Up & Down Weekend

After a big win in Atlanta, a tired Knicks team couldn't put up much of a fight in New Orleans.

Good morning, and thanks to everyone who converted from a partial to a full subscriber last week. Apparently my onslaught of self-promotion worked. Now if only the Knicks could start playing a little better and not have you fine folks cancelling before we hit Christmas.

Game 3: Knicks 87, Pelicans 96

Live by the three, die by the three…

One night after sinking 20 triples for only the eighth time in franchise history, the Knicks had their fourth worst 3-point shooting performance in a game in which they took at least 30 attempts from behind the arc.

The result was just 87 points against a team they put up 73 on in the first half the last time the teams met. The 87 points would also have been New York’s second lowest of last season.

Life comes at you fast.

In a New York minute…

Things couldn’t have started much uglier for the road team, as tired legs and hazy wits led to more first quarter turnovers (7) than made field goals (6), with no makes in eight tries from behind the arc. Things continued to devolve from there, as New Orleans boosted the lead to 19 points in the second quarter as Zion Williamson scored at will whenever he touched the ball. This being the Knicks though, they made a run, twice cutting the lead to six near the end of the third. But a 13-1 Pels spurt aided by more Knick miscues and cold shooting (plus a questionable whistle) put the game out of reach before some garbage time buckets made for a deceiving final score.

Three Things

1. Exhausted. This was the third game of the season, so it’s a tad early for excuses, but it was hard not to put this down as a schedule loss. The Pelicans were playing their home opener after having the last two days off, while the Knicks had just completed a track meet in Atlanta 21 hours before tip off. A number of New York’s 3-point attempts were left short, and the vast majority of their 18 turnovers were unforced. Two days off can’t come at a better time.

2. Uh Oh, Ju? Eight of those 18 turnovers? They went down on just one man’s ledger.

Julius Randle had twice as many giveaways as field goals to punctuate a nightmare return to the Big Easy. There were multiple traveling violations, a few moments where he didn’t see a defender coming despite being in close range, and some inexplicable brain farts that provided flashbacks to his first and third seasons in New York.

Which of course begs the question: Can Julius Randle be good for two consecutive seasons? He’s shooting 27.7 percent on the year, a number that includes a ghastly 25.9 percent on shots inside the arc.

Before we jump to conclusions though, let’s remember that last season didn’t exactly start swimmingly either. Julius had a 45.5 effective field goal percentage through New York’s 3-4 start, and while this season is off to a worse beginning, we’re only through three games.

But among early season storylines to watch, Julius’ shooting struggles have to be at the top of the list.

3. Uh Oh, Jalen & Josh? Lest anyone think we at KFS don’t dish out criticism evenly (the unmitigated gall, I know…), the FIBA boys haven’t exactly looked like themselves either.

Let’s start with Jalen Brunson, who has been almost unrecognizable aside from his 3-point barrage in Atlanta. Brunson has hit just 29 percent of his two-point field goal attempts. For one of the league’s preeminent midrange maestros, that’s like Picasso forgetting the difference between red and blue.

On Saturday night, Brunson was 4-of-14 overall, with just three makes in nine attempts inside the arc. Like several of his teammates, he thought the refs swallowed their whistle on more than a few occassions. On the bright side, his AST:TO ratio is as stingy as always and he’s looked extremely comfortable letting it fly from deep. My guess is he’ll get his close-range game going in short order, but the first three games have been a gentle reminder that as Jalen Brunson goes, so go the Knicks.

Josh Hart is a bit of a different story. His introduction to New York was defined by eye-popping hustle plays that wreaked havoc on opposing game plans. So far this season though, his impact has been relatively muted. It’s especially worrisome considering his comments from a few weeks ago:

“It just was a long summer, obviously for myself first time in the playoffs playing late into the season and wasn’t planning on playing FIBA until the last minute. Body wasn’t used to all of that load in a year. I’m just working my way back.”

He followed that up a week later by saying he was “tapped out,” wondering aloud how stars like LeBron James put in full summers year in and year out.

The honesty is certainly appreciated, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Knicks need the version of Hart we all fell in love with last year, preferably sooner rather than later.

Play of the Weekend

I’ll sing more of his praises in “Stars” below, but suffice it to say the Knicks would still be sitting winless without Mitchell Robinson.

That’s true for a lot of reasons, but none more directly than a defensive play near the end of Friday’s game. After the Knicks farted away two possessions in the span of five seconds and gave the Hawks a last gasp, Trae Young had the ball in his hands with a chance to win or tie. He blew by Quentin Grimes and entered the paint with nothing but runway in front of him.

