#Winning
What a feeling.
Ahhhhhh.
Nothing like number one.
The first one always feels pretty good, but when it comes at home, in front of crowd that’s in mid-May form, after being down 18 points while looking fairly inept in the process?
Yeah…it doesn’t get much better than that.
Lot’s to digest, so let’s get right to the categories.
One Big Thing:
The Knicks may have found an identity.
If there was one image that had characterized this Knicks team through three games and three quarters of the young season, it was that of Julius Randle, going one-on-wait-I-can’t-count-that-high, getting either stripped of the ball or tossing up a shot which had a better chance of breaking the backboard than going in.
The problem is that for all of his brute strength, Randle isn’t all that great at posting up to begin with, sporting 0.92 points per post up possession last season (the very best - your Embiid’s, KAT’s and Aldridge’s of the world - are all above 1.00). This season, he’s been pretty bad around the rim, shooting 57 percent on close looks according to Cleaning the Glass, good for the 26th percentile league-wide among bigs. Worst of all, he was turning it over on 22.1 percent of possessions, which is, umm…not great.
So as New York looked like they had just pulled a “Gotcha!” with yet another fake Knicks comeback, going down 98-90 with 3:33 remaining after they had tied the game at 90, I was fully expecting to see Randle once again try to put the team on his back, and then crumble under the pressure.
It didn’t happen. Instead, Randle finally did the one thing we’ve been begging him to do all year: draw attention and then kick it out to the corner. It worked, and both Bobby Portis threes - one to take the lead and one to put the game away - came on dishes from Julius.
The Knicks are one of a half-dozen or so teams in the league that doesn’t have an elite ball-handler that can both get into the lane and keep defenses honest with their shot. Maybe Barrett gets there at some point, but his handle isn’t yet tight enough and his shot isn’t all the way there.
For right now, when the Knicks’ offense isn’t going through their prized rookie, Randle should be doing exactly what he did last night. What Portis did on those two possessions can actually become the norm, as thus far this season, the Knicks are shooting 50 percent from deep on 7.0 passes per game from Randle. The latter number is easily a team high, and should be even higher.
Kicking out to three is the path to glory, at least for the 2019-20 New York Knicks
Unpopular Opinion:
I don’t care if Frank doesn’t hit a shot for the rest of his damn career
I’m at that point, and while my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek here, I want to drive home the dichotomy that currently exists within this fan base.
I got a text last night during the 4th quarter from a doom & gloom Knicks fan saying that Frank “did nothing” all evening. I’m sure my mentions are littered with much of the same. 0-for-6 with three turnovers, you would think, warrants such replies. And yet I’m 100 percent convinced that the Knicks don’t win that game last night without him.
Too often, we boil down a player’s impact - on both ends of the court - to the immediate. It’s why I can now say that I was always probably too hard on Melo, because for as much as some of his shots were infuriating, the fact that he took them put the rest of his teammates at ease, knowing they had that dude to bail them out if a possession went to shit.
Frank Ntilikina has the same impact on the opposite end. You think opponents want to deal with his 7’1” wingspan, which is longer than Kevin Knox and within three inches of Mitchell Robinson? Hellllllll no. That has a trickle down effect, as it does with his own teammates, who know if they’re at least passable, they’ll probably survive the defensive possession.
On offense, even though he can’t throw it in the East River from the Seaport, teammates know that if they do the little things like set solid picks and move without the ball - you know, things that good NBA teams make a habit of doing - they’ll get rewarded.
All that said, should Elfrid Payton miss time after suffering a second half hamstring injury, Ntilikina should still continue to come off the bench. The reason is simple: if both Frank and RJ start, the team won’t have a backup point guard. That said…
Modest Proposal
Put Wayne Ellington into the starting five
New category!
Right now, the only time the Knicks have been a good shooting team has been with Ellington on the floor. During his 46 minutes, they have an effective field goal percentage of 56.3. When he sits? That number drops to 47.6. That’s not a coincidence.
His movement, whether it results in a shot or not, makes a defense have to do inconvenient things like “think” and “try.” The more decisions an NBA defense has to make in any given possession, the more likely it is that something will break down.
