Older thread '20 NYK Off-season Thread
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Ironman
#Knickstape
He won't continuing to play with the startersStill waiting for RJ to take over a game...
That won't happen, he'd be a restricted free agent, and NYK could offer him the most money, he'd be dumb to request a tra...oh wait....
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
Sheesh
Ironman
#Knickstape
I don't even care right now bruh get your troll on
JMurder
SOHH Member since 01...
Who? Randle?You didn't even know who he was when I was fukking with dude
Who? Randle?
RJ. I knew RJ was when a little kid hooping at my old high school
bu bu but "who is we"
Lurk Angle
All Star
Mills no different than billy king
The only difference is billy king had little success with the 6ers and nets
didn’t make a thread about you breaking his ankles as a grown ass man and him being like 13?RJ. I knew RJ was when a little kid hooping at my old high school
bu bu but "who is we"
He was 14. He was nice but my physicality and strength was too much for him. Just kept backing him up in the post.didn’t make a thread about you breaking his ankles as a grown ass man and him being like 13?
Wait... that was RJ?!?didn’t make a thread about you breaking his ankles as a grown ass man and him being like 13?
Lmao i remember that thread...
storyteller
Veteran
The Knicks lost by 8 points to the Suns, 112-120 in a game where they missed 10 free throws and I'm salty about it. New York led nearly the entire first half, closing with a 10 point lead. But a tough open to the third quarter, a gang of missed free throws and some miraculous makes from Rubio and Aron Baynes all combined with great games from Booker and Oubre to steal NYC's chance at a 4 game winning streak. This one hurts especially because of the make up of the upcoming schedule. On the night, there was a lot of give and take with guys. Players did good things but would hurt their overall impact in other places. Bobby Portis, Marcus Morris and Mitchell Robinson were really good; with everyone else there were ups and downs...and the downs stick out when you lose like this. Let's go in:
Payton: Elfrid Payton's early play had me thinking "who needs a warm-up" but then he took free throws and answered the question for me. On the night, Payton had many moments of being elusive and clever both as a scorer and a passer. But his scoring was all inside, he couldn't finish a jumper or a free throw (seriously, he needed a warm-up after all). It was a potentially great game, turned into a decent one with some glaring late game errors that might make you think he was plain bad. We're talking 2 late TO's, 2 bad fouls late and a missed wide open three that would have kept the Knicks in the thick of the game. But that late stuff shouldn't make us forget that he had a pretty good game before then.
Payton put up 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds on 6/10 shooting, 0/1 from three and 3/8 from the free throw line. This was all while drawing the toughest assignment of the night on defense. Can I blame Payton for getting lit up by Devin Booker? Of course not. He put up a strong effort and Booker looked plain unstoppable. The shooting and the way he closed the game were the real blemishes on an otherwise good night.
RJ: As has been the case with most of these recaps lately, RJ Barrett's performance mostly came down to his jumper. It wasn't around last night and his entire game suffered for it. The Suns were going to a zone and conceding space long but RJ couldn't capitalize on open looks enough to make them pay. He also sees a lot less of the ball in pick and roll opportunities when Elfrid Payton is running the offense (this makes sense with how Payton runs things so it's not a slight on him). Barrett shot 3/10 on the night and made just 1/6 three pointers. He closed with 10 points, 2 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals and a block.
It's nice that RJ does a bit of everything even in a bad game. He had two really nice And-One finishes, plus some good heady steals and passes. But if there are signs of fatigue, it's the lack of legs on his three ball and the way his fourth quarter went. Barrett's defense fell off hard in the fourth, leaving Kelly Oubre wide open from three on multiple occasions late. He compounded this with a fast break where he had a runner to his left but instead of going right, he tried to force his way left instead of passing. This led to a really painful turnover. Reggie Bullock wound up coming in shortly after.
Morris: Lately, Marcus Morris has started games ice cold but once he finds his rhythm the scoring is there. If Morris doesn't knock down some tough three pointers in the fourth quarter, the Knicks don't come close to stealing the road win. Generally though, this was the Marcus Morris we've gotten all season. He's been an extremely good scorer that plays solid defense and contributes at the margins in other places on the stat sheet. Morris put up 25 points, 3 boards and 2 assists on 8/17 shooting and 4/8 from three. It seems unfair to give the Knicks best player on the night such a short write-up but if you've watched the Knicks at all this season, you know exactly how he managed to be such an important piece of the puzzle.
Randle: Julius Randle's first half was pretty damned good and I mean that. He bullied smaller forwards, picked his spots and made some really nice extra passes. At one point, he had a wide open midrange shot but kicked it to Morris for a three pointer instead. That's a really nice development to see. Unfortunately for Randle, Phoenix clogged the middle and forced most Knicks to settle on jumpers...Randle's jumper was unfortunately Eddy Curry status here. The Knicks big man posted 13 points, 13 boards, 3 assists and also added 2 blocks off 5/17 shooting and 0/6 from three.
