The Return of Mitch
Armageddon, Rd 1 - tonight at 7:30
Before we get to maybe the most anticipated season-opening match-up in history between two non-rivals that still aren’t really rivals but who are we kidding because they’re totally rivals, let’s have some fun (and do some good in the process)…
Have you given to charity recently? I did recently, when my wife and I got something in the mail about kids in a hospital and I wish I could tell you more but I just wrote the $20 check because, I mean, c’mon…it’s kids in a hospital.
Of course it felt good. We made up for it by having Frosted Mini Wheats for dinner instead of getting takeout from Shrimpy’s Burrito Bar like we’d planned. The shrimp would have tasted great; upping the chance that my soul might not spend eternity in damnation by 0.03% tasted even better.
We’ve always lived by this ethos here at Knicks Film School, not because we’re great people (the seven deadly sins are the spice of life in the Macri household, after all), but because we do this out of love for a team we’d constantly be thinking about anyway, so why the hell not.
In that respect, this season, JB came up with the idea to make our charity efforts and our love of the Knicks even further intertwined.
Welcome to Knicks Predictions for Charity. The concept is simple: if you’re going to make a charitable donation to a good cause anyway, might as well have some fun rooting for your favorite player in the process. It’s super easy (the process takes about 60 seconds, if that) and just did it myself, pledging $5 for every rebound Mitchell Robinson averages this season (more on why I picked him and this stat in a bit). I’ll get an email in April letting me know my pledge amount (I’m planning on being out around fifty bones), and that’s it.
The charity is Win NYC, who we’ve worked with in the past and is the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for New York City's homeless families, especially women and children. As someone who has taught kids that were living in a shelter, I can tell you that coming to school every day alongside friends who got to walk out of their Brooklyn brownstone is not fun. Anything to make their lives just a bit better is a more than worthy cause.
That’s it. Thanks for taking the time to read something you certainly didn’t anticipate reading when you popped open this newsletter. I promise we won’t ever do this unless we really feel like it’s worth it. And we did today.
Mitch is (hopefully) back…
and it couldn’t come at a better time.
The biggest news of the day yesterday was that not only should Mitchell Robinson be back for tonight’s affair against the Nets, but according to SNY’s Ian Begley, “It sounds like, if healthy, Robinson will start in Brooklyn.”
This is great news. Mitchell Robinson is, along with RJ Barrett, one of the two no-doubt-about-it foundational building blocks this team has, and making him feel like an integral part of the puzzle should 100% be a priority for the organization.
This isn’t to say there aren’t arguments for bringing him off the bench. Bobby Portis hasn’t found the range yet this preseason or on Wednesday night, but after hitting 40 percent from downtown last year, he is far more of a shooting threat than Mitch, whose jumper is still largely theoretical. That spacing has real value.
He also showed himself to be an apt passer in San Antonio, dishing five assists. Portis’ passing has always been more about willingness than ability, so this was a good sign. Mitch, meanwhile, had zero or one assist in 61 of 66 games he played last season. Portis also makes switching more palatable, as with Robinson, you want to run more of a hybrid scheme that allows him to stay back at the rim.
Of course, this last part is like saying you’d rather have Arby’s for dinner instead of going to Peter Luger’s simply because you have a craving for ketchup with your meal. The Knicks tried all kinds of nonsense on Wednesday night to disrupt San Antonio when it got close to the basket, and none of it worked. Without Robinson to contend with, the Spurs converted 85 percent of shots at the rim against the Knicks. Eighty Five Percent. I don’t think I’d convert 85% of looks unguarded on my daughter’s Fisher Price hoop, pictured here, alongside some novelty building blocks:
That might not even be the worst part about Robinson’s absence. Without Mitch, San Antonio demolished New York on the boards, 57 to 46. Portis nabbed seven boards, which isn’t exactly great for a center that played 33 minutes.
Rebounding was perhaps an even bigger weakness than fouling was for Mitch at the start of last year. Between the start of the season and December 14 (when he was out injured for a month), he averaged just 3.9 boards a game. Even per 36, he was just above eight for that stretch. After his return in January, that per 36 number jumped to 8.8., then 13.6 in February and 14.9 in March before dropping down to 11.0 in April
Aside from improving by leaps and bounds on the defensive glass, Robinson was one of the best in the whole damn league at grabbing his own team’s misses. Among 230 players who played in at least 40 games and saw 20 minutes a night, Robinson’s 12.2 offensive rebounding percentage ranked seventh in the NBA.
Last thing: while you might think that Mitch struggled staying on the court against better players, his fouls per 36 minutes actually went down when he was in the starting five, dropping from 6.2 (when he was on the bench) to 4.9.
So yeah, while there might be an argument for starting Bobby Portis, it’s not nearly a good enough one to outweigh the benefit of sticking Robinson back with the big boys.
And it couldn’t come at a better time.
Knicks Film School (now with more Film!)
The death of JB was greatly exaggerated, and he is back with a vengeance, posting three (three!) new breakdowns - one of RJ Barrett’s extraordinary two-way impact, one of how Elfrid Payton’s defense led to easy transition buckets, and one (sadly) of Frank’s struggles.
Here’s the RJ one ICYMI:
Be sure to check out the other two as well. Good to have you back my man.
Other notes:
Today’s Knicks History moment is about a fun sort of NBA transaction type that doesn’t happen anymore (but I wish it did): The New York Knicks received Maurice Lucas as compensation for losing Ray Williams in free agency to the New Jersey Nets.
In addition to Mitch being back, it sure sounds like Elfrid Payton is going to start tonight. After Wednesday’s performance, he’s more than earned the chance.
Lastly, check out this revealing convo between Benjy Sarlin and noted Knicks critic Andrew Yang, in that it revealed Yang’s anti-Knicks logic is more than a little specious when put under some scrutiny. Thanks to Benjy for making this happen.