Jon, thank you for all of your work in what has been a great season to be a fan of this team. I do agree that there are a few too many questions about the make-up of this roster to be unequivocally positive about their chances next season if they go into it with the same players and coach.
Don’t shout at me but I don’t want Joel Embiid – I saw the unspecified reference 😉. He’s undoubtedly a great player but I don’t get great vibes from him, for want of better analysis. I’m just a fan here and not a scout, and the gut feeling is all that matters to make me want to stay up/wake up at the wee hours of the morning in the UK to watch every game. I was more than happy to do it this season because I knew they would play hard every game and there was no expectation or entitlement about winning. That isn’t to say that I never want them to make a move to get The Guy that should tip them over the edge and make a bona fide run at the title, but I don’t want it to be for someone who cries about every little adverse moment on the court, throws their teammates under the bus whenever they lose and hasn’t been able to get it done despite having had the benefit of multiple iterations of squads that were constructed around them, and never even made it to a final. I think I’m more firm in my resolve about Embiid than I am about not wanting the Jets to have traded for Aaron Rodgers. That said I’d rather Embiid over Towns or someone like that.
God I love this postmortum postmortum. Jon, you are moving into some beautiful stuff with this writing. Your work is so enjoyable. I feel like you could write a book. Have you ever read David Halberstam's 'The Breaks of the Game'? 'After a playoff loss, it’s hard to remember all of the above, let alone to embrace it, especially when you’re convinced you’ve left meat on the bone. That’s just the nature of the beast.' It's not really all about the micro-analyses and yet it also kind of is. Like how that last minute Jalen took a punch to the face for this team in order to seemingly single-handedly give us a chance and in that moment, on his way to scoring 41 points, takes on the pain of the knicks fan and our near misses and gives us hope that this pipsqueek, underdog, passionate guy might be the soul of our team that we've missed for so long, perhaps since Spreewell. I love being part of your newsletter Jon. Let's hope for an off-season that will bring our team to a place where we will be able to make those end of game plays in a second round playoff series...whatever that means...I've got a few guys I think will upgrade our roster without making major changes and encouraging growth from our young guys who I think many of where just not ready for this intensity (I think just like all of our draft picks struggled out of the gate adjusting to the nba...it's the same thing with the playoffs and it takes some 'being there' moments to understand the intensity of it).
May 15, 2023·edited May 15, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri
As always, great work.
I hope they build on the young guys. Those players are worth watching. Two years ago we brought in 'veterans' and they are either gone or getting paid a lot of money to collect splinters in their butts. Frankly, a lot of the big star trades around the league haven't really gone so well (the successful ones are kind of the exception). I just wish we had a first round pick this year, as much as the Josh Hart trade has been a winner.
May 15, 2023·edited May 15, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri
to me the Miami series came down to Bam completely outplaying Mitch by a mile.. Randle complete no show and the Miami bench playing better than the knicks bench..
Randle is an enigma. I've been preaching to sell high on him all year. hopefully that happens sooner than later..
I still dont understand what happened between Cleveland series Mitch and Miami series Mitch. maybe it was the spotlight or the comp -- Bam is a beast. but mitch looked lost out there. i believe Mitch is still part of the solution.
As for the bench mob falling flat.. well quickley's play (in both series) needs to be addressed. maybe it was the spotlight but he;s always excelled in high pressure situations and losing him to injury surely hurt
all in all a great season.. We outperformed expectations, raised Randle's value, found our "HIM" PG and developed ALL the young players.. looking forward to the off season and what changes are coming.. we CAN NOT run it back with the same crew.. complacency is the enemy. look forward to a great off season of coverage thanks JMac and the KFS crew.
Jon, the ‘backbreaker’ clip you included to show that Mitch has to be better also includes one of the fouls that the NBA admits the refs missed in the last 2 minutes. Bam is hugging Mitch. Of course Mitch is late getting over. Maybe he could have sold the foul better???
