Short Version: If you want to see the importance of cohesion, watch the Knicks completely flounder in the first half when the entire bench looks dazed and confused when asked to slightly change their damned roles. 6 minutes of no scoring were friggin' a nice reminder of how far this team still has to go and tired legs aren't enough of an excuse for the large chunks of time with just plain bad defense. That said, there was a lot of character shown from these guys. They didn't panic or tuck their tails down 13 points (I thought it was 15 at a point but Breen said 13 was the most and I'm sure he has some help knowing that ish). These guys went to work and actually, the best part was that a key portion of the run came from some of the same bench players that looked lost in the first half and that it came down to defense producing offense. I love that Melo, shooting lights out, realized that the entire Jazz defense was watching him in those closing minutes. He took the post ups, faced up and fired cross court passes that made those guys look like fools. Melo was a leader, Afflalo still clutch, RoLo could argue that he's been the best C in the East for a few weeks now and Galloway is back to pushing Calderon for those closing minutes. It's all really promising, even with those flaws that showed in the first half. 6 straight at home, the Garden doesn't look so fun any more.
Melo: Dude played 50 minutes two days ago on a hurt ankle. He still wasn't getting up all that high on jumpers and his lateral movement came and went on defense. He still pumped 42 minutes out as the clear best player on the floor (no Gordon Hayward, you ain't even close breh). 13-20...30 pts, 9 ast, 7 boards and his fourth quarter and OT defense was absolutely tremendous. He denied Hayward the pass and the few times Hayward did get the ball it led to ugly forced attempts, kick outs to Rodney Hood or fumbled basketballs out of bounds (literally Gordon dribbled off his legs when he saw a double coming at one point, the plights of trying to be "the man" when you're really a number two).
RoLo: Made Rudy Gobert look helpless consistently with his rebounding, interior post play and that still hilarious looking hook shot that everyone respects so much (it still looks funny and I reserve the right to joke about it in every analysis if I please no matter how effective). 22 points (11-14), 12 rebounds and 3 blocks on top of that. He picked up the rebounding slack for a clearly hurting KP and he was just out there taking advantage of opportunities with damn near zero forces. My dude is finally looking comfortable in the system and actually knows where to look when he receives the ball far from the basket...plus he doesn't get stuck out there nearly as much because he's fighting for position. Above all of that, I really urge yall (again) to watch him set screens and fight for position, he's out there not only frustrating bigs but discouraging them under the boards and his screens do the same to chasing guards. That impact gets no statistical support, but just watch and see if you agree with me.
KP: Bad foot was apparent. He didn't move as well, struggled even more with positioning and at some points didn't force his way into the picture...and he still put up impact numbers. 16 points on just 9 attempts is beautiful, blocked three shots, had two assists and did manage 5 boards. Fish kept his minutes slightly lighter with 29 mins out there (good job although foul trouble may have been key too). KP's big flaw in this one was foolish fouls and he's awfully prone to them when the game is tight late or the opposition is making a run. That's when he reaches, goes for fakes or picks up bad loose ball fouls. He's just pressing in those situations and a combination of film room and experience should get him past that crap because he needs to stay out there on the floor.
AA: I actually thought he had some moments of quality defense that still ended in Jazz makes on tough shots, but his defense is really the only question mark for me. He was efficient, (6-11 and 2-3 from three for 14 pts) and had a couple of assists. The timing of his makes is always fun too. The more defenses bend to stop other guys (Melo mostly but KP at times as well), the more he starts to establish himself. He had some big guys guarding his post ups but still did some beautiful stuff to get good looks. The fake through the screen from RoLo into a turn around J the opposite way in the fourth (I think) made Joe Ingles look hilariously bad. 43 minutes, clutch play, efficient play...nice game.
Jose: Hey, he wasn't half bad. Still gave up drives at times, but he drove through the paint at times and opened up kick outs plus shot the ball efficiently. He's a lot easier to like when Fish isn't force feeding him into late situations where teams key on him the whole time. 9 points, 1 ast, not sure on the block but that steal he got on Hayward was really nice (granted Melo was yelling at him to stay in the passing lane instead of double, but he listened and was rewarded).
D-Will: First half had everyone wishing Lance Thomas was back to jump start the offense (lmao). Second half, he got more minutes with the starters (I think this is three post games in a row I mention it) and he went ballistic. The amount of space he's getting when Melo and KP are out there is insane and he's free to cut hard constantly. His motion created confusion at times, opening up a baseline three for himself and that cross lane cut for a dunk. 18 points and 6 rebounds with a highlight dunk, a clutch offensive rebounding battle for an and-one and a clutch three. This dude also played impressive defense for big chunks of the fourth and OT...not just effort stuff, he was defending well.
KOQ: The struggle is real for this guy some nights. He didn't deserve a chance to get more time to find a rhythm with the early returns.
Grant: Played good defense, sucked like every bench player in the first half but held it down and did well in the second half. He made more nice passes than the 2 assists show and had a pair of rebounds. He was 0-4 but still showed some willingness to take the shot, but needs to set his feet and not float off balance on his J.
Galloway: 9, 3 and 2 but struggled with his shooting for most of the game. Clutch Galloway is almost all the way back though. He made a big three and a nice driving finish in the late minutes. He also drew Gobert on a couple of missed drives where the offensive rebound was free for RoLo (we see this happen to our bigs all the time and it's nice to flip that). Galloway knows how to take what's given to him and not force much, when he does force an attempt at the rack; he'll typically make sure it gets above the defensive big so that rebounding opportunities are there which is a big plus for a PG (he's a floater away from being a real nightmare on those drives anyway).
Sasha: Didn't hurt us...didn't do anything particularly well but you know what, with 2 minutes he could have done way worse. We've seen it.
Fisher: My dude did a nice job imo. He actually used a hockey type sub to send an effective message early that woke his bench up later on. He saw the value of three guard sets and utilized them a LOT throughout the Knicks big comeback; he was even so pressed to stick to it that when AA got foul trouble he utilized Sasha (not a fan of that...but see above). Multiple Knicks, Melo included referenced the way he kept guys calm when the game almost ran away from him. He had a nice game this time out.
Random: I don't watch Jazz games...I didn't realize it until last night, but this is maybe the third time I've watched them this season (and I watch a ton of basketball). The incredible part is that I basically just forget they exist most nights because none of their personnel interests me besides Burke (who I was a big fan of as a NCAA beast). I really used to like this franchise and last night I saw some promising young talent...maybe I'll watch them more often.
damn brehs
