DSJ: I'm sure that some fans feel like Dennis Smith Jr is looking like a lost cause out there. It's hard to argue that the Knicks wouldn't have been better off giving his 12 minutes to Frank and Payton for a better result. But Smith's active defensive play in the third quarter was enough to make me think, we've gotta find some minutes to try and get this kid's rhythm going. He's too athletic to give up on outright. Smith went 0/5 for 1 points, 1 assist to 2 TO's, 3 rebounds and a steal.
It hasn't been pretty. His shot is off, he passes out of open lanes and forces takes when the lane isn't there. But his ability to get into the teeth of the defense and rise above most defenders will never stop being intriguing. We've seen him be such a better player than this that it's frustrating. The excuse of being out of shape doesn't hold up when we're in December. He's gotta find his game and fast or he'll be out the rotation with every justification for the benching.
Payton: Elfrid Payton's fourth quarter flashed his ability to orchestrate and grab the reins of an offense. Payton was able to create for others and when the Pacers adjusted to his passing, Payton knocked down a three ball and a floater to make them pay. All of this helped the Knicks to a come back from 11 points down to a dog fight. The problem is that Payton couldn't keep up his scoring or space the floor for Morris and Randle late. So the Knicks offense looked it's best with Payton out there and then also went invisible in the same quarter with the same point guard running the show.
Payton finished with a lovely line of 9 points, 7 assists to 1 TO, 3 boards, 3 steals and a block. He did all of this in just 17 minutes of play and it really came in a barrage during his second stint, that fourth quarter run. The veteran PG was able to demand the ball from the bigs and to get them to run plays in ways that the two younger Knicks PG's sometimes fail to do. I think his most valuable role would be similar to that of Taj Gibson, as a stabilizer but with limitations that we're all aware of and don't ask him to work past. His defensive effort and offensive leadership were on display and if he improves on that, he might snatch the starting Point Guard spot back.
Dot: The energy was high but the jumper continues to be a struggle for Damyean Dotson. The kid came out of the gates flying and seemed more than happy to fire off shots for a coach he's familiar with from his rookie minutes in the G-League. But Dot continues to shoot sporadically and his greenlight backfired, he was better on drives than jump shooting. Dotson posted 10 points, 1 turnover and 2 boards in 14 minutes. Problematically the 10 points came on 4/11 shooting and 2/8 from three.
The Knicks two guards HAVE to stretch the floor, but at the same time, Dot took some long three's that weren't necessary. If those shots fall, he's paying dividends. When they don't fall, he looks just as lost as Wayne Ellington did trying to find his own jumper. Even worse, Dot had more defensive lapses than I'm used to catching from him. It's no wonder his minutes were limited, not a good night for him (although he started strong).
Knox: If there's one player that I wished had gotten more minutes, it would be Kevin Knox. Knox flashed his offensive prowess in spurts and for the second game in a row was willing to step in front of a fast breaking player to try and deny a full sprint at the rim. These are the baby steps that I'm looking for, signs that the lethargic approach won't keep the sophomore from at least making an attempt to impact the defense or use his offensive weapons. Knox turned just 14 minutes into 8 points, one turnover and one board on 3/6 shooting including 2/4 from three.
Kevin's one field goal inside the arc was a fast break dunk. He still had a momentary brain fart where he had decided to drive before he even received the ball and got himself in trouble. But I like to see him at least attempt to take the ball to the rim, he's young and learning, this team is tanking. Those drives into the lane led to some of the best passes we've seen in Knox's young career earlier in the season. So I want to see him trying these things and developing better instincts on both ends really. The three ball makes it worthwhile to deal with the growing pains, so hopefully he keeps this up.
Portis: Listen, Mike Miller's got 3 games to experiment with Bobby Portis on the floor at the same time as Randle before I start to get on him for it. I understand why a coach would want to try those two offensive skillsets together, but it's always ugly and I've had enough of seeing it. Portis put up 4 points, 4 boards, an assist and a steal in 18 minutes which doesn't look bad. But he shot 2/5 from the field and 0/2 from three and by my eye test, Bobby Portis was worse than his numbers indicate in this one.
That's because I caught him in just terrible positioning on offense a few times where he should have been stretching the floor. The Knicks would run a pick and roll and the weak side rotation would already be there because Bobby is just over there looking like he wants a weak side post up or something. If that's not reverse intangibles than I don't know what is. He HAS to stretch the floor to be useful, but half the time he's not getting outside. The other half of the time, he seems like he's pressing from three. Dude's form looks jerky to me, like he's too hype about making the big shot at times and it causes him to over exaggerate the motion. Either way, he's shooting 20% from three over the last seven games while attempting 3 per.
Bobby Portis' game really pissed me off section three...Defense...this is too many words about Portis. He didn't even play 20 minutes, but it was enough to frustrate me a lot. You've seen enough of Bobby Portis to recognize his defensive flaws by now. Miller paired his defensive flaws with Julius Randle's a few times and that's how you get this many wasted words on why I hated Bobby Portis' performance.
Mitch: It's starting to look like post trade deadline Mitchell Robinson out there these past couple of games. In the fourth quarter, Mitchell Robinson checked in for Taj Gibson and the Pacers didn't score another point...technically, they made an and-one free throw right as he got on the floor but that doesn't count. Robinson played his brand of terrorizing defense for 25 minutes while only picking up one foul on some clever footwork and pumpfaking by TJ Warren. The Knicks young big had 3 blocks and 2 steals as a disruptive presence that nobody wants to challenge.
If anyone saw the benefits of Mike Miller's simplified offense, it was Robinson. The point guards had the ball more and with Mitch in the game, the pick and roll was utilized constantly. That meant a lot of rim running, a lot of lobs and bountiful above the rim moments. Robinson finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks and 2 steals. The nature of the looks meant high efficiency too, Mitch was 6/9 from the field and made both of his free throws on the night.
Miller: With no time to coach a practice or make many changes, Mike Miller seemed to mostly just strip down things in his debut. This led to some obvious changes. The Knicks did less switching, not to be confused with eliminating it entirely, but less. There were no random shifts to zone defense either which was nice. But it's worth noting that neither of those facts changed the bad three point defense. There were still miscommunications and late close outs. So Miller's gonna have his work cut out for him as he tries to address those blemishes.
Offensively the obvious and welcome change is that the Knicks simply let the Point Guards bring the ball up for every play. They still got into some familiar sets and at times, Randle or Morris would be put into an orchestration role. But those situations came fewer and farther between up until late in the game when the game plan called for Morris to be the attacker. The guards also got to call for more pick and roll opportunities, something they all used frequently whenever Mitchell Robinson was available. This change was obvious. Both Robinson and Randle are quality rim runners...get them going!
Lastly, the rotation didn't change much, but the spacing was better for most of the night. I can't recall much Randle and Robinson cluttering things up for each other except late when the best five guys were out there. Morris got to play some minutes at the four and also some minutes paired with Knox. A Knox/Morris combo puts out best two shooting Forwards on the floor at once. We got a few minutes of Frank/RJ/Mitch all out there at once in the first half. This unit seems ear marked to close the half and also the game, but Payton's quality play kept Frank off the floor to close out. I've mentioned before that Randle and Portis played together too much but that's my only major rotation complaint.
All in all, Miller seemed to strike a balance of sticking to the rotation and keeping guys out there when they had good stretches. For a debut, this was fine. He simplified things and tweaked the rotation just enough to help the spacing for most of the night without rocking the boat. We'll have to wait and see if last night was a tired opponent, a fired up team thanks to their fired coach, a sign of promise from a debuting coach or some combination of all of that. It's too soon to say.