Obviously I wish we won this thing, took game 7 and went on to face the C’s. ...but, wondering if, long term, this is the better outcome. We aren’t really a “Conference Finals” team yet. Just like Atlanta wasn’t a couple years ago. I think that year kind of built unrealistic expectations too fast that they’re still dealing with. We had an excellent season, and know we have a lot of work to do to get into true contender status.
Second, two ideas for future posts. One would be what each Knick should do this off season.
For example, for Hart:Take threes until he is confident enough to fire them up whenever he gets any space.
For Grimes: Add an in between game, perhaps a floater, so he is not just catch and shoot or catch and drive all the way to the hoop.
For Brunson: It would be nice if he became as good and pesty a defender as Lowery-maybe not possible. And as great as he was, there were too many possessions where others were not involved in the possession till there was too little time to do anything.
Second article idea: We keep talking about trading for stars, but we have an all star in Randle and a should have been all star in Brunson that were identified before they became stars. Can we identify someone else that is just about to bloom, that has been held back for whatever reason where they are now. Someone like Devin Vassell (though he may already have bloomed too much and is not necessarily where we need the help), but I would like to hear thoughts on others.
Hope everybody on the team, coaching, media, bloggers-----all get a well deserved break. However, even more than in the season, the front office and scouts have to work their asses off. The need to add more talent to their mix. And, looking at the Heat's success with undrafted players, the Knicks really have to up their development game. Shooters. Long, agile defensive stoppers. Capable of covering bigs along the 3 point line and into the paint. Steal [Riley's revenge] someone who's REALLY CAPABLE of recreating the Heat's approach. You don't need draftees, you need players. Lastly, the Front Office can't repeat the boneheaded acquisitions of the 21/22 season. No washed up stars. No players who can't play D.
My main takeaway from the playoffs is that Brunson is good enough to build around. In order to do that though we're going to have to make some fairly brutal decisions to improve spacing. I don't think Hart, RJ, Obi & Mitch can co-exist because it kills our spacing, which Miami exposed. I like them all but I'd consider moving two of them for better shooters
I’m definitely over it. Was a fun ride and this series reminded us that we’re not quite there yet, but (at least from my view) we may be closer than we thought. We got beat by a team that had vets with pedigree like Love & Lowry that were built for these moments while we were getting our first real taste of playoff intensity. We’re in a good spot to either stick and build on the youth’s experience or take a shot at an upgrade or two. Nice to be in the power position to decide vs our usual desperation.
I would like Brown too and he is one of the most achievable of the targets we speculate about (though still a long shot) but to me he is already a star. I am thinking about someone like Dejounte Murray three seasons ago. Trey Murphy before last season.
As I shared just before game six, I wanted the Knicks get to game seven for the experience and to provide an opportunity to better assess the players- based on th assumption that key players would perform well in it. Unfortunately, Randle gave his Mr. Hyde impersonation and Barrett had one of his all too familiar bad performances across the board. Obviously, I was looking for too much from one game. So looking at the year in a vacuum, I am truly surprised and pleased with the results. However, looking to this season for some reasonable narrative for near future success, I am befuddled. Does Randle continue being erratic in attitude and performance, especially in key games? Example, yes there is the video of good Randle holding Brunson back from confronting a referee (Jeckle), and there is the video of Randle pushing Quickley away when Q tried to do the same with him (Hyde). Will Barrett continue his 4 year pattern of mediocrity - a perpetual series of highs and lows that, once the dust settles, result in his being one of the most inefficient shooters and low + and - players in the league. I sound like Debbie Downer, but I am not-I hope. I feel that with Brunson, some of the younger players and draft picks (not this year) that they are finally on sound footing. Yet, Randle and Barrett are two BIG question marks and the jury is still out on them . There should be a calm and clear-eyed assesment of the team, because they have some promising pieces and the opportunity to improve.
Great season, there's no clear pathway to significant roster improvement but I trust this FO. I think we lost to experience more than anything else and you can't trade or draft for that.
Jon, thank you for all of your work in what has been a great season to be a fan of this team. I do agree that there are a few too many questions about the make-up of this roster to be unequivocally positive about their chances next season if they go into it with the same players and coach.