Look, there's no defending 13 points on 17 shots. Randle couldn't get it going and it killed his scoring. Like everyone but Morris, he closed the game very poorly with bad decisions that compounded the already poor efficiency. I will say this though, I actually liked his first half defense. He forced turnovers and there's a couple of blocks in the mix too. His rebounding was fantastic all night too. But it all gets forgotten when you shoot that badly.
Gibson: It was another okay night for Taj Gibson, but that's all. He played his usually 10-15 minutes (14) and did his usual thing. 2 points and 6 boards for Taj was solid production given the limited time out there.
Frank: As with Payton and Barrett and Randle before him; Frank Ntilikina left his jumper in New York which was a big mistake against a Suns defense that was focused on closing out the middle. Ntilikina did manage to salvage some nice plays though and his propensity to pass limited the damage of his lacking jumper. Unfortunately, we got virtually no chance to watch Frank try and hold Devin Booker as Reggie Bullock drew that assignment instead. So Frank's best opportunity to impact things never came to be. Frank ended with 6 points, 2 assists and 2 boards on 2/5 shooting and 0/3 from three.
The two makes were really nice to see. Clever forays into the paint where Nitty used pump fakes and footwork to free himself up and finish. He also was dogged on his assist numbers by everyone shooting like crap. It didn't help that Robinson's foul trouble early meant less chances to lob it up for freebies. I actually felt like Frank was on his way to a good fourth quarter but Ricky Rubio knocked down back to back absolute nonsense shots that sent Frank to the bench. We're talking off balance, trying to get a whistle and saying a prayer makes.
Bullock: To start the game, Mike Miller called back to back plays for Reggie Bullock. Reggie responded with back to back makes. The rest of the way though, he went 2/9 so just like everyone but Morris, his jumper was milk carton status. Bullock finished 4/11 from the field and 1/5 from three with 9 points, 2 boards and 1 assist in 19 minutes. Like Payton, it's hard to be mad about his time guarding Devin Booker, but necessary to note that he guarded the guy who torched us quite a bit.
Knox: I'm about to sing Bobby Portis' praises after shouting out Marcus Morris heavily and yet here I am, telling you that Kevin Knox deserved more minutes on a night he scored just 3 points on 1/2 from the field. That's because Knox played just 13 minutes with solid defense and good rebounding. He grabbed 4 boards including a couple of very tough ones and he hit 1/1 from the three point line. So basically, he didn't do anything to hurt the team and his jumper might have actually made it to the West Coast.
Portis: The reason the Knicks closed the first half strong was Bobby Portis hitting a gang of jumpers. He carried over the aggression from the Portland game and really had another nice performance overall. But it's hard not to feel like most of that production was in the first half and also that he spent a little too much time out there in the fourth quarter before Miller switched to Mitchell Robinson. That's glaring when you look at what Aron Baynes did in that fourth. But it wouldn't be fair to blame Bobby for much on a night he put up 20 points, 4 boards and 2 assists on 7/10 shooting and 3/6 from three. Bobby was flat out good and I can't let my greedily wanting to see more Knox and Mitch take away from that. He earned the minutes and was the second best vet on the team last night.
Mitch: It was a pair of fouls early that cost Mitchell Robinson most of the first half. But he came out in the second half to block a bunch of shots, finish a bunch of lobs and grab a chunk of rebounds too. You know...Mitch doing Mitch. Robinson put up 9 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks in 21 minutes on 4/7 from the field. While it felt like some vets lost a bit of composure late, it was the Knicks' sophomore who managed to make a few plays that kept hope alive. Nobody wants to drive on him and no one can keep him out of the lane. At one point the entire Suns team rolled with him to the basket, leaving Elfrid Payton a completely free lane for two points. That's the gravity and impact of Mitchell Robinson in a play where he never even touches the ball.
Ellington: Wayne Ellington came back from injury and got 5 tune up minutes. He netted an assist and a couple of rebounds in that time, but never got the room to shoot that he needed. So he went 0/1 from three. I can't say too much about five minutes, but with as poorly as everybody shot...it's good that he's an option again.
Miller: For the first time in the Mike Miller era, I was unhappy with a few coaching decisions. First and foremost, I have no idea why Frank Ntilikina never got a chance to try and contain Devin Booker. Miller put his faith in the vets, Payton and Bullock to shoulder that burden even when Frank was on the floor. Booker scored 38 points on over 50% from the field. I thought Miller went to Payton too early in the fourth and then took too long before bringing in Robinson during that same quarter. As a matter of fact, that fourth quarter embodied a lot of what I didn't like about this game. It was live by the vets, die by the vets. And let's not mince words, the vets were the killers in that fourth quarter. Payton and Randle made a slew of bad decisions, Portis forgot that Baynes could shoot which got him going and RJ had zero rhythm after being damn near frozen out for chunks of play time.
