Or 40 percent. Or 30 percent. But barely 10 percent? Not that RJ Barrett is doing much better, with just under nine percent. Not to be outdone, Evan Fournier hasn’t quite earned his $17 million salary with barely five percent of the available stars to his name. Considering how poor the representation of those three players are in these standings, its somewhat miraculous the Knicks are only two games under .500.

🏙 Game Night 🏀

Who: Knicks vs Spurs

When: 7:30 pm

Where: MSG

Who’s out: Nerlens Noel, Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier are all being listed as questionable, while San Antonio (who lost by two in OT to Brooklyn yesterday) may be without most of their rotation players: Derrick White, Thad Young, Keldon Johnson, Doug McDermott, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones.

Halftime Zoom: Click here to enter!

What to look for: The beginning of a playoff push, or the beginning of the end? Tomorrow marks the first game of a seven game stretch in which the Knicks will play six times at home. After that, they’ll play just six of their next 21 games at MSG. If they can go 5-2 in this upcoming slate, they’ll be a game above .500 before that hellacious road-heavy stretch begins. 4-3 or worse and they’ll under the median before it even begins. In other words, while there’s no such thing as a must win game, this game against a hobbled Spurs team is about as close as it comes.

The next edition of the #NYK75 will return tomorrow!

🏀

That’s it for today! If you enjoy this newsletter and like the Mets, don’t forget to subscribe to JB’s Metropolitan, or his new hockey newsletter, Isles Fix. See y’all soon! #BlackLivesMatter