Don’t shout at me but I don’t want Joel Embiid – I saw the unspecified reference 😉. He’s undoubtedly a great player but I don’t get great vibes from him, for want of better analysis. I’m just a fan here and not a scout, and the gut feeling is all that matters to make me want to stay up/wake up at the wee hours of the morning in the UK to watch every game. I was more than happy to do it this season because I knew they would play hard every game and there was no expectation or entitlement about winning. That isn’t to say that I never want them to make a move to get The Guy that should tip them over the edge and make a bona fide run at the title, but I don’t want it to be for someone who cries about every little adverse moment on the court, throws their teammates under the bus whenever they lose and hasn’t been able to get it done despite having had the benefit of multiple iterations of squads that were constructed around them, and never even made it to a final. I think I’m more firm in my resolve about Embiid than I am about not wanting the Jets to have traded for Aaron Rodgers. That said I’d rather Embiid over Towns or someone like that.
God I love this postmortum postmortum. Jon, you are moving into some beautiful stuff with this writing. Your work is so enjoyable. I feel like you could write a book. Have you ever read David Halberstam's 'The Breaks of the Game'? 'After a playoff loss, it’s hard to remember all of the above, let alone to embrace it, especially when you’re convinced you’ve left meat on the bone. That’s just the nature of the beast.' It's not really all about the micro-analyses and yet it also kind of is. Like how that last minute Jalen took a punch to the face for this team in order to seemingly single-handedly give us a chance and in that moment, on his way to scoring 41 points, takes on the pain of the knicks fan and our near misses and gives us hope that this pipsqueek, underdog, passionate guy might be the soul of our team that we've missed for so long, perhaps since Spreewell. I love being part of your newsletter Jon. Let's hope for an off-season that will bring our team to a place where we will be able to make those end of game plays in a second round playoff series...whatever that means...I've got a few guys I think will upgrade our roster without making major changes and encouraging growth from our young guys who I think many of where just not ready for this intensity (I think just like all of our draft picks struggled out of the gate adjusting to the nba...it's the same thing with the playoffs and it takes some 'being there' moments to understand the intensity of it).
As always, great work.
I hope they build on the young guys. Those players are worth watching. Two years ago we brought in 'veterans' and they are either gone or getting paid a lot of money to collect splinters in their butts. Frankly, a lot of the big star trades around the league haven't really gone so well (the successful ones are kind of the exception). I just wish we had a first round pick this year, as much as the Josh Hart trade has been a winner.
to me the Miami series came down to Bam completely outplaying Mitch by a mile.. Randle complete no show and the Miami bench playing better than the knicks bench..
Randle is an enigma. I've been preaching to sell high on him all year. hopefully that happens sooner than later..
I still dont understand what happened between Cleveland series Mitch and Miami series Mitch. maybe it was the spotlight or the comp -- Bam is a beast. but mitch looked lost out there. i believe Mitch is still part of the solution.
As for the bench mob falling flat.. well quickley's play (in both series) needs to be addressed. maybe it was the spotlight but he;s always excelled in high pressure situations and losing him to injury surely hurt
all in all a great season.. We outperformed expectations, raised Randle's value, found our "HIM" PG and developed ALL the young players.. looking forward to the off season and what changes are coming.. we CAN NOT run it back with the same crew.. complacency is the enemy. look forward to a great off season of coverage thanks JMac and the KFS crew.
I also want to chime in,and want nothing to do with Embiid, Harden, or KAT this off-season. No thanks.
Also, I hate to be this person, but I will.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth
500 years ago, people did not believe the earth was flat.
I'm sure there were some Kyrie types then too, but by and large the idea that people used to think this is pretty much false.
There's your Monday History Fact.
Jon, the ‘backbreaker’ clip you included to show that Mitch has to be better also includes one of the fouls that the NBA admits the refs missed in the last 2 minutes. Bam is hugging Mitch. Of course Mitch is late getting over. Maybe he could have sold the foul better???