That's honestly being harsh though. The Knicks were chasing a fourth straight win in a road game and vets had played a great first half. Portis earned some extra minutes along the way and Payton had been a catalyst for most of the game. Mook and Randle have been the go-to's. So I can forgive the reliance on the older crew. But I'd like the training wheels taken off for Frank when a star perimeter scorer is playing and I'd like Mitchell Robinson to be trusted to play in the second quarter with 2 fouls. I want Knox to be rewarded for his recent increased energy too. Wins and losses are a lot less important to me after the hole this team dug itself.
Payton: Elfrid Payton's early play had me thinking "who needs a warm-up" but then he took free throws and answered the question for me. On the night, Payton had many moments of being elusive and clever both as a scorer and a passer. But his scoring was all inside, he couldn't finish a jumper or a free throw (seriously, he needed a warm-up after all). It was a potentially great game, turned into a decent one with some glaring late game errors that might make you think he was plain bad. We're talking 2 late TO's, 2 bad fouls late and a missed wide open three that would have kept the Knicks in the thick of the game. But that late stuff shouldn't make us forget that he had a pretty good game before then.
Payton put up 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds on 6/10 shooting, 0/1 from three and 3/8 from the free throw line. This was all while drawing the toughest assignment of the night on defense. Can I blame Payton for getting lit up by Devin Booker? Of course not. He put up a strong effort and Booker looked plain unstoppable. The shooting and the way he closed the game were the real blemishes on an otherwise good night.
RJ: As has been the case with most of these recaps lately, RJ Barrett's performance mostly came down to his jumper. It wasn't around last night and his entire game suffered for it. The Suns were going to a zone and conceding space long but RJ couldn't capitalize on open looks enough to make them pay. He also sees a lot less of the ball in pick and roll opportunities when Elfrid Payton is running the offense (this makes sense with how Payton runs things so it's not a slight on him). Barrett shot 3/10 on the night and made just 1/6 three pointers. He closed with 10 points, 2 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals and a block.
It's nice that RJ does a bit of everything even in a bad game. He had two really nice And-One finishes, plus some good heady steals and passes. But if there are signs of fatigue, it's the lack of legs on his three ball and the way his fourth quarter went. Barrett's defense fell off hard in the fourth, leaving Kelly Oubre wide open from three on multiple occasions late. He compounded this with a fast break where he had a runner to his left but instead of going right, he tried to force his way left instead of passing. This led to a really painful turnover. Reggie Bullock wound up coming in shortly after.
Morris: Lately, Marcus Morris has started games ice cold but once he finds his rhythm the scoring is there. If Morris doesn't knock down some tough three pointers in the fourth quarter, the Knicks don't come close to stealing the road win. Generally though, this was the Marcus Morris we've gotten all season. He's been an extremely good scorer that plays solid defense and contributes at the margins in other places on the stat sheet. Morris put up 25 points, 3 boards and 2 assists on 8/17 shooting and 4/8 from three. It seems unfair to give the Knicks best player on the night such a short write-up but if you've watched the Knicks at all this season, you know exactly how he managed to be such an important piece of the puzzle.
Randle: Julius Randle's first half was pretty damned good and I mean that. He bullied smaller forwards, picked his spots and made some really nice extra passes. At one point, he had a wide open midrange shot but kicked it to Morris for a three pointer instead. That's a really nice development to see. Unfortunately for Randle, Phoenix clogged the middle and forced most Knicks to settle on jumpers...Randle's jumper was unfortunately Eddy Curry status here. The Knicks big man posted 13 points, 13 boards, 3 assists and also added 2 blocks off 5/17 shooting and 0/6 from three.
Look, there's no defending 13 points on 17 shots. Randle couldn't get it going and it killed his scoring. Like everyone but Morris, he closed the game very poorly with bad decisions that compounded the already poor efficiency. I will say this though, I actually liked his first half defense. He forced turnovers and there's a couple of blocks in the mix too. His rebounding was fantastic all night too. But it all gets forgotten when you shoot that badly.
Gibson: It was another okay night for Taj Gibson, but that's all. He played his usually 10-15 minutes (14) and did his usual thing. 2 points and 6 boards for Taj was solid production given the limited time out there.
Frank: As with Payton and Barrett and Randle before him; Frank Ntilikina left his jumper in New York which was a big mistake against a Suns defense that was focused on closing out the middle. Ntilikina did manage to salvage some nice plays though and his propensity to pass limited the damage of his lacking jumper. Unfortunately, we got virtually no chance to watch Frank try and hold Devin Booker as Reggie Bullock drew that assignment instead. So Frank's best opportunity to impact things never came to be. Frank ended with 6 points, 2 assists and 2 boards on 2/5 shooting and 0/3 from three.
