The Return
and Jeremy Cohen readies the firing squad
Morning all.
First things first: come out and grab a drink with us tonight!
A bunch of the content creators you love (or love to hate…*cough* Shwin *cough*) will be gathering at Penn 6 (located at 31st between 6th and 7th Avenues) to watch the game. Starting at 7pm, we’ll have the mezzanine all to ourselves, and we’ll be raffling off Knicks tickets during the evening. Best of all, a portion of all proceeds will be helping feed needy NYC families on Thanksgiving through the help of FeedingNYC.org.
As for the game itself, two months ago - hell, two weeks ago - you’d never have thought that the return of the best player the Knicks have drafted since Patrick Ewing could possibly be overshadowed, and yet, here we are.
Of course, KP’s return will still get all the press, but for many fans (myself included) that ship has sailed. KP is gone. There is no KP. I could be KP and you wouldn’t even know.
(No, I am not KP)
That’s what it feels like given the stakes. As it seems we so often find ourselves, Knick fans are beyond rooting against a villain (or appreciating good play) on the court because of the mere amount of uncertainty off of it.
Let’s say RJ Barrett follows through on his preseason promise to yam it in Kristaps’ mug and puts up a great stat line in the process. Let’s say KP flops. Let’s say Mitch returns with a vengeance, Kevin Knox goes 5-of-8 from deep and Frank Ntilikina has Luka sleeping with the fishes by the end of the night.
(I’m sorry, but for all we know, Frank could be traded by the time these two teams face again, and I’d never get to use that joke, which really would be more unfortunate than anything happening with the Knicks right now.)
Hell, let’s even say that Julius Randle replicates what he did at practice yesterday and sorts out this whole point-forward thing.
Basically, let’s say the Knicks have a perfect game. Shots on me!
Except…oh that’s right…this happened less than a week ago. When we beat Dallas. And two days later, the team came out on its home floor, played like a dead fish, and then all hell broke lose.
See…that’s the thing outsiders never got about why last year, despite 17 wins, was positively delightful. We never had to worry about any of this shit taking place. It was a free year! Every positive sign, few as they may have been, could be enjoyed on its face with no “well, that’s great but…” The only “but” was the possibility of Zion or KD.
Coming into this year, even with those fortuities passing us by, the foundation laid last year still stood. In the last week, that foundation once again feels like it’s sinking into quicksand. As a result, we get to deal with quotes like this, courtesy of the Post’s Marc Berman:
They have every right to boo him, but boo him because he’s on the other team. Not because he wanted to get out of that situation. As you see, most people don’t want to be in that situation right now. Boo him because he’s a Maverick and not because he didn’t want to be on the Knicks.
That’s former Knick Channing Frye talking about how fans should react to KP’s return. Like I said about Kendrick Perkins yesterday, you may not give a damn about what Frye thinks, but like Perk, he’s one of the most highly respected former players around. If he’s saying this shit, you better believe others in the NBA are thinking it as well.
The only thing that matters right now – more than KP coming back, more than sporting an offense that can consistently score, more than anything – is getting rid of this stigma once and for all. This group of young players doesn’t seem jaded (like KP got)…yet. But with every passing day, that risk increases. Signing some decent vets this summer, putting one foot in front of the other, and at least looking like a normal basketball team was supposed to aid that process.
Of course, best laid plans being what they are, the opposite has transpired.
Thankfully, it’s not too late, because in this league, it’s never too late. That’s why yesterday I retweeted this Steph Curry quote from exactly 10 years ago (h/t to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype for that one):
The Warriors, remember, were arguably in rougher shape than the Knicks when Curry arrived. Half the organizations in the league have been derided as lost causes at various points over the decade since, and many have recovered.
The easy retort is “Dolan.” Can a turnaround happen under this owner? We already have evidence it can. The Rangers have been among the NHL’s standards of stability for a decade and a half. Heck, even the Knicks have 2012-13.
So there’s hope, both in the form of the players on this roster and the fact that talented people will always want jobs here, both for the pay and the mere possibility of being the guy to turn it around.