At that point, Robinson had to walk a tightrope by confronting Young in enough time to bother or prevent a shot attempt, but not so soon that Clint Capela would be left with an easy lob.

Thankfully for the Knicks, Philippe Petit ain’t got shit on Money Mitch.

The Hawks broadcast showed that Robinson bothered the lob pass ever so slightly - enough for Capela to have to reach further than intended for the ball. It made for an awkward attempt, and ultimately, a missed one.

💫 Stars of the Weekend 💫

I debated whether or not to start breaking down “Stars” into two sections after multi-game weekends, and I reserve the right to do so at some later time. Today I’m splitting the baby, awarding three and two stars uniformly but splitting the last star between two guys. As always, perfection is a pursuit, not a finish line.

⭐️ Isaiah Hartenstein

⭐️ Jalen Brunson

Brunson’s inclusion is for obvious reasons. Even in a three-happy league, 8-for-12 from downtown is still worthy of praise, especially with half of those coming off the dribble. He was as good against Atlanta as he was off against Boston and New Orleans.

Hartenstein gets the nod over an underwhelming crop for just being consistently solid over both games. He only played 10 minutes in Atlanta, but there was very little drop off after Robinson exited the game, including an incredible defensive play at the start of the fourth quarter:

On Saturday, I-Hart had a perfectly fine game, which is more than most of his teammates can say.

⭐️ ⭐️ (x2) Mitchell Robinson: Through Saturday’s games, there were three players in the NBA averaging at least two blocks and two steals per game: Mitch, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Victor Wembanyama. Decent company for New York’s big man.

He is engulfing basketballs like Galactus does planets, creating a force field around the rim that is vital considering New York’s leaky perimeter D.

Throw in his offensive rebounding - Robinson unsurprisingly leads the NBA after he grabbed 10 on Saturday night - and we are seeing the fully actualized version of a player whose skill set always forecasted this as a potential outcome.

Has a real argument for 3 stars, but he just falls short of the man of the hour.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (x2) RJ Barrett: The star of our special Saturday newsletter followed up his Friday performance with 18 points to lead the team in scoring against the Pelicans. Aside from being cold from downtown like the rest of his teammates, RJ was solid inside the arc, hitting 6-of-10 from two-point range. Even though he had just two assists and coughed up three turnovers, his decision-making was a positive and there were no forced shot-attempts on the evening.

Tip-Ins…

🏀 Quentin Grimes is tossing up 8.2 attempts per 36 minutes from deep, up from 6.9 per 36 last season. He’s hitting 35.3 percent - not great, not terrible - but I can’t help but wonder when I watch him, is there any player in the league with more pressure to shoot every time they get the ball?

Grimes is averaging 25 minutes, down from 30 last season. He remains a distant fourth option almost whenever he’s on the court, and yet is the only true floor spacer in the starting five. His task is an unenviable one: become the dead-eye shooter his team needs him to be, but without the minutes and/or shot diet of many of the league’s top spacers.

🏀 Donte DiVincenzo’s brief Knicks career has been quite the roller coaster. After missing all four of his shots in the opener, he hit six of his first seven against the Hawks, but has gone 2-of-10 since. He also had four turnovers in 40 minutes this weekend - certainly too high a total for Thibodeau’s liking considering a relatively modest usage rate.

The second unit as a whole has been a work in progress, but it sure seems like DiVincenzo in particular has a bit further to go to find his comfort zone.

🏀 Speaking of the second unit, Immanuel Quickley came back down to earth after his star turn in the opener. He was the only Knick without the knack from downtown against the Hawks, making just 1-of-9 from deep, and Saturday night played just 19 mostly quiet minutes. They’ll need a return to form against the Cavs.

🏀 This is about the point in the newsletter where I should probably say something about the two late turnovers in Atlanta that almost cost them the game.

*ahem*

Something.

(My advice to anyone who has no idea about what I’m talking about: Be thankful for your ignorance.)

🏀 Small sample size theater, good: after three games, the Knicks have a top-10 defense, are assisting on over 65 percent of their made baskets, and have the second best defensive rebounding rate in the league.

Small sample size theater, bad: even with their scorcher against Atlanta, the Knicks are a bottom-five shooting team at the moment. At some point, one of these years, this team will hit shots on a consistent basis.

Or so we pray.

Up Next…

No action until the first end of a home-and-home, back-to-back against the Cavs, with the first game tipping off at the Garden on Halloween.

Final Thought

At 1-2 and with five of the next seven games against the Cavs, Bucks, Clippers and Hawks, what record are you signing for after 10 games? 5-5 without a second thought, at least for me.

🏀

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”