The two makes were really nice to see. Clever forays into the paint where Nitty used pump fakes and footwork to free himself up and finish. He also was dogged on his assist numbers by everyone shooting like crap. It didn't help that Robinson's foul trouble early meant less chances to lob it up for freebies. I actually felt like Frank was on his way to a good fourth quarter but Ricky Rubio knocked down back to back absolute nonsense shots that sent Frank to the bench. We're talking off balance, trying to get a whistle and saying a prayer makes.
Bullock: To start the game, Mike Miller called back to back plays for Reggie Bullock. Reggie responded with back to back makes. The rest of the way though, he went 2/9 so just like everyone but Morris, his jumper was milk carton status. Bullock finished 4/11 from the field and 1/5 from three with 9 points, 2 boards and 1 assist in 19 minutes. Like Payton, it's hard to be mad about his time guarding Devin Booker, but necessary to note that he guarded the guy who torched us quite a bit.
Knox: I'm about to sing Bobby Portis' praises after shouting out Marcus Morris heavily and yet here I am, telling you that Kevin Knox deserved more minutes on a night he scored just 3 points on 1/2 from the field. That's because Knox played just 13 minutes with solid defense and good rebounding. He grabbed 4 boards including a couple of very tough ones and he hit 1/1 from the three point line. So basically, he didn't do anything to hurt the team and his jumper might have actually made it to the West Coast.
Portis: The reason the Knicks closed the first half strong was Bobby Portis hitting a gang of jumpers. He carried over the aggression from the Portland game and really had another nice performance overall. But it's hard not to feel like most of that production was in the first half and also that he spent a little too much time out there in the fourth quarter before Miller switched to Mitchell Robinson. That's glaring when you look at what Aron Baynes did in that fourth. But it wouldn't be fair to blame Bobby for much on a night he put up 20 points, 4 boards and 2 assists on 7/10 shooting and 3/6 from three. Bobby was flat out good and I can't let my greedily wanting to see more Knox and Mitch take away from that. He earned the minutes and was the second best vet on the team last night.
Mitch: It was a pair of fouls early that cost Mitchell Robinson most of the first half. But he came out in the second half to block a bunch of shots, finish a bunch of lobs and grab a chunk of rebounds too. You know...Mitch doing Mitch. Robinson put up 9 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks in 21 minutes on 4/7 from the field. While it felt like some vets lost a bit of composure late, it was the Knicks' sophomore who managed to make a few plays that kept hope alive. Nobody wants to drive on him and no one can keep him out of the lane. At one point the entire Suns team rolled with him to the basket, leaving Elfrid Payton a completely free lane for two points. That's the gravity and impact of Mitchell Robinson in a play where he never even touches the ball.
Ellington: Wayne Ellington came back from injury and got 5 tune up minutes. He netted an assist and a couple of rebounds in that time, but never got the room to shoot that he needed. So he went 0/1 from three. I can't say too much about five minutes, but with as poorly as everybody shot...it's good that he's an option again.
Miller: For the first time in the Mike Miller era, I was unhappy with a few coaching decisions. First and foremost, I have no idea why Frank Ntilikina never got a chance to try and contain Devin Booker. Miller put his faith in the vets, Payton and Bullock to shoulder that burden even when Frank was on the floor. Booker scored 38 points on over 50% from the field. I thought Miller went to Payton too early in the fourth and then took too long before bringing in Robinson during that same quarter. As a matter of fact, that fourth quarter embodied a lot of what I didn't like about this game. It was live by the vets, die by the vets. And let's not mince words, the vets were the killers in that fourth quarter. Payton and Randle made a slew of bad decisions, Portis forgot that Baynes could shoot which got him going and RJ had zero rhythm after being damn near frozen out for chunks of play time.
That's honestly being harsh though. The Knicks were chasing a fourth straight win in a road game and vets had played a great first half. Portis earned some extra minutes along the way and Payton had been a catalyst for most of the game. Mook and Randle have been the go-to's. So I can forgive the reliance on the older crew. But I'd like the training wheels taken off for Frank when a star perimeter scorer is playing and I'd like Mitchell Robinson to be trusted to play in the second quarter with 2 fouls. I want Knox to be rewarded for his recent increased energy too. Wins and losses are a lot less important to me after the hole this team dug itself.
Peter Popoff
PROTECT YA NECK!! 🖕🏽🇺🇲
I hate to say this guys but RJ needs to be a backup guard behind Bullock or Dotson temporarily. Also Frank needs to start. Either way, if we get Knox and Barrett going, I think the roster will be competent. I wanna see both of them play well with Robinson even if Barrett doesn't become a sniper but Knox does. Frankie will be straight or he's well on his way.
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