Everytime I think I'm Out...
A night to remember
It might have been the fact that the savior who wasn’t took his second L in a week at the hands of the team he spurned.
It might have been that the kid who came back in the trade finally showed his true worth.
It might have been his equally beguiled point guard counterpart hitting two straight free throws for a team that hasn’t hit two straight free throws all damn year.
Or it might have just been the booze.
Whatever it was, last night, me and about 75 Knick fans got together and watched New York win a game that, if you were going by the cheers throughout the evening and after the final buzzer sounded, you’d have thought took place in June.
That’s the thing about this fan base. We’re insufferable. Cut off one of our heads (via, perhaps, an impromptu post-game press conference) and two more grow back in its place. Others might see such boisterousness for a franchise that can’t ever seem to get out of its own way as sad. We wear it like a badge of honor. We haven’t quit yet, and dammit, we never will.
That’s also what’s been so frustrating about this week. The greatest stage in sports is just that in part because it has the best audience around. If the nonsense could just be put on pause, people would want to perform on this stage, and in front of this crowd, for fans like myself who treat a drop of water like a gallon of wine.
JB and I were talking in Penn Station after the game about how ready fans are to believe, because for once, at least on paper, the team isn’t in bad shape. They have all of their picks (plus a few more), a bevy of young players, and cap flexibility.
After the failure of Plan A this summer, Plan (insert letter below “A” here) was supposed to reinforce all that good stuff by raising these kiddos in a winning environment. Before yesterday, save for one night in Dallas, that plan backfired spectacularly in every possible way, which is why the front office and coach deserve all the blame coming their way.
But last night, this mish-mosh of a roster came together in a way we hadn’t previously seen. The kids - DSJ, Frank, Mitch and Damyean “remember me, fools” Dotson - were at the heart of this W, but it also wouldn’t have happened without the likes of Marcus Morris, Taj Gibson, and a still highly imperfect but helpful Julius Randle. RJ Barrett had an off night, which should be allowed for a 19-year-old. Because of the vets, it didn’t cost them.
We all said this summer that wins were now officially a thing the franchise should value. Yesterday in the Garden, everyone - the kids, the vets, the coach, even the front office responsible for this week’s turmoil - had a hand in this victory. It was the idealized version of a vision that has thus far been fraught.
It seems over-simplistic to point out, but it bears repeating: if they could just look like that for the next 70 games, finagle their way to 30 or so wins, and successfully navigate out of the field full of rakes (read: no more bullshit), we just might have something on our hands.
No more impromptu pressers. No more “laying the groundwork.” No more giving the national media unlimited shots at putting this organization in the dunk tank.
Just be normal.
One Big Thing
The effort is there
Following last night, the New York Knicks have the 20th ranked defense in the league. Around these parts, that’s bottle poppin’ territory.
It’s also a sign that amidst all the struggles, this team hasn’t given in. Rebounds, another effort stat, tell a similar story. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Knicks join Philly as the only teams in the NBA in the top six in both grabbing their own misses and preventing opponents from grabbing theirs.
They’re also the only team to hold the Mavs under 106 points this season, and they’ve done it twice. That means when the stakes are at their highest, they can get up for the challenge.
Well guess what: every game is a challenge.
They failed to build any momentum whatsoever when this happened a week ago. Let’s see if the story is different now.
Stat of the Night
Today’s stat comes in picture form, and it’s not good, because while the above would be a perfectly fine shot chart in 1995, it’s less so in 2019.
After last night (which is where this shot chart is from), the Knicks are sixth in the league in frequency of long two’s, and sixth worst in converting them. If you want the reason why New York has the worst offense in the NBA, there it is.
Last night, we did see some progress. The Knicks set more hard screens than in any game this season, and I’m not sure it was close. Dennis Smith Jr. also provided a penetration game that has been completely missing all season long, including this gem which was probably the pass of the season:
That play happened not only courtesy of DSJ, but thanks to Mitchell Robinson setting two (two!) real, actual, honest-to-goodness NBA screens on the perimeter to spring Smith in the first place.
More, please.
Humble Suggestion
No more long two’s (and fewer shots overall) from the usual suspects.
This goes hand in hand with the previous section.
The trio of Julius, Marcus and Bobby still took 45 of the Knicks’ 94 shots, which remains too many. See all those empty circles from above? 10 of them in the “long midrange” area (between 10 and 20 feet) belong to Randle, Morris or Portis. Yeesh.
At this point, in an ideal world, Morris and Portis should probably be used exclusively as floor spacers on more possessions than not. After tonight, Portis is shooting 33 percent on threes and 40 percent on twos.