Thus far, the Fizdale-era analogy here would be that question on the road test where they ask if it’s ok to drive after you’ve been drinking as long as you’ve had a cup of coffee. Teams know exactly what the Knicks bring. It’s not hard to figure out. Can they always stop it? Of course not, and this style of play is what teams inevitably resort to in the playoffs when all the fancy actions break down.
But this is putting the cart so far in front of the horse that the horse can no longer see said cart, and thinks he is free from its indomitable shackles. Let’s run a damn offense. Ellington helps that effort.
For right now, I’d put Wayne in in place of Elfrid if the latter has to miss time. Once he’s back, slide RJ down to the three and have Morris come off the bench. As we saw last night, the team struggles to have enough zip at either end with Morris on the wing.
Does this create some issues? Yeah, namely, Mook becomes the backup four and Bobby Portis and Taj are splitting backup center minutes. But it also opens up a rotation spot for another shooter, whether that be Allonzo Trier (who I wish I could say I missed last night but I don’t like to lie to y’all) or - gasp - Damyean Dotson.
Just a thought.
Key Stats
Got a two-pack for you today:
36/20/59
That’s the slash line for non-Portis Knicks last night. It’s atrocious. It will also get better.
40.8%
The Knicks frequency of shots at the rim, which is second in the NBA according to Cleaning the Glass. That’s great! The only problem is that they’re only hitting 62 percent of these, which ranks 17th. If they follow my simple instructions from above, maybe these two rankings can balance out.
RJ Barrett is Really Good
Another new category! I’m still work-shopping the name, so let me know what you think. I’m open to suggestions.
Of all the ways Barrett has been awesome, free throw shooting has not been one of them, as he’s really struggling from the line to the tune of 44 percent. I don’t care too much about this. It’ll get better. It has to.
No, my focus is on how often he’s getting there: 6.3 times per game, which is first among rookies by a mile. Over the previous five seasons, the only first-year players to average more charity stripe visits per game have been Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic.
Not bad company.
Made Me Smile
This text, from a buddy of mine, in the middle of the fourth quarter:
Yeah, that’s it.
(On a more serious note, while Bobby Portis won’t always play like that, this is what he’s capable of on offense. The key, which I tweeted out last night, is to play him with several smart defenders. When he can just hang out down low and react to what’s coming his way, you can survive with him on that end. More, please.)
Final Thought
The Knicks didn’t solve all their problems last night, but it was a good reminder that the season is long, and more problems will get solved as this team learns to grow and trust one another.
To that end, my favorite Fizdale postgame quote was about Julius Randle, saying he hadn’t worried about his ISO play and turnovers because Randle’s “intentions are pure.”
I’ve been known to be gullible before, but I buy it. If it’s true, this team will be fine, because there is talent here. Is it the perfect blend of talent for the modern game? No…no, no no. But it’s enough to help develop the kids on this team and create some positivity around the organization, which is all that really matters.
Knicks Kicks
by Tiffany Salmon (@tiffstarr815)
Send me your questions!
Tomorrow’s KFS Podcast will be the very first mailbag edition, so send questions to KFSMailbag@gmail.com. I’m open to anything!
On This Date: Knicks acquire Sidney Green
by Vivek Dadhania (@vdadhania)
The New York Knicks acquired Sidney Green from the Detroit Pistons for Ron Moore and a 1988 2nd round pick. The team sought a true power forward to align with Patrick Ewing. Continue Reading…
Also, yesterday, Former Knicks GM Al Bianchi passed away. Vivek has the write up here.
News & Notes
compiled by Michael Schatz (@mschatz99)
Clarence Gaines says the Knicks should have taken Donovan Mitchell. I don’t know why anyone should be shocked by this.
Here’s SNY’s recap on the Bobby Portis revenge game.
And here’s Alex Wolfe and Matthew Miranda with recaps from P&T.
That’s it! Knicks next play Wednesday night in Orlando, so depending on whether there’s any relevant news today, the next newsletter will either be tomorrow or Thursday. See you then!