14 Comments
Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

Think they will be OK , 5-5 should be their goal .hopefully they can sit Hart down with a “hamstring” till he gets right .No need to keep running him out there .

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agree on Hart.. but if/when he sits who plays the 4? RJ? Which means Julius won't be out there cause they won't play him at the 5

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

While I’d also be good with a 5-5 start, I’m not so sure that there will ever be a soft part of the schedule. The league is deep. Which means at some point, if we’re going to be a 45-plus win team, we’ll have to pick off a pretty good share of tough games.

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totally agree. no one is getting to the high 40's this season by accident.

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

One notable thing about DDV is how bad he is at finishing. I think that was a rap on him when we acquired him and he is certainly living up to it. He needs to get on the program IQ was on between his first and second years and figure out how to embrace and finish through contact( or at least get fouled) instead of trying to avoid it.

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

On the other hand, I have liked his perimeter defense

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he was about 50th percentile for wings last season but that was in GS's offense, where he got a ton of WIDE open looks. In the 2 years before that, he was very poor

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

Get through the first 10 at 5-5, and then we're on our way and all this 'working out the kinks' will be forgotten. If you never worry you're not paying attention, if you always worry you paralyze yourself (personal business philosophy).

To quote the most famous Knicks philosopher- Berman, relax.

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author

That's a fantastic business philosophy. Never heard it before.

R-E-L-A-X

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Oct 31, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

Loved the ball movement against Boston and Atlanta. Guys seemed to fall back into old habits when things got hard/they were tired in New Orleans. The assist numbers down, taking a lot more mid-rangers. Hoping this isn't something they abandon. I'll take the growing pain turnovers if it leads to a more resilient offense with guys making good decisions.

Small note, Knicks are in Cleveland tonight and come home for second part of this back to back.

And thanks Jon. Love the newsletter

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author

Thanks so much for the kind words Allen, glad you enjoy!

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

Jon, thanks for the stats on DVD.

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

One more thing about Hart , pretty wild after FO gave him a nice contract he complains about being tapped out from fatigue . Appreciate the honesty but still crazy he would say that out loud . Love him as a player but still...

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Oct 30, 2023·edited Oct 30, 2023Liked by Jonathan Macri

Like most on here I will sign up right now for 5-5, even 4-6 if we have to. Not having a back-up 4 is a little worriesome but John's point about Grimes feeling pressure to shoot based on the minutes and opportunity is spot on. Add to that how we are gonna be watching IQ all year based on what his status is, DDV going to need time to get used to the team, Hart being "tapped out", Julius overcoming injury - all spells out a very stressful (more so than usual) early part of the year. Would be nice if Brunson shot better than 30% from 2-point range - would probably pad over a lot of early season rough spots.

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