Morris, meanwhile, is shooting a staggering 45 percent on threes and an equally staggering 37.5 percent from inside the arc. Even if those numbers were inverted, you’d think he was crazy for ever taking a shot that wasn’t a three.
Randle, on the other hand, should probably ditch the long-ball altogether for a while, as he’s now a hair above 20 percent from deep on the year and exactly 50 percent from two. I mean, my GOD man…
He’s also still doing too much ball-handling, and another six turnovers last night has his season average up over four a game, which is, umm…not ok.
If Marcus Morris doesn’t hit a huge three last night, the Knicks lose that game and we’re pointing to all of this as the reason why. How about instead, we continue to clean it up, and maybe Saturday against the Hornets, they won’t need a big bucket to bail them out.
Made Me Smile
This was called a foul, and there’s not a Knick fan alive who cares.
Ntilikina is the Knicks plus/minus God for a reason.
The team’s net rating is -6.7 when he’s on the court, -12.2 when he’s off, which is easily the biggest difference among the eight Knicks who have seen regular minutes. Most of that difference is unsurprisingly on defense, but they actually score more with him on the court as well.
He is their heart and soul, getting on the floor, doing the little things, and generally being the sage vet this team needs to guide them in tough times, all at the ripe age of 21.
On that note…
Final Thought
There is no world where the version of Dennis Smith Jr. we saw last night shouldn’t be playing significant minutes for the Knicks for the rest of the season. He changes their offensive capabilities in a way no one else on the roster can.
He also needs to play with Mitchell Robinson. Last night was an alley-oop festival between the two, and that should be the staple of their offense moving forward.
(By the way, how good was it to have Mitch back? In case you forgot how important he is to everything this team needs to do to win, last night provided an ample reminder)
This raises obvious questions. If Mitchell Robinson needs to start, should Smith start with him? If so, where does that leave Frank, especially given everything I just wrote above?
My two cents: this situation can be fluid moving forward. Maybe Taj remains the starter emeritus and gets pulled early. Maybe Smith is best left on the bench, and instead of getting inserted for Frank, comes in early for one of Morris or Randle, who (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) shouldn’t be playing any minutes together to begin with.
The good news is that it appears Fizdale has found an ideal 10-man rotation (although Ellington for me remains a piece that should see time, perhaps in place of Taj or Portis during the second half of games where speed and shooting is of the essence).
Maybe we’re not as far away from competence as we seemed just 24 hours ago. Like I’ve said all week, in the NBA, things can change in a hurry.
Fingers crossed that unlike a week ago, this time it’s for real.
Did You Take My Advice?
Two days ago, I wrote about how Damyean Dotson was a perfect buy low candidate on PredictionStrike, the daily fantasy site that’s also our new sponsor (don’t forget to use code KFS when you sign up!)
I noted how his price went from $2.89 to $4.92 to $7.79, all because he was dwarfing his projections thanks to simply getting some damn playing time.
Well after last night’s seven point, three steal, three assist and two rebound effort - good for 19.1 fantasy points - his stock price doubled, up 46 percent to $14.44.
Considering that in his 88 minutes, the Knicks are outscoring teams by 5.9 points per 100 possessions, he figures to get even more time moving forward. The chance to get in on the ground floor might be over, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t still a value buy.
#FreeDot Forever.
Thank You…
…to everyone who came out last night. Through our raffle alone, we raised $340 for needy NYC families on Thanksgiving through FeedingNYC.org, and that number will go up considerably once we get the final numbers from Penn 6, who graciously agreed to donate a portion of all proceeds as well.
Drinking and watching a Knicks win with friends was great enough on it’s own, but knowing we did something good for those in need made it even better.
News & Notes
compiled by Michael Schatz (@mschatz99)
If you want to read ESPN’s recap of the last two years of the Knicks’ public proclamations, here you go.
Perhaps a better use of time: check out last night’s Posting and Toasting recap, which is always entertaining.
Carmelo Anthony is a Blazer. Yay for Melo.
On This Date: Knicks win then-record 12th straight game
by Vivek Dadhania (@vdadhania)
The New York Knicks handily beat the Boston Celtics 113-98 to win a then-record 12 straight games. Willis Reed led the team with 27 points and Walt “Clyde” Frazier scored 21 points.
The team eventually won 18 straight games to set a franchise record that currently stands to date.
That’s it! We’ll see you Monday, hopefully with a recap of a Knicks two-game winning streak. It has happened before.