But the process of putting those pieces in place has to start, and it has to start soon. Maybe it happens under this regime, but as they say, it’s getting late early. The recent tomfoolery officially sped up the clock. There’s no more time to waste.
And on that note, Professor Jeremy Cohen takes a closer look at the decision-makers that are here, and whether a house cleaning is indeed in the best interest of all parties involved…
Assessing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of New York’s Brain Trust
by Jeremy Cohen (@TheCohencidence)
As the Knicks reach what I can only imagine is DEFCON 2, I’m left wondering how those who eventually remain will pick up the pieces and put this lovable pile of steaming turds back together. You see, firing everyone is the easy part. Tearing it down is simple. It’s the rebuilding where, as you’re likely well aware, things can go awry.
That’s why I’m assessing the chants, diving deeper, and trying to make sense of what would follow after firings. Without further ado…
“Fire James Dolan!”
(or, “Fi-re Do-lan,” if you prefer…)
This is pure ignorance. Dolan owns the team – he’s not going anywhere unless someone offers him a godfather-like offer. He could step away as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and it wouldn’t matter. You can hope and wish that he goes but the reality is that he’s here to stay.
“Fire Steve Mills!”
Who’s the first person to face the music? Well, I can tell you one person who it probably won’t be. I’d say it amazes me how Steve Mills remains unscathed after all these years but it really doesn’t amaze me at all. He ascended to his current position as the President of Basketball Operations because the outrage that was directed at Phil Jackson led to Phil and the team parting ways. If Scott Perry falls on the sword and Mills lives to see another day as president, the hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Buying Low
If you’ve checked out the newsletter at all this week, by now you’re probably well versed in our new sponsor, PredictionStrike (if you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s a crash course in the concept, and don’t forget to use code KFS when signing up, which you can do here). Today, I want to talk some strategy.
When I was first putting together my portfolio, I went to the NBA lobby on the PredictionStrike website and sorted by who missed their recent projections by the greatest percentage. Here’s a look at today’s highest misses:
Oh, hi Wayne!
When I did this two weeks ago, I scoured the list for guys I was high on that were clearly selling below what I thought their talent level should be. One name jumped out more than any other: Jarrett Culver, who was selling at $0.65 on October 31 because he hadn’t yet cracked 10 fantasy points in a game, but because of where he was drafted, had much higher projections than he probably should have to start the year. I knew it was only a matter of time before he popped, and sure enough, here’s his game log since:
As a result of him continually beating his projections (which were lowered thanks to his slow start), he’s now trading at $1.07 a share, making me feel very, very foolish that I only bought 10 shares of him.
Point is, there’s opportunities to be found on that “Worst” list every day, just by looking for guys who clearly don’t belong there. Today, scrolling to page 2 of the list, Kelly Oubre Jr. jumps out. He’s down 25% after scoring just one point in his last game - easily his worst of the year - and is only trading at $1.32 a share as a result.
I bought five shares myself this morning. I’ll let you know how it works out next week.
News & Notes
compiled by Michael Schatz (@mschatz99)
When Marc Berman is chiming in on how the coach is using certain players, you know things have gone off the rails. He comments on how the Knicks are using Julius Randle, and makes some other observations.
If you care about what KP had to say yesterday (ha), here’s Ian Begley with the full story. The sad thing is nothing he says is untrue - we do want a winner, and right now, the going is rough. Still: no one cares what you think KP. Here’s to you shooting 1-11 again.
Lastly, this is behind a paywall, but here’s a nice story about Lisa Willis, the first female coach in Knicks history.
On This Date: Patrick Ewing faces Knicks for the first time in a Supersonics uniform
by Vivek Dadhania (@vdadhania)
Patrick Ewing got the last laugh against the Knicks with a blowout victory. In 31 minutes, Ewing scored 10 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Gary Payton & Rashard Lewis led the Sonics with 25 and 22 points respectively. Payton, in 46 minutes, nearly had a triple double with 13 assists and 8 rebounds. For the Knicks, Marcus Camby led the Knicks against his former teammate with 20 points and 17 rebounds.
That’s all for today! See everyone tonight at Penn 6!