Obviously I wish we won this thing, took game 7 and went on to face the C’s. ...but, wondering if, long term, this is the better outcome. We aren’t really a “Conference Finals” team yet. Just like Atlanta wasn’t a couple years ago. I think that year kind of built unrealistic expectations too fast that they’re still dealing with. We had an excellent season, and know we have a lot of work to do to get into true contender status.
First, thanks for the newsletters.
Second, two ideas for future posts. One would be what each Knick should do this off season.
For example, for Hart:Take threes until he is confident enough to fire them up whenever he gets any space.
For Grimes: Add an in between game, perhaps a floater, so he is not just catch and shoot or catch and drive all the way to the hoop.
For Brunson: It would be nice if he became as good and pesty a defender as Lowery-maybe not possible. And as great as he was, there were too many possessions where others were not involved in the possession till there was too little time to do anything.
Second article idea: We keep talking about trading for stars, but we have an all star in Randle and a should have been all star in Brunson that were identified before they became stars. Can we identify someone else that is just about to bloom, that has been held back for whatever reason where they are now. Someone like Devin Vassell (though he may already have bloomed too much and is not necessarily where we need the help), but I would like to hear thoughts on others.
This was great, as was your analysis all season long. 👏
Hope everybody on the team, coaching, media, bloggers-----all get a well deserved break. However, even more than in the season, the front office and scouts have to work their asses off. The need to add more talent to their mix. And, looking at the Heat's success with undrafted players, the Knicks really have to up their development game. Shooters. Long, agile defensive stoppers. Capable of covering bigs along the 3 point line and into the paint. Steal [Riley's revenge] someone who's REALLY CAPABLE of recreating the Heat's approach. You don't need draftees, you need players. Lastly, the Front Office can't repeat the boneheaded acquisitions of the 21/22 season. No washed up stars. No players who can't play D.
My main takeaway from the playoffs is that Brunson is good enough to build around. In order to do that though we're going to have to make some fairly brutal decisions to improve spacing. I don't think Hart, RJ, Obi & Mitch can co-exist because it kills our spacing, which Miami exposed. I like them all but I'd consider moving two of them for better shooters
I’m definitely over it. Was a fun ride and this series reminded us that we’re not quite there yet, but (at least from my view) we may be closer than we thought. We got beat by a team that had vets with pedigree like Love & Lowry that were built for these moments while we were getting our first real taste of playoff intensity. We’re in a good spot to either stick and build on the youth’s experience or take a shot at an upgrade or two. Nice to be in the power position to decide vs our usual desperation.
I would like Brown too and he is one of the most achievable of the targets we speculate about (though still a long shot) but to me he is already a star. I am thinking about someone like Dejounte Murray three seasons ago. Trey Murphy before last season.
As I shared just before game six, I wanted the Knicks get to game seven for the experience and to provide an opportunity to better assess the players- based on th assumption that key players would perform well in it. Unfortunately, Randle gave his Mr. Hyde impersonation and Barrett had one of his all too familiar bad performances across the board. Obviously, I was looking for too much from one game. So looking at the year in a vacuum, I am truly surprised and pleased with the results. However, looking to this season for some reasonable narrative for near future success, I am befuddled. Does Randle continue being erratic in attitude and performance, especially in key games? Example, yes there is the video of good Randle holding Brunson back from confronting a referee (Jeckle), and there is the video of Randle pushing Quickley away when Q tried to do the same with him (Hyde). Will Barrett continue his 4 year pattern of mediocrity - a perpetual series of highs and lows that, once the dust settles, result in his being one of the most inefficient shooters and low + and - players in the league. I sound like Debbie Downer, but I am not-I hope. I feel that with Brunson, some of the younger players and draft picks (not this year) that they are finally on sound footing. Yet, Randle and Barrett are two BIG question marks and the jury is still out on them . There should be a calm and clear-eyed assesment of the team, because they have some promising pieces and the opportunity to improve.
Great season, there's no clear pathway to significant roster improvement but I trust this FO. I think we lost to experience more than anything else and you can't trade or draft for that.
https://twitter.com/bdetrick/status/1657408135122890753?s=20
was RJs postseason not as good as we think?